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La magia delle cose, il design degli artefatti tra rito e comunità.
No full text1. ha ancora senso progettare oggetti?
Se oggi sia ancora necessario progettare altri oggetti è una questione di rilevante importanza. La risposta a tale interrogativo è probabilmente affermativa, poiché l’atto di consumare e ancora prima quello di produrre immagini è una necessità intrinseca nell’esperienza umana, un vero e proprio fatto di specie (Severi,2018).
A fronte di questa esigenza, rimane fondamentale un’analisi critica riguardo ai cambiamenti nelle modalità di progettazione, produzione e conservazione delle cose e del loro valore. Osservando con occhio da designer il mondo degli oggetti, sembra chiara la necessità di una loro risignificazione; si tratta di un’esigenza espressa dagli stessi designer, i quali si interrogano - come scrive Mario Trimarchi - su quali siano gli oggetti inevitabili (2024). In The New Poetic Activism, il design Italiano alla ricerca degli oggetti inevitabili (2024) ispeziona nuove modalità per abitare lo spazio e migliorare la qualità delle relazioni con gli altri,
al di là delle logiche commerciali (Trimarchi, 2024).
2. Qual è la conseguenza dell’iper produzione
è quindi oramai noto e condiviso che la produzione su grande scala comporti di un’automazione della società e di un indebolimento dei significati negli oggetti (Han, 2021). Si giunge così all'affermazione di artefatti effimeri e all’automatismo del l’usa e getta, un ulteriore ostacolo contro l’affezione alle cose.
Oggetti tutti uguali si ripetono nella quotidianità delle persone rendendo effimero il loro rapporto con le cose. Ciò ha inevitabili ripercussioni anche sul concetto di identità, un tema tanto caro alla disciplina del design (Trocchianesi, 2018) giacchè gli oggetti sono anche uno strumento per mostrare senso di appartenenza.
3. il contesto della comunità
L’identità si costruisce con le differenze (Remotti, 2021) ed è proprio nelle comunità che si riscontrano recinti identitari ben definiti (Ibidem) nei quali meglio si evidenzia una continuità tra la produzione di artefatti culturali, dei loro valori immateriali, dell’identità e del senso di appartenenza. Inoltre, quello delle comunità è un campo di indagine all’interno del quale il design già agisce (Trocchianesi, 2018) e può mettere in atto azioni mirate intervenendo con prossimità siccome la comunità rappresenta un perimetro di intervento circoscritto nel quale è possibile svolgere pratiche misurabili lavorando direttamente con gli utenti finali.
4. la scomparsa delle comunità
La smodata produzione che caratterizza il nostro tempo tende alla smaterializzazione delle specificità rendendo tutto liquido (Bauman, 2002); come dice Manzini (2015) si sta assistendo alla fine dei luoghi e delle località, è necessario riconoscere il ruolo dei flussi e la crisi dei luoghi tradizionali alla quale corrisponde la diffusione dei “non luoghi” (Augè, 2005). A conferire unicità al patrimonio culturale di un contesto sono le peculiarità dei suoi artefatti che, siano essi materiali o immateriali, si configurano e si esprimono in relazione alla specifica cultura di appartenenza. Se viene meno la comunità capace di produrre questi contenuti, di riconoscersi in essi e di preservarli, vengono meno i valori immateriali degli artefatti e si alimenta il meccanismo dell’automazione della società (Han, 2021). Con l’avvento della società urbanizzata, il concetto di comunità viene messo in crisi e assume significati sempre più ampi e diversi.
5. Come può intervenire il design?
Uno degli obiettivi che anche il design dovrebbe porsi è approfondire le modalità che possono contribuire alla conservazione del patrimonio culturale materiale e immateriale sommerso – come storie, oggetti, tradizioni, memorie, usanze e artefatti – che fatica a essere preservato e rischia di andare perduto.
