Teaching Construction in the Virtual University: the WINDS project

This paper introduces some of the Information Technology solutions adopted in Web based INtelligent Design Support (WINDS) to support education in A/E/C design. The WINDS project WINDS is an EC-funded project in the 5th Framework, Information Society Technologies programme, Flexible University key action. WINDS is divided into two actions: ·The research technology action is going to implement a learning environment integrating an intelligent tutoring system, a computer instruction management system and a set of co-operative supporting tools. ·The development action is going to build a large knowledge base supporting Architecture and Civil Engineering Design Courses and to experiment a comprehensive Virtual School of Architecture and Engineering Design. During the third year of the project, more than 400 students all over Europe will attend the Virtual School. During the next three years the WINDS project will span a total effort of about 150 man-years from 28 partners of 10 European countries. The missions of the WINDS project are: Advanced Methodologies in Design Education. WINDS drives a breakdown with conventional models in design education, i.e. classroom or distance education. WINDS implements a problem oriented knowledge transfer methodology following Roger Schank's Goal Based Scenario (GBS) pedagogical methodology. GBS encourages the learning of both skills and cases, and fosters creative problem solving. Multidisciplinary Design Education. Design requires creative synthesis and open-end problem definition at the intersection of several disciplines. WINDS experiments a valuable integration of multidisciplinary design knowledge and expertise to produce a high level standard of education. Innovative Representation, Delivery and Access to Construction Education. WINDS delivers individual education customisation by allowing the learner access through the Internet to a wide range of on-line courses and structured learning objects by means of personally tailored learning strategies. WINDS promotes the 3W paradigm: learn What you need, Where you want, When you require. Construction Practice. Construction industry is a repository of ""best practices"" and knowledge that the WINDS will profit. WINDS system benefits the ISO10303 and IFC standards to acquire knowledge of the construction process directly in digital format. On the other hand, WINDS reengineers the knowledge in up-to-date courses, educational services, which the industries can use to provide just-in-time rather than in-advance learning. WINDS IT Solutions The missions of the WINDS project state many challenging requirements both in knowledge and system architecture. Many of the solutions adopted in these fields are innovative; others are evolution of existing technologies. This paper focuses on the integration of this set of state-of-the-art technologies in an advanced and functionally sound Computer Aided Instruction system for A/E/C Design. In particular the paper deals with the following aspects: Standard Learning Technology Architecture The WINDS system relies on the in progress IEEE 1484.1 Learning Technology Standard Architecture. According to this standard the system consists of two data stores, the Knowledge Library and the Record Database, and four process: System Coach, Delivery, Evaluation and the Learner. WINDS implements the Knowledge Library into a three-tier architecture: 1.Learning Objects: ·Learning Units are collections of text and multimedia data. ·Models are represented in either IFC or STEP formats. ·Cases are sets of Learning Units and Models. Cases are noteworthy stories, which describes solutions, integrate technical detail, contain relevant design failures etc. 2.Indexes refer to the process in which the identification of relevant topics in design cases and learning units takes place. Indexing process creates structures of Learning Objects for course management, profile planning procedures and reasoning processes. 3.Courses are taxonomies of either Learning Units or a design task and Course Units. Knowledge Representation WINDS demonstrates that it is possible and valuable to integrate a widespread design expertise so that it can be effectively used to produce a high level standard of education. To this aim WINDS gathers area knowledge, design skills and expertise under the umbrellas of common knowledge representation structures and unambiguous semantics. Cases are one of the most valuable means for the representation of design expertise. A Case is a set of Learning Units and Product Models. Cases are noteworthy stories, which describe solutions, integrate technical details, contain relevant design failures, etc. Knowledge Integration Indexes are a medium among different kind of knowledge: they implement networks for navigation and access to disparate documents: HTML, video, images, CAD and product models (STEP or IFC). Concept indexes link learning topics to learning objects and group them into competencies. Index relationships are the base of the WINDS reasoning processes, and provide the foundation for system coaching functions, which proactively suggest strategies, solutions, examples and avoids students' design deadlock. Knowledge Distribution To support the data stores and the process among the partners in 10 countries efficiently, WINDS implements an object oriented client/server as COM objects. Behind the DCOM components there is the Dynamic Kernel, which dynamically embodies and maintains data stores and process. Components of the Knowledge Library can reside on several servers across the Internet. This provides for distributed transactions, e.g. a change in one Learning Object affects the Knowledge Library spread across several servers in different countries. Learning objects implemented as COM objects can wrap ownership data. Clear and univocal definition of ownerships rights enables Universities, in collaboration with telecommunication and publisher companies, to act as "education brokers". Brokerage in education and training is an innovative paradigm to provide just-in-time and personally customised value added learning knowledg

An Experimental Evaluation of Akamai Adaptive Video Streaming over HSDPA networks

Adaptive video streaming is a relevant advancement with respect to classic progressive download streaming such as the one employed by YouTube. Building upon its content delivery network (CDN), Akamai recently started to offer High Definition (HD) adaptive video streaming using HTTP. Nowadays, not only the amount of Internet video traffic is always increasing but also the number of users accessing the Internet using wireless links. In this paper we experimentally investigate the switching algorithm employed by Akamai to implement video quality adaptation over a High Speed Downlink Data Packet Access (HSDPA) link. In order to assess the Quality of Experience we measure goodput, TCP friendliness, and video reproduction continuity. Main results are: 1) Akamai flows are not able to achieve the fair share when competing with a TCP greedy flow due to the conservativeness of the stream-switching algorithm; 2) when the link is shared with a greedy TCP connection in 50% of the experiments the video reproduction was paused for more than 19% of the experiment duration

