Caracterização estrutural de pós de 'SRTIO IND.3' puro e dopado com samário

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Cosmopolitismo e literatura em Ferreira de Castro: imagens do Brasil e de Portugal nos romances de um português incompreendido

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

New materials for electrochemiluminescence

The study of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) involves photophysical and electrochemical aspects. Excited states are populated by an electrical stimulus. The most important applications are in the diagnostic field where a number of different biologically-relevant molecules (e.g. proteins and nucleic acids) can be recognized and quantified with a sensitivity and specificity previously not reachable. As a matter of fact the electrochemistry, differently to the classic techniques as fluorescence and chemiluminescence, allows to control the excited state generation spatially and temporally. The two research visits into A. J. Bard electrochemistry laboratories were priceless. Dr. Bard has been one of ECL pioneers, the first to introduce the technique and the one who discovered in 1972 the surprising emission of Ru(bpy)3 2+. I consider necessary to thank by now my supervisors Massimo and Francesco for their help and for giving me the great opportunity to know this unique science man that made me feel enthusiastic. I will never be grateful enough… Considering that the experimental techniques of ECL did not changed significantly in these last years the most convenient research direction has been the developing of materials with new or improved properties. In Chapter I the basics concepts and mechanisms of ECL are introduced so that the successive experiments can be easily understood. In the final paragraph the scopes of the thesis are briefly described. In Chapter II by starting from ECL experimental apparatus of Dr. Bard’s laboratories the design, assembly and preliminary tests of the new Bologna instrument are carefully described. The instrument assembly required to work hard but resulted in the introduction of the new technique in our labs by allowing the continuation of the ECL studies began in Texas. In Chapter III are described the results of electrochemical and ECL studies performed on new synthesized Ru(II) complexes containing tetrazolate based ligands. ECL emission has been investigated in solution and in solid thin films. The effect of the chemical protonation of the tetrazolate ring on ECL emission has been also investigated evidencing the possibility of a catalytic effect (generation of molecular hydrogen) of one of the complexes in organic media. Finally, after a series of preliminary studies on ECL emission in acqueous buffers, the direct interaction with calf thymus DNA of some complexes has been tested by ECL and photoluminescence (PL) titration. In Chapter IV different Ir(III) complexes have been characterized electrochemically and photophysically (ECL and PL). Some complexes were already well-known in literature for their high quantum efficiency whereas the remaining were new synthesized compounds containing tetrazolate based ligands analogous to those investigated in Chapt. III. During the tests on a halogenated complex was unexpectedly evidenced the possibility to follow the kinetics of an electro-induced chemical reaction by using ECL signal. In the last chapter (V) the possibility to use mono-use silicon chips electrodes as ECL analitycal devices is under investigation. The chapter begins by describing the chip structure and materials then a signal reproducibility study and geometry optimization is carried on by using two different complexes. In the following paragraphs is reported in detail the synthesis of an ECL label based on Ru(bpy)3 2+ and the chip functionalization by using a lipoic acid SAM and the same label. After some preliminary characterizations (mass spectroscopy TOF) has been demonstrated that by mean of a simple and fast ECL measurement it’s possible to confirm the presence of the coupling product SAM-label into the chip with a very high sensitivity. No signal was detected from the same system by using photoluminescence.

Indagine sulla nozione di fatto urbano ne L'architettura della città di Aldo Rossi

