University Of Trento Research Articles

Intersubjectivity, Ethics in Times of Crisis and Objective Idealism as a Philosophical System: An Interview with Vittorio Hösle

Vittorio Hösle is internationally highly regarded for his attempt to revive objective idealism – the philosophical line along which he situates the positions of Plato, Aristotle, most medieval philosophers, Spinoza, Leibniz, Schelling, Hegel, but also Peirce and Whitehead – as a philosophical system capable of holding together the transcendental dimension of synthetic a priori judgments with the intelligibility and objectivity of being. In this interview, he discusses his work over the past decades, starting from the “Philosophische Lehrjahre” (“years of philosophical apprenticeship”) between Regensburg, Tübingen, Bochum and Freiburg and from the meetings with masters and significant interlocutors (such as Tóth, Thieme, Wandschneider, Beierwaldes, Lohr, Böckenförde, without forgetting Apel and Jonas). Multiple themes dot the path of thought retraced in this dialogue: from the rethematization of Hegel’s (and Vico’s) objective idealism through transcendental pragmatics to the delineation of the relationship between ethics and politics via a theory of the social and the intent of a normative foundation; from the need for a thought that faces the ecological crisis to the reinterpretation of sociobiology; and finally, from the project of an intersubjectively valid understanding to the importance of a theory of comedy. What emerges is the philosophical self-portrait of a cosmopolitan intellectual who was able to grasp the best from inherited and acquired cultural traditions: German culture, inherited from his father; Italian culture, inherited from his mother; and American culture, acquired by moving to the USA. The interview was realised on 17 April 2024 at the University of Trento, as part of the second series of lectures “Voices from Contemporary Philosophy”.

Targeting muslims beyond Europe: preventing violent extremism and radicalisation in Kosovo

Ervjola Selenica is post-doc fellow and adjunct professor in Terrorism and Counterterrorism at the University of Bologna and associate research fellow at the University of Sussex. Previously, she was post-doc fellow at Scuola Normale Superiore (Firenze). She holds a PhD in International Studies (University of Trento), an MSc. in International Development Studies (University of Amsterdam), a BA in International Relations and Political Science (University of Bologna), and a PGDip on Peace and Conflict (Peace Research Institute Oslo). Her research interests include education, international interventions, conflict, global changes. She has published at The Journal of Contemporary European Studies, Italian Political Science Review/Rivista Italiana di Scienze Politiche, Critical Studies on Terrorism, Globalisation, Societies and Education, and Journal of Southeast European and Black Sea Studies. The paper analyses national and international interventions on preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) and radicalisation in Kosovo and their underpinning rationales. The analysis seeks to understand how a country with a Muslim majority is targeted by P/CVE and counter-radicalisation policies. Furthermore, it seeks to understand whether these policies are informed by an understanding of violent extremism and radicalisation as underpinned by Islamic extremism and, if so, how they tackle and interact with the question of Islam in Kosovo. The article has found that P/CVE and counter-radicalisation policies in Kosovo are mainly externally driven and funded, rest upon the same preventative, anticipatory logic that has characterised similar policies implemented in EU member states, are informed by an understanding of violent extremism and radicalisation as ideological processes fuelled by radical Islam, and encompasses an all-societal approach combining hard and soft measures of prevention as those found in other EU and non-EU contexts.

Hybrid simulation of a steel frame with Dissipative Replaceable Link Frames

In the last decades, high priority has been given to enhancing the seismic resilience of structures by reducing the damage of structural and non-structural elements after a disaster. In this context, the European Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) project DISSIPABLE was funded to perform large demonstration tests of steel frames equipped with easily repairable seismic dissipative devices. The paper extensively describes the experimental campaign carried out at the University of Trento on a steel frame equipped with innovative Dissipative Replaceable Link Frame (DRLF) systems, composed of two rigid columns connected by weakened beams at their ends. Hybrid Simulation was employed, enabling to physically test the first floor of the building yet allowing for considering the response of the remaining five floors, which were numerically simulated. A bidimensional frame was tested under increasing seismic intensity levels: Damage Limitation, Significant Damage and Near Collapse limit states. The experimental results proved that the DRLF system was able to dissipate energy and protect the primary elements of the structure from plasticisation. Moreover, the structure's re-centring capability was verified to ensure the components' replaceability. Finally, the calibration of the nonlinear model was performed following the tests, which allowed to develop a high-fidelity model suitable for further numerical investigation.

