La presente investigación tiene como objetivo la localización y caracterización de “Distritos Agroecológicos”, a través de la identificación de casos paradigmáticos en los contextos territoriales de dos diferentes países europeos: Catalunya y Sardegna. Se identificarán dinámicas cooperativas vinculadas a procesos de producción y de organización del trabajo donde el conocimiento tradicional y la sostenibilidad en la producción de alimentos, constituyen elementos claves para que el territorio se enfrente a las crisis a través de espacios locales de cooperación que autoalimenten el desarrollo endógeno. La identificacion de experiencias està relacionada con sistemas de producción ecológica, sostenible, local y tradicional, estableciendo el enfoque del Agroecologia como filtro para la identificación de los casos empíricos. No existiendo una teorización específica sobre el Distrito Agroecológico, uno de los objetivos de la investigación es probar la posible existencia empírica de un sistema territorial que pueda representar las variables entre la teorización del Distrito y el enfoque de la Agroecología. En este contexto el marco definido en el trabajo ha sido instrumental para la identificación de las experiencias y la relevación de las dinámicas, estableciendo como base de la reflexión la voluntad de no razonar sobre la aplicabilidad y replicabilidad de modelos a la realidad, si no la necesidad de crear una bases metodológicas para identificar las peculiaridades de dinámicas en territorios distintos. / La presente ricerca ha come obiettivo la localizzazione e caratterizzazione di “Ditretti Agroecologici”, attraverso l’individuazione di casi paradigmatici in contesti territoriali di due differenti paesi europei: Catalogna e Sardegna. Si identificheranno dinamiche cooperative vincolate a processi di produzione e organizzazione del lavoro dove la conoscenza tradizionale e la sostenibilità nella produzione alimentare, costituiscono elementi essenziali perchè i territori affrontino le crisi attraverso spazio locali di cooperazione che autolimentano lo sviluppo endogeno. L’individuazione delle esperienze è relazionata con i sistemi di produzione ecologica, sostenibile, locale e tradizionale, stabilendo l’approccio dell’agroecologia come filtro per l’identificazione dei casi empirici. Non esistendo una teorizzazione specifica sul Distretto Agroecologico, uno degli obiettivi dell’investigazione è provare la possibile esistenza empirica di un sistema territoriale che possa rappresentare le variabili tra teorizzazione del Distretto e l’approccio dell’Agroecologia. In questo contesto il quadro definito nel lavoro è stato strumentale per l’identificazione dell’esperienze e la rilevazione delle dinamiche, stabilendo come base della riflessione la volontà di non ragionare sull’applicabilità e replicabilità dei modelli alla realtà, ma piuttosto sulla necessità di creare delle basi metodologiche per identificare le peculiarità delle dinamiche in territori distinti.

Aquesta tesi doctoral es composa de tres linies de recerca en que s'analitza de forma dinàmica l'associació entre mobilitat residencial / migracions i les relacions social que es troben en el lloc de residència. Les tres recerques s'enmarquen dins del marc teòric del Curs de Vida i es fa us de tècniques d'anàlisi Event-History per analitzar biografies residencials d'adults joves. En la primera recerca s'analitzen l'efecte de l'estructura de la familia extesa (aquella més enllà de la parella i els fills) en la probabilitat de fer un canvi residencial de llarga distancia (més de 50 km) a l'alemanya occidental. En la segona recerca s'analitzen entrades i sortides de la llar parental al Regne Unit. En la tercera recerca s'estudien multiples facetes de la proximitat de les xarxes socials en la propensió d'emigrar en diferents estadis del procés de pressa de decissió. / This PhD thesis tackles from an empirical and quantitative perspective the influence of social ties on geographical mobility behavior and decision-making. The dissertation is composed of three lines of research all framed in Life Course theory and taking advantage of Event-History techniques to analyze individual residential biographies of young adults. The first essay deals about the influence of the extended family structure on the probability of long distance mobility (i.e. further than 50 km) in West Germany. The second essay analyses leaves and returns to the parental home in the UK. The third essay sheds light on the multifaceted effect of ties' proximity on migration propensity in the different stages of decision-making and behaviour.