Questa tesi di dottorato di ricerca ha come oggetto la nozione di fatto urbano elaborata e presentata da Aldo Rossi nel libro L’architettura della città edito nel 1966. Ne L’architettura della città sono molteplici le definizioni e le forme con cui è enunciata la nozione di fatto urbano. Nel corso della tesi si è indagato come la costruzione nel tempo di questo concetto è stata preceduta da diversi studi giovanili intrapresi dal 1953, poi riorganizzati e sintetizzati a partire dal 1963 in un quaderno manoscritto dal titolo “Manuale di urbanistica”, in diversi appunti e in due quaderni manoscritti. Il lavoro di ricerca ha ricostruito la formulazione della nozione di fatto urbano attraverso gli scritti di Rossi. In questa direzione la rilevazione della partecipazione di Rossi a dibattiti, seminari, riviste, corsi universitari o ricerche accademiche è apparsa di fondamentale importanza, per comprendere la complessità di un lavoro non riconducibile a dei concetti disciplinari, ma alla formazione di una teoria trasmissibile. Il tentativo di comprendere e spiegare la nozione di fatto urbano ha condotto ad esaminare l’accezione con cui Rossi compone L’architettura della città, che egli stesso assimila ad un trattato. L’analisi ha identificato come la composizione del libro non è direttamente riferibile ad un uso classico della stesura editoriale del trattato, la quale ha tra i riferimenti più noti nel passato la promozione di una pratica corretta come nel caso vitruviano o un’impalcatura instauratrice di una nuova categoria come nel caso dell’Alberti. La mancanza di un sistema globale e prescrittivo a differenza dei due libri fondativi e il rimando non immediato alla stesura di un trattato classico è evidente ne L’architettura della città. Tuttavia la possibilità di condurre la ricerca su una serie di documenti inediti ha permesso di rilevare come negli scritti a partire dal 1953, sia maturata una trattazione delle questioni centrali alla nozione di fatto urbano ricca di intuizioni, che aspirano ad un’autonomia, sintetizzate, seppure in modo non sistematico, nella stesura del celebre libro. Si è così cercato di mettere in luce la precisazione nel tempo della nozione di fatto urbano e della sua elaborazione nei molteplici scritti antecedenti la pubblicazione de L’architettura della città, precisando come Rossi, pur costruendo su basi teoriche la nozione di fatto urbano, ne indichi una visione progressiva, ossia un uso operativo sulla città. La ricerca si è proposta come obiettivo di comprendere le radici culturali della nozione di fatto urbano sia tramite un’esplorazione degli interessi di Rossi nel suo percorso formativo sia rispetto alla definizione della struttura materiale del fatto urbano che Rossi individua nelle permanenze e che alimenta nella sua definizione con differenti apporti derivanti da altre discipline. Compito di questa ricerca è stato rileggere criticamente il percorso formativo compiuto da Rossi, a partire dal 1953, sottolinearne gli ambiti innovativi e precisarne i limiti descrittivi che non vedranno mai la determinazione di una nozione esatta, ma piuttosto la strutturazione di una sintesi complessa e ricca di riferimenti ad altri studi. In sintesi la tesi si compone di tre parti: 1. la prima parte, dal titolo “La teoria dei fatti urbani ne L’architettura della città”, analizza il concetto di fatto urbano inserendolo all’interno del più generale contesto teorico contenuto nel libro L’architettura della città. Questo avviene tramite la scomposizione del libro, la concatenazione delle sue argomentazioni e la molteplicità delle fonti esplicitamente citate da Rossi. In questo ambito si precisa la struttura del libro attraverso la rilettura dei riferimenti serviti a Rossi per comporre il suo progetto teorico. Inoltre si ripercorre la sua vita attraverso le varie edizioni, le ristampe, le introduzioni e le illustrazioni. Infine si analizza il ruolo del concetto di fatto urbano nel libro rilevando come sia posto in un rapporto paritetico con il titolo del libro, conseguendone un’accezione di «fatto da osservare» assimilabile all’uso proposto dalla geografia urbana francese dei primi del Novecento. 2. la seconda parte, dal titolo “La formazione della nozione di fatto urbano 1953-66”, è dedicata alla presentazione dell’elaborazione teorica negli scritti di Rossi prima de L’architettura della città, ossia dal 1953 al 1966. Questa parte cerca di descrivere le radici culturali di Rossi, le sue collaborazioni e i suoi interessi ripercorrendo la progressiva definizione della concezione di città nel tempo. Si è analizzato il percorso maturato da Rossi e i documenti scritti fin dagli anni in cui era studente alla Facoltà di Architettura Politecnico di Milano. Emerge un quadro complesso in cui i primi saggi, gli articoli e gli appunti testimoniano una ricerca intellettuale tesa alla costruzione di un sapere sullo sfondo del realismo degli anni Cinquanta. Rossi matura infatti un impegno culturale che lo porta dopo la laurea ad affrontare discorsi più generali sulla città. In particolare la sua importante collaborazione con la rivista Casabella-continuità, con il suo direttore Ernesto Nathan Rogers e tutto il gruppo redazionale segnano il periodo successivo in cui compare l’interesse per la letteratura urbanistica, l’arte, la sociologia, la geografia, l’economia e la filosofia. Seguono poi dal 1963 gli anni di lavoro insieme al gruppo diretto da Carlo Aymonino all’Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia, e in particolare le ricerche sulla tipologia edilizia e la morfologia urbana, che portano Rossi a compiere una sintesi analitica per la fondazione di una teoria della città. Dall’indagine si rileva infatti come gli scritti antecedenti L’architettura della città sviluppano lo studio dei fatti urbani fino ad andare a costituire il nucleo teorico di diversi capitoli del libro. Si racconta così la genesi del libro, la cui scrittura si è svolta nell’arco di due anni, e le aspirazioni che hanno portato quello che era stato concepito come un “manuale d’urbanistica” a divenire quello che Rossi definirà “l’abbozzo di un trattato” per la formulazione di una scienza urbana. 3. la terza parte, dal titolo “La struttura materiale dei fatti urbani: la teoria della permanenza”, indaga monograficamente lo studio della città come un fatto materiale, un manufatto, la cui costruzione è avvenuta nel tempo e del tempo mantiene le tracce. Sul tema della teoria della permanenza è stato importante impostare un confronto con il dibattito vivo negli anni della ricostruzione dopo la guerra intorno ai temi delle preesistenze ambientali nella ricostruzione negli ambienti storici. Sono emersi fin da subito importanti la relazione con Ernesto Nathan Rogers, le discussioni sulle pagine di Casabella-Continuità, la partecipazione ad alcuni dibatti e ricerche. Si è inoltre Rilevato l’uso di diversi termini mutuati dalle tesi filosofiche di alcune personalità come Antonio Banfi e Enzo Paci, poi elaborati dal nucleo redazionale di Casabella-Continuità, di cui faceva parte anche Rossi. Sono così emersi alcuni spostamenti di senso e la formulazione di un vocabolario di termini all’interno della complessa vicenda della cultura architettonica degli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta. 1. Si è poi affrontato questo tema analizzando le forme con cui Rossi presenta la definizione della teoria della permanenza e i contributi desunti da alcuni autori per la costruzione scientifica di una teoria dell’architettura, il cui fine è quello di essere trasmissibile e di offrire strumenti di indagine concreti. Questa ricerca ha permesso di ipotizzare come il lavoro dei geografi francesi della prima metà del XX secolo, e in particolare il contributo più rilevante di Marcel Poëte e di Pierre Lavedan, costituiscono le fonti principali e il campo d’indagine maggiormente esplorato da Rossi per definire la teoria della permanenza e i monumenti. Le permanenze non sono dunque presentate ne L’architettura della città come il “tutto”, ma emergono da un metodo che sceglie di isolare i fatti urbani permanenti, consentendo così di compiere un’ipotesi su “ciò che resta” dopo le trasformazioni continue che operano nella città. Le fonti su cui ho lavorato sono state quelle annunciate da Rossi ne L’architettura della città, e più precisamente i testi nelle edizioni da lui consultate. Anche questo lavoro ha permesso un confronto dei testi che ha fatto emergere ne L’architettura della città l’uso di termini mutuati da linguaggi appartenenti ad altre discipline e quale sia l’uso di concetti estrapolati nella loro interezza. Presupposti metodologici Della formulazione della nozione di fatto urbano si sono indagate l’originalità dell’espressione, le connessioni presunte o contenute negli studi di Rossi sulla città attraverso la raccolta di fonti dirette e indirette che sono andate a formare un notevole corpus di scritti. Le fonti dirette più rilevanti sono state trovare nelle collezioni speciali del Getty Research Institute di Los Angeles in cui sono conservati gli Aldo Rossi Papers, questo archivio comprende materiali inediti dal 1954 al 1988. La natura dei materiali si presenta sotto forma di manoscritti, dattiloscritti, quaderni, documenti ciclostilati, appunti sparsi e una notevole quantità di corrispondenza. Negli Aldo Rossi Papers si trovano anche 32 dei 47 Quaderni Azzurri, le bozze de L’architettura della città e dell’ Autobiografia Scientifica. Per quanto riguarda in particolare L’architettura della città negli Aldo Rossi Papers sono conservati: un quaderno con il titolo “Manuale d’urbanistica, giugno 1963”, chiara prima bozza del libro, degli “Appunti per libro urbanistica estate/inverno 1963”, un quaderno con la copertina rossa datato 20 settembre 1964-8 agosto 1965 e un quaderno con la copertina blu datato 30 agosto 1965-15 dicembre 1965. La possibilità di accedere a questo archivio ha permesso di incrementare la bibliografia relativa agli studi giovanili consentendo di rileggere il percorso culturale in cui Rossi si è formato. E’ così apparsa fondamentale la rivalutazione di alcune questioni relative al realismo socialista che hanno portato a formare un più preciso quadro dei primi scritti di Rossi sullo sfondo di un complesso scenario intellettuale. A questi testi si è affiancata la raccolta delle ricerche universitarie, degli articoli pubblicati su riviste specializzate e degli interventi a dibattiti e seminari. A proposito de L’architettura della città si è raccolta un’ampia letteratura critica riferita sia al testo in specifico che ad una sua collocazione nella storia dell’architettura, mettendo in discussione alcune osservazioni che pongono L’architettura della città come un libro risolutivo e definitivo. Per quanto riguarda il capitolo sulla teoria della permanenza l’analisi è stata svolta a partire dai testi che Rossi stesso indicava ne L’architettura della città rivelando i diversi apporti della letteratura urbanistica francese, e permettendo alla ricerca di precisare le relazioni con alcuni scritti centrali e al contempo colti da Rossi come opportunità per intraprendere l’elaborazione dell’idea di tipo. Per quest’ultima parte si può precisare come Rossi formuli la sua idea di tipo in un contesto culturale dove l’interesse per questo tema era fondamentale. Dunque le fonti che hanno assunto maggior rilievo in quest’ultima fase emergono da un ricco panorama in cui Rossi compie diverse ricerche sia con il gruppo redazionale di Casabella-continuità, sia all’interno della scuola veneziana negli anni Sessanta, ma anche negli studi per l’ILSES e per l’Istituto Nazionale d’Urbanistica. RESEARCH ON THE NOTION OF URBAN ARTIFACT IN THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CITY BY ALDO ROSSI. Doctoral candidate: Letizia Biondi Tutor: Valter Balducci The present doctoral dissertation deals with the notion of urban artifact that was formulated and presented by Aldo Rossi in his book The Architecture of the City, published in 1966. In The Architecture of the City, the notion of urban artifact is enunciated through a wide range of definitions and forms. In this thesis, a research was done on how the construction of this concept over time was preceded by various studies started in 1953 during the author’s youth, then re-organized and synthesized since 1963 in a manuscript titled “Manual of urban planning” and in two more manuscripts later on. The work of research re-constructed the formulation of the notion of urban artifact through Rossi’s writings. In this sense, the examination of Rossi’s participation in debates, seminars, reviews, university courses or academic researches was of fundamental importance to understand the complexity of a work which is not to be attributed to disciplinary concepts, but to the formulation of a communicable theory. The effort to understand and to explain the notion of urban artifact led to an examination of the meaning used by Rossi to compose The Architecture of the City, which he defines as similar to a treatise. Through this analysis, it emerged that the composition of the book is not directly ascribable to the classical use of editorial writing of a treatise, whose most famous references in the past are the promotion of a correct practice as in the case of Vitruvio’s treatise, or the use of a structure that introduces a new category as in the Alberti case. Contrary to the two founding books, the lack of a global and prescriptive system and the not immediate reference to the writing of a classical treatise are evident in The Architecture of the City. However, the possibility of researching on some unpublished documents allowed to discover that in the writings starting from 1953 the analysis of the questions that are at the core of the notion of urban artifact is rich of intuitions, that aim to autonomy and that would be synthesized, even though not in a systematic way, in his famous book. The attempt was that of highlighting the specification over time of the notion of urban artifact and its elaboration in the various writings preceding the publication of The Architecture of the City. It was also specified that, despite building on theoretical grounds, Rossi indicates a progressive version of the notion of urban artifact, that is a performing use in the city. The present research aims to understand the cultural roots of the notion of urban artifact in two main directions: analyzing, firstly, Rossi’s interests along his formation path and, secondly, the definition of material structure of an urban artifact identified by Rossi in the permanences and enriched by various contributions from other disciplines. The purpose of the present research is to revise the formation path made by Rossi in a critical way, starting by 1953, underlining its innovative aspects and identifying its describing limits, which will never lead to the formulation of an exact notion, but rather to the elaboration of a complex synthesis, enriched by references to other studies. In brief, the thesis is composed of three parts: 1. The first part, titled “The Theory of urban artifacts in The Architecture of the City”, analyzes the concept of urban artifact in the more general theoretical context of the book The Architecture of the City. Such analysis is done by “disassembling” the book, and by linking together the argumentations and the multiplicity of the sources which are explicitly quoted by Rossi. In this context, the book’s structure is defined more precisely through the revision of the references used by Rossi to compose his theoretical project. Moreover, the author’s life is traced back through the various editions, re-printings, introductions and illustrations. Finally, it is specified which role the concept of urban artifact has in the book, pointing out that it is placed in an equal relation with the book’s title; by so doing, the concept of urban artifact gets the new meaning of “fact to be observed”, similar to the use that was suggested by the French urban geography at the beginning of the 20th century. 2. The second part, titled “The formation of the notion of urban artifact 1953-66”, introduces the theoretical elaboration in Rossi’s writings before The Architecture of the City, that is from 1953 to 1966. This part tries to describe Rossi’s cultural roots, his collaborations and his interests, tracing back the progressive definition of his conception of city over time. The analysis focuses on the path followed by Rossi and on the documents that he wrote since the years as a student at the Department of Architecture at the Politecnico in Milan. This leads to a complex scenario of first essays, articles and notes that bear witness to the intellectual research aiming to the construction of a knowledge on the background of the Realism of the 1950s. Rossi develops, in fact, a cultural engagement that leads him after his studies to deal with more general issues about the city. In particular, his important collaboration with the architecture magazine “Casabella-continuità”, with the director Ernesto Nathan Rogers and with the whole redaction staff mark the following period when he starts getting interested in city planning literature, art, sociology, geography, economics and philosophy. Since 1963, Rossi has worked with the group directed by Carlo Aymonino at the “Istituto Universitario di Architettura” (University Institute of Architecture) in Venice, especially researching on building typologies and urban morphology. During these years, Rossi elaborates an analytical synthesis for the formulation of a theory about the city. From the present research, it is evident that the writings preceding The Architecture of the City develop the studies on urban artifacts, which will become theoretical core of different chapters of the book. In conclusion, the genesis of the book is described; written in two years, what was conceived to be an “urban planning manual” became a “treatise draft” for the formulation of an urban science, as Rossi defines it. 3. The third part is titled “The material structure of urban artifacts: the theory of permanence”. This research is made on the study of the city as a material fact, a manufacture, whose construction was made over time, bearing the traces of time. As far as the topic of permanence is concerned, it was also important to draw a comparison with the debate about the issues of environmental pre-existence of re-construction in historical areas, which was very lively during the years of the Reconstruction. Right from the beginning, of fundamental importance were the relationship with Ernesto Nathan Rogers, the discussions on the pages of Casabella-Continuità and the participation to some debates and researches. It is to note that various terms were taken by the philosophical thesis by some personalities such as Antonio Banfi and Enzo Paci, and then re-elaborated by the redaction staff at Casabella-Continuità, which Rossi took part in as well. Through this analysis, it emerged that there were some shifts in meaning and the formulation of a vocabulary of terms within the complex area of the architectonic culture in the 1950s and 1960s. Then, I examined the shapes in which Rossi introduces the definition of the theory of permanence and the references by some authors for the scientific construction of an architecture theory whose aim is being communicable and offering concrete research tools. Such analysis allowed making a hypothesis about the significance for Rossi of the French geographers of the first half of the 20th century: in particular, the work by Marcel Poëte and by Pierre Lavedan is the main source and the research area which Rossi mostly explored to define the theory of permanence and monuments. Therefore, in The Architecture of the City, permanencies are not presented as the “whole”, but they emerge from a method which isolates permanent urban artifacts, in this way allowing making a hypothesis on “what remains” after the continuous transformations made in the city. The sources examined were quoted by Rossi in The Architecture of the City; in particular I analyzed them in the same edition which Rossi referred to. Through such an analysis, it was possible to make a comparison of the texts with one another, which let emerge the use of terms taken by languages belonging to other disciplines in The Architecture of the City and which the use of wholly extrapolated concepts is. Methodological premises As far as the formulation of the notion of urban artifact is concerned, the analysis focuses on the originality of the expression, the connections that are assumed or contained in Rossi’s writings about the city, by collecting direct and indirect sources which formed a significant corpus of writings. The most relevant direct sources were found in the special collections of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, where the “Aldo Rossi Papers” are conserved. This archive contains unpublished material from 1954 to 1988, such as manuscripts, typescripts, notebooks, cyclostyled documents, scraps and notes, and several letters. In the Aldo Rossi Papers there are also 32 out of the 47 Light Blue Notebooks (Quaderni Azzurri), the rough drafts of The Architecture of the City and of the “A Scientific Autobiography”. As regards The Architecture of the City in particular, the Aldo Rossi Papers preserve: a notebook by the title of “Urban planning manual, June, 1963”, which is an explicit first draft of the book; “Notes for urban planning book summer/winter 1963”; a notebook with a red cover dated September 20th, 1964 – August 8th, 1965; and a notebook with a blue cover dated August 30th, 1965 – December 15th, 1965. The possibility of accessing this archive allowed to increase the bibliography related to the youth studies, enabling a revision of the cultural path followed by Rossi’s education. To that end, it was fundamental to re-evaluate some issues linked to the socialist realism which led to a more precise picture of the first writings by Rossi against the background of the intellectual scenario where he formed. In addition to these texts, the collection of university researches, the articles published on specialized reviews and the speeches at debates and seminars were also examined. About The Architecture of the City, a wide-ranging critical literature was collected, related both to the text specifics and to its collocation in the story of architecture, questioning some observations which define The Architecture of the City as a conclusive and definite book. As far as the chapter on the permanence theory is concerned, the analysis started by the texts that Rossi indicated in The Architecture of the City, revealing the different contributions from the French literature on urban planning. This allowed to the present research a more specific definition of the connections to some central writings which, at the same time, were seen by Rossi as an opportunity to start up the elaboration of the idea of type. For this last part, it can be specified that Rossi formulates his idea of type in a cultural context where the interest in this topic was fundamental. Therefore, the sources which played a central role in this final phase emerge from an extensive panorama in which Rossi researched not only with the redaction staff at Casablanca-continuità and within the School of Venice in the 1960s, but also in his studies for the ILSES (Institute of the Region Lombardia for Economics and Social Studies) and for the National Institute of Urban Planning.

