Causal Fermion Systems and the ETH Approach to Quantum Theory

After reviewing the theory of "causal fermion systems" (CFS theory) and the "Events, Trees, and Histories Approach" to quantum theory (ETH approach), we compare some of the mathematical structures underlying these two general frameworks and discuss similarities and differences. For causal fermion systems, we introduce future algebras based on causal relations inherent to a causal fermion system. These algebras are analogous to the algebras previously introduced in the ETH approach. We then show that the spacetime points of a causal fermion system have properties similar to those of "events", as defined in the ETH approach. Our discussion is underpinned by a survey of results on causal fermion systems describing Minkowski space that show that an operator representing a spacetime point commutes with the algebra in its causal future, up to tiny corrections that depend on a regularization length

Measuring the expected increase in cycling in the city of Milan and evaluating the positive effects on the population’s health status: a Community-Based Urban Planning experience

BACKGROUND: It's scientifically known that inactivity is one of the major risk factors for Non-Communicable Diseases. One of the elements affecting the choice of transport mode, regarding circulation in the city, is the cities' urban morphology, i.e. the infrastructural facilities for the slow mobility service. Cyclability, in fact, can help to increase daily physical activity level, therefore becoming a protective factor for individual health. METHODS: After a literature review about the state of the art regarding the correlation between built environment, active transport and quantification of the physical activity level, we have developed a specific questionnaire to collect information about current and forecast use of bicycle, in case of improvement and implementation of the cycling network. The questionnaire also investigated social and health aspects concerning the anamnesis of the interviewees (age, gender, health status, sport activity performed, etc) and users' opinions about existing infrastructure and planned interventions, designed to promote cycling mobility. Aim of the research was to quantify the increase of physical activity people would have realized in front of an improvement of the specific infrastructures, and the expected positive effects in terms of health. RESULTS: The collected data (343 interviewed in a district of Milan, named "Zona 7") demonstrate that through the implementation of the cycle network, there would be more cyclists to practice the 150 minutes weekly of physical activity recommended by WHO: time spent in cycling, indeed, would increases by 34.4% compared to the current level of cyclability, as detected by our survey. CONCLUSIONS: The investigation confirmed that urban interventions, especially those in small-scale, could play a key role in the promotion of healthy lifestyles, inducing therefore important positive effects on the population health. It was also carried out an application of the WHO "Health Economic Assessment Tool" to evaluate the benefits in terms of Non-Communicable Diseases' reduction, specifically a provisional quantification of deaths saved

Damage assessment for architectural heritage: The Cavallerizza Reale complex in Turin

Damage assessment for architectural heritage stands as a relevant issue from an appraisal perspective due to heritage properties’ peculiar technological and building techniques and their complex social values. The specificity of Italian cultural heritage, widespread on the national territory, even in high environmental risk (landslides, earthquakes, and floods) areas, calls for dealing with the damage assessment theme by considering tangible and intangible features. Indeed, architectural heritage value is not limited only to its market or use value but must be expressed as a Total Economic Value, in its tangible and intangible components, that can be destroyed or affected by damages. In this context, the paper provides a relevant case study concerning the assessment of fire, lack of maintenance, and occupation damages for the ‘Pagliere’ buildings, located within the building complex ‘Cavallerizza Reale’ in Turin, which is included in the Unesco World Heritage list. Thanks to the specificities and the historical-architectural significance of the properties under analysis, this case study provided an interesting reflection on the methodological approach for the total damage assessment, given by the sum of its three different components: Fire damage, lack of maintenance damage, and abandonment damage. Based on the discussion of the results, the paper proposes some possible insights for future research focusing on assessing architectural heritage damages

Effects of Nordic Walking Training on Anthropometric, Body Composition and Functional Parameters in the Middle-Aged Population

Nordic walking (NW) is an easy physical exercise that is usually proposed for clinical populations and for the elderly. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of a period of NW training in a non-clinical middle-aged population on anthropometric, body composition and functional parameters. A pre-test/post-test study design was conducted on 77 participants: 56 women (72.7%, age 55.53 ± 9.73 years) and 21 men (27.3%, age 60.51 ± 8.15 years). The measurements were carried out with physical tests at the baseline and at the follow up. Participants did two weekly NW training sessions of about 60 min each. A questionnaire was administered to evaluate their feelings after the training period. Paired Students’ test was carried out to evaluate the pre–post differences, and the analysis of variance was performed to evaluate the questionnaire. Participants had significantly less stress and anxiety after the NW training. Body fat parameters showed a significant decrease, especially for women. Phase angle and strength of lower body presented a significant increase in both sexes after the training period. In conclusion, NW shows many potential benefits also for the nonclinical population and could be an important exercise to remain active and to maintain a good health condition

Dominance-based rough set analysis for understanding the drivers of urban development agreements

The rise of neoliberalism in the context of urban development has en- couraged the cooperation between public and private parties. This co- operation is structured by contracts, generally called Urban Develop- ment Agreements (DAs). Being part of the urban regeneration strate- gies, these projects aim at achieving a durable improvement of an area according to sustainability principles. Thus, within the negotiation be- tween private and public, multiple and conflicting instances have to be faced case by case. Despite the uniqueness of each DA, it is possi- ble to define a set of pertinent characteristics that play a crucial role in determining the fairness and appropriateness of the public-private part- nership. Given this context, the work proposes the Dominance Rough Set Approach (DRSA) for exploring the relationship between condi- tion attributes or criteria and decision with the aim of supporting ne- gotiations on the basis of specific features of the DA under evaluation. Specifically, DRSA has been applied on a sample of DAs recently con- cluded in the Lombardy Region, and tested on the other sample of DAs under the negotiation phase. The analysis has accounted for the char- acteristics referring to the following five contexts: urban, institutional, negotiation, development, and economic. The inferred decision rules provide useful knowledge for supporting complex decision processes such as DAs

