Assessing the Structure of Protic Ionic Liquids Based on Triethylammonium and Organic Acid Anions

We present a computational analysis of the short-range structure of three protic ionic liquids based on strong organic acids: trifluoracetate, methanesulfonate, and triflate of triethylammonium. Accurate ab initio computations carried out on the gas-phase dimers show that the protonation of triethylamine is spontaneous. We have identified the anion-cation binding motif that is due to the presence of a strong hydrogen bond and to electrostatic interactions. The strength of the hydrogen bond and the magnitude of the binding energy decrease in the order trifluoroacetate ≳ methanesulfonate > triflate. The corresponding simulations of the bulk phases, obtained using a semiempirical evaluation of the interatomic forces, reveal that on short timescales, the state of the three liquids remains highly ionized and that the gas-phase cation-/anion-binding motif is preserved while no other peculiar structural features seem to emerge

Etnicità allargate. Nuove prospettive sulle subalternità etniche e sociali nell’opera di John Fante

Questa nota è un commento al libro di Elisa Bordin Un’etnicità complessa. Negoziazioni identitarie nelle opere di John Fante. Napoli: La scuola di Pitagora editrice, 2019, pp. 233

Etnicità allargate. Nuove prospettive sulle subalternità etniche e sociali nell’opera di John Fante

This note is a commentary on Elisa Bordin’s Un’etnicità complessa. Negoziazioni identitarie nelle opere di John Fante. Napoli: La scuola di Pitagora editrice, 2019, pp. 233.Esta nota es un comentario al libro de Elisa Bordin Un’etnicità complessa. Negoziazioni identitarie nelle opere di John Fante. Napoli: La scuola di Pitagora editrice, 2019, pp. 233.Questa nota è un commento al libro di Elisa Bordin Un’etnicità complessa. Negoziazioni identitarie nelle opere di John Fante. Napoli: La scuola di Pitagora editrice, 2019, pp. 233

John Fante e la poetica del fallimento. Conflitti etnici e generazionali nella Los Angeles suburbana di <em>My Dog Stupid</em>

Il saggio tenta di offrire diverse prospettive di analisi del romanzo meno considerato dello scrittore italiano americano John Fante, My Dog Stupid (1986). Questo romanzo autobiografico è l’unico della produzione di Fante a essere ambientato nello stesso periodo in cui è stato scritto, la Los Angeles degli anni Sessanta. Dopo una breve ricognizione del processo creativo e editoriale del romanzo, che è stato pubblicato postumo, viene offerta un’analisi intertestuale con altri romanzi di Fante in cui si manifestano tratti etnici nelle relazioni padre-figlio. Di seguito, il saggio fornisce una panoramica del contesto sociale e culturale degli anni Sessanta nei sobborghi di Los Angeles, con riferimento ai Watts Riots e alla nascente scena rock di Los Angeles, e di come questo contesto sia riflesso nel romanzo. Infine, verrà tentata una sintesi fra due interpretazioni critiche del romanzo, quella di Richard Collins, basata su una lettura etnica-nostagica, e quella di Emanuele Pettener, basata invece sull’umorismo. Viene quindi riscontrato quanto l’umorismo, della satira e l’ironia siano tratti fondamentali nell’opera di Fante. Parole chiave: studi italo-americani; John Fante; anni ’60 nordamericani; periferia di Los Angeles; critica letterari

Alessandro Raveggi, Il Romanzo di Babele. La svolta multilingue in letteratura

Review of Alessandro Raveggi's&nbsp;Il Romanzo di Babele. La svolta multilingue in letteratura.Recensione del libro di Alessandro Raveggi&nbsp;Il Romanzo di Babele. La svolta multilingue in letteratura