Materiali Ceramici per Edilizia con Funzionalità Fotocatalitica

This thesis wad aimed at the study and application of titanium dioxide photocatalytic activity on ceramic materials. As a matter of fact, photocatalysis is a very promising method to face most of the problems connected with the increasing environmental pollution. Furthermore, titanium dioxide, in its anatase crystallographic phase, is one of the most investigated photocatalytic material and results to be perfectly compatible with silicate body mixes. That goal was pursued by two different strategies: 1. the addition to a body mix used for heavy clay products of several titania powders, with different mean crystallite size, surface area, morphology and anatase/rutile ratio and a titania nanosuspension as well. The titania addition followed two procedures: bulk and spray addition over the ceramic samples surface. Titania was added in two different percentages: 2.5 and 7.5 wt.% in both of the methods. The ceramic samples were then fired at three maximum temperatures: 900, 950 and 1000 °C. Afterwards, the photocatalytic activity of the prepared ceramic samples was evaluated by following the degradation of an organic compound in aqueous medium, under UV radiation. The influence of titania morphological characteristics on the photoactivity of the fired materials was studied by means of XRD and SEM observations. The ceramic samples, sprayed with a slip containing 7.5 wt.% of titania powder and fired at 900 °C, have the best photoactivity, with a complete photo-decomposition of the organic compound. At 1000 °C no sample acted as a photocatalyst due to the anatase-to-rutile phase transformation and to the reaction between titania and calcium and iron oxides in the raw materials. 2. The second one foresaw the synthesis of TiO2-SiO2 solid solutions, using the following stoichiometry: Ti1-xSixO2 where x = 0, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 atoms per formula unit (apfu). The mixtures were then fired following two thermal cycles, each with three maximum temperatures. The effect of SiO2 addition into the TiO2 crystal structure and, consequently, on its photocatalytic activity when fired at high temperature, was thoroughly investigated by means of XRD, XPS, FE-SEM, TEM and BET analysis. The photoactivity of the prepared powders was assessed both in gas and liquid phase. Subsequently, the TiO2-SiO2 solid solutions, previously fired at 900 °C, were sprayed over the ceramic samples surface in the percentage of 7.5 wt.%. The prepared ceramic samples were fired at 900 and 1000 °C. The photocatalytic activity of the ceramic samples was evaluated in liquid phase. Unfortunately, that samples did not show any appreciable photoactivity. In fact, samples fired at 900 °C showed a pretty low photoactivity, while the one fired at 1000 °C showed no photoactivity at all. This was explained by the excessive coarsening of titania particles. To summarise, titania particle size, more than its crystalline phase, seems to have a relevant role in the photocatalytic activity of the ceramic samples.

