Key-Drivers to design urban mobility services for silver age and age-friendly cities.

The vision regarding ageing is often influenced by negative stereotypes, which lead to considering the over-55 user only in need of targeted assistance and care. Observing the current situation, this view should be no longer exhaustive: they are active users, capable of exercising agency, with needs and desires beyond care and assistance, and bearers of experience and knowledge. It is therefore clear that design strategies to develop services for this user group must necessarily broaden their horizons and begin to consider areas that have been scarcely explored. The contribution focuses on the topic of urban mobility and proposes a preliminary analysis process, based on the scientific literature and on the analysis of case studies to highlight good design practices, and carried out within a joint research platform, whose structure, functions, and role is also highlighted. Lastly, it proposes a mapping of design directions to be applied to implement age-friendly solutions

Hydroacoustic noise from different geometries

Turbulent flow around bluff bodies generates pressure fluctuations which propagate as acoustic waves. Differences in the shape of a body can affect frequencies and amplitudes of the propagating pressure signals. In the present work three elementary geometries (sphere, cube and prolate spheroid), immersed in a uniform water flow, are examined in order to analyze the differences of the resulting hydroacoustic fields. The turbulent flow at ReA = 4430 (based on the cross-sectional area of the bodies) is reproduced through wall-resolving Large-Eddy Simulation and the hydroacoustic far-field is analyzed by adopting the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings analogy. The quadrupole term of the acoustic equation is first reformulated in the convective form and then solved through direct computation of the volume integrals. This procedure is found possible in hydrodynamics where the speed of sound is very large and the flow velocities are small. In spite of the fact that the frontal section of the bodies has the same area, the analysis shows that a streamlined body is able to produce a pressure signal one order of magnitude lower than that generated by a bluff geometry. The separate analysis of the loading noise and of the quadrupole one has shown that the former is larger than the latter in case of 3D-shaped bluff body (sphere and cube), whereas the opposite is true in case of a streamlined body. A preliminary analysis between the case of an elongated square cylinder and a cube, shows that the persistence of a two-dimensionally shaped wake when compared to a three-dimensional one contributes to increase the quadrupole part of the radiated noise

The culture of the project in view of new synergies for the (r)evolution of the healthcare sector

The contemporary era, defined by Schwad (2015) as the "Fourth Industrial Revolution '' is the era that is outlined on the theme of major innovations and a growth of technologies of exponential type. At the social level, we are witnessing a progressive aging of the population, aging or rejuvenation, as some would argue (OECD, 2020). Technological growth and innovation is evolving the standards of health in which the population falls, is reshaping life expectancy and with it, also the age of seniority. Technological growth and population increase bring with them clear concerns about health management: we will face an increasing number of chronic diseases, and the demand for higher standards of personalized care, precision medicine, regenerative medicine, all of which will increase demands and put great stress on our health systems. The two years marked by the Covid-19 pandemic have already provided us with a demonstration of the consequences associated with extremes of demand for care. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, which holds the advent of Information Technologies and Artificial Intelligence, tells us of a future that will see an increasing interaction between humans, machines and computational intelligences, to alleviate us and empower our existence. This era will also speak about the increasingly imperative need to assert in the design treatment the component of acceptance and exaltation of human values in order to mitigate the possible outcomes of human alienation in the face of indefinable technological availability. Also in this case we can refer to the examples of degenerations resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, with generalizing crisis phenomena and dismissive visions from the surrounding reality, such as the No-Vax, movements or other phenomena of technological alienation as in the case of the increase in the percentage of adolescents now in a cycle of self-induced isolation. Considering the areas of light and shadow of the challenges of our future, it is clear how we will need the increasingly synergistic action of the various disciplines of human knowledge, in order to arrive at the delineation of a correct exploitation of human values. With regard to this, the discipline of design, understood as that discipline useful to generate with efficiency, a bridge between technological innovation and human interaction, will be fundamental as able to bring positive and empathic elements to the design, to derive a generalized improvement in the quality of life, and in the case of healthcare, of care. Our research highlights the etymologically new figure of the "Medical Designer" and asserts in the design process new functions on the theme of medical devices: among them, the theme of autonomy and automation. In full response to the "trend" and aimed at assimilating to the already established potential of industries, they will be crucial elements of designs and investments of new devices. The research that derives from it has had practical implications arriving at the definition of forms of care that subjugate in a single device both the function of reading parameters, and the function of administration of care

Le conoscenze in Física all'inizio dei corsi universitari in Italia

The article reports the results of an investigation on Italian university students concerning physics knowledge related to common sense schemes at the beginning of the university courses. The results of the diagnosis were communicated both to the students and to the teachers of the courses. The communication enabled the teachers, in the didactical practice, to pinpoint and discuss with the students the discrepancies between the scientific newtonian scheme and common sense scheme. A posttest, given at the end of the course, gives the indication that this practice is effective in inducing a change in the students ideas, notwithstanding the fact that no complete understanding of the scientific viewpoint is teached by the majority of students

Il ruolo delle risorse immateriali nell'esercizio della funzione di public governance: da modello teorico a pratica gestionale

