“Ma stai zitta cagna che non sei nessuno!” Un'indagine linguistica sulle pratiche di hate speech e di cyberbullismo

The insult represents a very common linguistic device within everyday communication practicesand this condition is a constant of historical character. Common opinion tends to view insult as alow register item, generally referring to the use of foul language and excessive emotionalmanifestations. The insult used for playful or affective purposes is however perceived as a trait ofa low linguistic variety. Insult is a reprehensible practice, which is censored both in the schooland in academic environment, but it is widespread in political and informal communication.Within the language sciences, the insult is classified as a hostile linguistic act and there are fewresearch contributions compared to a field of study so significant and evident in common life. Inthis contribution we will deal with the results of a research on the use of insult in the context ofcyberbullying practices within social media

Il sessismo linguistico nei manuali di italiano per scuola secondaria di secondo grado

Questo saggio presenta i prodotti di un’indagine sul sessismo linguistico all’interno di testi scolastici, relativi all’insegnamento dell’italiano nella scuola secondaria di secondo grado. In particolare, è stato creato un corpus relativo a un campione di 50 manuali, selezionati con una data di pubblicazione successiva al 2015, in modo da valutare le soluzioni linguistiche più recenti. Il corpus è stato interrogato riguardo alla collocazione sintattica di alcuni lessemi e ambiti di vita selezionati sulla base dell’impiego potenzialmente sessista. La ricerca si inserisce all’interno degli studi di linguistica educativa e di didattica della lingua italiana

Strategies to mitigate acrylamide development in bakery products: Effect of asparagine content in flour and tartaric acid addition in biscuit formulation

This paper explores strategies to mitigate acrylamide formation in bakery goods, with a focus on using tartaric acid as an acid neutralizer in biscuit recipes. Initial analyses involved screening the asparagine content in various flours, aiming to encompass a wide range of samples, including those that presented substantial challenges. Subsequently, experimental biscuits were produced with various treatments (tartaric acid addition, steam release during baking, and both steam/acid). Results showed a correlation between asparagine content in flours and acrylamide formation. Tartaric acid was remarkably effective, achieving a 57%-87% reduction in acrylamide production. Colorimetric measurements assessment demonstrated that tartaric acid treatment reduced browning, while the aw (<0.15) was not affected even using steam during cooking. Sensory analysis indicated slight sour taste in acid-treated biscuits, but overall acceptability remained high. Texture analysis revealed improved friability, crucial for preventing oral mucosal lesion, especially in children's products. PCA highlighted the impact of treatments on variables like acrylamide content, color, water activity, and sensory attributes. The study suggests that using tartaric acid as a neutralizing agent is a solid strategy to mitigate acrylamide without compromising sensory qualities in biscuits. Further research will include exploring other acids, optimal dosage, and variations in flour composition

La figura del facilitatore linguistico: un'esigenza dei contesti scolastici plurilingui per la comunicazione tra agenzie formative, docenti, studenti e famiglie. I risultati di un'indagine

La presenza di apprendenti caratterizzati da background migrante richiede che il sistema educativo sia adeguato soprattutto in relazione alla comunicazione delle pratiche educative. Nei contesti scolastici si è assistito a una recente transizione da una situazione di forte stabilità a un contesto caratterizzato da una discontinuità significativa, originata dalla diffusione della pandemia. Il fenomeno ha portato a grandi opportunità, grazie alla moltitudine di stimoli offerti agli studenti, ma allo stesso tempo ha comportato un rischio elevato di dispersione scolastica. Questo contributo permetterà di analizzare alcuni dati di natura educativa e glottodidattica nel quadro di una ricerca multidisciplinare, condotta nel 2019/2020, relativa alle pratiche comunicative tra le agenzie formative, gli insegnanti, gli studenti e le loro famiglie, durante la sospensione delle attività didattiche causata dall’emergenza sanitaria provocata dal SARS-CoV-2

Coarsening in surface growth models without slope selection

We study conserved models of crystal growth in one dimension [$\partial_t z(x,t) =-\partial_x j(x,t)$] which are linearly unstable and develop a mound structure whose typical size L increases in time ($L = t^n$). If the local slope ($m =\partial_x z$) increases indefinitely, $n$ depends on the exponent $\gamma$ characterizing the large $m$ behaviour of the surface current $j$ ($j = 1/|m|^\gamma$): $n=1/4$ for $1< \gamma <3$ and $n=(1+\gamma)/(1+5\gamma)$ for $\gamma>3$.Comment: 7 pages, 2 EPS figures. To be published in J. Phys. A (Letter to the Editor

An Easy Route to Enantiomerically Enriched 7- and 8-Hydroxystearic Acids by Olefin Metathesis - Based Approach

