Assessing the Feasibility of MaaS. A Contribution from Three Italian Case Studies

Making all types of public and private transport services available to users through a single and integrated digital platform is the new urban mobility paradigm called Mobility as a Service (MaaS). This scheme allows both a more sustainable urban transportation system and a more effi-cient transport service for users. For MaaS to be successful, its implementation should adapt to the specific features of the location covered by the service. The city maturity level has to be considered in terms of multimodality, infrastructures, regulations, user goals, and user willingness to use and pay for MaaS services. This paper discusses and analyses the results of a survey on MaaS con-ducted in three Italian metropolitan areas: Turin, Rome, and Genoa, which have very different and specific characteristics. The comparative analysis enables the definition of drivers, obstacles, and requisites for MaaS implementation to be successful. When it comes to cities with conservative mobility policies or cities that are new to MaaS experiences, resistance to adoption of the service might occur. The results of the research discussed in this paper can be a useful resource to enable decision makers to develop more effective and efficient transportation policies

Aplicações ricas no controle de doenças da soja.

Este artigo apresenta a utilização de recursos de aplicações ricas para internet no controle de doenças da soja, explorando novas formas de publicar e acessar informações, por meio de componentes que estendem a capacidade das aplicações web e proporcionam ambientes interativos e colaborativos. As aplicações foram baseadas no conceito de web 2.0, amplamente utilizado e de comprovada relevância para o uso da internet como plataforma de aplicações em diversas áreas. O uso desses recursos se deu no desenvolvimento de uma aplicação web para o controle e monitoramento da ferrugem asiática da soja no Brasil. O resultado obtido demonstrou que essas tecnologias proporcionam aplicações web diferenciadas, tanto para entrada como para saída de informações, apresentando grande contribuição no desenvolvimento de soluções informatizadas para o controle de doenças da cultura da soja, podendo ser aplicadas também para outras culturas. RICH INTERNET APPLICATIONS IN SOYBEAN DISEASE CONTROL. This paper presents the use of Rich Internet Applications resources to help on soybean diseases control and explores a new ways to publish and access information, through components that extend the capabilities of web applications and provide interactive and collaborative environments. The applications were based on web 2.0 concepts, widely used and proven relevance. The use of these resources was made by developing a web application for the control and monitoring of Asian soybean rust in Brazil. The results showed that these technologies provide differenced web applications, both for input and for output information, presenting a great contribution to the development of computerized solutions for the control of soybean diseases, which can also be applied to other cultures.SBIAGRO

Mobilidade e a rastreabilidade da ferrugem asiática da soja no Brasil.

A ferrugem asiática da soja, causada pelo fungo Phakopsora pachyrhizi possui fácil disseminação e pode causar perdas de 30% à 75% na produção. O monitoramento da ferrugem e sua identificação nos estádios iniciais são essenciais para um controle eficiente (YORINORI, 2005). Afim de permitir uma rápida visualização sobre a dispersão desta doença no Brasil, foi desenvolvida uma versão móvel para a plataforma iOS do sistema Web do Consórcio Antiferrugem. O usuário, com o uso do aplicativo em um iPhone, iPod Touch ou iPad, pode ter acesso às informações sobre a dispersão da doença diretamente no seu dispositivo, a qualquer hora e lugar, podendo perceber a aproximação dos focos da doença na sua região e adiantar-se na procura por sinais de infecção na sua lavoura, evitando grandes perdas na produção. O aplicativo traz como diferencial, além da sua mobilidade, a possibilidade de apresentação de informações completas sobre as ocorrências da doença, registradas por laboratórios conveniados ao consórcio. Permite, também, a rastreabilidade sobre a evolução da doença no decorrer das safras, apresentando pontos geolocalizados para os focos da doença. O aplicativo foi desenvolvido sob uma arquitetura de serviços disponíveis na plataforma Web do Consórcio Antiferrugem. Desde que foi disponibilizado, o aplicativo já foi baixado centenas de vezes por usuários do mundo todo, deixando claro o interesse pelas informações não só por produtores e técnicos brasileiros, mas também pelo mercado comprador de soja. Objetivando proporcionar maior agilidade na disseminação das informações, suporte a tecnologia push, para notificações automáticas, está sendo implementado e disponibilizado na loja de aplicativos da Apple (APPLE, 2011).SBIAGRO

Improving 3D shape retrieval with SVM

In this paper we propose a technique that combines a classification method from the statistical learning literature with a conventional approach to shape retrieval. The idea that we pursue is to improve both results and performance by filtering the database of shapes before retrieval with a shape classifier, which allows us to keep only the shapes belonging to the classes most similar to the query shape. The experimental analysis that we report shows that our approach improves the computational cost in the average case, and leads to better results

SVD-Matching Using SIFT Features

The paper tackles the problem of feature points matching between pair of images of the same scene. This is a key problem in computer vision. The method we discuss here is a version of the SVD-matching proposed by Scott and Longuet-Higgins and later modified by Pilu, that we elaborate in order to cope with large scale variations. To this end we add to the feature detection phase a keypoint descriptor that is robust to large scale and view-point changes. Furthermore, we include this descriptor in the equations of the proximity matrix that is central to the SVD-matching. At the same time we remove from the proximity matrix all the information about the point locations in the image, that is the source of mismatches when the amount of scene variation increases. The main contribution of this work is in showing that this compact and easy algorithm can be used for severe scene variations. We present experimental evidence of the improved performance with respect to the previous versions of the algorithm

Spatio-temporal constraints for matching view-based descriptions of 3D objects

We propose a 3D object recognition method based on first extracting a compact description of image sequences, and then matching these descriptions with a two-steps strategy. The compactness of the description, made of a set of time-invariant local features, allows us to use a simple nearest neighbour matching to obtain an initial set of recognition hypothesis; spatio-temporal constraints help us to confirm or to reject these hypotheses. We carried out an extensive experimental analysis to assess our method against changes in illumination, abrupt scale changes, occlusions, clutter, view-point variations. Since our approach is based on the use of image sequences we also tested it with different camera motions. Our description strategy may be also applied to relatively simple poor-textured objects, since few stable features are enough for recognition

Green Energy Planning of Cities and Communities: New Paradigms and Strategies for a Sustainable Approach

In green planning, the correct management of energy in towns and cities is a critical issue and is the topic of this chapter. In the first part, a general overview is provided, identifying the new paradigms to be pursued according to the needs of reducing, and possibly eliminating, the emission of greenhouse gases and those gases that have an impact on the environment, also considering the technological evolution currently in progress and opportunities offered by the market of energy generation and management market. In the second part of the chapter, a methodological approach to Green Energy Planning on a territorial scale is proposed and discussed. The chapter is completed by an in-depth analysis of the European project which promotes an approach to bottom-up energy planning, the Covenant of Mayors: its methodologies are discussed and a case study is analysed