De-Fragmenting Knowledge: Using Metadata for Interconnecting Courses

E-learning systems are often based on the notion of "course": an interconnected set of resources aiming at presenting material related to a particular topic. Course authors do provide external links to related material. Such external links are however "frozen" at the time of publication of the course. Metadata are useful for classifying and finding e-learning artifacts. In many cases, metadata are used by Learning Management Systems to import, export, sequence and present learning objects. The use of metadata by humans is in general limited to a search functionality, e.g. by authors who search for material that can be reused. We argue that metadata can be used to enrich the interconnection among courses, and to present to the student a richer variety of interconnected resources. We implemented a system that presents an instance of this idea

Non-native children speech recognition through transfer learning

This work deals with non-native children's speech and investigates both multi-task and transfer learning approaches to adapt a multi-language Deep Neural Network (DNN) to speakers, specifically children, learning a foreign language. The application scenario is characterized by young students learning English and German and reading sentences in these second-languages, as well as in their mother language. The paper analyzes and discusses techniques for training effective DNN-based acoustic models starting from children native speech and performing adaptation with limited non-native audio material. A multi-lingual model is adopted as baseline, where a common phonetic lexicon, defined in terms of the units of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), is shared across the three languages at hand (Italian, German and English); DNN adaptation methods based on transfer learning are evaluated on significant non-native evaluation sets. Results show that the resulting non-native models allow a significant improvement with respect to a mono-lingual system adapted to speakers of the target language

Dealing with the aftermath of mass disasters. A field study on the application of EMDR integrative group treatment protocol with child survivors of the 2016 Italy earthquakes

This study explored the effects of the EMDR Integrative Group Treatment Protocol (EMDR-IGTP) on child survivors of the earthquakes that struck Umbria, a region of central Italy, on August 24th and on October 26th 2016. Three hundred and thirty-two children from the town of Norcia and nearby severely disrupted villages received 3 cycles of EMDR-IGTP. The Emotion Thermometers (ET-5) and the Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13) were administered before (T0) and about 1 week after the conclusion of the third cycle (T3) of EMDR-IGTP. At T3, older children showed a reduction of distress and anger, whereas younger children reported an increase on these domains; moreover, older children reported a greater reduction of anxiety than younger ones. A greater reduction of distress, anxiety, and need for help was evidenced in females, whereas a greater improvement in depressive symptoms was evidenced in males. The effects of the EMDR-IGTP treatment on post-traumatic symptoms were particularly evident in older children, compared to younger ones, and marginally greater in females than in males; moreover, a greater improvement was found in children who had received a timelier intervention, than in those who received delayed treatment. These results provide further evidence for the utility of EMDR-IGTP in dealing with the extensive need for mental health services in mass disaster contexts. Also, these data highlight the importance of providing EMDR-IGTP in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, to contribute significantly in restoring adaptive psychological functioning in children, especially in older ones

Pseudospin Magnetism in Graphene

We predict that neutral graphene bilayers are pseudospin magnets in which the charge density-contribution from each valley and spin spontaneously shifts to one of the two layers. The band structure of this system is characterized by a momentum-space vortex which is responsible for unusual competition between band and kinetic energies leading to symmetry breaking in the vortex core. We discuss the possibility of realizing a pseudospin version of ferromagnetic metal spintronics in graphene bilayers based on hysteresis associated with this broken symmetry.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; added figure 1, modified introduction and discussion; updated reference

Identità, evoluzione ed organizzazione interna di programmi poetico-musicali nelle raccolte rinascimentali italiane di madrigali e canzonette di diversi autori

