Rethinking the social impacts of the arts

The paper presents a critical discussion of the current debate over the social impacts of the arts in the UK. It argues that the accepted understanding of the terms of the debate is rooted in a number of assumptions and beliefs that are rarely questioned. The paper goes on to present the interim findings of a three‐year research project, which aims to rethink the social impact of the arts, with a view to determining how these impacts might be better understood. The desirability of a historical approach is articulated, and a classification of the claims made within the Western intellectual tradition for what the arts “do” to people is presented and discussed

Effect of the Orbital Level Difference in Doped Spin-1 Chains

Doping of a two-orbital chain with mobile S=1/2 Fermions and strong Hund's rule couplings stabilizing the S=1 spins strongly depends on the presence of a level difference among these orbitals. By DMRG methods we find a finite spin gap upon doping and dominant pairing correlations without level-difference, whereas the presence of a level difference leads to dominant charge density wave (CDW) correlations with gapless spin-excitations. The string correlation function also shows qualitative differences between the two models.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Neutron tomography in modern archaeology

The search for non invasive and non destructive techniques is fundamental when dealing with samples of great historical, cultural and artistic value as well as with samples strongly degraded. Among different techniques, Neutron Tomography NT allows a close analysis of samples of Archaeological interest without damaging them. In what follows, a few cases in which the Neutron Tomography instrument of the BENSC at HMI Berlin has been successfully applied will be show

Calibration of input parameters in volcanic areas and an enlarged dataset by stochastic finite-fault simulations

The calibration of input parameters is an important task for stochastic finite-fault simulation in volcanic areas, and we manage this in the framework of the European project UPStrat-MaFa. The stochastic simulation method requires the knowledge of fault geometry, source, crust properties of the region, and local site effects. At first, we focused the present study in the pilot test areas: Mt Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Mt Etna. Later, we performed two applications for a large magnitude event in the Azores Islands and the South Iceland regions. A general preliminary database of ground-motion records was collected in the test areas, to set up the empirical laws of the ground-motion parameters. The results of the simulations have been compared with observed waveforms and response spectra, to determine the suitability of the parameters used. The results show good agreement between the observed and simulated time histories and response spectra, thus encouraging further efforts towards quantitative high resolution studies on input parameters.Co-financed by the EU - Civil Protection Financial Instrument, in the framework the European project ”Urban disaster Prevention Strategies using MAcroseismic Fields and FAult Sources (Acronym: UPStrat-MAFA, Grant Agreement N. 23031/2011/613486/SUB/A5). http://ec.europa.eu/echo/funding/cp_projects2011_en.htmPublishedLisbon - Portugal4.1. Metodologie sismologiche per l'ingegneria sismicaope

Calibration of input parameters in volcanic areas and an enlarged dataset by stochastic finite-fault simulations

The calibration of input parameters is an important task for stochastic finite-fault simulation in volcanic areas, and we manage this in the framework of the European project UPStrat-MaFa. The stochastic simulation method requires the knowledge of fault geometry, source, crust properties of the region, and local site effects. At first, we focused the present study in the pilot test areas: Mt Vesuvius, Campi Flegrei and Mt Etna. Later, we performed two applications for a large magnitude event in the Azores Islands and the South Iceland regions. A general preliminary database of ground-motion records was collected in the test areas, to set up the empirical laws of the ground-motion parameters. The results of the simulations have been compared with observed waveforms and response spectra, to determine the suitability of the parameters used. The results show good agreement between the observed and simulated time histories and response spectra, thus encouraging further efforts towards quantitative high resolution studies on input parameters

When probabilistic seismic hazard climbs volcanoes: the Mt. Etna case, Italy – Part 2: Computational implementation and first results

Abstract. This paper describes the model implementation and presents results of a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) for the Mt. Etna volcanic region in Sicily, Italy, considering local volcano-tectonic earthquakes. Working in a volcanic region presents new challenges not typically faced in standard PSHA, which are broadly due to the nature of the local volcano-tectonic earthquakes, the cone shape of the volcano and the attenuation properties of seismic waves in the volcanic region. These have been accounted for through the development of a seismic source model that integrates data from different disciplines (historical and instrumental earthquake datasets, tectonic data, etc.; presented in Part 1, by Azzaro et al., 2017) and through the development and software implementation of original tools for the computation, such as a new ground-motion prediction equation and magnitude–scaling relationship specifically derived for this volcanic area, and the capability to account for the surficial topography in the hazard calculation, which influences source-to-site distances. Hazard calculations have been carried out after updating the most recent releases of two widely used PSHA software packages (CRISIS, as in Ordaz et al., 2013; the OpenQuake engine, as in Pagani et al., 2014). Results are computed for short- to mid-term exposure times (10 % probability of exceedance in 5 and 30 years, Poisson and time dependent) and spectral amplitudes of engineering interest. A preliminary exploration of the impact of site-specific response is also presented for the densely inhabited Etna's eastern flank, and the change in expected ground motion is finally commented on. These results do not account for M  >  6 regional seismogenic sources which control the hazard at long return periods. However, by focusing on the impact of M  <  6 local volcano-tectonic earthquakes, which dominate the hazard at the short- to mid-term exposure times considered in this study, we present a different viewpoint that, in our opinion, is relevant for retrofitting the existing buildings and for driving impending interventions of risk reduction

VIRTUAL DIVING IN THE UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF CALA MINNOLA

The paper presents the application of the technologies and methods defined in the VISAS project for the case study of the underwater archaeological site of Cala Minnola located in the island of Levanzo, in the archipelago of the Aegadian Islands (Sicily, Italy). The VISAS project (http://visas-project.eu) aims to improve the responsible and sustainable exploitation of the Underwater Cultural Heritage by means the development of new methods and technologies including an innovative virtual tour of the submerged archaeological sites. In particular, the paper describes the 3D reconstruction of the underwater archaeological site of Cala Minnola and focus on the development of the virtual scene for its visualization and exploitation. The virtual dive of the underwater archaeological site allows users to live a recreational and educational experience by receiving historical, archaeological and biological information about the submerged exhibits, the flora and fauna of the place

Practice Parameter: Therapies for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (An Evidence-Based Review): Report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurologysymbol Symbol

American Academy of Neurology; BPPV = benign paroxysmal positional vertigo; CONSORT = Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials; CRP = canalith repositioning procedure; NNT = number needed to treat

Analysis of end-to-end multi-domain management and orchestration frameworks for software defined infrastructures: an architectural survey

Over the last couple of years, industry operators’ associations issued requirements towards an end-to-end management and orchestration plane for 5G networks. Consequently, standard organisations started their activities in this domain. This arti- cle provides an analysis and an architectural survey of these initiatives and of the main requirements, proposes descriptions for the key concepts of domain, resource and service slicing, end-to-end orchestration and a reference architecture for the end-to-end orchestration plane. Then, a set of currently available or under development domain orchestration frameworks are mapped to this reference architecture. These frameworks, meant to provide coordination and automated management of cloud and networking resources, network functions and services, fulfil multi-domain (i.e. multi-technology and multi- operator) orchestration requirements, thus enabling the realisation of an end-to-end orchestration plane. Finally, based on the analysis of existing single-domain and multi-domain orchestration components and requirements, this paper presents a functional architecture for the end-to-end management and orchestration plane, paving the way to its full realisation