AUTOMATED IFC-BASED PROCESSES IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR: A METHOD FOR IMPROVING THE INFORMATION FLOW

One of the main challenges in the implementation of BIM-based processes concerns interoperability issues. In fact, even if IFC format is recognised as an ISO standard, different barriers and problems are often encountered in IFC adoption. Generally, obstacles are due to the difficulty of users in personalising import and export options of IFC formats in BIM authoring tools with the consequent possibility of information loss. The paper presents a method for improving the information flow, based on the connection of information stored in IFC files and in external databases through automated processes. Therefore, information concerning one single project can be stored in BIModels and linked to external sources or, conversely, referred from external databases to objects in BIModels. Benefits deriving from the adoption of the proposed solutions concern the limited size of BIModels, the possibility to store information not considered in the IFC schema, and the reduction of IT skills required to building operators for exchanging information in an interoperable way

Krill: An exploration in underwater sensor networks

While sensor networks have now become very popular on land, the underwater environment still poses some difficult problems. Communication is one of the difficult challenges under water. There are two options: optical and acoustic. We have designed an optical communication board that allows the Fleck’s to communicate optically. We have tested the resulting underwater sensor nodes in two different applications

"Viva o movimento anarquista organizado!" : as contradições de organização política anarquista no debate sobre a plataforma (1926-1934)

Este estudo trata das concepções de organização política anarquista compreendidas no debate do documento Plataforma Organizacional da União Geral dos Anarquistas, que envolveu diversos anarquistas renomados do período inicial do século XX, como Errico Malatesta, Nestor Makhno, Sébastien Faure e Luigi Fabbri. Investigou-se quais premissas fundamentam as críticas à Plataforma, procurando compreender os princípios estruturantes destas críticas e quais modelos de organização política estes princípios sugerem. Através da análise das fontes, que consistem em publicações de periódicos e cartas, observou-se uma constante referência à autonomia enquanto conceito norteador da prática e da organização anarquista, perpassando quase todas as críticas ao modelo plataformista, modelo este que para os debatedores propunha uma organização que representaria uma supressão da autonomia dos grupos e indivíduos. Foi analisada, também, a oposição existente nos modelos sintetista e plataformista, que representam, respectivamente, modelos de organização flexível e programática. Os modelos de organização política identificados através das críticas à Plataforma são modelos baseados na descentralização, no federalismo e no pluralismo de tendências.This study deals with the conceptions of a political anarchist organization included in the debate of the document Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists, which involved many renowned anarchists of the early twentieth-century, anarchists like Errico Malatesta, Nestor Makhno, Sébastien Faure, and Luigi Fabbri. The study investigated which premises underlie the criticisms of the Platform, seeking to understand the structuring principles of these criticisms and which models of political organization these principles suggest. It also analyzed the opposition existing in the synthesist and platformist models, which represent, respectively, models of flexible and programmatic organization. Through the analysis of the sources, which consist of publications of periodicals and letters, there was a constant reference to autonomy as a guiding concept of anarchist practice and organization, permeating almost all criticisms of the platformist model, a model that for the debaters proposed an organization that would represent suppression of the autonomy of groups and individuals. The models of a political organization identified through the criticisms of the Platform are models based on decentralization, federalism, and pluralism of tendencies

Indicadores de sustentabilidade do programa coleta seletiva solidária em três bairros de Criciúma, SC.

