Abstract After introducing the topic of antifascism on the internet and the issues that scientific publications encounter when facing the web, the first part of this contribution in Contexts and Debates examined the first of three digital history projects connected to this topic, the Atlante delle stragi naziste e fasciste . In this following section, the attention is focused on two more publications: IF – Intellettuali in fuga dall’Italia fascista , a project tied to the issue of mobility for people persecuted by the Fascist regime; and Memorie in Cammino , a project that approaches its content and the user’s interaction with it in an entirely non-linear manner, reconstructing the lives and actions of those who resisted the regime.
Maria Labate, Carmela Sirello, Maurizio Aceto
et al.
The interdisciplinary study of two reliquary busts from Sarezzano (Piedmont, Italy) is a perfect example of the necessity to provide for material characterisation as a recurring common practice in historical studies and a mandatory step in conservation assessment. Furthermore, the diagnostics of cultural heritage play a crucial role in art historical research, providing relevant information on artefacts’ genesis, production technology, and conservation history. The study of the materials of the reliquary busts was performed by non-invasive (portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry) and micro-invasive (stereomicroscope, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction analysis) methods. According to the results, the busts were found to be made of a tin–lead alloy, a rather unusual material for mediaeval reliquary busts. Moreover, the outcome suggests that the busts were originally silvered, except for the hair and beard which are still gilded. The analysis reveals the use of colophony as an adhesive buffer layer on the busts’ alloy, as well as inside them, to favour the metal working process, since it is found as degraded residue. Finally, even the typology of alloy decay is defined. All this information has enabled us to determine the artistic technique and estimate the value and quality of the material employed. In addition, it has led to the correct choice of materials and methods to be adopted during the restoration, and therefore the usage of more suitable solvents and tools.
Abstract Anthropogenic activities like trade facilitate increasing rates of biological invasions. Asian long-horned beetle (ALB), which is naturally distributed in eastern Asia (China, Korean peninsula), was introduced via wood packing materials (WPM) used in trade to North America (1996) and Europe (2001). We used 7810 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) derived by a genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) approach to decipher the introduction patterns into Europe. This is applied for the first time on European ALB outbreaks from Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, both from still active and already eradicated infestations. The genome-wide SNPs detected signs of small and highly structured populations within Europe, showing clear founder effects. The very high population differentiation is presumably derived from multiple independent introductions to Europe, which are spatially restricted in mating. By admixture and phylogenetic analyses, some cases of secondary dispersal were observed. Furthermore, some populations suggest admixture, which might have been originated by either multiple introductions from different sources into the new sites or recurrent introductions from an admixed source population. Our results confirmed a complex invasion history of the ALB into Europe and the usability of GBS obtained SNPs in invasion science even without source populations.
Almaz Kamalov, Mikhail Shishov, Natalia Smirnova
et al.
In this work, an electrically conductive composite based on thermoplastic polyimide and graphene was obtained and used as a bioelectrode for electrical stimulation of human dermal fibroblasts. The values of the electrical conductivity of the obtained composite films varied from 10<sup>−15</sup> to 10<sup>2</sup> S/m with increasing graphene content (from 0 to 5.0 wt.%). The characteristics of ionic and electronic currents flowing through the matrix with the superposition of cyclic potentials ± 100 mV were studied. The high stability of the composite was established during prolonged cycling (130 h) in an electric field with a frequency of 0.016 Hz. It was established that the composite films based on polyimide and graphene have good biocompatibility and are not toxic to fibroblast cells. It was shown that preliminary electrical stimulation increases the proliferative activity of human dermal fibroblasts in comparison with intact cells. It is revealed that an electric field with a strength E = 0.02–0.04 V/m applied to the polyimide films containing 0.5–3.0 wt.% of the graphene nanoparticles activates cellular processes (adhesion, proliferation).
Marcelo Gómez Silva, Ignacio Cruz González, Rodrigo Muñoz Di Vanni
et al.
