244 research outputs found

    Computer Vision and Architectural History at Eye Level:Mixed Methods for Linking Research in the Humanities and in Information Technology

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    Information on the history of architecture is embedded in our daily surroundings, in vernacular and heritage buildings and in physical objects, photographs and plans. Historians study these tangible and intangible artefacts and the communities that built and used them. Thus valuableinsights are gained into the past and the present as they also provide a foundation for designing the future. Given that our understanding of the past is limited by the inadequate availability of data, the article demonstrates that advanced computer tools can help gain more and well-linked data from the past. Computer vision can make a decisive contribution to the identification of image content in historical photographs. This application is particularly interesting for architectural history, where visual sources play an essential role in understanding the built environment of the past, yet lack of reliable metadata often hinders the use of materials. The automated recognition contributes to making a variety of image sources usable forresearch.<br/

    Making Coalition Under Occupation Coalition Building and Solidarity across Divides in Social Movements Campaigns in Israel and Palestine

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    Sotto il controllo israeliano, la regione storicamente nota come Palestina ha sperimentato una persistente frammentazione e la disconnessione delle sue terre. Tuttavia, questa frammentazione si estende oltre il dominio geografico per includere la divisione delle comunit&agrave; che la popolano. Queste divisioni e separazioni non sono solo il risultato di un conflitto in corso tra due gruppi etnonazionali, ma piuttosto il risultato dell'inesorabile colonizzazione perseguita dal movimento sionista. Questa tesi mira a collegare le intuizioni sia della letteratura del colonialismo d'insediamento che degli studi sui movimenti sociali, uno sforzo unico che non &egrave; stato intrapreso in precedenza e ha il potenziale per favorire lo scambio e l'apprendimento interdisciplinare. Nonostante le oppressive divisioni imposte, ci sono casi in cui si possono osservare alleanze e cooperazione tra ebrei israeliani e palestinesi. Questa tesi esaminer&agrave; le circostanze e le condizioni relazionali che rendono possibili tali coalizioni.Nel corso dei decenni, la Palestina storica &egrave; stata teatro di massicce mobilitazioni, mostrando la capacit&agrave; del movimento palestinese di innovare e riformulare costantemente le sue strategie, tecniche di protesta e rivendicazioni. Del resto, nel corso degli anni, la repressione israeliana non &egrave; mai cessata anzi, si &egrave; evoluta, trovando sempre nuove strategie e nuove tecnologie per reprimere il dissenso. In un contesto sociale cos&igrave; rarefatto, come &egrave; possibile sostenere la creazione di coalizioni tra palestinesi e israeliani mentre tutto sembra spingere nella direzione del confronto e del conflitto? E quando questa cooperazione &egrave; stabilita, in che modo gli attori dei movimenti sociali sono in grado di affrontare l'asimmetria di potere che deriva dall'essere gli "occupanti" e gli "occupati"? Mantenere coalizioni, solidariet&agrave; e cooperazione al di l&agrave; delle differenze (di razza, genere, etnia e religione) non &egrave; mai stato cos&igrave; urgente. Questa tesi cerca di colmare questa lacuna nella letteratura proponendo un quadro teorico originale per analizzare tre campagne di movimenti sociali che hanno visto la cooperazione di diversi gruppi etnonazionali. Le tre campagne si sono articolate in tre diversi contesti territoriali&nbsp;mostrando l'importanza del contesto e delle opportunit&agrave; politiche e legali.La prima campagna esaminata si &egrave; svolta nei territori palestinesi con l'obiettivo di proteggere un villaggio che rischiava la demolizione nelle colline a sud di Hebron, in particolare nell'area C della Cisgiordania. Il secondo caso, invece, si &egrave; svolto nel cuore di Gerusalemme, una citt&agrave; divisa, e si &egrave; concentrato su un quartiere prevalentemente palestinese che spesso ha subito sgomberi da parte delle istituzioni israeliane. Sebbene questi due casi siano considerati esempi positivi, &egrave; importante riconoscere e affrontare le differenze che esistevano al loro interno.Infine, il terzo caso esplora una coalizione formata all'interno del movimento delle donne israeliane che ha cercato di coinvolgere gruppi di donne palestinesi sia&nbsp;dentro i confini di Israele che nei Territori palestinesi occupati. Questo tentativo si &egrave; rivelato impegnativo e alla fine infruttuoso, portando a considerarlo come un caso negativo in cui &egrave; stata tentata un'alleanza ma alla fine &egrave; fallita. Questi tre casi mostrano come attivisti appartenenti a diversi gruppi etnonazionali abbiano saputo o meno affrontare l'asimmetria di potere che caratterizza la divisione coloniale. Oltre alle strategie specifiche, questa tesi considera anche come il tipo di regime politico e il contesto locale influenzino questo tipo di alleanza. Infine, sviluppa un modello concettuale che ridefinisce come mantenere coalizioni attraverso la regola delle tre T: Time, Trust and Ties.Per quanto riguarda i metodi utilizzati in questa tesi, la ricerca si &egrave; svolta in due periodi di lavoro&nbsp;sul campo. Sono state condotte un totale di 71 interviste (faccia a faccia e online) insieme a diverse&nbsp;osservazioni partecipanti che hanno portato alla stesura di quasi un centinaio di pagine di note di campo. Oltre