Per offrire una chiave di lettura alla disciplina del design questa tesi riflette sulle relazioni tra rito, oggetto-artefatto e comunità, con l’intento di analizzare se il rito possa essere ancora utilizzato come strumento per dare significato alle cose. È possibile indagare il fenomeno arcaico della vita per restituire la vera identità delle cose, degli spazi e delle persone? Una delle forme più arcaiche dell’espressione della vita umana è il rito; come dice Durkheim (2005), anche i riti più barbari, o più bizzarri, insieme ai miti, traducono qualche bisogno umano, in qualche aspetto della vita individuale o sociale. Gillo Dorfles in Nuovi Riti, nuovi miti (1965) scrive che le persone sono affascinate e attratte dalla mitopoiesi pertanto, generano costantemente simboli da venerare; allo stesso modo sono affascinate dai riti perché vengono coinvolte nella loro mise-en-scène, quindi dal loro processo (Trocchianesi, Pils, 2018).
Il rito è uno degli strumenti che le comunità mettono in scena per manifestare il proprio senso di appartenenza, per conservare un patrimonio; i rituali stessi diventano parte di quel capitale culturale.
Con le comunità gli oggetti assumono grande importanza all’interno dei riti di passaggio: le cose che si utilizzano o si scambiano nel contesto rituale sono artefatti investiti di un valore immateriale e simbolico, riescono ad agire in sostituzione ad un qualcosa (Severi, 2018) che non è presente o tangibile, operando da veri e propri memorabilia, oggetti narrativi che raccontano storie di comunità virgola di ricordi virgola di legami e di appartenenza. Alcuni feticci coinvolti nel rito sono veri e propri oggetti mitologici (Mircea, 1968, 1875) portatori di storie, conservano in nuce un forte legame rispetto al contesto in cui sono nati.
La tesi di ricerca propone anche l’individuazione e la selezione di alcuni artefatti che fanno parte dei riti di passaggio; viene così costruito un breve esempio di atlas come strumento di esplorazione. Le tavole realizzate permettono di fare considerazioni sugli artefatti riflettendo sul loro significato identitario e sulla loro permanenza nel trascorrere del tempo come modelli ai quali il design – e non solo – si è ispirato o continua ad ispirarsi modificandone talvolta il destino.
Si approfondisce, così, il complesso rapporto tra oggetti, comunità e rito con l’obiettivo di indagare se possa avere un ruolo nelle strategie di attivazione di comunità, in particolare quelle delle aree interne siccome rappresentano uno dei contesti in via di esaurimento all'interno dei quali si custodiscono importanti specificità culturali.
Perciò si definiscono delle pratiche di design e co-desgin - approfondite e sviluppate tramite workshop e processi di partecipazione nella field research - che vedono il trinomio rito,comunità,artefatto agire come un tool per sollecitare l’emersione di patrimoni culturali sommersi, grazie ad una riconnessione con le proprie origini e con il proprio senso di appartenenza.
Infine, con questa ricerca si desidera offrire un contributo significativo alla disciplina del design mettendo in evidenza la centralità dei riti, in particolare quelli di passaggio e degli oggetti simbolici come tool per la conservazione della memoria e come pratica di coesione sociale nelle comunità. Una modalità per riattivare il senso di appartenenza collettivo e la memoria delle comunità dei territori.1. does it still make sense to design objects? Whether it is still necessary to design objects today is a question of major importance. The answer to this question is probably affirmative, since the act of consuming and even before that of producing images is an intrinsic necessity in the human experience, a true fact of species (Severi,2018). In the face of this need, a critical analysis of changes in the way things are designed, produced and stored and their value remains fundamental. Observing the world of objects with a designer's eye, the need for their re-signification seems clear; it is a need expressed by the designers themselves, who ask themselves - as Mario Trimarchi writes - what are the inevitable objects (2024). In The New Poetic Activism, Italian design in search of the inevitable objects (2024) inspects new ways of inhabiting space and improving the quality of relations with others, beyond commercial logic (Trimarchi, 2024).