La consideración actual de la discapacidad intelectual incluye los constructos de inteligencia, conducta adaptativa y calidad de vida. Sin embargo, el constructo de la inteligencia ha sido relegado, frente a los otros, debido a la imposibilidad de tomar otros referentes de medida de inteligencia, además del coeficiente intelectual, y de la asequibilidad terapéutica que proporcionan tanto el constructo de la conducta adaptativa como el de la calidad de vida a la hora de realizar un diagnóstico y diseñar una intervención. En este sentido, se hace necesario encontrar una definición de discapacidad intelectual que permita incluir el constructo de la inteligencia junto a la conducta adaptativa y a la calidad de vida, tanto en el diagnóstico del sujeto como en el diseño de una intervención. Con este fin, se ha optado por considerar "la capacidad de manipular la información simbólica" como definición de inteligencia lo que permite considerar diversas dimensiones intelectuales que servirán para definir un perfil cognitivo del sujeto. Así, la discapacidad intelectual podría definirse como "aquél constructo caracterizado por limitaciones significativas de la capacidad de manipular la información simbólica y la conducta adaptativa (habilidades adaptativas, conceptuales y prácticas) que afectan a la calidad de vida. Esta discapacidad aparece antes de los 18 años". La definición propuesta da cabida a la medida de las dimensiones intelectuales que posee un sujeto. Esto permite un ajuste de los objetivos terapéuticos a las características individuales cognitivas debido a que estos requieren de mecanismos cognitivos para ser cumplimentados. En este sentido, se hace indispensable una herramienta que permita la medición de recursos cognitivos. Para tal efecto se construye el TACD (Test Aptitudes Cognitivas para Discapacitados) que mide 35 componentes cognitivos. Para comprobar la validez del test y su fiabilidad se realizó una pasación a 62 sujetos con discapacidad intelectual y usuarios del Servicio de Terapia Ocupacional Artesà de Barcelona. Los resultados obtenidos dan unos buenos resultados métricos. Por otra parte, se consideran las siguientes hipótesis: la conducta adaptativa incluye procesos cognitivos por lo que se considera la posibilidad que los instrumentos de evaluación que la miden (en este caso la Escala ICAP y la Escala SIS) tengan correlaciones con el test TACD. También se espera que exista una correlación negativa entre las escalas SIS e ICAP debido a que la primera deduce la falta de competencias de un sujeto mientras que las segunda describe las necesidades de apoyo. Sin embargo, en relación a los instrumentos de calidad de vida (en este caso Escala GENCAT) no se espera encontrar ninguna relación con el TACD ya que la Escala GENCAT evalúa dimensiones de tipo social. Los resultados que se obtienen de la muestra confirman las hipótesis anteriores. Por último, se intuía que los efectos de la medicación que ingieren los sujetos, sobre todo sus efectos secundarios, podían influir negativamente en las capacidades cognitivas de los sujetos. En este caso, los datos que se obtienen de la muestra objeto de estudio, después de cotejarlos con los instrumentos de medida anteriormente expuestos, concluyen que los medicamentos que se ingieren no afectan a los procesos cognitivos estudiados por el TACD ni en la conducta adaptativa, por lo que se intuye un acierto en la medicación recetada. Cabe mencionar que no ocurre así al confrontarlo con la Escala GENCAT ya que existen correlaciones moderadamente significativas. Esto es debido a la percepción social de que a mayor cantidad de medicamentos que toma un sujeto peor calidad de vida. / Current depictions of intellectual disability normally merge the constructs of intelligence, adaptative behaviour and life quality. This notwithstanding, intelligence construct has been set behind because of the limited use of intellectual quotient for intervention purposes, opposed to the ease provided by adaptative behaviour an quality of life when diagnosing and designing an intervention plan. Since intellectual disability is an intelligence-related phenomenon, it is completely necessary to establish a framework that really includes the three constructs both in the diagnosis of the affected individuals and in defining the intervention. In order to overcome the limitations associated to IQ, the ability to operate on representations has been used as a proper definition of intelligence as well as the general basis for grounding individuals’ cognitive profiles. Hence, intellectual disability becomes “a construct characterized by significant limitations in representations processing that involve adaptative behaviour (both conceptual and practical) and has an effect on the quality of life. The disability arises before 18”. This definition encompasses the intellectual traits of an individual, thus allowing the adjustment of therapeutic goals to their cognitive traits. There is a need to properly evaluate these cognitive traits in a more discriminative and precise