This book highlights recent advances in thin-film photonics, particularly as building blocks of metamaterials and metasurfaces. Recent advances in nanophotonics has demonstrated remarkable control over the electromagnetic field by tailoring the optical properties of materials at the subwavelength scale which results in the emergence of metamaterials and metasurfaces. However, most of the proposed platforms require intense lithography which makes them of minor practical relevance. Stacked ultrathin-films of dielectrics, semi-conductors, and metals are introduced as an alternative platform that perform unique or similar functionalities. This book discusses the new era of thin film photonics and its potential applications in perfect and selective light absorption, structural coloring, biosensing, enhanced spontaneous emission, reconfigurable photonic devices and super lensing.
The first English translation of a comprehensive legal history of Europe from the early middle ages to the twentieth century, encompassing both the common aspects and the original developments of different countries. As well as legal scholars and professionals, it will appeal to those interested in the general history of European civilisation.
This book highlights recent advances in thin-film photonics, particularly as building blocks of metamaterials and metasurfaces. Recent advances in nanophotonics has demonstrated remarkable control over the electromagnetic field by tailoring the optical properties of materials at the subwavelength scale which results in the emergence of metamaterials and metasurfaces. However, most of the proposed platforms require intense lithography which makes them of minor practical relevance. Stacked ultrathin-films of dielectrics, semi-conductors, and metals are introduced as an alternative platform that perform unique or similar functionalities. This book discusses the new era of thin film photonics and its potential applications in perfect and selective light absorption, structural coloring, biosensing, enhanced spontaneous emission, reconfigurable photonic devices and super lensing.
This book studies how autonomous aerial robots physically interact with the surrounding environment. Intended to promote the advancement of aerial physical interaction, it analyzes a particular class of aerial robots: tethered aerial vehicles. By examining specific systems, while still considering the challenges of the general problem, it will help readers acquire the knowledge and expertise needed for the subsequent development of more general methods applicable to aerial physical interaction. The formal analysis covers topics ranging from control, state estimation, and motion planning, to experimental validation. Addressing both theoretical and technical aspects, the book is intended for a broad academic and industrial readership, including undergraduate students, researchers and engineers. It can be used as a teaching reference, or as the basis for product development.
Corrosion-resistant, electromagnetic transparent and lightweight fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) are accepted as valid alternatives to steel in concrete reinforcement. Reinforced Concrete with FRP Bars: Mechanics and Design, a technical guide based on the authors more than 30 years of collective experience, provides principles, algorithms, and pr
Raffaella De Luca, Miguel Angel Cau Ontiveros, Domenico Miriello, Alessandra Pecci, Emilia Le Pera, Andrea Bloise and Gino Mirocle Crisci, Archaeometric study of mortars and plasters from the Roman City of Pollentia (Mallorca - Balearic Islands) Fabio Fratini, Andrea Cagnini, Simone Porcinai, Paola Lorenzi and Stefano Pasolini, An unusual mortar with a magnesium binder in the Perseus of Giovan Battista Pieratti in Boboli Gardens (Florence) Alessandra Pecci, Almost ten years of plasters residue analysis in Italy: activity areas and the function of structures Cristiana Nunes, Zuzana Slížková and Dana Křivánková, Lime-based mortars with linseed oil: sodium chloride resistance assessment and characterization of the degraded material Maria Elena Moschella, Walter Canavesio, Mariano Cristellotti and Emanuele Costa, Investigation about ancient mortars and plasters in the Mondovì cathedral (Cuneo, Italy) Vincenzina La Spina, Fabio Fratini, Emma Cantisani, Camilla Mileto and Fernando Vegas López-Manzanares, The ancient gypsum mortars of the historical façades in the city center of Valencia (Spain) Alessandra Bonazza, Chiara Ciantelli, Alessandro Sardella, Elena Pecchioni, Orlando Favoni, Irene Natali and Cristina Sabbioni, Characterization of hydraulic mortars from archaeological complexes in Petra Letizia Bonizzoni, Valentina Brunello and Simone Caglio, Scientific analyses beyond the excavation: studies for a non invasive preliminary approach Rossella Agostino, Germana Barone, Paolo Mazzoleni, Simona Raneri, Giuseppe Sabatino and Maria Maddalena Sica, Mortars and plasters from the Bruttii - Roman city of Taureana (Palmi, RC, Italy) - preliminary data Deodato Tapete, Fabio Fratini, Barbara Mazzei, Emma Cantisani and Elena Pecchioni, Petrographic study of lime-based mortars and carbonate incrustation processes of mural paintings in Roman catacombs Nadia Bianco, Angela Calia, Giampiero Denotarpietro and Pietro Negro, Hydraulic mortar and problems related to the suitability for restoration Sergio Sfrecola, Stefano Vassallo and Paola Parodi, Genoese “intonachino” plasters between the 12th and the 18th century: archaeometric analyses Claudia Pelosi, Ulderico Santamaria, Giorgia Agresti, Giulia De Vivo and Davide Bandera, Analysis and laboratory tests to evaluate the composition and the behaviour of some dehumidifying mortars used in the restoration field
This monograph overviews the importance of electrochemistry in the field of cultural heritage, including archaeology, conservation and restoration topics. The application of electrochemical techniques in these domains have experienced a notable growth during the last ten years, in particular with regards to the elucidation of composition, manufacturing techniques and chronology of archaeological artefacts. This book describes the application of solid state electrochemistry techniques for the use of samples at the nanogram level from paintings, metallic, ceramic, glass, glazed, wooden, and other objects, and it also includes the description of new dating procedures for archaeological objects made of these materials. It is a valuable contribution to the field of cultural heritage and will be of great interest to archaeologists, conservators and restorers as well as to physicists and chemists working on the scientific examination of works of art.
