168 research outputs found
LA MAPPA DEI VENTI ESTREMI ITALIANI: TRENT’ANNI DOPO
No full textLe costruzioni metalliche sono notoriamente tra le più sensibili all’azione del vento, a causa della loro elevata snellezza e leggerezza, e del ridotto smorzamento strutturale. Nel 1991 G. Ballio, S. Lagomarsino, G. Piccardo e G. Solari pubblicarono su Costruzioni Metalliche i criteri, la metodologia e i risultati della mappatura dei venti estremi italiani, ottenuta sulla base delle misure in stazioni anemometriche al suolo distribuite sul territorio nazionale. La traduzione normativa di quel lavoro innovativo ha avuto un impatto straordinario sul progetto di strutture al vento, diventando patrimonio culturale comune degli ingegneri e architetti italiani ed europei. A più di trent’anni di distanza, nuovi metodi e basi dati computazionali e satellitari offrono la possibilità di riconsiderare la mappa dei venti correnti ed estremi italiani, nella prospettiva di raffinare la modellazione dai venti sinottici sin qui considerati con scale spaziali di centinaia di km a quelli alla mesoscala fino a scale spaziali di 2 km. Questo articolo ha l’obiettivo di formalizzare, implementare, discutere criticamente e verificare questa prospettiva. I risultati ottenuti permettono di offrire al progettista un approccio innovativo, e uno strumento di semplice utilizzo, consistente e uniformemente esteso a tutto il territorio nazionale
Reanalysis-based mesoscale wind maps for the design of structures and infrastructures with an application to Italy
No full textSynoptic extreme winds are traditionally mapped at the lower bound of the countrywide macroscale resolution (hundreds of km) on the basis of time series measured at land anemometric stations, while the assessment of the design wind speed at the construction site is entrusted to the designer within the so-called return criterion. Coarse, uneven distribution of the stations, uncertainties in their setup, measurement errors, challenging subjective evaluation of the exposure roughness, inconsistencies among national wind provisions are some of the critical issues affecting the in force map-and-return approach. This study is intended to test an alternative approach to directly assess the wind hazard at the lower bound of the meso-y scale resolution (about 2 km) around a construction site. The approach is grounded on data issued from a weather forecast computational model, its reanalysis by means of assimilated remote sensing observations, and possibly its downscaling. Three different reanalysis/downscaling models are adopted. The resulting wind maps over the Italian Country are critically compared with measurements at 21 stations. The errors made by each model are assessed for current and extreme wind speed with different return periods. Finally, a reanalysis-based engineering approach to design wind speed is presented by proposing model correction factors
Energy needs calculation of italian residential buildings using a national standard and a dynamic simulation software
No full textThe energy consumption of the residential sector accounts for about 40% of the overall energy consumption in all industrialized countries. It is mainly due to the heating demand and is expected to grow significantly in the future. The depletion of natural resources, along with the increase in the global energy-related CO2 emissions, will require making a greater effort in this sector through the improvement of envelope insulation as well as the use of more efficient and less polluting energy supply systems.
A number of options are currently available for building designers to answer the complex challenges of sustainability, with the selection of the more suitable solution requiring the careful evaluation of energy needs. Italian Standards UNI/TS 11300 define a simplified methodology for calculation of energy need for space heating based on a number of reference performance; the same calculation can be performed by following a more accurate approach based on a dynamic whole-building simulation software. In this paper, the energy need for space heating associated to a number of Italian buildings representing different periods of construction and sizes was calculated by means of the dynamic software TRNSYS 17 and then compared with that obtained by using the Italian Standards UNI/TS 11300 in order to estimate the relative difference as well as to assess the suitability of each method
Semantic-based matchmaking and query refinement for B2C e-marketplaces
No full textWe present an application in the framework of semantic-enabled emarketplaces
aimed at fully exploiting semantics of supply/demand descriptions
in B2C and C2C e-marketplaces. Distinguishing aspects of the framework include
logic-based explanation of query results, semantic ranking of matchmaking
results, logic-based request refinement
ONTOLOGY-BASED DATA MAPPING TO SUPPORT PLANNING IN HISTORICAL URBAN CENTRES
No full textBecause of the need for new sustainable future alternatives, the re-inhabitation of rural areas, hinterlands, small historical urban centres and villages has become a unique real opportunity. Therefore, it is necessary to define and adopt new sustainable urban planning and building permits to follow this path. These processes involve both various actors and disciplines and a variety of spatial and semantic data. For this reason, the present research aims at providing a methodology to build the necessary spatial documentation of historical centres and villages by adopting an ontology-based workflow. Existing ontologies and conceptualisations have been considered together with classes and rules from city historical core regulations. A case study has been selected considering its available spatial datasets and national data models. The bottom-up approach here adopted aims at validating and enriching a reference ontology previously developed in the domain of historical centre by adding new concepts and relations from selected regulation plans and other existing ontologies and data models. Finally, the obtained ontology is also populated with instances of concepts and relations
