1,692 research outputs found
Metafora e conoscenza. Punti di vista filosofici
No full textIl saggio di Annamaria Contini dal titolo «Metafora e conoscenza. Punti di vista filosofici» è stato pubblicato in un volume collettaneo, a cura di Davide Astori, sul tema «La metafora e la sua traduzione». Il volume si articola in due sezioni: una prima teorica, che intende offrire uno status quaestionis sull’argomento attraverso i contributi di tre specialisti (dai differenti punti di vista del linguista, del filosofo e del neurolinguista), e una seconda, di carattere più esemplificativo, che presenta alcuni casi particolari, di natura più dimostrativo-applicativa. Il saggio di Annamaria Contini è collocato nella prima sezione e si prefigge di ricostruire alcune linee direttrici della riscoperta della metafora da parte della filosofia. Il saggio mostra infatti che l’interesse per la metafora da parte della filosofia si sviluppa, nella seconda metà del Novecento, a partire dalla crisi dell’epistemologia neopositivista e sulla scorta di un generale ripensamento della costellazione oggettività-verità. Le riflessioni sulla forza cognitiva della metafora svolte da Black e Goodman appaiono emblematiche: nonostante le diverse prospettive da cui muovono e i risultati non sempre sovrapponibili a cui giungono, sia Black che Goodman contribuiscono a un metaphorical revival che avrà importanti ricadute sulla tradizione della filosofia analitica. Ammettere la forza cognitiva del metaforico significa infatti contestare le dicotomie su cui il primo neopositivismo aveva costruito l’immagine di teoria scientifica: denotativo/connotativo, descrittivo/emozionale, razionalità/immaginazione, scienza/metafisica ecc
Performance and decisions: immigrant–native gaps in educational transitions in Italy
No full textFollowing the seminal work of Boudon, sociological research has conceptualized immigrant–native gaps in educational transitions as deriving from children of immigrants' poorer academic performance (primary effects) and from different decision models existing between native and immigrant families (secondary effects). The limited evidence on immigrant–native gaps in Europe indicates that secondary effects are generally positive: children of immigrants tend to make more ambitious educational choices than natives with the same prior performance. In this paper we review the different decomposition methods employed so far in the literature to tackle similar research questions, and extend the existing methodology to allow including interaction effects and taking explanatory variables under control. We apply this method to data coming from a unique Italian administrative data set. We find that children of immigrants exhibit higher likelihood to opt for vocational training over more generalist and academic programs, even when controlling for socio-economic background. A large share of the immigrant–native differentials in the probability to attend the different school programs is explained by the different prior performance distribution. However, decision models differ between groups, and, contrary to the evidence on other countries, these differences contribute to widening the existing gaps. If children of immigrants had the same social background and prior performance of their native peers, they still would be more likely to enroll in shorter and less-demanding school programs. Interestingly, these results hold true only for boys, while we find no evidence of decision effects for girls
Assessing TD fNIRS capability to detect hemodynamic oscillations in cerebral cortex
No full textWe present a simulation study to evaluate the feasibility of using Time Domain fNIRS to monitor hemodynamic oscillations in biological tissues like the cerebral cortex. Two geometries (slab and two-layer medium) were considered to define the optimal acquisition parameters and to assess the ability of the technique to detect and separate oscillations occurring at different depths within the probed medium by exploiting the time-gating of TD fNIRS signals
Decentralized Task Assignment for Multi-Item Pickup and Delivery in Logistic Scenarios
No full textThe Multi-Robot Pickup and Delivery problem has received significant attention from the research community. We focus on such problem and propose a multi-item variant, where robots can pick up multiple items at once and deliver them to their destinations in a single travel. We propose a distributed algorithm based on a Token-Passing approach, where robots handles by themselves the allocation of tasks and generates conflict-free paths requiring weaker assumptions in comparison to previous approaches. We evaluate our approach on two maps, one representing the ICE laboratory, a facility for Industry 4.0 located in Verona. Our approach produces solutions comparable in quality to those produced by a centralized approach and reduces computation times significantly. We also show a synchronization technique to the robots' movements, still based on Token-Passing. This guarantees the absence of collisions in spite of unexpected delays in path execution
Time Domain Near Infrared Spectroscopy Device for Monitoring Muscle Oxidative Metabolism: Custom Probe and In Vivo Applications
No full textMeasurement of muscle oxidative metabolism is of interest for monitoring the training status in athletes and the rehabilitation process in patients. Time domain near infrared spectroscopy (TD NIRS) is an optical technique that allows the non-invasive measurement of the hemodynamic parameters in muscular tissue: concentrations of oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin, total hemoglobin content, and tissue oxygen saturation. In this paper, we present a novel TD NIRS medical device for muscle oxidative metabolism. A custom-printed 3D probe, able to host optical elements for signal acquisition from muscle, was develop for TD NIRS in vivo measurements. The system was widely characterized on solid phantoms and during in vivo protocols on healthy subjects. In particular, we tested the in vivo repeatability of the measurements to quantify the error that we can have by repositioning the probe. Furthermore, we considered a series of acquisitions on different muscles that were not yet previously performed with this custom probe: a venous-arterial cuff occlusion of the arm muscle, a cycling exercise, and an isometric contraction of the vastus lateralis
JCB883751 Supplemetal Material - Supplemental material for Validation of diffuse correlation spectroscopy against <sup>15</sup>O-water PET for regional cerebral blood flow measurement in neonatal piglets
No full textSupplemental material, JCB883751 Supplemetal Material for Validation of diffuse correlation spectroscopy against 15O-water PET for regional cerebral blood flow measurement in neonatal piglets by Martina Giovannella, Bjørn Andresen, Julie B Andersen, Sahla El-Mahdaoui, Davide Contini, Lorenzo Spinelli, Alessandro Torricelli, Gorm Greisen, Turgut Durduran, Udo M Weigel and Ian Law in Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism</p
Depth Selectivity in Time-Domain Optical Brain Imaging Based on Time Windows and Moments of Time-of-Flight Distributions
No full textPharmaguard WebApp: An application for the detection of illegal online pharmacies
No full textWe present a demo for PharmaGuard, a novel system for the automatic discovery of illegal online pharmacies. With its easy to use graphic user interface, a web application architectural approach and leveraging the powers of automatic knowledge discovery, PharmaGuard can assist law enforcement agencies in identifying, blacklisting and shutting-down illegal pharmacies
A multichannel time-domain brain oximeter for clinical studies
No full textA multichannel time-domain brain oximeter for clinical studie
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