The bibliography on the Italian secular polyphony of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which describes the repertoire in the editions of various authors (compared to that of the books of a single composer) has remained until today the least known, the least up-to-date, despite the efforts of several talented scholars. Relegated to a secondary section from the first Vogel (1892) and authoritatively revised by Alfred Einstein (1962), it was systematically 'baffled' by the musicology due to its varied complexity, with only some rare but partial exception (Lincoln, Lewis, Bernstein). Neither the New Vogel (1977), which had prudently evaded this gigantic repertoire – apart from some strange inclusions (Balbi, Barré, Doni etc.) –, has been updated in the last 35 years. Also the huge effort of the RISM (B/I) catalogue gives no assurance of completeness or noteworthy usefulness until, for example, the problem of the over one thousand anonymous or 'Of uncertain author' songs that disseminate the history of printed vocal music of the '500 /' 600 is fully addressed. This means that to date the scholar who wants to consciously examine the genesis, the movement and the historical first-hand records on a given song, or on the songs of a collective book (which we have defined UBI for brevity) has to go through the not-indexed list of more than eight thousand songs-texts. Many studies, although limited to individual books, have documented the wealth of musical, literary, linguistic, geographical, professional proposals of this section, feeling the need of a larger organization without doing nothing to overcome this situation. The study and research of a single Italian scholar has finally remedied this binding necessity with a complete indexing of books, texts, dedications, internal notes in the books and the original documents provided by that repertory: this new bibliographical tool is called RIM (Italian Renaissance music). The full transcript of more than the 98% of the texts set to music in this repertoire, with the necessary computerized and digitized supports, allows the entire historiography on the Renaissance to progress its studies and research, not only in the identification of several hundreds of songs so far anonymous, but in many fields of the entire historiography of music in the age of the Italian madrigal. Carrying out a systematic investigation on the compilatory organization of the UBI has been possible only thanks to the availability of the RIM. This thesis therefore represents the systematic investigation on anthologies (choices of already known songs) and on edizioni collettive (collective editions are books of original songs) appropriately arranged in order to form programs and courses coherent in sense with the intentions of the coordinators, compilers-dedicators, artists who have compiled them to honour and illustrate their own community with music and poetry. About 150 books examined allow us to identify a previously unknown wealth of collective proposals and ingenious text-music organization to be seen as 'Libretto' ante litteram before the advent of melodrama.La bibliographie sur la polyphonie profane italienne des XVIe et XVIIe siècles, qui décrit aussi le répertoire des éditions de plusieurs auteurs (par rapport à des livres d'un seul compositeur) est restée jusqu'à aujourd'hui la moins connue, la moins cataloguée et la moins mise à jour malgré les efforts des nombreux chercheurs talentueux. Reléguée à une section secondaire du «Vecchio Vogel» (1892) et révisé avec autorité par Alfred Einstein (1962), sa complexité variée a été éludée par la musicologie systématique, avec quelques exceptions rares, mais partielles (Lincoln, Lewis Bernstein.) Le Nuovo Vogel (1977), qui avait prudemment évité ce vaste répertoire 'collectif', non sans certaines inclusions incorrectes (Balbi, Barré, Doni etc.), n’a toujours pas été mis à jour, plus de 35 ans après sa sortie. Même le grand effort de catalogage RISM (B/I) ne donne aucune garantie d'exhaustivité ni d’utilité suffisante, car il n’affronte pas de manière systématique, par exemple, les problèmes de l'anonymat de plus de mille pièces, ou ce ‘Di incerto autore’ dispersé dans l'histoire de la musique vocale imprimée au Renaissance. Cela signifie qu'à ce jour, le savant qui veut examiner consciemment la genèse, le mouvement et la documentation historique de première main sur une pièce donnée, ou sur les madrigaux d'un livre collectif (que par souci de concision, nous avons défini UBI) doit feuilleter un répertoire de plus de huit mille textes de madrigaux. (UBI et uesi sont des néologismes pour décrire le répertoire que nous étudions). De nombreuses études, bien que limitées à certains livres, ont documenté la richesse musicale, littéraire, linguistique, géographique et professionnelle de ce grand répertoire de pièces de musique, ressentant le besoin d'un ordre plus important, sans que rien de tel n'ait été fait. À ce besoin urgent a répondu un travail du présent auteur consacré à l'indexation complète des livres, des textes, des dédicaces, des notes internes et des documents originaux que ce répertoire présente: ce nouvel outil