In ricordo del professor Roberto Gusmani (1935-2009), gi\ue0 Rettore e storico Decano dell'Universit\ue0 di Udine, prestigioso glottologo di fama internazionale e stimatissimo docente nelle Facolt\ue0 di Lingue e di Lettere, \ue8 riunita in quest'opera in due volumi una cospicua serie di rigorosi e importanti saggi, sia di docenti udinesi che di autorevoli studiosi di linguistica italiani e stranieri. Nel primo volume numerosi docenti delle Facolt\ue0 di Lingue e di Lettere dell'Ateneo udinese si sono impegnati, con passione e acribia, nelle rispettive discipline. I saggi cos\uec raccolti spaziano, con rigore e vivacit\ue0, dalla storia alla letteratura inglese, dalla geografia alla letteratura italiana, dalla pedagogia alla letteratura francese. Nel secondo volume (in due tomi) la comunit\ue0 scientifica dei linguisti ha testimoniato con la sua larga e qualificata partecipazione la continuit\ue0 della lezione di Gusmani

Enhance local communities through Design: a holistic approach to regenerate rural environments

The advent of the technological revolution and the current aspiration to reconnect with the land define possibilities for thinking new connections between individuals and communities. These relations are geared towards developing regenerative endeavors and methods, ultimately leading to the establishment of collective well-being. Within rural environments, there is a propensity to develop strategies that include substantial lifestyle changes. These strategies operate employing practices and actions that, through co-design, aim to revitalize the local area. Through different approaches, the concepts of value and trust are nurtured, facilitating collaborative design of possible futures and transitional pathways to them. The objective of this study is to introduce a theoretical framework that encompasses the distinctive methodologies and actions inherent to the realm of design. This framework is intended to become a guide for implementing inventive processes, with the goal of revitalizing areas that are struggling with both social neglect and environmental deterioration. The activities conducted until now increased the experiences of relations with communities of place, creating meaningful opportunities, but also highlighting limitations and difficulties in intercommunity relations

Occurrence of gas phase ammonia in the area of Beijing (China)

The atmospheric concentrations of gaseous ammonia have been measured during two field campaigns in the winter and in the summer of 2007 at Beijing (China). These measurements were carried out by means of diffusion annular denuders coated with phosphorous acid. The results were discussed from the standpoint of temporal and diurnal variations and meteorological effects. The daily average NH<sub>3</sub> concentrations were in the range of 0.20–44.38 μg/m<sup>3</sup> and showed regular temporal variations with higher concentrations during summer and with lower during winter. The temporal trends seemed to be largely affected by air temperature because of agricultural sources. No diurnal variability was observed for gaseous NH<sub>3</sub> levels in both winter and summer seasons. The highest ammonia value of 105.67 μg/m<sup>3</sup> was measured in the early morning during the summer period when stable atmospheric conditions occurred. The diurnal winter and summer trends of ammonia showed a weak dependence on the air temperature and they were affected nearly by wind direction suggesting regional and local source influences. Ammonia was also correlated with the atmospheric mixing in the boundary layer, and, with NO<sub>x</sub>, CO and PM<sub>2.5</sub> air concentrations supporting the hypothesis that the traffic may be also an important source of ammonia in Beijing

Experimental assessment on exploiting low carbon ethanol fuel in a light-duty dual-fuel compression ignition engine

Compression ignition (CI) engines are widely used in modern society, but they are also recognized as a significative source of harmful and human hazard emissions such as particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Moreover, the combustion of fossil fuels is related to the growing amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Stringent emission regulatory programs, the transition to cleaner and more advanced powertrains and the use of lower carbon fuels are driving forces for the improvement of diesel engines in terms of overall efficiency and engine-out emissions. Ethanol, a light alcohol and lower carbon fuel, is a promising alternative fuel applicable in the dual-fuel (DF) combustion mode to mitigate CO2 and also engine-out PM emissions. In this context, this work aims to assess the maximum fuel substitution ratio (FSR) and the impact on CO2 and PM emissions of different nozzle holes number injectors, 7 and 9, in the DF operating mode. The analysis was conducted within engine working constraints and considered the influence on maximum FSR of calibration parameters, such as combustion phasing, rail pressure, injection pattern and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). The experimental tests were carried out on a single-cylinder light-duty CI engine with ethanol introduced via port fuel injection (PFI) and direct injection of diesel in two operating points, 1500 and 2000 rpm and at 5 and 8 bar of brake mean effective pressure (BMEP), respectively. Noise and the coefficient of variation in indicated mean effective pressure (COVIMEP) limits have been chosen as practical constraints. In particular, the experimental analysis assesses for each parameter or their combination the highest ethanol fraction that can be injected. To discriminate the effect on ethanol fraction and the combustion process of each parameter, a one-at-a-time-factor approach was used. The results show that, in both operating points, the EGR reduces the maximum ethanol fraction injectable; nevertheless, the ethanol addition leads to outstanding improvement in terms of engine-out PM. The adoption of a 9 hole diesel injector, for lower load, allows reaching a higher fraction of ethanol in all test conditions with an improvement in combustion noise, on average 3 dBA, while near-zero PM emissions and a reduction can be noticed, on the average of 1 g/kWh, and CO2 compared with the fewer nozzle holes case. Increasing the load insensitivity to different holes number was observed