Information Technologies and Social Media: New Scientific Methods for the Anthropocene

The development of technology during the Anthropocene has affected science and the ways of “doing science”. Nowadays, new technologies help scientists of several disciplines by facilitating knowledge and how to manage it, but also allow for collaborative science, the so-called “Social Science”, where everyone can be a scientist and be involved in providing data and knowledge by using a computer or a smartphone without being a specialist. But is it really that simple? Actually, the daily and integrated use of different digital technologies and sharing platforms, such as social media, requires important reflections. Such reflections can lead to a rethinking of epistemologies and scientific paradigms, both in human geography and social sciences. This volume titled “Information Technologies and Social Media: New Scientific Methods for the Anthropocene” includes 10 chapters exploring some changes related to the way to do science with a multidisciplinary approach. From classroom experiences to the use of Citizen Science, from Artificial Intelligence use to how Social Media can help researchers, the book reflects on the ICT influence during the last few decades, exploring different cases, complementary perspectives and point of views

Rappresentazioni e territorio nelle dinamiche del turismo: il caso della Lonely Planet Sicily

L’attuale dibattito sul riordino territoriale del Paese rende nuovamente centrale il concetto di territorio che, da sempre, in una prospettiva geografica pone problemi definitori. Esso può essere, infatti, oggetto di produzioni simboliche e (ri)semantizzazioni in grado di ridefinirlo e di creare specifiche modalità di interazione. A questo proposito, il presente lavoro intende proporre una riflessione su alcune dinamiche di produzione e riproduzione simbolica che interessano il concetto di territorio nel turismo, ambito in cui si può osservare una relazione diretta tra rappresentazione del territorio (intesa anche come narrazione) e possibilità d’azione. In particolare, attraverso il caso studio della guida turistica Lonely Planet 2017 in formato digitale dedicata alla Sicilia, che propone una frammentazione e una riaggregazione dell’isola in territori più piccoli, è possibile riflettere su una complessa dinamica dello spazio capace di ridefinire l’idea stessa di territorio. Attraverso l’utilizzo di testi e di carte geografiche che operano selezioni e sintesi, la guida compone un’antologia di destinazioni turisticamente omogenee e coerenti allo scopo di rendere l’alterità più accessibile ai propri lettori. L’analisi di alcune parti significative della guida mostra come (ri)produzioni simboliche di un territorio possono dare luogo a peculiari costruzioni delle località che rendono lo spazio performativo. In altri termini, la frammentazione e la riaggregazione del territorio siciliano, operate dalla guida, invitano i turisti a considerare una nuova geografia (narrata) e a interagire con essa pensando «da visitatori». Da una prospettiva geografico-culturale una riflessione su queste dinamiche permette di prendere in considerazione forme di testualizzazione in senso semiotico (ossia di messa in forma) della spazialità, mostrando alcune possibilità epistemologiche e gnoseologiche del concetto di territorio

The Four Axes of Palermo’s Commerce: a Geographical Perspective

Commercial dynamics within a city represent an excellent observatory desk to study urban transformation processes. These dynamics reflect the verticality and horizontality relational system, but also the exchanges and reciprocation of the cultural and socio-economic relations. From a geographical perspective it is interesting to detect cultural, social and economic changes both permanent and in evolution which constitute the urban pattern and shape its viability. This work originates in 2015 within the PRIN project (Relevant Interest National Project) “Commerce, consumption and the city: practices, planning and governance for urban inclusion, resilience and sustainability” which has studied some relevant commerce dynamics in Italian main cities. Here we focus on the case of Palermo, by analysing four important streets in the city center: via Maqueda, via Ruggero Settimo, viale della Libertà and via Lincoln. They represent significant cut outs of how consumers’ habits have developed in Palermo and have strongly characterized the present urban landscape by establishing a complex network of relations which shape the pattern of the city. By employing both a diacronical and synchronical approach, on one hand we analyse the evolution of the four axes. On the other hand, we illustrate the results of the research carried out by using questionnaires aimed to reveal the present conditions of the shops taking place through the business owners’ perception

Pontine tegmental cap dysplasia: developmental and cognitive outcome in three adolescent patients

Pontine Tegmental Cap Dysplasia (PTCD) is a recently described, rare disorder characterized by a peculiar cerebellar and brainstem malformation. Nineteen patients have been reported to date, of which only one in the adolescent age, and data on the clinical, cognitive and behavioural outcome of this syndrome are scarce

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

The Botanical Record of Archaeobotany Italian Network - BRAIN: a cooperative network, database and website

Con autorización de la revista para autores CSIC[EN] The BRAIN (Botanical Records of Archaeobotany Italian Network) database and network was developed by the cooperation of archaeobotanists working on Italian archaeological sites. Examples of recent research including pollen or other plant remains in analytical and synthetic papers are reported as an exemplar reference list. This paper retraces the main steps of the creation of BRAIN, from the scientific need for the first research cooperation to the website which has a free online access since 2015.Peer reviewe