manner than IQ tests. The TACD scale was designed for that purpose, allowing the measurement of up to 35 cognitive processes. This scale showed reasonable metric properties when applied to 62 intellectually disabled adults from the “Servicio de Terapia Ocupacional Artesà” in Barcelona. The hypothesis tested were: (1) As adaptative behaviour includes cognitive processes, it is expected that the scales that measure this behaviour (ICAP and SIS) have significant correlations with the TACD scale. (2) A negative correlation is expected between the scales ICAP and SIS, because the first one describes the level of competences available in a given person while the second states the assistance needs of that person. Hence, the greater the competences the lesser the needs. (3) Finally, as the construct of life quality is mainly social, as evaluated by standards that are external to the individual, there is no reason to expect that it has any relationship with individual’s cognitive assets. Results ratified the three hypothesis. A fourth hypothesis considered that the secondary effects of the medical drugs consumed by may of the cases might hinder their cognitive efficiency. This hypothesis had to be rejected as the results did not show any difference in cognitive performance between these drug-consumers cases and those without medication. Therefore it can be stated that the drugs have been very well selected and prescribed in order to overcome the collateral mental problems without restricting neither the cognitive functioning, at least as it is measured by the TACD scale, nor the adaptative behaviour. However, when the effects on the quality of life were considered, significant though moderate differences aroused, showing that despite there is no real effect of the individual competences, the external perception of drug prescription is attached to a deemed loss in the quality of life.

Este estudio se insiere en una temática de “individuo y sociedad”. El debate se plantea a partir de jóvenes de una universidad brasileña, en Río de Janeiro, en su relación con los colegas de carrera, el ambiente social y la cultura estudiantil de la institución. Cuestiones relativas a clase social, estatus, barrio de residencia y estilos de vida están articuladas a una manera específica de entablar relaciones entre el “yo” y los “otros” en esa ciudad y en la universidad, tanto al nivel de representaciones como al nivel práctico. Los rumbos y decisiones de vida, el ingreso en la universidad, el autoimagen frente a los compañeros, la sensación de inclusión y exclusión en el ambiente universitario y el tránsito físico y simbólico entre las diferentes fronteras de Río de Janeiro son los temas discutidos en esta investigación. A lo largo de las reflexiones, la ciudad emerge como una instancia privilegiada de observación, pues si por una parte, es contenedora de diferentes formas de existencia y subjetividades, por otra, también figura como productora y organizadora de dichas subjetividades / This study takes into account the thematic of ‘individual and society’. The discussion is defined by the way of young people from a Brazilian university in Rio de Janeiro consider their relationships with their classmates, their social cultural environment and the institution. It was observed that subjects matter related to social class, status, neighborhood and lifestyles were articulated in order to set relations between ‘their self’ and ‘others’ in that city. The expectancy of their life and its decisions, the way that they were admitted in the university, their self-image from the point of view of the classmates, their feeling of being included and excluded in the faculty and their physical and symbolic interactions throughout different boundaries in Rio de Janeiro make part of the subjects argued in this research. As a result of these reflections, it was possible to give evidence how the city of Rio de Janeiro becomes an instance of double observation: from one part the city encompass different forms of subjectivities and ways of exist to another part the city is also the one that organize and produce such subjectivities

We designed and developed a Collaborative Annotation System for Proteins called DAS Writeback, which extends the Distributed Annotation System (DAS) to provide the functionalities of adding, editing and deleting annotations. A great deal of effort has gone into gathering information about proteins over the last few years. By June 2009, UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, a curated database, contained over four hundred thousand sequence entries and UniProtKB/TrEMBL, a database with automated annotation, contained over eight million sequence entries. Every protein is annotated with relevant information, which needs to be eciently captured and made available to other research groups. These include annotations about the structure, the function or the biochemical residues. Several research groups have taken on the task of making this information accessible to the community, however, information