The Mediterranean sea has been a key geopolitical territory in the global international relations of the twentieth century; of crucial importance to the US, the Middle East and in the history of the EU. As Cold War documents become declassified and these archives become accessible to western historians, this volume reassesses the secret war waged over three decades for control of the Mediterranean Sea. An 'American lake' in the 1950s, a battlefield for influence in the Cold War of the 1960s, and an increasingly important political arena for the oil-rich Gulf States in the 1970s, the Mediterranean offers a focal point around which the major themes and narratives of Cold War history were constructed. "Detente in Cold War Europe" draws together detailed analyses of the major moments of post-WWII history through the prism of the Mediterranean - including the signing of the Helsinki Accords in 1975, the Jordan crisis of 1970, the Soviet role in the Yom Kippur war, the Cyprus emergency of 1974, US-Soviet detente and US-Israeli relations under President Nixon. This book is a vital work for historians of the twentieth century and for those seeking to understand the importance of the Mediterranean in the political history of the Cold War.
This book is the result of a research project designed and carried out at the Department of Architecture, University of Florence. This research was based on the transfer of knowledge from members of the Albanian Diaspora in Italy (university students, young architects and researchers) to their home country. This unique process blazed a trail in the Albania-related studies by creating a methodology, which could be replicated not only in Albanian rural contexts, but also elsewhere. The book constitutes a structured tool for generating sustainable and socially inclusive territorial development processes in five lesser-known Albanian cultural sites. Their tangible and intangible cultural heritage was seen as a driving factor for triggering development processes aimed at improving the inhabitants’ quality of life and strengthening local identity and social networks. Through concrete proposals and strategies, the book offers scenarios and solutions capable of enhancing the potential of each village and, at the same time, counteracting the effects of land abandonment that so often characterise them.
The early seventeenth century, when the first operas were written and technical advances with far-reaching consequences—such as tonal music—began to develop, is also notable for another shift: the displacement of aristocratic music-makers by a new professional class of performers. In this book, Andrew Dell’Antonio looks at a related phenomenon: the rise of a cultivated audience whose skill involved listening rather than playing or singing. Drawing from contemporaneous discourses and other commentaries on music, the visual arts, and Church doctrine, Dell’Antonio links the new ideas about cultivated listening with other intellectual trends of the period: humanistic learning, contemplative listening (or watching) as an active spiritual practice, and musical mysticism as an ideal promoted by the Church as part of the Catholic Reformation.
