Savoir Faire and Innovation: Place-Based Design Heritage in undergraduate education

The concept of craftsmanship (it. Saper fare, fr. Savoir faire) means "knowing how to do things," including the arts and skills of doing, knowledge of the materials and craft processes. When this knowledge meets innovation - without to delete it - then we speak about advanced craftsmanship. Surviving of production systems in some European areas derive from this synergy between historical artisan knowledge based in specific places and advanced manufacturing processes. High-end industrialized processes are ofetn based on craftsmanship. Prototyping and hand made finishing are crucial in advanced machines setting and production planning to get the final artefact quality. Craftamanship in contemporary product manufacturing is not easly understandable for the students. In particular, Design process informed by artisan know–how, including genius loci and cultural heritage is a very difficult study; the appearance of the modern production instruments are often covering the craftman human value. An immersive experience of students in craft-based industrial process can highlight this historical heritage. University of Florence, DIDA department, structured joint labs between Product Design Course and advanded craftsmanship manufacturers in Tuscany production districs. A team of students - in 6 months cycles – is included in the company technical departments, making the scholars aware of connections between historical artisanal proctices and innovation processes

The impact of educational technologies in higher education

The formation of human capital is key to countries’ social, cultural, and economic development. The current literature review pays considerable attention to the ever-increasing proliferation of technology in the careers of college and school graduates. While the presence of educational technology in higher education offers multiple benefits, its implementation also presents challenges. In that sense, the literature has considered multiple tools for improving learning processes. However, the results of such tools vary and are difficult to measure in terms of quality. In this literature review, we analyze the issues surrounding educational technology in higher education.La formación de capital humano es clave para el desarrollo social, cultural y económico de los países. Esta revisión de literatura presta una atención considerable a la introducción cada vez mayor de la tecnología en las carreras universitarias y en las escuelas de posgrados. Si bien la presencia de tecnología educativa en la educación superior ofrece múltiples beneficios, su implementación también presenta desafíos. En ese sentido, la literatura ha considerado múltiples herramientas para mejorar los procesos de aprendizaje. Ahora bien, los resultados de estas herramientas varían y son difíciles de medir en términos de calidad. En esta revisión de la literatura, analizamos los problemas que rodean la tecnología educativa en la educación superiorA formação de capital humano é fundamental para o desenvolvimento social, cultural e econômico dos países. Esta revisão de literatura presta uma atenção considerável à introdução cada vez maior da tecnologia nas carreiras universitárias e nas escolas de pós-graduações. Embora a presença de tecnologia educativa na educação superior ofereça múltiplos benefícios, sua implementação também apresenta desafios. Nesse sentido, a literatura tem considerado múltiplas ferramentas para melhorar os processos de aprendizagem. Agora bem, os resultados destas ferramentas variam e são difíceis de medir em termos de qualidade. Nesta revisão da literatura, analisamos os problemas que rodeiam a tecnologia educativa na educação superio

Molecular characterization of Prototheca strains isolated from Italian dairy herds.

One hundred sixty-one Prototheca spp. strains isolated from composite milk and barn-surrounding environmental samples (bedding, feces, drinking, or washing water, surface swabs) of 24 Italian dairy herds were characterized by genotype-specific PCR analysis. Overall, 97.2% of strains isolated from composite milk samples were characterized as Prototheca zopfii genotype 2, confirming its role as the main mastitis pathogen, whereas Prototheca blaschkeae was only sporadically isolated (2.8%). Regarding environmental sampling, 84.9% of isolates belonged to P. zopfii genotype 2, 13.2% to P. blaschkeae, and 1.9% to P. zopfii genotype 1. The data herein contradict previous hypotheses about the supposed exclusive role of P. zopfii genotype 2 as the causative agent of protothecal mastitis and, on the contrary, confirm the hypothesis that such pathology could be caused by P. blaschkeae in a few instances

Butterflies as bioindicators of metal contamination

Anthropogenic trace metal contamination has significantly increased and has caused many hazardous consequences for the ecosystems and human health. The Terni basin valley (Central Italy) shows a heavy load of pollutants from industrial activities, while the characteristic orography structure of the valley favours air stagnation, thus limiting air pollution dispersal. The present study conducted in 2014 aimed to determine the concentration of ten metals in five species of butterflies at nine sites in the Terni valley along a 21-km-long transect, including both relatively pristine and industrial areas. At sites where soil contamination was high for a given metal, such as for chromium as in the case of site 4 (the closest to the steel plant) and for lead as in the case of site 2 (contaminated by a firing range), higher levels of contamination were observed in the tissues of butterflies. We found a correlation between soil contamination and the concentration of Cr, Al and Sr in the tissues of some species of butterflies. The sensitivity to contamination differed among the five species; in particular, Coenonympha pamphilus was generally the species that revealed the highest concentrations of all the ten trace metals at the sites closer to the industrial area. It is known that C. pamphilus is a sedentary species and that its host plants are the Poaceae, capable of accumulating high quantities of metals in their rhizosphere region, thus providing the link with soil contamination. Therefore, monitoring the metal concentration levels in butterflies might be a good indicator and a control tool of environmental quality, specifically in areas affected by high anthropogenic pollution loads linked to a specific source

