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• Machine Learning to classify watermarked Italian paper. • XRF and FTIR spectroscopies to study late middle-aged Italian watermarked paper. • A new spatial-temporal approach to trace the local recipes and the geographical paper mills' production. • Bergamo and Bologna stand out as marked watermarked Italian paper mills. Manuscripts, illuminated codex, books, documents and letters are composite materials, traces of the past starting from the invention of the writing. In this context, dating is one of the most important information for document attribution, and watermarked papeItaly'smarkers for studying their time-spatial distribution. In the Late Middle Ages, Italy's most important centre of paper mill was located in the town of Fabriano (Marche region, Italy). Here, a selection of ten Italian Late Middle Ages watermarked papers belonging to the Corpus Chartarum Italicarum (Corpus of Italian papers) is characterised by elemental and molecular spectroscopies and collected data are analysed by Machine Learning (ML) to trace the local fabrication recipes and the geographical paper mills production. Data from portable X-ray fluorescence and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were analysed through Singular Vector Machine, Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy and Moving Blocks methods. This innovative ML spatial-temporal approach based on keeping the temporal variable fixed is used to find elemental benchmarks for classifying the watermarked Italian notarial catalogue of the Late Middle Ages finding differences in the local recipes and studying the homogeneity in the paper mills' production. Results show that watermarked paper from Northern Italy, from the town of Strozza, Piacenza and Bergamo , as well as Bologna, present a high elemental and molecular homogeneity, which indicates that the hand-made processing technique could be the same helped by the proximity of the three cities, starting point for technologies exchange or influence. No heavy metals are found in the watermarked paper and K, Ca, Fe and Zn are identified as elemental benchmarks. Finally, Ca, Ti, Mn, Cr and Fe are particularly present on the edges of the watermarked papers. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three oil sketches on paper forming the basis of this study—all of elderly, male sitters—are attributed to unknown sixteenth- or early seventeenth-century Bolognese artists: painters associated with the Carracci family and their Academia degli Incaminati. This context was notable for its near-constant examination of the world around it through consistent drawing and painting, and for its success in exporting its negotiations of the contemporary religious landscape beyond Bologna, to Rome and further afield. A brief overview of the original intention, forms and early functions of these works is given, before focus turns to traditions of ownership and collection in the generations immediately after their creation. The British contexts that the sketches entered during the eighteenth century—collections at Stourhead House, Saltram House and General John Guise's bequest to Christ Church—are then explored through consideration of the social and artistic milieux in which these works were acquired. All three sketches have been mounted on to canvas or panel supports: this conservation history sheds light on how these works have been altered structurally, aesthetically and in functionality as they moved from an early didactic purpose to that of display in the eighteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Bologna process emerged in the framework of European integration, its objectives are closely linked to the process of voluntary convergence of public policies of members of the European Union. In this context, it can be challenging to understand possible convergence or divergence trends in Bologna member countries that are outside the European Union. In this paper, I develop a theoretical framework based on Acharya's (2004) norm localization theory to analyze the historical and present factors of borrowing and adoption of the Bologna standards in Kazakhstan. While the findings suggest that convergence to the Bologna model will be limited, the identified short-term outcomes of the Bologna process include adopting the Bologna-driven competence-based approach. In the long term, the competence-based approach could replace knowledge-based education in Kazakhstan. The analysis reveals the importance of domestic factors for educational policy borrowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current global food system is characterized by anonymity in the value chain, global food trade, loss of knowledge about food sources, and a distant producerconsumer relationship. In addition, the negative environmental impacts of the agricultural sector, such as pollution, degradation of soil and water quality, loss of biodiversity, and significant greenhouse gas emissions, make this sector a major driver of climate change. In contrast, the city region food system (CRFS) approach captures the complexity of a food system and its actors at the local level. It aims to meet the requirements of sustainable transformation along the food value chain and offers an alternative approach to the challenges of the global food system. However, the actors and their relationships in CRFS are rarely analyzed. To fill this gap, this study focuses on analyzing CRFSs as networks using the Net-Map tool to study different CRFS in seven European cities (Bologna, Naples, Lansingerland, Tenerife, Oslo, Dortmund, and Romainville). The aim of this paper is to concentrate on the method and to show how the Net-Map tool can effectively support the evaluation of the CRFS by identifying different actor roles, recognizing patterns of relationships. Additionally, the strengths and weaknesses of the network can be assessed by a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis. The paper highlights the limitations, advantages, and practical use of the Net-Map tool and discusses potential transferability to other case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of building a coherent frame for the identification of local environmental urban vulnerabilities, coping with heat waves' increasing threats, and adopting specific adaptation policies in the Emilia-Romagna region. A microclimate model (ENVI-met) was used to simulate temperature regimes in five areas of Bologna, providing ex ante maps enabling us to locate the most vulnerable areas. Adaptation measures were suggested with the support of WMO Guidance 1234 and included recommendations about the introduction of high-albedo building materials and nature-based solutions. The step-by-step methodology developed, coupling local vulnerabilities with adaptation recommendation, integrates a scientific methodology into a political decision. The results, allowing us to widely represent this city's vulnerability, are considered outstanding with respect to supporting the city's adaptation ambitions and are now part of the running Bologna General Urban Plan (PUG), which regulates building interventions, introducing the obligation for enterprises to respect or ameliorate the microclimate in all the areas in which they intervene. This tool can be replicated and adapted to any municipal area, as it integrates authoritative WMO solutions with accurate microclimate assessment, thus providing locally tailored adaptation interventions. This paper aims to support the vision, shared by both science and policy makers, of transforming cities into widely resilient systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acoustic characteristics and spatial features of the world's only surviving Italianate Gordonia-style miniature theatre, one of the smallest theatres in the world, have inspired the author to analyse the acoustic behaviour of the Monte Castello di Vibio theatre, also called "Teatro della Concordia". In this paper, the geometric and architectural features of