374 research outputs found
UAV Surveys for Representing and Document the Cultural Heritage
No full textThe new survey techniques allow for a more detailed depiction of the characteristics of the cultural heritage of which our country is so rich. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are emerging as a key engineering tool for future environmental survey tasks. UAV aerial imagery offers both timely (on demand) and more detailed (higher resolution) information than comparable satellite imagery. In the present study the opportunities of obtaining more detailed documentation of cultural goods throughout UAV survey have been investigated. The survey was conducted on an ancient Aragonese watchtower of the seventeenth century, located near the Abbey of San Vito in the countryside of Polignano a Mare (in the province of Bari, Southern Italy) (Fig.1). The high resolution of the produced images, approximately 1 cm x pixels, allows to obtain all elements of both structural and qualitative information required for a conservative restoration project of the monument. The peculiarity of the transportation vehicle of the camera has also made it possible to detect the top surface of the roof covering of the building, normally not accessible, with the presence of a chimney and an access hatch, on which to intervene for the proper disposal of rainwater. The research refers to the metric characteristics, accuracy, level of detail, the particular crack patterns, etc., reachable by photogrammetric methods, with the help of dedicated software (Agisoft PhotoScan) such as Computer Vision methodologie
Giulio Mancini e la nascita della Connoisseurship
No full textIl ruolo di Giulio Mancini come padre della connoisseurship è stato recentemente messo in discussione sulla base del fatto che Mancini, sebbene frequentasse il mercato artistico romano di primi Seicento, non provò mai a discutere le attribuzioni dei dipinti contemporanei. Generalmente, infatti, la nascita della moderna connoisseurship, con figure quali i fratelli Richardson, è stata collegata al crescere del fenomeno del mercato artistico nel Settecento, e anche i principali precursori del Seicento, come Marco Boschini, agivano pure in veste di mercanti: tutti questi connoissuers si confrontavano col problema delle attribuzioni dei dipinti dei secoli precedenti. Questo paper esamina le radici della connoisseurship nel lavoro topografico di Mancini, autore della prima guida artistica di Roma. Mancini, studiando gli affreschi del primo Rinascimento di Roma (Ripanda, Pinturicchio, Peruzzi) mise in discussione le biografie di Vasari e suggerì nuove attribuzioni per quelle opere dei secoli precedenti con un approccio moderno che chiaramente anticipa il lavoro dei più tardi connoisseurs.The role of Giulio Mancini as the father of connoisseurship has been recently questioned on the ground that Mancini never aimed to discuss the attributions of contemporary works of art. Generally the birth of modern connoisseurship, with figures as the Richardson brothers, has been linked to the growing art market of the Eighteenth century, and the most important Seventeenth century forerunners, as Marco Boschini, acted as dealers as well: all these connoisseurs deal with the attributions of paintings of the previous centuries. This paper explores the roots of connoisseurship in the topography work of Mancini, author of the first modern artistic guide of Rome. Mancini, studying the early Renaissance frescoes in Rome (Jacopo Ripanda, Pastura, Pinturicchio, Baldassarre Peruzzi) discussed Vasari's biographies and suggested new attributions with a modern approach which clearly anticipates the method of later connoisseurs
SOS Podcasts: Surviving in Deutschland
No full textThe first part of this thesis is the creative work, a memoir, SOS Podcasts: Surviving in Deutschland. The memoir is narrated in the present continuing voice by the author, a quirky, assertive urbanite from New York. The work is an exploration of self and podcasts while living for a four-year period on the outskirts of a NATO base in a rural, little-known part of Germany. The differences are challenging (also entertaining), and podcasts begin to serve as a support mechanism for the lonely, isolated author. They also serve as friends and encouraging mentors. The themes explored include parenting, aging, food, weather, holidays, language, and comedy among others. The situation becomes more complex and conflicted when the four years are nearly finished and there is a possibility of staying in Germany indefinitely.The succeeding exegesis is the lens through which to view the creative work, the memoir writing genre, also known as life writing, and the related literary theory. In part one, the personal chain of events that led to the creation of the memoir are explained by sharing background information about the author and her beginnings. The organization and writing style are examined through the comparison of other memoirs, in particular memoirs driven by special topics and activities, as well as interesting familial situations. The author’s listening experience is explained through the genres of podcasts including news, information, and entertainment. The author also studied the parasocial interactions that people develop with members of the media. Furthermore, the critical and theoretical life writing literature is studied through an examination of confessional memoirs and motherhood memoirs. Finally, the craft of life writing is examined. In part two, the history of podcasting and the evolving technologies showed the media’s expansion and explained why podcasts began to occupy a larger role in the author’s life and therefore the subject of this topical memoir. Lastly, the author argued for a new form of orality and studied podcasting’s impact on the democratization of radio and audio