Sociology and Sociological Education in Italy Between Universities and Upper Secondary Schools

AbstractSociology was first introduced to Italy in 1961, when Franco Ferrarotti became the first tenure track professor in 1960 at Rome’s Sapienza University. The Institute of Sociology was founded in the 1963/1964 academic year, and in 1962, the first Faculty of Sociology was established at the University of Trento. The process of formation is rather late when considering both the development of sociology as an autonomous science and the historical evolution of the various European universities. Sociology is now widely recognised as a discipline in Italy and is taught at universities as part of both bachelor’s and master's degree programmes, as well as in high schools (known as secondary schools of first level) for students aged 14 to 18/19. This work presents the development of sociology in Italy and its formation. Beginning with the development of sociology, it provides a historical analysis of its scientific recognition, role within the social system, and evolution as a science and association. It then explores the disciplin’s place in the Italian university educational system, analyzing its changes over the years. Finally, it discusses the formation of sociology within schools.

“The Task of Critique is to Question the Ontological Premises of our Identity”. An Interview with Axel Honneth

Axel Honneth is internationally renowned for being one of the leading political and social philosophers of our time, and is highly regarded for his work on recognition and the struggles for recognition. In this interview, he discusses his work over the past four decades, starting from the rise of his intellectual vocation to his most recent book on the sovereignty of work. The text is a transcript, revised by the author, of the dialogue Honneth had with his interviewers and the audience at the masterclass held on 24 May 2023 at the University of Trento, as part of the first series of lectures “Voices from Contemporary Philosophy”.

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE LATERAL RESISTANCE OF CFS SHEAR WALLS

AbstractIn recent years, the attention grew toward sustainability issues. This led to the popularity of residential buildings made of cold formed steel profiles. In these systems the lateral bracing is provided by the shear walls. Their complex response calls for the design by testing approach. At the University of Trento an experimental study is in progress of the shear wall response under monotonic and cyclic loading. Five shear wall configurations differing in the steel skeleton and sheathings type are comprised in the programme. The paper presents the main features of the testing set‐up and the preliminary results related to two shear wall configurations. The key role of sheathing‐to‐steel framing connections is pointed out.

Respiro dell'acqua ad Ho Chi Minh city

The research entitled Flood Risk Management Prevention, Adaptation and Resilient Strategies in Ho Chi Minh city, the partial outcomes of which are presented in this text, is framed within the Projects of Great International Relevance of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for the consolidation of bilateral relations between Italy and Vietnam. The University of Trento, the IUAV University of Venice and the Vietnam National University are working together to propose alternative landscape and hydraulic scenarios to face the challenges posed by the excessive anthropic load and climate change that squeeze and weaken the river landscape of the metropolis, not allowing the fragile lacustrine territories to breathe adequately.

Review: International Memorial Course Marko Petrak “Roman Legal Tradition and Contemporary Legal Systems”, Dubrovnik, 16-18 October 2023