alle interviste e all'osservazione partecipanti, &egrave; stata effettuata un'analisi degli eventi di protesta, per ricostruire il ciclo della protesta nel tempo. Ci&ograve; ha consentito la possibilit&agrave; di svolgere uno studio longitudinale della composizione di questi movimenti. Per il caso negativo, insieme alle interviste, ho creato un questionario presentato online per ricostruire la rete delle organizzazioni femminili attive in questa campagna. L'analisi dei dati &egrave; avvenuta con il programma MaxQDA e attraverso una Social Network Analysis qualitativa con UCINET che permette di comprendere descrittivamente la composizione e le caratteristiche dei gruppi che hanno partecipato alle campagne e come sono cambiati nel tempo. Molto lavoro &egrave; stato dedicato anche alla restituzione con le comunit&agrave; e gli attivisti coinvolti e alla diffusione all'interno della societ&agrave; civile italianaUnder Israeli control, the region historically known as Palestine has experienced persistent fragmentation and the disconnection of its lands. However, this fragmentation extends beyond the geographic domain to include the division of communities. I argue that these divisions and separations are not solely the outcome of an ongoing conflict between two ethnonational groups but rather the result of the relentless colonization pursued by the Zionist movement. This thesis aims to bridge insights from both settler-colonial literature and Social Movements Studies, a unique endeavour that has not been undertaken previously and has the potential to foster interdisciplinary exchange and learning. Despite the oppressive divisions imposed, there are instances where alliances and cooperation between Israeli Jews and Palestinians can be observed. This dissertation will examine the circumstances and relational conditions that make such coalitions possible.Throughout the decades, Historical Palestine has been the stage of massive mobilizations and social engagements, showing the ability of the Palestinian movement to constantly innovate and re-frame its strategies, techniques of protests, and claims. Besides, all over the years, Israeli repression has never ceased rather, it evolved, finding always new strategies and new technologies to repress dissent, from all sides. In such a rarefied social context, how is it possible to support the creation of coalitions between Palestinians and Israelis while everything seems to push in the direction of confrontation and conflict? And when this cooperation is established, how are social movements&rsquo; actors able to address the power asymmetry that derives from being the &ldquo;occupiers&rdquo; and the &ldquo;occupied&rdquo;? Maintaining coalitions, solidarity, and cooperation across differences (such as race, gender, ethnicity, and religion) has never been so urgent. This thesis tries to fill this gap in the literature by proposing an original theoretical framework to analyse three social movement campaigns that witnessed the cooperation of ethnonational diverse groups. The three campaigns articulated into three different territorial settings in order to show the importance of context and political and legal opportunities.The initial campaign examined occurred in the Palestinian territories and aimed to protect a village facing demolition in the South Hebron Hills, specifically in area C of the West Bank. The second case, on the other hand, took place in the heart of Jerusalem, a divided city, and focused on a predominantly Palestinian neighbourhood that frequently faced evictions by Israeli institutions. Although these two cases are regarded as positive examples, it is important to acknowledge and address the internal differences that existed within them.Lastly, the third case explores a coalition formed within the Israeli women's movement that sought to engage Palestinian women's groups both within the borders of Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This endeavour proved to be challenging and ultimately unsuccessful, leading to consider it as a negative case in which an alliance was attempted but ultimately failed. These three cases show how activists belonging to different ethnonational groups have been able or not to address the asymmetry of power that characterizes the colonial division. In addition to the specific strategies, this thesis also considers how the type of political regime, and the legislative setting influences this type of alliance. Finally, it develops a conceptual model that redefines how to maintain long-lasting coalitions through the rule of the three Ts: Time, Ties, and Trust.As regards the methods used in this thesis, the research took place in two periods of fieldwork. A total of 71 interviews were conducted (face-to-face and online) together with several participant observations which led to the drafting of almost a hundred pages of field notes. In addition to interviews and participant observation, a Protest Event Analysis was carried out, to reconstruct the protest cycle through time. This allows for the inclusion of a longitudinal study of these movements' composition. For the negative case, together with the interviews, I created a questionnaire to reconstruct the network of women's organizations active in this campaign submitted online. The data analysis took place with the MaxQDA program and through a qualitative Social Network Analysis with UCINET which allows understanding descriptively the composition and characteristics of the groups that participated in the campaigns and how they changed over time. Much work has been also devoted to restitution with the communities and activists involved and dissemination within the Italian civil society secto