This is the compelling and inspirational true story of a medical doctor who lived in the 20th century and is now a canonized saint. Giuseppe Moscati, physician, medical researcher, and teacher in Naples, Italy, came from an aristocratic family and devoted his medical career to serving the poor. He was also a medical school professor, and a pioneer in the field of biochemistry whose research led to the discovery of insulin as a cure for diabetes. Moscati regarded his medical practice as a lay apostolate, a ministry to his suffering fellowmen. Before examining a patient or engaging in research he would place himself in the presence of God. Moscati treated poor patients free of charge, and would often send them home with an envelope containing a prescription and a 50-lire note. He could have pursued a brilliant academic career, taken a professorial chair and devoted more time to research, but he preferred to continue working with his beloved patients and to train dedicated interns. To his many medical students he taught by the witness of his life to practice their profession in a spirit of service, because "suffering should be treated not as just pain of the body, but as the cry of a soul, to whom another brother, the doctor, runs to with the ardent love of charity . . . They are the faces of Jesus Christ, and the Gospel precept urges us to love them as ourselves." "This man whom we will invoke as a saint of the universal Church appears to us as a concrete realization of the ideal of the Christian layman. Giuseppe Moscati, head physician of a hospital, a renowned researcher, a university instructor of human physiology and chemistry, performed his many and various tasks with all the commitment and seriousness that the practice of these delicate lay professions requires." - Pope John Paul II, Homily at the Canonization of Giuseppe Moscati
Pizza is one of the best-known and widely exported Italian foods and yet relatively little is known about its origins in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Myths such as the naming of pizza margherita after the Italian queen abound, but little serious scholarly attention has been devoted to the topic. Eschewing exaggerated fables, this book draws a detailed portrait of the difficulties experienced by the then marginalized class of pizza makers, rather than the ultimate success of their descendants. It provides a unique exploration of the history of pizza making in Naples, offering an archival-based history of the early story of pizza and the establishment of the pizzeria. Touching upon issues of politics, economics and sociology, Inventing the Pizzeria contributes not only to the commercial, social and food history of Italy but also provides an urban history of a major European city, told through one of its most famous edible exports. Originally published in Italian, this English edition is updated with a revised introduction and conclusion, a new preface and additional images and sources.
This major new biography recounts the extraordinary life of one of the most creative figures in Western culture, weaving together the multiple threads of Michelangelo’s life and times with a brilliant analysis of his greatest works. The author retraces Michelangelo’s journey from Rome to Florence, explores his changing religious views and examines the complicated politics of patronage in Renaissance Italy. The psychological portrait of Michelangelo is constantly foregrounded, depicting with great conviction a tormented man, solitary and avaricious, burdened with repressed homosexuality and a surplus of creative enthusiasm. Michelangelo’s acts of self-representation and his pivotal role in constructing his own myth are compellingly unveiled. Antonio Forcellino is one of the world’s leading authorities on Michelangelo and an expert art historian and restorer. He has been involved in the restoration of numerous masterpieces, including Michelangelo’s Moses. He combines his firsthand knowledge of Michelangelo’s work with a lively literary style to draw the reader into the very heart of Michelangelo’s genius.
Based on the authoritative Italian edition of Gramsci's work, 'Quaderni del Carcere', this translation presents the intellectual as he ought to be read and understood.
The progressive ageing of the general population and the consequent increase of the number of old people has made the typical medical problems of aged people more frequently observed, and particularly the problems related to the ageing brain. This new book is an updated overview of relevant aspects of cognitive decline associated with ageing. Within the wide landscape of brain ageing the authors reconsider the role of the main predisposing factors and risk factors on the development of various form of mental decline, from mild cognitive impairment to dementia. The strength of this book is the large, updated overview of the most recent data of scientific literature regarding the role of genetic, metabolic and environmental factors on the predisposition and onset of cognitive decline. Particular attention is paid to the dietary micro- and macronutrients and to their possible role in the pathogenesis of the various form of dementigen disorders.
It took many decades for Peirce's coneept of a relation to find its way into the microelectronic innards of control systems of eement kilns, subway trains, and tunnel-digging machinery. But what is amazing is that the more we leam about the basically simple coneept of a relation, the more aware we become of its fundamental importanee and wide ranging ramifications. The work by Di Nola, Pedrycz, Sanchez, and Sessa takes us a long distanee in this direction by opening new vistas on both the theory and applications of fuzzy relations - relations which serve to model the imprecise coneepts which pervade the real world. Di Nola, Pedrycz, Sanchez, and Sessa focus their attention on a eentral problem in the theory of fuzzy relations, namely the solution of fuzzy relational equations. The theory of such equations was initiated by Sanchez in 1976, ina seminal paper dealing with the resolution of composite fuzzy relational equations. Sinee then, hundreds of papers have been written on this and related topics, with major contributions originating in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Japan, China, the Soviet Union, India, and other countries. The bibliography included in this volume highlights the widespread interest in the theory of fuzzy relational equations and the broad spectrum of its applications.
Poet and novelist, Antonio D'Alfonso has been writing essays and giving in-depth interviews for twenty years. This collection contains the most important of these texts which have been reworked into a coherent entity. D'Alfonso discusses the importance of ethnic awareness which he places at the antipodes of territorial nationalism for which ethnicity is too often mistaken. The themes raised in this eclectic book relate to general culture, language, literature, film, and publishing (he founded Guernica Editions in 1978). Though it is the Italian perspective (which the author prefers to call Italic) that is favored, the themes and concepts developed are applicable to other cultures and countries. In Italics is a polemical and unblushing defense for the individual's right to a collective Imaginary, no matter which country one lives in.