Logic Programming as a Service (LPaaS): Intelligence for the IoT

The widespread diffusion of low-cost computing devices, such as Arduino boards and Raspberry Pi, along with improvements of Cloud computing platforms, are paving the way towards a whole new set of opportunities for Internet of Things (IoT) applications and services. Varying degrees of intelligence are often required for supporting adaptation and self-management—yet, they should be provided in a light-weight, easy to use and customise, highly-interoperable way. Accordingly, in this paper we explore the idea of Logic Programming as a Service (LPaaS) as a novel and promising re-interpretation of distributed logic programming in the IoT era. After introducing the reference context and motivating scenarios of LPaaS as a key enabling technology for intelligent IoT, we define the LPaaS general system architecture. Then, we present a prototype implementation built on top of the tuProlog system, which provides the required interoperability and customisation. We showcase the LPaaS potential through a case study designed as a simplification of the motivating scenarios

Peri-procedural brain lesions prevention in CAS (3PCAS). Randomized trial comparing CGuard™ stent vs. wallstent

Background: Aim of this study was to evaluate peri-procedural incidence of new diffusion-weighted-magneticresonance- imaging (DWMRI) brain lesions in CAS patients treated by carotid mesh stent (CGuard™) or closed-cell stent (Wallstent™). Methods: Consecutive patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis ≥ 70% were submitted to preoperative DWMRI scan, to exclude the presence of preoperative silent cerebral lesions. Patients were randomized to CGuard orWallstent. DWMRI was performed immediately after the intervention and at 72-hour postoperatively. Moreover, pre and postoperative Mini-Mental-State-Examination Test (MMSE) and aMontreal-Cognitive-Assessment (MoCA) test were conducted, and S100β and NSE neurobiomarkers were measured at 5-time points (preoperatively, 2, 12, 24, and 48 h postoperatively). Results: From January 2015 to October 2016, sixty-one consecutive eligible patients were submitted to preoperative DWMRI scan. Three patients were excluded because of preoperative silent cerebral lesions. In 29 CGuard patients, 1 developed a minor stroke and 8 silent newlesionswere observed in the 72 h-DWMRI (31%): 4 lesions were ipsilateral, and 4 lesions were contra or bilateral. In 29 Wallstent patients, 7 clinically-silent new lesions were found in the 72 h-DWMRI (24.1%; p = 0.38). In 4 cases lesions were ipsilateral and in 3 cases contra or bilateral. S100B values doubled at 48 h in 24 patients, and among them 12 presented new DWMRI lesions. 48-h S100B increase was significantly related to 72-h DWMRI lesions (p= 0.012). Conclusions: In our experience both stents showed an acceptable rate of subclinical neurological events with no significant differences at 72-hour DWMRI between groups. Bilateral/contralateral lesions suggest that periprocedural neurological damage may have extra-carotid sources

Negative Experiences as Learning Trigger: A Play Experience Empirical Research on a Game for Social Change Case Study

This study shows the results gathered from 141 subjects playing the persuasive urban game A Hostile World via a post-game-experience quantitative questionnaire. The aim is to problematize and deepen the role of negative emotions (e.g., frustration, rage) - explicitly fostered by A Hostile World to increase empathy toward immigrants and foreigners - in triggering an effective learning outcome. A multidisciplinary approach that draws its principles from Sociology, Game Design and Education Studies was applied to lead and structure the analysis. Empirically, a quantitative survey was disseminated to n:141 players addressing negativity and play. Results show that negative experiences in ludic environments offer a precious support if well pondered. Findings are noteworthy because they allow to reflect on negativity and gaming with the support of an empirical investigation, which is a significant source of data for grounded and tangible follow-ups. Therefore, implications concern both scholars and practitioners who intend to use and explore negative emotions in gaming

Logic Programming in Space-Time: The Case of Situatedness in LPaaS

Situatedness is a fundamental requirement for today\u2019s complex software systems, as well as for the computational models and programming languages used to build them. Spatial and temporal situatedness, in particular, are essential features for AI, enabling actors of the system to take autonomous decisions contextual to the space-time they live in. To support spatio-temporal awareness in distributed pervasive systems, we adopt the standpoint of Logic Programming (LP) by focussing on the Logic Programming as a Service (LPaaS) approach, promoting the distribution of situated intelligence. Accordingly, we provide an interpretation about what it means to make LP span across space and time, then we extend the LPaaS model and architecture towards spatio-temporal situatedness, by identifying a set of suitably-expressive spatio-temporal primitives