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso, apresentado para obtenção do grau de Bacharel, no Curso de Engenharia Ambiental da Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, UNESC.A gestão e o gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos dão sustentação à política pública recente no país e tem como base principal a adoção e a implementação de coleta seletiva de materiais recicláveis preferencialmente com inclusão social de catadores. A ampliação de programas de coleta seletiva por parte dos municípios brasileiros carece de estudos mais detalhados sobre indicadores de eficiência para revisão das estratégias de divulgação, educação ambiental e eficácia na redução de custos operacionais. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo principal estudar os indicadores de sustentabilidade do Programa de Coleta Seletiva Solidária em três bairros do município de Criciúma/SC, sendo eles: Vila Isabel, Michel e Quarta Linha, além de realizar uma breve descrição do funcionamento do programa, propor sugestões de melhorias e realizar uma composição gravimétrica dos resíduos sólidos recicláveis coletados nos respectivos bairros. Enquanto recorte temático a base de discussão teórica, no capítulo 3 discorre sobre, gerenciamento integrado de resíduos sólidos, metodologias e modalidades de coleta seletiva, reciclagem e indicadores de sustentabilidade. A partir da metodologia de estudo de caso adotaram-se os procedimentos de: monitoramento da rota, obtenção de dados, descrição do programa existente no município, realização da composição gravimétrica e cálculos dos indicadores de coleta seletiva. Os resultados alcançados diante da composição gravimétrica demonstram que o bairro Vila Isabel e Michel obtiveram percentuais similares. O bairro Quarta linha obteve um percentual maior na categoria dos vidros (13,85%), possivelmente pela existência de casas noturnas e bares na região. A matéria orgânica, que foi calculada separadamente do rejeito, apresentou um percentual nulo, possivelmente pelo fato dos moradores utilizarem os restos de alimentos como adubo orgânico para a agricultura. A média do índice de rejeito calculado nos bairros é de 20%. Em relação ao índice de participação, o bairro Vila Isabel foi o que obteve maior representatividade (41,1%), sendo seguido pelo bairro Michel (36,3%) e Quarta Linha (20,9%). No que se refere à coleta seletiva em sua totalidade, o indicador de atendimento a população foi calculado, obtendo-se um índice de 59,6%. O custo com a coleta seletiva apresentou um percentual de 210%, sendo considerado um custo relativamente alto. Por fim, pode concluir que os indicadores de sustentabilidade se mostraram de grande relevância para o programa de Coleta seletiva de Criciúma, pois a partir desses dados, foi possível obter conhecimento dos valores que demostram a viabilidade da coleta seletiva, sugerindo-se a necessidade de melhorias em sua gestão

Lights and Shadows of Clinical Applications of Cardiac Scintigraphy with Bone Tracers in Suspected Amyloidosis

Radionuclide bone scintigraphy is the cornerstone of an imaging-based algorithm for accurate non-invasive diagnosis of transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CA). In patients with heart failure and suggestive echocardiographic and/or cardiac magnetic resonance imaging findings, the positive predictive value of Perugini grade 2 or 3 myocardial uptake on a radionuclide bone scan approaches 100% for the diagnosis of ATTR-CA as long as there is no biochemical evidence of a clonal dyscrasia. The technetium-labelled tracers that are currently validated for non-invasive diagnosis of ATTR-CA include pyrophosphate (99mTc-PYP); hydroxymethylene diphosphonate (99mTc-HMDP); and 3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylate (99mTc-DPD). Although nuclear scintigraphy has transformed the contemporary diagnostic approach to ATTR-CA, a number of grey areas remains, including the mechanism for binding tracers to the infiltrated heart, differences in the kinetics and distribution of these radiotracers, differences in protocols of image acquisition worldwide, the clinical significance of extra-cardiac uptake, and the use of this technique for prognostic stratification, monitoring disease progression and assessing the response to disease-modifying treatments. This review will deal with the most relevant unmet needs and clinical questions concerning scintigraphy with bone tracers in ATTR-CA, providing expert opinions on possible future developments in the clinical application of these radiotracers in order to offer practical information for the interpretation of nuclear images by physicians involved in the care of patients with this ATTR-CA

