The theatre today: experimentation and innovation

The use of technology enables theatre to modernize its own language and appeal to a younger audience, one less entrenched in tradition. New generations accept and are open to experimentation in a technological climate, contamination and cross-fertilization between art forms. The use of English terminology is evidence of this (virtual theatre, interactive theatre, computer theatre, webcam theatre, electronic theatre, interfaced theatre, \u2026 just to cite a few of the most common terms). What seems evident is that digital multimedia both off-line and on-line has reached the stage and its practice in theatrical live performance is in continuous evolution

Michelangelo Blasco versus Ferdinando Fuga: una nuova attribuzione per il ponte sul Milicia in Sicilia

The finding at the National Library of Spain of an eighteenth-century engraving of the bridge over the river Milicia, along the coast to the east of Palermo, is a chance not only to shed light on the complex history of the design and construction of one of the main Sicilian bridges, but also to attribute the real paternity rather than to the famous architect Ferdinando Fuga to the lesser-known military engineer, serving the Austrian Crown, Michelangelo Blasco, whose long and successful career is reconstructed: from Sicily, through Milan, Wien and Lisbon, to the uncharted territory of Brazil

Contenidos de fósforo total en suelos con características vérticas de la Provincia de Entre Ríos

p.53-58En Entre Ríos, los suelos con características vérticas ocupan el 69 por ciento del total de la superficie provincial, sin contar el D elta del río Paraná (Proyecto PN U D-FA O -INTA, 1980), generalmente estos suelos son deficientes en fósforo. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el contenido de fósforo total y su distribución en las fracciones orgánicas e inorgánicas en perfiles de suelos con características vérticas de Entre Ríos. Se tomaron muestras de suelo provenientes de cuatro Vertisoles, tres Alfisoles y un Molisol con características vérticas. En superficie los contenidos de fósforo total (Pt) de los suelos de los tres ordenes estudiados fueron de 200 a 300 mg kg. Del P total superficial de estos suelos predomina la fracción de P orgánico (Po) en relación a las formas inorgánicas (Pi). La distribución del P orgánico total en el perfil sigue un patrón general de disminución con el aumento de la profundidad, mientras que el Pi tiene una tendencia opuesta. Los horizontes C mostraron valores de P inorgánico de 150 a 200 mg de P kg `1 de suelo, reduciéndose aproximadamente a la mitad en los horizontes superficiales. Como resultado de este estudio, se puede concluir que los suelos del centro norte de la provincia de Entre Ríos presentan valores bajos de Pt. En estos suelos son im portantes las proporciones de Po en superficie, las cuales oscilan entre el 60 por ciento el 70 por ciento del Pt

Wood-Reinforced Polyphthalamide Resins: MultiFunctional Composite Coating for Metal Substrates

Protective layers were deposited on aluminum substrates by dipping them inside a fluidized bed (FB) of wood and polyphthalamide powders. The experimental investigation looked into the influence of the main process parameters (number and composition of superimposed layers, heating temperature, and dipping time) on the visual appearance, scratch adhesion, wear resistance, and thermal insulation of the resulting coatings. Micromechanical and tribological responses of the coatings were significantly improved by the effect of the wooden particles dispersed inside the polyphthalamide binder. An improvement of the thermal insulation was also achieved whatever the setting of the process parameters. Further, the coatings displayed good adhesion to the substrate and wear endurance

Automotive Communications in LTE: A Simulation-Based Performance Study

2017 IEEE 86th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Fall)The integration of automotive communications in 5G systems must build on a clear understanding of the performance of services for connected vehicles in today's LTE deployments. In this paper, we carry out a simulation-based performance evaluation of automotive communications in LTE, with particular attention to realism: to that end, we investigate the impact of different road traffic models, employ a state-of-the-art commercial LTE tool, and study a practical service use case. Our results demonstrate that unrealistic road traffic datasets can bias network simulations in urban vehicular environments, and provide insights on the limitations of the current radio access architecture, when confronted to connected vehicles.This research has received funding from the People Pro-gramme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Unions Sev-enth Framework Programme (FP7/2007- 2013) under REA grant agreement n.630211, ReFleX. Also, this work has been performed in the framework of the H2020-ICT-2014-2 project 5G NORMA

Scarab III Remote Vehicle Deployment for Waste Retrieval and Tank Inspection

The Robotics Technology Development Program now known as the Robotics Crosscut Program, funded the development and deployment of a small remotely operated vehicle for inspection and cleanout of small horizontal waste storage tanks that have limited access. Besides the advantage of access through tank risers as small as 18-in. diameter, the small robotic system is also significantly less expensive to procure and to operate than larger remotely operated vehicle (ROV) systems. The vehicle specified to support this activity was the ROV Technologies, Inc., Scarab. The Scarab is a tracked vehicle with an independently actuated front and rear ''toe'' degree-of-freedom which allows the stand-off and angle of the vehicle platform with respect to the floor to be changed. The Scarab is a flexible remote tool that can be used for a variety of tasks with its primary uses targeted for inspection and small scale waste retrieval. The vehicle and any necessary process equipment are mounted in a deployment and containment enclosure to simplify deployment and movement of the system from tank to tank. This paper outlines the technical issues related to the Scarab vehicle and its deployment for use in tank inspection and waste retrieval operatio

