513225 research outputs found
Sort by
The influence of environmental design on children's physical activity. Insights from affordable housing in Rome, Italy
No full textAffordable housing developments are a fundamental part of housing policy but often encounter significant challenges related to the design of open spaces. These difficulties can directly affect the quality of life for inhabitants. Among the most impacted groups are children, who need environments that encourage active play and safe movement. The quality of open space design and its effect on the physical activity of children aged 7 to 13 living in affordable housing complexes in Rome, Italy is investigated in this paper. This study used a mixed-methods approach comprising systematic observation, behavioural mapping, and checklist-based assessment. The results show that environmental characteristics have a strong influence on children's physical activity in affordable housing complexes. Although issues like pedestrian safety, parental visibility, and walkability were mostly well-addressed and helped children's mobility, important deficiencies included the lack of sports facilities, inadequate play equipment, and badly planned green areas restricted possibilities for active play. Most complexes' general spatial design did not completely satisfy the requirements of children between the ages of 7 and 13 for varied and interesting physical activity. The study underlines the need of well-designed open spaces in affordable residential settings as a strategy to promote physical activity and enhance the health and well-being of children by improving the environmental quality of their surroundings
Immunotherapy combinations in favourable risk score metastatic renal cell carcinoma, an individual patients data metanalysis
No full textIntroduction: Immuno-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) represent the backbone for the first line combination therapies of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) but their advantage in the IMDC favourable risk compared to sunitinib is debated. To estimate their efficacy we present an individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis METHODS: A systematic literature search from 2015 to 2024 was conducted on the MEDLINE. Five phase III studies, 1088 patients overall, were analyzed aaccording to PRISMA statement. (JAVELIN RENAL 101, CHECKMATE 214, KEYNOTE 426, CHECKMATE 9ER, CLEAR). An IPD meta-analysis was performed by reconstructing IPD from Kaplan-Meier curves. Primary endpoints were Progression Free Survival (PFS) and overall Survival (OS) in favorable risk patients comparing ICI-based therapies versus sunitinib as well as versus each other. Results: For OS, there was a statistically significant superiority of Pembrolizumab-Lenvatinib rather than Nivolumab-Cabozantinib (HR 0.56 CI 95% 0.34 -0.94), and, even non-statistically significant, vs Pembrolizumab-Axitinib (HR 0.68), vs Avelumab-Axitinib (HR 0.93), and vs Nivolumab + Ipilimumab (HR 0.95). Considering PFS, Pembrolizumab-Lenvatinib showed a significant advantage when compared to Avelumab-Axitinib (HR 0.66 CI 95% 0.46-0.96), to Nivolumab-Cabozantinib (HR 0.61 CI 95% 0.42 -0.90), to Nivolumab-Ipilimumab (HR 0.59 CI 95% 0.42-0.82) and to Pembrolizumab-Axitinib (HR 0.71 CI 95% 0.50 - 0.71). Conclusions: In IMDC-favorable risk mRCC patients, Pembrolizumab + Lenvatinib showed the best PFS, while none of the arms showed a statistically significant OS advantage versus sunitinib. Further studies would help identify specific patients' subgroups and establish more personalized treatment decisions
Cost functions in economic complexity
No full textEconomic complexity algorithms aim to uncover the hidden capabilities that drive economic systems. Here we present a fundamental reinterpretation of two of these algorithms, the economic complexity index (ECI) and the economic fitness and complexity (EFC), by reformulating them as optimization problems that minimize specific cost functions. We show that ECI computation is equivalent to finding eigenvectors of the network's transition matrix by minimizing the quadratic form associated with the network's Laplacian. For EFC, we derive a novel cost function that exploits the algorithm's intrinsic logarithmic structure and clarifies the role of the regularization parameter in its nonhomogeneous version. Additionally, we establish the existence