Why Are We Here? On the (Philosophical) Value of Documents

What does a philosopher do with documents? The most natural answer to this question would probably be that philosophers, as writers, produce documents. What would appear as less intuitive, though, is a philosopher producing documents about documents. But philosophy—and in particular ontology—has always been interested in what there is out there in the world. And documents are a peculiar class of objects, the stuff the world is filled with. This year, the Annual Meeting of the Document Academy has been hosted by a philosophy department for the first time: by the Department of Philosophy of the University of Turin. This editorial introduces the proceedings from this meeting

Åsa Burman, Nonideal Social Ontology: The Power View, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2023, pp. 248

La lettura critica ripercorre il contenuto del libro di Burman incentrato sulla suddivisione delle teorie interne all’ontologia sociale in ideali e non ideali. Le prime rappresentano il modello standard in ontologia sociale, mentre le seconde, ruotando attorno alla nozione di potere, riescono a dar conto delle questioni problematiche delle nostre società. Nella seconda parte, il libro propone una teoria del potere incentrata sulla nozione di telic power. L’articolo, oltre a ripercorrere il contenuto del libro, ne mostra limiti e vantaggi e lo colloca all’interno di una linea di pensiero interna all’ontologia sociale, che muove in chiave emancipatoria.The paper traces the content of Burman’s book centred on the division of theories within social ontology into ideal and non-ideal. The former represent the standard model in social ontology, while the latter, revolving around the notion of power, manage to account for the problematic issues of our societies. In the second part, the book proposes a theory of power centred on the notion of telic power. As well as reviewing the content of the book, the article shows its limitations and advantages and places it within a line of thought within social ontology, which moves in an emancipatory direction

GIS-Based Model for Constructing Ecological Efficiency Maps of Urban Green Areas: The Case Study of Western Naples, Italy

This research implements a GIS framework model aimed at evaluating the ecological efficiency of urban green areas. The model classifies urban green areas by identifying those that can provide ecosystem services to sustain green infrastructure at an urban district level. This model can also guide decision makers in the proper placement of the green infrastructure. The model works on the interrelation of four indicators of size, shape, vegetation structure and vegetation diversity, and it was tested in the case study of the Western Urban Districts of Naples (Italy). The selection of this study area is because it presents four urban districts that are different for physiography, urban patterns, land use, land cover and for the existing building stock. The proposed GIS-based framework can be a useful tool for planning actions and measures to protect, implement and restore existing green areas through integration into urban green infrastructure

L’Intelligenza Artificiale in ambito educativo: percezioni dei docenti in formazione iniziale

Il presente contributo esplora l'intersezione tra l'intelligenza artificiale (AI) e la formazione iniziale degli insegnanti, concentrandosi sulle percezioni e sull'autovalutazione delle competenze nell'uso delle tecnologie AI. Nonostante l'integrazione crescente dell'AI nell'istruzione, esistono pochi studi che analizzano l'autovalutazione delle specifiche competenze tecnologiche e le percezioni dei futuri docenti al riguardo. A tal fine è stato somministrato un questionario a 156 studenti del primo anno del corso di laurea in Scienze dell'Educazione Primaria presso l'Università XXX per rilevare le percezioni dei futuri docenti sull'AI. I risultati indicano che gli insegnanti con maggiori competenze nell'uso dell'AI esprimono percezioni più positive riguardo alla sua efficacia didattica, mentre quelli con competenze minori evidenziano preoccupazioni legate allo stress degli studenti e al tempo extra richiesto per la pianificazione. Queste differenze sottolineano l'importanza di una formazione adeguata per integrare l'AI nell'istruzione in modo efficace e consapevole.  This contribution explores the intersection between artificial intelligence (AI) and initial teacher training, focusing on perceptions and self-assessment of competencies in using AI technologies. Despite the growing integration of AI in education, few studies analyze the self-assessment of specific technological competencies and the perceptions of future teachers in this regard. To this end, a questionnaire was administered to 156 first-year students of the Primary Education Science degree program at XXX University to capture the future teachers' perceptions of AI. The results indicate that teachers with greater competencies in using AI express more positive perceptions regarding its educational effectiveness, while those with lesser competencies highlight concerns related to student stress and the extra time required for planning. These differences underscore the importance of adequate training to effectively and consciously integrate AI into education

Efficacia di un intervento didattico innovativo per il potenziamento del problem solving sugli studenti di origine straniera

The aim of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovativeteaching action based on evidence and on improving the problem solvingskills of students in last two years of primary school with particular referenceto the type of origin country.The methodological approach of the action and the results will be discussedfollowing to a brief overview of the theoretical framework and theadopted learning model. Regardless of the type of origin, the analysis of theresults showed significant differences in the outcomes of the students involvedin the research. Therefore, it contributes to define the teaching actionas particularly effective and inclusive.Obiettivo del presente contributo è valutare l’efficacia di un intervento didatticoinnovativo, basato su evidenze di ricerca, nel migliorare le competenzedi problem solving degli studenti degli ultimi due anni di scuola primaria,con particolare riferimento alla tipologia di origine degli stessi.Dopo una breve panoramica sul quadro teorico e sul modello di apprendimentoadottato, verrà esplicitata l’impostazione metodologica alla base dell’interventoe saranno descritti i risultati. L’analisi di quest’ultimi ha evidenziatodifferenze significative negli esiti degli studenti che hanno partecipatoalla ricerca, indipendentemente dalla tipologia di origine, e pertantocontribuisce a denotare l’intervento didattico come particolarmente efficaceed inclusivo

Accuracy of MRI skeletal age estimation for subjects 12–19. Potential use for subjects of unknown age

In forensic practice, there is a growing need for accurate methods of age estimation, especially in the cases of young individuals of unknown age. Age can be estimated through somatic features that are universally considered associated with chronological age. Unfortunately, these features do not always coincide with the real chronological age: for these reasons that age determination is often very difficult. Our aim is to evaluate accuracy of skeletal age estimation using Tomei's MRI method in subjects between 12 and 19 years old for forensic purposes. Two investigators analyzed MRI images of the left hand and wrist of 77 male and 74 female caucasian subjects, without chronic diseases or developmental disorders, whose age ranged from 12 to 19 years. Skeletal maturation was determined by two operators, who analyzed all MRI images separately, in blinded fashion to the chronological age. Inter-rater agreement was measured with Pearson (R (2)) coefficient. One of the examiners repeated the evaluation after 6 months, and intraobserver variation was analyzed. Bland-Altman plots were used to determine mean differences between skeletal and chronological age. Inter-rater agreement Pearson coefficient showed a good linear correlation, respectively, 0.98 and 0.97 in males and females. Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated that the differences between chronological and skeletal age are not significant. Spearman's correlation coefficient showed good correlation between skeletal and chronological age both in females (R (2) = 0.96) and in males (R (2) = 0.94). Our results show that MRI skeletal age is a reproducible method and has good correlation with chronological age