Losing the Lake: Development and Deployment of an Educational Game

When asked what the top three issues of the Las Vegas region were, the reply was “water, water, water! This was the result of a survey done a few years ago of Las Vegas Valley TV anchors. The reason for this response is that sustainability of the urban environments requires sufficient water resources as does population growth. With the advent of global climate change, this resource is in danger. Water flow and mountainous ice packs are impacted by this change in climate there by impacting the amount of water the the region. This is compounded over time as the population increases and the water supply decreases. Even as the flow of water to the Las Vegas Valley is decreasing, many people in the area do not fully appreciate the severity of this crisis. This knowledge is at many times not brought to fruition as many people do not even understand some possible ways to contribute to water conservation. With the idea of educating young Nevadans, future initiatives can be put into practice to further alleviate a dire situation. Research has shown that imagery is important for a students\u27 attention and enables changes in their thought process. With this approach, the goal of this project is to create an engaging environment to help awareness for the young and old alike

Short communication: Gender and heat stress effects on hypothalamic gene expression and feed intake in broilers

Our study aims to evaluate gender and heat stress effects on animal performance and on the expression of five hypothalamic genes related to feed consumption: neuropeptide Y (NPY), ghrelin (GHRL), pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPKα-1), and liver kinase B1 (LKB1). To assay these effects, 42-day-old male and female broilers were maintained in thermal comfort or were subjected to heat stress (HS, 38°C for 24 hours). All animals were fed with diets formulated to meet their nutritional requirements. Broilers subjected to HS showed lower weight gain (p=0.0065) and tended to have lower feed intake (p=0.0687) than broilers kept in comfortable conditions. We observed gender and heat stress interaction effects on NPY (p=0.0225), AMPKα-1 (p=0.0398), and POMC expression (p=0.0072). The highest NPY gene expression was observed in male broilers from the thermal comfort group. Male broilers exposed to HS showed the highest AMPKα-1 gene expression levels. Comparing POMC expression between males and females at the comfortable temperature, we observed that females showed higher POMC expression levels than male broilers. A gender effect was also observed on LKB1 and AMPKα-1 gene expression (p=0.0256 and p=0.0001, respectively); increased expression was observed in male broilers. Our results indicate that the expression of some hypothalamic genes related to food consumption may contribute to the observed differences in voluntary feed intake between animals of different gender exposed to different environmental conditions

Rethinking Nature in Post- Fukushima Japan. Facing the Crisis

It is a pleasure for us to present this book, with the contributions of the International Symposium Rethinking Nature in Contemporary Japan: Fac- ing the Crisis held at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. This was the Third International Symposium organised in Venice as the last of a wider three years project generously funded by Japan Foundation: in 2013 we hosted the first Symposium Rethinking Nature in Contempo- rary Japan: Science, Economics, Politics, publishing its results through Edizioni Ca’ Foscari in 2014, while in the same year we organised the Second International Symposium Rethinking Nature in Japan: from Tradi- tion to Modernity, published by Edizioni Ca’ Foscari in 2017. The commune aim of the three Symposia was the analysis of Japanese society and the international relationships after the tragic earthquake in Tōhoku in March 2011, including the accident at Fukushima nuclear plant. Its wide-ranging consequences on everyday life of people living in Japan brought into the limelight issues such as the protection of the environment, the management of natural resources, and food safety, both within the country and abroad, as fundamental challenges to our globalised society. Since the first Symposium in 2013, the participation of scholars from Europe, Japan and United States helped us to gain a multifaceted perspec- tive, combining several disciplines under a multidisciplinary and com- parative approach. We aimed at combining such perspectives under the umbrella of a common denominator, often addressed in Japanese figura- tive, performing and literary arts: the relation between man and Nature. While in 2014 we centred on the cultural representations of the idea of Nature in the transition from tradition to modernity, in Fine Arts, Reli- gion and Thought, Literature, Theatre, in 2015’ Symposium – Rethinking Nature in Japan: Facing the Crisis – we finally focused on contemporary Japan, with a particular eye on Fukushima accident, similarly approached through Religion and Thought, Fine Arts, Music, Cinema, Animation and Performing Arts (Theatre and Dance). We had three panel sessions: “Nature and Environment in Japanese Music”, “Nature and Environment in Cinema, Animation and Performing Arts” and “Nature and Environment in Visual Art”. This edited volume brings to our readers only some of the papers presented in each panel. Nicolas Fiévé keynote paper offers a historical critical perspective on Japanese Housing architecture as born out of a constant a high considera- tion of the Human-Nature Relationship. Nature and Environment in Japanese Music are faced by the paper of Daniele Sestili, who presents insights about how to re-think Euro-American concepts application to Japanese Traditional music; by Andrea Giolai’s paper on ecology of Gagaku seen as intertwined connection between Place, Nature and Sound in Japanese Court Music; and by Hosokawa Shūhei’s Sketch on the Modernization of Japanese Music. The contributes from the second panel, about Nature and Environment in Cinema, Animation and Performing Arts are by M. Roberta Novielli, who recalling a Ōshima essay title, presents the cinema of Masumura Yasuzō as “A Breakthrough in the Wall of Japanese Cinema”; by Katja Centonze who brings to the readers the Sound of Radioactivity through Yamakawa Fuyuki Performance Scene and its “Vibrations of March 11”. Ewa Machotka closes the section with a paper on Satoyama at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field as an ‘elected’ place of exhibition for Nature itself. The 2015 International Symposium was closed with a presentation and practical drawing performance of the artist & designer Ōishi Akinori, who beautifully threw to the audience a somehow philosophical question: Is Hap- piness Something to be Found in ‘Nature’? Since the difficulty in writing a paper about the feelings that his drawings inspired in the audience, he offers