Sixty-six-year-old male patient with a past medical history of mitral and aortic valve replacement in 1983. Back in 2005 he underwent a new aortic valve replacement due to prosthetic valve dysfunction. In 2018, also due to prosthetic valve dysfunction, a new mitral valve replacement was performed with a size 27 Bicarbon Fitline heart valve (Sorin Group, Italy). Three months later the patient was hospitalized with functional class III-IV heart failure according to the New York Heart Association (NYHA) and hemolytic anemia with multiple mitral paravalvular leaks quantified as severe regurgitation. In a single medical-surgical session it was decided to perform percutaneous treatment due to the patient’s high surgical risk. The percutaneous closure of the leaks was performed using 7 Amplatzer Vascular Plug III devices (figure 1E) that resulted in minimal residual leaks.
Arno Thomaes, Sylvie Barbalat, Marco Bardiani
et al.
To address the decline in biodiversity, international cooperation in monitoring of threatened species is needed. Citizen science can play a crucial role in achieving this challenging goal, but most citizen science projects have been established at national or regional scales. Here we report on the establishment and initial findings of the European Stag Beetle Monitoring Network (ESBMN), an international network of stag beetle (<i>Lucanus cervus</i>) monitoring schemes using the same protocol. The network, started in 2016, currently includes 14 countries (see results) but with a strong variation in output regarding the number of transects (148 successful transects in total) and transect walks (1735). We found differences across European regions in the number of stag beetles recorded, related to phenology and temperature, but not for time of transect start. Furthermore, the initial experiences of the ESBMN regarding international cooperation, citizen science approach, and drop-out of volunteers is discussed. An international standardised protocol that allows some local variation is essential for international collaboration and data management, and analysis is best performed at the international level, whereas recruiting, training, and maintaining volunteers is best organised locally. In conclusion, we appeal for more joint international citizen science-based monitoring initiatives assisting international red-listing and conservation actions.
Francesco Ciani, Laura Chiarantini, Pilario Costagliola
et al.
Museums air quality can be negatively affected by treatments with heavy metals compounds employed to prevent pest infestations. Among these, the past use of mercury dichloride (HgCl<sub>2</sub>) on herbaria artifacts currently produces high levels of indoor atmospheric gaseous mercury (Hg<sup>0</sup>) and possibly of particulate bound Hg (PBM), i.e., the particulate matter containing Hg. This study evaluates the PBM pollution in the <i>Central Italian Herbarium</i> (Natural History Museum of the University of Florence, Italy), characterizing the size range and chemical speciation with SEM-EDS microanalysis. The analysis of the total Hg concentration in the samples allowed to calculate the workers exposure risk to this pollutant. PBM is almost totally classifiable as fine particulate with a significant dimensional increase in a period of scarce attendance of the <i>Herbarium</i> rooms. The microanalysis indicates that Hg is essentially bound to S, highlighting the change of Hg speciation from the original association with Cl. The average Hg concentration reveals a potential health risk for workers as result of multiple Hg exposure pathways, mainly by ingestion. The study provides information for characterizing PBM pollution that could affect a workplace atmosphere and a useful basis to evaluate and correctly design solution strategies to reduce the contamination levels and protect workers’ health.
Ruberti Daniela, Marino Ermanno, Pignalosa Antonio
et al.
This study provides a detailed integrated analysis of the erosional processes affecting the volcanoclastic headlands of a pocket beach, of a typical Tyrrhenian volcanic island (Ventotene, south Italy). It compares the survey carried out in 2012 and the recent landslides that occurred in 2018–2020. The studied tuff cliff is characterised by steep, up to overhanging walls affected by a fracture network, which locally isolates blocks in precarious equilibrium. The stability conditions of the southern Cala Nave Bay sea cliff were evaluated by integrating a geological field survey, structural analysis of discontinuities, and a detailed topographic survey consisting of a terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) and photogrammetry data acquisition and processing, providing a three-dimensional (3D) model of the sea cliff. The 3D model of the area affected by the recent landslides was created using proximity photogrammetry, the Structure for Motion (SfM) methodology. The fracture network was represented by using high-resolution digital models and projected to realize geostructural vertical mapping of the cliff. The data acquired in 2012 were more recently compared with further surveys carried out, following rock failures that occurred in winter 2019–2020. The detachment planes and failure modalities coincide perfectly with the ones previously assessed. The applied techniques and the comparison with the recent rock failures have proven to be important in defining these conditions to address risk mitigation interventions.
