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La simulazione in architettura per il controllo dei consumi energetici e del territorio negli appalti pubblici (verdi)
Get PDFIt is known that, despite the actual economic crisis, the public procurement sector
continues to maintain consistent dimensions and to move huge economic resources involving
various sectors of market.
This is true for works, supplies and services.
For the environment, the consequences of our actions have today to be monitored and
checked in a very efficient way, because of we have the moral obligation to save the planet life.
Considering the importance of public procurement, we must include in our economical
proceedings also green rules.
The aim of this study is to define how the simulation can be used in the architectural field
and help every phase of the building process.
Trough the simulation, we can have every kind of information about our buildings and all
that are important to make we able to appreciate what will be the best efficient actions for that
buildings, based on real priority and on more concrete specific plans.
We are speaking about simulation model as Bayesian networks, that can be used for each
kind of public building, to manage the energy efficiency and ordinary life in general.
With a similar tool in its hands, Public Administration will be again the main actor in the
decisional show about future plans, and it will become the director of the activities, having already
studying the situation and it will be able to give more specific public notice for future plans.
Furthermore, one of the most important advantages we can take from this job is that all
the operator involved in the procurement cycle (contractors, engineers, architects and designer in
general) will have to upgrade their studio’s structure and improve their own expertise, to become
more competitive in making their tenders for a specific public announcement.
In this way, also Public Administration will take very huge advantages. In fact, it will have
both the possibility to experiment the simulation in public procurement for retraining its own
existing real estate patrimony, developing an exemplary role for the community (as required by
the Directive 2012/27/UE, artt. 4 and 5), and, from the other side, it will be the first one who will
take benefits from a significant economic saving, due to this more specific way of planning actions
and to the important energy performance costs reduction of its own existing real estate patrimony
still in activity
Extreme rainfall regime characterization in Sardinia using daily rainfall data
Get PDFFor the design of hydraulic structures for flood conveyance and discharge, or
protection of territory against flood is fundamental the knowledge of the ``extreme
rainfall regime'' in the area where the hydraulic structures must be set up.
Indeed the design flood is commonly evaluated as output of rainfall-runoff models that
receive as input the quantitative description of a rainfall extreme event with a given
exceedance probability.
This dissertation assesses the performance of different statistical approaches in
characterizing extreme rainfall in the island of Sardinia (Italy).
After a detailed review of the theoretical bases of existing methodologies, we compare
the results obtained from the use of:
a) a Generalized Extreme value (GEV) distribution model, and a Two component
Extreme Value (TCEV) distribution model, both applied to yearly maxima of daily
rainfall, and b) a Generalized Pareto (GP) distribution model applied to rainfall
excesses above a properly specified threshold. For the latter purpose, we use the
Multiple Threshold Method (MTM) developed by Deidda(2010), which demonstrate
good performance also in the case of quantized records.
In order to describe the spatial variation of TCEV, GEV and GP model parameters a
regional approach based on homogeneous regions, and two versions of Kriging (a
commonly used geostatistical approach) i.e. ordinary Kriging (OK), and Kriging for
uncertain Data (KUD), are compared.
The obtained results are very promising, pointing towards the use of: a)a GEV
distribution model for yearly rainfall maxima, and a KUD model to describe the spatial
variation of model parameters, and b)a GP model for rainfall excesses and either an OK
or a KUD model for the spatial variation of model parameters. The reason why the OK
and KUD approaches lead to the same results in the GP case, is attributed to the
robustness of the MTM method
Analisi metabolimetrica di un campione di donne obese soggette a Weight Cycling
Get PDFBackground: Obesity, a major health problem, is usually ascribed to energy imbalance. In obese people, this might be due to hypothalamic alterations in the control of body composition, thermogenesis and energy expenditure (EE), especially in “weight cyclers” (WC).
Aim of the study: To verify energy balance and accuracy of the procedure.
Materials and methods: In a group of 8 obese WC women (BMI=32.8) energy balance was assessed throughout a period of 9 months. Energy expenditure was estimated through a SenseWear Armband © (AB) alternate to a physical activity recording, whereas caloric intake through food consumption diaries compiled by subjects. A control group of 15 normal weight women (BMI=21.5) underwent the same procedures and was monitored for 1 month. We confirm validity of the procedure through a comparison by an indirect calorimeter in a group of 12 WC obese women (BMI 33.9). A systematic revision of the comparison between AB and indirect calorimetry (IC) was performed to verify the objectivity of the method.
