Entity-Linking via Graph-Distance Minimization

Entity-linking is a natural-language-processing task that consists in identifying the entities mentioned in a piece of text, linking each to an appropriate item in some knowledge base; when the knowledge base is Wikipedia, the problem comes to be known as wikification (in this case, items are wikipedia articles). One instance of entity-linking can be formalized as an optimization problem on the underlying concept graph, where the quantity to be optimized is the average distance between chosen items. Inspired by this application, we define a new graph problem which is a natural variant of the Maximum Capacity Representative Set. We prove that our problem is NP-hard for general graphs; nonetheless, under some restrictive assumptions, it turns out to be solvable in linear time. For the general case, we propose two heuristics: one tries to enforce the above assumptions and another one is based on the notion of hitting distance; we show experimentally how these approaches perform with respect to some baselines on a real-world dataset.Comment: In Proceedings GRAPHITE 2014, arXiv:1407.7671. The second and third authors were supported by the EU-FET grant NADINE (GA 288956

Monitoraggio di alcuni eventi di precipitazione intensa verificatisi in Sardegna mediante stima da immagini METEOSAT nell’infrarosso

La presente relazione riassume l’attività svolta dai ricercatori del SAR e del CRS4 nell’ambito di una collaborazione scientifica volta allo studio e all’applicazione di metodologie, per il monitoraggio e la previsione di eventi di precipitazione intensa e la conseguente diramazione di allerta tempestivi. In particolare vengono qui riassunti i risultati ottenuti applicando alcune tecniche di stima delle precipitazioni al suolo mediante immagini Meteosat nel canale dell’infrarosso a tre eventi di precipitazione particolarmente intensa verificatisi in Sardegna negli ultimi due anni. Il contenuto di questa relazione è stato oggetto di una presentazione mediante poster al meeting annuale dell’European Geophysical Society che si è tenuto a Nizza nel marzo del 2001

Occurrence of <i>Philometra lateolabracis</i> (Nematoda: Philometridae) in the gonads of marine perciform fishes in the Mediterranean region

Gravid females of the nematode Philometra lateolabracis (Yamaguti, 1935), a parasite of gonads of marine perciform fishes, were found in wild and cultured dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe) from waters near the Balear Islands (Spain, Mediterranean Sea) and Sicily (Italy, Thyrrenean Sea), and in the greater amberjack Seriola dumerili (Risso) in Croatia (south-eastern Adriatic Sea). In wild E. marginatus in Spain, the overall prevalence was 21% and the intensity of infection 1 nematode per fish. The nematodes are briefly described and illustrated. The species Sanguinofilaria jordanoi López-Neyra, 1951, described from the ovary of Epinephelus gigas Brünich from Morocco, is synonymized with P. lateolabracis. This is the first documented record of P. lateolabracis from fishes of the Mediterranean region and its finding in S. dumerili represents a new host record. The possible importance of this pathogenic parasite for cultures of marine perciform fishes in the region is stressed

fatigue damage and stiffness evolution in composite laminates a damage based framework

Abstract A damage-based design procedure has been developed by the authors to predict the damage evolution and the stiffness degradation in polymeric composite laminates under fatigue loading. For a safe and reliable design against fatigue degradation and failure, the initiation of the main damage mechanisms (off-axis cracks, delamination and fiber failure) as well as their evolution are considered and suitable models are proposed for the quantitative assessment of the lifetime associated to each mechanism. In parallel, the stiffness degradation deriving from the damage evolution over the fatigue life is properly described. After the illustration of the overall damage-based strategy, the paper discusses in details the analysis and modelling of the off-axis crack initiation and propagation. The initiation of cracks in the off axis plies has been proved to be the consequence of a damage process occurring at the microscopic scale since the early stages of fatigue. On this basis, crack initiation prediction is based on the use of local stress parameters: Local Hydrostatic Stress, LHS, and Local Maximum Principal Stress, LMPS, depending on the local degree of multiaxiality of the stress state and accounting for the statistical distribution of the local laminate strength. The propagation phase is then quantified by using a conventional fracture mechanics approach. The model has been implemented in a Matlab procedure for the quantitative evaluation of the crack density in each ply of a laminate during its entire fatigue life. The knowledge of the crack density trend allows the description of the laminate stiffness evolution taking advantage of another model recently developed by the authors, valid for a generic laminate configuration and accounting for the interaction between cracks in the neighbouring plies