flow in the opposite direction has not been extensively explored. Users are currently passive actors that behave as consumers of one or several sources of protein annotations and they have no immediate way to provide feedback to the source if, for example, a mistake is detected or they want to add information. Any change has to be done by the owner of the database. The current lack of being able to feed information back to a database is tackled in this project. The solution consists of an extension of the DAS protocol that defines the communication rules between the client and the writeback server following the Uniform Interface of the RESTful architecture. A protocol extension was proposed to the DAS community and implementations of both server and client were created in order to have a fully functional system. For the development of the server, writing functionalities were added to MyDAS, which is a widely used DAS server. The writeback client is an extended version of the web-based protein client Dasty2. The involvement of the DAS community and other potential users was a fundamental component of this project. The architecture was designed with the insight of the DAS specialized forum, a prototype was then created and subsequently presented in the DAS workshop 2009. The feedback from the forum and workshop was used to redefine the architecture and implement the system. A usability experiment was performed using potential users of the system emulating a real annotation task. It demonstrated that DAS writeback is effective, usable and will provide the appropriate environment for the creation and evolution of a protein annotation community. Although the scope of this research is limited to protein annotations, the specification was defined in a general way. It can, therefore, be used for other types of information supported by DAS, implying that the server is versatile enough to be used in other scenarios without major modifications.

The design of Digital Library Systems (DLSes) has evolved overtime, both in sophistication and complexity, to complement the complex nature and sheer size of digital content being curated. However, there is also a growing demand from content curators, with relatively small-size collections, for simpler and more manageable tools and services to manage their content. The reasons for this particular need are driven by the assumption that simplicity and manageability might ultimately translate to lower costs of maintenance of such systems. This research proposes and advocates for a minimalist and simplistic approach to the overall design of DLSes. It is hypothesised that Digital Library (DL) tools and services based on such designs could potentially be easy to use and manage. A meta-analysis of existing DL and non-DL tools was conducted to aid the derivation of design principles for simple DLSes. The desig n principles were then mapped to design decisions applied to the design of a prototype simple repository. In order to assess the effectiveness of the simple repository design, two real-world case study collections were implemented based on the design. In addition, a developer-oriented study was conducted using one of the case study collections to evaluate the simplicity and ease of use of the prototype system. Furthermore, performance experiments were conducted to establish the extent to which such a simple design approach would scale and also establish comparative advantages to existing designs. In general, the study outlined some possible implications of simplifying DLS design; specifically the results from the developer-oriented user study indicate that simplicity in the design of the DLS repository sub-layer does not severely impact the interaction between the service sub-layer and the repository sub-layer. Furthermore, the scalability experiments indicate that desirable performance results for small- and medium-sized collections are attainable. The practical implication of the proposed design approach is two-fold: firstly the minimalistic design has the potential to be used to design simple and yet easy to use tools with comparable features to those exhibited by well-established DL tools; and secondly, the principled design approach has the potential to be applied to the design of non-DL application domains.

Fusarium head blight (FHB), caused mainly by Fusarium graminearum, is one of the most destructive global diseases of small cereal grains worldwide. The most devastating effect of this disease is the deposition of mycotoxins in the grain. Deoxynivalenol (DON) and its analogs 3-ADON, 15-ADON and NIV are the major mycotoxins produced by the fungus. The chemotype, 15-ADON is more prevalent in North America, but recently a chemotypic shift has been observed. The rapid emergence of the 3-ADON chemotype over the traditional 15-ADON chemotype is a major concern in North America. The studies in this thesis were focused on understanding the behaviour of the 3-ADON and 15-ADON chemotypes and the possible reasons for the rapid chemotypic shift.