The synthesis of enantiomerically enriched 7- and 8-hydroxystearic acids (7- and 8-HSA) has been successfully accomplished starting from chiral non racemic 1-pentadecen-4-ol and 1-tetradecen-4-ol respectively. Their Yamaguchi\u2019s esterification with 4-pentenoic and 5-hexenoic acids respectively afforded the suitable dienic esters which were submitted to ring closing metathesis reaction. After hydrogenation and basic hydrolysis of the complex reaction mixture, chiral non racemic 7- and 8-HSA were obtained in about 40% total yield

Metaverse & Human Digital Twin: Digital Identity, Biometrics, and Privacy in the Future Virtual Worlds

Driven by technological advances in various fields (AI, 5G, VR, IoT, etc.) together with the emergence of digital twins technologies (HDT, HAL, BIM, etc.), the Metaverse has attracted growing attention from scientific and industrial communities. This interest is due to its potential impact on people lives in different sectors such as education or medicine. Specific solutions can also increase inclusiveness of people with disabilities that are an impediment to a fulfilled life. However, security and privacy concerns remain the main obstacles to its development. Particularly, the data involved in the Metaverse can be comprehensive with enough granularity to build a highly detailed digital copy of the real world, including a Human Digital Twin of a person. Existing security countermeasures are largely ineffective and lack adaptability to the specific needs of Metaverse applications. Furthermore, the virtual worlds in a large-scale Metaverse can be highly varied in terms of hardware implementation, communication interfaces, and software, which poses huge interoperability difficulties. This paper aims to analyse the risks and opportunities associated with adopting digital replicas of humans (HDTs) within the Metaverse and the challenges related to managing digital identities in this context. By examining the current technological landscape, we identify several open technological challenges that currently limit the adoption of HDTs and the Metaverse. Additionally, this paper explores a range of promising technologies and methodologies to assess their suitability within the Metaverse context. Finally, two example scenarios are presented in the Medical and Education fields

Smooth-rough asymmetric PLGA structure made of dip coating membrane and electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds meant to be used for guided tissue regeneration of periodontium

A surgical procedure for the repair of damaged periodontal tissue is Guided Tissue Regeneration (GTR), which involves the use of a barrier membrane to prevent soft tissue ingrowth and create a space for slow regeneration of periodontium and bone. GTR membrane should have pores able to facilitate the diffusion of fluids, oxygen, nutrients, and bioactive substances for cell growth, but also be impermeable to epithelial cells or gingival fibroblasts, which could overpopulate the defect space and inhibit infiltration and activity of bone-forming cells. In this paper, a bilayer PLGA membrane was realized by coupling the dip coating and electrospinning techniques. The rough layer of the double-sided structure was electrospun on the previously prepared smooth dip-coated membrane. A rotating drum collector at two rotating speeds was used to generate different fibers orientation. The bilayer membrane with different superimposed surfaces was successfully fabricated and characterized from a morphological, physicochemical, and the mechanical point of view. Performed analyses revealed that the membrane possesses suitable properties, especially from mechanical point of view, for its possible use as a scaffold for the GTR of periodontum. A high fiber alignment and improved mechanical properties with respect to available GTR membranes characterized the product resulting from this study

Determination of a pre-heating sequence for the DONES Target Assembly

Within the activities promoted by the EUROfusion consortium in support of the design and construction of the DEMO Oriented NEutron Source (DONES), a mock-up of its Target Assembly (TA), based on the configuration with a “bayonet” Back-Plate (BP) and available at ENEA Brasimone labs, is being adopted for the execution of experimental activities aiming at the validation of specific aspects of the target design. Despite the “integral”-TA concept is the current reference, experimental tests concerning the TA pre-heating phase are not significantly affected by the TA concept and are still representative even though conducted on the bayonet-TA concept. Indeed, the main objective of the pre-heating phase is to raise the TA temperature up to a value close to that of the lithium flow in nominal condition (250 ◦C). In particular, one of the main concerns is to keep the BP at a temperature higher than 200 ◦C to avoid possible local lithium freezing. In order to support the afore-mentioned tests, a numerical research campaign has been launched by ENEA Brasimone in collaboration with the University of Palermo with the goal of determining an optimal design of the electrical heaters, both in terms of temperature set-points and geometrical layout. To this purpose, several configurations have been assessed following a theoretical-computational approach based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) and adopting the Abaqus FEM code. In a first phase, different electric heater layouts were assessed by means of steady state thermal analyses. Once the most promising scenario was selected, a detailed thermal transient analysis was carried out. An iterative procedure, based on the analysis of the maximum temperature achieved within the mock-up most critical components, was followed in order to determine the duty cycle of the electric heaters. The obtained numerical results are herewith reported and critically discussed