Aristotle and Menander on the Ethics of Understanding

This doctoral thesis explores a subject falling in the interface between ancient Greek philosophy and literature. Specifically, I am concerned with common ground between the New Comedy of Menander and aspects of Aristotle’s philosophy. The thesis does not argue that the resemblance identified between the two writers shows the direct influence of Aristotle on Menander but rather thay they share a common thought-world. The thesis is structured around a series of parallel readings of Menander and Aristotle; key relevant texts are Menander’s "Epitrepontes", "Samia", "Aspis", "Perikeiromene" and "Dyscolos" and Aristotle’s "Posterior Analytics", "Nicomachean and Eudemian Ethics", "De Anima" and "Poetics". My claim is that Menander’s construction of characters and plots and Aristotle’s philosophical analyses express analogous approaches on the subject of the relationship between knowledge and ethics. Central for my argument is the consideration that in Aristotle’s writings on ethics, logic, and psychology, we can identify a specific set of ideas about the interconnection between knowledge-formation and character or emotion, which shows, for instance, how ethical failings typically depend on a combination of cognitive mistakes and emotional lapses. A few years later than the composition of Aristotle’s school-texts, Menander’s comedies, as expressed in the extant texts, present to a wider audience a type of drama which, as I argue, reflects an analogously complex and sophisticated understanding of the interplay between cognitive or rational understanding and character or emotion. More broadly, Aristotle and Menander offer analogous views of the way that perceptions and emotional responses to situations are linked with the presence or absence of ethical and cognitive understanding, or the state of ethical character-development in any given person. Thus, I suggest, the interpersonal crises and the progress towards recognition of the identity of the crucial figures in Menandrian comedies embody a pattern of thinking about perception, knowledge and the role of emotion that shows substantial linkage with Aristotle’s thinking on comparable topics.Arts and Humanities Research CouncilUniversity of Exeter, Department of Classics and Ancient HistoryHellenic Society (research visits bursaries

Minerva ed i pueri: proposta per una rilettura di alcune fonti letterarie

La relazione che intercorre tra Minerva ed i pueri romani, nota archeologicamente dai più antichi santuari italici della dea ed inoltre documentata dalla presenza dell'altare della dea Iuventas nella cella di Minerva del tempio capitolino, appare altresì evidente ad una più approfondita disamina di alcune fonti letterarie di epoca classica; in particolare, risultano assolutamente determinanti le testimonianze relative alla prassi del tributo del minerval, alla tutela della dea sulla memoria e, infine, le numerose attestazioni del patronato di Minerva sulle attività dell'artigianato tessile. Quantunque pertinenti ad ambiti totalmente diversi, tali competenze di Minerva sono collegate da un unico filo conduttore, riconducibili ad una origine comune costituita dal primigenio culto tributatole come dea tutelare dei riti di passaggio post-puberali

MuLaN: a MultiLayer Networks Alignment Algorithm

A Multilayer Network (MN) is a system consisting of several topological levels (i.e., layers) representing the interactions between the system's objects and the related interdependency. Therefore, it may be represented as a set of layers that can be assimilated to a set of networks of its own objects, by means inter-layer edges (or inter-edges) linking the nodes of different layers; for instance, a biological MN may allow modeling of inter and intra interactions among diseases, genes, and drugs, only using its own structure. The analysis of MNs may reveal hidden knowledge, as demonstrated by several algorithms for the analysis. Recently, there is a growing interest in comparing two MNs by revealing local regions of similarity, as a counterpart of Network Alignment algorithms (NA) for simple networks. However, classical algorithms for NA such as Local NA (LNA) cannot be applied on multilayer networks, since they are not able to deal with inter-layer edges. Therefore, there is the need for the introduction of novel algorithms. In this paper, we present MuLaN, an algorithm for the local alignment of multilayer networks. We first show as proof of concept the performances of MuLaN on a set of synthetic multilayer networks. Then, we used as a case study a real multilayer network in the biomedical domain. Our results show that MuLaN is able to build high-quality alignments and can extract knowledge about the aligned multilayer networks. MuLaN is available at https://github.com/pietrocinaglia/mulan