2. What is the consequence of hyper production
It is therefore now well known and agreed that large-scale production leads to an automation of society and a weakening of meanings in objects (Han, 2021). This leads to the affirmation of ephemeral artefacts and the automatism of the disposable, a further obstacle against affection for things. Objects that are all the same are repeated in people's everyday lives, making their relationship with things ephemeral. This also has inevitable repercussions on the concept of identity, a theme so dear to the discipline of design (Trocchianesi, 2018) since objects are also a means of showing a sense of belonging.
3. the community context
Identity is built with differences (Remotti, 2021) and it is precisely in communities that we find well-defined identity enclosures (Ibid.) in which a continuity between the production of cultural artefacts, their intangible values, identity and sense of belonging is best evidenced. Moreover, communities are a field of investigation within which design already acts (Trocchianesi, 2018) and can implement targeted actions by intervening with proximity since the community represents a circumscribed perimeter of intervention in which it is possible to carry out measurable practices by working directly with end users.
4. the disappearance of communities
The inordinate production that characterises our time tends towards the dematerialisation of specificities, making everything liquid (Bauman, 2002); as Manzini (2015) says, we are witnessing the end of places and localities, it is necessary to recognise the role of flows and the crisis of traditional places to which corresponds the spread of ‘non-places’ (Augè, 2005). What gives uniqueness to the cultural heritage of a context are the peculiarities of its artefacts which, whether material or immaterial, are configured and expressed in relation to the specific culture to which they belong. If the community capable of producing these contents, of recognising itself in them and preserving them, the immaterial values of the artefacts disappear and the mechanism of the automation of society is fuelled (Han, 2021). With the advent of the urbanised society, the concept of community is challenged and takes on ever broader and more diverse meanings.
5. How can design intervene?
One of the objectives that design should also set itself is to investigate ways in which it can contribute to the preservation of the submerged material and immaterial cultural heritage - such as stories, objects, traditions, memories, customs and artefacts - that struggle to be preserved and risk being lost.In order to offer a key to the discipline of design, this thesis reflects on the relationships between ritual, object-artefact and community, with the aim of analysing whether ritual can still be used as a tool to give meaning to things. Is it possible to investigate the archaic phenomenon of life in order to restore the true identity of things, spaces and people? One of the most archaic forms of expression of human life is ritual; as Durkheim (2005) says, even the most barbaric or bizarre rites, along with myths, translate some human need into some aspect of individual or social life. Gillo Dorfles in New Rites, New Myths (1965) writes that people are fascinated and attracted by mythopoiesis therefore, they are constantly generating symbols to be worshipped; similarly, they are fascinated by rituals because they are involved in their mise-en-scène, hence by their process (Trocchianesi, Pils, 2018). Ritual is one of the tools that communities use to manifest their sense of belonging, to preserve a heritage; the rituals themselves become part of that cultural capital. With communities, objects take on great importance within rites of passage: the things that are used or exchanged in the ritual context are artefacts invested with an immaterial and symbolic value, they are able to act as substitutes for something (Severi, 2018) that is not present or tangible, operating as true memorabilia, narrative objects that tell stories of community comma memories comma ties and belonging. Some of the fetishes involved in ritual are true mythological objects (Mircea, 1968, 1875), bearers of stories, they preserve in nuce a strong bond with the context in which they were born. The research thesis also proposes the identification and selection of certain artefacts that are part of rites of passage; a brief example of an atlas is thus constructed as a tool for exploration. The tables created make it possible to make considerations on the artefacts by reflecting on their identity significance and their permanence in the passage of time as models to which design - and not only - has been inspired or continues to be inspired, sometimes modifying their destiny. Thus, the complex relationship between objects, community and ritual is explored with the aim of investigating whether it can play a role in community activation strategies, in particular those of inland areas as they represent one of the dwindling contexts within which important cultural specificities are preserved. Therefore, we define design and co-desgin practices - deepened and developed through workshops and participatory processes in the field research - that see the trinomial ritual, community, artefact act as a tool to solicit the emergence of submerged cultural heritages, thanks to a reconnection with one's origins and sense of belonging. Finally, with this research we wish to offer a significant contribution to the discipline of design by highlighting the centrality of rites, particularly those of passage and symbolic objects as a tool for preserving memory and as a practice of social cohesion in communities. A way to reactivate the collective sense of belonging and the memory of communities in the territories