Cervical lordosis in patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament injury: a cross-sectional study
No full textOutcome of treatment for pelvic ring and acetabulum fractures: Personal experience [Trattamento delle fratture dell'anello pelvico e dell'acetabolo: Esperienza personale]
No full textAim. Pelvic ring and acetabulum fractures are usually due to a high-energy transfer. These trauma convey high mortality and morbidity. They require a multidisciplinary approach and a right pre- and postoperative management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results about the treatment of pelvic fractures treated by open reduction and internal fixation. Methods. A retrospective study was performed on 34 patients (mean age 37 years) treated for pelvic fracture between January 2008 and May 2011, at the Orthopedic and Traumatology Department of Chieti. The fractures were classified according to Tile (pelvic ring) and Judet and Letournel (acetabulum). The mean follow-up, clinical and radiographic, according to "Matta Radiographic Score" and "Majeed Pelvic Score" lasts from 12 to 40 months (mean follow-up 24 months). Results. All patients were treated within five days after injury (2.9 days on average). The radiographic score was excellent in 61.7% of cases, good in 32.5% and fair in 5.8%. The final clinical outcome was excellent in 21 patients, good in 11 and poor in two. according to the "Majeed Pelvic Score". Conclusion. Surgical treatment of dislocated acetabular fractures requires an open reduction and a stable internal fixation. Excellent and good results can be expected only if anatomical reduction and stable internal fixation are achieved
Continuing Humanity’s Dialogue with Nature and Itself
No full text“Truly, I live in dark times!”. In the poetry of Bertolt Brecht, reviewed in the fifth article of this issue as a powerful voice decrying the unsustainability of the human actions that characterized his era, living in “dark times” is a recurring theme. We might consider the term equally appropriate to describe the negative forces at work in our current period. The widespread global poverty and injustice, the large-scale migration crises, the atrocious violence perpetrated both by so-called fundamentalist terrorists and those who vow to combat them, the demagogic populist movements, the aggressive protectionist nationalisms, all combine to produce a frightening international scenario. At the same time, the startling combination of ignorance and arrogance resulting, for example, in denial of climate science – for one of the US President’s advisers (presumably utterly oblivious to the irony of his statement) climate change is a “manufactured crisis”, while another can blithely assert “I would not agree that [carbon dioxide] is a primary contributor to the global warming that we see” – renders with absolute clarity the immense difficulties encountered in creating the necessary conditions for any one of a number of essential sustainability transitions. In the light of all this, we have, however, no option but to continue our commitment to dialogue and reciprocal exchange, as stated in the original aims of this journal, to build connections between different visions and logical levels, creating interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives. In this respect, all of the articles published in this issue deal with the relationships between actions and impacts, awareness and accountability, understanding, resolving and reporting issues, current and new paradigms, combining aspects of visual arts, literature and science, psychology and sociology, ecology and economics, ethics and technology. Together they unite theoretical, research and educational visions we hope can make a significant contribution to humanity’s dialogue with nature and itself.Art Teachers’ Education for Environmental Awareness. What is Hidden in Nature that we have never Seen or Heard?), by Ásthildur B. Jónsdóttir, offers a particular vision of the role of education in promoting awareness, attitudes and actions that put sustainability at the heart of every aspect of the human enterprise. The author’s emphasis is on considering what kind of knowledge and experience should be provided by teacher education in order to enable future teachers to play such a role. The article describes a project developed in the Reykjavik Botanical Garden and involving student teachers of art and pupils who work together. The project is built on a participatory pedagogy which includes critical place-based learning in learner-directed settings and harnessing tacit knowledge to this end. It is argued that teachers with an increasing sense of self-efficacy and action competence will be better able to help pupils make choices and undertake courses of action based on sustainability. The author examines the complementary roles of art and science in the building of knowledge and how both must be based on leaners’ direct engagement with their surroundings in order to stimulate their dialogue with their fellow learners and with nature and provide the vital ingredients of play, passion, participation and pertinence.Nonviolent Conflict Transformation and Peace Journalism is a translation from the original Italian of a paper