Colonialist and Decolonial Metaphors

This paper argues that metaphors and colonial phenomena are related. It focuses in particular on the implications of metaphor for the study of colonialism and for the struggle against it. The aim is to harness metaphor’s power for decolonial rather than colonial uses

La conoscenza dei Primati del Nuovo Mondo nell'Europa Rinascimentale

La ricerca ha analizzato il significato e il ruolo dei primati neotropicali (Infraordine Simiiformes, Parvorder Platyrrhini) nella cultura europea dei secoli XV e XVI. Attraverso l'analisi delle fonti iconografiche e quelle provenienti dalla storia istituzionale ed economica, si è cercato di ricostruire il processo d'importazione e le principali rotte di distribuzione dei primati (e di altri animali) provenienti dall'America Centrale e Meridionale. Il significato simbolico di alcune delle immagini è stato commentato e analizzato all'interno del contesto storico artistico di riferimento. Sono state inoltre analizzate criticamente le descrizioni dei primati che giungevano in Europa attraverso le cronache di viaggio dei primi esploratori delle Americhe. Alla luce dell'opera di due dei principali protagonisti delle scienze naturali del 1500, Gesner e Aldrovandi, si è osservato come queste nuove immagini e concetti furono recepiti ed elaborati in Europa. L'idea fondante della tesi è stata quindi quella di dare un primo contributo che venisse a colmare il vuoto storiografico che esiste sulla conoscenza dei primati del Nuovo Mondo nel Rinascimento, senza ovviamente poterlo esaurire data la sua vastità e complessità

Models and Methods for Automated Background Density Estimation in Hyperspectral Anomaly Detection

Detecting targets with unknown spectral signatures in hyperspectral imagery has been proven to be a topic of great interest in several applications. Because no knowledge about the targets of interest is assumed, this task is performed by searching the image for anomalous pixels, i.e. those pixels deviating from a statistical model of the background. According to the hyperspectral literature, there are two main approaches to Anomaly Detection (AD) thus leading to the definition of different ways for background modeling: global and local. Global AD algorithms are designed to locate small rare objects that are anomalous with respect to the global background, identified by a large portion of the image. On the other hand, in local AD strategies, pixels with significantly different spectral features from a local neighborhood just surrounding the observed pixel are detected as anomalies. In this thesis work, a new scheme is proposed for detecting both global and local anomalies. Specifically, a simplified Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT) decision strategy is derived that involves thresholding the background log-likelihood and, thus, only needs the specification of the background Probability Density Function (PDF). Within this framework, the use of parametric, semi-parametric (in particular finite mixtures), and non-parametric models is investigated for the background PDF estimation. Although such approaches are well known and have been widely employed in multivariate data analysis, they have been seldom applied to estimate the hyperspectral background PDF, mostly due to the difficulty of reliably learning the model parameters without the need of operator intervention, which is highly desirable in practical AD tasks. In fact, this work represents the first attempt to jointly examine such methods in order to asses and discuss the most critical issues related to their employment for PDF estimation of hyperspectral background with specific reference to the detection of anomalous objects in a scene. Specifically, semi- and non-parametric estimators have been successfully employed to estimate the image background PDF with the aim of detecting global anomalies in a scene by means of the use of ad hoc learning procedures. In particular, strategies developed within a Bayesian framework have been considered for automatically estimating the parameters of mixture models and one of the most well-known non-parametric techniques, i.e. the fixed kernel density estimator (FKDE). In this latter, the performance and the modeling ability depend on scale parameters, called bandwidths. It has been shown that the use of bandwidths that are fixed across the entire feature space, as done in the FKDE, is not effective when the sample data exhibit different local peculiarities across the entire data domain, which generally occurs in practical applications. Therefore, some possibilities are investigated to improve the image background PDF estimation of FKDE by allowing the bandwidths to vary over the estimation domain, thus adapting the amount of smoothing to the local density of the data so as to more reliably and accurately follow the background data structure of hyperspectral images of a scene. The use of such variable bandwidth kernel density estimators (VKDE) is also proposed for estimating the background PDF within the considered AD scheme for detecting local anomalies. Such a choice is done with the aim to cope with the problem of non-Gaussian background for improving classical local AD algorithms involving parametric and non-parametric background models. The locally data-adaptive non-parametric model has been chosen since it encompasses the potential, typical of non-parametric PDF estimators, in modeling data regardless of specific distributional assumption together with the benefits deriving from the employment of bandwidths that vary across the data domain. The ability of the proposed AD scheme resulting from the application of different background PDF models and learning methods is experimentally evaluated by employing real hyperspectral images containing objects that are anomalous with respect to the background

Genocide and Colonialism, II: Discussing a recent international conference on \u27Genocide and Colonialism\u27 and its implications for Australian debates

Lorenzo Veracini reviews a recent international conference on \u27Genocide and Colonialism\u27 and its implications for Australian debates

Gli isolanti riflettenti in edilizia. Un caso di studio: gli edifici del Centro Polifunzionale SANAC di Pisa

L'utilizzo degli isolanti riflettenti nel settore edilizio. Uno studio volto a determinare le prestazioni termiche degli isolanti sottili multiriflettenti posti in intercapedini d'aria non ventilate e il loro impiego nella ristrutturazione degli edifici E ed F del centro polifunzionale Sanac di Pisa. Studio delle prestazioni termiche ed energetiche dei fabbricati e loro certificazione energetica

Les représentations zoomorphiques de la carte de Pîrî Reis (1513)

