Local linear fitting and improved estimation near peaks

The authors look into the problem of estimating regression functions that exhibit jump irregularities in the first derivative. They investigate the behaviour of the bias in the local linear fit and show the superior performance of appropriate one‐sided versions of the local linear fit near such irregularities. They then propose an improved estimation procedure based on data‐driven selection of a conventional or one‐sided local linear fit according to a residual sum of squares type of criterion. The authors provide theoretical results and illustrate the method both on simulated and real‐life data examples. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 37: 453–475; 2009 © 2009 Statistical Society of Canada     

Effects of long-term landscape dynamics and city growth on biodiversity in the Mediterranean: the case study of Montpellier,France

In the Mediterranean, long-term land-use changes have resulted into landscape mosaics composed of very few ancient woodland remnants scattered across extended post-agricultural woodlands. Patches of ancient woodlands are now suffering rapid urban growth that reduces their area and impact their associated biodiversity. Here we use the case study of Montpellier, one of the most dynamic cities in France, to 1) characterize temporal changes in land covers (between 1860 and 2006) in its area, and 2) using two guilds of fungal bioindicators (i.e., polypores and lichens), to compare biodiversity stakes between ancient and secondary Mediterranean woodlands. We used a combination of historical maps, archives, fungal collections and field survey in eight Quercus ilex patches (4 ancient versus 4 recent replicates) to reconstruct landscapes dynamics and assess biodiversity changes. From the 19th to the 21st century, over half (52.4%) of the ancient woodlands within Montpellier were replaced by other land covers, mainly by urban equipment, while secondary patches (16.8% of the total area) were naturally established. Remaining ancient woodlands show multi-layered vegetation made of multi-secular Pinus halepensis dominating a dynamic understorey made of Quercus ilex and various Mediterranean shrubs. Polypores, but not macrolichens, tended to differ in community composition between ancient and recent woodland patches, with the highest diversity found in ancient woodlands. This study highlights that urban woodland patches of contrasted histories harbour distinct biodiversity stakes to be included in urban planning and provide valuable areas to evaluate biodiversity patterns and dynamics.     

Constructing the legitimacy of a financial cooperative in the cultural sector: a case study using textual analysis

This article investigates the foundations of cooperative identity and how it is constructed by the organization. More specifically, our research focuses on a financial cooperative in the simultaneously emerging and consolidating cultural sector. The originality of this article lies in the methodology used – textual analysis. We use the Economies of Worth model developed by Boltanski and Thévenot (2006 Boltanski , L. and Thévenot , L. , 2006 . On justification: economies of worth . Studies in Cultural Sociology Series Princeton : Princeton University Press . [Google Scholar]), which accounts for a plurality of legitimate forms of evaluation used in the processes of critique and justification.     

Efficacy of a Self-Help Treatment for At-Risk and Pathological Gamblers

Available evidence suggests that self-help treatments may reduce problem gambling severity but inconsistencies of results across clinical trials leave the extent of their benefits unclear. Moreover, no self-help treatment has yet been validated within a French Canadian setting. The current study therefore assesses the efficacy of a French language self-help treatment including three motivational telephone interviews spread over an 11-week period and a cognitive-behavioral self-help workbook. At-risk and pathological gamblers were randomly assigned to the treatment group (n = 31) or the waiting list (n = 31). Relative to the waiting list, the treatment group showed a statistically significant reduction in the number of DSM-5 gambling disorder criteria met, gambling habits, and gambling consequences at Week 11. Perceived self-efficacy and life satisfaction also significantly improved after 11 weeks for the treatment group, but not for the waiting list group. At Week 11, 13% of participants had dropped out of the study. All significant changes reported for the treatment group were maintained throughout 1, 6 and 12-month follow-ups. Results support the efficacy of the self-help treatment to reduce problem gambling severity, gambling behaviour and to improve overall functioning among a sample of French Canadian problem gamblers over short, medium and long term. Findings from this study lend support to the appropriateness of self-help treatments for problem gamblers and help clarify inconsistencies found in the literature. The low dropout rate is discussed with respect to the advantages of the self-help format. Clinical and methodological implications of the results are put forth.     

Immigrants’ Employment in Spanish Cooperatives: Outcomes in Relation to the Business Cycle

In this paper, we analyse the interaction between immigrants’ employment in cooperatives and the business cycle. The study is centred on the Spanish economy during the period 2003–2015. The main goal of this paper is to answer the following two key questions: are fluctuations in immigrants’ employment in cooperatives cyclical in relation to the business cycle? And, are immigrant employees more vulnerable to the business cycle than native employees? The cycles and their turning points are identified using the Bry and Boschan (Cyclical analysis of time series: selected procedures and computer programmes, National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1971) algorithm. To resolve it we employ the BUSY software, developed by the European Commission. The procedure allows us to identify the features of the cycle phases and to calculate the synchronization index. The results show that (1) employment in cooperatives is procyclical and with no differences between immigrant and native workers, (2) the economic crisis has hit immigrant workers harder than native ones, (3) the immigrants’ birthplace is significant because some cyclical behaviour can be found to vary according to the immigrants’ origins; however, in general, sensitivity to the business cycle is the common factor.     

Unmasking the crowd: participants’ motivation factors,expectations, and profile in a crowdsourced law reform

This article examines the demographic characteristics, motivations, and expectations of participants in a crowdsourced off-road traffic law reform in Finland. We found that the participants were mainly educated, full-time working professional males with a strong interest in off-road traffic. Though a minority, the women participating in the process produced more ideas than the men. The crowd was motivated by a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic motivations included fulfilling civic duty, affecting the law for sociotropic reasons, to deliberate with and learn from peers. Extrinsic motivations included changing the law for financial gain or other benefits. Participation in crowdsourced policy-making was an act of grassroots advocacy, whether to pursue one’s own interest or more altruistic goals, such as protecting nature. The motivations driving the participation were in part similar to those observed in traditional democratic processes, such as elections as well as other online collaborations such as crowdsourced journalism and citizen science. The crowds’ behavior was, however, paradoxical. They participated despite the fact that they did not expect that their contributions would affect the law.     

Copula directed acyclic graphs

A new methodology for selecting a Bayesian network for continuous data outside the widely used class of multivariate normal distributions is developed. The ‘copula DAGs’ combine directed acyclic graphs and their associated probability models with copula C/D-vines. Bivariate copula densities introduce flexibility in the joint distributions of pairs of nodes in the network. An information criterion is studied for graph selection tailored to the joint modeling of data based on graphs and copulas. Examples and simulation studies show the flexibility and properties of the method.     

Self-healing umbrella sampling: convergence and efficiency

The Self-Healing Umbrella Sampling (SHUS) algorithm is an adaptive biasing algorithm which has been proposed in Marsili et al. (J Phys Chem B 110(29):14011–14013, 2006) in order to efficiently sample a multimodal probability measure. We show that this method can be seen as a variant of the well-known Wang–Landau algorithm Wang and Landau (Phys Rev E 64:056101, 2001a; Phys Rev Lett 86(10):2050–2053, 2001b). Adapting results on the convergence of the Wang-Landau algorithm obtained in Fort et al. (Math Comput 84(295):2297–2327, 2014a), we prove the convergence of the SHUS algorithm. We also compare the two methods in terms of efficiency. We finally propose a modification of the SHUS algorithm in order to increase its efficiency, and exhibit some similarities of SHUS with the well-tempered metadynamics method Barducci et al. (Phys Rev Lett 100:020,603, 2008).