Sistema per l'estrazione e purificazione di sostanze antiossidanti naturali nelle acque di vegetazione delle olive

The olive oil extraction industry is responsible for the production of high quantities of vegetation waters, represented by the constitutive water of the olive fruit and by the water used during the process. This by-product represent an environmental problem in the olive’s cultivation areas because of its high content of organic matter, with high value of BOD5 and COD. For that reason the disposal of the vegetation water is very difficult and needs a previous depollution. The organic matter of vegetation water mainly consists of polysaccharides, sugars, proteins, organic acids, oil and polyphenols. This last compounds are the principal responsible for the pollution problems, due to their antimicrobial activity, but, at the same time they are well known for their antioxidant properties. The most concentrate phenolic compounds in waters and also in virgin olive oils are secoiridoids like oleuropein, demethyloleuropein and ligstroside derivatives (the dialdehydic form of elenolic acid linked to 3,4-DHPEA, or p-HPEA (3,4-DHPEA-EDA or p-HPEA-EDA) and an isomer of the oleuropein aglycon (3,4-DHPEA-EA). The management of the olive oil vegetation water has been extensively investigated and several different valorisation methods have been proposed, such as the direct use as fertilizer or the transformation by physico-chemical or biological treatments. During the last years researchers focused their interest on the recovery of the phenolic fraction from this waste looking for its exploitation as a natural antioxidant source. At the present only few contributes have been aimed to the utilization for a large scale phenols recovery and further investigations are required for the evaluation of feasibility and costs of the proposed processes. The present PhD thesis reports a preliminary description of a new industrial scale process for the recovery of the phenolic fraction from olive oil vegetation water treated with enzymes, by direct membrane filtration (microfiltration/ultrafiltration with a cut-off of 250 KDa, ultrafiltration with a cut-off of 7 KDa/10 KDa and nanofiltration/reverse osmosis), partial purification by the use of a purification system based on SPE analysis and by a liquid-liquid extraction system (LLE) with contemporary reduction of the pollution related problems. The phenolic fractions of all the samples obtained were qualitatively and quantitatively by HPLC analysis. The work efficiency in terms of flows and in terms of phenolic recovery gave good results. The final phenolic recovery is about 60% respect the initial content in the vegetation waters. The final concentrate has shown a high content of phenols that allow to hypothesize a possible use as zootechnic nutritional supplements. The purification of the final concentrate have garanteed an high purity level of the phenolic extract especially in SPE analysis by the use of XAD-16 (73% of the total phenolic content of the concentrate). This purity level could permit a future food industry employment such as food additive, or, thanks to the strong antioxidant activity, it would be also use in pharmaceutical or cosmetic industry. The vegetation water depollutant activity has brought good results, as a matter of fact the final reverse osmosis permeate has a low pollutant rate in terms of COD and BOD5 values (2% of the initial vegetation water), that could determinate a recycling use in the virgin olive oil mechanical extraction system producing a water saving and reducing thus the oil industry disposal costs .

Creazione e sviluppo di corpora multimediali. Nuove metodologie di ricerca nella traduzione audiovisiva

The construction and use of multimedia corpora has been advocated for a while in the literature as one of the expected future application fields of Corpus Linguistics. This research project represents a pioneering experience aimed at applying a data-driven methodology to the study of the field of AVT, similarly to what has been done in the last few decades in the macro-field of Translation Studies. This research was based on the experience of Forlixt 1, the Forlì Corpus of Screen Translation, developed at the University of Bologna’s Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in Translation, Languages and Culture. As a matter of fact, in order to quantify strategies of linguistic transfer of an AV product, we need to take into consideration not only the linguistic aspect of such a product but all the meaning-making resources deployed in the filmic text. Provided that one major benefit of Forlixt 1 is the combination of audiovisual and textual data, this corpus allows the user to access primary data for scientific investigation, and thus no longer rely on pre-processed material such as traditional annotated transcriptions. Based on this rationale, the first chapter of the thesis sets out to illustrate the state of the art of research in the disciplinary fields involved. The primary objective was to underline the main repercussions on multimedia texts resulting from the interaction of a double support, audio and video, and, accordingly, on procedures, means, and methods adopted in their translation. By drawing on previous research in semiotics and film studies, the relevant codes at work in visual and acoustic channels were outlined. Subsequently, we concentrated on the analysis of the verbal component and on the peculiar characteristics of filmic orality as opposed to spontaneous dialogic production. In the second part, an overview of the main AVT modalities was presented (dubbing, voice-over, interlinguistic and intra-linguistic subtitling, audio-description, etc.) in order to define the different technologies, processes and professional qualifications that this umbrella term presently includes. The second chapter focuses diachronically on various theories’ contribution to the application of Corpus Linguistics’ methods and tools to the field of Translation Studies (i.e. Descriptive Translation Studies, Polysystem Theory). In particular, we discussed how the use of corpora can favourably help reduce the gap existing between qualitative and quantitative approaches. Subsequently, we reviewed the tools traditionally employed by Corpus Linguistics in regard to the construction of traditional “written language” corpora, to assess whether and how they can be adapted to meet the needs of multimedia corpora. In particular, we reviewed existing speech and spoken corpora, as well as multimedia corpora specifically designed to investigate Translation. The third chapter reviews Forlixt 1's main developing steps, from a technical (IT design principles, data query functions) and methodological point of view, by laying down extensive scientific foundations for the annotation methods adopted, which presently encompass categories of pragmatic, sociolinguistic, linguacultural and semiotic nature. Finally, we described the main query tools (free search, guided search, advanced search and combined search) and the main intended uses of the database in a pedagogical perspective. The fourth chapter lists specific compilation criteria retained, as well as statistics of the two sub-corpora, by presenting data broken down by language pair (French-Italian and German-Italian) and genre (cinema’s comedies, television’s soapoperas and crime series). Next, we concentrated on the discussion of the results obtained from the analysis of summary tables reporting the frequency of categories applied to the French-Italian sub-corpus. The detailed observation of the distribution of categories identified in the original and dubbed corpus allowed us to empirically confirm some of the theories put forward in the literature and notably concerning the nature of the filmic text, the dubbing process and Italian dubbed language’s features. This was possible by looking into some of the most problematic aspects, like the rendering of socio-linguistic variation. The corpus equally allowed us to consider so far neglected aspects, such as pragmatic, prosodic, kinetic, facial, and semiotic elements, and their combination. At the end of this first exploration, some specific observations concerning possible macrotranslation trends were made for each type of sub-genre considered (cinematic and TV genre). On the grounds of this first quantitative investigation, the fifth chapter intended to further examine data, by applying ad hoc models of analysis. Given the virtually infinite number of combinations of categories adopted, and of the latter with searchable textual units, three possible qualitative and quantitative methods were designed, each of which was to concentrate on a particular translation dimension of the filmic text. The first one was the cultural dimension, which specifically focused on the rendering of selected cultural references and on the investigation of recurrent translation choices and strategies justified on the basis of the occurrence of specific clusters of categories. The second analysis was conducted on the linguistic dimension by exploring the occurrence of phrasal verbs in the Italian dubbed corpus and by ascertaining the influence on the adoption of related translation strategies of possible semiotic traits, such as gestures and facial expressions. Finally, the main aim of the third study was to verify whether, under which circumstances, and through which modality, graphic and iconic elements were translated into Italian from an original corpus of both German and French films. After having reviewed the main translation techniques at work, an exhaustive account of possible causes for their non-translation was equally provided. By way of conclusion, the discussion of results obtained from the distribution of annotation categories on the French-Italian corpus, as well as the application of specific models of analysis allowed us to underline possible advantages and drawbacks related to the adoption of a corpus-based approach to AVT studies. Even though possible updating and improvement were proposed in order to help solve some of the problems identified, it is argued that the added value of Forlixt 1 lies ultimately in having created a valuable instrument, allowing to carry out empirically-sound contrastive studies that may be usefully replicated on different language pairs and several types of multimedia texts. Furthermore, multimedia corpora can also play a crucial role in L2 and translation teaching, two disciplines in which their use still lacks systematic investigation.

