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Digital Contact Tracing (DCT) has been proved to be an effective tool to counteract the new SARS-CoV-2 or Covid-19. Despite this widespread effort to adopt the DCT, less attention has been paid to the organisation of the health logistics system that should support the tracing activities. Actually, the DCT poses a challenge to the logistics of the local health system in terms of number of daily tests to be collected and evaluated, especially when the spreading of the virus is soaring. In this paper we introduce a new optimisation problem called the Daily Swab Test Collection (DSTC) problem, that is the daily problem of collecting swab tests at home in such a way to guarantee a timely testing to people notified by the app to be in contact with a positive case. The problem is formulated as a variant of the team orienteering problem. The contributions of this paper are the following: (i) the new optimisation problem DSTC that complements and improves the DCT approach proposed by Ferretti et al. (Science https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb6936, 2020), (ii) the DSCT formulation as a variant of the TOP and a literature review highlighting that this variant can have useful application in healthcare management, (iii) new realistic benchmark instances for the DSTC based on the city of Turin, (iv) two new efficient and effective hybrid algorithms capable to deal with realistic instances, (v) the managerial insights of our approach with a special regard on the fairness of the solutions. The main finding is that it possible to optimise the underlying logistics system in such a way to guarantee a timely testing to people recognised by the DCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: While the cognitive‐behavioral characteristics of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients carrying C9orf72 pathological repeat expansion have been extensively studied, our understanding of those carrying SOD1 variants is mostly based on case reports. The aim of this paper is to extensively explore the cognitive‐behavioral characteristics of a cohort of ALS patients carrying pathogenetic variants of SOD1 gene, comparing them to patients without pathogenetic variants of 46 ALS‐related genes (wild‐type [WT]‐ALS) and healthy controls. Methods: All ALS patients seen at the Turin ALS expert center in the 2009–2021 period who underwent both cognitive/behavioral and extensive genetic testing were eligible to be included in the study. Only patients with SOD1 pathogenetic variants (n = 28) (SOD1‐ALS) and WT‐ALS (n = 829) were enrolled in the study. A series of 129 controls was also included. Results: Among the 28 SOD1‐ALS patients, 16 (57.1%) had normal cognitive function, 5 (17.9%) isolated cognitive impairment (ALSci) (17.9%), 6 (21.4%) isolated behavioral impairment (ALSbi), 1 (3.6%) cognitive and behavioral impairment (ALScbi), and no one ALS‐FTD. SOD1‐ALS performed worse than controls in all explored domains, in particular Social Cognition and Language domains. SOD1‐ALS patients had similar scores in all tests compared to WT‐ALS, except the Story‐based Empathy Task (SET), where they performed worse. Interpretation: Cognitive‐behavioral impairment is much more common in SOD1 patients than previously assumed. SOD1‐ALS are characterized by a more frequent impairment of Social Cognition and, less markedly, of Language domains. These findings have relevant implication both in the clinical and in the research setting, also considering recently approved treatment for SOD1‐ALS. ANN NEUROL 2024;96:150–158 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities play a pivotal role in achieving worldwide carbon neutrality due to their significant contribution to global energy consumption and carbon emissions. Therefore, planning effective strategies and guiding evidence-based policymaking at the city scale becomes even more crucial. Composite indices serve as a valuable tool for monitoring urban energy transition trends. This paper aims to present a novel approach, robust and flexible even under conditions of data scarcity, for tracking the energy transition trend of a city by means of a composite index (UETI). The Turin case study is introduced to test the applicability of the proposed approach. Additionally, to demonstrate the robustness of the composite index framework, the paper includes the findings of correlation and sensitivity analyses. This study reveals a significant improvement in Turin's environmental and energy domains, while the socio-economic domain shows more modest improvement. Furthermore, the study highlights the need to address the shortage of urban data to enhance the accuracy and reliability of metric-based frameworks and to extend the assessment to a larger sample of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to propose an innovative and efficient process in urban policy-making that combines a divergent and creative method with a convergent and strategic one. At the same time, the purpose is also to propose a useful innovation to enforce the usability of both methods. On the one hand, mission-oriented policies run the risk of being overly focused on the present and of not being able to develop preparedness in organization. On the other hand, scenario development has the reverse problem it often does not point out how to use scenario narratives to inform and devise short-term strategic actions. Design/methodology/approach: The paper proposes an innovative methodological approach, the mission-oriented scenarios, which hybridizes Mazzucato's mission-oriented public policy framework with Jim Dator's Manoa school four futures method. The proposed methodological innovation emerges from a urban foresight academic-led project carried out in the context of the Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy, where a first application of the mission-oriented scenarios was tested on six different focal issues (from reindustrialization to cultural policies) and the scenario narratives were used as sources for the grounding of 12 missions and 48 strategic actions towards 2030. Findings: Mission-oriented scenarios can contribute to the generation of more sustainable and inclusive urban public policies. This methodological proposal is based on an original mix of knowledge exchange procedures borrowed from methodological approaches with different backgrounds: the mission-oriented and the archetypal scenarios. Their conjunction could support the formulation of ambitious yet pragmatic policies, giving a plurality of actors the opportunity to act and establish fruitful and lasting partnerships. Originality/value: The paper reconstructs one of the first urban foresight projects carried out in a major Italian city by two prestigious universities and exposes a methodological innovation resulting from reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of the project, which opens the door to the development of a new scenario technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My research is situated within the literature looking at the processes of deinstitutionalisation of the mental health system through the lived geographies placed in between the walls of the asylum. It addresses mental health geographers' call for a situated knowledge about mental health and, by using the Italian psychiatric experience of the 1960s and 1970s as an example, stresses the importance of looking at care in both spatial and relational terms. Through a geographical understanding of the Italian psychiatric reform, that goes from Franco Basaglia's renowned work to the underrepresented experience of Turin, in northwest Italy, I will examine how space is intertwined with processes of mental health care. Additionally, I assess the role played by the interaction between spatial and relational elements in potentially enabling patients' self‐determination, empowerment and inclusion. The case of Turin—the story of which will be told through the analysis of archival material from a grassroots association called Associazione per la Lotta contro le Malattie Mentali—will serve to expand the common narrative around the Italian lesson and to give resonance to the instrumental role played at the time by both patients and civil society. By looking at the key events that led to the gradual dismantlement of the traditional psychiatric institutions in the metropolitan area of Turin, this paper contributes to the spatial turn in mental health studies, calling upon researchers to look at past achievements as something