455 research outputs found
Remote Visual Observation of Real Places Through Virtual Reality Headsets
Virtual Reality has always represented a fascinating yet powerful opportunity that has attracted studies and technology developments, especially since the latest release on the market of powerful high-resolution and wide field-of-view VR headsets. While the great potential of such VR systems is common and accepted knowledge, issues remain related to how to design systems and setups capable of fully exploiting the latest hardware advances.
The aim of the proposed research is to study and understand how to increase the perceived level of realism and sense of presence when remotely observing real places through VR headset displays. Hence, to produce a set of guidelines that give directions to system designers about how to optimize the display-camera setup to enhance performance, focusing on remote visual observation of real places. The outcome of this investigation represents unique knowledge that is believed to be very beneficial for better VR headset designs towards improved remote observation systems.
To achieve the proposed goal, this thesis presents a thorough investigation of existing literature and previous researches, which is carried out systematically to identify the most important factors ruling realism, depth perception, comfort, and sense of presence in VR headset observation. Once identified, these factors are further discussed and assessed through a series of experiments and usability studies, based on a predefined set of research questions.
More specifically, the role of familiarity with the observed place, the role of the environment characteristics shown to the viewer, and the role of the display used for the remote observation of the virtual environment are further investigated. To gain more insights, two usability studies are proposed with the aim of defining guidelines and best practices.
The main outcomes from the two studies demonstrate that test users can experience an enhanced realistic observation when natural features, higher resolution displays, natural illumination, and high image contrast are used in Mobile VR. In terms of comfort, simple scene layouts and relaxing environments are considered ideal to reduce visual fatigue and eye strain. Furthermore, sense of presence increases when observed environments induce strong emotions, and depth perception improves in VR when several monocular cues such as lights and shadows are combined with binocular depth cues.
Based on these results, this investigation then presents a focused evaluation on the outcomes and introduces an innovative eye-adapted High Dynamic Range (HDR) approach, which the author believes to be of great improvement in the context of remote observation when combined with eye-tracked VR headsets. Within this purpose, a third user study is proposed to compare static HDR and eye-adapted HDR observation in VR, to assess that the latter can improve realism, depth perception, sense of presence, and in certain cases even comfort. Results from this last study confirmed the author expectations, proving that eye-adapted HDR and eye tracking should be used to achieve best visual performances for remote observation in modern VR systems
Inferno in the Land of Snows: A Holistic Investigation of Tibetan Self-Immolation Through a Tibetan Perspective
According to the ICT (International Campaign for Tibet) at least 90 Tibetan monks, nuns, and non-monastic Tibetans have committed self immolation since 2009, 73 (81%) of which have been proclaimed as deceased due to inflictions experienced as a result of the demonstrations; this only exists as the current statistic at the time the proceeding investigation was conducted. Though this number may initially seem somewhat small, it in fact shows a significant build-on to this trend over recent years. To many this practice comes across as quite striking, if not completely incomprehensible; to most the first method of protesting religious oppression and political persecution chosen would not be in the form of self immolation. Some publications, mostly in the form of journalistic articles, have written off Tibetan self immolation as a sign of desperation considering the situation between Tibet and China. And so the question explored throughout this article: Is Tibetan self immolation in fact an indication of what perhaps Western psychology might describe as desperation and/or depression, or is there rather a more emic, nuanced explanation of this practice that can only be unveiled through qualitative, emic research of an insider’s perspective? The unique melding of religion and politics makes these acts all the more complex, and therefore the platform in which the demonstrations occur upon is also investigated in a holistic manner. In this case, an insider’s perspective is to be considerd the viewpoint of the Tibetan people, both monastic and lay, rather than a viewpoint based upon the speculation of the international community. This study takes the form of a psycho-social analysis, taking an in-depth glance at the meaning of self immolation to Tibetans. The research conducted in order to produce this study was heavily qualitatively based, primarily composed of semi-structured interviewing and/or focus groups in order to achieve maximum data representativeness. The study also utilized a great amount of archival research as well, incorporating indications of Buddhist philosophy within the practice of self immolation and Buddhist views on self-immolation, as well as an extensive literature review on self immolation in itself, especially considering self-immolation in contexts other than Tibet. This study conducted was primarily located in-and-around Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj, India; the high Tibetan population in this region, not to mention proximity to political figures and leaders of the Tibetan community-in-exile, made this location ideal for finding the demographics necessary to make this piece as representative as possible
Operationalizing the circular city model for naples' city-port: A hybrid development strategy