this historical and unique performing art space were first reproduced, considering that these features are essential factors affecting acoustic characteristics. Subsequently, the acoustic measurements were taken throughout the stall and inside some selected boxes, and their main parameters were acoustically characterised according to ISO 3382-1. Lastly, the main acoustic parameters of the Monte Castello di Vibio theatre were compared to those of the 1763 theatre in Bologna, which is also a miniature theatre of similar size. The aim is to explore the main influences on the acoustic parameters of miniature theatres, and the results show that the plan layout of the theatre and interior decoration are the main factors influencing the acoustic characteristics rather than volume. Preserving the acoustic features of this unique heritage building is also seen as one of the goals of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the political and cultural problem underpinning mainstream narratives on homelessness. The absence of data, in conjunction with the misconceptions associated with homelessness, translate into the criminalization and stigmatization of homelessness, both at the local level and in fragmented policies at national and international levels. Section one presents an overview of homelessness as a cultural and political problem; section two then introduces the Italian situation and Bologna as a case study. After a presentation of the method followed in section three, sections four and five describe and then discuss two projects initiated by a political collective in the city of Bologna that directly involve homeless people in the deconstruction of imageries and narratives around homelessness. Finally, section six draws conclusions about the need to generate new narratives capable of accounting for the intersectional and complex nature of the phenomenon of homelessness: new narratives capable of restoring to the homeless their articulate human identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposed paper critically explores the implications of digital educational tools on teaching processes rather than on learning processes by analysing interviews with teachers who have used the NAO robot in three schools near Bologna, within the European project EDUROB (2016-2018). The use of this instrument is considered to be affected by the whole socio-technical milieu (the “classrooms”), which includes cultural assumptions about digital artefacts. Hence, our hypothesis is that teachers play a key role in transmitting pre-assumed beliefs and concerns about technology to students, especially if training courses for all the teacher-users are not guaranteed. As an example of possible critical consequences from a lack of training, the authors underline “non-expert” teachers’ tendency to use the NAO robot as an assistant in doing their job. In these cases, teachers unintentionally convey to students interpretations of this technology that are likely to be far from the expected ones. Here, the role of the robot ranges from a tool for enhancing education to an “entertainer”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future of physiology has been a recurrent concern for physiologists and Physiological Societies within post-Bologna Europe and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Our paper provides an overview of Physiology teaching and research in Portugal, an EU member state and part of the EHEA. A descriptive study was designed to analyze data publicly available from the National Higher Education Directorate agency (DGES) from September to November 2022 to find all Portuguese syllabi containing at least one discipline related to human Physiology. A detailed database was established, including teaching staff, with a total of 365 courses/degrees and 764 Physiology disciplines. A bibliometric analysis of the identifiable lecturers' scientific production between 2017 and 2022 was made using Web of Science and PUBMED databases. Physiology is part of all health-related professions. However, universities and technical colleges differ greatly in programs, staff backgrounds, and scientific profiles. Medical schools were found to provide the most complete formation. Noteworthy, the profession of Physiologist has practically no expression within the EHEA, compared with the USA-UK realities. A better knowledge and understanding of these Physiology modalities in teaching and research within the EHEA will be instrumental to defining a stronger identity for European Physiology in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experimental setup of HVAC testing requires easy but accurate instrumentation, and recent analyses focus on the control based on the mean radiant temperature in order to better perform respect to the users satisfaction. Indeed, the research contribution of this work is the use of Arduino to develop a PID control for an electric heater. As a main feature, this control system can operate by maintaining the set-point on the air temperature or on the mean radiant temperature of the environment where it is placed. The paper describes the design and development of the PID control, as well as the testing of the control system applied to an electric heater, to heat a room in a laboratory in Bologna (Italy). In an Appendix the Matlab script employed to store data on the local pc an to send data to Google Sheets is reported, together with the Google script code employed to write the data from Matlab to the online sheet. As result, the developed PID is accurate in maintaining the required set-point temperature, with minimal deviations from the set-point, in the interval ± 0.2 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of Ablai Khan KazUIRandWL: Series 'Pedagogical Sciences' is the property of Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations & World Languages and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper describes the experience of the 3D mapping of the Ravone torrent, which flows in the city of Bologna (Italy) for about 10 km, alternating above ground and underground segments. The work was commissioned by the Agency for the Territorial Safety and the Civil Protection of Emilia-Romagna Region, and the activities were performed by Forlì Ambiente Cooperative Company in collaboration with the DICAM Geomatics group of the University of Bologna and the UAS national training Centre of the Italian Red Cross in Bologna.The aim of the work was the complete and reliable documentation and mapping of the torrent course, fundamental for the planning and execution of maintenance operations and basis for the project of the urban redevelopment in the areas surrounding the above ground segments.The case study presents peculiar morphological characteristics that make its survey a challenging task: an elongated and repetitive geometry, a small transversal section and long underground portions. The geometric documentation required the use of different geomatic techniques performed in integration, with the aim to obtain the accurate 3D model of the whole torrent course: Terrestrial Laser Scanning, GNSS, photogrammetry by drones, classic topography by Total Station, high precision differential trigonometric levelling.In the paper all the surveying and processing phases will be accurately described, underlying all the solutions developed to face the problems related to the peculiarities of this object, and presenting the obtained final products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the deep renovation and enhancement of energy efficiency in existing urban areas, aiming to transform them into zero energy districts, utilizing renewable sources. This transformative process is essential to align with contemporary models for new buildings and to elevate existing structures to meet environmental housing standards mandated by current regulations. The proposed densification strategy is motivated by the necessity to augment the real estate value and enhance the architectural and performance quality of the