Tecnologia

Cesare Zavattini, l'intermedialità e la tecnologi

Advanced Feature Analysis of Eddy Current Testing Signals for Rail Surface Defect Characterization

The maintenance of the railways is of paramount importance for safe and reliable transport. Eddy Current Testing (ECT) provides high-resolution time-series signals that capture subtle anomalies on the rail surface. This paper expands on previous analyses by combining classical time-frequency methods (short-time Fourier transform and continuous wavelet transform) and estimation of fractal dimensions with advanced feature extraction approaches, including wavelet sub-band decomposition, Hilbert–Huang transform, peak analysis and entropy metrics. Subsequently, a Random Forest classifier is applied to each set of characteristics, and we report comparative accuracy results on a dataset comprising rail segments with joints, welds, or squats. Experimental findings reveal that the Hilbert–Huang transform features yield the highest accuracy (93.28%), while simpler features, such as peak counts, are less discriminative (46.93%). These results underscore the effectiveness of using multiple signal-decomposition strategies and advanced analytics to robustly detect and categorize surface defects for better rail-maintenance decisions

Oltre le barriere. Metafore della disabilità negli albi illustrati

Il contributo indaga il potenziale simbolico della metafora visiva come strumento conoscitivo nella letteratura per l’infanzia, con particolare attenzione agli albi illustrati e alla rappresentazione della disabilità. Attraverso una selezione di opere contemporanee, si esplora come la disabilità sia oggi raffigurata attraverso strategie narrative e iconografiche rinnovate rispetto al passato e come la metafora possa contribuire a promuoverne un’immagine complessa e una visione inclusiva.The paper explores the symbolic potential of visual me-taphor as a cognitive tool in children’s literature, with particular attention to picturebooks and the representation of disability. Through a selection of contemporary works, it examines how disability is currently depicted using narrative and iconographic strategies that depart from traditional portrayals, and how metaphor can contribute to fostering a more complex image and an inclusive vision

“Città di pietra e città di verde”. Forma e ruolo della vegetazione nella costruzione dell’E42/EUR

EUR is one of Rome’s greenest districts. However, its parks and gardens are part of an artificial landscape: they were specifically created for the 1942 Rome World’s Fair when the barren and deserted Tre Fontane area was transformed into a «dazzling emerald mass» [Esposizione Universale di Roma 1942-anno 20 E.F. 1939]. Despite WW2 interrupting the works, the already planted trees played a significant role in defining the post-war neighbourhood that was to become Rome’s new «città parco»

Rec. a Simon Gilson and Ambra Moroncini (Eds.): Nudity and Folly in Italian Literature from Dante to Leopardi. Florenz: Cesati, 2022. 304 pp.,

Rec. del volume Simon Gilson and Ambra Moroncini (Eds.): Nudity and Folly in Italian Literature from Dante to Leopardi. Florenz: Cesati, 202

A vueltas con las mujeres tramoyeras de Calderón: los personajes femeninos en "Peor está que estaba" y "Mejor está que estaba"

El artículo realiza un análisis comparativo de dos comedias de capa y espada de Calderón de la Barca, «Peor está que estaba» y «Mejor está que estaba», centrándose en el rol de las protagonistas femeninas. El estudio examina las conexiones intertextuales entre ambas obras, destacando cómo el ingenio de las damas marca la estructura y el ritmo de los enredos cómicos. En ambas comedias, son las mujeres las que sobresalen por su agudeza y capacidad para dirigir las tramas. En «Mejor está que estaba», escrita solo un año después de «Peor está que estaba», Calderón recupera motivos, circunstancias y recursos de la primera obra, mezclándolos con nuevos elementos. Entre estos, destaca la descripción ecfrástica que el galán hace de la dama, con importantes implicaciones simbólicas. Mientras que en «Peor está que estaba» los encuentros amorosos maquinados por Lisarda fracasan, en «Mejor está» las maniobras de Flora tienen éxito, logrando un desenlace más favorable

Rolling stock shunt operation planning in urban rail transit depots with maintenance consideration

This study investigates the daily rolling stock shunt operation planning in a rail depot. Given the layout of a depot and the rolling stocks (that arrive at and depart from this depot within an operation day) with given maintenance schedule, the studied problem lies in determining: 1) the position where each rolling stock is parked, outside washed, and/or maintained, and 2) the conflict-free shunting plan of rolling stocks to move within a depot. We transform the track-circuits in the depot into different multi-layer directed graphs to illustrate the shunting processes of rolling stocks. By means of these graphs, we formulate the studied problem as a mixed integer linear programming model by considering a more general variant of four requirements that make sense in practice but are not or rarely considered in previous works and by presenting a flexible technique to model the track capacity, to reduce the additional shunting movements of rolling stocks. Besides, we design a two-stage decomposition manner to efficiently solve real-life problem instances, wherein the problem in each stage is addressed by a presented logic-based Benders decomposition algorithm enhanced by customized acceleration mechanisms. Finally, a set of realistic and real-life instances with different scales (derived from the largest depot of the Chongqing Rail Transit Line 3 in China) are investigated. Computational results demonstrate that our best algorithm solves a real-life instance to optimality in approximately 8 s that is considerably shorter than the time of rail staffs to solve this instance manually, thus our approach can provide strong automatical computer-aided decision supports. Our approach is also very efficient in optimizing another objective that is also widely used, and can provide management insights to rail staffs