Il ruolo delle idee e del loro cambiamento nei processi di policy making universitario nel mondo anglosassone dagli anni ottanta ad oggi. I casi di Inghilterra e Nuova Zelanda in prospettiva comparata

THE TITLE OF MY THESIS IS THE ROLE OF THE IDEAS AND THEIR CHANGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY-MAKING PROCESSES FROM THE EIGHTIES TO PRESENT-DAY: THE CASES OF ENGLAND AND NEW ZEALAND IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE UNDER A THEORETICAL POINT OF VIEW, THE AIM OF MY WORK IS TO CARRY OUT A RESEARCH MODELLED ON THE CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY. IT FOCUSES ON THE ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF IDEAS ON THE PROCESSES OF POLICY MAKING BY MEANS OF EPISTEMIC COMMUNITIES, THINK TANKS AND VARIOUS SOCIOECONOMIC CONTEXTS THAT MAY HAVE PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE DIFFERENT PATHS. FROM MY POINT OF VIEW IDEAS CONSTITUTE A PRIORITY RESEARCH FIELD WHICH IS WORTH ANALYSING SINCE THEIR ROLE IN POLICY MAKING PROCESSES HAS BEEN TRADITIONALLY RATHER UNEXPLORED. IN THIS CONTEXT AND WITH THE AIM OF DEVELOPING A RESEARCH STRAND BASED ON THE ROLE OF IDEAS, I INTEND TO CARRY ON MY STUDY UNDER THE PERSPECTIVE OF CHANGE. DEPENDING ON THE DATA AND INFORMATION THAT I COLLECTED I EVALUATED THE WEIGHT OF EACH OF THESE VARIABLES AND MAYBE OTHERS SUCH AS THE INSTITUTIONS AND THE INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS, WHICH MAY HAVE INFLUENCED THE FORMATION OF THE POLICY MAKING PROCESSES. UNDER THIS LIGHT, I PLANNED TO ADOPT THE QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH WHICH I BELIEVE TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE AGAINST THE MORE DIFFICULT AND POSSIBLY REDUCTIVE APPLICATION OF QUANTITIVE DATA SETS. I RECKON THEREFORE THAT THE MOST APPROPRIATE TOOLS FOR INFORMATION PROCESSING INCLUDE CONTENT ANALYSIS, AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS TO PERSONALITIES OF THE POLITICAL PANORAMA (ÉLITE OR NOT) WHO HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE PROCESS OF HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM FROM THE EIGHTIES TO PRESENT-DAY. THE TWO CASES TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION SURELY SET AN EXAMPLE OF RADICAL REFORM PROCESSES WHICH HAVE OCCURRED IN QUITE DIFFERENT CONTEXTS DETERMINED BY THE SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND THE TRAITS OF THE ÉLITE. IN NEW ZEALAND THE DESCRIBED PROCESS HAS TAKEN PLACE WITH A STEADY PACE AND A GOOD GRADE OF CONSEQUANTIALITY, IN LINE WTH THE REFORMS IN OTHER STATE DIVISIONS DRIVEN BY THE IDEAS OF THE NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT. CONTRARILY IN ENGLAND THE REFORMATIVE ACTION OF MARGARET THATCHER HAS ACQUIRED A VERY RADICAL CONNOTATION AS IT HAS BROUGHT INTO THE AMBIT OF HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY CONCEPTS LIKE EFFICIENCY, EXCELLENCE, RATIONALIZATION THAT WOULD CONTRAST WITH THE GENERALISTIC AND MASS-ORIENTED IDEAS THAT WERE FASHIONABLE DURING THE SEVENTIES. THE MISSION I INTEND TO ACCOMPLISH THORUGHOUT MY RESEARCH IS TO INVESTIGATE AND ANALYSE INTO MORE DEPTH THE DIFFERENCES THAT SEEM TO EMERGE FROM TWO CONTEXTS WHICH MOST OF THE LITERATURE REGARDS AS A SINGLE MODEL: THE ANGLO-SAXON MODEL. UNDER THIS LIGHT, THE DENSE ANALYSIS OF POLICY PROCESSES ALLOWED TO BRING OUT BOTH THE CONTROVERSIAL AND CONTRASTING ASPECTS OF THE TWO REALITIES COMPARED, AND THE ROLE AND WEIGHT OF VARIABLES SUCH AS IDEAS (MAIN VARIABLE), INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS AND INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS ACTING IN EACH CONTEXT. THE CASES I MEAN TO ATTEND PRESENT PECULIAR ASPECTS WORTH DEVELOPING AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS, AN OUTLINE OF WHICH WILL BE PROVIDED IN THIS ABSTRACT. ENGLAND THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT, SINCE 1981, INTRODUCED RADICAL CHANGES IN THE SECTOR OF HIGHER EDUCATION: FIRST CUTTING DOWN ON STATE FUNDINGS AND THEN WITH THE CREATION OF AN INSTITUTION FOR THE PLANNING AND LEADERSHIP OF THE POLYTECHNICS (NON-UNIVERSITY SECTOR). AFTERWARDS THE SCHOOL REFORM BY MARGARET THATCHER IN 1988 RAISED TO A GREAT STIR ALL OVER EUROPE DUE TO BOTH ITS CONSIDERABLE INNOVATIVE IMPRINT AND THE STRONG ATTACK AGAINST THE PEDAGOGY OF THE ‘ACTIVE’ SCHOOLING AND PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION, UNTIL THEN RECOGNIZED AS A MERIT OF THE BRITISH PUBLIC SCHOOL. IN THE AMBIT OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION THIS REFORM, TOGETHER WITH SIMILAR MEASURES BROUGHT IN DURING 1992, PUT INTO PRACTICE THE CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLES THROUGH A SERIES OF ACTIONS THAT INCLUDED: THE SUPPRESSION OF THE IRREMOVABILITY PRINCIPLE FOR UNIVERSITY TEACHERS; THE INTRODUCTION OF STUDENT LOANS FOR LOW-INCOME STUDENTS AND THE CANCELLATION OF THE CLEAR DISTINCTION BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES AND POLYTECHNICS. THE POLICIES OF THE LABOUR MAJORITY OF MR BLAIR DID NOT QUITE DIVERGE FROM THE CONSERVATIVES’ POSITION. IN 2003 BLAIR’S CABINET RISKED TO BECOME A MINORITY RIGHT ON THE OCCASION OF AN IMPORTANT UNIVERSITY REFORM PROPOSAL. THIS PROPOSAL WOULD FORESEE THE AUTONOMY FOR THE UNIVERSITIES TO RAISE UP TO 3.000 POUNDS THE ENROLMENT FEES FOR STUDENTS (WHILE FORMERLY THE CEILING WAS 1.125 POUNDS). BLAIR HAD TO FACE INTERNAL OPPOSITION WITHIN HIS OWN PARTY IN RELATION TO A MEASURE THAT, ACCORDING TO THE 150 MPS PROMOTERS OF AN ADVERSE MOTION, HAD NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN THE ELECTORAL PROGRAMME AND WOULD RISK CREATING INCOME-BASED DISCRIMINATION AMONG STUDENTS. AS A MATTER OF FACT THE BILL FOCUSED ON THE INTRODUCTION OF VERY LOW-INTEREST STUDENT LOANS TO BE SETTLED ONLY WHEN THE STUDENT WOULD HAVE FOUND A REMUNERATED OCCUPATION (A SYSTEM ALREADY PROVIDED FOR BY THE AUSTRALIAN LEGISLATION). NEW ZEALAND CONTRARILY TO MANY OTHER COUNTRIES, NEW ZEALAND HAS ADOPTED A VERY WIDE VISION OF THE TERTIARY EDUCATION. IT INCLUDES IN FACT THE FULL EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME THAT IS INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AS THE POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION. SHOULD WE SPOTLIGHT A PECULIARITY OF THE NEW ZEALAND TERTIARY EDUCATION POLICY THEN IT WOULD BE ‘CHANGE’. LOOKING AT THE REFORM HISTORY RELATED TO THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEM, WE CAN CLEARLY IDENTIFY FOUR ‘SUB-PERIODS’ FROM THE EIGHTIES TO PRESENT-DAY: 1. BEFORE THE 80S’: AN ELITARIAN SYSTEM CHARACTERIZED BY LOW PARTICIPATION RATES. 2. BETWEEN MID AND LATE 80S’: A TREND TOWARDS THE ENLARGEMENT OF PARTICIPATION ASSOCIATED TO A GREATER COMPETITION. 3. 1990-1999: A FUTHER STEP TOWARDS A COMPETITIVE MODEL BASED ON THE MARKET-ORIENTED SYSTEM. 4. FROM 2000 TO TODAY: A CONTINUOUS EVOLUTION TOWARDS A MORE COMPETITIVE MODEL BASED ON THE MARKET-ORIENTED SYSTEM TOGETHER WITH A GROWING ATTENTION TO STATE CONTROL FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION. AT PRESENT THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW ZEALAND OPERATES TO STRENGHTHEN THIS PROCESS, PRIMARILY IN RELATION TO THE ROLE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION AS A STEADY FACTOR OF NATIONAL WALFARE, WHERE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTRIBUTES ACTIVELY TO THE GROWTH OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC SYSTEM5. THE CASES OF ENGLAND AND NEW ZEALAND ARE THE FOCUS OF AN IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION THAT STARTS FROM AN ANALYSIS OF THE POLICIES OF EACH NATION AND DEVELOP INTO A COMPARATIVE STUDY. AT THIS POINT I ATTEMPT TO DRAW SOME PRELIMINARY IMPRESSIONS ON THE FACTS ESSENTIALLY DECRIBED ABOVE. THE UNIVERSITY POLICIES IN ENGLAND AND NEW ZEALAND HAVE BOTH UNDERGONE A SIGNIFICANT REFORMATORY PROCESS SINCE THE EARLY EIGHTIES; IN BOTH CONTEXTS THE IMPORTANCE OF IDEAS THAT CONSTITUTED THE BASE OF POLITICS UNTIL 1980 WAS QUITE RELEVANT. GENERALLY SPEAKING, IN BOTH CASES THE PRE-REFORM POLICIES WERE INSPIRED BY EGALITARIANISM AND EXPANSION OF THE STUDENT POPULATION WHILE THOSE BROUGHT IN BY THE REFORM WOULD PURSUE EFFICIENCY, QUALITY AND COMPETITIVENESS. UNDOUBTEDLY, IN LINE WITH THIS GENERAL TENDENCY THAT REFLECTS THE HYPOTHESIS PROPOSED, THE TWO UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS PRESENT SEVERAL DIFFERENCES. THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM IN NEW ZEALAND PROCEEDED STEADILY TOWARDS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A MANAGERIAL CONCEPTION OF TERTIARY EDUCATION, ESPECIALLY FROM 1996 ONWARDS, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REFORMATORY PROCESS OF THE WHOLE PUBLIC SECTOR. IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, AS IN THE REST OF EUROPE, THE NEW APPROACH TO UNIVERSITY POLICY-MAKING HAD TO CONFRONT A DEEP-ROOTED TRADITION OF PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION AND THE IDEA OF EDUCATION EXPANSION THAT IN FACT DOMINATED UNTIL THE EIGHTIES. FROM THIS VIEW POINT THE GOVERNING ACTION OF MARGARET THATCHER GAVE RISE TO A RADICAL CHANGE THAT REVOLUTIONIZED THE OBJECTIVES AND KEY VALUES OF THE WHOLE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, IN PARTICULAR IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR. IDEAS AS EFFICIENCY, EXCELLENCE AND CONTROL OF THE PERFORMANCE BECAME DECISIVE. THE LABOUR CABINETS OF BLAIR DEVELOPED IN THE WAKE OF CONSERVATIVE REFORMS. THIS APPEARS TO BE A FOCAL POINT OF THIS STUDY THAT OBSERVES HOW ALSO IN NEW ZEALAND THE REFORMING PROCESS OCCURRED TRANSVERSELY DURING PROGRESSIVE AND CONSERVATIVE ADMINISTRATIONS. THE PRELIMINARY IMPRESSION IS THEREFORE THAT IDEAS DEEPLY MARK THE REFORMATIVE PROCESSES: THE AIM OF MY RESEARCH IS TO VERIFY TO WHICH EXTENT THIS STATEMENT IS TRUE. IN ORDER TO BUILD A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYLIS, FURTHER SIGNIFICANT FACTORS WILL HAVE TO BE INVESTIGATED: THE WAY IDEAS ARE PERCEIVED AND IMPLEMENTED BY THE DIFFERENT POLITICAL ELITES; HOW THE VARIOUS SOCIOECONOMIC CONTEXTS INFLUENCE THE REFORMATIVE PROCESS; HOW THE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES CONDITION THE POLICY-MAKING PROCESSES; WHETHER INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS PLAY A ROLE AND, IF YES, TO WHICH EXTENT.