we still need to learn from and safeguard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Car dependency greatly contributes to the climate crisis and the corrosion of public space. In response, cities are introducing pedestrianisation, cycle lanes or tactical urban interventions aimed at repurposing streets for other road users. Framed as 'experiments', these reallocations of street space disrupt traditional transport planning procedures, often with promising results in promoting active travel. They are also associated with deep conflicts and criticism, especially by citizens defending the right to drive. Despite their ability to stop experiments, such conflicts have been little explored in the debates about experimentation and automobility. Similarly, street experiments have in most cases been uncritically embraced as a panacea for urban mobility problems, with little attention paid to experimentation as an expression of austerity urbanism. This paper aims to deepen our understanding of street experiments and their relationship to automobility by contextualising their conflictual unfolding as an expression of post-political planning in the age of austerity urbanism. Through a critical examination of the Torino Mobility Lab, a collaborative pedestrianisation experiment in Torino, we show how the governance-beyond-state setup of such projects masks a complex and contested coexistence of different meanings and processes for reimagining urban mobility and public space. We show how conflicts emerge embedded in the problematic and post-political governance of transport experiments. Nested within austerity urbanism, the experiment remains limited in its ability to create healthy spaces for participation. We conclude by highlighting the limitations and contradictions of attempts to overcome car dependency embedded in post-political frameworks and neoliberal-austerity planning practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrification of transport is expected to progressively replace significant shares of light duty mobility, especially in large cities. The European Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) aims to drive the adoption of electric mobility by establishing specific targets for charging point deployment. Innovative charging concepts may complement and accelerate the uptake of this fundamental part of the urban mobility transition. In this paper, one such innovative concept is described and its potential impact is assessed. The core idea involves integrating charging points into existing city tramway infrastructures. Turin's tramway network is taken as a representative case study. The proposed technical solution encompasses a charging hub powered by four isolated DC/DC converters of 50 kW, directly connected to the DC tramway distribution line. Three of these constitute the heart of a 150 kW charger, while the fourth acts as voltage regulator. This native DC installation greatly simplifies the architecture of the DC chargers. Using a conservative approach, it was estimated that a single recharging station could charge more than 60 vehicles daily. This highly scalable and replicable solution, with the potential for over 100 conversion substations across Italy, would enable the installation of numerous high-power chargers in urban settings. Furthermore, additional benefits could be realized through enhanced recovery of kinetic energy from trams, which is currently dissipated on-board. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic and extensive analytical study was carried out on the loose inlays discovered in the Ptolemaic workshop of Tebtynis (Fayum oasis, Egypt). This paper presents data derived from the multi‐methodological archaeometric investigations (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy–energy‐dispersive spectroscopy, electron probe microanalysis, micro‐Raman spectroscopy) performed on a set of intentionally colored and opacified glasses. In particular, we will discuss the textural, chemical, and mineralogical results related to the study of the yellow, yellowish‐orange, red, and brown inlays and semi‐finished/waste products now preserved at the Museo Egizio, Torino. The results highlight the presence of natron (low‐magnesium glasses, LMG) and plant ash (high‐magnesium glasses, HMG) base glass, coexisting with intermediate composition. Yellow samples are opacified using lead antimonates doped with iron and sometimes tin; conversely, yellowish‐orange specimens and the only brown sample are characterized by nanocrystals of cuprite. Red glasses are found in two variants: Dull reds are HMG with colloidal metallic copper particles, while sealing‐wax reds show LMG composition, associated with dendritic cuprite dispersed in a transparent, greenish matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2004 the SF Movement has developed a global community of food producers and activists called Terra-Madre. Every two years representatives of the community meet in Turin for five days of workshops and conferences. Due to Covid-19 crisis SF has radically changed the nature of the meeting, presenting a six-month calendar of digital and physical events around the world. The paper examines the exchange occurring between communities as a form of translocal activism and considers to what extent SF can be defined as a movement for food sovereignty. It draws on digital data collection on the online activities and research with participants involving semi-structured interviews and observation notes. The paper reflects on the experience of digital fieldwork and how the new format of Terra-Madre provides insights into SF as a translocal movement characterized by conflicts, common perspectives and emergent capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: This paper assesses the impact of estimation methods for general and education-specific trends in alcohol-attributable mortality (AAM), and develops an alternative method that can be used when the data available for study is limited. Methods: We calculated yearly adult (30+) age-standardised and age-specific AAM rates by sex for the general population and by educational level (low, middle, high) in Finland and Turin (Italy) from 1972 to 2017. Furthermore the slope index of inequality and relative inequality index were computed by country and sex. We compared trends, levels, age distributions, and educational inequalities in AAM according to three existing estimation methods: (1) Underlying COD (UCOD), (2) Multiple COD (MCOD) method, and (3) the population attributable fractions (PAF)-method. An alternative method is developed based on the pros and cons of these methods and the outcomes of the comparison. Results: The UCOD and MCOD approaches revealed mainly increasing trends in AAM compared to the declining trends according to the PAF approach. These differences are more pronounced when examining AAM trends by educational groups, particularly for Finnish men. Until age 65, age patterns are similar for all methods, and levels nearly identical for MCOD and PAF in Finland. Our novel method assumes a similar trend and age pattern as observed in UCOD, but adjusts its level upwards so that it matches the level of the PAF approach for ages 30–64. Our new method yields levels in-between UCOD and PAF for Turin (Italy), and resembles the MCOD rates in Finland for females. Relative inequalities deviate for the PAF-method (lower levels) compared to other methods, whereas absolute inequalities are generally lower for UCOD than all three methods that combine wholly and partly AAM. Conclusions: The choice of method to estimate AAM affects not only levels, but also general and education-specific trends and inequalities. Our newly developed method constitutes a better alternative for multiple-country studies by educational level than the currently used UCOD-method when the data available for study is limited to underlying causes of death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public transport can play a central role in representing a viable and sustainable mobility solution, especially in urban areas. Average energy consumption and emissions per passenger are much lower than for private cars. At the same time, current buses often mostly rely on diesel, and there are different solutions that can contribute to public transport decarbonization. Biomethane is among the options to exploit local low-carbon resources to decrease the emissions of public transport in urban environments. This paper presents the analysis of a real case study considering real data on