Web navigation for individuals with dyslexia: An exploratory study

In this paper, we present an exploratory study of the web navigation experiences of dyslexic users. Findings indicate that dyslexics exhibit distinctive web navigation behaviour and preferences. We believe that the outcomes of this study add to our understanding of the particular needs of this web user population and have implications for the design of effective navigation structures

Supporting Interaction and Co-evolution of Users and Systems

Interactive systems supporting people activities, even those designed for a specific application domain, should be very flexible, i.e., they should be easily adaptable to specific needs of the user communities. They should even allow users to personalize the system to better fit with their evolving needs. This paper presents an original model of the interaction and coevolution processes occurring between humans and interactive systems and discusses an approach to design systems that supports such processes. The approach is based on the “artisan’s workshop” metaphor and foresees the participatory design of an interactive system as a network of workshops customized to different user communities and connected one another by communication paths. Such paths allow end users and members of the design team to trigger and actuate the co-evolution. The feasibility of the methodology is illustrated through a case study in the medical domain

Whatever the cost: Grain trade and the Genoese dominating minority in Sicily and Tabarka (16th-18th centuries)

This is the final version. Available from Routledge via the DOI in this record.This work analyses the activities of Genoese merchant communities in the grain trade in western Mediterranean markets. Our goal is to shed light on their ability to integrate into foreign lands, taking advantage of their privileged position within the Spanish Crown. Our analysis is focussed on two case studies, strictly connected from a theoretical point of view: Sicily and Tabarka. Both Genoese minorities living on these two islands used the port of Genoa as their commercial hub. Regarding Sicily, this study has mostly drawn information from a yet unexploited source: general average procedures drawn up in Genoa. General average (GA) was (and still is nowadays) a legal instrument used in maritime trade to share between all parties involved the expenses which can befall ships and cargoes from the time of their loading aboard until their unloading (due to accidents, jettison, etc.). These documents have been collected in an online database soon to be published as part of the ERC-funded AveTransRisk project. They offer valuable insights on shipmasters and merchants, cargo values, ports of destination, wheat prices, etc. All the sources are available on the online database resulting from the AveTransRisk project, of which we are members (http://humanities-research.exeter.ac.uk/avetransrisk). For the trade in North African wheat, we have mostly used documents related to the Genoese ‘colony’ of Tabarka, administered by the Lomellini family. These sources are kept in the Genoese archives as well as in the Archives Nationales of Paris.H2020 European Research Council (ERC

General Average and Risk Management in Medieval and Early Modern Maritime Business

This is the final version. Available on open access from Palgrave Macmillan via the DOI in this recordThe chapter "Sharing Risks, on Averages and Why They Matter" by Maria Fusaro is available in ORE at http://hdl.handle.net/10871/132151This open access book explores the history of risk management in medieval and early modern European maritime business, focusing particularly on 'General Average' – a mechanism by which extraordinary expenses regarding ship or cargo, incurred during a voyage to save the venture, are shared between all participants to protect equity. This volume traces the history of this risk management tool from its origins in the pre-Roman Mediterranean through to its use in the shipping sector today. Contributions range from the Islamic Mediterranean to the Low Countries, and taken together, provide a wide-ranging analysis of social, cultural, and political aspects of pre-modern maritime commerce in Europe. The volume is divided into five parts. The first one—Why and How Risk is Shared—starts with Maria Fusaro’s introduction and analytical description of the concept of General Average [GA] at large, highlighting some of its peculiarities and importance regarding both its historical development and future policy. This is followed by essays by Ron Harris and Giovanni Ceccarelli that, from two different perspectives, contextualise GA’s importance within the development of medieval and early modern risk management tools and business strategies. The second part—Origins and Variants of Mutual Protection—traces the development of GA from Byzantium to Early Modern Italy. It starts with Daphne Penna detailing the complex transition of GA from Roman law to the Digest, the Byzantine collection known as the Rhodian SeaLaw and their transmission in the Basilica. The focus then shifts to Hassan Khalilieh’s discussion of how GA rules and practices evolved in the Islamic Mediterranean. This section ends with Andrea Addobbati’s analysis of how this complex genealogy was received in early modern Italy. The third part—The Iberian Experience—is dedicated to the multifaceted articulation of Averages within the Hispanic world. Ana María Rivera Medina argues for the medieval roots of maritime risk mutualisation in northern Spain, and the second essay—by Gijs Dreijer—analyses the transplantation of these usages in the Spanish Low Countries in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The section concludes with Marta García Garralón discussing the peculiarities of GA as practiced within the Carrera de Indias. The next part—The Genoese Experience—focuses on the extremely rich documentary evidence regarding GA in Genoa. It starts with Antonio Iodice’s discussion of local early modern normative developments. Then—in the essay by Luisa Piccinno—the focus shifts to the importance of GA data for the analysis of maritime trade passing through the port of Genoa. Andrea Zanini completes this section discussing the intersection between financing the maritime sector and risk-sharing strategies in the eighteenth century. The fifth and last part—Mature Systems—presents three cases in which GA was used as a tool of political economy by states with a strong maritime sector. Jake Dyble analyses the free port of Livorno, Sabine Go discusses developments in Amsterdam, and Lewis Wade the effects of the Ordonnance de la Marine in the French case.European Union Horizon 202

