Design and development of a robust, non-invasive, and touch-less palmprint-based biometric recognition system

Design and development of a robust (i.e., invariant to translations, rotations, and scale change), non-invasive, and contact-free biometric recognition system, which is able to identify a person from a digital image of the hand acquired by a low-resolution CMOS camera. The system involves a non-linear ordinary differential equation (ODE) aimed at extracting the feature vector, whilst the matching process makes use of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient to measure the similarity...

Nuova vita ai derivati della filiera

Reusing and revaluing production waste must be included in the modern management of the supply chain. This article shows some meaningful examples of reuse of winemaking by-products by means of traditional and innovative technologies. Grapes thinned out in preveraison can be turned into an important naturally derived source of L-malic acid, which can be used as an enological additive in specific must and wine acidifying treatments. Carbon dioxide from alcoholic fermentation can be used as a ca...

Censorship, industry structure, and creativity: evidence from the Catholic inquisition in Renaissance Venice

We examine the effects of the book censorship implemented by the Catholic inquisition on printing outcomes in Renaissance Venice. The Venetian press experienced minimum censorship until 1547, when a sudden change in the balance of European power led to a new relationship between the Republic of Venice and the Papal State. We collect detailed information on indexes of prohibited books and publication activities by the main printers active in Venice during the 1500s. We use these data to constr...

Caratterizzazione e applicazioni di nanoparticelle di chitosano quali vettori di biomolecole