the fuel consumption and mileage of the existing bus fleet in the city of Turin, Italy, composed by diesel and natural gas buses. The aim of this study is to estimate the effect of different penetration levels of biomethane in substitution of the current fuels. The results show that the use of biomethane in urban buses could save to up to 71% of emissions compared to the current situation, and savings would increase to 75% when deploying biomethane and electric buses together. Average emissions per pkm could decrease from a current level of 85.5 gCO2/pkm to 21.3–63.4 gCO2/pkm depending on the penetration of biomethane and electric buses. The sensitivity analysis shows even higher savings when accounting for the future decrease of the electricity carbon intensity in Italy and for the additional benefits related to avoided emissions from manure disposal. The results of the analysis demonstrate the potential contribution of biomethane in decarbonizing urban buses, and the findings presented for this case study can be of use for policy makers and researchers that deal with a similar situation in other cities and countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the results obtained from an archaeometric study of a bronze Nuragic small boat model (Sardinia, Italy) dating from the Early Iron Age (presumably 9th–7th centuries BC). The artifact comes from an unknown location in Sardinia and is one of the objects that came to the Museum of Turin in the 19th century. This model is of particular interest as it is a unique Nuragic boat model containing a human figure among its decorations. The artifact is kept in the collection of the Royal Museum of Turin (Italy) and is a typical example of Sardinian manufacture from the Early Iron Age. This study was carried out using a combination of non-invasive techniques with energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (ED-XRF) integrated with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and Raman spectroscopy, which allowed the characterization of the alloy of the artifact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, pollution has emerged as a significant global concern, with European regulations stipulating limits on PM 2.5 particle levels. Addressing this challenge necessitates innovative approaches. Smart low-cost sensors suffer from imprecision, and can not replace legal stations in terms of accuracy, however, their potential to amplify the capillarity of air quality evaluation on the territory is not under discussion. In this paper, we propose an AI system to correct PM 2.5 levels in low-cost sensor data. Our research focuses on data from Turin, Italy, emphasizing the impact of humidity on low-cost sensor accuracy. In this study, different Neural Network architectures that vary the number of neurons per layer, consecutive records and batch sizes were used and compared to gain a deeper understanding of the network's performance under various conditions. The AirMLP7-1500 model, with an impressive R-squared score of 0.932, stands out for its ability to correct PM 2.5 measurements. While our approach is tailored to the city of Turin, it offers a systematic methodology for the definition of those models and holds the promise to significantly improve the accuracy of air quality data collected from low-cost sensors, increasing the awareness of citizens and municipalities about this critical environmental information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food concerns practices with material and discursive effects on bodies, involving, at the same time, relations of power and care. The international debate has widely analysed food in terms of biopolitical technologies and ethics of care, paying particular attention to school meals. In particular, school canteens constitute physical and relational contested spaces, characterized by different rationalities and perspectives. Drawing from qualitative research carried out in Turin, Italy, this paper unpacks school food discourses and practices by analysing the coexistence and entanglements of biopower and care. Starting from the awareness of the fluidity of these categories, the paper suggests that food at school be neither connected nor reduced to a dichotomous and static view. It proposes a more nuanced understanding of food practices, in which forms of productive biopower and subversive care are deeply intertwined and it discusses how children, staff and parents daily negotiate these entanglements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of regulation in fostering or hindering sustainable development has been largely discussed. Yet, empirical studies on how to act in reviewing and modifying normative structures seem to be lacking within the academic debate. This work presents the experience undertaken by the research center FULL at the Politecnico di Torino (Turin, Italy), in supporting the local Municipality to simplify, disambiguate and redefine the current environment/energy regulation system. The paper particularly focuses on the methodological approach utilized to review rules in relation to daylighting in the local Energy Annex Code. This document contained mandatory and voluntary requirements and includes daylighting among the voluntary ones, through the average Daylight Factor DFm. It also addressed the window design through the RAI (Ratio Aerial Illuminating, defined as window area to room area ratio). The Municipality reports that building practitioners underuse the daylighting practice based on DFm, rather relying on RAI, because of its simplicity. Consequently, the Municipality gave mandate to FULL to define a new daylight indicator, to be included among mandatory requirement and meant to be more accurate than RAI but simple enough to promote its application. For this purpose, the 'RAI-enhanced' indicator was defined, as a function of: (i) glazing area Sg; (ii) glazing visible transmittance Tv, (iii) floor area Sfloor; (iv) obstruction angle α, considering buildings ahead of window, overhangs, and loggias. Based on the results, the paper explains how the daylighting part of the energy regulation system was informed and reviewed in the case of the Municipality of Turin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inlays range among the most aesthetically pleasing and technically challenging glasses produced in the Ptolemaic period. Despite the central role of this phase in the history of glass technology, little is known about the recipes and the technological knowledge of the Egyptian artisans. This paper will thus focus on the study of the materials from the secondary workshop of Tebtynis (Fayum oasis, Egypt). We report the first multi‐methodological study comprising textural, chemical, and mineralogical analyses (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive system, electron probe microanalysis, and μ‐Raman spectroscopy) on a set of 81 colorless, white, blue, and green samples carefully selected among the 800+ glasses from the craft area now stored at the Museo Egizio, Turin (Italy). Our study offers the biggest compositional database of well‐dated Ptolemaic glasses currently available in the literature, highlighting some interesting novelties regarding the silica and alkali sources, and the coloring and opacifying techniques employed. The results suggest a specialized craft of traditional origin, but open to innovation and experimentation, as expected from transitional phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the case of the 'Grandangolo' project in Turin, funded by the European Union (EU) through the 4th call on urban security of the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) programme, the paper discusses the role of the university and the relationship between the latter and local actors in enabling social innovation ecosystems through public funds. In a complex system where greater engagement of neighbourhoods is increasingly required in order to find solutions to local issues, university action-research laboratories can help achieve this task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at establishing the most appropriate maximum cruising speed for a freight electric multiple unit (F-EMU), i.e., a concept of a new-generation freight train with distributed power, diagnosable and suitable to run also on high-speed lines. Different scenarios were simulated on the Turin-Verona (I) line, trying to achieve a service with five subsequent F-EMUs departing after the end of the passenger service and arriving before the scheduled night-time maintenance operations