Fraudes, violences et autres comportements déviants dans le sport professionnel et olympique : Opportunités et limites des sources ouvertes en ligne comme moyen de renseignement

Les sources ouvertes en ligne sont de plus en plus utilisées comme outils de renseignement. Cette contribution explore la manière dont elles peuvent être utilisées pour étudier la déviance dans le sport professionnel et olympique. L’étude a considéré les fraudes perpétrées sur le terrain (le dopage, la manipulation de match et les fraudes à l’éligibilité) et en dehors (la corruption), les violences sur et en dehors du terrain de jeu (le hooliganisme et le terrorisme), ainsi que les autres comportements préjudiciables commis par les sportifs, que ce soit sur le terrain ou en dehors. Un dispositif de veille en ligne a été mis en place pour la récolte d’articles publiés en 2016 en anglais. Des 775 cas qui ont été relevés, les fraudes (surtout les cas de dopage et de manipulations de matchs) comptaient à elles seules pour 85 % des cas. Au total, 87 pays sont impliqués dans cette étude, bien que certaines sous-régions – l’Europe de l’Est (17,4 %), l’Afrique de l’Est (16,1 %), ainsi que l’Australie et la Nouvelle-Zélande (10,2 %) – se démarquent par une concentration plus élevée de cas. Quant aux patterns temporels, des distributions sont concentrées surtout aux mois d’août et novembre pour les fraudes, et aux mois de juin et juillet pour les violences. Ces tendances peuvent laisser supposer une saisonnalité des comportements déviants. En se concentrant sur les biais liés au langage et aux types de sources, des recherches plus approfondies sur le sujet pourraient contribuer à une surveillance systématique de la représentation médiatique de ces phénomènes dans le monde

Étude sur l'impact d'un délai d'effacement automatique pour les profils ADN de personnes prévenues