Interferometria SAR per lo studio di movimenti e generazione di modelli digitali del terreno in Antartide

Satellite SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) interferometry represents a valid technique for digital elevation models (DEM) generation, providing metric accuracy even without ancillary data of good quality. Depending on the situations the interferometric phase could be interpreted both as topography and as a displacement eventually occurred between the two acquisitions. Once that these two components have been separated it is possible to produce a DEM from the first one or a displacement map from the second one. InSAR DEM (Digital Elevation Model) generation in the cryosphere is not a straightforward operation because almost every interferometric pair contains also a displacement component, which, even if small, when interpreted as topography during the phase to height conversion step could introduce huge errors in the final product. Considering a glacier, assuming the linearity of its velocity flux, it is therefore necessary to differentiate at least two pairs in order to isolate the topographic residue only. In case of an ice shelf the displacement component in the interferometric phase is determined not only by the flux of the glacier but also by the different heights of the two tides. As a matter of fact even if the two scenes of the interferometric pair are acquired at the same time of the day only the main terms of the tide disappear in the interferogram, while the other ones, smaller, do not elide themselves completely and so correspond to displacement fringes. Allowing for the availability of tidal gauges (or as an alternative of an accurate tidal model) it is possible to calculate a tidal correction to be applied to the differential interferogram. It is important to be aware that the tidal correction is applicable only knowing the position of the grounding line, which is often a controversial matter. In this thesis it is described the methodology applied for the generation of the DEM of the Drygalski ice tongue in Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. The displacement has been determined both in an interferometric way and considering the coregistration offsets of the two scenes. A particular attention has been devoted to investigate the importance of the role of some parameters, such as timing annotations and orbits reliability. Results have been validated in a GIS environment by comparison with GPS displacement vectors (displacement map and InSAR DEM) and ICEsat GLAS points (InSAR DEM).

Società di capitali amministratrici di società di persone

The present work focuses on a specific aspect of the general issue concerning the possible consequences of the reform of business corporations (“società di capitali”) on the discipline of partnerships (“società di persone”). After the reform of business law enacted with legislative decree n. 6/2003, the majority of the literature, in the light of the provisions of art. 2361 co. 2 civil code and art. 111-duodecies of the regulatory provisions (“disposizioni di attuazione”) of the civil code itself, maintains the possibility for a business corporation to be executive of a partnership. As a matter of fact, whenever all the members of a partnership are actually business corporations, it shall be possible that either one of the latter becomes the executive, either such role is played by a third party, i. e. a non-partner. After displaying the possible advantages and disadvantages stemming from a business corporation managing a partnership, the analysis investigates the legal feasibility of the case in point. First of all, the reasons supporting the theory under which a legal person cannot be manager of a partnership are examined in depth; an overview of the principal EU Member States’ legal systems and of the discipline of the European Economic Interest Grouping and of European Corporate is then provider for. At the outset of such analysis, the author asserts the legal possibility for a legal person to act as manager of a corporation, including a partnership. Afterwards, the investigation covers the issue of the executive-member in the partnerships. Initially, an overview of the literature concerning the legal nature of the management is offered; then, the three different categories of partnership are analyzed, in order to understand whether such legal persons can be managed by a third party (i.e. a non-member). On the basis of the existing strict connection between executive powers and unlimited liability, the author concludes that only the members shall be manager of the partnerships. Another chapter of the thesis is centred, from the one hand, on the textual data that, after the reform of 2003, support the aforesaid conclusion; from the other hand, on the peculiar features of the corporate business that is executive of a partnership. In particular, the attention is focused on the necessity or on the mere opportunity of an article of association explicitly providing that a corporate business can be executive of the partnership; on the practical ways by which the former shall manage the latter (especially on the necessity of nominating a permanent representative of the legal person and on the possibility to designate the procurators to this end); on the disclosure obligations applicable to the case in point.

