Provenance in the archives.The challenge of the digital environment

The Principle of Provenance is a pillar of Archival Science. In its very early stages it mostly meant not to intermingle documents from different origins. This view has been challenged in the past fifty years: archival provenance has moved from a simplistic one-to-one relationship to a multi-dimensional concept based on a network of relationships between objects, agents and functions. The digital environment has posed new and unpredictable challenges: digital objects are often aggregations of several different pieces, and it is extremely easy to mix and re-use them, which makes it difficult to trace their provenance. Cloud computing has complicated the picture further. However, new technologies help us to cope with such complexity. Resource Description Framework (RDF) and ontologies can be used to represent provenance in a granular and articulated way that was not even conceivable in the past, giving us the opportunity to review and refine established practices and concepts

If a lion could talk, we would not understand him. The communication of cultural heritage in the digital environment

This essay discusses the communication of cultural heritage in the digital environment adopting a broad perspective and highlighting the need to understand the deep meaning of the shift from the traditional to the digital environment. Adapting to the digital environment requires more than selecting a format, a procedure or a piece of software: it is a complex process that involves many different elements and changes our cognitive structures. Therefore, this essay explores the psychological, ethical, political and social dimension of communication before focusing on the technical aspects, on the basis of a fundamental assumption: communication of cultural heritage in the digital environment fails if it avoids asking philosophical questions. We need to deal with standards, formats and technologies, but first of all we need models and theories – rather, a multidimensional vision – if we want to succeed in communicating the cultural heritage.Il saggio indaga il tema della comunicazione del patrimonio culturale in ambiente digitale secondo una prospettiva di ampio respiro, evidenziando la necessità di comprendere il significato profondo dello spostamento dall’ambiente tradizionale a quello digitale. Infatti, l’adattamento al digitale non consiste soltanto nella scelta di un formato, di una procedura o di un software: è un processo complesso che coinvolge molti elementi e che muta perfino le nostre strutture cognitive. Per questo motivo, il saggio propone una lettura della dimensione psicologica, etica, politica e sociale – prima ancora che tecnica o di dominio – del tema della comunicazione, sulla base di un assunto fondamentale: la comunicazione del patrimonio culturale in ambiente digitale fallisce il suo obiettivo se evita di porsi domande di natura latamente filosofica. È necessario confrontarsi con standard, formati e tecnologie, ma prima di tutto c’è bisogno di modelli e di teorie – meglio ancora, di una visione multidimensionale – per affrontare con successo la comunicazione del patrimonio culturale

Unneutrality in archival standards and processes

Standardization is a very complex process in which many different factors need to be mediated and harmonized in order to create tools based on the consensus of the parties involved: standards are the result of a negotiation process where different perspectives and approaches compete, in a domain populated by different stakeholders. As such, they may well be qualified as social constructions. However, the widespread technocratic attitude tends to hide their very human nature, overstressing the technical aspects and presenting them as neutral instruments to get to some objectives. Archival standards are based on consensus, but the level and quality of such consensus is rarely investigated: as a matter of fact, the creation of international archival standards has been committed to groups of people representing a well-identifiable geographical and cultural portion of the whole world; nonetheless, they are assumed to serve archival communities all over the world. Moreover, standardization may be seen as a process of codification of professional knowledge. As such, it is a biased and historically determined process. The language, the interpretation of objects and actions, the nature of professional functions, the definitions of terms and concepts: all standards rely on these ever-changing factors. Last but not least, digital memory relies on the use of technical standards in order to be managed, accessed and preserved; therefore, it is fundamental to investigate the nature of technical standards along with their biases, in order to understand how they affect digital memory and its representation, since memory is malleable, continuously reinterpreted and represented on the basis of the cultural milieu and available tools. We cannot escape unneutrality but we can raise awareness of the discretional factors affecting digital memory if we really want to serve our role of professional mediators between objects and users

Preservation of Linked Open Data

The paper explores the strategies and methods for preserving Linked Open Data (LOD). To this aim it first presents an overview of the main scientific initiatives that have dealt with this topic. Then it describes some digital technologies that may result useful for preserving LOD, providing some insights on their application to LOD. It also provides a concrete example of implementation of the Semantic Web technologies for preserving Linked Data. Finally, it suggests some specific themes and directions that should be further investigated in order to elaborate a comprehensive solution to this problem: the preservation of Linked Open Data cannot be demanded to a single tool or method, it is rather the result of technical, organizational and procedural choices that altogether make up a consistent framework for LOD preservation.Il saggio esplora le strategie e i metodi per la conservazione dei Linked Open Data (LOD). A tale fine gli autori presentano in maniera sommaria le principali iniziative di ricerca scientifica che si sono confrontate con questo tema. Sono poi descritte diverse tecnologie digitali che possono risultare utili per la conservazione dei Linked Data, proponendo alcune considerazioni relative alla loro possibile applicazione ai LOD. Il saggio presenta anche un esempio concreto di implementazione delle tecnologie del Web Semantico per la conservazione dei Linked Open Data. In chiusura, si suggeriscono dei temi e delle direzioni di ricerca che dovrebbero essere indagati più a fondo al fine di elaborare una soluzione organica: la conservazione dei LOD non può essere demandata ad un singolo strumento o metodo; è piuttosto il risultato di scelte tecniche, organizzative e procedurali che complessivamente compongono un quadro coerente per la conservazione dei Linked Open Data