Depuis plus de 30 ans, les traces ADN contribuent significativement aux investigations criminelles, grâce notamment à la mise en place de banques de données génétiques. Si leur utilité est amplement reconnue, certains aspects – comme la durée de conservation du profil des individus – continuent à alimenter les débats, de par les implications en matière d’atteinte au droit de la personne. En Suisse, la durée de rétention dépend de l’issue de la procédure judiciaire, ce qui complexifie la procédure d’effacement. La définition d’un délai d’effacement automatique constituerait donc une solution intéressante pour simplifier la procédure, tout en garantissant l’efficacité de la trace ADN et le droit à l’oubli. Cette étude vise donc à déterminer s’il est possible de supprimer le profil ADN d’un individu de la banque de données sans que cela nuise à l’élucidation d’enquêtes futures et, le cas échéant, de proposer un délai d’effacement automatique le plus opportun. À la suite des résultats de l’étude de Girardet (2014) sur l’application des délais d’effacement en Suisse, trois échéances – 5, 8 et 10 ans – ont été retenues dans la présente étude. Issu de la banque de données ADN suisse, l’échantillon utilisé comprenait les données sur les prélèvements ADN réalisés (N = 106 346) et sur les traces biologiques identifiées (N = 16 516) entre 2005 et 2014 dans quatre cantons suisses. Les résultats obtenus montrent que l’effacement des profils n’affecte pas l’identification des traces. En effet, 80 % des identifications surviennent dans l’année qui suit l’enregistrement du profil génétique du prévenu, le solde étant identifié dans un délai de 10 ans au plus. Quant aux infractions dont les traces ont été identifiées au-delà d’un délai de 5 ans (N = 313), ou de 8 ans (N = 36), il apparaît que la grande majorité de ces affaires ont trait à des infractions contre le patrimoine, même si on relève également quelques cas d’atteinte à la personne. Ainsi, en se fondant sur le jeu de données mises à disposition, les résultats de cette étude montrent qu’un délai automatique de 10 ans assurerait à satisfaction l’efficacité de l’exploitation de la banque de données, tout en respectant la proportionnalité de la pratique.DNA traces have made a significant contribution to criminal investigations for over 30 years, especially after the creation of DNA databases. Although the effectiveness of these databases is widely recognized, some issues – such as the retention period for DNA profiles – are still widely discussed because of the potential threat they pose to people’s fundamental rights and freedoms. In Switzerland, the length DNA is retained is determined through legal proceedings, which makes any decision to delete more complicated. Defining a time after which deletion would be automatic would simplify the removal procedure while both recognizing the usefulness of DNA in investigations and guaranteeing that it will not be retained indefinitely. This study looks at whether it is possible to delete a DNA profile from the database without affecting future investigations and proposes the most suitable delay before automatic deletion. Following the results of the study of Girardet (2014), delays of 5, 8, and 10 years were considered. Our sample, based on data in Switzerland’s national DNA database collected between 2005 and 2014 in four Swiss cantons, consisted of information on DNA samples from arrestees (N = 106 346) as well as identified biological traces (N = 16 516). Results show that removal of DNA profiles does not affect identification of the traces. In fact, 80 % of identifications occur in the year following the entry of an arrestee’s DNA profile, while the 20 % remaining are identified in a maximum of 10 years. In cases where identification of the traces required longer than 5 years (N = 313) or 8 years (N = 36), the offenses were almost all property crimes, although a few violent crimes were also observed. Based on the data available, automatic deletion after 10 years would ensure the efficiency of DNA database while respecting the proportionality of measure.Desde hace más de 30 años, los rastros de ADN contribuyen significativamente a las investigaciones criminales, gracias, sobre todo, al establecimiento de bases de datos genéticas. Si bien su utilidad es ampliamente reconocida, algunos aspectos, como la duración de la conservación del perfil de los individuos, continúan alimentando los debates por las implicaciones en materia de derechos humanos. En Suiza, la duración de la retención depende del resultado del proceso judicial, lo que hace complejo el procedimiento de supresión. La definición de un retraso de supresión automático constituiría entonces una opción interesante para simplificar el procedimiento, garantizando la eficacidad del rastro de ADN y el derecho al olvido. Este estudio identifica si es posible suprimir un perfil de ADN de la base de datos sin que esto perjudique la elucidación de futuras encuestas y, en su caso, proponer un tiempo lo más oportuno posible de supresión automática. Siguiendo los resultados de un estudio (Girardet, 2014), tres plazos, de 5, 8 y 10 años, fueron considerados en el estudio. Proveniente de la base de datos suiza, la muestra utilizada incluía los datos sobre las muestras de ADN (N = 106 346) et sobre los rastros identificados (N = 16 516) entre el 2005 et el 2014 en cuatro cantones suizos. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la supresión de los perfiles no afecta a la identificación de los rastros. En efecto, el 80 % de las identificaciones ocurren en el año siguiente al registro del perfil genético del acusado, el saldo estando identificado en un tiempo de 10 años o más. En cuanto a las infracciones cuyos rastros fueron identificados en un tiempo de más de 5 años (N = 313), o de 8 años (N = 36), parece que la gran mayoría de estos asuntos tienen que ver con infracciones contra el patrimonio, incluso si uno nota igualmente algunos casos de daño a la persona. Así, fundándose en el juego de datos disponible, los resultados de este estudio muestran que un tiempo automático de 10 años aseguraría satisfactoriamente la eficacidad de la explotación de una base de datos, respetando la proporcionalidad de la práctica

Bioinformatics Solutions for Image Data Processing

In recent years, the increasing use of medical devices has led to the generation of large amounts of data, including image data. Bioinformatics solutions provide an effective approach for image data processing in order to retrieve information of interest and to integrate several data sources for knowledge extraction; furthermore, images processing techniques support scientists and physicians in diagnosis and therapies. In addition, bioinformatics image analysis may be extended to support several scenarios, for instance, in cyber-security the biometric recognition systems are applied to unlock devices and restricted areas, as well as to access sensitive data. In medicine, computational platforms generate high amount of data from medical devices such as Computed Tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI); this chapter will survey on bioinformatics solutions and toolkits for medical imaging in order to suggest an overview of techniques and methods that can be applied for the imaging analysis in medicine

