1,042 research outputs found
Design smart city apps using activity theory.
In this paper we describe an innovative approach to the design process of Smart City interventions. We tested it with participants enrolled in the Master\u2019s Degree program in \u201cInnovators in enterprise and public administration\u201d: the objective of the Master was to stimulate the acquisition of technical and methodological skills useful in designing and implementing specific Smart City actions. During the "project work" phase, participants learned about a design method named SAM \u2013 Smart City Model - based on the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). We present an overview of design criteria for Smart City projects, the description of the theoretical framework of Activity Theory, and our proposal of the SAM design model. We also present some examples of student\u2019s \u201cprojects\u201d and a more extensive description of one case study about the full design process of an App planned using SAM, for \u201csmart health\u201d vaccine management and monitoring services. The App was later published and made available to the citizens and was successful in attracting thousands of users. All the participants considered the model very useful in particular because it made possible to understand the interaction and solve contradictions between different stakeholders and systems involved
Constrained LQR Using Online Decomposition Techniques
This paper presents an algorithm to solve the infinite horizon constrained
linear quadratic regulator (CLQR) problem using operator splitting methods.
First, the CLQR problem is reformulated as a (finite-time) model predictive
control (MPC) problem without terminal constraints. Second, the MPC problem is
decomposed into smaller subproblems of fixed dimension independent of the
horizon length. Third, using the fast alternating minimization algorithm to
solve the subproblems, the horizon length is estimated online, by adding or
removing subproblems based on a periodic check on the state of the last
subproblem to determine whether it belongs to a given control invariant set. We
show that the estimated horizon length is bounded and that the control sequence
computed using the proposed algorithm is an optimal solution of the CLQR
problem. Compared to state-of-the-art algorithms proposed to solve the CLQR
problem, our design solves at each iteration only unconstrained least-squares
problems and simple gradient calculations. Furthermore, our technique allows
the horizon length to decrease online (a useful feature if the initial guess on
the horizon is too conservative). Numerical results on a planar system show the
potential of our algorithm.Comment: This technical report is an extended version of the paper titled
"Constrained LQR Using Online Decomposition Techniques" submitted to the 2016
Conference on Decision and Contro
Figli della memoria
Figli della memoria, primo numero della collana di studi "Il tempo, la storia e la memoria", raccoglie contributi che affrontano il tema della Shoah e della memoria con approcci di tipo letterario, filosofico, artistico, storico, linguistico, politico e giuridico. Molti degli autori fanno parte della Rete Universitaria per il Giorno della Memoria e sono responsabili dei Corsi di Storia e didattica della Shoah istituiti dalla Rete in Italia e all'estero. Figli della memoria sintetizza la volont\ue0 di tenere uniti il mondo dell\u2019Universit\ue0, della Scuola e del Museo, senza facili strabismi e anzi mantenendo ferma l\u2019istanza civile, scientifica e didattica
Architecture and Pliocene to Recent evolution of the offshore prolongation of the Granitola - Castelvetrano Thrust System (Sicily Channel)
High-resolution, seismic profiles were recorded in the offshore of Mazara - Punta Granitola with the purpose of
reconstructing the architecture and Pliocene to Recent evolution of the south-west prolongation of the Granitola-
Castelvetrano Thrust System, identified as an active structure possibly related to destructive historical earthquakes
(Barreca et al., 2014; Ferranti et al., this meeting).
A number of seismic units were identified. The oldest one is interpreted as representative of the Lower Pliocene
pelagic deposits known in the region as Trubi. Lower-middle Pleistocene calcarenites are widespread along the
continental shelf (CS) between Mazara del Vallo while their top rapidly deepens moving southeast-ward Capo
Granitola. In this area, lower-middle Pleistocene calcarenites are unconformably overlain by the late Pleistocene-
Holocene deposits. These latter are thin or absent NW of Punta Granitola along the CS, at water depth less than ~30 m,
suggesting that this sector experienced uplift during the Quaternary.
Small scale, NW- and SE-displacing reverse faults are observed along the CS where they cut the lower-middle
Pleistocene calcarenites and offset the seafloor. South-eastwards, south-east-verging, reverse faults affect lower-middle
Pleistocene calcarenites as well as the late Pleistocene-Holocene layers, suggesting that fault displacement acted during
the post-LGM.
Growth folding of Upper Pleistocene-Holocene deposits and thrust faults, predominantly dipping to the NW,
affecting Pliocene rocks are observed in the immediate offshore Capo Granitola.
The integration of the new data with those obtained from multi-channel profiles suggests that the active folds and
thrusts are the uppermost expression of steep crustal ramps (Monaco et al., 1996; Lavecchia et al., 2007; Meccariello et
al., this meeting) which upthrust the Saccense platform at depth
Plio-Quaternary tectonic evolution offshore the Capo Vaticano Promontory
We reconstruct the Plio-Quaternary tectono-stratigraphic evolution in the offshore Capo Vaticano (W Calabria,
Italy) by integrating data obtained from single- and multi-channel reflection seismic profiles and a reprocessed version
of the CROP M2A/III line.
