Building possibilities. Community planning as a critical spatial thinking : a conversation with Kenneth Reardon

Moving from grassroots mobilizations to institutionalization of practices to art as a device of engagemen, the conversation with Kenneth Reardon explores various aspects of advocacy planning, including participatory action research, community organizing, and University service learning

Come le lucciole. Sperimentazioni artistiche e fermenti culturali tra margini territoriali e disciplinari

La rincorsa al progresso, l'ossessione della crescita economica, l'enfatizzarsi del pensiero dicotomico, hanno portato a delle spaccature, delle 'discrepanze', sia dal punto di vista territoriale che disciplinare. Un processo di artificializzazione e desacralizzazione la cui deriva è rappresentata da una progressiva distruzione dello stesso habitat naturale, dalla rottura dei rapporti co-evolutivi tra uomo e ambiente e da una separazione esponenziale tra soggetto osservante e oggetto osservato, che ha portato a una epistemologia deterministica e tecnofila, con il progressivo abbandono e rifiuto dei linguaggi sensibili nel processo di analisi e produzione del territorio. Facendo ricorso alle teorie dell'urbanesimo planetario come processo che ha portato ad una mondializzazione dell’urbano e alla nascita di nuove forme ibride nelle quali è sempre più difficile riscontrare una differenza netta tra città e non-città, viene avanzata l'ipotesi che le polarizzazioni centro/periferia, urbano/non urbano possano essere ripensate attraverso il ricorso ai linguaggi sensibili e all'arte – nella sua dimensione relazionale e engagée – capace di rispondere alla rottura arrecata dalla modernità, che ha enfatizzato le dicotomie, attraverso una molteplicità di linguaggi necessari per “rigenerare lo sguardo” e ripensare in maniera altra i territori, agendo come dispositivo per la conoscenza, ri-appropriazione, re-invenzione dello spazio urbano e sociale, dando vita a inedite connessioni

Pratiche di rigenerazione urbana e cultura. Sguardi critici tra co-creazione, istituizionalizzazione e conflitto

Il tema della rigenerazione urbana culture-led ha guadagnato un’attenzione significativa, tanto nelle politiche quanto nelle pratiche, attraversando diverse declinazioni che si manifestano in investimenti su larga scala come nelle sempre più diffuse azioni alla micro-scala urbana che, spesso in assenza di una presenza istituzionale, agiscono come atti di territorializzazione. Attraverso uno sguardo critico, il contributo intende analizzare le pratiche di rigenerazione urbana culture-led mettendo in evidenza i processi di co-creazione, di istituzionalizzazione e i conflitti.The theme of culture-led urban regeneration has gained significant attention, as much in policy as in practice, crossing different declinations that manifest themselves in large-scale investments as in the increasingly widespread actions at the urban micro-scale that, often in the absence of an institutional presence, act as acts of territorialization. Through a critical look, the paper aims to analyze culture-led urban regeneration practices by highlighting processes of co-creation, institutionalization, and conflict

Reti complesse e analisi del segnale elettroencefalografico

The identification of subject-specific traits extracted from patterns of brain activity still represents an important challenge. The need to detect distinctive brain features, which is relevant for biometric and brain computer interface systems, has been also emphasized in monitoring the effect of clinical treatments and in evaluating the progression of brain disorders. Graph theory and network science tools have revealed fundamental mechanisms of functional brain organization in resting-state M/EEG analysis. Nevertheless, it is still not clearly understood how several methodological aspects may bias the topology of the reconstructed functional networks. In this context, the literature shows inconsistency in the chosen length of the selected epochs, impeding a meaningful comparison between results from different studies. In this study we propose an approach which aims to investigate the existence of a distinctive functional core (sub-network) using an unbiased reconstruction of network topology. Brain signals from a public and freely available EEG dataset were analyzed using a phase synchronization based measure, minimum spanning tree and k-core decomposition. The analysis was performed for each classical brain rhythm separately. Furthermore, we aim to provide a network approach insensitive to the effects that epoch length has on functional connectivity (FC) and network reconstruction. Two different measures, the phase lag index (PLI) and the Amplitude Envelope Correlation (AEC), were applied to EEG resting-state recordings for a group of eighteen healthy volunteers. Weighted clustering coefficient (CCw), weighted characteristic path length (Lw) and minimum spanning tree (MST) parameters were computed to evaluate the network topology. The analysis was performed on both scalp and source-space data. Results about distinctive functional core, show highest classification rates from k-core decomposition in gamma (EER=0.130, AUC=0.943) and high beta (EER=0.172, AUC=0.905) frequency bands. Results from scalp analysis concerning the influence of epoch length, show a decrease in both mean PLI and AEC values with an increase in epoch length, with a tendency to stabilize at a length of 12 seconds for PLI and 6 seconds for AEC. Moreover, CCw and Lw show very similar behaviour, with metrics based on AEC more reliable in terms of stability. In general, MST parameters stabilize at short epoch lengths, particularly for MSTs based on PLI (1-6 seconds versus 4-8 seconds for AEC). At the source-level the results were even more reliable, with stability already at 1 second duration for PLI-based MSTs. Our results confirm that EEG analysis may represent an effective tool to identify subject-specific characteristics that may be of great impact for several bioengineering applications. Regarding epoch length, the present work suggests that both PLI and AEC depend on epoch length and that this has an impact on the reconstructed network topology, particularly at the scalp-level. Source-level MST topology is less sensitive to differences in epoch length, therefore enabling the comparison of brain network topology between different studies

