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In the last year a new virus (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease caused by it (COVID-19) has quickly spread around the world, leading the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency and, then, a global pandemic status. The strategies adopted by many countries to reduce the impact of the pandemic were mainly based on social distancing rules and on stay-at-home measures or lockdowns. These strategies had severe disruptive consequences on many sectors, including all levels of education. While the "traditional" (face-to-face) Higher Education (HE) system was unprepared for the lockdown (e.g., no plans for a massive shift to online teaching were available/ready), it reacted in an extremely quick and effective way, replacing face-to-face teaching with online teaching. While COVID-19 has been extremely challenging for education, the experience has undoubtedly provided positive inputs for the digitalization of the HE system. The question is however, if whether after the COVID-19 emergency everything will go back to the previous situation or instead if the pandemic has irreversibly changed HE. While we are still in the middle of the crisis, it is in our view beneficial to start to reflect on the challenges and open issues that emerged during this period and the lessons learned for the "new normal" (as it is often referred to). In this conceptual paper we seek to start this discussion by focusing on the following relevant aspects that should be considered to succeed in the digital transformation: broadband network infrastructure and hardware devices; e-learning software; organization of teaching activities; pedagogical issues; diversity and inclusivity; and a number of other issues. We conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic will irreversibly change HE and probably for the better.

This paper reports on a pilot research project aimed at helping to develop some strategic and reasoning abilities in primary school pupils by engaging them in educational itineraries based on the use of a number of computer mind games. The paper briefly describes the project's aims and organization, the kind of games used and the working methodology adopted. It then focuses on some of the cognitive abilities activated by the games. Finally, some pedagogical considerations derived from the study are provided which may support teachers and researchers who are interested in this topic and need some practical advice and recommendations on introducing games in classroom activities. (Contains 5 figures, 9 notes and 1 table.)

This paper empirically examines the impact of academic research on high-tech manufacturing growth of 28 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and emerging countries over the 1991-2005 period. A standard research and development (R&D) expenditure based measure is found to be too general to capture the input in high-tech research. To overcome this problem, a novel proxy for high-tech research investment--the supercomputer capacity--is proposed. Empirical evidence strongly supports this choice of variable. It is also found that academic R&D exerts a larger growth effect on high-tech output than its industry and government counterparts, but only the impact differential between academic and government R&D is statistically significant.

Low-cost personal computers, wireless access technologies, the Internet, and computer-equipped classrooms allow the design of novel and complementary methodologies for teaching digital information security in electrical engineering curricula. The challenges of the current digital information era require experts who are effectively able to counteract piracy, forgery, copyright infringement, and so on. Digital watermarking is one possible technique for fighting piracy, which consists of the insertion of invisible but robust information to protect the data. In this paper, a new teaching approach, designed for testing student skills and progressing in multimedia data protection, is presented. This consists of a distributed security game where students compete by first using the developed watermarking techniques and then attacking each other's methods, thus verifying their robustness. Groups of students from different universities and countries play against each other, trying to compromise other teams' hiding systems while protecting their own data from attacks. The proposed methodology can be considered as an appealing approach for stimulating learning, cooperation, and team competition. The effectiveness of the teaching method is verified by a student survey and their academic results. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

The authors are designing and carrying out some training sessions based on serious games with customers from different business environments and with some university student groups, both in northern Italy. Some business case studies are described in this article specifying the context, the training goal, the adopted training solution and the main characteristics of the designed game. Some screenshots are also shown. Furthermore, the authors are carrying out a survey both in the business and the university environment to analyse how the learners perceive these kinds of games in terms of effectiveness, engagement, pleasure, usability and freedom of behaviour while playing. Some results are reported in this paper, and the comparison between students' and employees' perception is shown. The questionnaire used can be found in the Appendix.

The case study described in this paper investigates the relationship among some pre-instructional knowledge, the learning gain and the final physics performance of computing engineering students in the introductory physics course. The results of the entrance engineering test (EET) have been used as a measurement of reading comprehension, logic and mathematics skills and basic physics knowledge of a sample of 47 Computing Engineering freshmen at the University of Palermo (Italy). These data give a significant picture of the initial knowledge status of a student choosing engineering studies. The students' physics learning gain has been calculated using a standardized tool in mechanics: the force concept inventory (FCI). The analysis shows that mathematical and physical background contribute to achieve a good final preparation in physics courses of engineering faculties; however the students' learning gain in physics is independent of students' initial level of mathematics skills and physics knowledge. Initial logic skills and reading comprehension abilities are not significant factors for the learning physics gain and the performance on physics courses. (Contains 6 tables.)