by Nanni (Giovanni) Salio, written as an introduction to a collection of essays, testimonies and experiences, in which the author summarises his lifelong exploration and practice of nonviolence within the context of the analysis and resolution of conflict and links this to the important role that can be played by peace journalism. Starting from Gandhi’s belief that conflict should be seen as an occasion for dialogue and the discovery of common ground, the article examines ways of transforming aggression into a positive and non-destructive creative force for building sustainable trajectories via nonviolent thoughts, words and actions, together with the crucial importance of education and training of professionals who work in this field. A significant role in this shift can be played by peace journalism, in terms of the responsibilities exercised both by editors and journalists concerning choices about what to report and how to report it. Such choices can enable us to go beyond the confines of much mainstream, or even war-oriented, journalism that tends to limit and determine understanding within simplistic schemes of reference such as good and evil, right and wrong or them and us, in order to promote equality at the level of building and sharing knowledge and place empathy and solidarity as a sustainable basis for dialogue between people and with their environments.In On the Use of Life Cycle Assessment to Improve Agronomists’ Knowledge and Skills toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Cerutti et. al. examine a specific aspect of the quantitative measurements and calculations of environmental impacts in agronomics in which “in general terms, sustainability is perceived from two very different points of view: sustainability as practices, such as reducing food miles, buying organic, consuming less meat, etc., or sustainability as metrics, involving the quantification of the environmental performance of a system through the application and comparison of sustainability assessment indicators”. The approach proposed is based on Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) – which permits a quantitative description of a variety of features linked with production, (e.g. distribution, consumption, and waste treatment) that contribute to the determination of the environmental impact of a given product. The authors argue that by enabling university students to carry out LCA, they are not merely being introduced to technical facts, but also given the chance to achieve higher levels of awareness of the complexity of agricultural and food systems and of the importance of a critical appraisal of a variety of qualitative and quantitative analytical methods to evaluate their impact. Both the need to go beyond the perspectives of single disciplines and that of providing students with a variety of approaches to learning – from statistical analysis to open discussion of the data made available and from case studies to engaging students in discussion tackling open questions – are considered vital for promoting awareness of ways of accounting for environmental sustainability.In The Challenge of ICT Long-Term Sustainability, Norberto Patrignani considers various aspects of the all-pervasive extension of information and communication technology within the perspective of the interdependent evolution of technologies and societies, the types, scales and, in particular, rates of technological innovation and its impact on people and environments. He argues for the urgent need to establish a new design paradigm based on criteria such as recyclability, repairability, minimization of material and power consumption and zero-waste. The paradox of acceleration of all our processes of communication, production and consumption, largely due to inexorable developments and applications of ICT, is that it creates unsustainable trajectories for human beings and their environments. Far from enabling us to have more time to engage in useful human activity as a result of the increased speed of each of our processes, acceleration unrelentingly leads to rhythms that are untenable in the context of respecting the limits of human beings and the planet they inhabit. What is necessary is an approach based on Slow Tech in order to achieve a gradual transition towards the wise production, use and disposal of ICT. In Humanity and Nature, Warfare and Exploitation in Bertolt Brecht’s Poetry, Enzo Ferrara and Martin Dodman look at how already in the first half of the nineteenth century Brecht’s work was a precursor of many of the themes today considered central in sustainability literature. Long before many branches of natural, economic and social sciences began to examine the unsustainable consequences of indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources and uncontrolled production and consumption processes, the German poet offered a devastating analysis of how all forms of possession, dominance and manipulation for satisfying the greed of individuals or groups, including that of warfare, are inextricably linked as human impulses that are both destructive and unbearable. Brecht’s poems bear witness to the limits and paradoxes of the endeavours of those who struggle against the forces of evil and destruction and constantly underline how our only hope for salvation is through dialogue designed to help us build and maintain common discourses and communities of values. Particularly striking is the repeated sense of responsibility toward future generations and the reiterated plea asking those generations to not judge too harshly our failures and shortcomings. “Think of us with clemency”.
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