Energy Service Companies Market in Europe - Status Report 2010

The present report is the 2007-2010 European ESCO status report, continuing the work of the "Latest Development of Energy Services Companies across Europe European" (Status Report 2007) published by the European Commission DG Joint Research Center in 2007 and which covered the European ESCO market development during 2005-2007. The first ESCO report of this series is Energy Service Companies in Europe (Status Report 2005) published by the European Commission DG Joint Research Center in 2005. The aim of the present report is to update and to investigate the specific situation in every country in more detail. To this end, the authors sketch the current status of national markets, and identify changes that have occurred during 2007-2010. In addition, the factors influencing the development are investigated. Specific barriers are identified and potential interventions to increase energy efficiency investments and to exploit energy saving potentials through ESCOs across Europe are discussed.JRC.DDG.F.8-Renewable Energy (Ispra

Usefulness of Hemodynamic Sensors for Physiologic Cardiac Pacing in Heart Failure Patients

The rate adaptive sensors applied to cardiac pacing should respond as promptly as the normal sinus node with an highly specific and sensitive detection of the need of increasing heart rate. Sensors operating alone may not provide optimal heart responsiveness: central venous pH sensing, variations in the oxygen content of mixed venous blood, QT interval, breathing rate and pulmonary minute ventilation monitored by thoracic impedance variations, activity sensors. Using sensors that have different attributes but that work in a complementary manners offers distinct advantages. However, complicated sensors interactions may occur. Hemodynamic sensors detect changes in the hemodynamic performances of the heart, which partially depends on the autonomic nervous system-induced inotropic regulation of myocardial fibers. Specific hemodynamic sensors have been designed to measure different expression of the cardiac contraction strength: Peak Endocardial Acceleration (PEA), Closed Loop Stimulation (CLS) and TransValvular Impedance (TVI), guided by intraventricular impedance variations. Rate-responsive pacing is just one of the potential applications of hemodynamic sensors in implantable pacemakers. Other issues discussed in the paper include: hemodynamic monitoring for the optimal programmation and follow up of patients with cardiac resynchronization therapy; hemodynamic deterioration impact of tachyarrhythmias; hemodynamic upper rate limit control; monitoring and prevention of vasovagal malignant syncopes

Neuroprotective Effects of 17β-Estradiol Rely on Estrogen Receptor Membrane Initiated Signals

Besides its crucial role in many physiological events, 17β-estradiol (E2) exerts protective effects in the central nervous system. The E2 effects are not restricted to the brain areas related with the control of reproductive function, but rather are widespread throughout the developing and the adult brain. E2 actions are mediated through estrogen receptors (i.e., ERα and ERβ) belonging to the nuclear receptor super-family. As members of the ligand-regulated transcription factor family, classically, the actions of ERs in the brain were thought to mediate only the E2 long-term transcriptional effects. However, a growing body of evidence highlighted rapid, membrane initiated E2 effects in the brain that are independent of ER transcriptional activities and are involved in E2-induced neuroprotection. The aim of this review is to focus on the rapid effects of E2 in the brain highlighting the specific role of the signaling pathway(s) of the ERβ subtype in the neuroprotective actions of E2

Instrument for high-speed recording of accommodation of the human eye

We developed an instrument used for recording the dynamics of accommodation of the eye. With this new technique, a recording speed of up to 95Hz can be achieved. As components used in our system are mechanically fixed, artifacts owing to movable mechanical parts are excluded. Recording samples demonstrate the potential use of this instrument. This instrument also enables assessment of gaze direction simultaneously with accommodatio