existing building stock, all while minimizing additional land occupation. Its efficacy has been rigorously tested and demonstrated within the European Horizon 2020 project "ABRACADABRA". The key actions advocated for in this approach revolve around the incorporation of renewable energies, volumetric expansion, and completion volumes (urban infill), within the Positive Energy District. The validation of this process occurs on a district scale in a social housing urban block located in Bologna (Italy), with currently poor environmental performance. A multi-criteria analysis was employed to examine the architectural, climatic, and energy context. The meta-design phase successfully attained the energy and economic targets set by the project and by local and European regulations settings, offering an optimized design solutions for reshaping the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Garisenda Tower and the Asinelli Tower, also widely known as the Two Towers, are the best preserved and famous medieval towers in the city of Bologna (Northern Italy). Standing one close to the other, right in the heart of the city centre, the Two Towers are delicate remains of the old towered city, which counted more than 75 towers in the 12th century. The foundations of historic towers and the surrounding soil often hide major hazards for the long-term preservation of these heritage structures. The initial fundamental step to this aim is indeed a deep understanding of their original conception, foundations and subsoil. However, the idea that also such elements are an integral part of the overall structure, and thus subjected to the same conservation rules, is relatively new. The present paper outlines the investigation criteria applied to the soil-foundation systems of the Two Towers of Bologna and describes the authenticity of their characteristics, through the interpretation of new experimental data and the analysis of historical documents. A geotechnical perspective on this type of monuments turns out to be crucial in order to effectively understand the soil-structure interaction mechanisms, which govern their safety conditions over time. This study also aims to better understand the reasons why the Two Towers of Bologna, despite their numerous similarities, have reached completely different structural configurations. The methodology described to investigate this case study, which required the integration of several aspects, can be usefully applied to any historic tower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Architectural Journal / Jian Zhu Xue Bao is the property of Architectural Journal Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Italian residential building stock consists of 12.2 million buildings, with 7.2 constructed post-World War II during the economic boom. These structures were designed without specific regulations for seismic safety, fire resistance, and energy efficiency, and today lies the current state of strong obsolescence. Therefore, energy refurbishment may not always be the best cost/benefit solution due to these intrinsic issues. Consequently, the transition to construction systems based on circular economy principles brings new opportunities and becomes key to proposing replacement interventions for this heritage. This paper presents a comparative GIS-based bottom-up approach to evaluate the lifecycle impact of residential building blocks, encompassing energy, environmental, and economic aspects. Two tools are introduced: one for measuring energy consumption and the other for quantifying the quantities of materials stored in buildings. This methodology permits comparing the new circular buildings and different refurbishment scenarios to identify the most suitable solution from an environmental impact and financial point of view. The application of a case study, a residential urban block in Bologna, built in 1945–1965, highlights how the demolition and reconstruction scenario based on circular economy principles presents the lowest environmental impacts and is economically competitive compared to standard deep renovation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous real-life smart city application scenarios require joint analytics on unified views of georeferenced mobility data with environment contextual data including pollution and meteorological data. particularly, future urban planning requires restricting vehicle access to specific areas of a city to reduce the adverse effect of their engine combustion emissions on the health of dwellers and cyclers. Current editions of big spatial data management systems do not come with over-the-counter support for similar scenarios. To close this gap, in this paper, we show the design and prototyping of a novel system we term as EMDI for the enrichment of human and vehicle mobility data with pollution information, thus enabling integrated analytics on a unified view. Our system supports a variety of queries including single geo-statistics, such as 'mean', and Top-N queries, in addition to geo-visualization on the combined view. We have tested our system with real big georeferenced mobility and environmental data coming from the city of Bologna in Italy. Our testing results show that our system can be efficiently utilized for advanced combined pollution-mobility analytics at a scale with QoS guarantees. Specifically, a reduction in latency that equals roughly 65%, on average, is obtained by using EMDI as opposed to the plain baseline, we also obtain statistically significant accuracy results for Top-N queries ranging roughly from 0.84 to 1 for both Spearman and Pearson correlation coefficients depending on the geo-encoding configurations, in addition to significant single geo-statistics accuracy values expressed using Mean Absolute Percentage Error on the range from 0.00392 to 0.000195. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In temperate climates, such as in most parts of Italy, it is necessary to limit both winter heat losses of buildings and their overheating in other periods. Moreover, in warmer Mediterranean climates the convenience of insulation against the building's thermal inertia must also be evaluated. Therefore, when the energy renovation of an old building with heavy masonry is performed the problem is to optimize the position and the thickness of the additional insulation. In presence of extended glazed surfaces, the most appropriate solar control strategy should be defined too. Both issues are present in many old Italian public buildings. This paper deals with a computerized methodology for optimizing these choices by taking into account the interactions between thermal mass, additional insulation as well as internal and solar gains. The case study consists in a typical school building from the early 1900s. Building's thermal behavior was simulated in different Italian climates: Bologna, Roma and Palermo. The effects of various solutions on energy demand and comfort were compared. The possible effects of different types of masonry, different building's orientations and various intended uses were also explored. Simulation results show that the optimal intervention strategy, for the considered type of building, depends not only on the climate but also on the building's intended use, which determines the internal gains and the time profile of use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on a study of the life course of 40 young people (aged 18–35) in Bologna (Italy), who are active in eight different political organizations. It explores whether the political organization, given that the city's political context is the same for all participants, affects the variation of their pathways. It does so by answering the following question: which phases in the lives of young participants are interconnected with the political organizations they are engaged in? To evaluate the impact of the organizational context on young participants, we will take into consideration three dimensions: the degree of bureaucratization, forms of action, and