En l’actualitat un dels espais urbans més utilitzats de la ciutat de Barcelona és el Metro. Les dades de 2011 així ho mostren. Diàriament més d’un milió de persones usen aquest mitjà de transport. Aquest dada posa de manifest l’elevada mobilitat ciutadana i, alhora, evidencia la importància dels trànsits, les trajectòries, els moviments... en la nostra quotidianitat. Partint d’aquesta consideració, i prenent com a posicionament el construccionisme social, hem realitzat una investigació urbana des d’un posicionament crític. Des d’allò que hem definit com a metodologia mòbil hem realitzat una etnografia urbana en el Metro de la ciutat usant l’observació participant i la deriva com a tècniques d’investigació. En consonància amb el plantejament teòric i la metodologia emprada hem realitzat un anàlisi crític del discurs del diari de camp amb la intenció de posar de manifest els processos socials implicats en la construcció social d’aquest espai urbà. Així doncs, l’objectiu del procés de recerca, és oferir una “lectura” de les pràctiques socials que es posen en joc en el Metro de Barcelona. Aquestes pràctiques ens permeten saber com és i com es construeix aquest espai urbà contemporani i, alhora, ens donen la possibilitat d’analitzar quins processos socials es posen en joc en el subsòl de la urbs, i com aquests incideixen en la forma que pren la societat actual. La tesi es presenta en format de compendi de publicacions. En total s’exposen tres articles que posen de manifest les següents argumentacions: 1) la importància del Metro, i dels Espais de trànsit, en el context social i urbà actual, mostrant que els Espais de Trànsit són un excel·lent aparador de la societat actual; 2) la necessitat d’estudiar els fenòmens socials actuals, de naturalesa mòbil, adoptant metodologies mòbils i una lògica que estigui en consonància amb el caràcter efímer i canviant de les noves formes d’entendre el món. La lògica radicant es presenta com una alternativa a la lògica de les estabilitats, de la reificació i la cristal·lització de l’allò social; 3) les possibilitats de la deriva, transformada en tècnica de investigació psicosocial, com a eina que ens permet aproximar-nos a l’allò urbà des del seu “interior” i formant part de les trajectòries, dels moviments... de la urbs. Aquest trilogia d’arguments posa de manifest quin ha estat el camí de recerca recorregut amb l’objectiu d’integrar i de desenvolupar una investigació urbana en el context de la Psicologia social. Allò què mostren els resultats de la investigació és, per una banda, que el Metro de Barcelona és un paisatge del moviment, un Espai de Trànsit, que explica una societat mòbil en constant transformació. Per altra banda, en el Metro de la ciutat es posen en joc diversos mecanismes i estratègies de poder que gestionen, controlen i acoten la “potencia” social dels usuaris i, alhora, emergeix un diàleg molt interessant entre les relacions de poder i de resistència. Així doncs, parlem del Metro de Barcelona com un espai urbà on es produeixen diferents tipus de control, un espai disciplinari, un espai col·lectiu, un espai global i un espai de interconnexió. D’aquesta lectura del Metro de Barcelona es desprèn una interpretació de la societat concreta: la sociabilitat actual es fonamenta en la interconnexió i la ubiqüitat permanent, en la infinitat de moviments i de desplaçaments que la travessen i que fan que la societat de principis de segle XXI adopti les característiques del radicant. / Currently, one of the most used urban spaces in the city of Barcelona is the Metro (the Barcelona Underground). It is demonstrated by the data from 2011. Every day more than a million people use this means of transport. This figure shows the high mobility of citizens, and also demonstrates the importance of transits, trajectories and movements in our daily lives. Based on this consideration, and taking the social constructionist approach, we made an urban research from a critical position. From a mobile methodology, we have made an urban ethnography in the Metro of Barcelona, using participant observation and drift as research techniques. In line with the theoretical basis and the methodology, we have made a Critical Discourse Analysis of our field diary, in order to highlight the social processes involved in the social construction of this urban space. Thus, the aim of the research project is to offer a "reading" of the social practices that come into play in the Barcelona’s Metro. These practices allow us to know how this contemporary urban space is and how it is constructed, and also they give us the possibility of analyzing which social processes come into play in the basement of the city, and how they can explain the way that makes the society. The thesis is presented as a compendium of publications. Three articles are exposed, and they revealed the following arguments: 1) the importance of the Metro and the Transit Spaces in the social and urban context, showing that Transit Spaces are an excellent showcase of the society nowadays, 2) the need to study the current social phenomena, of mobile nature, using mobile methodologies and adopting a logic that is in line with the changing and ephemeral nature of new ways of understanding the world. The radicand logic is presented as an alternative to the logic of stabilities, the reification and the crystallization of the social matters, 3) the possibilities of the drift, transformed into psychosocial research technique that allows us to reach the “urban” from its "inside" and taking part of the trajectories and the movements of the city. This trilogy of arguments highlights which has been the search path route in order to integrate and develop an urban research in the context of social psychology. The results of the investigation show that the Barcelona’s Metro is a landscape of movement, a Transit Space, which explains a mobile society constantly changing. Furthermore, various mechanisms and power strategies, that manage, control and measure the social "power" of the users, come into play in the Metro, and also a very interesting dialogue emerges between power and resistance relations. Thus, we talk about the Barcelona’s Metro as an urban area where there are different types of control, a disciplinary space, a public space, a global space and an interconnection space. From this reading of the Barcelona’s Metro, an interpretation about this society can be said: the current sociability is based on the interconnection and permanent ubiquity, in many movements and shifts that cross it, and that makes that the society from the early century XXI adopts the characteristics of the radicand.