Sergio Iavicoli, Antonio Valenti, Caterina Barillari
et al.
Background: The aim of this study is to illustrate the historical role of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) congresses as an arena where national and international occupational medicine can dialogue and as the first example of scientific transferability of the research and prevention results that have had such an impact on global public health. Methods: We used the ICOH Heritage Repository, in which ICOH congress proceedings (from the first congress in Milan in 1906 to the last congress, held in Dublin in 2018), are organised in an orderly way, updated and easily accessible according to open access logic. Results: We describe studies by three physicians who submitted significant scientific work to ICOH congresses, one on the battle against ancylostomiasis (Volante, 1906), the second (Quarelli, 1928) on carbon disulphide poisoning, and the third (Viola, 1969) on the carcinogenicity of vinyl chloride monomer. Priority is given to Italian cases, on account of the authors’ obvious familiarity with the issues. Conclusion: The visibility offered in ICOH conferences and their published proceedings has boosted the international spread of their findings, contributing to the scientific transferability of the research results and influencing the development of policies and prevention interventions that have had a great impact on global public health.
An interdisciplinary study has been adopted to investigate the upper Maira Valley (Western Alps, Italy). A geological map of an unmapped area, of about 12 km2, at scale 1:10.000, has been realized. The combination of field surveys, GIS database creation, aerial photo observation, local archival data consultation, geo-structural analysis and drillholes re-interpretation outlined a relationship between structures and landforms. A ductile and brittle deformation history with the definition of four discontinuity systems (F1-F4) has been detected. Where the fracturation is intense, rock-falls and topplings are triggered. In area associated with a homogeneous presence of weathered cover, debris flows were identified. The geo-structural pattern obtained from the surveys in the upper Maira Valley allowed characterizing detachment zones of the slope overlooking Acceglio town. The Gollone Landslide is an excellent case study to unravel the structural-morphological interaction and the kinematic evolution due to its framework.
This paper aims to provide a first account of history textbooks for university in Italy. It proposes a comparative analysis of different texts including ones by foreign authors. With regard to their construction, the analysis is based on the study of five important aspects: style and language; methodology and interpretation; analysis of historiographical debate; iconographic and cartographic system; and the use of primary and secondary sources. Based on these topics, this study aims to identify trends, strengths and critical points of university textbooks. Emphasis is given to specific didactic problems. Finally, this paper refers to further themes such as the birth and diffusion of digital platforms, and the impact of economic requirements on editorial policies.
Theory and practice of education, History (General) and history of Europe
Luigi Macchitella, Chiara Valeria Marinelli, Fulvio Signore
et al.
Excessive daytime sleepiness is a frequent condition among children and adolescents that may lead to several and significant daytime consequences, including impaired neurocognitive skills and scholastic performance. Here, we evaluated in one hundred and ninety-one unselected primary school children, the relationship between sleepiness and a wide range of cognitive and academic skills through a standardized neuropsychological test battery. In order to assess the statistical relationship, we performed a partial least squares path modelling, a non-parametrical approach which combined a model of paths between latent variables and the coefficients between indicators and dimensions. Results were validated through the bootstrap approach and suggest that sleepiness is not associated with all cognitive and scholastic abilities, but only with those relying on verbal abilities and complex cognitive functions (i.e., reading comprehension, oral/syntactic comprehension, spelling, and mathematic skills). Our data suggest the idea that sleepiness in children is associated mostly with “higher” (mainly verbal) cognitive function(s), while the visuospatial domain was not affected.
Ivo Campione, Francesca Lucchi, Nicola Santopuoli
et al.