political orientation. Situated at the intersection of youth and social movement studies, this paper aims to advance our understanding of the connections between primary and political socialization processes in shaping young participants' mobilization and sustained participation within different political organizations. Our empirical findings show that, if the degree of bureaucratization was constantly salient in the two phases, on the other hand political orientation was more salient during participants' mobilization and the forms of action during participants' sustained participation. In the conclusion, the paper critically discusses the empirical findings of our analysis of the respondents' narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redox processes activated by environmental factors have been identified as the main cause of the chromatic alterations of a number of artists' pigments, including the yellow pigment orpiment (As2S3). Although a general comprehension of the mechanisms has been provided through characterization of degradation compounds of As2S3, experimental evidences to prove how other paint components and how different environmental agents influence the formation pathways of specific secondary compounds are still lacking. Thus, it becomes fundamental to develop a methodological strategy which enable achieving a discrimination among the causes affecting the chemical stability of more heterogenous As2S3-based paints and defining the mechanism through which the alteration establishes and evolves, with the ultimate goal of optimizing the preventive conservation measures of unique masterpieces. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive multi-material and multi-method approach based on the combination of synchrotron radiation X-ray micro-analytical techniques (i.e., X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy at S K-/Ag L3-/As K-edges) and vibrational micro-spectroscopy methods to unveil the causes and mechanism of darkening of "fake-gilded" decorations in tempera paintings, originally consisting of an unusual mixture of As2S3 and metallic silver (Ag0). Such degradation process is a not yet understood phenomenon threatening a series of Old Master paintings, including those by the Italian painters Cimabue and Pietro Lorenzetti. The high specificity, sensitivity and lateral resolution of the employed analytical methods allowed providing first-time evidence for the presence of black acanthite (α-Ag2S), mimetite [Pb5(AsO4)3Cl] and syngenite [K2Ca(SO4)2·H2O] as degradation products of the "fake-gilded" decorations in the Maestà by Cimabue (Church of Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna, Italy). Furthermore, the study of the painting combined with that of tempera paint mock-ups permitted to explore and define the environmental agents and internal factors causing the darkening, by proving that: (i) Ag0 and moisture are key-factors for triggering the transformation of As2S3 to α-Ag2S and As-oxides; (ii) S2--ions arising from the degradation of As2S3 are the main responsible for the formation of α-Ag2S; (iii) light exposure strengthens the tendency of the paint components towards alteration. Based on our findings, we finally propose a degradation mechanism of As2S3/Ag0-based tempera paints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature that reflects on the application of Social Network Analysis (SNA) in combination with other methods is flourishing. However, there is a dearth of studies that compare qualitative and quantitative methods to complement structural SNA. This article addresses this gap by systematically discussing the advantages and disadvantages relating to the use of qualitative text analysis and interviewing as well as quantitative text mining and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques such as word frequency analysis, cluster analysis, topic modeling, and topic classification to understand policy networks. This method-oriented comparative study features two empirical studies that respectively examine the Employment Thematic Network, established under the aegis of the European Commission, and the intergovernmental cooperation network set up within the Bologna Process. The article compares and discusses the underlying research processes in terms of time, human resources, research resources, unobtrusiveness, and effectiveness toward the goal of telling meaningful stories about the examined networks in light of specific guiding hypotheses. In doing so, the paper nurtures the debate on mixed-methods research on social networks amidst the well-known paradigm war between qualitative and quantitative methods in network analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part of a larger ethnographic study on Italian youth mobilities, this paper investigates the transitions to adulthood of young returnees who have gone back to Italy after a period of living and working in Australia. Adopting the 'mobile transitions' approach, we illustrate the ways in which mobility affects transitions to adulthood. We suggest that upon return these transitions unfold like a palimpsest, where the old texts are layered over with new ones, unsettling conventions about adult life and disrupting assumptions that return is a final stage in the transition process. New meanings around adulthood emerge in these young Italians' mobile experience that continue also after return. We explore this through their aspirations for the future and their renegotiation of family relationships. Return for these young movers means bringing home a new perception of their current and future selves and especially of their role within their family of origin and Italian social and political culture. This is significant if we consider that Italy is the 'country of the long family' (Cavalli, A. 1997. "La lunga transizione all'età adulta." In Giovani del nuovo secolo. Quinto rapporto IARD sulla condizione giovanile in Italia, edited by C. Buzzi, A. Cavalli, and A. De Lillo, 38–45. Bologna: Il Mulino), where the youth condition is characterized by a delayed acquisition of autonomy and the consequent late assumption of responsibility and adult roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the relation between Shannon's information entropy and trips made by cyclists in an urban context. Such entropy indicator depends on people distribution across a territory in a specific time. Its evaluation and temporal evolution have multiple applications in transport planning, from the specification of demand distribution models to the calibration and validation of transport demand models to be used where transport data are scarce. This feature is crucial in transport planning, as the lack of robust data to estimate travel demand is still a common challenge, especially for cycling mobility. The entropy indicator has been applied to the cyclists' case in the Italian city of Bologna, using approximately 165,000 GPS traces recorded from April to September 2017. The results are encouraging because the entropy indicator is able to explain the evolution of the agents' distribution throughout a day across the territory. However, it is suggested that future research may further deepen the concept to test its transferability, and to better establish its sensibility to other case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The removal of rust stains is a common but challenging problem. • A new method for rust removal from ancient glass, using sodium dithionite, is presented. • For the first time, this new method was applied to the medieval stained-glass windows of the Santa Croce or Notari chapel in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna. The removal of rust is always a demanding challenge, whatever the material on which it formed. Many methods have been proposed and used when dealing with stone, paper and so on. For what concerns glass, in the past, the removal of rust stains has always involved the use of rather aggressive substances, such as EDTA or oxalic acid, which, if not applied in an extremely controlled manner, could damage the glass itself or deposit material that was difficult to remove. In this paper we present a new method, derived from a study for the removal of rust from stone and based on the use of sodium dithionite, that is demonstrated to be highly effective without any risk of damaging the glass. At first, the use of compresses soaked with sodium dithionite buffered solution was tested in laboratory on original medieval glass samples. The good results and the absence of any risk for the integrity of the glass led to the use of this new method for the first time in an important restoration, the medieval stained-glass windows of the Santa Croce (Holy Cross) or Notari chapel in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, Italy. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antonio da Parma (d. 1327) was a philosopher and physician, active in Bologna in the early fourteenth century, and associated with so-called "Bolognese Averroism." His philosophical works are increasingly better documented. While his medical works are much less studied, his commentary – written between 1310 and 1323 – on the first book of Avicenna's Canon , had a considerable influence on later commentators. This paper presents his analysis of the notion of 'complexion', a notion central to his anthropology for the philosophical issues it seeks to address: the possibility, for example, of defining the specific nature of the human body – as compared with other natural species – or of conceiving a scientific and universal discourse when confronted with the extreme variability of individual bodily complexion, which is at the heart of medical practice. Taking from Galen and Avicenna their 'relativistic' analysis of the well-balanced complexion, Antonio uses the idea of a latitude of individual complexion within the limits set by the natural species, to thereby make this picture of the human body coherent with the principles of Aristotelian natural philosophy. In so doing, he addresses the relationship between matter and form in a human body, the individuation of human bodies, or the principle of identity of a singular body. The paper concludes with a transcription of the relevant passages from Antonio's commentary on Avicenna's Canon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores female networking practices by comparing cases two centuries apart, an experiment made possible by a history of science renewed by a mutually enriching dialogue with science, technology and society studies (STS). The first part analyses the networking strategies of Clotilde Tambroni (1758-1817), a scholar who managed a university career in Bologna under the shadow of the Napoleonic wars. The second part presents some results of ongoing research on the networking strategies of a group of female feminist evolutionary biologists who, by building a 'Darwinian feminism' tradition, offered an alternative response to the 1990s nature-versus-nurture clashes leading to the so-called science wars. Grappling with the myth of a 'female brain' and building diachronic as well as synchronic networks among women scholars in both the Napoleonic wars context and the end of the Cold War, the female scholars examined here transcended dualistic simplifications about the nature of knowledge typical of their times. The two cases suggest a long-term, integrated, gendered approach that finds concrete expression in the outcomes of some recent neuroscience research as well as in the 'gendered innovations in science' project mentioned in my conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The subject of the study is issues related to the reform of higher educat ion systems taking into account the Bologna Process. As a theoretical and cognitive goal, the author adopted the presentation of the categories and conditions of the Bologna Process in its roman stage (2020). Design/methodology/approach: The article adopts methodological elements specific to the field of social sciences, including the monographic method. It is implemented in this work as a way of researching specific, individual cases and focuses on the overall recognition of one relevant problem. It is important here to verify each element of the phenomenon in question and focus on the individual components of the issue addressed based on qualitative17 descriptive elements. The paper draws on the printed publications of authors such as Irina Ferencz, Agnieszka Olechnicka, Tim Birtwistle, Robert Wagenaar, Jurgen Enders, Jeroen Huisman and continuous prints, including: Edukacja Ekonomistów i Menedżerów, Forum Akademickie, Education, Zeszyty Naukowe Politechniki Śląskiej, Studia Prawno- Ekonomiczne, Białostockie Studia Prawnicze and Studia Prawnoustrojowe. Findings: The research problem was framed by the question: what changes are possible to implement in European higher education, under the Bologna harmonization formula, after the announcement of the Rome Communiqué in 2020? Practical implications: The practical objective was defined in the form of comments relevant to the needs for changes in the course of the Bologna Process with regard to multidegree education, quality assurance and recognition of periods of education, the social dimension of the Bologna Process and the internationalization of higher education. Originality/value: The study consists of three rudimentary parts, including a characterisation of the development of higher education and the implications for the region, and an analysis of the Bologna Process and its benefits for European higher education, as well as its most recent implications for higher education systems after the Rome 2020 conference. This characterisation fits into the thematic area of education management understood as a potential of the European region. This article addresses the issue of higher education development as a factor in regional development and aims to analyse the most up-to-date desiderata for harmonising higher education systems in Europe, particularly those raised at the Rome 2020 Ministerial Conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reconstruction of 3D geometries starting from reality-based data is challenging and time-consuming due to the difficulties involved in modeling existing structures and the complex nature of built heritage. This paper presents a methodological approach for the automated segmentation and classification of surveying outputs to improve the interpretation and building information modeling from laser scanning and photogrammetric data. The research focused on the surveying of reticular, space grid structures of the late 19th–20th–21st centuries, as part of our architectural heritage, which might require monitoring maintenance activities, and relied on artificial intelligence (machine learning and deep learning) for: (i) the classification of 3D architectural components at multiple levels of detail and (ii) automated masking in standard photogrammetric processing. Focusing on the case study of the grid structure in steel named La Vela in Bologna, the work raises many critical issues in space grid structures in terms of data accuracy, geometric and spatial complexity, semantic classification, and component recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Gini index (Gini in Variabilità e mutabilità: contributo allo studio delle distribuzioni e delle relazioni statistiche, Studi Economico-Giuridici, Facoltà di Giurisprudenza della Regia Università di Cagliari, anno III, parte II, Cuppini, Bologna, 1912) is the oldest and famous inequality measure. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. In this paper, a fuzzy version of Gini's index is proposed and used it to propose an axiomatic measure of inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods for 3D point cloud classification has assumed an essential role in the heritage field. The association of semantic information to 3D representations became a valuable instrument for measurement, analysis, education or maintenance, in particular in the Cultural Heritage (CH) sector. Moreover, the recent availability and reliability of head-mounted displays and glasses are allowing extraordinary immersive virtual experiences. This paper presents an end-to-end framework to handle large and complex 3D point clouds, from acquisition to semantic segmentation and final access in a Mixed Reality (MR) environment. Three completely different heritage scenarios are considered: the Temple of Neptune in Paestum, the Milan Cathedral and a large portion of Bologna's porticoes. Mixed Reality experiences are described and shown based on the Microsoft HoloLens 2 device. A video of the results is available at https://youtu.be/Kd_3s0tIX04. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One can only know where a rock bridge is once one measures it. In addition, to measure it, you need the rock mass to fail. This critical problem is ignored by many, and engineers continue to refer to rock bridges as geometrical distances between non-persistent fractures. This paper argues that this rather simplistic approach can lead to non-realistic failure mechanisms. We also raise the critical question of whether the inappropriate functioning of strength equations centred on the measurement of rock bridge percentages could result in misinterpreting the risk of failure. We propose a new interpterion, aptly called the Bologna Interpretation, as an analogy to the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics, to highlight the indeterministic nature of rock bridges and to honour the oldest university in Europe (Bologna University). The Bologna Interpretation does not negate the existence of rock bridges. What rock bridges look like, how many there are, and where they are, we do not know; we can assume their existence and account for their contribution to rock mass strength using a potential analogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the historical meaning of corruption and its forms of contrast in late medieval Bologna. It focuses on understanding the different and changing notions this form of classifiable crime, performed by public officers, assumed in the three main statutes produced in the city between the late Thirteenth and early Fourteenth century: the statutes of 1250-1267, of 1288 and of 1335. Apart from providing a detailed account of all the different actions considered as corruptio in these normative texts, the paper goes further, comparing these dispositions with documents that can offer insights into the practical aspects of the phenomenon, such as chronicles and legal cases. pertaining to the ad maleficia courts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the effect of a food-inspired multimedia intervention on children's fruits and vegetables (F&V) consumption in a real-life setting during lunch. Design: Children in an elementary school in Bologna (Italy) in third, fourth and fifth grade, aged between 9 and 12 years old, were examined (N = 171). Two different types of messages (generic and specific) were used to test message-tailoring in two separate intervention groups and one control group. The two intervention groups (classes) were presented with multimedia messages during an English lesson before lunchtime, and their eating behavior during lunch at school was observed. All children were served the first and second course, vegetables and fruit during lunchtime. Data was analyzed with R 3.4.2. Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal–Wallis and ANOVA tests were used to test for group differences, ordered logistic regression for modelling fruit and vegetable consumption. Findings: The results show that children receiving a specific message targeting F&V consumed more fruit than the other two study groups. No effect on vegetable consumption was observed. Results from an ordered logit model support the notion that the multimedia message impacted fruit intake in the specific message group when taking other variables into account, such as F&V consumption and availability at home and children's attitude toward F&V. Originality: While many studies have considered a group of intervention for understanding the effect of multimedia, this study is focused only on the effect of a message (generic or specific). Moreover, participants, children, were not informed that they were participating in a study on fruit and vegetables consumption, and thus were following their daily routine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research paper aims at comparing the similarity and remoteness of influence of the features of eight common wheat varieties and their grouping on the base of important structural indicators through the use of a mathematical approach and a cluster analysis; studying of a relationships between the examined indicators in order to make more objective evaluation using the possibilities of the factor analysis; reducing the number of correlating indicators into new factors. Two-year data were used, obtained from the examination of eight common wheat varieties. The subject of the present research were seven seven foreign varieties of wheat - Ingenio, Bologna, Dalara, Moyson, Falado, Gabrio, Pibrak, and the eighth variety - Factor - was a local Bulgarian selection. The introduction of common wheat varieties is related to the study of their productivity and ecological plasticity. For this purpose there were reported and analised yield structural elements: plant height, wheat-ear length, number of ears, number of grains per ear, weight of grains per ear, grain yield from hectare. The cluster analysis showed that the influence of wheat variety on the qualitative indicators led to their grouping into two new clusters. There was established a strong positive correlation between the number of grains per ear and the hectoliter mass (r = 0.811) as well as between the number of ears and the weight of grains per ear (r = 0.771). The correlation coefficient between the number and weight of grains - (r = 0.649). The factor analysis established the influence of three main factors influencing the group formation of wheat varieties. The first factor was related basically to plant height, ear length, number of grains per ear and hectoliter mass. The second component was basically related to the number of ears and weight of grains. The third factor was related to the mass of 1000 grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have established the creation of new forms of taxation in Medieval Bologna, the increase of tax revenue between the 13th and 14th centuries, and the contemporary aggravation of economic inequalities. Based on my doctoral research on the relations between fiscal policies and political inequalities at the end of the 14th century, this research paper describes the building of a database of all known contributions in Bologna in the 14th century and highlights what such a tool can offer. The first objective of the database is to present the progression and social distribution of taxation in 14th century Bologna. The other main aim is to gather all the pertinent documentation on taxation, which is still scattered in several series. These registers are not always linked, and some simply bear indirect traces of the subject of interest, but they represent an initial approach to the documentary links around which taxation was organized, to the various practices of the officers, and the several functions of public taxation, beyond its mere fiscal dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forecast analysis of the exposure to the contamination risk in a water distribution network requires increasing the quality of the applied input/outputs modeling. This need involves using non-traditional models responding to the increasingly high computation requirements. In this scenario, the Cellular Automata paradigm represents a new frontier with considerable potential. Specifically, this paper describes the Eulerian Water quAlity Modeling—Cellular Automata (EWAM-CA) model, aimed at simulating the sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) injection, transport, and