Citta', spazio e tempo: l’applicazione di un HGIS per la storia urbana

La città è frutto dell'opera dell'uomo. Attraverso processi di lunga durata l’uomo ha costruito la forma della città adattando lo spazio circostante e modificando l’ambiente. Indagando tali processi, la storia delle città può essere narrata attraverso la ricerca e lo studio delle fonti, le interpretazioni e le analisi delle stesse. I luoghi o gli eventi legati alla città sono caratterizzati dai due concetti di Spazio e Tempo. Ogni città è stata creata in un determinato spazio e in un determinato tempo; ogni evento si è svolto in momento preciso e in un luogo specifico. I personaggi della storia sono vissuti in un intervallo temporale, hanno contribuito a segnare quel momento con azioni che sono riconoscibili come tracce nella storia. Siano essi personaggi illustri, che uomini del fare. Questa ricerca è nata dall'idea di trovare altri e diversi modi di comunicare, grazie alle nuove tecnologie, le trasformazioni, le stratificazioni e i cambiamenti delle città legati agli eventi naturali, alle decisioni politiche e amministrative avvenute nel corso della storia delle città stesse. Quando si narra la storia della città si fa riferimento, anche se non espressamente, alle due tematiche di Spazio e Tempo perché, come detto, le azioni si svolgono in momenti e luoghi definititi o circoscrivibili. L'HGIS (Historical GIS) se applicato alla storia urbana consente di mettere in relazione Spazio e Tempo nella lettura delle trasformazioni della città e del territorio circostante.Peer Reviewe

The Venetian Ghetto : Semantic Modelling for an Integrated Analysis

In the digital era, historians are embracing information technology as a research tool. New technologies offer investigation and interpretation, synthesis and communication tools that are more effective than the more traditional study methods, as they guarantee a multidisciplinary approach and analyses integration. Among the available technologies the best suited for the study or urban phenomena are databases (DB), the Geographic Information System (GIS), the Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the multimedia tools (Video, APP) for the dissemination of results. The case study described here concerns the analysis of part of Venice that changed its appearance from 1516 onwards, with the creation of the Jewish Ghetto. This was an event that would have repercussions throughout Europe, changing the course of history. Our research confirms that the exclusive use of one of the systems mentioned above (DB, GIS, BIM) makes it possible to manage the complexity of the subject matter only partially. Consequently, it became necessary to analyse the possible interactions between such tools, so as to create a link between an alphanumeric DB and a geographical DB. The use of only GIS and BIM that provide for a 4D time management of objects turned out to be able to manage information and geometry in an effective and scalable way, providing a starting point for the mapping in depth of the historical analysis. Software products for digital modelling have changed in nature over time, going from simple viewing tools to simulation tools. The reconstruction of the time phases of the three Ghettos (Nuovo, Vecchio, and Nuovissimo) and their visualisation through digital narratives of the history of that specific area of the city, for instance through videos, is making it possible for an increasing number of scholars and the general public to access the results of the study

Transforming Cities, Negotiating Centrality: Markets and Civic Buildings in Comparative Perspective (XVth c. - XXth c.); An Introduction

This HSR forum on central urban places in history discusses the spatial interactions between political and commercial centres. The narrative of western modernity we challenge here explains the increasing distance between prestigious political monuments and daily markets with the breakthroughs in hygiene of the last two centuries in western urbanism. On the one hand, the example of Venice shows that the hygiene politics of the 19th century were not that new and that they could also be used for a kind of social segregation. On the other hand, the model of the occidental city as political community and municipal institution must be questioned. For instance, Ottoman towns had developed institutions that represented local groups and which were linked with the markets and their actors. Western influence and colonisation destroyed those institutions, which also had consequences for the city centre. We propose the concept of vertical and horizontal centrality for use in discussions of the multiple dimensions of centrality

Un piano per Venezia (1886-1895). Conflitti e contraddizioni intorno al risanamento della citt\ue0