Query rewriting in information retrieval: automatic context extraction from local user documents to improve query results

The central objective of research in Information Retrieval (IR) is to discover new techniques to retrieve relevant information in order to satisfy an Information Need. The Information Need is satisfied when relevant information can be provided to the user. In IR, relevance is a fundamental concept which has changed over time, from popular to personal, i.e., what was considered relevant before was information for the whole population, but what is considered relevant now is specific information for each user. Hence, there is a need to connect the behavior of the system to the condition of a particular person and his social context; thereby an interdisciplinary sector called Human-Centered Computing was born. For the modern search engine, the information extracted for the individual user is crucial. According to the Personalized Search (PS), two different techniques are necessary to personalize a search: contextualization (interconnected conditions that occur in an activity), and individualization (characteristics that distinguish an individual). This movement of focus to the individual's need undermines the rigid linearity of the classical model overtaken the ``berry picking'' model which explains that the terms change thanks to the informational feedback received from the search activity introducing the concept of evolution of search terms. The development of Information Foraging theory, which observed the correlations between animal foraging and human information foraging, also contributed to this transformation through attempts to optimize the cost-benefit ratio. This thesis arose from the need to satisfy human individuality when searching for information, and it develops a synergistic collaboration between the frontiers of technological innovation and the recent advances in IR. The search method developed exploits what is relevant for the user by changing radically the way in which an Information Need is expressed, because now it is expressed through the generation of the query and its own context. As a matter of fact the method was born under the pretense to improve the quality of search by rewriting the query based on the contexts automatically generated from a local knowledge base. Furthermore, the idea of optimizing each IR system has led to develop it as a middleware of interaction between the user and the IR system. Thereby the system has just two possible actions: rewriting the query, and reordering the result. Equivalent actions to the approach was described from the PS that generally exploits information derived from analysis of user behavior, while the proposed approach exploits knowledge provided by the user. The thesis went further to generate a novel method for an assessment procedure, according to the "Cranfield paradigm", in order to evaluate this type of IR systems. The results achieved are interesting considering both the effectiveness achieved and the innovative approach undertaken together with the several applications inspired using a local knowledge base.

Studio analitico della cultura materiale fra VII e IX secolo d.C. nella Regione di Samarcanda (Uzbekistan): analisi morfo-tipologica, produzione e commercio della ceramica di Kafir Kala

Kafir Kala is a key-site to understand the historical dynamics of the Samarkand Region in the Early Middle Ages (5th - 8th centuries CE). The site is clearly associated with a Sogdian occupation, as both literature and archaeological research testify. But the chronological phase that follows the Sogdian period, as the Islamic occupation became stable, is still little known. Structures and finds (an hoard of 133 silver coins, in particular) clearly testify a new occupation of some parts of the citadel; and some rooms, dug in the northern side of it, present structures and materials connected with an Islamic activity. The study of material culture from these rooms, and from more ancient contexts, will help to understand the eventual continuity of traditions and the new productions. Besides the citadel, as a matter of fact, also some kilns have been dug, near the main site. Their material culture is very interesting because it represents an example of the typical Sogdian production (ceramics covered with white mica, and stamped). The work on the ceramic material has consisted in cataloguing and classifying all the diagnostics. Three main morphological classes have been individuated: cooking, coarse and table ware), and some other ones (lamps, ossuaries). A catalogue of the finds organized them in a typological system based on their morphology, function, fabric, and eventually decoration style. Crossing the stratigraphical data with information from this typological study, it has been possible to provide a chronological arrangement of the sites investigated by the italo-uzbek archaeological mission from 2001 to 2008.

Synthese und Charakterisierung photoschaltbarer Gelbildner

Zusammenfassung Um photoschaltbare Gelbildner zu synthetisieren wurde auf bereits bekannte Gelbildner zurückgegriffen und eine Azobenzolgruppe, als photoschaltbare Einheit eingebaut. Die Modifizierung der Alkylsemicarbazide führte zu 7 Azosemicarbaziden (36-42), die alle gelbildende Eigenschaften haben. Die Gele des Alkylsemicarbazids 1 und der Azosemicarbazide 37 und 38 erwiesen sich als die stabilsten, weshalb an ihnen die meisten Untersuchungen durchgeführt wurden. Ihre Struktur ist in Abbildung 1 noch einmal aufgeführt. Die Alkylsemicarbazide vergelen Toluol, 1,2-Dichlorbenzol, Decalin, Tetralin und Cyclohexan. Die minimalen Gelbildnerkonzentration geht dabei von ~0,5 Gew.% für Toluol bis ~10 Gew.% für Tetralin und Cyclohexan. Die Azosemicarbazide 36-40 vergelen Toluol und Tetralin mit ~10 Gew.%, 1,2-Dichlorbenzol und Decalin mit ~4-7 Gew.Durch den Vergleich verschiedener Kristallstrukturen (von 1, 5, 19 und 43) und einer Röntgenkleinwinkelmessung eines Gels wurden zwei mögliche Kristallstrukturen für 37 vorgestellt. Die Tatsache, dass die IR-Spektren aller Semicarbazide im Bulk und als Gel sehr ähnliche Absorptionsbanden im Bereich der N-H-Schwingungen besitzen, zeigt, dass das vorgestellt Wasserstoffbrückenmotiv (Kapitel 4.1, Schema 4.1) für alle Semicarbazide nahezu gleich ist. Des Weiteren konnte ein Zusammenhang von der minimalen Gelbildner-konzentration, dem Schmelzpunkt und der Struktur des Gelnetz-werks gefunden werden. Je feiner das Netzwerk und damit je größer die Oberfläche, desto niedriger die minimale Gelbildnerkonzentration und desto niedriger der Schmelzpunkt der Gele. Gele mit Decalin fallen dabei durch eine andere Morphologie und besonders hohe Schmelzpunkte auf (Abbildung 2). Die Photoschaltbarkeit wurde im Gel mit organischen Lösungsmitteln und mit den Flüssigkristallmischungen durch UV/Vis-Messungen, Polarisationsmikroskopie, sowie durch die Bestimmung der Schaltzeiten und der Schwellspannung für LC II-Gele nachgewiesen. Erste dielektrische Messungen an einem LC II-Gel zeigen, dass die Goldstone-Mode im Gel unterdrück wird. Diese Ergebnisse sollen mit weiteren Untersuchungen untermauert werden.

DNA methylation, histone modification and the transcription factor dE2F1 in Drosophila

Drosophila melanogaster enthält eine geringe Menge an 5-methyl-Cytosin. Die von mir untersuchte männliche Keimbahn von Drosophila weist jedoch keine nachweisbaren Mengen an DNA-Methylierung auf. Eine künstliche Expression der murinen de novo Methyltransferasen, DNMT3A und DNMT3B1, in den Fliegenhoden, führte nicht zu der erwarteten Methylierungszunahme und hatte keinen Effekt auf die Fruchtbarkeit der Männchen. Auch die gewebespezifische Expression unter der Verwendung des UAS/GAL4-Systems zeigte keine phenotypischen Veränderungen. Hingegen fanden wir auf Protein-Ebene des Chromatins von D. melanogaster und D. hydei spezifische Modifikationsmuster der Histone H3 und H4 in der Keimbahn, wie auch in den somatischen Zellen des Hodenschlauches. Die Modifikationsmuster der beiden Zelltypen unterscheiden sich grundlegend und weichen zudem von dem für Eu- und Heterochromatin erwarteten ab, was auf eine größere Komplexität des „Histon-Codes“ als angenommen hindeutet. Folglich liegt die epigenetische Information in Drosophila wahrscheinlich anstatt auf DNA- auf Protein-Ebene, wodurch Genexpression über die Chromatinstruktur reguliert wird. Es wurde gezeigt, dass der Transkriptionsfaktor E2F, der eine Schlüsselfunktion im Zellzyklus hat, durch unterschiedliche Transkripte offenbar quantitativ reguliert wird. Unsere Nachforschungen ergaben, dass die drei E2F1 Genprodukte in Drosophila neben ihrer Zellspezifität auch in unterschiedlichen Expressionsniveaus auftreten, was die Annahme einer quantitativen Expression unterstützt. Die verschiedenen Funktionen der multiplen Gene in Säugern, könnten so funktionell kompensiert werden. Die durch die Expression dreier dE2F1-Transkripte vermutete Synthese verschiedener Proteine konnte nicht bewiesen werden.