Results: In the analysis of data, energy balance was 869kcal negative than predicted contemplating body composition shifting. This gap was only 350kcal in the control group.
Resting metabolic rate (RMR) measured via IC was 20% less than estimated with Armband, the difference was statistically significant with T-test (p < 0.05). Bland-Altman test showed a weak compatibility between methods. Systematic revision confirmed an overestimation trend, particularly in RMR.
Discussion: AB overestimates EE in our sample and this trend was confirmed by systematic revision of the data literature. Methods are not interchangeable because Bland-Altman test has a too large bias.
Conclusions: Although it's likely present an underestimation in food recording, AB overestimates EE in this small group of WC women. Estimating energy balance in dynamic conditions is a very hard task.
Limitations of the study: Measures were not taken in the same experimental conditions. Sample is small
Synthesis and Characterization of Bi2S3 Colloidal Nanoparticles for Photovoltaic Applications
Get PDFGlobal energy consumption is expected to increase significantly together with the greenhouse gas emissions and the problem of fossil fuels exhaustion. Solar energy, as an alternative and renewable form of energy, has gained pop- ularity as possible solution for all these problems. Lots of materials have been studied to implement the energy conversion efficiency of the so-called third generation solar cells. These devices could be a cheaper alternatives to the silicon-based ones. Unfortunately, they are often characterized by short life- time or health hazardous materials. Bismuth sulfide(Bi2S3) is a promising n-type semiconductor for solar energy conversion.In this work,the properties of the compound will be discussed,as well as its potential for applications in solar energy technology.Wehave explored the colloidal synthesis of Bi2S3 nanocrystals,with the aim of employing them in the fabrication of solution- processable solar cells and to replace toxic heavy metals chalcogenides likePbS or CdS,that are currently employed in such devices. We compare different methods to obtain Bi2S3 colloidal quantum dots, including the useof environmentally benign reactants, through horganometallic synthesis. Surfactant-assisted colloidal synthesis(SACS) methods were used to synthesize Bi2S3 nanoparticles with different size and shape.These methods have been employed changing systematically several parameters such as temperature and timeofsynthesis, concentration ofchemical reagents and sulfur precursors. Morphological characteristics and optical properties of all the synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-Vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. After the characterization of electrical properties of bismuth sulfide sam- ples together with the preliminary attempts to find the most advantageous methods for the production of homogeneous film on conductive supports, asample was chosen like standard and it was employed in building of various prototype of third generation solution processed solar cells. Dip and spin coat- ing techniques were employed to produce homogeneous film of nanoparticleson conductive support, also in combination with organic polymer such P3HT, Pedot:PSS and Spiro-OMeTAD. The resulting solar cells were tested for power conversion efficiency (PCE). Synthesis and characterizations have been carried out in Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, under the supervision of Prof. Anna Musinu and Prof. Carla Cannas. Optoelectronic characterizations and solar cells manufacturing have been carried out in Di- partimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, under the supervision of Prof. Michele Saba, Prof. Andrea Mura and Prof. Giovanni Bongiovanni
From Soft Power to “wenhua ruan shili”: Theory and Practice in the Chinese Discourse on Soft Power
Get PDFWith the introduction of Joseph S. Nye’s theory of soft power in the 1990s, the analysis of
power relations within the field of today’s world politics reveals that their nature is changing
and that attraction wielded to generate desired outcomes is becoming increasingly relevant as
one of its components. The study establishes this theory as a frame for the investigation of the
discourse on China’s use of soft power in its ascendance as a world power, which currently
permeates academic and political spheres around the globe. In this dissertation, a specific
attempt is made to understand how China views its own soft power, placing particular
attention on the cultural aspect of it, and stressing the features that differentiate the Chinese
interpretation of soft power from the Western discourse. Through an interdisciplinary
examination of Chinese leaders’ official speeches, policy documents, news and media, and
academic papers and volumes, it will thus be shown how the original soft power concept has
been reinterpreted, modified, and expanded since being incorporated in the Chinese context.