ModSec-Learn: Boosting ModSecurity with Machine Learning
No full textModSecurity is widely recognized as the standard open-source Web Application Firewall (WAF), maintained by the OWASP Foundation. It detects malicious requests by matching them against the Core Rule Set (CRS), identifying well-known attack patterns. Each rule is manually assigned a weight based on the severity of the corresponding attack, and a request is blocked if the sum of the weights of matched rules exceeds a given threshold. However, we argue that this strategy is largely ineffective against web attacks, as detection is only based on heuristics and not customized on the application to protect. In this work, we overcome this issue by proposing a machine-learning model that uses the CRS rules as input features. Through training, ModSec-Learn is able to tune the contribution of each CRS rule to predictions, thus adapting the severity level to the web applications to protect. Our experiments show that ModSec-Learn achieves a significantly better trade-off between detection and false positive rates. Finally, we analyze how sparse regularization can reduce the number of rules that are relevant at inference time, by discarding more than 30% of the CRS rules. We release our open-source code and the dataset at https://github.com/pralab/modsec-learn and https://github.com/pralab/http-traffic-dataset, respectively
Infrastrutture idrauliche nella provincia d'Asia: provvedimenti romani e amministrazione indiretta
No full textThe study of selected Early Imperial epigraphic sources from the province of Asia concerning the management of aqueducts, river, and harbor basins provides a heuristic entry point for exploring the relationships between provincial cities and the levels of imperial and proconsular government during the Principate.
The analysis of these epigraphic documents allows for the identification of differences among the various civic statutes, which are significant from a public law perspective and highly consistent with the reconstruction of the dynamics of indirect rule characteristic of the eastern provinces, as proposed by the most recent scholarship. Furthermore, it will be examined how proconsular regulations shape, both linguistically and in terms of content, the established norms regarding the city of Rome, as defined by 'leges publicae' and 'senatusconsulta'
Computer Vision Techniques in Cavitation Studies
No full textCollecting experimental data is of considerable importance in the study of cavitation. Indeed, empirical methods are often used in the design of ship propellers.
In this scenario, acquiring a deeper and more detailed knowledge of cavitation phenomena would allow a more comprehensive understanding of their effects and risks and, therefore, a more efficient design.
This thesis presents an approach based on computer vision techniques for studying cavitation.
Specifically, the research focuses on analyzing the dynamics of cavitating structures and their influence on cavitation-related effects, such as underwater radiated noise and cavitation erosion. To this end, two distinct case studies were considered.
For each case, the proposed approach demonstrated that applying computer vision to the study of cavitation provides valuable data that are otherwise challenging or impossible to obtain. Furthermore, combining the information derived from computer vision algorithms with the time resolution offered by high-speed video recordings allows for quantitative observation of the dynamics of cavitation phenomena.
This kind of data provides valuable information, whether for estimating a phenomenon's erosive potential or predicting the produced acoustic radiation.
Unfortunately, using these techniques in conventional tests conducted in cavitation tunnels is not straightforward due to various environmental factors that significantly complicate measurements.
For this reason, the thesis details the method's development, showing the challenges encountered and the solutions adopted at each stage.
The resulting method proved robust and adaptable to different scenarios with a moderate level of effort. It enabled the collection of detailed measurements of cavitation and its dynamics, paving the way for new and insightful studies
New Methodologies and Ultrasound Techniques for the Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Sarcopenia: Development of Software for Automated Analysis of Radiofrequency and B-mode Image Data in Clinical Practice (UTMOST)
No full textReduced muscle mass and function are associated with severe complications, increased morbidity, and mortality. Ultrasound (US), despite being cost-effective and portable, is still underutilized in muscle trophism assessment due to its reliance on operator expertise and measurement variability. This project aimed to overcome these limitations by developing a deep learning model that predicts muscle density, as assessed by CT, using US data, exploring the feasibility of a novel US-based parameter for muscle trophism.