‘Una colonia tutta francese: l’Accademia di Francia in Palazzo Mancini’
No full textThe article reviews the way the Accademia di Francia in Rome used and transformed the Palazzo Mancini, which was its seat for roughly eighty years, from 1725 to 1804. The ‘Accademia di pittura, scultura, architettura e musica’ had been founded by Jean-Baptiste Colbert on the instructions of Cardinal Giulio Mazzarino in 1666. After various changes in location between the Gianicolo and Sant’Andrea della Valle, the French institution was eventually installed in the Palazzo Mancini in Via del Corso. This was a building of great interest, yet little known, a late work of the architect Carlo Rainaldi, who entrusted its execution to the young Sebastiano Cipriani (1686-1690). The long and distinctive presence of the Accademia di Francia in the Palazzo Mancini played a role of great significance in the building’s history. Charles Poerson and Nicolas Wleughels filled the posts of director and co-director of the academy since the early months of 1725, while the duc d’Antin was the superintendent of buildings of the crown. The superintendent and director were in fact the main protagonists in the administration of the building, and from a study of their respective correspondence the author has elucidated the salient events in the history of the Palazzo Mancini during this period. The analysis is mainly based on Italian and French archival sources and is correlated with largely-unpublished iconographic material. At the centre of Roman and French current affairs for almost two centuries, and one of the buildings most frequented by Roman high society in the eighteenth century, the Palazzo Mancini is now the property of the Banco di Sicilia, which has transformed it into its head office in Rome. Since then it has curiously remained ‘ a’ l’écart’ of the interest of historians
Energy retrofitting effects on the energy flexibility of dwellings
No full textElectrification of the built environment is foreseen as a main driver for energy transition for more effective, electric renewable capacity firming. Direct and on-time use of electricity is the best way to integrate them, but the current energy demand of residential building stock is often mainly fuel-based. Switching from fuel to electric-driven heating systems could play a key role. Yet, it implies modifications in the building stock due to the change in the temperature of the supplied heat by new heat pumps compared to existing boilers and in power demand to the electricity meter. Conventional energy retrofitting scenarios are usually evaluated in terms of cost-effective energy saving, while the effects on the electrification and flexibility are neglected. In this paper, the improvement of the building envelope and the installations of electric-driven space heating and domestic hot water production systems is analyzed for 419 dwellings. The dwellings database was built by means of a survey among the students attending the Faculty of Architecture at Sapienza University of Rome. A set of key performance indicators were selected for energy and environmental performance. The changes in the energy flexibility led to the viable participation of all the dwellings to a demand response programme.Building Physic
Cochlear implantation in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): outcomes and implant fitting characteristics
No full textBackground: Little is known regarding fitting parameters and receptive and expressive language development in cochlear-implanted children (CCI) with profound sensorineural hearing loss (SHL) who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The aim of the study was to evaluate a group of ASD CCI users in order to describe their ASD clinical features and CCI outcomes; report on the average electrical charge requirements; and evaluate the possible correlations between electrical and psychophysical outcomes with ASD characteristics.
Materials and methods: A multicentre observational study of 22 ASD children implanted in four cochlear implant (CI) centers. Data concerning profound SHL diagnosis, ASD diagnosis, CI timing and CI compliance were collected. Sound Field (SF) was assessed through repeated behavioural measurements. Categories of Auditory Perception (CAP) and Categories of Language (CL) were used to evaluate speech perception and language skills at short (≤2 yrs), medium (5 yrs) and long term (>10 yrs) follow-up. Fitting parameters such as comfortable thresholds, pulse-width (pw, μsec) and clinical units converted into units of charge/phase were collected. The diagnosis of ASD was acquired by the referral neuropsychiatric department and severity was assessed through the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS).