on the infrastructure. The scenarios considered the current signalling systems (SCMT and ERTMS level 2) and ETCS level 3 with train-platooning. It has been shown that, because of the limitations due to the tarpaulin guaranteed resistance of swap bodies loaded on the flat wagons, the most convenient speed for the design of these trains is 160 km/h, being the best compromise for line capacity and the efficiency of the service. Moreover, given the homotachic nature of the foreseen scenarios, train-platooning would be a viable solution for avoiding delays and pursuing a more reliable service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City leaders are advancing low-carbon transitions in urban areas that require robust operational frameworks and innovative processes. This paper presents a novel interdisciplinary framework to support urban decision-makers in the design and implementation of low-carbon strategies based on participatory approaches. Using inductive reasoning, the framework was defined according to three methodological steps: the preliminary analysis, the indicator selection, and the decision-making implementation. The work is part of the MOLOC Interreg Europe project and is applied to the revision of the Turin General Master Plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the XLI Congress of Theoretical Chemists of Latin Expression was held in Italy (Torino, July 26-31, 2015). Published as part of the special collection of articles "CHITEL 2015 - Torino - Italy.". [Extracted from the article]

Digitalization techniques, such as photogrammetry (PG), are attracting the interest of experts in the cultural heritage field, as they enable the creation of three-dimensional virtual replicas of historical artifacts with 2D digital images. Indeed, PG allows for acquiring data regarding the overall appearance of an artifact, its geometry, and its texture. Furthermore, among several image-based techniques exploited for the conservation of works of art, multispectral imaging (MSI) finds great application in the study of the materials of historical items, taking advantage of the different responses of materials when exposed to specific wavelengths. Despite their great usefulness, PG and MSI are often used as separate tools. Integrating radiometric and geometrical data can notably expand the information carried by a 3D model. Therefore, this paper presents a novel research methodology that enables the acquisition of multispectral 3D models, combining the outcomes of PG and MSI (Visible (VIS), Ultraviolet-induced Visible Luminescence (UVL), Ultraviolet-Reflected (UVR), and Ultraviolet-Reflected False Color (UVR-FC) imaging) in a single coordinate system, using an affordable tunable set-up and open-source software. The approach has been employed for the study of two wooden artifacts from the Museo Egizio di Torino to investigate the materials present on the surface and provide information that could support the design of suitable conservation treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to identify the potential of electric vehicles in current car mobility scenarios. Firstly, distances traveled daily are analyzed to understand if the car usage observed can be satisfied by the expected range of electric vehicles. Secondly, idle times between trips are studied to assess vehicle needs and identify the requirements for electric charging stations to support the trip-chains observed. The datasets were derived from floating car data recorded for 365 days and include more than 30 million trips crossing the Metropolitan City of Turin (Italy). Approximately 70,000 km were observed daily for more than 10,000 vehicles for 400 different vehicle models to identify their activities over 24 hours. This daily activity in the observation period can be considered a reference scenario, in synergy with the battery range, to plan charging points in road networks. Results show that 98% of daily VKT (vehicle kilometers traveled) are lower than 300 km, over a year of observation. Cars are also classified according to their market segment to identify specific vehicle usage, defining a data dictionary to relate the models and segments. For instance, daily VKT values estimated for segment A (city cars) average 34 km, whereas for segment E (executive cars) the average is 75 km. The spatial analysis of idle times reveals a higher number of shorter breaks in the city center compared to peripheral districts, suggesting that recharging solutions should be adapted to zones according to how they are used for parking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper illustrates the results of a survey conducted in the period January-February 2023 involving the users of the Turin Public Libraries, an urban system currently affected by a significant strategic rethinking process. Through the analysis of the answers to questionnaire provided by 3,926 people, it was possible to bring to light the complexity and the multidimensionality of the act of reading and to gather interesting information on three central issues: the process that leads readers to choose the book; the libraries' role in fostering and enriching the reading experience; the complementarity between book and other form of access to narrative world, both outside and within libraries. These cognitive elements can help both to improve the collection development policies and to favor the meeting between readers and collections, also through their integrated and transmedial organization within an enriched physical and virtual bibliographic space, which stimulates and enhances the reading experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Turin-Lyon railway line was completed in 1871. Its first part, between Turin and Chambéry, was previously planned by the Kingdom of Sardinia – which ended in 1861 with the unification of Italy – to connect the Piedmont region to the Savoy region, in particular with Chambéry, ancient capital of Duchy of Savoy. However, today the railway line shows relevant operating problems, due to the high sum of grade and curve resistance. A new line, whose most important section is the Fréjus base tunnel (Fig. 1), is under construction. This paper analyses the competitiveness of the new Turin-Lyon line in the complete framework of rail connections between Italy and the rest of Europe via the Alpine passes. To this end, firstly a great part of European rail network was modelled, with particular detail for the railway lines across the Alps. Three different scenarios were considered: ‘current’, in which only railway lines currently in operation are included; ‘project’, in which railway lines under construction are also considered; ‘future’, in which planned railway lines, but not yet under construction, are also included. In particular only the new base tunnel, between Bussoleno and St. Jean de Maurienne, was considered in the ‘project’ scenario, while the entire new Turin-Lyon line was considered in the ‘future’ scenario. Afterwards, the current freight demand, among European regions, which pertain to Alpine pass railway lines, was calculated using a multi-regional input-output model. Subsequently, a forecast of the freight demand was made for the year 2030, ‘project’ scenario, and 2050, ‘future’ scenario. Finally, the freight transport demand was assigned to the study network by a Probit model, in order to calculate the freight flows on the various Alpine railway passes in the different scenarios considered. This analysis shows that on the future new Fréjus railway line there will be a significant increase in freight flows, until reaching, in the ‘future’ scenario, freight flows comparable to those of the Gotthard and Brenner, albeit lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As dramatically confirmed by the recent earthquakes in Amatrice and Visso in 2016, and by the collapse of a road bridge along the Savona-Torino highway in 2019, Italy and all its constructions and infrastructures passing through its territory are potentially exposed to considerable seismic and hydrogeological risks. Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), in its role of Infrastructure Manager, is responsible for the management and safety of the rail traffic on the Italian network. RFI has therefore implemented a safety management system that ensures the control of the risks associated with railway operations, including seismic and hydrogeological risks. The first part of the paper provides an overview on the exposition of the Italian railway network. The strategies adopted by RFI for mitigating the abovementioned risks are then described as based on a combination of passive and active countermeasures. Eventually, the paper describes the future trends and developments for updating and improving the internal procedures and the tools currently available for reducing the consequences on the railway network of potentially harmful natural events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main potential benefits of rainwater harvesting, namely water saving and storm water management, are easily evaluable at a building scale when well-known behavioral models are used. However, the evaluation is often more complex at an urban scale, due to a lack of building characteristics and demographic data. In the present paper, we propose a method, which is based on the representative building concept that can be used to quantify the potential benefits of rainwater harvesting at different scales, that is, from the building scale to the district and city scales. Particular attention has been paid to the sizing of the system so that it can be used for different rainwater collection purposes. The method has been applied to the city of Turin (Italy) considering different scenarios: 1) domestic use (e.g., toilet flushing and the washing machine), where buildings are independent of each other, and 2) two public uses (the irrigation of public green areas and street washing), for which we have hypothesized that the rainwater collection takes place at a district scale. The non-potable water saving for domestic use varies across the city from 29% to 62%, according to the characteristics of the buildings, while the reduction of the flow peak conveyed to the sewerage system, during extreme storms, is quite constant (in the 57–67% range). Irrigation and street washing require a lower amount of water, thus about 80% of water can be saved, but the retention efficiency is low, and a slight reduction in the flow peaks can be expected. The aim of the methodology presented in this work is to provide a suitable decision-making tool for policy makers and urban planners to evaluate the capability and efficiency of rainwater harvesting systems for buildings, districts, and cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The gradual rise in global warming owing to fossil fuels usage is causing massive environmental problems and global temperature rise and countries are focusing on the negative emissions technologies (NETs) to restrict the average global temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2050. As Italy instigates its stable recovery from the coronavirus emergency, the Italian government is offering Italian people financial support of up to €500 to buy a personal bicycle or e‐scooter, to reduce dependence on private cars and global warming issues and people inItaly have greeted this opportunity for new personal e‐scooters. This paper aims to employ a life cycle assessment (LCA) on the personally owned electric scooters (PEOS) that are circulating in Turin. The results are reported for five impact categories: global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential, eutrophication potential, ozone layer depletion, and human toxicity potential. We found that the environmental load associated with the usage and charging of e‐scooters is less compared with the materials and manufacturing burdens of e‐scooters. Regarding the GWP, the results of Analysis methodology of the use of the PEOS generate 21 g of CO2‐eq. per passenger‐kilometer dominated by around 50% from materials processing, 17.5% from Li‐ion battery production, 1.6% from transportation, and 30.9% from usage and charging of e‐scooter. Four scenarios are compared with the base case situation, which are the substitution of alternate materials, use of 50% recycled aluminum, transportation of e‐scooters via plan, and charging with solar power. Results from these scenarios are proved to be highly sensitive to baseline scenarios. Results also revealed that PEOS has higher (21 g CO2 eq./km) environmental consequences on the global warming potential as compared to bicycles (8 g CO2 eq./km) and lower (21 g CO2 eq./km) environmental impacts as compared with electric bicycles (40 g CO2 eq./km) and battery electric vehicles (80 g CO2 eq./km). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the measurement of the spatial and temporal resolutions of a Resistive Silicon Detector (RSD) pixel matrix read out by the FAST2 ASIC, a 16-channel fully custom amplifier developed by INFN Torino using a 110 nm CMOS technology. The test was performed at the DESY test beam facility with a 5 GeV/c electron beam. The RSD matrix is composed of seven 450 μ m pitch pixels with cross-shaped electrodes for a total area of about 1.5 mm 2. The position resolution reached is σ x = 14 ± 1 μ m , approximately 3.5% of the pitch, and the temporal resolution is σ t = 49 ± 6 ps. The work demonstrates that RSD sensors with cross-shaped electrodes achieve 100% fill factor and homogeneous resolutions over the whole matrix surface, making them a suitable choice for 4D tracking applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents and discusses the method adopted by Compagnia di San Paolo, one of the largest European philanthropic institutions, to monitor the advancement, despite the COVID-19 situation, in providing specific input to the decision-making process for dedicated projects. An innovative approach based on the use of daily open data was adopted to monitor the metropolitan area with a multidimensional perspective. Several open data indicators related to the economy, society, culture, environment, and climate were identified and incorporated into the decision support system dashboard. Indicators are presented and discussed to highlight how open data could be integrated into the foundation's strategic approach and potentially replicated on a large scale by local institutions. Moreover, starting from the lessons learned from this experience, the paper analyzes the opportunities and critical issues surrounding the use of open data, not only to improve the quality of life during the COVID-19 epidemic but also for the effective regulation of society, the participation of citizens, and their well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared spaces dedicated to digital fabrication such as Fablabs and Makerspaces, together with co-working spaces and start-ups incubators, are said to contribute to the sociospatial reconfiguration of work in digital urban economies characterised by sharing practices and self-organization. However, part of the academic literature on the topic partially reproduces the representations of Makers provided by the mainstream discourse developed by tech-gurus and consultants, which understand them as entrepreneurial innovators. Moreover, when Making is analysed as a new form of work, its spatial dimensions are identified either in the city or in the organisation in which Makers gather, considering both as bounded containers. To offer a more nuanced conceptualisation of Makers' work and arguing that Making as a new, heterogeneous form of value production entails different spatialities, the paper claims for analyses that start from a practical, relational, and more-than-human understanding of what Makers do. Drawing on a recent post-structuralist strand in economic geography and mobilising an Actor-Network sensibility, the article claims for an approach to the study of Makers and Fablabs as economic phenomena that goes beyond understanding them as part of a new urban infrastructure of workplaces targeting self-organised, entrepreneurial, yet collaborative individuals in the age of digital capitalism. Through the ethnographic study of a community of Makers that gather around the main Fablab of the post-industrial Italian city Turin, the paper shows how heterogeneous actor-networks translate Making as a form of value production in multiple and contingent ways, in which the distinction between production and reproduction is variously challenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fifth Session of the UNEA-5 defines Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as "actions to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems, which address social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services and resilience and biodiversity benefits". A large number of the EU HORIZON 2020 research program projects include the implementation of NbS in urban settings. The proGIreg project implemented several NbS for urban regeneration with and for citizens in its Living