In 1513 the famous Turkish navigator, geographer and cartographer, the admiral Pîrî Reis, drew a large planisphere showing the entire known world of the time. Today only a fragment of this work remains, conserved at the Topkapi Sarayi Museum in Istanbul (Turkey) and referred to as the Carte de l’Atlantique. This map represents one of the most controversial, mysterious and beautiful documents in the history of cartography. The aim of this study is to analyse the zoomorphic representations of the Pîrî Reis map, investigating the sources of their iconography as well as focusing on their zoologi cal and cultural meanings. We carried out a review of existing literature on this topic, attempting to provide an updated scientific interpretation of the animals portrayed, considering the zoological knowledge assumed to exist at the beginning of the 16th century and the probable cultural background of Pîrî Reis. Our interpretation demonstrates that many of the animals represented in the Pîrî Reis map conform to the European and Near-Eastern late medieval iconographic tradition. On the other hand, other zoomorphic representations, such as Caribbean parrots, appear unrelated to any previous source and could possibly have been copied from Columbus’ lost map.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

La colección de primates del Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Barcelona (España)

L'MCNB conserva un total de 309 exemplars de primats no humans. La col·lecció consta de 102 exemplars dissecats, 33 pells, 73 esquelets, 24 esquelets postcranials, vuit esquelets muntats, 54 cranis, tres animals sencers en alcohol i 31 mostres d'altres tipus (ossos o altres). Els darrers anys s'ha portat a terme una revisió completa i una reorganització de la col·lecció. Amb 39 gèneres, aquesta inclou una àmplia gamma de primats no humans. Conté mostres d'Àfrica, Àsia i Amèrica del Sud i Central, el 10,26% són estrepsirins, el 26,92% micos del Nou Món i el 62,18% micos del Vell Món. El Museu conserva algunes espècies en perill d'extinció o rares. En aquest treball es presenten els resultats de la revisió taxonòmica amb resultats actualitzats de les determinacions portades a terme, amb una llista completa de les mostres que inclou informació sobre l'edat, la classe i el tipus de mostra. Paraules clau: col·lecció de Ciències Naturals, primats, revisió.The Natural Science Museum of Barcelona (MCNB) houses a total of 309 specimens of non–human primates. The collection comprises 102 stuffed animals, 33 skins, 73 skeletons, 24 postcranial skeletons, eight mounted skeletons, 54 skulls, three whole animals in alcohol, and 31 other samples (bones and other). Over the last two years the collection has been completely reviewed and reorganized. The collection contains 39 genera and includes a wide range of extant non–human primates. It houses specimens from Africa, Asia and South and Central America, with 10.26% of samples being Strepsirrhines, 26.92% New World monkeys and 62.18% Old World monkeys. The Museum houses some endangered or rare species. In this work we present the contents of the recent review with new and pdated taxonomic attributions together with a complete list of samples that includes information on age, class and preservation status for each specimen. Key words: naturalistic collection, primates, review.El MCNB conserva un total de 309 ejemplares de primates no humanos. La colección consta de 102 ejemplares disecados, 33 pieles, 73 esqueletos, 24 esqueletos postcraneales, ocho esqueletos montados, 54 cráneos, tres animales enteros en alcohol, y 31 muestras de otro tipo (huesos y otros). En los últimos dos años se ha llevado a cabo una revisión completa y una reorganización de la colección. Con 39 géneros, la colección incluye una amplia gama de primates no humanos. Contiene muestras de África, Asia y América del Sur y Central, el 10,26% son estrepsirrinos, el 26,92% monos del Nuevo Mundo y el 62,18% del Viejo Mundo. El Museo alberga algunas especies en peligro de extinción o raras. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de la revisión taxonómica con resultados actualizados de las determinaciones llevadas a cabo, con una lista completa de las muestras incluyendo información sobre la edad, la clase y el tipo de muestra. Palabras clave: colección de Ciencias Naturales, primates, revisión

Shaping Landscapes: Thinking On the Interactions between People and Nature in Inter- and Postdisciplinary Narratives

This article addresses broad and plural concepts of landscape, considering its diversity of meanings and uses, which go far beyond its environmental and geographical connotations. It discusses the relationship between humanity and the rest of the natural world as a global process that combines physical and cultural aspects, and it seeks to highlight the contribution of environ mental humanities to the understanding of these. Given the multiple conceptual interpretations and meanings of landscapes, we argue that current research trends are good examples of what we can consider as postdisciplinary approaches, challenging both disciplinary and interdisciplinary models of analysis. In this context, we use the recent pandemic scenarios as an exampleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Use and trade of non-human animals in Portuguese overseas expansion (15th and 16th centuries): Evidence from Italian travellers

La storia umana è intimamente connessa al mondo degli animali non umani e la loro importanza ha in taluni casi influenzato o modificato profondamente la storia stessa. Gli aspetti culturali e simbolici di questa coesistenza s’intersecano con quelli legati alla cultura materiale e al ruolo che gli animali non umani hanno rivestito dal punto di vista alimentare, ludico ed economico nel corso dei millenni. Questo studio, partendo dalla narrativa di viaggio degli Italiani che a vario titolo presero parte all’espansione portoghese nei secoli XV e XVI, si è focalizzato sugli aspetti legati all’uso diretto e indiretto degli animali; in particolare analizza quei passi che forniscono evidenze dell’apporto che il commercio e l’uso degli animali non umani diede all’espansione portoghese.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Critical fluctuations and random-anisotropy glass transition in nematic elastomers

We carry out a detailed deuterium NMR study of local nematic ordering in polydomain nematic elastomers. This system has a close analogy to the random-anisotropy spin glass. We find that, in spite of the quadrupolar nematic symmetry in 3-dimensions requiring a first-order transition, the order parameter in the quenched ``nematic glass'' emerges via a continuous phase transition. In addition, by a careful analysis of the NMR line shape, we deduce that the local director fluctuations grow in a critical manner around the transition point. This could be the experimental evidence for the Aizenman-Wehr theorem about the quenched impurities changing the order of discontinuous transition