The city-port context involves a decisive reality for the economic development of territories and nations, capable of significantly influencing the conditions of well-being and quality of life, and of making the Circular City Model (CCM) operational, preserving and enhancing seas and marine resources in a sustainable way. This can be achieved through the construction of appropriate production and consumption models, with attention to relations with the urban and territorial system. This paper presents an adaptive decision-making process for Naples (Italy) commercial port's development strategies, aimed at re-establishing a sustainable city-port relationship and making Circular Economy (CE) principles operative. The approach has aimed at implementing a CCM by operationalizing European recommendations provided within both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework-specifically focusing on goals 9, 11 and 12-and the Maritime Spatial Planning European Directive 2014/89, to face conflicts about the overlapping areas of the city-port through multidimensional evaluations' principles and tools. In this perspective, a four-step methodological framework has been structured applying a place-based approach with mixed evaluation methods, eliciting soft and hard knowledge domains, which have been expressed and assessed by a core set of Sustainability Indicators (SI), linked to SDGs. The contribution outcomes have been centred on the assessment of three design alternatives for the East Naples port and the development of a hybrid regeneration scenario consistent with CE and sustainability principles. The structured decision-making process has allowed us to test how an adaptive approach can expand the knowledge base underpinning policy design and decisions to achieve better outcomes and cultivate a broad civic and technical engagement, that can enhance the legitimacy and transparency of policies
Il Modello della Città Circolare per la rigenerazione sostenibile delle Città-Porto: valori e valutazioni multidimensionali
La crescita dei traffici commerciali marittimi, che si registra per effetto delle economie di scala, pur risultando economicamente vantaggiosa, confligge con gli obiettivi alla scala urbana delle aree portuali. Il potenziamento delle infrastrutture e delle tecnologie del trasporto marittimo, verificatosi a partire dalla seconda metà del XX secolo (Hall et al., 2006), ha contribuito allo sviluppo delle economie globali ed ha ridisegnato sia la società che lo spazio, determinando cambiamenti rilevanti nei sistemi urbani e territoriali. Se, da un lato, i porti si trovano a far fronte al rischio di obsolescenza e dismissione, dall'altro molteplici sono gli impatti ambientali (inquinamento dell'acqua, dell'aria e del suolo, inquinamento acustico, produzione di rifiuti, dragaggi, ecc.) (Carpenter & Macgill, 2003; Dinwoodie, et al., 2012; Hall, 2007), nonché sociali (riduzione dell'occupazione e delle opportunità di impiego nel settore marittimo) che le attività commerciali esercitano sull'insediamento urbano. Nonostante i porti siano parte integrante del sistema Città-Porto al quale sono strettamente interrelati (Lam & Yap, 2019; Christodoulou & Cullinane, 2019), esistono dei conflitti ecologici ed economici tra porti e città (Karimpour et. al., 2019; Lopez-Navarro et. al., 2015; Fusco Girard, 2013).
Per rispondere alle attuali sfide che interessano il sistema Città-Porto, si assume il framework teorico ed operativo proposto dall'Economia Circolare, come contesto, nell'ambito del quale, combinando attività economiche, logistiche e industriali, dispiega effetti non solo sui porti, ma anche sull'intero sistema insediativo urbano (Cerceau et al., 2014; Hollen, van den Bosch & Volberda, 2015; Merk, 2013; Van Dooren & Braam, 2015; Bunce, 2009; Fusco Girard, 2013).
In tale contesto multi-dimensionale e multi-scalare, le aree portuali, si configurano come aree strategiche per la rigenerazione delle Città-Porto.
Sebbene la rigenerazione delle Città-Porto sia già stata studiata in relazione agli Obiettivi per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile, l'approccio offerto dall'Economia Circolare risulta ancora poco esplorato. Ciononostante, numerosi sono gli esempi di trasformazione di Città-Porto europee coerenti con i principi dell'economia circolare. L'esplorazione della letteratura conferma la prevalenza di ricerche condotte con metodi qualitativi, seguita dall'applicazione di metodi quantitativi. Si riscontra ampio margine di esplorazione dei metodi quanti-qualitativi.
È stato riconosciuto che la strutturazione del problema decisionale in un contesto urbano complesso richiede una selezione di indicatori e di metodi di Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) adatti per supportare il Decision Maker nella scelta dell'alternativa preferibile tra un insieme di alternative possibili (Kumar et. al., 2019). La natura multidimensionale del sistema urbano suggerisce l'utilizzo delle Multi-Criteria Decision Aid come approccio analitico per la valutazione di sostenibilità delle città. Gli MCDA risultano particolarmente adatti nell'ambito dei contesti urbani, sia per la loro capacità di confrontare alternative multidimensionali, sia perché considerano diversi tipi di informazioni, ma anche perché consentono l'analisi delle performances rispetto a diverse priorità delle politiche attraverso la modifica dei pesi e, infine, per la definizione di una prospettiva di sostenibilità più robusta ottenuta attraverso approcci e metodi di classificazione.
Al fine di rendere operativi gli SDGs, è stato proposto un metodo di strutturazione dei problemi (PSM) (Lami et. al., 2014), che richiede una selezione di indicatori e di metodi Multi-Criterio (MCDA). Il campo delle analisi Multi-Criterio (MCDA), introdotto da Bernard Roy (1985, 1991, 1996) è stato diffusamente sperimentato per le valutazioni della sostenibilità urbana e nell'ambito dei sistemi di supporto alle decisioni, in virtù della sua capacità di trovare un compromesso tra obiettivi e priorità contrastanti Munda (1995, 2005a, 2005b).
La metodologia Multi-Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) è stata scelta per la capacità di trattare distinte dimensioni di dati contemporaneamente e per la sua capacità di integrare le informazioni attraverso procedure di aggregazione multi-criteria (MCAP).