A sample of adult participants admitted to the San Martino University Hospital’s emergency department between May 2022 and March 2023 was enrolled in this single-center study. The rectus abdominis muscle was selected as the target muscle. US examinations were performed with a L11-3 MHz probe directly on the CT table before contrast administration. The rectus abdominis muscles were scanned in the transverse plane, recording a US image on both sides, with a region of interest (ROI) positioned within the muscle. For each participant, the same operator calculated the average target muscle density in Hounsfield Units from an axial CT slice closely matching the US scanning plane.
After quality review, the final dataset included 1090 US images from 551 participants (mean age 67 ± 17, 323 males). A deep learning algorithm was developed to classify US images into three muscle density classes based on CT values. The model achieved promising performance, with a categorical accuracy of 70% and AUC values of 0.89, 0.79, and 0.90 across the three classes.
This project introduces an innovative approach to automated muscle trophism assessment using US imaging. Future efforts should focus on external validation in diverse populations and clinical settings, as well as expanding its application to other muscles
Magnetic Noise Mitigation Strategies for the Einstein Telescope Infrastructure
No full textThe Einstein Telescope (ET) will be a third-generation Gravitational Wave (GW) detector that will tackle cutting-edge technological challenges. The ET will be constructed at a depth of 200–300 m to isolate it from vibrations caused by seismic waves and human activities, which are sources of noise for GW detection. To meet the ET’s objectives, it will be necessary to improve low-frequency sensitivity by about two orders of magnitude compared to current interferometers (LIGO, Virgo). Magnetic noise is a limiting noise in the frequency range from a few Hz up to around 100 Hz in future GW detectors. This article will discuss the magnetic noise mitigation strategies under development, based on experiences from Virgo
Il bostrico dell’abete rosso in Alta Valle Camonica: tra minacce territoriali e patrimonio paesaggistico vissuto
No full text
Morphologic Development of the Posterior Sloping Angle of the Proximal Femoral Epiphysis in Children: What Is the Peak Risk Age for Slipping?
No full textObjective: The purpose of this study was to describe the developmental patterns of the posterior sloping angle (PSA) of the proximal femoral epiphyseal growth plate (PFEP) in a cohort of healthy Chinese children aged 5 to 14 years.
Methods: Pelvic frog-leg lateral radiographs of 400 healthy children (n= 800 hips) were retrospectively analyzed. The cohort included 215 males and 185 females with a mean age of 9.5 years (5 to 14). PSA measurements of the PFEP were obtained bilaterally
from frog leg lateral radiographs. Subjects were equally divided into 10 subgroups of 40 patients each (80 hips per group) based on age, starting at 5 years of age; in addition, sex and lateral differences, as well as age-related developmental patterns were analyzed.
Results: The PSA was −2.6± 3.1 degrees at 5 years of age, indicating mild anterior inclination of the femoral epiphysis. It increased to 6.2± 4.6 degrees at 11 years of age, decreased to 3.9 ±4.3 degrees at 12 years of age, and then stabilized until 14 years of age. Before 11 years of age, there was no significant sex difference in PSA values, whereas, after 11 years of age, males had a PSA of 5.8 ± 4.3 degrees compared with 3.7± 5.0 degrees in females (P< 0.001), with the former showing an average increase of ~2 to 3 degrees more. In addition, the left PSA was ~2 degrees greater than the right PSA in both men and women (P<0.001).
Conclusions: Before puberty, PSA gradually increased with age, peaking at 11 years of age, followed by a slight decline and then stabilization. After the age of 11 years, males had higher PSA levels than females, with the PSA of the left side being significantly
higher than that of the right side. Understanding these developmental patterns may aid in the assessment and monitoring of adolescent PFEP disorders.
Level of Evidence: Level III—diagnostic studies
