When orthography is not enough: the effect of lexical stress in lexical decision.

Three lexical decision experiments were carried out in Italian, in order to verify if stress dominance (the most frequent stress type) and consistency (the proportion and number of existent words sharing orthographic ending and stress pattern) had an effect on polysyllabic word recognition. Two factors were manipulated: whether the target word carried stress on the penultimate (dominant; graNIta, seNIle 'slush, senile') or on the antepenultimate (non-dominant) syllable (MISsile, BIbita 'missile, drink'), and whether the stress neighborhood was consistent (graNIta, MISsile) or inconsistent (seNIle, BIbita) with the word\u2019s stress pattern. In Experiment 1 words were mixed with nonwords sharing the word endings, which made words and nonwords more similar to each other. In Experiment 2 words and nonwords were presented in lists blocked for stress pattern. In Experiment 3 we used a new set of nonwords, which included endings with (stress) ambiguous neighborhoods and/or with low number of neighbors, and which were overall less similar to words. In all three experiments there was an advantage for words with penultimate (dominant) stress, and no main effect of stress neighborhood. However, the dominant stress advantage decreased in Experiments 2 and 3. Finally, in Experiment 4 the same materials used in Experiment 1 were also used in a reading aloud task, showing a significant consistency effect, but no dominant stress advantage. The influence of stress information in Italian word recognition is discussed

Order-disorder phase change in embedded Si nano-particles

We investigated the relative stability of the amorphous vs crystalline nanoparticles of size ranging between 0.8 and 1.8 nm. We found that, at variance from bulk systems, at low T small nanoparticles are amorphous and they undergo to an amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition at high T. On the contrary, large nanoparticles recover the bulk-like behavior: crystalline at low T and amorphous at high T. We also investigated the structure of crystalline nanoparticles, providing evidence that they are formed by an ordered core surrounded by a disordered periphery. Furthermore, we also provide evidence that the details of the structure of the crystalline core depend on the size of the nanoparticleComment: 8 pages, 5 figure

The Plant Simulator as viable means to prevent and manage risk through competencies management: Experiment results

AbstractMaking decisions and managing competences in complex systems is a challenging task to accomplish. Specifically, the process industry is known for its complexity and sensitivity to critical procedures. Recent disasters like the “Deepwater Horizon” (2010, 11 fatalities), BP Texas City (2005, 15 fatalities), and AZF Toulouse (2001, 29 fatalities), clearly showed the risk to which we are all exposed. The increasing complexity of processes, due to the simultaneous escalation of automation, optimisation and intensification processes (followed to face globalisation challenges), are moving the attention to the management of abnormal situations, which are even more complex in nature and frequent. This increasing complexity, coupled with the fact that abnormal situations may lead to irreversible losses, is imposing the adoption of adequate approaches and tools that allow for better learning and properly managing abnormal situations. The paper presents a simulation-enabled, experiment-based approach that can be used to prevent and manage risk through competencies management. More specifically, the paper presents the results of the first experiment campaign performed in a Plant Simulator (PS), the first known in the process industry domain, and shows the efficacy of using Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE) both to make decisions and to train teams (not just single operators).The experiment results presented in the paper show the effectiveness of IVE to increase the competencies and train operators and managers. In addition, they explain how conveniently the data collected by means of the PS can be used for making daily decisions to better prevent and manage risks

The Plant Simulator as viable means to prevent and manage risk through competencies management: Experiment results

Making decisions and managing competences in complex systems is a challenging task to accomplish. Specifically, the process industry is known for its complexity and sensitivity to critical procedures. Recent disasters like the ‘‘Deepwater Horizon” (2010, 11 fatalities), BP Texas City (2005, 15 fatalities), and AZF Toulouse (2001, 29 fatalities), clearly showed the risk to which we are all exposed. The increasing complexity of processes, due to the simultaneous escalation of automation, optimisation and intensification processes (followed to face globalisation challenges), are moving the attention to the management of abnormal situations, which are even more complex in nature and frequent. This increasing complexity, coupled with the fact that abnormal situations may lead to irreversible losses, is imposing the adoption of adequate approaches and tools that allow for better learning and properly managing abnormal situations. The paper presents a simulation-enabled, experiment-based approach that can be used to prevent and manage risk through competencies management. More specifically, the paper presents the results of the first experiment campaign performed in a Plant Simulator (PS), the first known in the process industry domain, and shows the efficacy of using Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE) both to make decisions and to train teams (not just single operators). The experiment results presented in the paper show the effectiveness of IVE to increase the competencies and train operators and managers. In addition, they explain how conveniently the data collected by means of the PS can be used for making daily decisions to better prevent and manage risks

New Elders, Old Divides: ICTs, Inequalities and Well-Being amongst Young Elderly Italians

