Relaxing state-access constraints in stateful programmable data planes

Supporting the programming of stateful packet forwarding functions in hardware has recently attracted the interest of the research community. When designing such switching chips, the challenge is to guarantee the ability to program functions that can read and modify data plane's state, while keeping line rate performance and state consistency. Current state-of-the-art designs are based on a very conservative all-or-nothing model: programmability is limited only to those functions that are guaranteed to sustain line rate, with any traffic workload. In effect, this limits the maximum time to execute state update operations. In this paper, we explore possible options to relax these constraints by using simulations on real traffic traces. We then propose a model in which functions can be executed in a larger but bounded time, while preventing data hazards with memory locking. We present results showing that such flexibility can be supported with little or no throughput degradation.Comment: 6 page

Metodologie didattiche per l'insegnamento-apprendimento della Fisica: studi di caso nella Scuola Secondaria di II grado

2015 - 2016The present work focuses on case studies conducted from 2014 to 2016 in Secondary Schools in Campania where new teaching methodologies for teaching - Physical Learning have been experimented. Of these methodologies, merits and limits are highlighted and each case, as an example of good practice, shows the possible replication in other contexts. Work is to be a didactic epistemological attempt to address learning-learning issues also in relation to teacher training needs. Case studies cover some salient themes of physics, from mechanics to modern physics but also replicable in other contexts and in relation to other topics. The following methodologies have experimented: situated learning, flipped learning, Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE), Digital Storytelling, Educational Robotics, Action Research, Scrum methodology. The experiments were presented at national and international conferences (AIF Perugia 2014, AIF Trento 2015, AIF Assergi 2016, SIF Roma 2015, SIF Padova 2016, GIREP Wroclaw 2015, DIFIMA Torino 2015, HPM Montpellier 2016, WCPE San Paolo 2016) Have been published in international journals or conference proceedings, others are being published. In addition, some experimental activities have been welcomed at the City of Science as an example of good teaching practice at the "Three Days for School" (2015) and the Picnics of Science (2016). An activity was presented at the International Forum SkySEF 2015 in Shimizu, Japan, receiving appreciation from the jury of experienced teachers at Shizuoka University. Finally, training courses were held in the Campania area for teachers on skills education, in the three areas of knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge, Subject Matter Content Knowledge and Knowledge Curricular Knowledge, which includes programs, materials, and teaching tools, software (Shulman). The didactic activities carried out during these three years have been shown to teach teachers how to implement effective classroom action in the classroom, how to make an intervention product, how to form an authentic test. Of these training actions, the reports have been collected and included in this work. The research methodology implemented falls within the framework of Educational Reconstruction (Kattmann et al, 1995), which allows studying the teaching phenomena by designing and realizing learning environments, artifacts, teaching/learning sequences that the researcher experiences, evaluates, re-elaborates and develops in authentic educational contexts. The study is contextualized in the theoretical/epistemological framework of Enactivism and, in particular, the cognitive theory that is being considered is the development of knowledge through model building. [edited by author]Il presente lavoro è incentrato su studi di caso condotti, dal 2014 al 2016, in Istituti Secondari di II grado del territorio campano in cui si sono state sperimentate nuove metodologie didattiche per l’insegnamento – apprendimento della Fisica. Di tali metodologie si evidenziano meriti e limiti e di ciascun caso, come esempio di buona pratica, viene mostrata la possibile replicabilità in altri contesti. Il lavoro vuole essere un tentativo didattico-epistemologico di affrontare problematiche di insegnamento-apprendimento anche in relazione ai bisogni formativi dei docenti. Gli studi di caso riguardano alcuni temi salienti della fisica, dalla meccanica alla fisica moderna ma replicabili anche in altri contesti e in relazione ad altri argomenti. Sono state sperimentate le seguenti metodologie: l’apprendimento situato (situated learning), il metodo della classe capovolta (flipped teaching), l’Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE), il Digital Storytelling, la Robotica educativa, la Ricerca – Azione (Action Research), la metodologia Scrum. Le sperimentazioni sono state presentate in convegni nazionali e internazionali (AIF Perugia 2014, AIF Trento 2015, AIF Assergi 2016, SIF Roma 2015, SIF Padova 2016, GIREP Wroclaw 2015, DIFIMA Torino 2015, HPM Montpellier 2016, WCPE San Paolo 2016): alcune sono state oggetto di pubblicazione su riviste internazionali o su atti di convegno, altre sono in fase di pubblicazione. Inoltre, alcune attività sperimentali sono state accolte a Città della Scienza come esempio di buone pratiche didattiche, in occasione dei “Tre giorni per la scuola” (2015), e del “Pic nic della scienza” (2016). Una attività è stata presentata al Forum Internazionale SkySEF 2015 a Shimizu in Giappone ricevendo apprezzamenti dalla giuria di docenti esperti dell’Università di Shizuoka. Infine, sono stati condotti, sempre sul territorio campano, corsi di formazione rivolti ai docenti sulla didattica per competenze, nei tre ambiti di conoscenza, la Conoscenza Pedagogica (Pedagogical Knowledge), la Conoscenza di Contenuti disciplinari (Subject Matter Content Knewledge) e la Conoscenza Curricolare (Curricular Knowledge), che comprende programmi, materiali e strumenti didattici, software (Shulman). Sono state mostrate le attività didattiche svolte in questi tre anni per dare spunto ai docenti su come implementare in classe una efficace azione didattica per competenza, come realizzare un prodotto di intervento, come strutturare una prova autentica. Di queste azioni di formazione sono stati raccolti i report e inseriti in questo lavoro. La metodologia di ricerca attuata rientra nel quadro della Educational Reconstruction (Kattmann et al, 1995), che permette di studiare i fenomeni didattici progettando e realizzando ambienti di apprendimento, artefatti, sequenze di insegnamento/apprendimento che il ricercatore sperimenta, valuta, rielabora e sviluppa in contesti educativi autentici. Lo studio si contestualizza nel quadro teorico/epistemologico dell’Enattivismo e, in particolare, la teoria cognitiva che viene presa in esame è quella dello sviluppo della conoscenza attraverso la costruzione di modelli. [a cura dell'autore]XXIX n.s