The first issue of the International Memorial Course Marko Petrak – Roman Legal Tradition and Contemporary Legal Systems, organised by the Faculty of Law in Zagreb, was held at the Inter-University Centre in Dubrovnik from the 16th to 18th of October 2023. The course was organised in honour and memory of eminent professor and scholar, the late lamented Marko Petrak. The course was planned by the co-directors from different European universities (University of Zagreb; University of Trento; University of Warsaw; Jagiellonian University, Kraków; Autonomous University of Barcelona; University of Sarajevo), while the main organisers from the Faculty of Law in Zagreb were Professor Tomislav Karlović and Associate Professor Henrik-Riko Held. The course was attended by forty participants: students from various European countries (Slovenia, Poland, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, etc.) and eminent professors and scholars from various distinguished European universities and institutions (e.g. Trento, Torino, Ferrara, Macerata, Frankfurt am Main, Kraków, Warsaw, Ljubljana, etc.). The organizers and the participants were also joined by Marko Petrak’s mother, Professor Jelka Petrak (Faculty of Medicine, University of Zagreb). During the course various topics were covered in three thematic blocks: Roman Legal Tradition, Methodology and Teaching of Roman Law in Contemporary World (first day), Roman Legal Issues (first and second day) and Medieval and Canon Law Contributions to the Roman Legal Tradition and vice versa (third day).

Full‐scale tests of industrial steel storage pallet racks

Industrial steel storage pallet racks are framed structures typically made of cold‐formed steel profiles. The characteristics and the variability of the racking systems in terms of components and configurations make their behaviour quite complex to be predicted and the “design by testing” approach is commonly adopted. As part of an extensive research on the racks’ static and seismic behaviour carried out at the University of Trento, a total of eight full‐scale tests on four‐level two‐bay commercial pallet racks were performed, taking advantage of an innovative full‐scale testing set‐up. The experimental plan comprised of two preliminary tests in which racks with an initial out‐of‐plumb were vertically loaded up to their collapse and of six monotonic push‐over tests with three different levels of vertical loads and an inverse triangular pattern of horizontal forces in the down-aisle (longitudinal) direction. Tests’ results enabled investigation of the failure modes and evaluation of the racks’ behaviour factor q. The main features and findings of this experimental study are presented and discussed in the paper.

Characterizing Low-Energy Charged Particles in the Magnetosphere with the LEM CubeSat Spectrometer Project: Detector Concept and Hardware Characterisation

An accurate flux measurement of low-energy charged particles trapped in the magnetosphere is necessary for space weather characterization and to study the coupling between the lithosphere and magnetosphere, which allows for the investigation of the correlations between seismic events and particle precipitation from Van Allen belts. In this work, the project of a CubeSat space spectrometer, the low-energy module (LEM), is shown. The detector will be able to perform an event-based measurement of the energy, arrival direction, and composition of low-energy charged particles down to 0.1 MeV. Moreover, thanks to a CdZnTe mini-calorimeter, the LEM spectrometer also allows for photon detection in the sub-MeV range, joining the quest for the investigation of the nature of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). The particle identification of the LEM relies on the ΔE−E technique performed by thin silicon detectors. This multipurpose spectrometer will fit within a 10 × 10 × 10 cm3 CubeSat frame, and it will be constructed as a joint project between the University of Trento, FBK, and INFN-TIFPA. To fulfil the size and mass requirements, an innovative approach, based on active particle collimation, was designed for the LEM; this avoids the heavy/bulky passive collimators of previous space detectors. In this paper, we will present the LEM geometry, its detection concept, the results from the developed GEANT4 simulation, and some characterisations of a candidate silicon detector for the instrument payload.

Metodo e strategie di studio: cosa sanno gli studenti? Un’indagine all’Università di Trento

Study Methods And Learning Strategies: What Do Students Know? A Survey At The University Of Trento. How do students study? What do students know about study methods and learning strategies? Recent research has shown that most students rely on ineffective study methods. This behavior could be ascribed to a limited knowledge about learning strategies: students might rely on ineffective study methods because they have erroneous views about which learning strategies are effective. The aim of our research has been to further address this topic at the University of Trento. Here, we present and discuss the results of a survey study that investigates the students’ knowledge of some common learning strategies, the beliefs about their utility, and how much students intended to use them during the semester. Our results confirm that students are often not aware of which learning strategies are most effective. Furthermore, our data suggests that even when students do know how they should study, they do not always reflect it in their study activities. These conclusions requires appropriate considerations and intervention in educational contexts.