Results: At the final follow-up session the median SF threshold for CI outcomes was 30 dB HL (min 15 - max 60). CAP score was extremely variable: 45.5% showed no improvement over time and only 22% of children reached CAP scores of 5-7. CL 45.5% showed no improvement over time and score was 1-2 in the majority of ASD children (72.7%), while only 18.2% reached the highest level of language skills. There were no statistically significant differences at each follow-up between subjects with or without comorbidities. CAP and CL were inversely correlated with DSM-V A and B domains, corresponding to lower speech and language scores in children with more severe ASD symptoms, and maintained their correlation at mid and long follow-ups whilst controlling for age at CI. Electrical charge requirements did not correlate with SF or age at implant but did inversely correlate with ASD severity. With regards to CI compliance: only 13.6% children (3) with severe DSM-V A/B levels and CARS score were partial/intermittent users.
Conclusion: The present study is a targeted contribution to the current literature to support clinical procedures for CI fitting and audiological follow-up in children with ASD. The findings indicate that the outcomes of CI use and the fitting procedures are both influenced by the severity of the ASD symptoms rather than the demographic variables or associated disorders
Solar energy data analytics: PV deployment and land use
No full textEU targets for sustainable development call for strong changes in the current energy systems as well as committed protection of environmental resources. This target conflicts if a policy is not going to promote the compatible solutions to both the issues. This is the case of the additional renewable energy sources to be exploited for increasing the share in the electricity mix and in the gross final energy consumption. Solar energy is, currently, the cheapest solution in Southern European Countries, like Italy. In this paper, thanks to the availability of three open databases provided by National Institutions, the authors compared the historic trends and policy scenarios for soil consumption, electricity consumption, and renewable electricity production to check correlations. The provincial scale was chosen as resolution of the analysis. The deviations from the policy scenarios was then addressed to identify the demand for policy recommendations and pathways to promote in order to achieve the target for renewable electricity share as well as the reduction in soli consumption trend in 2030. The role of renewables integrated in the existing contexts, such as building integrated photovoltaics, is considered a key driver for solving this issue.Building Physic
Terentianus Maurus, sonus tragicus and the masks
No full textThis paper aims at explaining a puzzling passage found in some Sotadic verses of the De litteris by Terentianus Maurus (end of the 2nd century CE - beginning of the 3rd century CE). The African author hints at a difference in the articulation and in the related acoustic effect in the velar pair, hence /o/ vs /o:/, of Late Latin. Terentianus says that the long phoneme /o:/ was characterised by the “intensification” of the sonus tragicus, but, albeit the acoustic referent of such phrase is out of question (a flat sound), the precise meaning is still an unsolved issue in the scientific literature. A new interpretation of a testimonium in Gellius’ Noctes Atticae (5, 7), together with relevant archaeological evidences, point out to an unexpected semantic value of sonus tragicus. The phrase indicates the typical timbre produced by the actors who wore tragic masks. The masks functioned as a sort of full face helmet for the actor and, thus, as proper filters, allowing the reinforcement of some bands of the laryngeal frequency, with an effect similar to that of lip protrusion. According to this new interpretation, the “sound pertaining to tragedy” was a sound made more powerful, grave and cavern-like: these, actually, are the typical features of a closed [o], which emerge also from the metalinguistic descriptions of other Roman grammarians
Innovation: An Intersection Point between Design, Economics, and Sociology
No full textThe deep connection between Design and Innovation has its origin from the meaning and from the interpretation of these two terms. This is more significant if we apply a cross-disciplinary point of view to read the contemporary scenario where processes related to product design innovation are developed. Design is not only what teachers and professionals intend about it: it is very important, at the same time, the meaning of design for the “outside world”, for users, customers, buyers, ... According to its positive perception, society and economy now confers the Design discipline a leading role, but it can reasonably be expected that, at the same speed of its development, the importance of Design could one day start to decrease. The methodology used in the present article is an etymological analysis, associated with a lecture of what experts mean about Design and Innovation. A case study and the didactical
experience of the author supported the conclusion
Evoluzione e prospettive dei sistemi di informazione e di controllo
No full textThis special issue includes five articles, identified among the best papers presented at the session “ICT, sustainability, regulation and uncertainty: evolution and per-spectives in information and control systems” of the XXXVIII Congress of Italian Academy of Business Administration and Management and two research works.
Nowadays, firms work in a very complex and dynamic environment, in which different forces interact, as new technologies, new ways to look at the future, new principles and values, new regulations influencing the traditional view of account-ing and management information systems. In this environment, a key driver to reshape the above-mentioned systems is to identify new models able at describing firms’ complexity. According to the author, these concepts are “ecosystem” and “triple helices”. New ways to look at the role and activities of firms in the econom-ic environment inevitably affect their information and control systems
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