Changing Route: Common Action on Food Systems Transformation in the Mediterranean

The Coronavirus pandemic has revealed the fragility of our food systems, affecting all dimensions of food security and nutrition across the world. It has highlighted how deeply our world is interconnected and the importance of better recognising and understanding the interconnections that are intrinsic to these systems and their key role in pursuit of the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. There is now, more than ever, a stronger need for a "route change" towards a common action on food systems transformation. Dialogues among all stakeholders to redesign the future of tomorrow's food systems are needed to trigger collective, multi-stakeholder actions on the ground, at local, regional and global level, towards more sustainable food systems, linking sustainable food production to more healthy and sustainable food consumption. In this context CIHEAM, FAO, and the Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat (UfMS) initiated in 2019, a joint collaborative effort for the establishment of a multi-stakeholder platform on Sustainable Food Systems in the Mediterranean to accelerate the shift towards the Agenda 2030 in the Mediterranean region, with the Mediterranean diet acting as a driver

Perspectives on the semantics/pragmatics debate: insights from aphasia research

In the philosophy of language, there are many ongoing controversies that stem from relying too heavily on an utterance-based framework. The traditional approach of rigidly partitioning the utterance’s meaning into what is grammatically determined from what is not may not fully capture the complexity of human language in real-world communicative contexts. To address this issue, we suggest shifting focus toward a broader analysis level encompassing conversations and discourses. From this broader perspective, it is possible to obtain a more integrated view of how linguistic and extra-linguistic aspects dynamically interact and thus reconsider semantics/pragmatics dichotomy as complementary dimensions. Meaning is not confined to linguistic structures alone but emerges from the dynamic interplay of words, sociocultural knowledge, discursive situations, and psychological dispositions of speakers. Substantiating this perspective calls for embracing an interdisciplinary approach that synthesizes research from various domains, including linguistics, cognitive psychology, and philosophy of language. This paper focuses on a particularly compelling case study: aphasia. Speeches produced by individuals with aphasia represent complex scenarios where the balance between linguistic and extra-linguistic aspects is notably compromised, often to the former’s detriment. Aphasics’ productions represent a vivid example of how the interpretation of speeches can be far from involving fixed and static operations. Instead, it entails continuously reallocating cognitive resources toward the most readily available and accessible sources for the speakers. This case study ultimately demonstrates that the influence of semantic and pragmatic processes in shaping and conveying meanings displays remarkable adaptability, continuously adjusting to the ever changing demands placed upon speakers

Los bloques lógicos en educación infantil y primaria: una experiencia didáctica en Italia y España

El trabajo aquí expuesto responde a una unidad didáctica sobre el recurso matemático de los bloques lógicos. La intención del mismo es ponerlo en práctica en el congreso a modo taller con un grupo de 20-25 asistentes. Durante el desarrollo del taller se expondrá la unidad didáctica, con especial atención a los diversos ejercicios, juegos y actividades que se pueden realizar con este material, así como las diferentes modalidades de evaluación que se han planteado. El objetivo de dicho taller será promover entre los docentes y demás profesionales del mundo de la educación la Renovación Pedagógica, y por ende, promover una enseñanza actica y experimental, donde se demuestre que la motivación es esencial y el motor del aprendizaje

Pragmemes revisited. A theoretical framework.