    Data ethics : building trust : how digital technologies can serve humanity

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    Data is the magic word of the 21st century. As oil in the 20th century and electricity in the 19th century: For citizens, data means support in daily life in almost all activities, from watch to laptop, from kitchen to car, from mobile phone to politics. For business and politics, data means power, dominance, winning the race. Data can be used for good and bad, for services and hacking, for medicine and arms race. How can we build trust in this complex and ambiguous data world? How can digital technologies serve humanity? The 45 articles in this book represent a broad range of ethical reflections and recommendations in eight sections: a) Values, Trust and Law, b) AI, Robots and Humans, c) Health and Neuroscience, d) Religions for Digital Justice, e) Farming, Business, Finance, f) Security, War, Peace, g) Data Governance, Geopolitics, h) Media, Education, Communication. The authors and institutions come from all continents. The book serves as reading material for teachers, students, policy makers, politicians, business, hospitals, NGOs and religious organisations alike. It is an invitation for dialogue, debate and building trust! The book is a continuation of the volume “Cyber Ethics 4.0” published in 2018 by the same editors

    Metaverse. Old urban issues in new virtual cities

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    Recent years have seen the arise of some early attempts to build virtual cities, utopias or affective dystopias in an embodied Internet, which in some respects appear to be the ultimate expression of the neoliberal city paradigma (even if virtual). Although there is an extensive disciplinary literature on the relationship between planning and virtual or augmented reality linked mainly to the gaming industry, this often avoids design and value issues. The observation of some of these early experiences - Decentraland, Minecraft, Liberland Metaverse, to name a few - poses important questions and problems that are gradually becoming inescapable for designers and urban planners, and allows us to make some partial considerations on the risks and potentialities of these early virtual cities

    The age of the bailout : contention, party-system collapse and reconstruction in Greece, 2009-2015