Lab in the city of Turin (Italy), among others. Focusing on the NbS of urban forestry, this paper addresses the following question: where can NbS be implemented within the city, in order to maximize their social impact? To achieve this goal, by identifying neighborhoods in need of NbS implementation, the 3–30-300 rule proposed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) was adopted and implemented, taking greater account of environmental and social characteristics. The paper also proposes an index to identify neighborhoods of the city that could have precedence in the implementation of NbS. The results highlight 10 neighborhoods where there is a high need of NbS implementation. • Nature-based Solutions (NBS) can contribute significantly in adapting urban environments to climate change. • Where to localize the implementation of NBS in cities is a highly political process, which requires a critical perspective. • A multidimensional and multiscalar context-based approach is required in identifying areas that need precedence in NbS implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When industrial relics, such as obsolete buildings, sites, and infrastructures, enter into a process of adaptive reuse, they become transformation engines capable of shaping the urban fabric. They provide tangible and intangible links to our past and have the potential to play a significant role in today's cities' futures. One unresolved issue is the quantification of the externalities of these transformation processes. If undertaken correctly, adaptive reuse can contribute to the development of social and cultural capital, environmental sustainability, urban regeneration, and, most importantly, economic benefits to the surrounding community. In this sense, understanding the value of heritage is particularly important in light of the new European urban environmental policy movement based on the circular economy, which aims to change the way Member States consume and produce materials and energy. After a review of the externalities generated by the adaptive reuse of disused industrial heritage, the paper will concentrate on the estimation of economic benefits given by a transformation process that affected Turin's Aurora district (Northern Italy) during the last years. The hedonic pricing method (HPM) was used to investigate the effects of the construction of new headquarters and the redevelopment of an old power plant converted into a museum and conference center. This study used econometric models to identify a significant increase in market prices within 800 m of the site and calculated a EUR 16,650,445 capitalized benefit from the transformation on the surrounding residential building stock. The study thus contributed to the awareness that reused heritage not only improves the lives of residents, but it also has a positive impact on the real estate market, in terms of transactions, as well as market values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A resilient, diversified, and efficient energy system, comprising multiple energy carriers and high-efficiency infrastructure, is the way to decarbonise the European economy in line with the Paris Agreement, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the various recovery plans after the COVID-19 pandemic period. To achieve these goals, a key role is played by the private construction sector, which can reduce economic and environmental impacts and accelerate the green transition. Nevertheless, while traditionally decision-making problems in large urban transformations were supported by economic assessment based on Life Cycle Thinking and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) approaches, these are now obsolete. Indeed, the sustainable neighbourhood paradigm requires the assessment of different aspects, considering both economic and extra-economic criteria, as well as different points of view, involving all stakeholders. In this context, the paper proposes a multi-stage assessment procedure that first investigates the energy performance, through a dynamic simulation model, and then the socio-economic performance of regeneration operations at the neighbourhood scale, through a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). The model based on the proposed Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluations II (PROMETHEE II) aims to support local decision makers (DMs) in choosing which retrofit operations to implement and finance. The methodology was applied to a real-world case study in Turin (Italy), where various sustainable measures were ranked using multiple criteria to determine the best transformation scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes an analyses of the experience of the celebration of the sacrament of the penitence with the general absolution - the third form of the present Ritual (Ordo Paenitentiae, 1973) - thanks to a research on the field held in the archidiocese of Turin (Italy). This analyses is preceded by a brief historical overview which explains why the third form is quite exceptional; and it is followed by some remarks which suggest the pastoral opportunity to propose in an ordinary and regulate way the third form of the penitence in synergy with the first form - individual confession -, so taking into serious consideration the positivity of the recent experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider the problem of estimating causal effects in a framework with many treatments through a simulation study. We engage in Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the performance of inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) with 10 treatments, estimating the propensity scores using Generalized Boosted Models. We assess the performance of IPTW under three different scenarios representing treatment allocations, and compare it with a simple parametric approach, i.e. logistic regression. IPTW's estimates are less biased, even though they exhibit a higher variance than those based on logistic regression. Moreover, we apply IPTW to the estimation of the neighbourhood effect on the probability of older people experiencing at least one fracture requiring hospitalization during the year 2002 by comparing 10 neighbourhoods in the city of Turin (Italy). Our paper demonstrates that IPTW can be successfully applied to the estimation of neighbourhood effects, and, more generally, to the estimation of causal effects in the presence of many treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of the aesthetics in Group Decision and Negotiation (GDN) practice, specifically how it affects the methods and the cognitive processes in the architectural field. We intend aesthetics as "scientia cognitionis sensitivæ", a particular process and way of knowing and experiencing the problem through senses, imagination and empathy. We argue that (a) aesthetics and aesthetic features can (and do) convey knowledge about the problem; (b) we can distinguish between two kinds of aesthetics, one of the process and one of the product and (c) the aesthetics can contribute to create a "plural subject". The issue is investigated through a decision problem about the transformation of an iconic building in the centre of Turin (Italy), in two ways: (1) by merging the Strategic Choice Approach (SCA) with architectural design and (2) by approaching the same issue with Storytelling, as a method for problem-based instruction. Considering the aesthetics as a specific form of language, the paper offers innovative considerations about the role of representation and visualisation tools and models—drawing, scheme, diagrams, but also video and text—as support for group decisions and negotiations, in the construction of knowledge within decisional processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nuragic civilization (Sardinia, Italy, XVIII–VIII B.C) developed a flourishing bronze metallurgy with strong connections with other civilizations from the Mediterranean basin. Within the large bronze production, there are some peculiar representations of human figures, known in the archaeological environment of Sardinia as bronzetti, depicting warriors, priests, and offerers. In this paper, an interesting couple of Nuragic statuettes representing offerers, one from the Pigorini Museum in Rome and another from the Musei Reali in Turin, were analyzed. They have been investigated with X-ray fluorescence integrated with Monte Carlo simulations (XRF-MC). The combined methodology provides more accurate results, ranging from the structural characterization