In this paper, we take up an old issue that of pragmemes, broached by Mey and further explored by Capone. It is not easy to define pragmemes and distinguish them sufficiently from speech acts (units of language use broached by Austin and Searle) or from Wittgensteinian language games or from macro speech acts (see van Dijk on macrostructures) or from Goffman’s scripts. The best idea we could develop about pragmemes is that they instantiate the triple articulation of language, proposed by Jock Wong; being essentially composed of phonological-syntactic units, that have a certain content relative to a social situation and to a certain culture, pragmemes express a certain function (or illocutionary force), like, e.g., modifying society or some aspect of it. They are part of a chapter that can be called either “societal pragmatics” or “emancipatory pragmatics,” to use the words by Mey. In fact, knowledge of how language is used to diminish the rights of people and to propagate the “status quo” may be instrumental to give rights and power to ordinary human beings who are oppressed by political and economical structures

Perspectives on the semantics/pragmatics debate: insights from aphasia research

n the philosophy of language, there are many ongoing controversies that stem from relying too heavily on an utterance-based framework. The traditional approach of rigidly partitioning the utterance’s meaning into what is grammatically determined from what is not may not fully capture the complexity of human language in real-world communicative contexts. To address this issue, we suggest shifting focus toward a broader analysis level encompassing conversations and discourses. From this broader perspective, it is possible to obtain a more integrated view of how linguistic and extra-linguistic aspects dynamically interact and thus reconsider semantics/pragmatics dichotomy as complementary dimensions. Meaning is not confined to linguistic structures alone but emerges from the dynamic interplay of words, sociocultural knowledge, discursive situations, and psychological dispositions of speakers. Substantiating this perspective calls for embracing an interdisciplinary approach that synthesizes research from various domains, including linguistics, cognitive psychology, and philosophy of language. This paper focuses on a particularly compelling case study: aphasia. Speeches produced by individuals with aphasia represent complex scenarios where the balance between linguistic and extra-linguistic aspects is notably compromised, often to the former’s detriment. Aphasics’ productions represent a vivid example of how the interpretation of speeches can be far from involving fixed and static operations. Instead, it entails continuously reallocating cognitive resources toward the most readily available and accessible sources for the speakers. This case study ultimately demonstrates that the influence of semantic and pragmatic processes in shaping and conveying meanings displays remarkable adaptability, continuously adjusting to the ever changing demands placed upon speakers

Integrating environmental and socio-economic indicators to explore the sustainability of food patterns and food security in Lebanon

Abstract Food security is a complex issue whose comprehension requires multidisciplinary research exploring environmental, socio-economic, and policy aspects. World population is expected to continue increasing in the next decades. As a consequence, the global food demand is also expected to increase, exacerbating the contribution of food consumption and production patterns to environmental problems and climate change. In addition, the problem of socio-economic inequalities is also noteworthy, with a very high number of undernourished people at global level. Considering the complex nature of food security, the integration of environmental and socio-economic indicators is much needed for assessing its multiple dimensions. In this study, environmental and socio-economic indicators were assessed to explore the sustainability of food patterns and food security in Lebanon. Environmental indicators were calculated to assess the environmental costs and impacts of the Lebanese and refugee diets. All the environmental indicators calculated for the Lebanese diet resulted higher compared to the refugee diet. The overall contribution of the refugee diet to the investigated impact categories resulted in about 25%, confirming its significance in terms of direct and indirect natural resources consumption and environmental impacts. The socio-economic indicators showed that food security is a critical issue for the Lebanese population and, particularly, for the refugees living in Lebanon. In particular, 59% and 15% of Lebanese and refugee populations resulted having an adequate individual access to food. In conclusion, the outcomes of the study provide scientific information to support policy-makers and a benchmark for future studies aimed at improving food security in Lebanon

Culturally crafted Lesson Study to improve teachers' professional development in mathematics: a case study in Italian secondary school

This paper describes a Lesson Study in which in-service mathematics secondary-school teachers, collaborating with researchers, involve grade 10 students in tessellation problems. The data are collected by an experiment carried out in the context of the “Liceo Matematico” project, with three volunteer teachers. The experiment goal was to craft a collaborative design of the research lesson between teachers and researchers. The research aim of the paper is to examine the use of Lesson Study in the institutional and cultural context of Italian secondary school with the use of Cultural Transposition as a theoretical framework. The research is qualitative with idiographic aims, based on video research. The educational aim of the research is to provide a solid basis for a revamped in-service teacher education first in the context of the project, then in curricular context. Semiotic mediation is used to provide, within Lesson Study, the conceptual framework for teachers and researchers collaborative design of the research lesson. The results show that Lesson Study, as a foreign practice, is an opportunity for teachers to confront their teaching practices, to enrich their professional development, resulting in more awareness on their didactical action in and outside the classroom