The urban redevelopment plan for Venice started after the passing of the special law for Naples (n. 2892, 1885, 15th January): in December 1886 the town council approved the resolution outlining forty projects for the city. After many difficulties, a few years later the Plan became public knowledge and a chorus of protest and concern for the \u201cartistic integrity\u201d of the city and the possibility of altering the character of the city irretrievably ensued. The Minister of Education intervened in November 1890 by creating, a mixed Commission composed of ten members \u2013 five appointed by the same Minister, two from the Ministry of Public Works, the others by the Municipality, \u2013 to examine the projects \u201cin the field\u201d, assess their feasibility and propose any changes to the plan. Thus Boito, D\u2019Andrade and Berchet found themselves working in the mixed Commission. The Commission\u2019s choices made the historical-artistic importance and the character of the city prevail over hygienic reasons. Straights, guttings and demolitions were examined by the Commission, which \u2013 from time to time \u2013 redesigned the proposed interventions because often, while ostensibly proposed for hygienic reasons, they were not conducive to a healthier historic centre for Venice. The Plan, implemented only in 1895, would start the urban redevelopment operations of the city with precise, targeted interventions, though without an overall plan for the city, adapting the project, rather than the urban tissue, as necessary

Dopant-induced 2D-3D transition in small Au-containing clusters: DFT-global optimisation of 8-atom Au-Ag nanoalloys

A genetic algorithm (GA) coupled with density functional theory (DFT) calculations is used to perform global optimisations for all compositions of 8-atom Au–Ag bimetallic clusters. The performance of this novel GA-DFT approach for bimetallic nanoparticles is tested for structures reported in the literature. New global minimum structures for various compositions are predicted and the 2D–3D transition is located. Results are explained with the aid of an analysis of the electronic density of states. The chemical ordering of the predicted lowest energy isomers are explained via a detailed analysis of the charge separation and mixing energies of the bimetallic clusters. Finally, dielectric properties are computed and the composition and dimensionality dependence of the electronic polarizability and dipole moment is discussed, enabling predictions to be made for future electric beam deflection experiments

H-Bonding and Stacking Interactions Between Chloroquine and Temozolomide

The interactions between temozolomide and chloroquine were examined via Dispersion-Corrected Density Functional Theory and MP2 methods. Chloroquine was considered in both its lowest energy structure and in a local minimum where its aromatic system and secondary amine group are free to interact directly with temozolomide. The accessibility of these two components to intermolecular interaction makes the lowest energy dimer of this local monomer minimum competitive in total energy with that involving chloroquine’s most stable monomer geometry. In either case, the most stable heterodimer places the aromatic ring systems of the two molecules parallel and directly above one another in a stacked geometry. Most of the local minima are also characterized by a stacked geometry as well. Comparison between B3LYP and B3LYP-D binding energies confirms dispersion is a primary factor in stabilizing these structures

The Dalton quantum chemistry program system

Dalton is a powerful general\u2010purpose program system for the study of molecular electronic structure at the Hartree\u2013Fock, Kohn\u2013Sham, multiconfigurational self\u2010consistent\u2010field, M\uf8ller\u2013Plesset, configuration\u2010interaction, and coupled\u2010cluster levels of theory. Apart from the total energy, a wide variety of molecular properties may be calculated using these electronic\u2010structure models. Molecular gradients and Hessians are available for geometry optimizations, molecular dynamics, and vibrational studies, whereas magnetic resonance and optical activity can be studied in a gauge\u2010origin\u2010invariant manner. Frequency\u2010dependent molecular properties can be calculated using linear, quadratic, and cubic response theory. A large number of singlet and triplet perturbation operators are available for the study of one\u2010, two\u2010, and three\u2010photon processes. Environmental effects may be included using various dielectric\u2010medium and quantum\u2010mechanics/molecular\u2010mechanics models. Large molecules may be studied using linear\u2010scaling and massively parallel algorithms. Dalton is distributed at no cost from http://www.daltonprogram.org for a number of UNIX platform

Density functional theory based screening of ternary alkali-transition metal borohydrides: A computational material design project

The dissociation of molecules, even the most simple hydrogen molecule, cannot be described accurately within density functional theory because none of the currently available functionals accounts for strong on-site correlation. This problem led to a discussion of properties that the local Kohn-Sham potential has to satisfy in order to correctly describe strongly correlated systems. We derive an analytic expression for the nontrivial form of the Kohn-Sham potential in between the two fragments for the dissociation of a single bond. We show that the numerical calculations for a one-dimensional two-electron model system indeed approach and reach this limit. It is shown that the functional form of the potential is universal, i.e., independent of the details of the two fragments.We acknowledge funding by the Spanish MEC (Grant No. FIS2007-65702-C02-01), “Grupos Consolidados UPV/EHU del Gobierno Vasco” (Grant No. IT-319-07), and the European Community through e-I3 ETSF project (Grant Agreement No. 211956).Peer reviewe