Rethinking feasibility analysis for urban development: a multidimensional decision support tool

Large-scale urban development projects featured over the past thirty years have shown some critical issues related to the implementation phase. Con-sequently, the current practice seems oriented toward minimal and wide-spread interventions meant as urban catalyst. This planning practice might solve the problem of limited reliability of large developments’ feasibility studies, but it rises an evaluation demand related to the selection of coali-tion of projects within a multidimensional and multi-stakeholders deci-sion-making context. This study aims to propose a framework for the generation of coalitions of elementary actions in the context of urban regeneration processes and for their evaluation using a Multi Criteria Decision Analysis approach. The proposed evaluation framework supports decision makers in exploring dif-ferent combinations of actions in the context of urban interventions taking into account synergies, i.e. positive or negative effects on the overall per-formance of an alternative linked to the joint realization of specific pairs of actions. The proposed evaluation framework has been tested on a pilot case study dealing with urban regeneration processes in the city of Milan (Italy)

The financial sustainability of cultural heritage reuse projects: An integrated approach for the historical rural landscape

In the last decades, the growing concern about land consumption, together with the awareness about cultural heritage’s key role for sustainable development, has led to greater attention to cultural property reuse as a conscious process of new values production. However, decisions about heritage bring a high degree of complexity, related to the need to preserve properties’ values and fulfill protection legislation, thus bringing high cost, which discourages public and private investments for reuse interventions. In this context, it becomes urgent to support reuse decisions through proper evaluation methodologies that, dealing with the complexity of interests at stake, allow individuals to assess the financial sustainability of conscious cultural heritage reuse projects. For these reasons, the paper proposes a methodological framework that, grounded on the recognition of cultural properties’ values and their possible integration in the local economic system, assesses reuse projects’ financial sustainability. This methodology’s application is discussed through a case study, represented by a project for a historical rural landscape in Pantelleria island. The application to the case study allows us to discuss the role of the proposed evaluation framework in supporting and promoting cultural heritage reuse and its possible room for improvement

The italian national strategy for inner areas (Snai): A critical analysis of the indicator grid

The National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI) is a public policy designed to tackle depopulation in inner areas, defined according to the distance from centers offering essential services. Such a policy’s success is crucial to address the new challenges for planning brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this sense, there is a need to adequately support its implementation by providing handy decision support tools, understanding the power balances among municipalities, and defining proper interventions. The Indicator Grid, already used by the SNAI for project areas selection, can answer this need. However, the Grid’s application to support public policy at the municipality level requires reviewing some of its features, such as the indicators’ large number and the impossibility of defining some of them at the municipal scale. Based on these premises, this paper aims at supporting inner areas policies by carrying out a critical analysis of the current SNAI Grid, aimed at improving its effectiveness. It relies on a hybrid methodology that merges qualitative data interpretations and statistical analyses. Thanks to this method, defining a parsimonious Grid by leaving its complexity and information level untouched is possible. The sodefined set of indicators can represent a valuable reference tool in pinpointing priorities for actions or selecting further territorial scopes from the SNAI perspective, even if it still brings some criticalities to be faced

Combining social and technical instances within design processes: a Value-Focused Thinking approach

The design of quality alternatives is still considered as a crucial issue in many decision-making contexts, moreover in the field of sustainable urban development. Starting from the analysis of strengths and weaknesses of cities and territories and passing through a crucial phase of problem structuring, planners and architects investigate needs, values and objectives in order to identify the most satisfactory alternative from among all those available to them. Addressing decisions to the good enough solution rather than to the optimal one depends on many reasons, such as: the difficulty to access and process all the information needed to take a good decision; the instance of achieving a balance among different dimensions of territorial and urban development, namely the economic, environmental and social ones; the not always consensual preferences of the stakeholders generally involved in these kind of processes. Within this context what deserves to be explored and represents a major challenge is the modeling phase, when objectives are identified and alternative strategies and actions are defined. Moreover, the acceptance of the bounded rationality paradigm requires to pay a particular attention to the generation of alternatives, which are not given but should be defined starting from a cognitive map of technical requirements, in addition to expectations and values expressed by the social system and with respect to economic constraints. Starting from these premises, the paper proposes a multi-methodological analytical framework based on the Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) approach introduced by Keeney in order to consider all the phases of the planning and design process from the elicitation of objectives, to the definition of strategies until the design and evaluation of the alternatives. With the aim of providing a contribution to the empirical line of research on alternative generation, the paper experiments the VFT procedure within a design process developed by eleven project teams for the sustainable development of a disused area in Portugal. Starting from values’ elicitation rather than from the analysis of “given” alternatives, the results of the experiment underline how the analysis of both social and technical aspects has improved the design process. The VFT has allowed an effective elicitation of objectives and then the “conversion” of objectives in strategies/design recommendations. Since different combinations of strategies result in different alternatives, higher is the set of strategies, higher the number of possible alternatives and then higher the probability to create high quality alternatives. Finally, the paper shows how the decision domain can be expanded by generating unknown alternatives