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of computer-based production technologies on firms' choice of governance mode for vertical transactions. We argue that in the long run diffusion of the new technologies should lead to a wider use of arm's length relationships with suppliers of increasingly standardized intermediate goods. In the early stage of diffusion, however, vertical transactions should tend to be internalized under hierarchical control. In any case, network configurations based on subcontracting are negatively affected. Evidence supporting these arguments is provided through a 'laboratory' study of make-or-buy decisions made by 100 adopter firms in the Italian metalworking industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Brain Computer Interface (BCI) allows communication for impaired people unable to express their intention with common channels. Electroencephalography (EEG) represents an effective tool to allow the implementation of a BCI. The present paper describes a modular framework for the implementation of the graphic interface for binary BCIs based on the selection of symbols in a table. The proposed system is also designed to reduce the time required for writing text. This is made by including a motivational tool, necessary to improve the quality of the collected signals, and by containing a predictive module based on the frequency of occurrence of letters in a language, and of words in a dictionary. The proposed framework is described in a top-down approach through its modules: signal acquisition, analysis, classification, communication, visualization, and predictive engine. The framework, being modular, can be easily modified to personalize the graphic interface to the needs of the subject who has to use the BCI and it can be integrated with different classification strategies, communication paradigms, and dictionaries/languages. The implementation of a scenario and some experimental results on healthy subjects are also reported and discussed: the modules of the proposed scenario can be used as a starting point for further developments, and application on severely disabled people under the guide of specialized personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary discourse on the changing modes of production by Autonomist Marxist theorists such as Paolo Virno, Franco Berardi, Antonio Negri, Michael Hardt and Maurizio Lazzarato provides insights into the ongoing shift from an economy based on the material labour of producing physical goods, to one served increasingly by immaterial labour. In light of these texts, this paper revisits a point of origin of Autonomist political thought at the Olivetti factory in Italy during the 1960s, where the problems of a programmed, cybernetic human/machine assembly line were first observed. It endeavours to examine both the objects that were created as a result of immaterial labour practices as well as the machines which may have actually played a key role in forming contemporary modes of immaterial labour. This is accomplished by examining case studies that demonstrate the various iterations of an idea essential to the concept of immaterial labour--the practice of programming. Featuring a unique constellation of Olivetti products from the 1960s, the purpose of this text is to add historical relevance and theoretical rigour to these seemingly disparate series of objects, and to present a potential genealogy of immaterial labour brought about by the design and making of Olivetti machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a report on a one year-automatic management of the Clinical Lab. of the Hospital of Gallarate (Italy) by means of a "part-time" computerization system. Technologies and procedures used for in-patients and out-patients are analysed: by this kind of management many advantages are obtained but some partly unremovable drawbacks, are identified which are mainly caused by the current management of clinical Departments.

An attempt of computer data processing carried out on microbiological analysis of marine coastal waters is reported in the present paper. The Ligurian coast was chosen because of the extensive analyses executed by the Laboratori Provinciali di Igiene e Profilassi. These have supplied us with their results concerning the marine environment. The elaboration performed discriminates between those stations constantly polluted and the punctual pollution phenomena that seldom affect more than one station. Data obtained could be utilized for a correct management of the coast and of the adjacent land.

A computerized system is necessary for a surgical ward in order to document systematically the performed activity and set up a follow-up for patients. The aim of this paper is to report a program to store, recall and processing clinical data concerning fundamental information about the hospitalized patients. The main characteristic of this system is its low cost, due to the low initial hardware investment and the easy introduction of data. The use of the program does not require trained personnel. The surgeon itself, setting out simple tests, is able to obtain clinical and statistical informations of epidemiologic interest, concerning surgical cases, incidence of complications and other parameters. The system has proven itself as the basis for future highly specialized data bases for scientific and clinical research.