UNI 11535:2014 and UNI 11536:2014 standards: professional profiles of librarian and archivist

The paper presents the two national standards on the professional profiles of librarian and archivist published in July 2014 by UNI (Ente Italiano di Normazione) under the responsibility of the UNI – Documentation and information technical committee.- Paola Manoni presents the structure and schedule of the UNI – Documentation and information technical committee, along with its main initiatives.- Giovanna Merola outlines how – since 2000 – UNI has carried out a series of standards on non-regulated professions. UNI’s purpose is to define – on the basis of the European directives and of the European Qualification Framework – the general structure of the standards in order to ensure transparency and consistency. The technical committee UNI – Documentation and information, with its Working Group 7 – Evaluation of professions related to the management of data and documents, has so far produced two standards on the professional profiles of librarian and archivist.- Flavia Cancedda describes the UNI 11535:2014 standard, defining the activity of librarian in compliance with the provisions of the law 4/2013 on not organized professions. Both the law and the UNI standard give a new and substantial chance to librarians, providing them with the opportunity to adequately enhance their know-how and to gather the different professional associations under a unique professional standard, now legally recognized. The paper outlines the Italian and European rules, as well as the context in which the UNI standard was developed, and illustrates its benefits and future applications in the labor market. Finally, a few significant steps of the standard are analyzed more in detail.- Giovanni Michetti shows how the EQF model has been applied to develop the UNI 11536:2014 standard, aimed at identifying the essential competences, skills and knowledge of the archivist’s profession. He provides an overview of the standard UNI 11536:2014, that may serve different needs – from updating and re-designing professional training and curricula, to raising awareness about the archivist’s role in the information and documentation processes.Scopo dell’articolo è la presentazione delle due nuove norme tecniche nazionali dedicate alla definizione delle figure professionali di bibliotecario e archivista, pubblicate nel luglio 2014 dall’UNI (Ente Italiano di Normazione) sotto la responsabilità della Commissione UNI Documentazione e informazione.L’articolo è organizzato in diverse sezioni:- Paola Manoni presenta l’articolazione, gli obiettivi della Commissione UNI Documentazione e informazione e le sue più importanti iniziative.- Giovanna Merola illustra come, a partire dagli anni 2000, l'UNI porti avanti una serie di norme riguardanti le professioni non regolamentate, definendo le caratteristiche e l’impostazione di tali norme sulla base di direttive europee e dell’European Qualification Framework, in modo da garantirne trasparenza e omogeneità. La Commissione Documentazione e informazione, con il Gruppo di lavoro 7 sulla qualificazione delle professioni per il trattamento di dati e documenti, ha finora prodotto due norme riguardanti le professioni di bibliotecario e di archivista.- Flavia Cancedda presenta la norma UNI 11535:2014 sulla figura professionale del bibliotecario. Si tratta della prima norma italiana che – in adempimento a quanto previsto dalla legge 4/2013 sulle professioni non organizzate – definisce nello specifico le caratteristiche dell’attività bibliotecaria. Sia la legge 4/2013 che lo standard UNI costituiscono un’opportunità del tutto nuova per i professionisti del settore, che hanno ora la possibilità di valorizzare adeguatamente il proprio know-how e di compattare le organizzazioni di categoria attorno a un ruolo professionale definito e riconoscibile. Il contributo accenna al contesto normativo nazionale ed europeo, nonché al contesto UNI in cui la norma è stata predisposta dall’apposito gruppo di lavoro; indica le opportunità derivanti dall’esistenza di questo standard e le sue eventuali applicazioni sul mercato del lavoro; infine analizza alcuni passaggi particolarmente rilevanti della norma.- Giovanni Michetti mostra come il modello EQF (European qualification framework) sia stato applicato alla professione dell'archivista per la norma UNI 11536:2014, mirata a individuare le caratteristiche di rilievo del profilo professionale archivistico. Per la prima volta una norma tecnica definisce in maniera formale competenze, abilità e conoscenze necessarie per svolgere la professione di archivista, e come tale può essere utilizzata per diverse finalità: dall’aggiornamento e dalla riprogettazione di percorsi formativi e professionali alla sensibilizzazione sul ruolo degli archivisti nei processi informativi e documentali