Italia parece tener un retraso de unos diez años en comparación con otros países más digitalizados, tanto en el uso de las TIC por las personas mayores como en el estudio de la relación entre las TIC y los mayores de 65 años. Por ello, se hace urgente examinar los factores que influyen en la adopción de las tecnologías por los mayores y la capacidad real de estas para proporcionar recursos culturales e interactivos, útiles para mejorar el envejecimiento activo y mejorar su calidad de vida en salud y vida social. Este trabajo describe los principales resultados de un estudio que involucró a 900 italianos de 65 a 74 años, en el marco de un proyecto nacional de investigación sobre el envejecimiento activo. El estudio indaga en las características sociodemográficas de los mayores italianos usuarios de Internet y en los factores que influyen en el uso de las TIC. Los resultados evidencian que existe una fuerte brecha digital entre los mayores, influenciada por el contexto económico y cultural. En cuanto al envejecimiento activo, se demuestra que los mayores altamente digitales presentan una mejor vida saludable en su envejecimiento, sin poderse concluir que el uso de las TIC garantice la inclusión y participaciónWhen compared to more digitized western countries, Italy seems to have suffered a delay of ten years, in both the use of ICTs by the elderly and the study of the relation between elderly people, ICTs and ageing. Considering this time lapse, it is now urgent that we question the factors that influence the adoption of ICTs by the elderly and whether ICTs can provide cultural and relational resources that could improve the quality of life of elderly in terms of health and social life. This article describes the main findings of a survey carried out as part of a larger national research project focused on active ageing, which involved 900 Italian people aged between 65 and 74 years of age. The research investigates socio-demographic characteristics of young elderly Italian Internet users and factors related to their use of ICTs. Results have shown that there is a strong digital divide between young elderly Italians, which is primarly influenced –in terms of classical dynamics– by differences in economic, social and cultural capital. With regard to the theme of active ageing, if it is true that highly digitalized young elders are generally characterized by good health, at the present stage of this research it is not possible to indicate whether the adoption of ICTs guarantees social inclusion and participatio

New Elders, Old Divides: ICTs, Inequalities and Well Being amongst Young Elderly Italians

When compared to more digitized western countries, Italy seems to have suffered a delay of ten years, in both the use of ICTs by the elderly and the study of the relation between elderly people, ICTs and ageing. Considering this time lapse, it is now urgent that we question the factors that influence the adoption of ICTs by the elderly and whether ICTs can provide cultural and relational resources that could improve the quality of life of elderly in terms of health and social life. This article describes the main findings of a survey carried out as part of a larger national research project focused on active ageing, which involved 900 Italian people aged between 65 and 74 years of age. The research investigate socio-demographic characteristics of young elderly Italian Internet users and factors related to their use of ICTs. Results have shown that there is a strong digital divide between young elderly Italians, which is primarly influenced –in terms of classical dynamics– by differences in economic, social and cultural capital. With regard to the theme of active ageing, if it is true that highly digitalized young elders are generally characterized by good health, at the present stage of this research it is not possible to indicate whether the adoption of ICTs guarantees social inclusion and participation

The developmental trend of transposed letters effects in masked priming

In the current study, we investigated the development of trans- posed letter (TL) priming effects with masked priming. Recent studies have reported different and contrasting results concerning the age at which TL priming effects first appear and whether they tend to decline or increase with age. One of the aims of this study was to investigate the developmental trend of orthographic mech- anisms underlying the TL effects in Italian. We tested three groups of children (second, third, and fifth graders) and a group of adults with a sandwich masked priming procedure, presenting lists of tar- get words preceded by TL or replaced letter (RL) primes. TLs and RLs were either at the beginning (second\u2013third letters) or the end (fourth\u2013sixth letters) of primes in order to see whether the TL priming effect varied according to position in the letter string. We found that TL priming effects increased with age in both accu- racy and latency. No effect of position was found. The results are discussed in light of a possible difference in the development of orthographic mechanisms depending on the transparency of the language

Entanglement-Enhanced Optical Atomic Clocks

Recent developments in atomic physics have enabled the experimental generation of many-body entangled states to boost the performance of quantum sensors beyond the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL). This limit is imposed by the inherent projection noise of a quantum measurement. In this perspective article, we describe the commonly used experimental methods to create many-body entangled states to operate quantum sensors beyond the SQL. In particular, we focus on the potential of applying quantum entanglement to state-of-the-art optical atomic clocks. In addition, we present recently developed time-reversal protocols that make use of complex states with high quantum Fisher information without requiring sub-SQL measurement resolution. We discuss the prospects for reaching near-Heisenberg limited quantum metrology based on such protocols.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, perspective articl