The related debate, which started in the early 1990s, when the theory made its first
appearance in intellectual circles, being presented at first through translations of Nye’s works
and discussed from a theoretical perspective in scholarly articles, has gradually penetrated the
policy-making and leadership levels. Since the Hu Jintao era and, even more assuredly, in the
current Xi Jinping era, the theory of soft power has been concretely included within China’s
national strategy, as signaled by the incorporation into the political jargon of not only the
wording “ruan shil
PATCHWORK METROPOLIS. Un modello teorico per il progetto dei territori contemporanei
Get PDFIn 1989 the young Dutch architect Willem Jan Neutelings developed a project for the area in between Rotterdam and the Hague that was going to face, in the following years, a huge increment of population and activities. In this context Neutelings proposed his personal reinterpretation of the urban form called “De Tapijtmetropool” or “Patchwork Metropolis” .
The analyses of his work has been the methodological pretext to further investigate the different declinations of the figure of the patchwork in the urban discipline from its origins, mainly related with the work of “The Regional Planning Association of America” and ecologists such as Richard T.T. Forman, until today.
Interpreted as a general manifesto or as the explanation of a specific territorial configuration, the patchwork discourse crosses many of the preeminent topics of the modernity – the figure of the fragment, the issue of the peripheral condition and the territorial layout of the contemporary city – but also many other metaphors and researches – cities in between , the territory as a palimpsests , the city territory , the città diffusa , the archipelago city – preserving and enriching each time its precious ambiguity.
The thesis is articulated in four parts that assemble a circular story that opens and closes in the same sector of the Dutch territory. Starting with a new reading of the Neutelings’ manifesto (I) and finishing with the analyses of the political, social and territorial configuration of the Netherlands (IV), the research demonstrates retrospectively the presence of an implicit project, recognizing the elements and the typical working mechanisms of the patchwork model. The central part of this thesis (II-III) questions the operational validity of the patchwork metaphor for the urban discipline, aiming to transform the six-pages long article of Neutelings into a more coherent and grounded paradigm to interpret and design the contemporary territories.
As a project of coexistence, the patchwork deserves a preeminent role in the contemporary urban discourse, for the willingness to seek an order, even if a weak one, in a territory which is apparently missing it and to address one of the most important themes of the entire Western culture: the relationship between the one and the multiple
Presenza e significato della κίνησις nelle Enneadi di Plotino
Get PDFMy Ph.D. research is aimed at finding and analyzing the occurences of the word κίνησις,
and similar expressions, in Plotinus' Enneads. The employment of the lexicons has allowed
me to pick up a catalog of around eight hundred occurrences of the term κίνησις. I have
identified two tematic areas for the use of κίνησις, one regarding the sensible reality, the
other the intelligible reality. In the first part of my study I focus on κίνησις occurrences
that appear in reference to the body and to those souls who are related with bodies; in the
second part I analyze the construction of the intelligible reality in which κίνησις is
implicated as a γένος. In the first part of my research I present the analysis of the treaties:
2 (IV, 7); 3 (III, 1); 8 (IV, 9); 26 (III, 6); 27 (IV, 3); 28 (IV, 4); 29 (IV, 5); 14 (II, 2); 40 (II, 1); 45 (III,
7); 53 (1, 1); in the second part I present the analysis of Plotinus' treaties dedicated to the
“Genera of Being”, 42-44 (VI, 1-3
Study of metrics and practices for improving object oriented software quality
Get PDFModern software systems are large and complex products, consisting
in thousands lines of code, developed, often in a distributed environment,
by dozens of developers and produced through an industrial process, usu-
ally with short time to market. To manage such kind of complexity and
to keep the development process under control measurements and metrics
are required. The present thesis collects the outcomes of the research the
author carried on in the field of software metrics during the three years of
the Ph.D. studies. Software metrics are used to measure various aspects
of software development, including software features, processes execution,
developers' efforts, software quality, just to name a few. The first part of
the present thesis reports the results of the studies performed on product
metrics, with the final goal of helping software engineers better manage
the programmers efforts and particularly to assess software quality dur-
ing software development. The second part of this dissertation presents
the outcomes of the research aimed at shedding some light on the effec-
tiveness and impact of some development practices on software systems.
To perform these studies I used a novel approach, based on the concept
of complex network. Complex networks are in fact one of the best can-
didates to represent software systems, enabling researchers to obtain a
deeper knowledge of the structure and evolution of a software system. We
found some meaningful statistical correlations between network metrics
and software properties. Both the theoretical framework and the reported
findings might, in principle, have a practical application to assist software
engineers dealing with specific development tasks, like bug discovery or
refactoring
Le carte del primo Lavorare stanca
Get PDFThis thesis studies and describes the manuscripts related to the first edition of Lavorare
stanca, which show the inception and the development of the poems contained in the collection,
highlighting the substantial alterations made by the poet and, at times, the sudden changes of plan.