NW-trending, high-angle normal faults, dipping ~70° to the south-west formed along the continental slope
connecting the south-west continental shelf of the Capo Vaticano Promontory to the Gioia Tauro Basin (Pepe et al.,
2014). Faults generally have small displacements up to 40 m and are sealed by Pleistocene deposits.
West of the Capo Vaticano promontory and in the Gioia Basin, a SE-dipping, normal fault system, more than 32 km
long, is recognized. Faults affect lower (?) Pleistocene and are sealed by probably post-0.7 Ma deposits. These faults are
here tentatively interpreted as the antithetic faults of major, Late Pliocene to Quaternary, NW-dipping, normal faults,
which form the currently active tectonic belt along the Calabrian Arc (e.g. Monaco and Tortorici, 2000; Faccenna et al.,
2011).
In the Santa Eufemia Gulf, reverse faults affecting Plio-Quaternary and older sedimentary successions are observed.
Faults also offset the seafloor thus indicating their recent activity. A normal fault system has been also inferred on the
basis of the present day depth variations of the edges of submerged depositional terraces and associated abrasion
platforms, along which a vertical displacement of ~21 m during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene has been inferred.
The information derived in offshore the Capo Vaticano Promontory represents an important step towards an
accurate 3-D kinematic description of the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the western (Tyrrhenian) side of the
Calabrian Arc orogenic wedge during the Plio-Quaternary
Passive, broadband and low-frequency suppression of laser amplitude noise to the shot-noise limit using hollow-core fibre
We use hollow-core fibre to preserve the spectrum and temporal profile of
picosecond laser pulses in CBD to suppress 2.6 dB of amplitude noise at MHz
noise frequencies, to within 0.01 dB of the shot-noise limit. We provide an
enhanced version of the CBD scheme that concatenates circuits to suppress over
multiple frequencies and over broad frequency ranges --- we perform a first
demonstration that reduces total excess amplitude noise, between 2 - 6 MHz, by
85%. These demonstrations enable passive, broad-band, all-guided fibre laser
technology operating at the shot-noise limit.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Deformed Pleistocene marine terraces along the Ionian sea margin of southern Italy: unveiling blind fault-related folds contribution to coastal uplift
Morphotectonic analysis and fault numeric modeling of uplifted marine terraces along the Ionian Sea coast of the Southern Apennines allowed us to place quantitative constraints on middle Pleistocene-Holocene deformation. Ten terrace orders uplifted to as much as +660 m were mapped along ~80 km of the Taranto Gulf coastline. The shorelines document both a regional and a local, fault-induced contribution to uplift. The intermingling between the two deformation sources is attested by three 10 km scale undulations superimposed on a 100 km scale northeastward tilt. The undulations spatially coincide with the trace of NW-SE striking transpressional faults that affected the coastal range during the early Pleistocene. To test whether fault activity continued to the present, we modeled the differential uplift of marine terraces as progressive elastic displacement above blind oblique-thrust ramps seated beneath the coast. Through an iterative and mathematically based procedure, we defined the best geometric and kinematic fault parameters as well as the number and position of fault segments. Fault numerical models predict two fault-propagation folds cored by blind thrusts with slip rates ranging from 0.5 to 0.7 mm/yr and capable of generating an earthquake with a maximum moment magnitude of 5.9–6.3. Notably, we find that the locus of predominant activity has repeatedly shifted between the two fault systems during time and that slip rates on each fault have temporally changed. It is not clear if the active deformation is seismogenic or dominated by aseismic creep; however, the modeled faults are embedded in an offshore transpressional belt that may have sourced historical earthquakes
Proteomic and immunological characterization of a new food allergen from hazelnut (Corylus avellana).
Hazelnuts (Corylus avellana) are one of the most common sources of life-long IgE-mediated food allergies. In this study, we investigated the IgE-reactivity pattern of children with hazelnut allergy (N=15) from Regione Campania, located in Southern Italy, and addressed proteomic strategies for characterizing IgE-binding proteins. For all of the patients (15/15), the predominant IgE-reactive component was a minor ~55kDa protein not previously described. Similar to the hazelnut 11S globulin Cor a 9 allergen, the immunoreactive protein consisted of two subunits linked via a disulfide bridge. In contrast to Cor a 9, only the 20.7kDa alkaline subunit exhibited IgE-affinity. The immunogenic subunit was purified by a two-step chromatographic procedure, but peptide mass fingerprinting was unsuccessful in identifying it, due to the incompleteness of the annotated hazelnut genome. Several tryptic peptides were de novo sequenced by tandem mass spectrometry and showed a high degree of homology with the 11S globulin storage proteins from other seeds, some of which have already been reported as food allergens. The structural characterization suggests that the new putative allergen is a divergent isoform of the hazelnut 11S globulin. These results provide a new platform for developing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic intervention plans.
