Can Archaeology's "Ritualistic and Symbolic Artefacts" be interpreted semiotically?

[Abstract] Archaeologists are often content to leave an interpretation of material culture at the point of recognising symbolic behaviours. However, new archaeological researches are expanding our knowledge of the past towards the non-material and what is not immediately visible in the archaeological record. Phenomenological studies in particular are expanding our knowledge to the perceived human environment. Computer reconstructions expand the architectural and artificial environment while archaeobotanical and archaeozoological researches reveal ancient natural environments. The focus of archaeological research is moving from the study of the materials retrieved during excavations to past landscapes that are being filled with plants, animals, objects and ultimately people in addition to the monuments and geographical features. Linking specific objects to particular functions is a way to reconstruct past activities as well as gestures. The final consumption of an object can also reveal quite specific actions. For instance, the deposition of objects in a grave might be better defined than an offering. Artefacts connected to power or religion will embed symbolic meanings that might be revealed by analysing them as part of semiotically interpretable behaviours. I shall present some examples where semiotics can help archaeologists go beyond explanations regarding ritual and symbolic meanings, in particular taking the Minoan palace of Knossos as case-study

Design and evaluation in the large of health apps for the general population with case studies in mindfulness, neurological and psychological assessment

Nowadays, there is a high number of health apps, i.e. apps aimed at helping people learn, track and improve health conditions and behaviors, available on on-line app stores, such as Apple\u2019s App Store and Google Play, as well as on social networks, such as Facebook. However, very few of these apps have been created by healthcare experts or have been scientifically evaluated, posing the risk that they might be ineffective or even detrimental to people. In this thesis, we have explored how HCI design and evaluation methods can be applied for proposing effective health apps that target the general population. In particular, we focused on three domains, i.e. (i) mindfulness, (ii) psychological assessment, and (iii) neurological assessment, and proposed an app for each domain. Then, to improve their design or assess their efficacy in different contexts of use, we carried out quantitative and qualitative short- and long-term studies. To this purpose, we employed traditional HCI user-centered design methods, i.e. lab and in situ studies, as well as a recently proposed method, i.e. research in the large, to possibly recruit a large number of users. In the thesis, for each proposed health app, we discuss the results of the evaluations we carried out, as well as pointing out strengths and limitations of the particular study methodology employed. Finally, we outline possible future wor

The effect of X-ray dust-scattering on a bright burst from the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408

A bright burst, followed by an X-ray tail lasting ~10 ks, was detected during an XMM-Newton observation of the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 carried out on 2009 February 3. The burst, also observed by SWIFT/BAT, had a spectrum well fit by the sum of two blackbodies with temperatures of ~4 keV and 10 keV and a fluence in the 0.3-150 keV energy range of ~1e-5 erg/cm2. The X-ray tail had a fluence of ~4e-8 erg/cm2. Thanks to the knowledge of the distances and relative optical depths of three dust clouds between us and 1E 1547.0-5408, we show that most of the X-rays in the tail can be explained by dust scattering of the burst emission, except for the first ~20-30 s. We point out that other X-ray tails observed after strong magnetar bursts may contain a non-negligible contribution due to dust scattering.Comment: 8 pages, 2 tables and 10 figures; accepted to publication in MNRA

T4Tags 2.0: a tool to support the serendipitous use of domestic technologies

The authors present an iterative design exploration to support serendipitous uses of technology: quick reconfigurations of the domestic environment to address inhabitants' current needs, whether they are transient and ephemeral or more habitual. As a result of this exploration, the authors developed T4Tags 2.0, an open-ended toolkit for programming Web-connected and versatile physical tokens embedded with different sensing technologies (including near field communication, physical buttons, and motion and environmental sensors) and can be easily integrated with existing artifacts. The design of the toolkit was informed by fieldwork that provided design drivers for domestic technologies that can be repurposed or appropriated through features such as end-user programming of device behavior and crowd-fueled appropriation by sharing "recipes" of programmed tokens. A user study with three families provides insights into system usefulness and the recipe-sharing functionality. The authors also discuss opportunities and challenges, reflecting on the tradeoffs of an open system in terms of user engagement, creative input, and real-world deployment. This article is part of a special issue on domestic pervasive computing.This research has been partially funded by the 2015 UC3M Post-Doc Mobility Scholarship and by the Academy of Finland (286440, Evidence