Three-dimensional thermography is a recent technique—with various fields of application—that consists of combining thermography with 3D spatial data in order to obtain 3D thermograms, high information objects that allow one to overcome some limitations of 2D thermograms, to enhance the thermal monitoring and the detection of abnormalities. In this paper we present an integration methodology that can be applied to merge data acquired from a generic thermal camera and a generic laser scanner, and has the peculiarity of keeping the two devices completely decoupled and independent, so that thermal and geometrical data can be acquired at different times and no rigid link is needed between the two devices. In this way, the stand-alone capability of each device is not affected, and the data fusion is applied only when necessary. In the second part, the real effectiveness of our approach is tested on a 3D-printed object properly designed. Furthermore, one example of an application of our methodology in the cultural heritage field is presented, with an eye to preservation and restoration: the integration is applied to a marble statue called Madonna with the Child, a fine work of the Florentine sculptor Agostino di Duccio (1418−1481). The results suggest that the method can be successfully applicable to a large set of scenarios. However, additional tests are needed to improve the robustness.
Very little is known about the early history of the Veronese church of Saint Sebastian, which the Jesuit order demolished and rebuilt in the late 16th century. Furthermore, some of its surviving tombstones, which are now preserved in the local Biblioteca Civica, have never received scholarly attention. Bibliographic and archival investigations allow us to partially reconstruct both the history and the structure of the church before its demolition, providing also biographical information about the tomb owners.
History (General) and history of Europe, History of Italy
This article is a voyage through the history of international business in Italy, one which takes contemporary studies and, in particular, studies conducted over time by business historians from the Italian Unification until the present day, into account. After a brief introduction, the first part of the article is devoted to an analysis of the literature, especially focusing on the early studies conducted on foreign capital until World War Two, on the investigations done in the second part of the twentieth century, and on the most recent trends and contributions in research. The second part of the article deals, in a stylised way, with a very short summary of the principal information that we have attained on foreign direct investments in the country, with a special focus on international business in Italy before the Great War, in the inter-war years, until the 1980s, and in the most recent decades. Finally, the conclusions indicate the possible main directions for future research in this field.
We investigate the thermal history of the intergalactic medium (IGM) in the redshift interval z = 1.7–3.2 by studying the small-scale fluctuations in the Lyman α forest transmitted flux. We apply a wavelet filtering technique to 18 high-resolution quasar spectra obtained with the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph, and compare these data to synthetic spectra drawn from a suite of hydrodynamical simulations in which the IGM thermal state and cosmological parameters are varied. From the wavelet analysis we obtain estimates of the IGM thermal state that are in good agreement with other recent, independent wavelet-based measurements. We also perform a reanalysis of the same data set using the Lyman α forest flux probability distribution function (PDF), which has previously been used to measure the IGM temperature– density relation. This provides an important consistency test for measurements of the IGM thermal state, as it enables a direct comparison of the constraints obtained using these two different methodologies. We find the constraints obtained from wavelets and the flux PDF are formally consistent with each other, although in agreement with previous studies, the flux PDF constraints favour an isothermal or inverted IGM temperature–density relation. We also perform a joint analysis by combining our wavelet and flux PDF measurements, constraining the IGM thermal state at z = 2.1 to have a temperature at mean density of T 0/[10 3 K] = 17.3 ± 1.9 and a power-law temperature–density relation exponent γ = 1.1 ± 0.1 (1σ ). Our results are consistent with previous observations that indicate there may be additional sources of heating in the IGM at z < 4.
The road towards an economic and monetary union in Europe has a long history, in which an important step was madeten years ago, with the establishment of the European Monetary System. Within it Germany and Italy have thus far been on two opposite sides, the "strong" one and the "weak" one. Cooperation should lead to a convergence among these sides, making the conditions and the behaviour of the member states of the system more homogenous. The present work summarises the Italo-German experience within the EMS to date, trying to show the level and the kind of convergence that has occurred in recent years.
JEL Codes: F15