56 research outputs found
What remains of Yugoslavia? From the geopolitical space of Yugoslavia to the virtual space of the Web Yugosphere
No full textThe article works from the double hypothesis that: (1) a Yugoslav socio-cultural space still exists in spite of the dissolution of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; (2) the communities ‘occupying’ this space can be considered, in some measure, ‘diasporic’, if the ‘Yugoslav diaspora’ is defined by not only the geographic displacement of people but also by the loosening of the connections between the members of an ex-nation who still consider themselves a national community. The ‘space’ mapped in the essay is the so-called ‘virtual space’ of the Web, including all websites that reconnect to the ‘cultural languages’ of the ‘past-country’. The author observes how these ‘different Yugoslavias’ are ‘staged’ and linked together on the Web, and verifies how some far-flung communities rally around the ‘virtual re-foundation’ and ‘virtual representations’ of Yugoslavia. The corpus is constituted mainly of ‘yugonostalgic’ websites that are subjected to a content analysis. The 191 websites of the corpus and the hyper-textual map of their edges are analysed using semantic features together with other tools of categorization
Diamond thermoelastic properties and implications for determining the pressure of formation of diamond-inclusion systems
No full textRecycled Glass Mixtures as Cast Glass Components for Structural Applications, Towards Sustainability
No full textThe problem of sustainability represents one of the most important issues that the world has to face nowadays, not only in terms of energy consumption and of the consequent CO2 emissions, but also in terms of material waste streams that end in landfill. 38 million tons of glass waste are produced every year in the European Union and new targets have been set for 2020 towards a more sustainable management of such wastes. Nowadays, only the container glass industry has reached a considerable recycling rate, while for all the other sectors we are still witnessing downgrading processes. Looking at the world of construction, glass has been more and more employed as a structural material thanks to its high transparency and compression strength. Although the use of glass can be attractive under multiple aspects and its production is continuously increasing, once employed as a construction element, it is rarely reused or recycled due to the high-quality requirement demanded to the industry of production. Nevertheless, besides its main applications as a 2-dimensional element, the new technology of cast glass has been recognised as a potential mean of glass recycling. Here, glass is designed and used under the form of repetitive 3-dimensional units assembled in a whole geometrical shape. In fact, thanks to its higher load-bearing capacity under monolithic shapes, this glass can admit less restrictions and potentially incorporate different types of waste. For this reason, the aim of this experimental work is to find a possible combination between glass families, specifically soda-lime, borosilicate and lead-crystal glass, to be recycled as cast glass components. Each type of glass was powdered or grinded under the form of cullet and different mixtures were prepared to be melted at temperatures of 970°C, 1120°C and 1200°C through the kiln-cast tecnique. Finally, an experimental splitting test was performed to define a force trend and a fracture behaviour for each sample. Some preliminary results have been achieved drawing the guidelines for a further investigation. Soda-lime-silica glass and lead-crystal glass mixture revealed to be the most compliant glass recipe with the required physical and mechanical properties, when reheated at 1120°C. The decrease in the melting temperature of the compound and the higher transparency given by the addition of lead glass revealed the potential benefit, in terms of sustainability, for future projects
Prefabricated CLT façade systems for fast-track construction and quality assurance
No full textPrefabrication of timber envelope components is a constantly developing research field, which attracts interest from various sectors of expertise thanks to the conspicuous advantages it can confer in terms of resources savings, as well as quality management and safety for all actors involved in the process. The present paper goes through the design of a newly conceived external wall system for tall CLT buildings, entirely preassembled off-site and so able to be installed on his final position via crane, renouncing to scaffolds for the façade completion. This not only allows for the construction phase to speed up but also for immediate protection of loadbearing timber elements from weather agents exposure. The work follows three main phases: the functional analysis and layer definition, component design through bi-dimensional study of joint operating mechanism and tri-dimensional validation of the system. Main author findings outline how success of prefabricated systems and their durability over service life is strongly dependent on the effectiveness of joint design
Isometry-invariant geodesics and the fundamental group, II
No full textInternational audienceWe show that on a closed Riemannian manifold with fundamental group isomorphic to Z, other than the circle, every isometry that is homotopic to the identity possesses infinitely many invariant geodesics. This completes a recent result in [Maz15] of the second author
Ask The Lyrics: John Fante In Music
No full textThe crosspollination of literature and lyrics is not a new phenomenon in popular music and classics of world literature continue to inspire songwriters who incorporate them in their art in different ways and forms. Interestingly enough, a not-yet-classic author like the Italian-American John Fante has had an impact on popular culture and music both in Italy and in the United States. Grossly neglected by mainstream American literature, mainly labeled as an ethnic\u27writer, John Fante has only recently become widely read in Italy and he has already developed unusual ties with music in both countries. In this article, I will briefly survey the reception of John Fante in the United States and Italy by tracing the history of the publication of his works in translation. I will then present a review of some Italian and American songs that explicitly draw inspiration from Arturo Bandini, the protagonist of Fante\u27s saga. This article is an exploration of the relationship between literature, music, and society through a reflection on the impact that a non-canonical American writer has on popular culture and how his ethnic experience often reverberates in larger society and in the singer/reader/listener\u27s life before earning approval from mainstream critics
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