A transcript is presented for each manuscript, showing the variations and how they are depicted in
the document.
We then examine the methodologies for the handling of authorial texts of Italian authorial
philology and French genetic criticism, which were used in the selection of the type of edition and
also for the critical analysis of the editorial documents for the first poem of the collection: I mari del
Sud. This study is divided in two parts: the first follows the Italian methodology, more focused on
micro-variations, while the second part follows a genetic methodology, more focused on macrovariations.
We demonstrate that the two approaches are compatible and complementary.
Finally, the perspective is widened again to the development of the collection Lavorare
stanca. We study the authorial redactions of the table of contents and the disposition of the poems
in the print drafts and in the first edition. We also examine the cancelled attempts in creating
thematic sections in the collection, related to the observations of Pavese about the "formacanzoniere"
as they appear in his notes, secretum professionale, Il mestiere di vivere and in the
essays collected in the appendix to the second edition
Il trattamento neonatale con estradiolo modifica l'espressione e la funzione dei recettori GABAA e la sensibilità allo stress nel ratto adulto
No full textExposure of female rats to estradiol during the perinatal period affects brain sexual differentiation and induces a long-lasting dysregulation of the gonadal axis with reduced progesterone secretion, associated with persistent reductions in the cerebrocortical, hypothalamic and plasma concentrations of its metabolite, allopregnanolone. Given that allopregnanolone is a potent positive modulator of GABAA receptor (GABAAR) expression and function, it has been evaluated whether neonatal estradiol treatment affects, during adulthood, GABAAR expression and function in the hippocampus, an area that exhibits the two components, tonic and phasic, of the inhibitory GABAergic transmission. Neonatal estradiol administration to female rats induced a selective reduction in hippocampal allopregnanolone levels in adult animals, associated with increased expression of extrasynaptic α4/δ subunit-containing GABAARs and tonic currents. Moreover, the same treatment altered the expression of synaptic receptors containing α1/α4/γ2 subunits as well as phasic currents. The changes in the expression and function of GABAARs, induced by neonatal estradiol treatment, may not be related to the fluctuations in allopregnanolone concentrations, given that vehicle-treated rats in diestrus 1, which have opposite neurosteroid levels than estradiol-treated rats, show the same functional changes in GABAARs as estradiol-treated rats.
Allopregnanolone plays an important role in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) homeostasis and in the stress response. Thus, it has been examined whether neonatal exposure to estradiol was associated with altered HPA axis responsiveness and sensitivity to stress in the adulthood. Neonatal estradiol treatment induced a marked increase in brain and plasma allopregnanolone levels following foot-shock stress, an effect not observed in control animals. Moreover, acute stress increased brain and plasma corticosterone levels to a similar extent in vehicle- and estradiol-treated rats, suggesting that the greater sensitivity of estradiol-treated rats to stress might not involve a dysregulation of the HPA axis. Indeed, the dexamethasone suppression test revealed that hypothalamic and plasma corticosterone levels were decreased to a similar extent in both estradiol- and vehicle-treated adult female rats; moreover, expression of hippocampal glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors, as well as hypothalamic glucocorticoid receptors, did not differ between estradiol- and vehicle-treated adult female rats, suggesting that the increased stress sensitivity in estradiol-treated rats is independent of HPA axis function. Finally, neonatal estradiol treatment induced a greater enhancement in the extracellular concentrations of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex of adult rats exposed to foot-shock stress, an effect that was normalized by restoring allopregnanolone concentrations with progesterone administration.
These results suggest that neonatal exposure to estradiol plays a major role in the regulation of hippocampal allopregnanolone concentrations, expression and function of GABAARs, as well as stress sensitivity during adulthood. The increased expression and function of α4/δ GABAARs in the hippocampus may represent a homeostatic response to counteract the persistent decrease in allopregnanolone levels induced by neonatal treatment. Given that allopregnanolone has been reported to compensate response to stress, the persistent decrease in its concentrations may account for the higher sensitivity to stress observed in neonatal estradiol-treated rats. These enduring changes in GABAAR plasticity and stress sensitivity may be relevant for regulation of neuronal excitability and for the etiology of psychiatric disorders that originate in development and show sex differences in their prevalence