1,720,987 research outputs found

    Soft colloids for complex interfacial assemblies

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    The design of complex materials and the formation of specific patterns often arise from the properties of the individual building blocks. In this respect, colloidal systems offer a unique opportunity because nowadays, they can be synthesized in the laboratory with many different shapes and features. Hence, an appropriate choice of the particle characteristics makes it possible to generate macroscopic structures with desired properties. The versatility of colloids can also be explored in two dimensions using liquid–liquid or air–liquid interfaces as privileged substrates where they can adsorb and self-assemble. Other than being innovative model systems for fundamental studies, the great interest of the scientific community is also technological and applicative since colloidal-scale surface patterns are very promising, for example, in photonics or biosensing. In a recent study published in PNAS, Menath et al. ( 1 ) combine these elements and exploit core–shell colloids, consisting of a silica core and a soft, noncross-linked polymer shell, to make an important step forward in controlling the assembly of complex structures at an interface

    Military barracks as cultural heritage in Italy: A comparison between before‐1900‐ and 1900‐to‐1950‐built barracks

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    This paper addresses the fundamental role that cultural heritage can play in local development processes to guarantee community wellbeing, quality of life, and quality of society. The enhancement of cultural heritage’s tangible and intangible values may result in sustainable and resilient territory, but a number of issues emerge when dealing with the reuse of specific inherited assets, such as former military barracks. This paper conducts an in‐depth analysis of these assets, especially those released from the military after the end of the Cold War. We thus explore the Italian case through the comparison of before‐1900 and 1900‐to‐1950 former military barracks. The objectives are the following. First, to discover how these two types of military sites are approached (or no) as proper heritage. Second, to understand how the reuse management is carrying out and how it deals with conservative and profit‐driven approaches towards the achievement of cultural, economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Third, to compare the Italian case with similar international good practices to discover common/different trends and innovative solutions to be applied in Italy

    Tuning the rheological behavior of colloidal gels through competing interactions

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    We study colloidal gels formed by competing electrostatic repulsion and short-range attraction by means of extensive numerical simulations under external shear. We show that, upon varying the repulsion strength, the gel structure and its viscoelastic properties can be largely tuned. In particular, the gel fractal dimension can be either increased or decreased with respect to mechanical equilibrium conditions. Unexpectedly, gels with stronger repulsion, despite being mechanically stiffer, are found to be less viscous with respect to purely attractive ones. We provide a microscopic explanation of these findings in terms of the influence of an underlying phase separation. Our results allow for the design of colloidal gels with desired structure and viscoelastic response by means of additional electrostatic interactions, easily controllable in experiments

    Il riuso delle caserme in piccole e medie città. Prospettive di progetto nella regione Friuli Venezia Giulia

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    La specificità del riuso delle caserme è indagata a partire da un contesto particolare, il Friuli Venezia Giulia: una regione in cui la presenza di questi compendi assume dimensioni straordinarie; le procedure di trasferimento alle amministrazioni locali hanno seguito canali in parte diversi da quelli nazionali; siti di svariati ettari si collocano ai margini di città e paesi di dimensioni contenute. Tali aspetti concorrono a rimarcare la complessità di simili operazioni. Il contributo restituisce gli esiti di una ricerca sviluppata presso l’Università di Trieste, con particolare riguardo a: i) la ricostruzione di un quadro aggiornato delle ex caserme presenti in regione e del livello (problematico) di attuazione delle operazioni di riutilizzo; ii) esplorazioni progettuali tese a mostrare l'occasione che il riuso di questi siti offre alla costruzione di strumenti di pianificazione di scala locale e regionale, con cui intercettare le opportunità offerte dalla nuova stagione di politiche europee e nazionali

    Re-immaginare il bordo. Il confine come opportunità

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    La questione dello smantellamento e della riconversione delle aree militari dismesse e abbandonate viene qui considerata da una prospettiva che sostituisce la scala territoriale a quella urbana. Se all’interno delle città il “recinto” separa caserme, e manufatti di vario tipo, dal restante tessuto edilizio, a una scala più vasta le linee di confine possono essere lette nella duplice accezione di limite e di bordo secondo la definizione del biologo Stephen Jay Gould. Se il limite è luogo custodito che indica dove le cose finiscono, il bordo è inteso come confine dove diversi gruppi interagiscono. Così inteso, il confine è declinato nell’accezione etimologica di margine (taglio netto, lacerazione o ferita) che per essere sanato necessita di un processo di “rimarginazione”. A partire da queste premesse, parlare di riconversione di aree militari dismesse non riguarda pertanto la sola sostituzione o adeguamento funzionale di manufatti, quanto la ricomposizione delle relazioni tra manufatto e contesto allo scopo di promuovere la valorizzazione e, al contempo, la riappropriazione collettiva di luoghi altrimenti off-limits. Dare al limite una interpretazione architettonica significa non identificarlo solo in quanto linea astratta, ma riconoscere nello spessore spaziale e temporale (buffer-zone) la misura che costruisce un ambito separato dall’intorno. Essenziale è che questa cesura sia resa riconoscibile per mezzo di segni costruiti (manufatti di difesa, operazioni di scavo, disboscamento) o “dispositivi” (leggi, norme, divieti) che ne regolano i diritti al suo interno. Nel saggio alcuni progetti di ridefinizione di tracciati di linee di difesa militari faranno da sfondo a uno sguardo sulla condizione esemplare del Friuli e della costruzione del limite italo-jugoslavo definito dopo la Seconda guerra mondiale

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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