Ca' Foscari University of Venice

Ludovico Luigi Nicola di Giura (1868–1947) was an Italian doctor who lived in Beijing from 1900 to 1931. In addition to his medical practice, di Giura actively engaged with the local elite, developed a profound interest in Chinese literature, and contributed to introducing Chinese reality and culture into Italy through journalistic, literary, and translation works. Upon his return to Italy, he constructed a ‘Chinese library’ at his family estate in Chiaromonte, located in the Basilicata region. This article adopts the ‘Heraclitean approach’ proposed by Weingarten (2022) to examine di Giura's personal library, analysing the evolution of both individual and communal cultural longings reflected by his collection and marginalia within the books spanning different periods. Drawing upon the primary sources recently discovered and catalogued from the library, along with archival and bibliographical materials from both Italian and Chinese sources, the paper not only aims to reveal di Giura's intellectual profile, but also aims to utilise his individual experiences as a lens for observing the social and cultural life of Italians in China during the early twentieth century.

The EU has been taking various steps to encourage circular economy implementation. Hotels, like all other sector enterprises, are expected to adopt circular practices. However, they are facing difficulty in adopting circular practices while the academic discussion on how they can do so is still in its infancy. This study assesses whether the nexus of the behavioural intention of administrators and the absorptive capacity of hotels leads to circular practices adoption. To test the hypotheses drawn from the theories of planned behaviour and organisational learning, this study analyses a sample of 226 administrators from European hotels using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The analysis reveals that the attitude and perceived behavioural control of administrators predominantly shape their behavioural intention, which in turn along with the absorptive capacity influences circular practices adoption. This study thus concludes that if hotels strengthen their absorptive capacity, then they may succeed in adopting circular practices. To achieve this, hotels should prioritise sustainability-focused training and cultivate partnerships for practical knowledge exchange on circular practices. For broader adoption, practitioners and policymakers can accelerate progress by offering targeted incentives and creating sector-specific guidelines that make circular economy initiatives accessible and actionable for hotels of all sizes.

The Holodomor (1932–1933) was a politically driven, genocidal famine that killed millions through starvation and disease, as well as disrupting Ukrainian society and agriculture. Through the analysis of various archival sources, particularly survivor narratives, we obtained information about 72 plants used as famine foods, foods not customarily eaten and plants eaten in unusual quantities or ways during the Holodomor. A total of at least 114 parts of these 72 plants were eaten as alternative foods. Residual parts of crops represented many of these famine foods. A large range of native plants were also consumed. The inventory of Ukrainian famine foods is broadly similar to those from other major global famines.

Odor emissions from a treatment plant is one of the major environmental issues that results in negative health consequences and repercussions on economic, commercial, and touristic activities. To address this problem an accurate assessment of the odor sources is of crucial interest. In this paper, different machine learning methods are applied to identify the most suitable model to estimate odor concentrations through the responses of a multiparametric system. It is observed that random forest regression method shows superior performance compared to the other methods. In this context, advanced data analytics technologies, such as machine learning methods, have provided data-driven decision-making capabilities to address the challenges that arise in the analysis and evaluation of a sustainable development. The findings of the proposed study can help implement proactive actions to minimize the effects of odors and prevent any potential health and environmental concerns.

Optoelectronic devices that emit into the near infrared (NIR) region are appealing technologies with applications in optical communication and as disposable, lightweight and cheaper photodynamic biomedical devices. The development of efficient devices is currently hampered by the lack of suitable NIR‐emissive materials. Achieving this goal is even more challenging when the use of non‐toxic, earth‐abundant metal complexes as electroactive materials is targeted. Herein, an enlarge family of binuclear Cu(I) emitters (D1–D4) bearing the bridging thiazolo[5,4‐d]thiazole scaffold is described along with their mononuclear counterparts (M3–M4), which are synthetized and characterized comprehensively by a combination of chemical, spectroscopical, electrochemical and computational techniques. By means of an efficient dinuclearisation strategy in combination with the selective tuning of the π‐accepting feature of the lateral N‐heterocyclic rings enabled modulation of photo‐ and electro‐luminescence spectra into the NIR‐I region. Light‐emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) fabricated by employing the binuclear copper complexes displayed electroluminescence into the deep‐red to NIR‐I region. Remarkably, derivative D2 shows the combination of λEL,max up to 782 with a spectral profile squarely falling into the NIR region, excellent carrier balance and good EL performances among all types of emissive materials used for NIR LECs.

This article reconsiders the Taiwan Strait conflict by encouraging a deeper exploration of the construction of sociopolitical imaginaries of enmity through editorial political cartoons. It does so, moreover, by emphasizing the need to attend to the triadic China–Taiwan–US relations, rather than just focusing on cross-Strait developments. Through this study, we focus on editorial political cartoons as visual schematic elements that aid in describing and explaining overarching discursive practices. We show how the political cartoons of China’s Global Times and Taiwan’s Taipei Times analysed in this article reflect the evolving dynamics and contemporary tensions in China–Taiwan–US relations. Furthermore, these cartoons underscore the importance of visual media in co-constructing conceptions of ‘friends’ and ‘foes’ that ultimately influence those very dynamics and, at least partially, aid in explaining those tensions. We reveal the existence of several parallels between the political imaginaries represented by the cartoons of both outlets, especially concerning the construction of an ‘external enemy’: the United States in Global Times and China in Taipei Times. However, notable differences also emerge, including the contrasting representation of the US role, as well as the predominant portrayal of ‘internal enemies’ and a higher degree of dehumanization in the Taiwanese outlet.