and uniqueness of its solution, providing theoretical foundations for its application. This optimization-based reformulation bridges economic complexity and established frameworks in spectral theory, network science, and optimization. The theoretical insights translate into practical computational advantages: We introduce a conservative, gradient-based update rule that substantially accelerates algorithmic convergence, with potential implications for a broader class of algorithms, including the Sinkhorn-Knopp method. Finally, we apply the energetic framework to a real-world trade network, demonstrating how linkwise energy provides a direct way to identify structurally relevant and vulnerable regions of the export matrix, thus complementing and enriching standard economic complexity analyses. Beyond advancing our theoretical understanding of economic complexity indicators, this work opens new pathways for algorithmic improvements and extends applicability to general network structures beyond traditional bipartite economic networks
Considerazioni sulla corrispondenza fra chiesto e pronunciato nel giudizio in via incidentale nella sentenza n. 83 del 2025 della corte costituzionale
No full textNella sentenza n. 83 del 2025 la Corte costituzionale ha dichiarato l’illegittimità dell’art. 583 quinquies c.p. nella parte in cui non prevede una “valvola di sicurezza” per le condotte di più lieve entità. Alla luce dello scostamento, in tale pronuncia, da parte della Corte, da quanto richiesto dai giudici a quibus, l’Autore si interroga sulla valenza del principio della corrispondenza fra chiesto e pronunciato nel giudizio di legittimità in via incidentale e valuta la percorribilità di vie alternative che consentirebbero il conseguimento del medesimo risultatoIn judgment no. 83 of 2025, the Constitutional Court declared Article 583 quinquies of the
Criminal Code to be unconstitutional insofar as it does not provide for a “safety valve” for less
serious offences. In light of the Court's departure in this ruling from the requests made by the
referring judges, the author questions the validity of the principle of correspondence between the request and the ruling in the incidental review of constitutionality and assesses the practicability of alternative approaches that would allow the same result to be achieved
Short-Lasting Unilateral Neuralgiform Headache Attacks with Cranial Autonomic Symptoms (SUNA)
No full textThis case report presents a 38-year-old woman who presented with worsening of a preexisting facial pain. The pain was described as severe, stabbing sensations occurring in a sawtooth pattern, involving the distribution of the ophthalmic and maxillary branches of the trigeminal nerve on the left side, accompanied by grittiness in the left eye, congestion in the left nostril, and left aural fullness. Attacks last between 30 s and 2 min and occur from several to up to a hundred times daily with no refractory period between the attacks. Neurological examination was unremarkable. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a loop of the left superior cerebellar artery close to the left trigeminal nerve but without signal abnormalities in the root entry zone. Considering the lack of refractory period and the presence of ipsilateral cranial autonomic symptoms, she was diagnosed with short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with cranial autonomic symptoms (SUNA) and started on treatment with intravenous lidocaine and subsequently oral lamotrigine, to which she responded well.
SUNA is a rare primary headache disorder classified under trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs). It has a challenging presentation and is often misdiagnosed, negatively impacting the quality of life of the sufferers. In this chapter, we provide a comprehensive clinical overview of SUNA, aiming to enhance the identification of this condition and offer strategies for its management
L'acqua, immagine del potere. Il paesaggio idrogeopolitico coerente della Bassa Valle dell'Omo etiope
No full textLa presente ricerca propone un approccio metodologico alternativo allo studio del rapporto tra acqua, spazio e potere. Attraverso il concetto di paesaggio idrogeopolitico coerente, sarà indagato il caso della Bassa Valle dell'Omo in Etiopia, area caratterizzata da un'elevata frammentazione etnica e da specifiche dinamiche di controllo delle risorse idriche.