Diagnostic Accuracy of S100B Urinary Testing at Birth in Full-Term Asphyxiated Newborns to Predict Neonatal Death

BACKGROUND: Neonatal death in full-term infants who suffer from perinatal asphyxia (PA) is a major subject of investigation, since few tools exist to predict patients at risk of ominous outcome. We studied the possibility that urine S100B measurement may identify which PA-affected infants are at risk of early postnatal death. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In a cross-sectional study between January 1, 2001 and December 1, 2006 we measured S100B protein in urine collected from term infants (n = 132), 60 of whom suffered PA. According to their outcome at 7 days, infants with PA were subsequently classified either as asphyxiated infants complicated by hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy with no ominous outcome (HIE Group; n = 48), or as newborns who died within the first post-natal week (Ominous Outcome Group; n = 12). Routine laboratory variables, cerebral ultrasound, neurological patterns and urine concentrations of S100B protein were determined at first urination and after 24, 48 and 96 hours. The severity of illness in the first 24 hours after birth was measured using the Score for Neonatal Acute Physiology-Perinatal Extension (SNAP-PE). Urine S100B levels were higher from the first urination in the ominous outcome group than in healthy or HIE Groups (p<0.001 for all), and progressively increased. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant correlation between S100B concentrations and the occurrence of neonatal death. At a cut-off >1.0 microg/L S100B had a sensitivity/specificity of 100% for predicting neonatal death. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Increased S100B protein urine levels in term newborns suffering PA seem to suggest a higher risk of neonatal death for these infants

Acoustic analysis in stuttering: a machine-learning study

BackgroundStuttering is a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorder affecting speech fluency. The diagnosis and clinical management of stuttering is currently based on perceptual examination and clinical scales. Standardized techniques for acoustic analysis have prompted promising results for the objective assessment of dysfluency in people with stuttering (PWS).ObjectiveWe assessed objectively and automatically voice in stuttering, through artificial intelligence (i.e., the support vector machine – SVM classifier). We also investigated the age-related changes affecting voice in stutterers, and verified the relevance of specific speech tasks for the objective and automatic assessment of stuttering.MethodsFifty-three PWS (20 children, 33 younger adults) and 71 age−/gender-matched controls (31 children, 40 younger adults) were recruited. Clinical data were assessed through clinical scales. The voluntary and sustained emission of a vowel and two sentences were recorded through smartphones. Audio samples were analyzed using a dedicated machine-learning algorithm, the SVM to compare PWS and controls, both children and younger adults. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated for a description of the accuracy, for all comparisons. The likelihood ratio (LR), was calculated for each PWS during all speech tasks, for clinical-instrumental correlations, by using an artificial neural network (ANN).ResultsAcoustic analysis based on machine-learning algorithm objectively and automatically discriminated between the overall cohort of PWS and controls with high accuracy (88%). Also, physiologic ageing crucially influenced stuttering as demonstrated by the high accuracy (92%) of machine-learning analysis when classifying children and younger adults PWS. The diagnostic accuracies achieved by machine-learning analysis were comparable for each speech task. The significant clinical-instrumental correlations between LRs and clinical scales supported the biological plausibility of our findings.ConclusionAcoustic analysis based on artificial intelligence (SVM) represents a reliable tool for the objective and automatic recognition of stuttering and its relationship with physiologic ageing. The accuracy of the automatic classification is high and independent of the speech task. Machine-learning analysis would help clinicians in the objective diagnosis and clinical management of stuttering. The digital collection of audio samples here achieved through smartphones would promote the future application of the technique in a telemedicine context (home environment)

Towards a map of the Upper Pleistocene loess of the Po Plain Loess Basin (Northern Italy)

Upper Pleistocene (MIS 4-2) loess sequences occur in most of continental Europe and in Northern Italy along the Po Plain Loess Basin. Loess is distributed along the flanks of the Po Plain and was deposited on glacial deposits, fluvial terraces, uplifted isolated hills, karst plateaus, slopes and basins of secondary valleys. Loess bodies are generally tiny and affected by pedogenesis, being locally slightly reworked by slope processes and bioturbation. Notwithstanding, loess in the Po Plain is an important archive of paleoenviron-mental record and its mapping provides new insights in paleoenvironmental and palaeoseismic reconstructions of Northern Ital

A multi-element psychosocial intervention for early psychosis (GET UP PIANO TRIAL) conducted in a catchment area of 10 million inhabitants: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in 'real-world' services