Bewertungsportale im Internet – Meinungsfreiheit versus Datenschutz und Haftungsfragen der Portalbetreiber

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit rechtlichen Fragestellungen rund um Bewertungs-portale im Internet. Zentrale Themen der Arbeit sind dabei die Zulässigkeit der Veröffentlichung der von den Nutzern abgegebenen Bewertungen vor dem Hintergrund möglicherweise entgegenstehender datenschutzrechtlicher Bestimmungen und der Persönlichkeitsrechte der Betroffenen. Des weiteren wird der Rechtsschutz der Betroffenen erörtert und in diesem Zusammenhang die haftungsrechtlichen Risiken der Forenbetreiber untersucht. Gegenstand der Arbeit sind dabei sowohl Online-Marktplätze wie eBay, auf denen sowohl der Bewertende als auch der Bewertete registriert und mit dem Bewertungsverfahren grundsätz-lich einverstanden sind (geschlossene Portale), als auch Portale, auf denen – oftmals unter einem Pseudonym und ohne vorherige Anmeldung – eine freie Bewertungsabgabe, zu Pro-dukteigenschaften, Dienstleistungen bis hinzu Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen des Bewerteten möglich ist (offene Portale). Einleitung und Erster Teil Nach einer Einleitung und Einführung in die Problematik werden im ersten Teil die verschie-denen Arten der Bewertungsportale kurz vorgestellt. Die Arbeit unterscheidet dabei zwischen so genannten geschlossenen Portalen (transaktionsbegleitende Portale wie eBay oder Ama-zon) auf der einen Seite und offenen Portalen (Produktbewertungsportale, Hotelbewertungs-portale und Dienstleistungsbewertungsportale) auf der anderen Seite. Zweiter Teil Im zweiten Teil geht die Arbeit der Frage nach, ob die Veröffentlichung der durch die Nutzer abgegebenen Bewertungen auf den offenen Portalen überhaupt erlaubt ist oder ob hier mögli-cherweise das Persönlichkeitsrecht der Betroffenen und hier insbesondere das Recht auf in-formationelle Selbstbestimmung in Form der datenschutzrechtlichen Bestimmungen die freie Bewertungsabgabe unzulässig werden lässt. Untersucht werden in diesem Zusammenhang im einzelnen Löschungs- bzw. Beseitigungsan-sprüche der Betroffenen aus § 35 Abs. 2 Satz 2 Nr. 1 BDSG bzw. §§ 1004 i. V. m. 823 Abs. 1 BGB (allgemeines Persönlichkeitsrecht). Die Arbeit kommt in datenschutzrechtlicher Hinsicht zu dem Schluss, dass die Bewertungen personenbezogene Daten darstellen, die den datenschutzrechtlichen Bestimmungen unterlie-gen und eine Veröffentlichung der Bewertungen nach dem im deutschen Recht geltenden da-tenschutzrechtlichen Erlaubnisvorbehalt grundsätzlich nicht in Betracht kommt. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser den tatsächlichen Gegebenheiten und Interessenlagen im Internet nicht mehr gerecht werdenden Gesetzeslage diskutiert der Autor sodann die Frage, ob die datenschutzrechtlichen Bestimmungen in diesen Fällen eine Einschränkung durch die grund-gesetzlich garantierten Informationsfreiheiten erfahren müssen. Nach einer ausführlichen Diskussion der Rechtslage, in der auf die Besonderheiten der ein-zelnen Portale eingegangen wird, kommt die Arbeit zu dem Schluss, dass die Frage der Zuläs-sigkeit der Veröffentlichung der Bewertungen von einer Interessenabwägung im Einzelfall abhängt. Als Grundsatz kann jedoch gelten: Ist die bewertete Tätigkeit oder Person in Bezug auf die bewertete Eigenschaft ohnehin einer breiten Öffentlichkeit zugänglich, erscheint eine Veröffentlichung der Daten nicht bedenklich. Dagegen wird man einen Löschungs- bzw. Be-seitigungsanspruch bejahen müssen für die Bewertungen, die Tätigkeiten oder Eigenschaften des Bewerteten, die in keinem Zusammenhang mit ihm als öffentlicher Person stehen, betref-fen. Anschließend geht die Arbeit auf die Persönlichkeitsrechte der Betroffenen und der sich hier-aus ergebenden Beseitigungs- und Unterlassungsansprüchen gemäß der §§ 1004 Abs. 1, 823 Abs. 1 BGB ein, verneint jedoch wegen dem Vorrang der spezialgesetzlichen Bestimmungen aus dem Bundesdatenschutzgesetz letztlich eine Anwendbarkeit der Anspruchsgrundlagen. Schließlich wird in diesem Teil noch kurz auf die Zulässigkeit der Bewertung juristischer Per-sonen eingegangen, die im Grundsatz bejaht wird. Dritter Teil Sofern der zweite Teil der Arbeit zu dem Schluss kommt, dass die Veröffentlichung der Be-wertungen zulässig ist, stellt sich im dritten Teil die Frage, welche Möglichkeiten das Recht dem Bewerteten bietet, gegen negative Bewertungen vorzugehen. Untersucht werden, dabei datenschutzrechtliche, deliktsrechtliche, vertragliche und wettbe-werbsrechtliche Ansprüche. Ein Schwerpunkt dieses Teils liegt in der Darstellung der aktuellen Rechtsprechung zu der Frage wann eine Bewertung eine Tatsachenbehauptung bzw. ein Werturteil darstellt und den sich hieraus ergebenden unterschiedlichen Konsequenzen für den Unterlassungsanspruch des Betroffenen. Diejenigen Bewertungen, die eine Meinungsäußerung darstellen, unterstehen dem starken Schutz der Meinungsäußerungsfreiheit. Grenze der Zulässigkeit sind hier im wesentlichen nur die Schmähkritik und Beleidigung. An Tatsachenbehautpungen dagegen sind schärfere Maßstäbe anzulegen. In diesem Zusammenhang wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob vertragliche Beziehungen zwischen den Beteiligten (Bewertenden, Bewertete und Portalbetreiber) die Meinungsäußerungsfreiheit einschränkt, was jedenfalls für die geschlossenen Portale bejaht wird. Vierter Teil Der vierte Teil der Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den „Zu-gut-Bewertungen“. Es geht dabei um wettbewerbsrechtliche Ansprüche im Falle verdeckter Eigenbewertungen. Solche Eigenbewertungen, die unter dem Deckmantel der Pseudonymität als Werbemittel zur Imageverbesserung in entsprechenden Bewertungsportale verbreitet werden ohne den wahren Autor erkennen zu lassen, sind in wettbewerbsrechtlicher Hinsicht grundsätzlich unzulässig. Fünfter Teil Im letzten Teil der Arbeit wird schließlich der Frage nach der Verantwortlichkeit der Portal-betreiber für rechtswidrige Bewertungen nachgegangen. Zunächst wird die Feststellung getroffen, dass es sich bei den von den Nutzern abgegebenen Bewertungen um fremde Inhalte handelt und somit die Haftungsprivilegierungen der § 11 Abs. 1 TDG, § 9 Abs. 1 MDStV eingreifen, wonach die Forenbetreiber für die rechtswidrigen Bewertungen jedenfalls so lange nicht verantwortlich sind, solange sie hiervon keine Kenntnis haben. Da von dieser Haftungsprivilegierung nach der Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichtshofs die Störerhaftung nicht umfasst ist, wird die Reichweite die Forenbetreiber aus der Störerhaftung treffenden Überwachungspflichten diskutiert. Die Arbeit kommt hier zu dem Ergebnis, dass in den Fällen, in denen dem Adressaten der Bewertung die Identität des Verfassers bekannt ist, sich die Verpflichtungen der Forenbetrei-ber auf die Beseitigung bzw. Sperrung der rechtswidrigen Bewertung beschränken. Sofern die Identität des Bewertenden unbekannt ist, haften die Forenbetreiber als Mitstörer und dem Be-troffenen stehen Unterlassungsansprüche auch gegen die Forenbetreiber zu.