The Vital Breath of Business Administration

Strano destino quello di chi si occupa di economia aziendale e di ragioneria in particolare. Sembra che, a fronte di radici profonde e grande rilevanza operativa, le discipline e chi se ne occupa non godano di apprezzamento sociale. Film come The Untouchables, del 1987 e The accountant, del 2016, per esempio, raffigurano una professione autoreferenziale al servizio di interessi criminali. Il Caravaggio, per contro, ci mostra il “contabile” Matteo mentre viene chiamato alla suprema missione divina – Roma, San Luigi dei Francesi, Cappella Contarelli. Il presente lavoro si propone allora di indagare la natura più intima della disciplina e in particolare la sua dimensione etica. Per fare questo occorre partire da lontano per chiedersi se, alla scala macro, vi sia coincidenza tra benessere delle persone e loro ricchezza e se sia auspicabile un’economia del sempre più piuttosto che un’economia del sufficiente. Alla scala micro, peraltro, rilevano la gerarchia dei bisogni da soddisfare e degli interessi da privilegiare, nonché l’efficienza nell’uso delle risorse. Detta problematica può essere indagata con riferimento al mondo della sanità, dove vita, salute e sofferenza rendono ogni scelta particolarmente significativa. Da un lato si pone il criterio di scelta sulla destinazione delle risorse scarse: è legittimo ragionare in termini di aspettativa di vita dei soggetti beneficiari delle decisioni di spesa? Dall’altro lato l’efficienza emerge come principio etico, prima ancora che economico, se solo si pensi che il suo contrario, lo spreco, vuol dire sofferenze non evitate e vite non salvate. Le radici delle odierne discipline aziendali possono farsi risalire, convenzionalmente, al Liber Abbaci, di Leonardo Pisano – il Fibonacci, anno 1202 – dal quale emerge la rilevanza del calcolo commerciale per gli sviluppi delle moderne aritmetica, algebra ecc. Il libro “Della mercatura et del mercante perfetto” di Benedetto Cotrugli, anno 1458, propone una correlazione diretta tra strumenti aziendali e dimensione etica e professionale dell’operatore economico. Non è qui irrilevante osservare che i principali trattati italiani di ragioneria dei secoli dal quindicesimo al diciassettesimo sono opera di religiosi che, evidentemente, trovavano il rigore dei conti del monastero coerente con la loro vocazione – Luca Pacioli, francescano1494, Angelo Pietra, benedettino 1586, Lodovico Flori, gesuita1636. Interessante è inoltre la tesi sostenuta da Jacob Soll in The Reckoning, anno 2014, che sostiene una correlazione storica diretta tra sviluppo economico e cultura contabile. Nell’ambito stretto dell’economia aziendale la “teoria dei massimi simultanei” di Pietro Onida, anno 1960, anticipa quella degli stakeholder, anno 1984, di R. Edward Freeman. La prima può essere qui riassunta nell’espressione “la ricchezza si incrementa diffondendola e non difendendola”. la seconda ha, dichiaratamente, natura tanto positiva quanto normativa. Posto che la ricerca empirica non è mai riuscita a dimostrare la correlazione diretta tra scelte morali e successo aziendale, la dimensione normativa finisce per prevalere e costituisce la base della successiva responsabilità sociale dell’impresa e dell’attualissima attenzione ai temi ESG. Dunque teorie aziendali e pratica aziendale. In tale ultima dimensione si colloca il Sistema di Controllo Interno – SCI – -che trova la sua dimensione operativa nel cosiddetto CoSo I, anno 1992 e successivi. Tale documento propone alle aziende di ogni tipo strumenti per il contrasto a fenomeni di cattiva amministrazione e corruzione. È utile soffermarsi qui sulla versione dello SCI riarticolata per le pubbliche amministrazioni dall'International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions – INTOSAI. In essa sono indicati, fra l’altro, gli obiettivi gestionali in termini di “esecuzione delle operazioni in modo ordinato, conforme ai principi etici, di economicità, efficienza ed efficacia”. Lo SCI si compone, inoltre e prima di tutto, di un ambiente di controllo che deve essere caratterizzato in termini di “valori etici condivisi” e di “esempio dei capi” – il “tono al vertice” –, da competenza professionale, da adeguatezza dell’organizzazione, da incentivazione del personale. Le considerazioni che precedono sembrano sufficienti a concludere che tanto l’economia aziendale in senso ampio quanto la sua dimensione di ragioneria sono fondate sulla centralità dell’essere umano, sul suo comportamento morale, sulla sua motivazione e professionalità, laddove i numeri sono solo