Digital twins (DTs) in precision medicine are increasingly viable, propelled by extensive data collection and advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), alongside traditional biomedical methodologies. We argue that including mechanistic simulations that produce behavior based on explicitly defined biological hypotheses and multiscale mechanisms is beneficial. It enables the exploration of diverse therapeutic strategies and supports dynamic clinical decision-making through insights from network science, quantitative biology, and digital medicine.

With the establishment of the treaty ports in 1842, contact between China and the Western world intensified. In Shanghai, the most extensive exchange of knowledge and ideas took place between the missionaries of the London Missionary Society and their Chinese assistants. By working and translating for the missionaries, these traditionally educated men gained intimate insights into the West and Western learning and established close personal relationships with the missionaries. But in the process, they also became outcasts, as working for Westerners was viewed critically by their contemporaries. This article sets out to analyse the way in which Jiang Dunfu 蔣敦復 (1808–1867) and Wang Tao 王韜 (1828–1897) processed and accommodated these cosmopolitan experiences in Shanghai in their prose autobiographies.

Permafrost thaw poses diverse risks to Arctic environments and livelihoods. Understanding the effects of permafrost thaw is vital for informed policymaking and adaptation efforts. Here, we present the consolidated findings of a risk analysis spanning four study regions: Longyearbyen (Svalbard, Norway), the Avannaata municipality (Greenland), the Beaufort Sea region and the Mackenzie River Delta (Canada) and the Bulunskiy District of the Sakha Republic (Russia). Local stakeholders’ and scientists’ perceptions shaped our understanding of the risks as dynamic, socionatural phenomena involving physical processes, key hazards, and societal consequences. Through an inter- and transdisciplinary risk analysis based on multidirectional knowledge exchanges and thematic network analysis, we identified five key hazards of permafrost thaw. These include infrastructure failure, disruption of mobility and supplies, decreased water quality, challenges for food security, and exposure to diseases and contaminants. The study’s novelty resides in the comparative approach spanning different disciplines, environmental and societal contexts, and the transdisciplinary synthesis considering various risk perceptions.

The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked renewed attention to the risks of online misinformation, emphasizing its impact on individuals’ quality of life through the spread of health-related myths and misconceptions. In this study, we analyze 6 years (2016–2021) of Italian vaccine debate across diverse social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube), encompassing all major news sources–both questionable and reliable. We first use the symbolic transfer entropy analysis of news production time-series to dynamically determine which category of sources, questionable or reliable, causally drives the agenda on vaccines. Then, leveraging deep learning models capable to accurately classify vaccine-related content based on the conveyed stance and discussed topic, respectively, we evaluate the focus on various topics by news sources promoting opposing views and compare the resulting user engagement. Our study uncovers misinformation not as a parasite of the news ecosystem that merely opposes the perspectives offered by mainstream media, but as an autonomous force capable of even overwhelming the production of vaccine-related content from the latter. While the pervasiveness of misinformation is evident in the significantly higher engagement of questionable sources compared to reliable ones (up to 11 times higher in median value), our findings underscore the need for consistent and thorough pro-vax coverage to counter this imbalance. This is especially important for sensitive topics, where the risk of misinformation spreading and potentially exacerbating negative attitudes toward vaccines is higher. While reliable sources have successfully promoted vaccine efficacy, reducing anti-vax impact, gaps in pro-vax coverage on vaccine safety led to the highest engagement with anti-vax content.

This study explores compounding impacts of climate change on power system’s load and generation, emphasising the need to integrate adaptation and mitigation strategies into investment planning. We combine existing and novel empirical evidence to model impacts on: (i) air-conditioning demand; (ii) thermal power outages; (iii) hydro-power generation shortages. Using a power dispatch and capacity expansion model, we analyse the Italian power system’s response to these climate impacts in 2030, integrating mitigation targets and optimising for cost-efficiency at an hourly resolution. We outline different meteorological scenarios to explore the impacts of both average climatic changes and the intensification of extreme weather events. We find that addressing extreme weather in power system planning will require an extra 5–8 GW of photovoltaic (PV) capacity, on top of the 50 GW of the additional solar PV capacity required by the mitigation target alone. Despite the higher initial investments, we find that the adoption of renewable technologies, especially PV, alleviates the power system’s vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather events. In fact, renewable energy sources are generally less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns, compared to thermal power and hydropower generation. Furthermore, enhancing short-term storage with lithium-ion batteries is crucial to counterbalance the reduced availability of dispatchable hydro generation.