Over the last decade, socially responsible investments (SRIs) have become paramount to both professionals and academics. In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007-8, practitioners have become much more involved in new financial models that integrate returns and positive social and environmental impacts. The authors argue that previous irresponsible financial models are anachronistic, and propose a new relationship between stakeholder and shareholder. Starting from the mainstreaming of SRI, this book recovers the social function of banks and the innovative role of crowdfunding and venture capital models. The book offers a unified perspective for firm and funder, making it a timely and invaluable read for scholars and practitioners interested in sustainable development and social impact finance.
n Many people across the world know Antonio Negri as an internationally renowned political thinker whose book, Empire, co-authored with Michael Hardt, is an international bestseller. Much less well known is the fact that, up until 1979, Negri was a university professor teaching in Paris and Padova. On April 7th, 1979 he was arrested, charged with the murder of Italian politician Aldo Moro, accused of 17 other murders, of being the head of the Red Brigades and of fomenting insurrection against the state. He has since been absolved of all these accusations, but thanks to the emergency laws in Italy at the time, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Then, in July 1983, he was elected as a member of parliament, which meant that he was released from prison after four and a half years of preventive detention. After months of debate, the Lower House decided to strip him of his parliamentary immunity Ð by 300 votes in favour and 293 against. At that point he left Italy for exile in France where he remained until 1997 and continued to maintain his innocence of all the crimes of which he was accused. This book is Negri's diary in which he tells of his imprisonment, trial, the elections, and his escape to and exile in France. Both personal and political, it recounts a little known aspect of Negri's life and will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the work of this enormously influential political thinker.
The updated edition of this popular textbook offers an overview of the major components of the field, including signal processing in bio-systems, biomechanics, and biomaterials. Introducing capstone design and entrepreneurship, the second edition examines basic engineering, anatomy, and physiology concepts to facilitate an in-depth and up-to-date understanding of flow, transport, and mechanics in biological systems and the human body. The book begins by addressing the principles of conservation of mass and development of mathematical models of physiological processes with detailed examples appropriate for an engineering student at the sophomore or first semester junior level.
This book presents the astonishing potential of deep sensorimotor policies for agile vision-based quadrotor flight. Quadrotors are among the most agile and dynamic machines ever created. However, developing fully autonomous quadrotors that can approach or even outperform the agility of birds or human drone pilots with only onboard sensing and computing is challenging and still unsolved. Deep sensorimotor policies, generally trained in simulation, enable autonomous quadrotors to fly faster and more agile than what was possible before. While humans and birds still have the advantage over drones, the author shows the current research gaps and discusses possible future solutions.
A polynomial identity for an algebra (or a ring) A A is a polynomial in noncommutative variables that vanishes under any evaluation in A A. An algebra satisfying a nontrivial polynomial identity is called a PI algebra, and this is the main object of study in this book, which can be used by graduate students and researchers alike. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 contains foundational material on representation theory and noncommutative algebra. In addition to setting the stage for the rest of the book, this part can be used for an introductory course in noncommutative algebra. An expert reader may use Part 1 as reference and start with the main topics in the remaining parts. Part 2 discusses the combinatorial aspects of the theory, the growth theorem, and Shirshov's bases. Here methods of representation theory of the symmetric group play a major role. Part 3 contains the main body of structure theorems for PI algebras, theorems of Kaplansky and Posner, the theory of central polynomials, M. Artin's theorem on Azumaya algebras, and the geometric part on the variety of semisimple representations, including the foundations of the theory of Cayley–Hamilton algebras. Part 4 is devoted first to the proof of the theorem of Razmyslov, Kemer, and Braun on the nilpotency of the nil radical for finitely generated PI algebras over Noetherian rings, then to the theory of Kemer and the Specht problem. Finally, the authors discuss PI exponent and codimension growth. This part uses some nontrivial analytic tools coming from probability theory. The appendix presents the counterexamples of Golod and Shafarevich to the Burnside problem.