The Arizona Child Acoustic Database consists of longitudinal audio recordings from a group of children over a critical period of growth and development (ages 2-7 years). The goal of this database is to 1) document acoustic changes in speech production that may be related to physical growth 2) inform development of a model of speech production for child talkers. This work was funded by NSF BSC-1145011 awarded to Kate Bunton, Ph.D. and Brad Story, Ph.D, Principal Investigators. This database contains longitudinal audio recordings of 55 American English speaking children between the ages of 2-7 at 3-month intervals. Since children began the study at different ages, some children have fewer recording sessions than others. The database can also be used to provide cross-sectional data for children of a specific age. Please refer to the subject data table for information on specific sessions available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. All children were recorded using the same protocol; therefore, task numbers are consistent across children and sessions. A calibration tone is included as Record 1 for all sessions. The speech protocol focused on production of English monopthong and diphthong vowels in isolation, sVd, hVd, and monosyllabic real words. In addition, the protocol includes several nonsense vowel-to-vowel transitions. Speakers were prompted either verbally by investigators or by graphical prompts. Details of the protocol with reference to task numbers can be found in the protocol spreadsheet available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. Details on data recording: All samples were recorded digitally using an AKG SE 300B microphone with a mouth to mic distance of approximately 10 inches. Signals were recorded digitally using a Marantz PMD671, 16 bit PCM (uncompressed) at 44.1KHz. Recordings are made available in .wav format. Individual zip files contain all recordings from a single session.

The Arizona Child Acoustic Database consists of longitudinal audio recordings from a group of children over a critical period of growth and development (ages 2-7 years). The goal of this database is to 1) document acoustic changes in speech production that may be related to physical growth 2) inform development of a model of speech production for child talkers. This work was funded by NSF BSC-1145011 awarded to Kate Bunton, Ph.D. and Brad Story, Ph.D, Principal Investigators. This database contains longitudinal audio recordings of 55 American English speaking children between the ages of 2-7 at 3-month intervals. Since children began the study at different ages, some children have fewer recording sessions than others. The database can also be used to provide cross-sectional data for children of a specific age. Please refer to the subject data table for information on specific sessions available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. All children were recorded using the same protocol; therefore, task numbers are consistent across children and sessions. A calibration tone is included as Record 1 for all sessions. The speech protocol focused on production of English monopthong and diphthong vowels in isolation, sVd, hVd, and monosyllabic real words. In addition, the protocol includes several nonsense vowel-to-vowel transitions. Speakers were prompted either verbally by investigators or by graphical prompts. Details of the protocol with reference to task numbers can be found in the protocol spreadsheet available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. Details on data recording: All samples were recorded digitally using an AKG SE 300B microphone with a mouth to mic distance of approximately 10 inches. Signals were recorded digitally using a Marantz PMD671, 16 bit PCM (uncompressed) at 44.1KHz. Recordings are made available in .wav format. Individual zip files contain all recordings from a single session.