Validation of a lab-on-chip assay for measuring sorafenib effectiveness on hcc cell proliferation

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly lethal cancer, and although a few drugs are available for treatment, therapeutic effectiveness is still unsatisfactory. New drugs are urgently needed for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. In this context, reliable preclinical assays are of paramount importance to screen the effectiveness of new drugs and, in particular, measure their effects on HCC cell proliferation. However, cell proliferation measurement is a time-consuming and operator-dependent procedure. The aim of this study was to validate an engineered miniaturized on-chip platform for real-time, non-destructive cell proliferation assays and drug screening. The effectiveness of Sorafenib, the first-line drug mainly used for patients with advanced HCC, was tested in parallel, comparing the gold standard 96-well-plate assay and our new lab-on-chip platform. Results from the lab-on-chip are consistent in intra-assay replicates and comparable to the output of standard crystal violet proliferation assays for assessing Sorafenib effectiveness on HCC cell proliferation. The miniaturized platform presents several advantages in terms of lesser reagents consumption, operator time, and costs, as well as overcoming a number of technical and operator-dependent pitfalls. Moreover, the number of cells required is lower, a relevant issue when primary cell cultures are used. In conclusion, the availability of inexpensive on-chip assays can speed up drug development, especially by using patient-derived samples to take into account disease heterogeneity and patient-specific characteristics

Intervista ad Howard Gardner - a cura di Marco Piccinno

Prof. Howard Gardner needs no introduction. He is a professor of cognitive and educational sciences and psychology at Harvard University and is known, not only in the scientific arena, for his theory of multiple intelligences. In this interview, he delves into the construct related to the "disciplinary mind," emphasizing how it is not traceable to a form of intelligence, but rather consists of a resource of a "mental" nature. In this respect, the interview provided an opportunity to focus, precisely, on the difference between mind and intelligence, as well as to note translation problems that, instead, use the former term to refer to the latter .   Il prof. Howard Gardner non ha bisogno di presentazioni. E’ docente di Scienze cognitive e dell’educazione e di Psicologia all’Università di Harvard ed è conosciuto, non soltanto in ambito scientifico, per la sua teoria delle intelligenze multiple. In questa intervista, egli approfondisce il costrutto relativo alla “mente disciplinare”, sottolinando come essa non sia riconducibile ad una forma di intelligenza, ma consista piuttosto in una risorsa di natura “mentale”. Sotto tale profilo, l’intervista ha rappresentato l’occasione per focalizzare, appunto, la differenza che intercorre tra mente e intelligenza, nonchè per rilevare problemi di traduzione che, invece, usano il primo termine per indicare il  secondo[1]. [1] Ci si riferisce, in modo specifico, alla traduzione italiana del testo Five Minds for the Future, che traduce con la locuzione “intelligenza disciplinare” la risorsa che consiste, invece, nella “mente disciplinare