reaction phase in a medium-sized drinking water network. The EWAM-CA accuracy was compared with the Epanet software on a Fossolo water network, in Bologna town (Italy), considering a constant and an impulsive input respectively. Due to CA's intrinsic aptitude for parallel computing, a parallel version of EWAM-CA was developed. Moreover, using the capability of the cellular automata to manage the modeling asynchronously, improving the computational efficiency, we propose a novel approach based on activation/deactivation asynchronous rules, avoiding unnecessary calculations in nodes or pipes where no pollution occurs. The different EWAM-CA versions were compared for the case study, and the parallel EWAM-CA approach coupled with asynchronous functionality significantly improved computational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Psychologia-Paedagogia is the property of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The presence of moisture in historic buildings, especially from rising damp, is extremely widespread and severe, causing materials' deterioration, internal discomfort and bad thermal insulation of external walls. Although this phenomenon is widely studied in the literature, the available solutions are frequently only partially effective, also due to the lack of reliable and compatible techniques to monitor the amount of moisture inside porous building materials, especially in heritage buildings where multiple restrictions exist. In this paper, a new sensorized ceramic plug was developed, to be inserted in historic masonry walls for the remote monitoring of moisture. The plug includes a moisture sensor that is currently used for soil irrigation purpose in agriculture and a ceramic envelope of tailored properties. The plug was developed in laboratory following a step‐by‐step testing program, which took into account both the specific features of the sensor (requiring a strong research effort to be transferred to building materials) and those of historic walls. After a first set of laboratory tests, the sensorized ceramic plug was validated in small‐scale laboratory walls and in a real historic masonry in the monumental Certosa cemetery in Bologna, Italy. The results are extremely encouraging, as they show how the new plug can provide valuable information about the rising damp evolution, and in fact, the data were correlated with the changes in the concurrent environmental parameters in the area of the cemetery. The results also suggest some possible measures to improve the sensorized ceramic plug in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a general urban planning context, in which sustainable active mobility progressively takes up increasing attention, studies of cyclists' attitudes and behaviors represent a relevant step to help any enhancing measures for urban cycling. Among different categories, university student cyclists represent a still unidentified class, despite the relevant impacts in terms of mass and variability of attitudes in urban areas. The novelty of this paper is to propose an innovative overview on the specific category of university student cyclists. The integrated methodology, based on direct observation through GPS detection, GIS processing, and qualitative survey, permits the evaluation of some interesting issues related to students' propensity to cycling and their mobility patterns. The approach finds relevance in speed, frequency of movements, routing, and related infrastructure preferences. The methodology has been applied to a sample of more than 300 students of the University of Bologna who were allowed an original university-designed bicycle from February 2021 to June 2021. The analysis was applied in the Bologna urban area and allowed the evaluation of students' preferences of using existing cycle paths, when available, the limited relevance of speed factors, the main distribution of commuter journeys concentrated in the main avenues directed to city center, and other behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive façades represent a viable and effective technological solution to reduce the building energy demand for cooling while achieving interesting aesthetic effects on the building envelope to screen solar radiation. During the last decade, many different design solutions, including those based on shape memory alloys, have been experimented to obtain appropriate responses without being dependent on electro-mechanically actuated systems. Several recent and ongoing studies have been published in the scientific literature regarding the different actuator typologies, as well as the different properties of the materials used, which usually determine the adaptive solution characteristics after a series of complex and time-consuming simulations using specialised dynamic modelling software. Due to the time and resources required, this kind of evaluation is usually delivered during the last and more advanced design stage as a form of assessment of already-taken architectural and technological choices. The study reported in the paper aims to offer a quick, time-saving simplified algorithm to calculate the response of an adaptive façade, according to the ISO 13790 standards, to be adopted during the early design stage to evaluate the possible effects of design decisions. The study includes three main steps: (a) the conceptualisation of the adaptive solution considering the context conditions; (b) the definition of the calculation algorithm; (c) the application of the method to a test room in a case study building located in Bologna for supporting the discussion of the related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of smart cities, direct current overhead contact lines, usually adopted to power urban transportation systems such as trolleybuses, tramways, metros, and railways, can serve as a backbone to connect different modern emerging technologies. Among these, in-motion charging (IMC) trolleybuses with on-board batteries are expected to be very impactful on the DC network's power flow and may require specific voltage and current control. These factors motivate the development of a simulation tool able to emulate these devices' absorption and their effect on the supply infrastructure. The main innovative value of the work is to improve a simulation model of a trolleybus grid through a data-driven approach by using measurements of voltage and current output from a traction substation. The measurements are essential for understanding the behavior of vehicle weight variation throughout the day. Thanks to this information, a characterization of the current draw by conventional trolleybuses and IMC trolleybuses is then provided for each trolleybus route in a specific power section of the Bologna trolleybus system. By integrating the variation in vehicle weight within the model, a simulation of a possible daily operation of a trolleybus feeding section has been performed, obtaining a 7% error between the daily energy calculated from the simulation and that obtained through measurements. This analysis demonstrates the feasibility of the adopted simulation tool, which can also be used to evaluate additional hypothetical trolleybus operation scenarios. One of these possible scenarios considers IMC vehicles, and it is also evaluated in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines nascent alternative approaches to "commoning" and "common goods" that have been developed over the last decade by a unique coalition of lawyers, grassroots initiatives, and local governments in Italian cities, notably Bologna and Naples. The aim is to flesh out and to critically appraise two variants of a strategy for advancing urban commons in the direction of Integrative Governance, civic equality, power-with, solidarity, plurality, openness, and care for the city: the "Bologna Model" and the "Neapolitan Way." The argument is that the two strategies diverge in crucial respects, the former being more top-down and potentially compromising than the