Introduction

Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure EngineeringEarly View INTRODUCTION Introduction Oreste S. Bursi, Corresponding Author Oreste S. Bursi Guest Editor [email protected] Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy Correspondence Oreste S. Bursi, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorOsamu Furuya, Osamu Furuya Guest Editor Division of Mechanical Engineering School of Science and Engineering Vice Director of the centre, Seismic Safety Research Centre, Tokyo Denki University, Ishizaka, Hatoyama-cho, Hiki-gun, Saitama, JapanSearch for more papers by this author Oreste S. Bursi, Corresponding Author Oreste S. Bursi Guest Editor [email protected] Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy Correspondence Oreste S. Bursi, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorOsamu Furuya, Osamu Furuya Guest Editor Division of Mechanical Engineering School of Science and Engineering Vice Director of the centre, Seismic Safety Research Centre, Tokyo Denki University, Ishizaka, Hatoyama-cho, Hiki-gun, Saitama, JapanSearch for more papers by this author First published: 10 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/mice.13022 Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, Vol. 38, No. 12, 2023 Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue RelatedInformation

A Fast and Efficient Semi-Unsupervised Segmentation and Feature-Extraction Methodology for Artificial Intelligence and Radiomics Applications: A Preliminary Study Applied to Glioblastoma

Brain tumors are pathologies characterized by a high degree of mortality. An early diagnosis of these pathologies could reduce mortality and limit the adverse effects of brain surgery. Computer-aided tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are fundamental diagnostic methods. They offer lots of helpful information that help medical operators to make an early and effective diagnosis. However, a human operator must analyze and classify the enormous amount of data provided. This process is time-consuming, and sometimes the information is not directly visible to the human eye, leading to lost essential information that could be useful for obtaining a correct and early diagnosis. In such a scenario, the development of suitable tools aimed at helping the human operator is essential. In particular, artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies could help the clinical operator correctly classify different tumoral pathologies, suggest more appropriate therapy, and support the surgeon in reducing invasiveness. All AI systems require a so-called training phase and suitable feature identification to work properly. In this work, we propose a tool to speed up brain tumor segmentation and feature extraction. In particular, we focus on Glioblastoma (GBM), a brain tumor characterized by high tissue heterogeneity and difficult segmentation. The method has been assessed by considering an experimental dataset belonging to the Radiomic Laboratory of the University of Trento. The obtained results are encouraging and demonstrate that the proposed method can be very useful to speed up the pathologies segmentation and features extraction compared to other well-known methods.

Lev Petrovich Pitaevskii

Lev Petrovich Pitaevskii

Bacterial strains shared within a home

Infants are born without microbial passengers and acquire them early in life. Researchers know that particular microbial species transmitted during childbirth and nursing seed an infant’s microbiome, but that microbiome becomes more complex as that infant grows into an adult. “One of the open questions is, ‘Why do we get the strains that we get?’” says microbial evolutionary biologist Nandita Garud of the University of California, Los Angeles. In a new study, researchers led by Nicola Segata at the University of Trento find that the people we are nearest to may provide the answer. Close social contact is an important predictor of which bacterial strains within species get shared between people ( Nature 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05620-1 ). Working with oral and gut microbiome DNA sequences from more than 9,700 people around the world, Segata and colleagues used evolutionary relationships between genes unique to each bacterial species to identify strains. When

PROGRESSIVE COLLAPSE MODELING OF A STEEL STRUCTURE WITH COMPOSITE SLAB USING COMMERCIAL FINITE ELEMENT SOFTWARE

AbstractThis paper presents a study on the modelling approaches for column loss scenarios using software that is widely available to structural engineers worldwide, with the goal of providing practical guidance to designers faced with the need or the opportunity to perform progressive collapse analyses. The presented study leverages recent experimental results on column removal in a composite frame obtained at the University of Trento. Comparisons between experimental data, results of high‐definition finite element analyses, and the simulation results obtained using commercially available software are performed and conclusions are drawn based on the modelling approach used. Furthermore, a parametric study on various column loss scenarios in a prototype building is conducted and the results are compared with highdefinition model results in literature. It is concluded that the proposed modelling approach can be successfully used in practical cases, with results that are quite satisfactory both at the local and at the global level.

