A decision support system for disaster prevention in Urban Areas

This paper presents the use of Human Behavior Modeling for Disaster Relief and Emergency Management. The authors propose an innovative MS2G (Modeling, Interoperable Simulation and Serious Game) using Intelligent Agents to reproduce a complex scenario used for Verification, Validation and Accreditation of the approach. The case study is inspired to South Sudan situation and to the necessity to provide accommodations, food, health care services, security and administrative support to a large number of IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) over a wide area. The simulator includes camp preparation and installation, air dr ops, logistics network creation while the model includes populations, entities and units as well as different equipment (e.g. cargo planes, helicopters, ground units, etc.

Introducing Intelligence and Autonomy into Industrial Robots to Address Operations into Dangerous Area

The paper addresses the issue to use new generation robotic systems inside industrial facilities in order to complete operations in dangerous area. The new robotic systems are currently adopting the autonomous approach already in use in military sector; however, in this context the intensity of operations and the necessity to interact with high productivity systems introduce different challenges. Despite the problems, it is evident that this approach could provide very interesting improvements in terms of safety for humans especially in relations to dangerous area. For instance, in confined spaces, Oil & Gas or Hot Metal Industry these new autonomous systems could reduce the number of injures and casualties. In addition, these systems could increase the operation efficiency in this complex frameworks as well as the possibility to carry out inspections systematically; in this sense, this could result in improving the overall reliability, productivity and safety of the whole Industrial Plant. Therefore, it is important to consider that these systems could be used to address also security aspects such as access control, however they could result vulnerable to new threats such as the cyber ones and need to be properly designed in terms of single entities, algorithms, infrastructure and architecture. From this point of view, it is evident that Modeling and Simulation represent the main approach to design properly these new systems. In this paper, the authors present the use of autonomous systems introducing advanced capabilities supported by Artificial Intelligence to deal with complex operations in dangerous industrial frameworks. The proposed examples in oil and gas and hot metal industry confirm the potential of these systems and demonstrate as simulation supports their introduction in terms of engineering, testing, installation, ramp up and training

Virtual and augmented reality as enablers for improving the service on distributed assets

The evolution of Augment and Virtual Reality is enabling new solutions. This paper addresses creation of applications to support service and maintenance of distributed systems. Indeed this approach could be applied to devices provided as service for industrial and individual use and could introduce new capabilities in terms of training for operators, control and remote service support. The paper presents a case study devoted to lead the introduction of these innovative solutions in industrial and health care system

LAWs: Latent Demand for Simulation of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems

This paper provides an overview on the Lethal Autonomous Systems (LAWs) and related critical issues caused by dynamically evolving context. Traditional approaches to evaluate new system development, software review, prototyping and testing are often not really efficient or even not applicable in this LAWs even due to the evolution in terms of social and operational scenarios. Vice versa, it is evident that simulation plays the key role to support evaluation of scenarios considering that is practically the only methodology able to develop and to conduct virtual tests on concepts, general principia, strategic decisions, technology impacts and related implications

Multi-time-scale hydroclimate dynamics of a regional watershed and links to large-scale atmospheric circulation:Application to the Seine river catchment, France

(IF 3.73; Q1)International audienceIn the present context of global changes, considerable efforts have been deployed by the hydrological scientific community to improve our understanding of the impacts of climate fluctuations on water resources. Both observational and modeling studies have been extensively employed to characterize hydrological changes and trends, assess the impact of climate variability or provide future scenarios of water resources. In the aim of a better understanding of hydrological changes, it is of crucial importance to determine how and to what extent trends and long-term oscillations detectable in hydrological variables are linked to global climate oscillations.In this work, we develop an approach associating correlation between large and local scales, empirical statistical downscaling and wavelet multiresolution decomposition of monthly precipitation and streamflow over the Seine river watershed, and the North Atlantic sea level pressure (SLP) in order to gain additional insights on the atmospheric patterns associated with the regional hydrology. We hypothesized that: (i) atmospheric patterns may change according to the different temporal wavelengths defining the variability of the signals; and (ii) definition of those hydrological/circulation relationships for each temporal wavelength may improve the determination of large-scale predictors of local variations.The results showed that the links between large and local scales were not necessarily constant according to time-scale (i.e. for the different frequencies characterizing the signals), resulting in changing spatial patterns across scales. This was then taken into account by developing an empirical statistical downscaling (ESD) modeling approach, which integrated discrete wavelet multiresolution analysis for reconstructing monthly regional hydrometeorological processes (predictand: precipitation and streamflow on the Seine river catchment) based on a large-scale predictor (SLP over the Euro-Atlantic sector). This approach basically consisted in three steps: 1 – decomposing large-scale climate and hydrological signals (SLP field, precipitation or streamflow) using discrete wavelet multiresolution analysis, 2 – generating a statistical downscaling model per time-scale, 3 – summing up all scale-dependent models in order to obtain a final reconstruction of the predictand. The results obtained revealed a significant improvement of the reconstructions for both precipitation and streamflow when using the multiresolution ESD model instead of basic ESD. In particular, the multiresolution ESD model handled very well the significant changes in variance through time observed in either precipitation or streamflow. For instance, the post-1980 period, which had been characterized by particularly high amplitudes in interannual-to-interdecadal variability associated with alternating flood and extremely low-flow/drought periods (e.g., winter/spring 2001, summer 2003), could not be reconstructed without integrating wavelet multiresolution analysis into the model. In accordance with previous studies, the wavelet components detected in SLP, precipitation and streamflow on interannual to interdecadal time-scales could be interpreted in terms of influence of the Gulf-Stream oceanic front on atmospheric circulation