On the Iteration Complexity of Hypergradient Computation

We study a general class of bilevel problems, consisting in the minimization of an upper-level objective which depends on the solution to a parametric fixed-point equation. Important instances arising in machine learning include hyperparameter optimization, meta-learning, and certain graph and recurrent neural networks. Typically the gradient of the upper-level objective (hypergradient) is hard or even impossible to compute exactly, which has raised the interest in approximation methods. We investigate some popular approaches to compute the hypergradient, based on reverse mode iterative differentiation and approximate implicit differentiation. Under the hypothesis that the fixed point equation is defined by a contraction mapping, we present a unified analysis which allows for the first time to quantitatively compare these methods, providing explicit bounds for their iteration complexity. This analysis suggests a hierarchy in terms of computational efficiency among the above methods, with approximate implicit differentiation based on conjugate gradient performing best. We present an extensive experimental comparison among the methods which confirm the theoretical findings.Comment: accepted at ICML 2020; 19 pages, 4 figures; code at https://github.com/prolearner/hypertorch (corrected typos and one reference

The Interplay between ROS and Ras GTPases: Physiological and Pathological Implications

The members of the RasGTPase superfamily are involved in various signaling networks responsible for fundamental cellular processes. Their activity is determined by their guanine nucleotide-bound state. Recent evidence indicates that some of these proteins may be regulated by redox agents. Reactive oxygen species (ROSs) and reactive nitrogen species (RNSs) have been historically considered pathological agents which can react with and damage many biological macromolecules including DNA, proteins, and lipids. However, a growing number of reports have suggested that the intracellular production of ROS is tightly regulated and that these redox agents serve as signaling molecules being involved in a variety of cell signaling pathways. Numerous observations have suggested that some Ras GTPases appear to regulate ROS production and that oxidants function as effector molecules for the small GTPases, thus contributing to their overall biological function. Thus, redox agents may act both as upstream regulators and as downstream effectors of Ras GTPases. Here we discuss current understanding concerning mechanisms and physiopathological implications of the interplay between GTPases and redox agents

Advantages, disadvantages and cognitive strategies used by bilingual children acquiring a third language in the school context

openNel corso degli ultimi decenni sono stati condotti diversi studi sul bilinguismo e su come questo fenomeno influenzi diverse abilità cognitive. Questa tesi si focalizzerà su alcuni studi che hanno analizzato il processo di apprendimento di una nuova lingua nei bambini bilingui e nei bambini monolingui. Sarà rivolta particolare attenzione alle strategie cognitive usate dai bilingui e i relativi vantaggi e svantaggi che queste comportano per l’apprendimento di una terza lingua. Dall’analisi degli studi presi in considerazione è emerso che, generalmente, il bilinguismo comporta dei vantaggi nell’apprendimento di nuove lingue, specialmente quando lo studente bilingue ha una buona padronanza della lingua d’istruzione. È altresì emerso che il grado di parentela tra le lingue parlate gioca un ruolo chiave nel determinare il successo nell’apprendimento di una lingua e che variabili esterne come condizioni socioeconomiche, intelligenza non-verbale e abilità cognitive hanno anche un forte impatto sull’apprendimento linguistico

200 years from the first documented outbreak: Dying of cholera in the Near East during 2022 (recent data analysis)

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experimental and numerical characterization of an oil free scroll expander

Abstract Micro-ORC systems are characterized by low efficiency values, but at the same time could be used as energy recovery systems in domestic applications for which reliability and low noise level represent the biggest challenges. In this paper, an integrated Reverse Engineering (RE)-Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methodology is applied in order to study the adaptation of a commercial scroll compressor to be used as an expander in a micro-ORC system. The analyses reported in this paper consist of: (i) the acquisition of the 5-kW oil-free scroll expander through a RE procedure and its CAD reconstruction, (ii) the set-up of fully three-dimensional transient simulations with the Chimera strategy using the Siemens PLM software, (iii) the validation of the computational analysis by means of experimental tests and finally, (iv) the analysis of the geometry-flow features like flank and axial gaps, coupled with the analysis of the scroll volumetric efficiency and overall performance. Chimera strategy is able to move the computational grid at each time step in order to accommodate the shape and size changes of the gas pockets. The scroll characterization was carried out using both experimental and numerical tests. Six different rotational velocities in the range of (400 – 2400) rpm with a fixed pressure level (7.5 bar) were tested for validating the numerical model using air as a working fluid. The numerical model was then used to calculate the scroll expander performance operating in an existing ORC system with R134a as working fluid

Cities in transformation.Computational urban planning through big data analytics.

Future scenarios foresee a city as a fragmented and uneven system in relation to rapidly evolving environmental, economic and social phenomena. The traditional urban planning tools, based on a theoretical-predictive appro-ach, adapt poorly. We need to rethink how to govern the transformations of a city, which can be described by models of urban metabolism. City Sensing has changed the way a city is explored and used. With the transition from di-gitisation to datafication, through a computational approach, one can process georeferenced datasets within algorithms in order to achieve a higher quality of the project. This process exploits data provided by public administrations, companies and citizens taking part in inclusive and adaptive urban planning.Keywords: City Sensing; Datafication; Big Data Analytics; Computational Urban Planning; Adaptive and Inclusive Urban Planning