A designed generation: Maker's maturity and social responsibility

The following paper is a first step towards a research path that investigates the role of the craftsman and new craftsmanship in the machine society. The research looks at the post-industrial panorama, the actors on stage and the effects that this revolution has brought, is bringing and can bring to the artisan activity. A context with a strong identity and a culture of know-how that has allowed, together with technological progress, the emergence of figures such as the Maker, the digital craftsman. A figure that is only recently beginning to proclaim itself as such, but still floating in a limbo of identity ambiguity. As uncertain instrument of this new 'productive group', also the technological potential risks failing its role. Craftsmanship and post-craftsmanship perhaps have the opportunity to cooperate in order to achieve a result greater than the sum of the parts

A three-arm current comparator bridge, for impedance comparisons over the complex plane

We present here the concept of three-arm current comparator impedance bridge, which allows comparisons among three unlike impedances. Its purpose is the calibration of impedances having arbitrary phase angles, against calibrated nearly-pure impedances. An analysis of the bridge optimal setting and proper operation is presented. To test the concept, a two terminal-pair digitally-assisted bridge has been realized; measurements of an air-core inductor and of an RC network versus decade resistance and capacitance standards, at kHz frequency, have been performed. The bridge measurements are compatible with previous knowledge of the standards' values with relative deviations in the 10^-5 -- 10^-6 range

Una città DIY: un’indagine su come i produttori romani, tra fabbricatori digitali, startup e Makers stanno definendo il proprio ruolo nel contesto urbano.

Di fronte alla serie delle recenti crisi globali, l'attuale modello di consumo e produzione ha messo in discussione molte pratiche finora implementate e l’approccio quantitativo diventa qualitativo (Morace, 2015). Riconoscendo nel contesto urbano un organismo in grado di ottimizzare le risorse infrastrutturali ed ecologiche (Micelli, 2016), le tecnologie aprono a modelli economici ed imprenditoriali alternativi di cultura partecipativa (Menichinelli, 2016) come strumento di coinvolgimento e di auto-organizzazione (Castells, 2000). La Ricerca analizza il panorama produttivo urbano, attraverso una serie di inchieste mirate all’identificazione di tipologie di prodotti e utenti prossimi alla cultura dei Maker, che soffrono ancora di una condizione di ambiguità identitaria ed economica (Philips, 2016) distinguendo anzitutto l’impegno delle iniziative pubbliche da quelle private e i ruoli ricoperti dai propri attori all’interno della rete cittadina

Primary Realization of Inductance and Capacitance Scales With a Fully Digital Bridge

This article describes an automated electronic fully digital bridge for the comparison of four-terminal-pair (4TP) impedance standards in the audio frequency range. The bridge relative accuracy, which is on the order of 10-6, makes it suitable as a reference bridge for the realization of primary scales of inductance and capacitance in metrology institutes and calibration laboratories. The performances of this bridge were validated by comparing the results of the calibrations of inductance and capacitance standards with those obtained from an existing analog reference system based on the three-voltage method. The article also reports the results of this validation

A Three-Arm Current Comparator Bridge for Impedance Comparisons Over the Complex Plane

We present here the concept of three-arm current comparator impedance bridge, which allows one to perform comparisons among three unlike impedances. Its purpose is the calibration of impedances having arbitrary phase angles against calibrated nearly pure impedances. An analysis of the bridge optimal setting and proper operation is presented. To test the concept, a two-terminal-pair digitally assisted bridge has been realized; preliminary measurements of an air-core inductor and of an RC network versus decadic resistance and capacitance standards, at kilohertz frequency, have been performed. The bridge measurements are compatible with previous knowledge of the standard values with relative deviations of parts in 10^{-5}

A Capacitance Build-Up Method to Determine LCR Meter Errors and Capacitance Transfer

We present a capacitance build-up method suitable for the determination of the measurement error of a capacitance meter. The method requires only a small number of uncalibrated base capacitors, to be connected in parallel in various combinations, and a single calibrated capacitor, which provides measurement traceability. The outcome of the method is both the determination of the meter error and the calibration of all the base capacitors; it can therefore be also considered a capacitance scaling method. The method's equations, cast in matrix form, express estimates and uncertainties for all the quantities of interest. As an example of application, a commercial LCR meter is calibrated in the ranges of (100-1000) pF and (1-10) nF at 1.6 and 10 kHz, with an accuracy at the level of a few parts in 10(6). The calibration is validated by comparison with an ultrahigh accuracy capacitance bridge

SMART-M3 v.0.9: A semantic event processing engine supporting information level interoperability in ambient intelligence

This tutorial is addressed to all students in Electronic Engineering and Information Engineering at the Scuola di Ingegneria e Architettura of the University of Bologna attending the following courses: Laboratory of Interoperability of Embedded Systems, "Calcolatori Elettronici M" and "Attività Progettuale di Calcolatori Elettronici M". This tutorial includes the guidelines to build distributed applications where clients may interact with physical space. Inter-client interaction occurs through a semantic event processing engine. Information interoperability is based on a shared knowledge representation model named ontology. This tutorial is focused on client design and on the SPARQL primitives that provide the means for client-event processing engine interaction

Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score and the risk of mortality or impaired physical function in stroke patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims: The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score is a tool for assessing the risk of malnutrition (undernutrition) that can be calculated from albumin concentration, total peripheral lymphocyte count, and total cholesterol concentration. CONUT score has been proposed as a promising prognostic marker in several clinical settings; however, a consensus on its prognostic value in patients with stroke is lacking. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the relationship between CONUT score and clinical outcomes in patients with stroke based on all current available studies. Data synthesis: Systematic research on PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science from inception to February 2023 was performed on the association between CONUT score and clinical outcomes in patients with stroke. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses were followed. Methodological quality was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment tool. Pooled effect estimation was calculated by a random-effect model. Through the initial literature search, 15 studies (all high-quality) including 16 929 patients were found to be eligible and analysed in the meta-analysis. A significant risk of malnutrition (in most studies defined by a CONUT score ≥5) was directly associated with mortality, higher risk of poor functional outcome according to the modified Rankin Scale and total infection development. Evidence was consistent for acute ischaemic stroke and preliminary for acute haemorrhagic stroke. Conclusion: CONUT score is an independent prognostic indicator, and it is associated with major disability and infection development during hospitalisation. Prospero id: CRD42022306560

Urban Manufacturing Policy Toolkit: strategie per la progettazione e produzione partecipata tra maker, designer, imprese e istituzioni

A seguito della diffusione dei makerspaces, oggi molte amministrazioni intendono valorizzarne tanto l’uso di nuovi strumenti quanto il fenomeno sociale per promuovere un modello di città resiliente. Il progetto europeo descritto si basa sul presupposto che sia necessario intervenire al livello di politiche locali per supportare le attività di progettazione e produzione diffusa, e propone un format che analizza l’ecosistema dei makerspaces in una città/regione, per poi formulare proposte operative a sostegno delle attività innovative di impatto economico-sociale. Tale toolkit viene applicato nelle 8 città europee del partenariato. Il contributo si focalizza sui risultati parziali ottenuti in uno dei territori coinvolti di cui si è indagato l’ecosistema maker. I risultati dell’indagine evidenziano che la già buona diffusione delle tecnologie va supportata da una altrettanto diffusa cultura di Design, come strumento di potenziamento di maker e cittadini come consumatori responsabili