Minerva et Diana, quas ais pariter colendas ovvero, la connotazione lunare di Minerva

The lunar connotation, considered a ‘vanished’ characteristic of Minerva based on the discoveries of Lavinium, results instead as a distinctive aspect of her cult, that we can recognize in different fields : in the Quinquatrus, the main festivity of the goddess ; in the topographical positioning of the most important urban sanctuaries ; in the literary sources ; and, probably, also in the etymology of the theonym itself. Surely a very ancient hallmark, connected to the nature of the goddess since her origins, to her primitive function of supervisor of transitional feminine rites and to the institutional measurement of flowing time.La connotazione lunare, ritenuta una ‘ sfumata’ caratteristica di Minerva sulla scorta dei ritrovamenti di Lavinium, appare invece come un tratto distintivo del culto, evidenziabile in numerosi ambiti : nelle Quinquatrus, la sua principale festività ; nella collocazione topografica dei maggiori santuari urbani ; in numerose fonti letterarie ; e, dato da comprovare, verosimilmente anche dall’ etimologia del teonimo stesso. Un aspetto decisamente risalente, pertinente alla natura della dea sin dalle origini, connesso alla sua primigenia funzione di divinità del cambiamento di status femminile e di garante istituzionale dello scorrere del tempo.La connotation lunaire, considérée comme une caractéristique nuancée de Minerve sur la base des découvertes archéologiques de Lavinium, semble être en fait un trait distinctif de son culte, identifiable dans de nombreux domaines : dans les Quinquatrus, sa principale festivité ; dans la disposition topographique des principaux sanctuaires urbains ; dans de nombreuses sources littéraires ; et même, ce qui reste à prouver, dans l’étymologie du théonyme. Il s’agit d’un aspect ancien, qui relève de la nature de la déesse depuis les origines, lié à sa fonction primitive de divinité du changement du status féminin et de garante institutionnelle du passage du temps.Cinaglia Tiziano. Minerva et Diana, quas ais pariter colendas ovvero, la connotazione lunare di Minerva. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 45, n°2, 2019. pp. 197-236

Next generation massive access techniques for IoT systems in 6G

In this thesis document a simplified design of the sparse Interleave Division Multiple-Access (IDMA) scheme is introduced. Sparse IDMA is an advanced random access protocol for massive connectivity in the Internet of Things (IoT) context. This model was recently proposed as a new communication paradigm for the unsourced and uncoordinated Gaussian multiple access (GMAC) problem. The main feature of this encoding/decoding scheme is the joint Belief Propagation (BP) algorithm which provides simultaneous decoding of all concurrent transmissions. The key idea is to implement a low complexity version of the work proposed by Chamberland et al. in order to get as close as possible to the results of sparse IDMA while reducing the computational complexity of the scheme. Indeed, instead of the heavy joint BP, this scheme applies a simpler single-user serial Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) decoding algorithm through a fixed (128, 64)-LDPC code for each number of active users. Moreover, this approach should eliminate the need for complex optimization procedures. Therefore, each user’s message is divided into two parts: the first one is transmitted using Compressed Sensing (CS) to identify the preambles of the users, while the second uses LDPC transmission to recovery the data. However, despite being easy to implement, the single-user LDPC code used is particularly inefficient from a performance point of view as we will see better later. Therefore, an in-depth study will be conducted on the performance of the CS solver in order to optimize as much as possible the multi-user detection (MUD), avoiding unnecessarily stressing the data recovery part. Finally, the scheme is integrated with Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) and Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) for further performance improvements. This approach offers good performance with low computational complexity, as demonstrated by simulations compared to existing methods