to the identification of the corrosion layers to the estimation of the composition of the alloy of the artifact. One of the most striking results regards the heads of the offerers: both heads are covered with a thick iron-based layer, even though the whole artifacts are made of a copper alloy. To understand the reason behind this peculiar corrosion patina, several hypotheses have been considered, including the possibility that these iron mineralizations are the consequence of an ancient superficial treatment, intending to confer a chromatic effect on the figurine's head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religions and religiosities are among the various social life spheres being affected by medical and political measures imposed during the health emergency. Involving a wide range of daily life dimensions and intertwining with fundamental aspects of individual and social existence, restrictions hit religions and religiosities in all those spaces where they find expression in our contemporary era. Pandemic restraints induced changes in the use of different public spaces: from school to home, from workplaces to places of worship, from prisons to squares, from hospitals to cemeteries. This also concerned the way religiosity could be performed, lived and shared in everyday life, for communities, families and individuals. In particular, during the pandemic, the role of religious environments became, once again, a place of material as well as spiritual support for migrants. And in this perspective, young people, i.e., second generations, played a prominent role, regaining prestige and recognition from adults. In fact, from being perceived as "far from religion and on the road to secularization", as one interviewee said, young people have been able to show how it is possible to reinterpret religion in emigration, without abandoning religious values. This paper discusses the results of preliminary research on the topic conducted in the first phase of the pandemic in Turin, a city that, for its history of immigration and consolidated presence of Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox communities, is an emblematic case of the Italian multicultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the general context of multilingualism and multiculturalism that characterize today's society, the analysis of the languages in contact is a topic of interest for the studies of contemporary contrastive linguistics. The present paper aims at describing the complex phenomenon concerning the present multiethnic and multicultural society, namely the linguistic consequences of immigration, with particular reference to Romanian immigration to Italy. Although limited to sketching some linguistic features of a small sociolinguistic segment, the proposed case study will emphasize the linguistic behaviour of the Romanian or Bessarabian students who attend the lectures of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and Modern Cultures of the University of Turin. The present research proposes to observe how their mother tongue is preserved (taking into account that most of the time, these students belong to the second generation of Romanian immigrants who come to Italy) and in which cases the influence of the Italian language (second language for these subjects) over the Romanian language (L1) is manifested ) or vice versa. This paper aims, in particular, to observe the influences exerted by the Italian language (L2) on the mother tongue (LM) of the mentioned subjects, the main objective of the study being to highlight at what levels of the linguistic system the interference between the two languages is manifested, in order to highlight the dynamics of the Romanian language written and spoken by these Romanian native speakers students, members of the Romanian community in Turin, one of the most numerous communities of foreign residents in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Grid transit network is adopted in few metropolitan areas with an orthogonal scheme. • Normally, this PT layout is not adopted at all in non-metropolitan contexts. • A GIS-based model tests its suitability in the Italian city of Turin. • Results in terms of agency costs and users' travel times reveal its competitiveness. • Some transport and morphological features are a prerequisite for its implementation. This paper deals with grid transit network schemes and their specific features: orthogonal main routes that do not overlap, increased transit frequency, and distance between bus stops in interchange areas to be optimized. So far, this solution has been successfully adopted in metropolitan areas with orthogonal urban shapes (as shown by the description in Section 2). The aim of this paper is to discuss the extension of such systems into cities with less than one million inhabitants. A method to evaluate the performance of these schemes is proposed, based on the reduction of travel times for users and on the decrease of travel costs for the transport agency, with the constraint of not reducing the overall capacity. With the support of a GIS-based model, the method is applied to the case study of Turin (Italy), showing that the introduction of the grid network results in an improvement of the service, with a reduction of 16 bus routes. Compared to the current condition, this grants a reduction of both operational costs (−687€/peak hour and −232€/off-peak hour, equal to −0.7% and −0.3%) and, mostly, travel times (636 h and 316 h saved by users during peak and off-peak hours, equal to −2.4% and −2.7%), thus confirming the potential usefulness of this system in non-metropolitan contexts characterized by orthogonal schemes, and giving local transport policy-makers an additional perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the case of PalaFuksas, a signature building inaugurated in 2005 and located in the central (but marginalized) area of Porta Palazzo in Turin, Italy. Originally designed to host clothing shops, the building had a history of failures and reconversions, and it is currently mainly used as a branded food hall. By mixing archive and qualitative research, the article focuses on the evolution amongst local stakeholders, of different 'expectations', intended as heterogeneous and not fully conscious and rational sets of ideas, imaginaries, forecasts. PalaFuksas was expected to be a successful and functional building to contain businesses, a flagship for the entire city, and to perform distinction and iconicity, acting as a regenerator for its neighbourhood. Failures in meeting these expectations implied a continuous renegotiation of the meanings, functions and identities of PalaFuksas, revealing the complexity of the processes at play in the attempt to sign, re-sign and ultimately 'become' a signature building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giuseppe Gradenigo was born in Venice in 1859, and he was a member of the noble Venetian family of the Gradenigo. After graduation in medicine in Padua, he went to Vienna where he deepened his studies in otology and embryology. He obtained, in 1888, the "libera docenza" in otology in Padua, and in 1889, he began to direct the section of otolaryngology of the polyclinic of Turin. After a brilliant career in 1917, he took over the chair of otolaryngology at the University of Naples. Gradenigo was a pioneer in otolaryngology and audiology and a reference figure in the clinical and scientific fields. In this paper, the most important aspects about his works and his biography will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Evidence regarding the impact of prophylactic implantation of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) during coronary or structural procedures is limited. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the in-hospital and medium term outcomes of ECMO support in complex percutaneous coronary or structural intervention.Methods: The present is an observational prospective study including consecutive patients who underwent to prophylactic ECMO implantation for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), structural or combined interventions between July 2018 and July 2020 in Maria Pia Hospital GVM Care & Research, Turin, Italy. Primary endpoints were in-hospital and medium term all-cause death. Secondary endpoints were vascular complication, bleeding and procedural success.Results: 27 patients were included with a mean age of 80 ± 6 years, 10 (37%) being diabetics and 19 (70%) with severe left ventricle dysfunction. Mean Logistic Euroscore was 28.7 ± 18.7. Seven patients (26%) underwent complex coronary revascularization, 7 (26%) combined PCI + TAVI, 5 (19%) combined PCI + Mitraclip, 5 (19%) TAVI alone and finally 3 (11%) combined TAVI + Mitraclip. The procedural success was 96%, with only one in-hospital death due to major vascular complication at the ECMO vascular access. At a mean follow-up of 11 ± 6.8 months 4 deaths were recorded (3 from not cardiovascular causes).Conclusions: Prophylactic use of ECMO may be beneficial for high risk patients undergoing complex combined coronary/structural percutaneous interventions with good in-hospital and mid-term outcomes in term of safety and procedural success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from a critical perspective on conventional representations of urban margins and traditional approaches to urban regeneration, our article aims to highlight the missing relationships between urban policies and the ways in which places organize their cultural, social and economic life. What are the socio-spatial practices that shape the everyday urban life? In which ways they are related or not to urban regeneration processes? Using Turin as a case-study, the paper discusses these questions and highlights the inconsistency of the normalizing narrative adopted by urban regeneration policies and the heterogeneous, multiple and constantly evolving identities unfolding in the urban margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The core dynamic of Alex Garland's Ex Machina centers on three characters. Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), a mogul of insatiable appetites, owns and controls BlueBook, an online social media corporation comparable to Google or Facebook. Nathan possesses a narcissistic personality structure, which disturbs a healthy curiosity into the inner life and the capacity to self-reflect. Obsessed by the ambition to invent post-human intelligence, he has built a succession of AI creatures, all simulacra of glamorous women. Each is imprisoned, enslaved by her inventor; furthermore, each has been constructed by cannibalizing the body parts of her predecessors. Ava (Alicia Vikander) is the latest in that line. Ex Machina portrays the collective problems of our current times powerfully when Nathan summons Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a bright and easily influenced BlueBook employee, to run the Turin test on Ava. Although the mechanical and electronic structures of her body are unmistakable, his desire to make her his lover soon overwhelms him. As an orphan, Caleb has a trauma history that makes him susceptible to the seductive demands of Nathan's type of personality. Ultimately, both men's personal Shadow problems are enacted in their contact with Ava as their distorted relationship with the feminine reaches its denouement. In this paper, we attempt to engage via Ex Machina with concepts that frequently occur in creation myths. Marie-Louise von Franz (1995) regarded such myths as the deepest and, most important of all, belonging to a different class than fairy tales or hero myths, for when they are told, there is always a certain solemnity that gives them a central importance; they convey a mood which implies that what is said will concern the basic patterns of existence, something more than is contained in other myths (p. 1). We find creation myths whenever the unconscious is preparing for an important progressive step in consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater Heat Pump systems (GWHPs) represent one of the most suitable technologies to be applied for heating and cooling purposes in buildings. This paper explores the urban and regional standards and regulations with which Piedmont and Lombardy Regions (Northwestern Italy) are equipped: the in-force regional and municipal regulatory references to which a new geothermal project must comply (i.e., authorization requests and plant final testing operations) were taken into consideration, highlighting the potential and limits connected to different diffusion rates of GWHP systems by means of the Turin and Milan cities contexts analysis. To promote a rapid but sustainable diffusion in the medium and long period of open-loop geothermal solutions in densely urbanised contexts, urban planning instruments must pursue the following aim: to ensure adequate long-term protection of the groundwater bodies, through an understanding of the subsoil in the decision-making process heating and cooling of buildings in densely urbanised areas. The multilevel analysis performed is proposed as a guide to allow professionals to understand the various regulatory processes that guide the authorization methods of new geothermal plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Last-mile delivery is regarded as an essential, yet challenging problem in city logistics. One of the most common initiatives, implemented to streamline and support last-mile activities, are satellite depots. These intermediate logistics facilities are used by companies in urban areas to decouple last-mile activities from the rest of the distribution chain. Establishing a business model that considers different stakeholders' interests and balances the economic and operational dimensions, is still a challenge. In this paper, we introduce a novel problem that broadly covers such a setting, where the delivery to customers is managed through satellite depots. The interplay and the hierarchical relation between the problem agents are modeled in a bi-level framework. Two mathematical models and an exact solution approach, properly customized for our problem, are presented. To assess the validity of the proposed formulations and the efficiency of the solution approach, we conduct an extensive set of computational experiments on benchmark instances. In addition, we present managerial insights for a case study on parcel delivery in Turin, Italy. • We study an integrated bi-level approach for setting the tariffs in a collaborative last-mile logistic problem. • We propose two mathematical models and an exact solution approach. • We present an extensive set of computational experiments to assess the performance of the exact method. • We discuss insights from a real case study on the medium-sized metropolitan area of Turin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive impacts of car-sharing, such as reductions in car ownership, congestion, vehicle-miles-traveled and greenhouse gas emissions, have been extensively analyzed. However, these benefits are not fully effective if car-sharing subtracts travel demand from existing sustainable modes. This paper evaluates substitution rates of car-sharing against private cars and public transport using a Random Forest classifier and Binomial Logit model. The models were calibrated and validated using a stated-preference travel survey and applied to a revealed-preference survey, both administered to a representative sample of the population living in Turin (Italy). Results of the two models show that the predictive power of both models is comparable, albeit the Logit model tends to estimate predictions with a higher reliability and the Random Forest model produces higher positive switches towards car-sharing. However, results from both models suggest that the substitution rate of private cars is, on average, almost five times that of public transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues in favour of creative methodologies as tool for relevant academic praxis. It provides the analysis of a concrete case in which a non-academic text – a composite book made of a participant’s introduction, an ethnographic novel, 21 graphic illustrations and a political essay – allowed for a meaningful re-appropriation of a fieldwork with homeless people in Italy. Such re-appropriation is understood and theorized as a research-activist ‘mode of existence’, namely as a way to use creative methodologies to pursue active and emancipatory engagement with vulnerable groups. The paper analyses this ‘mode of existence’ as a process made of several ‘translations’, or orientations towards the same interests, and it clearly shows the role of non-human agencies in their unfolding. Through its more-than-human narrative, the paper provides an innovative contribution to debates on research-activism and a new reflection on how to engage meaningfully with vulnerable groups. The conclusion highlights areas of improvement to further strengthen the activist-research mode of existence presented in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]