Unusual onset of a case of chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis

Background: Chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis (CRMO) is a rare condition that commonly affects the clavicle and pelvis. Case presentation: We report here a case a 12 years old girl with CRMO arising with recurrent episodes of left supraorbital headache, followed by the appearance of a periorbital dyschromia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the skull and orbits revealed an important subacute inflammatory process. Few months after, the child presented a painful swelling of the left clavicle; the histological examination of the related biopsy allowed to establish the diagnosis of CRMO. Conclusion: CRMO presenting as acute headache involving neurocranium is rare; to our knowledge this is the first recognized case in the world literature. This pathological condition is frequently misdiagnosed as infection or neoplasm and needs a deep investigation for the differential diagnosis. The physical, laboratoristic and instrumental diagnostic investigations of the patient and the treatment employed are described in detail

Persistence Through Collaboration at Sea for Off-Shore and Coastal Operations

Collaboration (Bruzzone et al. 2013a, b, c, d, e, f) is often mentioned as an opportunity to develop new capabilities for autonomous systems; indeed this paper proposes a practical application where use this approach to enhance the autonomy of the systems during operations in coastal areas or around offshore platforms. The proposed case deals with developing a collaborative approach (Bruzzone et al. 2013a, b, c, d, e, f) among an USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) with several AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) to guarantee persistent surveillance over a marine area (Shkurti et al. 2012). Obviously, the proposed solution could be adopted also for defense and homeland security (Bruzzone et al. 2011a, b, 2010) as well as for archeological site protection in consistence with related cost analysis. The authors propose a technological solution as well as a simulation framework to validate and demonstrate the capabilities of this new approach as well as to quantify expected improvements

Intelligent agents & interoperable simulation for strategic decision making on multicoalition joint operations

This paper proposes an innovative interoperable federation developed for addressing strategic decision making on multi-coalition operations. The proposed architecture integrates several different simulators in HLA and is open to be operated in different modes from stand alone basic installation to fully integrated with entity based simulations. The simulator uses Intelligent Agents, to reproduce human behavior and human factors, as well as discrete event simulation paradigm into virtual and constructive environments. The paper describes the models as well as the approach to address this problem; some experimental results related a realistic scenario are proposed as well as the different a solutions adopted to support Commander engagement in using this kind of simulation

Longevity of an immunocontraceptive vaccine effect on fecundity in rats

Increases in human-wildlife conflicts alongside cultural shifts against lethal control methods are driving the need for alternative wildlife management tools such as fertility control. Contraceptive formulations suitable for oral delivery would permit broader remote application in wildlife species. This study evaluated the contraceptive effect and immune response to two novel injectable immunocontraceptive formulations targeting the Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH): MAF-IMX294 and MAF-IMX294P conjugates, both identified as having potential as oral contraceptives. The study also explored whether in multiparous species immunocontraceptives may either totally prevent reproduction or also affect litter size. Female rats, chosen as a model species, were given three doses of either MAF-IMX294 or MAFIMX294P to compare anti-GnRH immune response and reproductive output up to 310 days posttreatment. Both formulations induced anti-GnRH antibody titres in 100% of rats and significantly impaired fertility compared to control animals. Following treatment with MAF-IMX294 and MAF-IMX294P 0 of 9 and 1 of 10 females respectively produced litters following the first mating challenge 45 days posttreatment, compared to 9 of 9 control animals. Across the whole 310 day study period 7 of 9 females from the MAF-IMX294 group and 10 of 10 females in the MAF-IMX294P group became fertile, producing at least one litter throughout six mating challenges. No significant differences were found between the two formulations in antibody titre response or duration of contraceptive effect, with an average time to first pregnancy of 166 days for MAFIMX294 and 177 days for MAF-IMX294P for all females that became fertile. Following treatment with MAF-IMX294 and MAF-IMX294P the first litter produced post-infertility in treated females was significantly smaller than in control animals. This indicates treatment with immunocontraceptives may induce an overall suppression of fecundity extending past an initial infertility effect. This increases the potential long-term impact of these immunocontraceptives in multiparous species such as commensal rodents