strumenti per controllare e rappresentare gli accadimenti, misurare le prestazioni e incentivare comportamenti virtuosi.A strange fate befalls those involved in business administration and accounting in particular. It seems that, in the face of deep roots and great operational relevance, the disciplines and those who deal with them do not enjoy social appreciation. Films such as 1987's The Untouchables and 2016's The Accountant, for example, depict a self-referential profession serving criminal interests. Caravaggio, by contrast, shows us the “accountant” Matthew as he is called to the supreme divine mission – Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi, Contarelli Chapel. The present work then sets out to investigate the more intimate nature of the discipline and in particular its ethical dimension. To do this, it is necessary to start from afar to ask whether, at the macro scale, there is a coincidence between people’s well-being and their wealth and whether an economy of more and more rather than an economy of enough is desirable. At the micro-scale, moreover, the hierarchy of needs to be met and interests to be prioritized, as well as efficiency in the use of resources, are relevant. Said issue can be investigated concerning the world of health care, where life, health, and suffering make every choice particularly significant. On the one hand, the criterion of choice about the allocation of scarce resources arises: is it legitimate to reason in terms of the life expectancy of the subjects benefiting from spending decisions? On the other hand, efficiency emerges as an ethical principle, even before it is an economic one if we only consider that its opposite, waste, means suffering is not avoided and lives are not saved. The roots of today's business disciplines can be traced, conventionally, to the Liber Abbaci, by Leonardo Pisano – the Fibonacci, year 1202 – from which emerges the relevance of business calculus for the developments of modern arithmetic, algebra, etc. The book “Della mercatura et del mercante perfetto” by Benedetto Cotrugli, year 1458, proposes a direct correlation between business tools and the ethical and professional dimension of the economic operator. It is not irrelevant here to note that the main Italian treatises on accountancy from the 15th to 17th centuries are the work of religious men who found the rigor of monastery accounts consistent with their vocation – Luca Pacioli, Franciscan1494, Angelo Pietra, Benedictine 1586, Lodovico Flori, Jesuit1636. Also interesting is the thesis advanced by Jacob Soll in The Reckoning, the year 2014, which argues for a direct historical correlation between economic development and accounting culture. In the narrow field of business administration, Pietro Onida’s “theory of simultaneous maxima”, year 1960, anticipates R. Edward Freeman's “stakeholder theory”, year 1984. The former can be summarized here in the expression “wealth is increased by spreading it, not by defending it”, the latter is, avowedly, as positive as it is normative. Given that empirical research has never been able to demonstrate the direct correlation between moral choices and corporate success, the normative dimension eventually prevails and forms the basis of subsequent corporate social responsibility and the very current focus on ESG issues. So, business theories and business practice. In the latter dimension is the Internal Control System – ICS – which finds its operational dimension in the so-called CoSo I, year 1992 and later. That document proposes tools for companies of all kinds to counter maladministration and corruption. It is useful to dwell here on the version of the ICS rearticulated for public administrations by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions – INTOSAI. It sets out, among other things, management objectives in terms of “carrying out operations in an orderly manner, by the principles of ethics, economy, efficiency, and effectiveness”. The ICS consists, further and first of all, of a controlled environment that must be characterized in terms of “shared ethical values” and the “example of leaders” – the “tone at the top” – professional competence, organizational adequacy, and staff incentive. The above considerations seem sufficient to conclude that both business administration and its accounting dimension are founded on the centrality of human beings, their moral behavior, motivation, and professionalism, where numbers are merely tools to control and represent happenings, measure performance, and incentivize virtuous behavior