L'analisi prenderà avvio da una ricostruzione critica del dibattito idrogeopolitico contemporaneo, soffermandosi sulle teorie realiste, che interpretano la scarsità idrica come variabile determinante di conflitto o cooperazione, e sulle prospettive critiche ed egemoniche, che leggono la questione idrica alla luce delle pratiche discorsive e dei meccanismi di dominazione. Tali approcci, pur avendo contribuito alla comprensione delle dinamiche idriche, presentano limiti interpretativi che riducono la complessità del rapporto acqua-spazio-potere a schemi rigidi e funzionalisti. Per superare tali limiti, la ricerca introdurrà il framework metodologico del paesaggio idrogeopolitico coerente, proponendosi di individuare il modello comportamentale a cui risponde il sistema di potere etiope utilizzando le pratiche di controllo, distribuzione e gestione dell’acqua come mezzi interpretativi. Tale framework metodologico sarà applicato al paesaggio coerente della Bassa Valle dell'Omo, confrontando le pratiche idriche formali imposte dall'autorità centrale attraverso la costruzione della diga Gibe III e il lancio del Kuraz Sugar Development Project con le pratiche informali delle comunità indigene, fondate sull'agricoltura di recessione delle piene. L'analisi dimostrerà come il controllo federale delle acque risponda al modello dello Stato sviluppista, evidenziando l'incompatibilità tra gli obiettivi economici nazionali e i sistemi di sussistenza locali. Tale lettura risulta rilevante anche in un'ottica di cooperazione allo sviluppo: le comunità autoctone tendono infatti a percepire i progetti cooperativi come espressione dell'autorità centrale, pertanto la loro efficacia dipende dal grado di legittimità che tale autorità riesce a costruire presso le popolazioni locali. L'obiettivo complessivo della ricerca sarà dunque quello di dimostrare che l'analisi delle pratiche idriche concrete, quando condotta alla scala del paesaggio idrogeopolitico coerente, consenta di restituire maggiore complessità al rapporto tra acqua, spazio e potere, superando le semplificazioni proprie delle teorie conflittuali ed egemoniche
Vision-based deep learning approaches for post-earthquake building damage assessment
No full textThis doctoral thesis tackles a challenge in earthquake engineering: the timely and reliable
assessment of damage to buildings after an earthquake. Traditional evaluations often rely on
visual inspections conducted by structural engineers using standardized forms, such as the
Italian AeDES protocol. While these methods are necessary, they tend to be time-consuming,
subjective, and hard to apply during large seismic events. Driven by these challenges, this
thesis examines how vision-based Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Convolutional
Neural Networks (CNNs), can improve the post-earthquake damage assessment process.
The main goals of this research are twofold: (i) to evaluate the performance of various
modern CNN architectures for seismic damage classification in buildings, with a focus on
the VGG16 model, and (ii) to create and validate a new dataset designed for earthquake
damage classification, enhancing existing collections.
The contribution of this new proposed dataset is a key part of this work. Previous
datasets, like PEER Φ-Net, ReLUIS, and the INGV photographic database, provided useful
starting points but faced issues like class imbalances, inconsistent labeling criteria, and
discrepancies across different sources. To address these problems, a new dataset was created.
Structural engineers re-annotated it following the AeDES guidelines and expanded it through
a systematic process that included geometric transformations and oversampling. The final
balanced dataset contains nearly 20,000 labeled samples, covering four damage states (None,
Slight, Moderate, Heavy) across various building types and structural elements. This dataset
not only supports the experiments in this thesis but also serves as a valuable resource for
future research in automated post-disaster assessments.
On the methodological side, the thesis has first gone through the problem of CNN
efficacy in a comparative study of different well-known architectures like AlexNet, DenseNet,
ResNet, EfficientNet-B0, and particularly VGG16. Results have corroborated the strength of
CNN-based methods in the identification of earthquake-caused damage to be stable, with
accuracies always exceeding 80% and the best-performing setups getting close to 90% on
the curated dataset. VGG16, even though it is one of the earlier deep architectures, turns out
to be the most powerful model when the correct data augmentation and transfer learning
strategies are applied. What these outcomes emphasize is that in the case of relatively
small and highly specialized datasets as seismic imagery, the choice of a less complex deep
learning model along with the development of a carefully curated dataset can give better
results than the use of more complex and deeper networks.
Moreover, the thesis goes beyond the CNN benchmarking to consider the implementation
of more sophisticated data-fusion strategies for the enrichment of the classification process.
To facilitate the extraction of high-frequency coefficients representing edges and the local
texture details of the targeted images the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) was introduced.
These coefficients were then mixed with RGB images through early and intermediate
fusion schemes. This approach proved to be the most promising in terms of accuracy with
performance improved almost to 87% as well as better recognition of faint damage levels
such as "Moderate" that usually are barely differentiable. This proves to be the perfect
example of how spatial and spectral representations can be successfully combined for damage
recognition in structures using computer-vision.