bibliographique est appelé RIM (musique de la Renaissance italienne). La transcription intégrale de plus de 98% des textes mis en musique dans ce répertoire avec le nécessaire soutien informatisé et numérisé permet à tous ceux qui s'occupent de l'historiographie musicale italienne de la Renaissance non seulement d’identifier d'un grand nombre de pièces jusqu'aujourd'hui anonymes, mais constitue aussi un progrès dans de nombreux domaines du madrigal italien. Ce n’est qu’une fois que le RIM a été disponible qu’il a été possible de mener une enquête systématique sur l'organisation interne des UBI. Cette thèse est donc une recherche systématique sur l'organisation interne des anthologies (que l’on définit ici comme un choix de chansons déjà connues) et des edizioni collettive (à la différence des anthologies, les éditions collectives contiennent un choix de chansons originales), disposées de manière appropriée afin d'identifier et d'offrir des programmes structurés selon les intentions des coordinateurs-compilateurs, ou de celui qui signe la dédicace, ou encore des artistes qui les ont compilées dans le but d'honorer et d'illustrer leur propre communauté. Environ 150 livres étudiés nous permettent d'identifier une richesse jusque-là inconnue de propositions collectives et d'ingénieuses organisations texte-musique, qui conduisent à la fin de la période à la création du livret d'opéra ante litteram avant l'avènement même du mélodrame.La bibliografia relativa alla polifonia profana italiana cinque/secentesca che descrive anche il repertorio contenuto nelle edizioni di vari autori (rispetto a quello dei libri di un solo compositore) è rimasta fino ad oggi la meno nota, la meno aggiornata e la meno catalogata nonostante gli sforzi di valenti studiosi. Relegata in una sezione secondaria fin dal primo Vogel (1892) e rivista autorevolmente da Alfred Einstein(1962), nella sua complessità variegata è stata ‘elusa’ sistematicamente dalla musicologia, con qualche rara ma, in ogni caso, parziale eccezione (Lincoln, Lewis, Bernstein.) Nemmeno il Nuovo Vogel (NV,1977), il quale aveva prudenzialmente eluso deliberatamente questo vasto repertorio, non senza qualche strana inclusione (Balbi, Barré, Doni ecc.), alla distanza d'un tempo pari ad un ‘mezzo cammin di nostra vita’, non è stato più aggiornato. Per analoghe ragioni l'ingente sforzo catalografico del RISM B/I non si rivela di soverchia utilità, né dà certezza di completezza, finché, per esempio, non si affronti in modo sistematico il problema degli oltre mille brani adespoti o ‘Di incerto autore’ che disseminano la storia della musica vocale profana stampata fino al 1700. Ciò significa che a tutt’oggi lo studioso che voglia esaminare coscientemente la genesi, la circolazione e la documentazione storica di prima mano su un determinato brano, (o sui brani di un libro collettivo, che per brevità abbiamo definito UBI) deve passare in rassegna l'intero repertorio non indicizzato di oltre ottomila brani/testi. (UBI e uesi sono neologismi da noi ideati, che sono discussi nel primo capitolo della tesi, funzionali a descrivere il repertorio indagato). Molti studi, ancorché limitati a singoli libri collettivi, hanno documentato la ricchezza di proposte musicali, letterarie, linguistiche, geografiche e professionali di questa sezione di repertorio vocale, segnalando la necessità di un più ampio ordinamento, senza che nulla di tutto ciò sia stato fatto. Lo studio e la ricerca di uno singolo studioso italiano ha finalmente dato una risposta - creando una base di dati, cioè uno strumento informatico - che ha, almeno in parte, sanato questa esigenza davvero inderogabile, con un’indicizzazione completa dei frontespizi, dei testi poetici, delle dediche, delle documentazioni originali e delle note interne dei libri collettivi che tale repertorio presenta: questo nuovo strumento bibliografico si chiama RIM (Rinascimento Musicale Italiano). La trascrizione integrale, con i necessari supporti informatici digitalizzati, di oltre il 98% dei testi messi in musica di questo repertorio consente all’intera storiografia musicale un sicuro progresso non solo nella migliore identificazione dei brani già noti (e soprattutto di un buon numero di anonimi), ma anche di cogliere e fornire una visione complessiva del fenomeno in numerosi campi della storiografia musicale del ’5/'600. Con il RIM è stato possibile procedere all'indagine sistematica sull'organizzazione compilativa delle singole UBI. Questa tesi è quindi l'indagine sistematica sulle anthologie (scelte di brani già noti) e sulle edizioni collettive cioè libri di brani originali, disposti in modo idoneo a costituire programmi e percorsi di senso strutturati secondo le intenzioni dei coordinatori-dedicatori, artisti che le hanno compilate con lo scopo precipuo di onorare ed illustrare la propria comunità tramite la musica e la poesia. I circa 150 libri esaminati in maniera completa ci permettono di segnalare un'ideale ricchezza di proposte collettive e di geniale organizzazione testo-musica finora sconosciuta. È un'organizzazone che si configura come 'Libretto' ante litteram di opere musicali ben prima dell'avvento stesso del melodramma