Raising impact of particle physics outreach through gamification

The International Masterclass - Hands on Particle Physics is an outreach event proposed by the International Particle Physics Outreach Group since 2004. Its traditional format had a worldwide success during the last years, reaching thousands of high school students and introducing them to the world of particle physics. During the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemics forced all the groups proposing the activity to find an online alternative to preserve the spirit of the initiative. The local committee of University of Trento proposed an online event, divided into several short events carried out over two weeks. The introduction of an analysis challenge among the students has made it possible to obtain a very good response and to achieve, with less than 20 students, enough statistics to discuss physical results of the analysis. The contribution describes the details of the organization, results, and feedback from the students, with some proposals to improve the experience for the next years.

Injectable Multifunctional Natural Polymer-Based Hydrogels for the Local Delivery of Therapeutic Agents

Mini Review Injectable Multifunctional Natural Polymer-Based Hydrogels for the Local Delivery of Therapeutic Agents Xue Bai 1，Annalisa Tirella1,2,* 1 Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Science, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK. 2 BIOtech-Center for Biomedical Technologies, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, Trento 38123, Italy. * Correspondence: annalisa.tirella@unitn.it , annalisa.tirella@manchester.ac.uk (Annalisa Tirella). Received: 13 November 2022 Accepted: 15 November 2022 Published: 21 December 2022 Abstract: Hydrogels are water-based polymeric three-dimensional network with advantageous properties for the delivery of bioactive components, ranging from small therapeutic agents to therapeutic cells. Natural-based hydrogels have great potential as delivery vehicles for the local controlled release of therapeutic agents at the target site. Injectable hydrogels are designed to load therapeutic agents by simple mixing within the polymer solutions, as well as use nanoparticles able to respond to specific external conditions, such as temperature and pH. Herein, we present an overview of the properties of natural injectable hydrogels and recent developments for their use to control the local release of therapeutic agents; as well as strategies to crosslink in-situ multifunctional injectable hydrogels that act as therapeutical depot system. The mini review focuses on alginate-based injectable hydrogels as controlled drug delivery systems, presenting advantages and challenges of their application in cancer therapy

Guiding Students towards an Understanding of Climate Change through a Teaching–Learning Sequence

In this paper, we put forward a proposal for the design and the evaluation of teaching–learning sequences (TLSs) on the greenhouse effect (GHE), relying on the educational reconstruction model (MER). The first design, which starts from a critical analysis of textbook treatments of the GHE, is followed by a cyclic, recursive process, which consists of theoretical reflection, conceptual analysis, design, and test of a sequence. At each iteration, the analysis of the students’ learning progression provided relevant information for addressing the persistent hurdles and misunderstandings that affect it. Our findings show how design choices can support the learning of the GHE, leading to the formulation of design principles that help foster understanding. The iterative approach strongly improved the design and evaluation and allowed for a significant refinement of the TLSs. The implementation and evaluation process, which went on from 2017 to 2021, involved undergraduate students attending a course on “experimental physics laboratory” at the University of Trento in those years. The results indicate that, in the end, students can reach an effective understanding of the physical grounds of the GHE.

Why automatic AI ethics evaluations are coming, and how they will work

Ethics evaluations of companies that function with AI at their core are increasingly required by regulation and law in Europe and the US. Investors in artificial intelligence (AI)-intensive companies also seek ethics evaluations as part of the nonfinancial information they gather about corporate performance, especially as it relates to privacy and algorithmic fairness. The result is an increasing demand for the evaluations. The costs and time necessary to perform an AI ethics audit, however, are high, even prohibitive. To solve the problem, natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) can be employed to automate the process. The proposal is that much of the work of AI evaluating can be accomplished more efficiently by machines than by humans. To show how automated ethics reporting may work, this paper describes a project currently underway at Pace University in New York and the University of Trento in Italy. The project endeavours to apply AI to the task of producing AI ethics evaluations.