I problemi decisionali della vita reale presentano, in generale, diversi punti di vista (criteri) in conflitto che dovrebbero essere presi in considerazione congiuntamente, al fine di arrivare a una decisione condivisa. La ricerca dedicata a tali problemi viene spesso definita processo decisionale Multi-Criterio o Multi-Criteria Decision Making o Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM).
Al fine di orientare la pianificazione delle Città-Porto, nell'ambito di un approccio integrato e multi-metodologico (Cerreta e De Toro, 2012; UE, 2014) coerente con il modello di Città Circolare, lo studio mira alla definizione di un processo decisionale adattivo orientato a supportare il processo di pianificazione strategica per la rigenerazione delle Città-Porto.
In questa prospettiva, è stato costruito e testato il processo multi-metodologico per la pianificazione strategica dell'area portuale di San Giovanni a Teduccio, da intendersi come area strategica per la rigenerazione del sistema urbano e lo sviluppo commerciale della Città-Porto di Napoli.
Il percorso metodologico proposto, si articola in una successione di fasi volte alla costruzione di un programma di azioni.
Una prima fase è stata strutturata al fine di esplorare il contesto decisionale e costruire lo scenario strategico di riferimento, applicando vari metodi Multi-Criterio: Analytic Network Process (ANP) (Ishizaka & Nemery, 2013; Saaty, 2005) in grado di tener conto delle interdipendenze tra dimensioni distinte, il metodo Novel approach to imprecise assessment and decision environments (NAIADE) (Munda, 1995), che consente il confronto tra alternative valutandone gli impatti e suggerendo possibili coalizioni tra gli stakeholder a partire dai conflitti tra i diversi gruppi di interesse, ed il Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) (Ackermann & Eden, 2011; Bana e Costa, 1990; Mareschal, 2013), che consente di analizzare diversi scenari corrispondenti alle visioni dei principali stakeholder coinvolti e successivamente effettua l'ordinamento globale delle alternative basato sull'aggregazione dei giudizi di tutti gli stakeholder.
Esperti e stakeholder sono stati coinvolti sia per la strutturazione del problema decisionale che per l'attribuzione dell'importanza ai criteri. Successivamente, è stato implementato il metodo Multi-Criterio Electre III (iii), da intendersi come sistema di supporto alle decisioni per individuare le azioni di progetto preferibili.
La metodologia è stata testata sulla Città-Porto di Napoli, al fine di pervenire alla definizione di un programma di azioni per la pianificazione strategica, in risposta ad un'esigenza messa in campo dalle istituzioni portuale e comunale locale, e considerando l'area di San Giovanni a Teduccio strategica per la rigenerazione urbana, nonché per lo sviluppo portuale della Città-Porto, nell'ambito di una visione multi-scalare e sistemica.
In questo contesto, la dissertazione intende proporre una metodologia per la pianificazione strategica delle Città-Porto in coerenza con il modello della Città Circolare
Pattern of HPV infection in basal cell carcinoma and in perilesional skin biopsies from immunocompetent patients
К определению понятий коммуникация, интеркультурная коммуникация и коммуникативистика
The Strong Electrostatic Adsorption (SEA) method was applied to the rational design of a promoted Co catalyst for Fischer–Tropsch (FT) synthesis. A series of Mn/Co/TiO2 catalysts were prepared by selective deposition of the [MnO4] anion onto the supported Co3O4 phase. Qualitative ICP-OES and XPS measurements of the prepared catalysts with increasing Mn loading displayed the preferential association of the Mn species with Co3O4 and not the TiO2 support. The SEA preparation method seemed to minimize the migration of Mn away from the Co to the TiO2 support during reduction procedures to ensure a more intimate interaction between the Mn and the Co species during FT reactivity measurements. This led to an increase in light olefins, C5+ selectivity and chain growth probability. It is anticipated that the SEA preparation method is a viable synthesis strategy for other promoted and/or bimetallic catalyst systems where intimate contact between the catalyst components is highly desired
Papillary thyroid microcarcinomas: a comparative study of the characteristics and risk factors at presentation in two cancer registries.
Precocious puberty and microbiota: The role of the sex hormone-gut microbiome axis
Puberty is a critical phase of life associated with physiological changes related to sexual maturation, and represents a complex process regulated by multiple endocrine and genetic controls. Puberty is driven by hormones, and it can impact the gut microbiome (GM). GM differences between sex emerge at puberty onset, confirming a relationship between microbiota and sex hormones. In this narrative review, we present an overview of precocious pubertal development and the changes in the GM in precocious puberty (PP) in order to consider the role of the sex hormone-gut microbiome axis from the perspective of pediatric endocrinology. Bidirectional interactions between the GM and sex hormones have been proposed in different studies. Although the evidence on the interaction between microbiota and sex hormones remains limited in pediatric patients, the evidence that GM alterations may occur in girls with central precocious puberty (CPP) represents an interesting finding for the prediction and prevention of PP. Deepening the understanding of the connection between the sex hormones and the role of microbiota changes can lead to the implementation of microbiota-targeted therapies in pubertal disorders by offering a pediatric endocrinology perspective
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