This study will investigate how children acquire the option to drop the subject of a sentence, or null subjects (e.g., “Tickles me” instead of “He tickles me”). In languages that do not permit null subjects, children produce sentences with null subjects from 1 to 3 years of age. This non-adultlike production has been explained by two main accounts: first, the null subject sentences may accurately reflect the children’s linguistic knowledge, that is, a competence account. Alternatively, they may result from immature processing resources, therefore underestimating children’s competence, that is, a performance account. We will test the predictions of these accounts by using a central fixation preference procedure and elicited imitation to measure children’s comprehension and production, respectively, in monolingual 19- to 28-month-olds acquiring English (a non-null subject language) and Italian (a null subject language). The results will shed light on acquisition across languages, and the features that provide evidence to a learner.

This chapter explores the multifaceted nature of the application of national law by the ECB and the legal ramifications derived therefrom. The study aims, in particular, to briefly illustrate the wide-ranging set of issues—both actual and potential—arising from the complexity of Article 4(3) SSMR, involving not only the sphere of banking supervision, or EU financial law more broadly, but the entire EU judicial system. The effects of such a manifold relationship indeed touch upon the very structures of the EU’s institutional architecture. While the vast array of issues identified are far from having a concrete or definitive solution in the current state of affairs, the progressive evolution of legislation, judicial dialogue and case law, accompanying the exercise of regulatory and supervisory powers by the ECB—and, eventually, other EU agencies as well—, shall help clarifying at least part of this fascinating legal conundrum.

On 12 October 2022, the General Court of the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) rendered its judgment in Case T-502/19 on an action under Article 263 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’) seeking the annulment of European Central Bank (‘ECB’) decisions placing Banca Carige SpA (‘Carige’) under temporary administration and extending it subsequently over time. The case, now under appeal, raises several issues on different topics: from locus standi to judicial review and to the scope and application of Article 4(3) of the SSM Regulation. We analyse how the General Court has addressed each of such topics and how they dialogue with previous rulings by EU Courts on similar matters. We conclude that despite the innovative answers provided by the judgment, fundamental questions concerning the interpretation and application of national law by EU Institutions and Courts are far from settled or consolidated. In this sense, while the Corneli case may stand as an important precedent in the rich and evolving landscape of jurisprudence developed by EU Courts, many challenges still lie ahead.

In recent years, blockchain technology has emerged as a pivotal tool for implementing distributed ledgers. This thesis provides an in-depth exploration of blockchains that rely on one of the most widely adopted consensus mechanisms: Proof-of-Work (PoW). In PoW-based systems, a fundamental tension exists between the operating costs borne by users - such as transaction fees - and the quality of service they receive, measured by transaction confirmation time and the likelihood of confirmation success.

In today's rapidly advancing computing and telecommunications landscape, analysing the performance of distributed systems is more critical than ever. As systems grow in complexity, the demand for robust analytical tools to evaluate efficiency and performance is always more pressing. Among these tools, queueing theory remains a foundational and versatile approach for system analysis.

The supramolecular resorcinarene hexameric capsule efficiently promotes the unprecedented reaction between isocyanides and electron‐deficient aromatic aldehydes leading to the formation of imines and carbon monoxide. The mechanism of the reaction was investigated via isotope labelling, kinetic analysis of the reaction, computational studies and the independent synthesis of a proposed intermediate. Control experiments indicate that the formation of the key aziridinone intermediate is limited to the cavity of the capsule.

Robot Operating System 2 (ROS 2) is the de-facto standard framework for developing distributed robotic applications. However, ensuring the correctness and security of these applications remains a significant challenge. This paper presents a novel approach to statically analyze ROS 2 applications using abstract interpretation. By extracting the architecture graph of the application, our method derives minimal access control policies that can be used to leverage security. We implemented our approach using the Library for Static Analysis (LiSA), providing a toolset that facilitates the development of sound static analyzers for ROS 2. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in enhancing the security of ROS 2 applications.

Arcangela Tarabotti (1604–1652) was a literary nun and a proto-feminist. During her lifetime and soon after her death she published five books, which were all rather controversial. Although it is well-known that she was an active participant in the Respublica Literarum of the time, what is less well known is how Tarabotti managed to become a writer and gained enough education to write her political pamphlets, which required her to quote the relevant auctoritates and the ability to argue in accordance with the rules of rhetoric. In this chapter I shall demonstrate, providing some palaeographical evidence, how Tarabotti learnt to write (reading was an independent skill from writing, at the time, and the first requirement for any would-be nun). Contrary to her own claims, she did so at home and under her mother’s supervision, before entering Sant’Anna convent in 1617. I shall also demonstrate that, thanks to the families and connections of her fellow sisters in Sant’Anna nunnery, even within the cloister and despite the law of strict enclosure, she enlarged her circle of acquaintances and possibly had covert friendships with eminent cultivated men, who owned large private libraries, from which she could borrow the books she needed. Finally, I shall demonstrate how her decision to publish was supported by the patronage of individuals that were not the ones she openly declared. All this took place in the period, after entering Sant’Anna in 1617, between her vestition in 1620 and the publication of her first book in 1643: there is very little documentation concerning this period of her life, but this chapter makes use of what little has survived to present a picture of her activities and achievements at this time.