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The paper aimed to investigate the influence, on the assessment of the structural safety level of an existing r.c building, of the different choices that the technician in charge of a structural evaluation (the "analyst") can make regarding the structural elements to be tested to obtain a prescribed level of knowledge. To this end, the case study of a reinforced concrete framed structure built in the 1960s in Italy was investigated by means of numerical analyses. The probability distribution of the estimated safety levels was evaluated in the paper by means of a Monte Carlo approach, considering the alternative selections of elements done by a large number of analysts, and the probability of unsuccessful safety estimations is discussed for the knowledge levels considered in the Italian technical codes and the Eurocodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The area surrounding the Po River, known as the Po Valley, provides a central contribution in the economy of Italy and is highly devoted to agriculture. Recently it has been hit by multiple droughts, among which the exceptional event of summer 2022 is considered the worst dry period of the past 200 years. In the near future, the frequency of such exceptional events is predicted to rise; thus, a deep knowledge of the past droughts that hit the area, the variables used to characterize the events, the impacts they caused and the mitigation strategies adopted to deal with dry periods is of the utmost importance for policy definitions and planning. This study maps the scientific literature published from 2000 to February 2024 on the topic of drought in the Po Valley using the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Overall, 44 articles have been identified and grouped in three main classes: event identification and characterization, impact analysis and management strategies. The main gaps found in the collected papers are the lack of evaluations of the impacts of drought events on human health, hydroelectric energy production and tourism. Furthermore, comprehensive drought management and planning in the area is never addressed in the considered articles. The mentioned aspects deserve more attention, especially the development of drought management plans and policies and the evaluation of their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-trafficking programmes in Italy have been implemented for more than two decades. Yet, little empirical evidence is available regarding their functioning. This paper draws on 56 semi-structured interviews carried out in the period of 2019–2021 with practitioners and beneficiaries of the N.A.Ve anti-trafficking programme. The interviews focused on practitioners' experience working with Nigerian women and on Nigerian women's experiences of the programme upon completion. By building on critical anti-trafficking studies and the autonomy of migration perspective, this contribution looks at the relationship between practitioners and Nigerian women admitted to the programme by addressing the following questions: what is the experience of practitioners and beneficiaries in the N.A.Ve programme? To what extent is the structural violence of the counter-trafficking apparatus reproduced in the relational dynamics between practitioners, particularly Case Managers, and beneficiaries? How do beneficiaries cope with such violence? I argue that the Case Managers' approach builds on "stratified layers of institutional knowledge" and that this concept is useful to highlight how their knowledge derives both from the counter-trafficking apparatus and their social work background. Furthermore, I present evidence that such an approach reproduces structural violence through processes of "conditional inclusion". Nigerian women denounced this violence but also seized the relational capital grown from rapport, calling for more engagement with people rather than programme objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an innovative approach for improving the seismic protection of existing structures by introducing an additional dissipative structure (ADS). The seismic energy impacting the building can be dissipated through the contribution provided by the ADS, thereby reducing the need for the existing building to ensure its seismic capacity. This retrofitting technique is well-suited for structures facing architectural restrictions or challenging-to-update elements. It can help to address foundational issues by applying loads to new external components. This paper describes the design of the ADS and proposes a displacement-based design procedure. The design process involves a nonlinear static analysis and a simple procedure that must be iteratively repeated until the retrofitting target is achieved. This approach is simple and computationally efficient and can also be used for complex and irregular structures. Such structures are frequently encountered, and existing structures often exhibit unusual geometries and materials requiring extensive numerical modeling. The efficacy of this technique was evaluated using the case study of a school building located in central Italy. The results of numerical analyses indicated that owing to the ADS's contribution, the seismic capacity of both buildings was enhanced, addressing the challenges associated with complex foundational interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the energy efficiency of smart working (SW) as a solution to traditional work-approach issues, with a focus on evaluating benefits for both employers and employees. Remote working, while offering environmental advantages such as reduced commuting and office space use, poses challenges in assessing its true impact. The study presents results from a dynamic analysis on a real residential building, typical of an architectural style diffused in northern Italy, revealing a 15% average increase in energy consumption when all work tasks are performed from home. To address concerns about the environmental impact of SW, the research proposes a method and metrics for evaluation. Four novel indices (SWEET, SEE, SSEE, and 4E) are introduced, providing a structured approach to assess the energy efficiency of SW initiatives. The paper outlines a methodology for data gathering and metric application, aiming to acquire quantitative insights and mitigate disparities arising from a transfer of burdens to employees. This contribution not only signifies a ground-breaking methodology but also addresses an unresolved research question concerning the evaluation of the actual energy efficiency of smart working implementations for both employers and employees. The results underscore the importance of understanding the nuances of SW's impact on household energy usage and its broader implications for sustainability goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve the ambitious goal of "carbon neutrality", countries around the world are striving to develop clean energy. Against this background, this paper takes China and Italy as representatives of developing and developed countries to summarize the energy structure composition and development overview of the two countries. The paper analyzes the serious challenges facing the future energy development of both countries and investigates the possibilities of energy cooperation between the two countries, taking into account their respective advantages in energy development. By comparing the policies issued by the two governments to encourage clean energy development, this paper analyzes the severe challenges faced by the two countries' energy development in the future and combines their respective energy development advantages to look forward to the possibility of energy cooperation between the two countries in the future. This lays the foundation for China and Italy to build an "Energy Road" after the "Silk Road". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, ventilation in buildings was not always given its due importance. The World Health Organization has highlighted the important role of air exchange with the outdoors in improving the air quality in buildings; buildings should, therefore, be equipped with mechanical ventilation or adequate air conditioning systems. This paper aims to investigate different retrofit solutions for air conditioning, evaluating them in terms of energy consumption and cost and the impact of increased outdoor air exchange rates on countering the propagation of COVID-19; the latter is the main novelty of the paper. As a case study, we take an existing office building located in Central Italy that was previously not equipped with a mechanical ventilation system (a system with primary air was introduced during the study). The energy analysis was conducted using dynamic simulation software after validation through energy bills; energy and economic analyses were conducted considering different external-air exchange rates. An optimal number of outdoor air changes was found to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection, a finding in line with the international literature. The increase in air changes with outdoor air leads to a rise in energy consumption and costs. These values were evaluated for different air conditioning systems and operational schedules. These drawbacks can be made less significant by combining interventions in the system with energy-efficiency measures applied to the building envelope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses experimental and simulated data regarding the thermal bridging effect in a reinforced concrete corner pillar, which belongs to a building dating back to the 1980s and located in Southern Italy. The thermal field determined by the concrete pillar corner has been evaluated, introducing an experimental procedure based on both direct measurements and indirect observations of the inner superficial temperature by means of thermal imaging techniques and surface temperature probes. Moreover, indoor and outdoor air temperature and relative humidity were measured to provide suitable boundary conditions in the numerical simulations, performed with a commercial software tool widely used in Italy based on 2D finite element techniques. The experimental measurements show that, at more than 50 cm from the corner, the surface temperatures become almost constant, meaning that the thermal bridging effect becomes less evident. However, the surface temperature in the corner is around 1.5 °C lower than in the undisturbed flanking walls. In terms of local heat flux, the discrepancy between simulations and measurements is below 3%. Finally, this paper verifies the effectiveness of External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) renovation in reducing the thermal bridging effect of the corner pillar. The results also include the calculation of the linear thermal transmittance with a series of relations available in well-known atlases for thermal bridges and show that these relations are more reliable in the case of uninsulated pillar than for the insulated one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper's research question is to evaluate the potential impact of large numbers of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on the future electric grid, and whether the flexibility of BEV charging can induce enough system benefits to remunerate BEV users for the change in their recharging pattern. The considered scenario refers to the Italian situation and what might occur through the year 2040, where a share of BEV stock of 40% can be foreseen, as well as significant increases in PV and wind generation. Although this study is focused on Italy, its results are applicable, with minor differences, to several EU countries. This paper first shows that the future impact of increasing penetration of BEVs appears to be compatible with the expected growth of generation from renewable energy sources (RES) and the corresponding reduction in fossil fuel-based generation. It also gives an estimate of the CO2 emission reduction resulting from these changes, considering an unmanaged BEV charge profile and two different managed profiles that shift the car's charging period to hours of the day when they have no negative impact on the grid and maximize the utilization of RES. Finally, it shows an evaluation of the economic benefits of displacing private car charging ranging from 4 to 10 cEUR/kWh, which could be used as tariff incentives to stimulate this displacing in recharging time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore the properties and the uses of the past participles in the Arbëresh variety of S. Nicola dell'Alto, an Albanian dialect still spoken in Southern Italy, which has been in contact with Italo-Romance varieties for more than five centuries. The data are discussed in comparison to standard Albanian and the contact language, Italian. In Albanian grammar, there is only one type of participle: the past participle. It has both verbal and adjectival properties. As a verbal form, the participle is used in compound and in periphrastic tenses, in combination with both the auxiliaries KAM 'have' and JAM 'be'. It can also be used in combination with other particles to create non-finite verbal forms such as gerund or infinitive or to build up temporal expressions. Finally, it can also be used after some modal impersonal verbs. Verbal participles never show agreement. Albanian participles can also be adjectival. All the adjectives derived by a participial verb take a linking article and always agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, Case and definiteness. The formal distinction of the verbal participles from adjectival participles seems to correlate with the aspectual properties of the construction: a verbal participle appears in eventive structures, whereas an adjectival participle occurs in stative structures. But, as we shall see, this is not always the case. Arbëresh participles have maintained the same morphological and syntactical properties of Albanian. They can be used both in stative and in eventive contexts, but in Arbëresh eventive passives, which are built up as in Italian rather than as in Albanian, the adjectival participles are always inflected. Agreement is obligatory in all the contexts where it is in Italian. This is a clear contact-induced change. The data presented in this paper show that Arbëresh, on the one hand, preserves features of Albanian grammar, whereas, on the other hand, it has undergone changes under the influence of the surrounding Italo-Romance varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]