Recinti urbani. Roma e i luoghi dell’abitare

Un libro dedicato ai territori che inaugura la omonima collana e che attraverso i testi degli Autori parla di Roma, di periferie vecchie e nuove, di storie di vita, di abitare, di passato, di presente. Ma si tratta di un passato generativo, non nostalgico e contemplativo, e di un presente dinamico e complesso, che apre al futuro. È questo l’aspetto più interessante del volume Recinti urbani, che non si propone di dare formule risolutive ma piuttosto porre sul tappeto interrogativi, per ripensare criticamente il territorio attraverso la narrazione, il quotidiano, l’espressione personale

Pratiche di rigenerazione urbana e cultura. Sguardi critici tra co-creazione, istituzionalizzazione e conflitto

The monographic issue of the journal Tracce Urbane deals with the relationship between culture and spatial transformation, with a focus on the relationship between urban regeneration practices and institutions, investigating the processes of co-creation, institutionalization and conflict

Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical Tunas

Canned tuna is one of the most widely traded seafood products internationally and is of growing demand. There is an increasing concern over the vulnerability of canned tuna supply chains to species mislabelling and fraud. Extensive processing conditions in canning operations can lead to the degradation and fragmentation of DNA, complicating product traceability. We here employed a forensically validated DNA barcoding tool (cytochrome b partial sequences) to assess the effects of canning processes on DNA degradation and the identification of four tropical tuna species (yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack and longtail tuna) collected on a global scale, along their commercial chains. Each species was studied under five different canning processes i.e., freezing, defrosting, cooking, and canning in oil and brine, in order to investigate how these affect DNA-based species identification and traceability. The highest percentage of nucleotide substitutions were observed after brine-canning operations and were greatest for yellowfin and skipjack tuna. Overall, we found that DNA degradation significantly increased along the tuna canning process for most specimens. Consequently, most of the specimens canned in oil or brine were misidentified due to the high rate of nucleotide substitution in diagnostic sequences

Combined COI barcode-based methods to avoid mislabelling of threatened species of deep-sea skates

Skates are characterised by conservative body morphology which hampers identification and leads to frequent taxonomic confusion and market mislabelling. Accurate specimen classification is crucial for reliable stock assessments and effective conservation plans, otherwise the risk of extinction could be unnoticed. The misclassification issue is evident for the genus Dipturus, distributed worldwide, from the continental shelf and slope to the deep sea. In this study, barcode cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) sequences were used along with species delimitation and specimen assignment methods to improve taxonomy and zoogeography of species of conservation interest inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. In this study, we provided new evidence of the occurence of D. nidarosiensis in the Central-Western Mediterranean Sea and the lack of Atlantic-Mediterranean genetic divergence. The Atlantic endangered species D. laevis and D. batis clustered together under the same molecular operational taxonomic unit (MOTU) with any delimitation methods used, while the assignment approach correctly discriminated specimens into the two species. These results provided evidence that the presence of the barcode gap is not an essential predictor of identification success, but the use of different approaches is crucially needed for specimen classification, especially when threshold- or tree-based methods result less powerful. The analyses also showed how different putative, vulnerable, species dwelling across South-Western Atlantic and South-Eastern Pacific are frequently misidentified in public sequence repositories. Our study emphasised the limits associated to public databases, highlighting the urgency to verify and implement the information deposited therein in order to guarantee accurate species identification and thus effective conservation measures for deep-sea skates

To Be, or Not to Be: That Is the Hamletic Question of Cryptic Evolution in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Raja miraletus Species Complex

The ability to correctly identify specimens at the species level is crucial for assessing and conserving biodiversity. Despite this, species-specific data are lacking for many of South Africa’s catsharks due to a high level of morphological stasis. As comprehensive and curated DNA reference libraries are required for the reliable identification of specimens from morphologically similar species, this study reviewed and contributed to the availability of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and nicotinamide adenine dehydrogenase subunit 2 (NADH2) sequences for South Africa’s catsharks. A molecular taxonomic approach, implementing species delimitation and specimen assignment methods, was used to assess and highlight any taxonomic uncertainties and/or errors in public databases. The investigated species were summarised into 47 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), with some conflicting specimen assignments. Two Apristurus specimens sampled in this study remained unidentified, revealing the presence of previously undocumented genetic diversity. In contrast, haplotype sharing within Haploblepharus—attributed to nucleotide ambiguities—resulted in the delimitation of three congeners into a single MOTU. This study reveals that molecular taxonomy has the potential to flag undocumented species and/or misidentified specimens, and further highlights the need to implement integrated taxonomic assessments on catsharks that represent an irreplaceable component of biodiversity in the region