latter. Both, however, bear promise and potential for commons-oriented change, opening up processes of new social invention, deeper democratization, political contestation, and counter-hegemonic intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of the paper is to provide a chronological overview of the development and history of the study of journalism at the Faculty of Political Science from its foundation in 1970 to the present day. Four key periods are identified in the paper, i.e.: 1) the one-year and two-year study period; 2) the four-year study period; 3) the period of implementation of practical work in journalism studies; 4) the period of implementation of the Bologna reform. The paper relies on records, published texts and transcripts of conversations with professors of political science and journalism who, in various ways, participated in the development of this study at the Faculty of Political Sciences, which now spans more than 50 years. The main part of the work is focused on recording the facts that were relevant for upgrading the study of journalism and what the study is today in the Croatian context. This paper confirms that the only constant in the development of the study of journalism is the constant re-examination of the conception and reform thereof as extensively as possible. Digital technology requires quick response, knowledge and skills, but the concern for fair access to the journalism profession has remained the same throughout the decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surge of developing Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks and their use in vocational training for the past few years can be illustrated by a Frontex2 initiative in the extensive area of border and coast guarding. The EU authorities have tried to promote and model a harmonised approach to course design and training based on the European Qualifications Framework and Bologna and Copenhagen processes, matching the developments in general education across Europe. The aim of this paper is to examine the particular case of Sectoral Qualifications Framework for Border and Coast Guarding, focusing on vocational specificities, recent developments and practical applications at the level of course design. The corpus of the analysis consists of a specific training program in course design developed by Frontex in the past 5 years. The content analysis focuses on two main tiers: recent developments in SQF course design and applications of SQF in border and coast guarding course design. Each of these levels has structural and functional features with direct and critical implications onto national law enforcement curricula and training programs design, such as consistent revision of job competences, recognition of non-formal and informal learning and national accreditation and validation processes of qualifications and border police training programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bologna, Italy, with its history of good governance, progressive welfare policies, community work, and participation has engendered powerful discourses informing policy and institutional innovation. Yet, a recent city-wide mixed-method action-research (AR) project, designed to document and tackle health inequalities, showed a significant North–South divide for a range of health indicators and an unequal distribution of social determinants of health across the most socio-economically deprived city areas. The AR project also examined the potential of the city's initiatives for community development and health promotion in addressing health inequalities. In this paper, we focus on a recent institutional innovation called 'Uffici reti e lavoro di comunità' (Network and community work units, NCWUs), established by the Bologna municipality in 2016 to promote the decentralization of powers, strengthen community networks, and foster the engagement of citizen organizations in taking care of the material and social living environment. The results of the AR project indicate that the NCWUs, whilst not designed as a policy initiative to reduce (health) inequalities, have a potential to do so by supporting more effective community action to address the determinants driving those inequalities. Through a critical re-thinking of the concepts of power and participation, they also suggest promising directions to overcome some of the limitations of community development approaches in contributing towards greater well-being and equity for people and communities, underlining local learning which could be applied across different geographies nationally and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analysis of the supply and demand of a FFBSS recently implemented in the city of Bologna, Italy. The main aspects treated in this paper are: analysis of bike availability; temporal analysis of FFBSS demand; calibration and validation of a novel model that predicts the number of daily trips per available bike. This model is based on a linear combination of several day attributes, including meteorological and day-type attributes. Moreover, an origin to destination analysis is generated showing the spatial distribution of FFBSS trips. The methods are applied to a scenario with almost a million GPS traces recorded between July and October 2018 by the FFBSS in Bologna. Findings could support FFBSS companies to better understand the fluctuation of both the transport demand and supply of this relatively recent transport mode, as to make more efficient decisions when distributing or relocating bicycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trolleybus systems are resurfacing as a steppingstone to carbon-neutral urban transport. With an eye on smart city evolution, the study and simulation of a proper monitoring system for trolleybus infrastructures will be essential. This paper merges the authors' engineering knowledge and sources available in the literature on designing and modeling catenary-based electric traction networks and performs a critical review of them to lay the foundations for proposing possible optimal alternatives. A novel multi-vehicle motion-based model of the DC catenary system is then devised and simulated in Matlab-Simulink, which could prove useful in predicting possible technical obstacles arising from the next-future introduction of smart electric traction grids, inevitably featuring greater morphological intricacy. The modularity property characterizing the created model allows an accurate, detailed, and flexible simulation of sophisticated catenary systems. By means of graphical and numerical results illustrating the behavior of the main electrical line parameters, the presented approach demonstrates today's obsolescence of conventional design methods used so far. The trolleybus network of the city of Bologna was chosen as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to predict the average waiting time, defined as the time spent moving at 1 ms − 1 or less, of urban bicyclists during rush hours while performing different maneuvers at intersections. Individual predictive models are built for the three cyclist typologies previously identified on a large database of GPS traces recorded in the city of Bologna, Italy. Individual models are built for the three cyclist typologies and bootstrapping has confirmed the validity and robustness of the results. The results allow the integration of waiting times in route choice models for cyclists, thus improving the rational bases by which cyclists makes their decisions. Moreover, the modeling allows transportation engineers to understand how different cyclist typologies perceive different variables that affect their waiting times. Future work should focus on testing the model transferability to other case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rivista Italiana di Educazione Familiare is the property of Firenze University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Quality Assurance Review is the property of Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)