La valutazione del capitale intellettuale

Intellectual capital is gaining in importance over the years, evolving from a "needed to win" resource, necessary to control the market, into a "needed to play" resource, namely an essential element for the survival of the firm. This evolution has led to innovations in accounting concepts, methods and tools. This work offers a critical analysis of the main methods and tools for the evaluation of the intellectual capital, of the potentials and limits of the various evaluation models proposed by the doctrine and the practice. A business case study completes the book

A Cross-Entropy Approach to the Estimation of Generalised Linear Multilevel Models

In this paper we use the cross-entropy method for noisy optimisation for fitting generalised linear multilevel models through maximum likelihood. We propose specifications of the instrumental distributions for positive and bounded parameters that improve the computational performance. We also introduce a new stopping criterion, which has the advantage of being problem-independent. In a second step we find, by means of extensive Monte Carlo experiments, the most suitable values of the input parameters of the algorithm. Finally, we compare the method to benchmark estimation technique based on numerical integration. The cross-entropy approach turns out to be preferable from both the statistical and the computational point of view. In the last part of the paper, the method is used to model death probability of firms in the healthcare industry in Italy

The Role of Electron-electron Interactions in Graphene ARPES Spectra

We report on a theoretical study of the influence of electron-electron interactions on ARPES spectra in graphene that is based on the random-phase-approximation and on graphene's massless Dirac equation continuum model. We find that level repulsion between quasiparticle and plasmaron resonances gives rise to a gap-like feature at small k. ARPES spectra are sensitive to the electron-electron interaction coupling strength $\alpha_{\rm gr}$ and might enable an experimental determination of this material parameter.Comment: 5 Pages, 4 Figures, Submitte

Plasmon mass and Drude weight in strongly spin-orbit-coupled 2D electron gases

Spin-orbit-coupled two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) are a textbook example of helical Fermi liquids, i.e. quantum liquids in which spin (or pseudospin) and momentum degrees-of-freedom at the Fermi surface have a well-defined correlation. Here we study the long-wavelength plasmon dispersion and the Drude weight of archetypical spin-orbit-coupled 2DEGs. We first show that these measurable quantities are sensitive to electron-electron interactions due to broken Galileian invariance and then discuss in detail why the popular random phase approximation is not capable of describing the collective dynamics of these systems even at very long wavelengths. This work is focussed on presenting approximate microscopic calculations of these quantities based on the minimal theoretical scheme that captures the basic physics correctly, i.e. the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation. We find that interactions enhance the "plasmon mass" and suppress the Drude weight. Our findings can be tested by inelastic light scattering, electron energy loss, and far-infrared optical-absorption measurements.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, submitte