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE:Over the years, at least five proteins have been reported as potential food hazelnut allergens. The predominance of specific allergens appears to be strictly related to the geographical origin of the allergic subjects. The complex patterns of the IgE-reactivity of hazelnut storage proteins result in a poor diagnostic and prognostic accuracy. In the perspective of a component-resolved "molecular approach" to the hazelnut allergy we investigated the immune-reactivity patterns to hazelnuts of 15 patients (14 in the pediatric age range) from Region Campania, located in Southern Italy. For all the patients the predominant IgE-reactive component was a minor ~55kDa protein not previously annotated in either protein or genomic databases. The putative allergen was isolated, partially characterized by MS/MS de novo sequencing and appears to be an isoallergen of the hazelnut 11S globulin Cor a 9. Like this latter, the immunoreactive protein consisted of two subunits linked via a disulfide. In contrast to Cor a 9, only the 20.7kDa alkaline subunit exhibited IgE-affinity, in analogy to 11S allergens from other seeds (pistachio, cashew, soybean). We believe that the application of combined immunochemical and proteomic strategies to characterize the new food allergen could be of interest for the readers of Journal of Proteomics. In addition, the results of this study have functional worth in providing a new platform to plan innovative diagnostic and therapeutic intervention approaches to treat hazelnut allergy
Caratteristiche sismostratigrafiche di strutture sedimentarie diagnostiche dicorrenti di fondo nell\u2019off-shore del Golfo di Taranto.
L\u2019analisi integrata di dati multibeam e sismici ad altissima risoluzione (Chirp Sub-Bottom), acquisiti in
un settore del Golfo di Taranto (Mare Ionio), ha permesso di identificare e classificare strutture sedimentarie
diagnostiche di correnti di fondo (conturiti), formatesi nel tardo Quaternario. La classificazione proposta \ue8
basata sia su criteri sismo-stratigrafici che sulla comparazione con strutture analoge documentate da
precedenti autori nei bacini oceanici [Faugeres et al., 1999 con rif.].
Nell\u2019area in esame sono stati identificati quattro settori (Alto dell\u2019Amendolara, Bacino di Corigliano,
Bacino dell\u2019Amendolara ed Alto di Rossano-Cariati) caratterizzati da morfologia, pendenza e profondit\ue0
differente. Le strutture conturitiche sono state riconosciute prevalentemente nei settori NW e SE dell\u2019alto
dell\u2019Amendolara, ad una profondit\ue0 compresa tra 130 m e 400 m e le geometrie interne ed esterne mostrano
caratteristiche deposizionali ed erosive. Sono state classificate come sheeted drift le strutture sviluppate subparallelamente
al profilo batimetrico, infill drift ed elongated drift le strutture caratterizzate da fosse ben
sviluppate ed elementi erosivi quali fosse ed abraded surface. Sono stati osservati inoltre osservati sediment
waves nel settore SW dell\u2019alto strutturale.
Dall\u2019analisi integrata dei nuovi dati con quelli disponibili in letteratura \ue8 possibile ipotizzare che i
fattori che hanno maggiormente influenzato tipologia, distribuzione areale e batimetrica dei depositi
conturitici e degli elementi erosivi sono: a) morfologia del fondo marino; b) caratteristiche dei sedimenti (es.
tessitura); c) variazione della velocit\ue0 della \u201cLevantine Intermediate Water come conseguenza delle d)
variazioni eustatiche.
Sono stati inoltre applicati in cascata i modelli bidimensionali CMS- Wave [Lin et al, 2006] per la
propagazione dello spettro d\u2019onda, e CMS- Flow [Buttolph et al, 2006] per la circolazione interna,
prendendo in considerazione i dati meteo marini forniti dall\u2019ECMWF nel punto di coordinate 39,5\ub0N, 17\ub0E,
in modo da valutare le condizioni idrodinamiche in prossimit\ue0 del paraggio in esame.
L\u2019integrazione dei dati indicati geologici/geofisici e dei risultati del codice di calcolo numerico ha
permesso di ipotizzare un modello di circolazione della corrente \u201cLevantine Intermediate Water\u201d e valutare
l\u2019influenza delle morfostrutture sulla circolazione delle acque profonde durante l\u2019ultima fase di
abbassamento e stazionamento basso del livello del mare.
Bibliografia
Buttolph, A.,D., Reed, C.W., Kraus N., Wamsley, T.V., Ono, N., Larson, M.,Camenen, B., Hanson, H.
Zundel, A.K., (2006). Two-Dimensional Depth-Averaged Circulation Model CMS-M2D: Version 3.0,
Report 2, Sediment Transport and Morphology Change. ERDC/CHL TR-06-9 Vicksburg, MS: U.S.
Army Engineer
Research and Development Center.
Lin, L., H. Mase, F. Yamada, and Z. Demirbilek. (2006). Wave-action balance equation diffraction
(WABED) model: Tests of wave diffraction and reflection at inlets. Coastal and Hydraulics Engineering
Technical Note ERDC/CHL CHETN-III-73. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and
Development Center.
Faug\ue8res, J.C., Stow, D.A.V., Imbert, P., Viana, A.R. (1999). Seismic feature diagnostic of contourite drifts.
Marine Geology 162, pp. 1-38
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