Augmenting objects at home through programmable sensor tokens: A design journey

End-user development for the home has been gaining momentum in research. Previous works demonstrate feasibility and potential but there is a lack of analysis of the extent of technology needed and its impact on the diversity of activities that can be supported. We present a design exploration with a tangible end-user toolkit for programming smart tokens embedding different sensing technologies. Our system allows to augment physical objects with smart tags and use trigger-action programming with multiple triggers to define smart behaviors. We contribute through a field-oriented study that provided insights on (i) household's activities as emerging from people's lived experience in terms of high-level goals, their ephemerality or recurrence, and the types of triggers, actions and interactions with augmented objects, and (ii) the programmability needed for supporting desired behaviors. We conclude that, while trigger action covers most scenarios, more advanced programming and direct interaction with physical objects spur novel uses.This work was supported by the 2015 UC3M Mobility Grant, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (TIN2014-56534-R, CREAx) and by the Academy of Finland (286440, Evidence)

Organizational Life Cycle Assessment: The Introduction of the Production Allocation Burden

none5noneManzardo, Alessandro; Loss, Andrea; Niero, Monia; Vianello, Chiara; Scipioni, Antonio*Manzardo, Alessandro; Loss, Andrea; Niero, Monia; Vianello, Chiara; Scipioni, Antoni

3D Digitization and Web Publishing of an ISMAR Cartographic Heritage: Historical Maps of Venice Lagoon

Recently a collection of ancient maps was found in the Institute of Marine Sciences of CNR in Venice. The collection includes maps, perspective views, pilot books and ancient manuscripts: this work took into account a selection of maps and documents representing the Venice Lagoon and the Adriatic coast. The first part of this research focused on the application of a scientific method for digital acquisition of historical cartography; thanks to the Geomatic tools and especially to digital photogrammetry it is possible to acquire metric, semantic and symbolic information and also the three-dimensional shape of the geometrical support to correct the deformations occurred over time. In order to allow historical and morphological analysis of the Venice Lagoon, one of the main goals of this research will be the creation of a digital catalogue on a web-gis platform with all the ancient maps acquired. In this way it will be possible to query and to overlap the maps in an interactive way, allowing studies and comparisons with the more recent cartography. The applied procedure of recovery and valorization of historical cartography is divided into three different phases: acquisition, georeferencing and data elaboration of maps in a digital environment. This research underlines the application of a scientific procedure for the conservation and valorization of the historical Cartographic Heritage

Is heart transplantation a real option in patients with Duchenne syndrome? Inferences from a case report

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Practical approach to respiratory emergencies in neurological diseases

Many neurological diseases may cause acute respiratory failure (ARF) due to involvement of bulbar respiratory center, spinal cord, motoneurons, peripheral nerves, neuromuscular junction, or skeletal muscles. In this context, respiratory emergencies are often a challenge at home, in a neurology ward, or even in an intensive care unit, influencing morbidity and mortality. More commonly, patients develop primarily ventilatory impairment causing hypercapnia. Moreover, inadequate bulbar and expiratory muscle function may cause retained secretions, frequently complicated by pneumonia, atelectasis, and, ultimately, hypoxemic ARF. On the basis of the clinical onset, two main categories of ARF can be identified: (i) acute exacerbation of chronic respiratory failure, which is common in slowly progressive neurological diseases, such as movement disorders and most neuromuscular diseases, and (ii) sudden-onset respiratory failure which may develop in rapidly progressive neurological disorders including stroke, convulsive status epilepticus, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, phrenic neuropathy, myasthenia gravis, and Guillain-Barr\ue9 syndrome. A tailored assistance may include manual and mechanical cough assistance, noninvasive ventilation, endotracheal intubation, invasive mechanical ventilation, or tracheotomy. This review provides practical recommendations for prevention, recognition, management, and treatment of respiratory emergencies in neurological diseases, mostly in teenagers and adults, according to type and severity of baseline disease