Yield estimation is an essential preharvest practice among most large-scale farming companies, since it enables the predetermination of essential logistics to be allocated (i.e., transportation means, supplies, labor force, among others). An overestimation may thus incur further costs, whereas an underestimation entails potential crop waste. More interestingly, an accurate yield estimation enables stakeholders to better place themselves in the market. Yet, computer-aided precision farming is set to play a pivotal role in this respect. Kiwifruit represents a major produce in several countries (e.g., Italy, China, New and Zealand). However, up to date, the relevant literature remains short of a complete as well as automatic system for kiwifruit yield estimation. In this paper, we present a fully automatic and noninvasive computer vision system for kiwifruit yield estimation across a given orchard. It consists mainly of an optical sensor mounted on a minitractor that surveys the orchard of interest at a low pace. Afterwards, the acquired images are fed to a pipeline that incorporates image preprocessing, stitching, and fruit counting stages and outputs an estimated fruit count and yield estimation. Experimental results conducted on two large kiwifruit orchards confirm a high plausibility (i.e., errors of 6% and 15%) of the proposed system. The proposed yield estimation solution has been in commercial use for about 2 years. With respect to the traditional manual yield estimation carried out by kiwifruit companies, it was demonstrated to save a significant amount of time and cut down on estimation errors, especially when speaking of large-scale farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study aims at identifying the main representations of the international adoption process through a comparative analysis of 62 Italian stories about international adoption. Content analysis involves the use of thematic analysis as well as computer-assisted text analysis. Results show that adoption is represented varying from a polarization in which “the positive” is situated in the “adoptive world” while “the negative” pertains to the world of the origins, to a more integrated representation in which both the adoptive context and the origins entail positive aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BACKGROUND: Extensive literature in ergonomics and optometry has indicated that computer use is closely associated with visual problems. Computer-Aided Design (CAD) requires a substantial effort on behalf of the visual system. The manifestations of visual fatigue phenomena may affect the working behavior and the human-system interaction. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this survey is to identify the normal working conditions and how the eventual visual fatigue phenomena are able to influence the working behavior of CAD users. METHODS: A questionnaire was created and submitted to a sample of 150 university students, who attend the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Pisa (Italy). RESULTS: The questionnaire results show that university students spend on average 7 hours per day at the computer for CAD drafting. Most of the participants work in strongly lit environments, with high brightness screens and negative polarity. Such conditions cause high contrasts in luminance, especially between screen and surfaces that fall within the field of vision. The results show that 135 out of 150 students report visual fatigue during long CAD sessions, which in most cases leads to difficulty in continuing the activity and changing usual working behavior. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the questionnaire show that the university students work in highly variable lighting conditions and with little attention on the luminance distribution on the field of view. This has highlighted the importance, for VDT workstations, of not limiting the risk analysis to the postural ergonomics (how usually occurs) but extend it to the workplace as a whole, analyzing also the ergonomics of vision, which involves different consideration on the natural and artificial lighting of the workplace and on the characteristics of the display. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Role functioning (RF) as a core construct of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) comprises aspects of occupational and social roles relevant for patients in all treatment phases as well as for survivors. The objective of the current study was to improve its assessment by developing a computer-adaptive test (CAT) for RF. This was part of a larger project whose objective is to develop a CAT version of the EORTC QLQ-C30 which is one of the most widely used HRQOL instruments in oncology.Methods: In accordance with EORTC guidelines, the development of the RF-CAT comprised four phases. Phase I involved the conceptualization of RF. In Phase II, a provisional list of items was defined and revised by experts in the field. In phase III, feedback was obtained from cancer patients in various countries. Phase IV comprised field testing in an international sample, calibration of the item bank, and evaluation of the psychometric performance of the RF-CAT.Results: Phases I-III yielded a list of 12 items eligible for phase IV field-testing. The field-testing sample included 1,023 patients from Austria, Denmark, Italy, and the UK. Psychometric evaluation and item response theory analyses yielded 10 items with good psychometric properties. The resulting item bank exhibits excellent reliability (mean reliability = 0.85, median = 0.95). Using the RF-CAT may allow sample size savings from 11 % up to 50 % compared to using the QLQ-C30 RF scale.Conclusions: The RF-CAT item bank improves the precision and efficiency with which RF can be assessed, promoting its integration into oncology research and clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Drawing tests are commonly used for the clinical evaluation of cognitive capabilities in children with learning disabilities. We analysed quantitatively the drawings of children with Down Syndrome ( DS) and of healthy, mental age-matched controls to characterise the features of fine motor skills in DS during a drawing task, with particular attention to clumsiness, a well-known feature of DS gross movements. Methods Twenty-three children with DS and 13 controls hand-copied the figures of a circle, a cross and a square on a sheet. An optoelectronic system allowed the acquisition of the three-dimensional track of the drawing. The participants' posture and upper limb movements were analysed as well. Results Results showed that the participants with DS tended to draw faster but with less accuracy than controls. Discussion While clumsiness in gross movements manifests mainly as slow, less efficient movements, it manifests as high velocity and inaccurate movements in fine motor tasks such as drawing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study used a narrative-based approach to identify common themes that characterized the illness experience and quality of life of patients affected by rare disease (RD). Textual data were comprised of illness stories written by 32 adult Italian patients (eight men and 24 women), with the following RD diagnoses: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (n = 12), anorectal atresia (n = 4), Poland syndrome (n = 4), and idiopathic pulmonary hypertension (n = 12). Computer-aided content analysis was performed to detect the main themes (cluster analysis) and latent factors (correspondence analysis) emerging in patients’ narratives, and to test their association with gender and diagnosis. Four thematic domains were detected in the textual corpus, which are respectively referred to as: hopelessness (12.74%), need for autonomy (38.43%), search for normalcy (11.89%), and expectations of recovery (36.94%). Three latent factors explained the overall data variance: the relationship with social and medical healthcare providers (F1), adjustment processes to disease and social limitations (F2), and self-beliefs and coping (F3). Some differences were revealed with respect to patient gender and diagnosis. Illness stories highlight the significant relationship of RD patients with healthcare services and their need for a holistic approach because of the lack of effective treatment. Physical limitation and emotional distress do not necessarily seem to overlap for adjustment and quality of life (QoL). Overall, the perception of illness chronicity is likely to affect patients’ self-beliefs and coping with more than their feeling of abnormalcy, that is the less salient theme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the history of four Italian projects aimed at either constructing computers from scratch or installing and making operational computers built in the United States and Great Britain. CRC 102A in the Numerical Computations Center of Milan Polytechnic; FINAC installed in the Istituto Nazionale per le Applicazioni del Calcolo of Rome; Olivetti ELEA 9003 at the Fermi School of Bibbiena in Arezzo, Italy.