Solar neutrino detection in a large volume double-phase liquid argon experiment

Precision measurements of solar neutrinos emitted by specific nuclear reaction chains in the Sun are of great interest for developing an improved understanding of star formation and evolution. Given the expected neutrino fluxes and known detection reactions, such measurements require detectors capable of collecting neutrino-electron scattering data in exposures on the order of 1 ktonne yr, with good energy resolution and extremely low background. Two-phase liquid argon time projection chambers (LAr TPCs) are under development for direct Dark Matter WIMP searches, which possess very large sensitive mass, high scintillation light yield, good energy resolution, and good spatial resolution in all three cartesian directions. While enabling Dark Matter searches with sensitivity extending to the "neutrino floor" (given by the rate of nuclear recoil events from solar neutrino coherent scattering), such detectors could also enable precision measurements of solar neutrino fluxes using the neutrino-electron elastic scattering events. Modeling results are presented for the cosmogenic and radiogenic backgrounds affecting solar neutrino detection in a 300 tonne (100 tonne fiducial) LAr TPC operating at LNGS depth (3,800 meters of water equivalent). The results show that such a detector could measure the CNO neutrino rate with ~15% precision, and significantly improve the precision of the 7Be and pep neutrino rates compared to the currently available results from the Borexino organic liquid scintillator detector.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, 6 table

A Study of the Residual 39Ar Content in Argon from Underground Sources

The discovery of argon from underground sources with significantly less 39Ar than atmospheric argon was an important step in the development of direct-detection dark matter experiments using argon as the active target. We report on the design and operation of a low background detector with a single phase liquid argon target that was built to study the 39Ar content of the underground argon. Underground argon from the Kinder Morgan CO2 plant in Cortez, Colorado was determined to have less than 0.65% of the 39Ar activity in atmospheric argon.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figure

Clinical outcomes in the second versus first pandemic wave in italy: Impact of hospital changes and reorganization

The region of Lombardy was the epicenter of the COVID‐19 outbreak in Italy. Emergency Hospital 19 (EH19) was built in the Milan metropolitan area during the pandemic’s second wave as a facility of Humanitas Clinical and Research Center (HCRC). The present study aimed to assess whether the implementation of EH19 was effective in improving the quality of care of COVID‐19 patients during the second wave compared with the first one. The demographics, mortality rate, and in‐hospital length of stay (LOS) of two groups of patients were compared: the study group involved patients admitted at HCRC and managed in EH19 during the second pandemic wave, while the control group included patients managed exclusively at HCRC throughout the first wave. The study and control group included 903 (56.7%) and 690 (43.3%) patients, respectively. The study group was six years older on average and had more pre‐existing comorbidities. EH19 was associated with a decrease in the intensive care unit admission rate (16.9% vs. 8.75%, p < 0.001), and an equal decrease in invasive oxygen therapy (3.8% vs. 0.23%, p < 0.001). Crude mortality was similar but overlap propensity score weighting revealed a trend toward a potential small decrease. The adjusted difference in LOS was not significant. The implementation of an additional COVID‐ 19 hospital facility was effective in improving the overall quality of care of COVID‐19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic when compared with the second. Further studies are necessary to validate the suggested approach

Recent Borexino results and prospects for the near future

The Borexino experiment, located in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory, is an organic liquid scintillator detector conceived for the real time spectroscopy of low energy solar neutrinos. The data taking campaign phase I (2007 - 2010) has allowed the first independent measurements of 7Be, 8B and pep fluxes as well as the first measurement of anti-neutrinos from the earth. After a purification of the scintillator, Borexino is now in phase II since 2011. We review here the recent results achieved during 2013, concerning the seasonal modulation in the 7Be signal, the study of cosmogenic backgrounds and the updated measurement of geo-neutrinos. We also review the upcoming measurements from phase II data (pp, pep, CNO) and the project SOX devoted to the study of sterile neutrinos via the use of a 51Cr neutrino source and a 144Ce-144Pr antineutrino source placed in close proximity of the active material.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures. To be published as proceedings of Rencontres de Moriond EW 201

Solar neutrino with Borexino: results and perspectives

Borexino is a unique detector able to perform measurement of solar neutrinos fluxes in the energy region around 1 MeV or below due to its low level of radioactive background. It was constructed at the LNGS underground laboratory with a goal of solar $^{7}$Be neutrino flux measurement with 5\% precision. The goal has been successfully achieved marking the end of the first stage of the experiment. A number of other important measurements of solar neutrino fluxes have been performed during the first stage. Recently the collaboration conducted successful liquid scintillator repurification campaign aiming to reduce main contaminants in the sub-MeV energy range. With the new levels of radiopurity Borexino can improve existing and challenge a number of new measurements including: improvement of the results on the Solar and terrestrial neutrino fluxes measurements; measurement of pp and CNO solar neutrino fluxes; search for non-standard interactions of neutrino; study of the neutrino oscillations on the short baseline with an artificial neutrino source (search for sterile neutrino) in context of SOX project.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Search for electron antineutrino interactions with the Borexino Counting Test Facility at Gran Sasso

Electron antineutrino interactions above the inverse beta decay energy of protons (E_\bar{\nu}_e>1.8) where looked for with the Borexino Counting Test Facility (CTF). One candidate event survived after rejection of background, which included muon-induced neutrons and random coincidences. An upper limit on the solar $\bar{\nu}_{e}$ flux, assumed having the $^8$B solar neutrino energy spectrum, of 1.1$\times10^{5}$ cm$^{-2}$~s$^{-1}$ (90% C.L.) was set with a 7.8 ton $\times$ year exposure. This upper limit corresponds to a solar neutrino transition probability, $\nu_{e} \to \bar{\nu}_{e}$, of 0.02 (90% C.L.). Predictions for antineutrino detection with Borexino, including geoneutrinos, are discussed on the basis of background measurements performed with the CTF.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 5 table