In addition, it was explored the potential of Transformer-based architectures: in particular,
four variants of the Vision Transformer (ViT) were implemented and benchmarked, reaching good performance with both accuracy and F1-score peaking at 88%, thereby surpassing
most CNN-based approaches on the curated dataset.
Another consistent portion of this thesis was marked by the incorporation of AI-based
classification alongside seismic capacity assessment. The conceptual framework was only
briefly mentioned and later explained with a small case study: damage factors derived from
CNN were converted into mechanical reduction factors of the stiffness, strength and ductility
properties of the structure according to the guidelines of FEMA 306, and were thus usable
for nonlinear structural analyses. As a result, the updated pushover curves for buildings with
different damage levels were obtained, which enabled the residual seismic capacity to be
estimated. Experimental situations involving earthquakes were used to test the performance
of the method. The results indicate that automated visual classification can provide valuable
input for structural performance evaluation. Hence, this study moves on to the next level of
decision making in the field of structural engineering, which is the evaluation of safety after
the quake by employing a quantitative method.
Overall, the findings of this research underline that the combination of AI-based vision
techniques and structural mechanics can significantly accelerate, standardize, and objectify
post-earthquake assessment workflows. The results also show that the construction of
a tailored and rigorously annotated dataset is at least as important as model selection,
confirming that data quality is a primary driver of performance in AI-based earthquake
engineering. This thesis, therefore, contributes both a methodological framework and a
novel dataset, laying the groundwork for future developments in AI-augmented seismic risk
management and digital-twin integration
L’approfondimento qualitativo nelle scuole ad alto rischio
No full textl presente capitolo si propone di ricostruire i processi mediante i quali gli adolescenti definiscono, legittimano e regolano il rischio nelle pratiche quotidiane. L’impianto analitico si sviluppa attorno a tre assi: (i) percezioni, accettabilità e posture del rischio; (ii) dinamiche motivazionali – con particolare attenzione all’adrenalina come esperienza ricercata; (iii) fattori di rischio e risorse protettive che modulano le condotte pericolose. Il paragrafo 1 sintetizza disegno e contesto dell’indagine; il paragrafo 2 tratta il legame tra rischio e costruzione identitaria, con un focus specifico sulla costruzione del limite; il paragrafo 3 approfondisce l’adrenalina come principale leva motivazionale al rischio e, infine, i paragrafi 4 e 5 analizzano, rispettivamente, i principali fattori di rischio e le risorse protettive. Chiude una sezione di conclusioni. L’obiettivo è offrire una lettura d’insieme, teoricamente informata ed empiricamente fondata, dei modi in cui gli adolescenti tengono in equilibrio – talora in tensione – esplorazione, appartenenza e controllo
Geographies of the Sacred East of Rome
No full textThe essay investigates the notion of the sacred as a foundational category of human experience and as a device capable of structuring space and landscape, taking the Aniene Valley—particularly the stretch east of Rome—as an emblematic case study. Drawing on the theoretical framework outlined by Émile Durkheim and Mircea Eliade, the text interprets the sacred not as an intrinsic quality of places, but rather as the outcome of symbolic, ritual, and social processes that, over time, have set apart, consecrated, and endowed specific territorial contexts with meaning.
The author highlights how the Aniene Valley displays a stratification of signs—necropoleis, mausoleums, sanctuaries, monasteries, rural churches—that testify to both the continuity and the transformation of religious practices from antiquity through the Middle Ages to the present day. In particular, the stretch between Rome and Tivoli preserves traces of a diffuse sacrality that is now partially obscured by urbanization, whereas beyond Tivoli the natural landscape—forests, mountain ridges, and waterways—emerges as a privileged matrix for monastic and contemplative experiences, culminating in the Benedictine complexes of Subiaco.
The contribution proposes an integrated reading that brings together architecture, orography, and spirituality, emphasizing the role of pilgrimage routes and slow mobility as epistemological tools and as practices for reactivating the sacred landscape. The guide thus presents itself not as a mere catalog of monuments, but as a cultural project aimed at restoring unity to the relationship between memory, collective identity, and territory, enhancing both tangible and intangible heritage through a mindful experience of walking