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    Defence date: 10 June 2019Examining Board: Prof. Hanspeter Kriesi, European University Institute; Prof. Elias Dinas, European University Institute; Prof Maria Kousis, University of Crete; Prof. Mark R. Beissinger, Princeton UniversityThe Greek epicenter of the Eurozone crisis was violently shaken by one of the deepest economic depressions of the past century. The call for financial assistance by the 2010 Greek government resulted in a series of bailouts whose conditionality and policy requirements deeply divided Greeks for the next eight years. This thesis deals with the dismantling of the Greek party-system during the Eurozone crisis, in conjunction with the volatile outburst of one of the proportionally largest protest campaigns in post-war Europe. The Greek case is interesting firstly due to its unique outlier status in multiple dimensions, like the depth of economic crisis, the unique mass scale of protest and party-system change. But beyond the case specifics, the thesis uses the Greek case as a unique contemporary vantage point to understand patterns of interaction between large-scale contentious and institutional politics and the mechanisms of abrupt party-system change. To study contentious institutional interactions, a novel framework is proposed, examining the Greek case through the detailed narration of four contentious episodes, streams of interactions among government, challengers and third parties around contested policy packages, the bailouts. This methodological novelty is complemented by a theoretical framework that conceptualizes the bailout-induced change in structures of policy-making and political competition, and thus the context within which the protest wave unfolded. The thesis follow the evolution of escalating protest and party-system unraveling through the succession of contentious episodes to detect the mechanisms through which they interact. I draws attention mainly to indirect mechanisms through which social movements influence party-system outcomes, namely elite breakdown and paralysis and the reconfiguration of dimensions of political conflict. Additionally, the dissertation delimits the effect of social movements mostly on those indirect effects. To complete the story of party-system punctuation, I expose critical elements of agency and structure unrelated to protest, such as the bailout’s opportunity structure, shrewd party positioning and the revealing of the mental (mis)calculations of institutional protagonists, which are the other required elements to guide us through the process of Greek party-system implosion. The final chapters eventually expand on how this punctuation was overcome, this time by reference to the missing contentiousness and the ways Syriza used persuasion, its profile as a new party and its leader’s popularity to avoid a repetition of the first cycle of contention, bringing the crisis full circle

    Computer Vision and Architectural History at Eye Level:Mixed Methods for Linking Research in the Humanities and in Information Technology

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    Information on the history of architecture is embedded in our daily surroundings, in vernacular and heritage buildings and in physical objects, photographs and plans. Historians study these tangible and intangible artefacts and the communities that built and used them. Thus valuableinsights are gained into the past and the present as they also provide a foundation for designing the future. Given that our understanding of the past is limited by the inadequate availability of data, the article demonstrates that advanced computer tools can help gain more and well-linked data from the past. Computer vision can make a decisive contribution to the identification of image content in historical photographs. This application is particularly interesting for architectural history, where visual sources play an essential role in understanding the built environment of the past, yet lack of reliable metadata often hinders the use of materials. The automated recognition contributes to making a variety of image sources usable forresearch.<br/

    Rel2Graph: Automated Mapping From Relational Databases to a Unified Property Knowledge Graph

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    Although a few approaches are proposed to convert relational databases to graphs, there is a genuine lack of systematic evaluation across a wider spectrum of databases. Recognising the important issue of query mapping, this paper proposes an approach Rel2Graph, an automatic knowledge graph construction (KGC) approach from an arbitrary number of relational databases. Our approach also supports the mapping of conjunctive SQL queries into pattern-based NoSQL queries. We evaluate our proposed approach on two widely used relational database-oriented datasets: Spider and KaggleDBQA benchmarks for semantic parsing. We employ the execution accuracy (EA) metric to quantify the proportion of results by executing the NoSQL queries on the property knowledge graph we construct that aligns with the results of SQL queries performed on relational databases. Consequently, the counterpart property knowledge graph of benchmarks with high accuracy and integrity can be ensured. The code and data will be publicly available. The code and data are available at github\footnote{https://github.com/nlp-tlp/Rel2Graph}

    Computer Vision and Architectural History at Eye Level:Mixed Methods for Linking Research in the Humanities and in Information Technology

    Get PDF
    Information on the history of architecture is embedded in our daily surroundings, in vernacular and heritage buildings and in physical objects, photographs and plans. Historians study these tangible and intangible artefacts and the communities that built and used them. Thus valuableinsights are gained into the past and the present as they also provide a foundation for designing the future. Given that our understanding of the past is limited by the inadequate availability of data, the article demonstrates that advanced computer tools can help gain more and well-linked data from the past. Computer vision can make a decisive contribution to the identification of image content in historical photographs. This application is particularly interesting for architectural history, where visual sources play an essential role in understanding the built environment of the past, yet lack of reliable metadata often hinders the use of materials. The automated recognition contributes to making a variety of image sources usable forresearch.<br/
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