This book brings together Antonio Negri’s critical writings on the nature and form of the modern state. The central theme that runs through these writings is our need to be done with the sovereign state – that is, with the particular form of political power that the capitalist organization of bourgeois society has imposed upon us. Negri seeks to show how the sovereign bourgeois state built in the course of modernity has now become a weapon in the hands of a declining ruling class, a class sometimes exhausted in its institutional expressions and sometimes frenetic, zombie-like and parafascist. In arguing that the despotic power of the state should be abolished, Negri distances himself from some other left-wing thinkers who, erroneously in his view, have come to see the state as an unavoidable institution rather than as a place of power that, once conquered, should be transformed and ultimately dissolved, since it represents the central moment in the organization of force against living labour and free citizenship. In Negri’s view, the call for the abolition of the state remains vital and active today, as a concrete utopia that is expressed in every thought and act of liberation. The articles brought together in this volume range from Negri’s analysis of the first great transformation of the capitalist state in the twentieth century, a phenomenon precipitated by the triumph of Keynesianism, to his more recent work on how the form of sovereignty changed from being a figure of transcendent and local command to being a dispositif of immanent and global control. Like its companion volumes, this new collection of essays by Negri will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in radical politics and in the key social and political struggles of our time.
The book is a primer of the theory of Ordinary Differential Equations. Each chapter is completed by a broad set of exercises; the reader will also find a set of solutions of selected exercises. The book contains many interesting examples as well (like the equations for the electric circuits, the pendulum equation, the logistic equation, the Lotka-Volterra system, and many other) which introduce the reader to some interesting aspects of the theory and its applications. The work is mainly addressed to students of Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, Statistics, Computer Sciences, with knowledge of Calculus and Linear Algebra, and contains more advanced topics for further developments, such as Laplace transform; Stability theory and existence of solutions to Boundary Value problems. A complete Solutions Manual, containing solutions to all the exercises published in the book, is available. Instructors who wish to adopt the book may request the manual by writing directly to one of the authors.
“One Country under Blood” debunks the myth of a happy unification of Italy. What was made to pass as a struggle for independence, was truly an invasion perpetrated by the House of Savoy and its masonic affiliates with the connivance of the Mafia and Camorra cartels. After the annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the riches of southern Italy were transferred to banks in the north to fuel the industrial development of Lombardy and Piedmont. Disfranchised and impoverished, millions of southern "Italians" had no other choice but to turn into outlaws or leave their ancestral homeland and immigrate to the United States, Australia and Southern America in search of a new beginning.
Archaeology and urban renewal for the vesuvian cultural & tourist district - Archeologia e recupero urbano per il distretto turistico/culturale vesuviano
Archaeology and urban renewal for the vesuvian cultural & tourist district - Archeologia e recupero urbano per il distretto turistico/culturale vesuviano
Between the Vesuvio slopes and the front coastline, there are several archaeological sites of significant cultural and landscape interest, far less popular than Pompei but not less fascinating. These sites, including the ancient towns of Stabiae and Oplontis up until the coastal city of Sorrento, resemble a constellation surrounded by the metropolitan sprawl and lay in the country of the Campania Region like hidden pearls, as the lack of efficient public transport connections makes these destinations difficult to reach for international tourists. This paper, therefore, discusses different ideas for the design of a Cultural and Touristic District, which may improve their accessibility by linking all these archeological sites together with both physical and ICT networks. Back in 2010, such ideas were presented in Castellammare di Stabia International Workshop “Restoring Ancient Stabiae” by a number of scholars from seven Schools of Architecture of both USA and Italian Universities (Maryland UMD, Miami, Oregon, Cornell Univ.; Napoli Federico II, Bari Politecnico, Roma-Sapienza). The main aim of the workshop was to allow actual team working for designing urban requalification and projects of touristic and cultural development, as well as to stimulate debate between local administrators and experts of urban studies, landscape and archaeology. The results achieved by combination of these objectives paved the way for an ambitious goal, that is presenting a realistic scenario of sustainable development based on recovering and exploitation of archeological sites. ANTONIO FRANCO MARINIELLO (1948) is Architect and Full Professor of Architectural and Urban Design at the Departement of Architecture - University of Naples Federico II, Research Director at L.U.P.T. and past member of the PhD board Architectural Composition at the same Faculty of Architecture. He is autor of many works in Architectural Theory and Criticism; furthermore he has published: Questioni di Forma (Napoli 1985), Variazioni-13 esperimenti di Composizione (Napoli 1996), Pre.Testi - sussidiario di Composizione (Napoli 2005).
Data in hand, an essential and precise chronology of the events that marked the history of Southern Italy from 1830 to 1946. An essential volume to understand the evils that are at the root of the disadvantaged economic situation of southern Italy and that reverses the dogmas of official historiography.
Data in hand, this volume offers an accurate analysis of the economic situation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from its establishment to its dissolution by the Savoyard army. A must-read for anyone who wants to deepen the historical context in which the economy of the Bourbon kingdom developed, and the numerous economic and industrial achievements it managed to achieve before its annexation to the Kingdom of Italy.
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