A Hybrid CMOS-Memristor Spiking Neural Network Supporting Multiple Learning Rules

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way computing is performed to cope with real-world, ill-defined tasks for which traditional algorithms fail. AI requires significant memory access, thus running into the von Neumann bottleneck when implemented in standard computing platforms. In this respect, low-latency energy-efficient in-memory computing can be achieved by exploiting emerging memristive devices, given their ability to emulate synaptic plasticity, which provides a path to design large-scale brain-inspired spiking neural networks (SNNs). Several plasticity rules have been described in the brain and their coexistence in the same network largely expands the computational capabilities of a given circuit. In this work, starting from the electrical characterization and modeling of the memristor device, we propose a neuro-synaptic architecture that co-integrates in a unique platform with a single type of synaptic device to implement two distinct learning rules, namely, the spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) and the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro (BCM). This architecture, by exploiting the aforementioned learning rules, successfully addressed two different tasks of unsupervised learning

Innate dynamics and identity crisis of a metal surface unveiled by machine learning of atomic environments

Metals are traditionally considered hard matter. However, it is well known that their atomic lattices may become dynamic and undergo reconfigurations even well below the melting temperature. The innate atomic dynamics of metals is directly related to their bulk and surface properties. Understanding their complex structural dynamics is, thus, important for many applications but is not easy. Here, we report deep-potential molecular dynamics simulations allowing to resolve at an atomic resolution the complex dynamics of various types of copper (Cu) surfaces, used as an example, near the Hüttig (∼1/3 of melting) temperature. The development of deep neural network potential trained on density functional theory calculations provides a dynamically accurate force field that we use to simulate large atomistic models of different Cu surface types. A combination of high-dimensional structural descriptors and unsupervized machine learning allows identifying and tracking all the atomic environments (AEs) emerging in the surfaces at finite temperatures. We can directly observe how AEs that are non-native in a specific (ideal) surface, but that are, instead, typical of other surface types, continuously emerge/disappear in that surface in relevant regimes in dynamic equilibrium with the native ones. Our analyses allow estimating the lifetime of all the AEs populating these Cu surfaces and to reconstruct their dynamic interconversions networks. This reveals the elusive identity of these metal surfaces, which preserve their identity only in part and in part transform into something else under relevant conditions. This also proposes a concept of “statistical identity” for metal surfaces, which is key to understanding their behaviors and properties

Trumpet sounds emitted by male sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea

Sperm whale trumpets are sounds only occasionally documented, with a well recognisable and stereotyped acoustic arrangement. This study investigated the acoustic features of the trumpets and the context in which these sounds were recorded, using acoustic data collected over 22 years, in the Pelagos Sanctuary area (North-Western Mediterranean Sea). Analysed trumpets (n = 230), recorded at the beginning of a dive after the whale fluke-up, comprised a series of acoustic units organized in short sequences. Acoustic parameters were derived for the entire trumpet and for each distinguishable unit in a trumpet. Overall, trumpet durations and their initial frequencies were higher in recordings collected when multiple whales were visually or acoustically detected in the observation area. The identity of 68 whales was assessed through photo-identification, with 29 individuals producing trumpets within and between years. The variability of the acoustic parameters appeared to be higher within the same individuals rather than between different individuals, suggesting an individual plasticity in composing and arranging units in a trumpet. Different click patterns were observed before and after the trumpets, with more complex sequences when (1) other whales were visually/acoustically detected, and (2) individuals were in suitable foraging sites (i.e., canyon areas). Trumpets were commonly followed or preceded by click patterns suited for communication, such as codas and/or slow clicks. Significant relations between the trumpet emission and the male-only long-range communication click pattern (i.e. slow clicks) emerged, supporting the hypothesis that a trumpet is a sound emitted by maturing/mature males in feeding grounds. This study provides the first evidence that trumpets were conserved in the sperm whale acoustic repertoire at the decadal timescale, persisting across years and individuals in the same area. This persistence may be functionally specific to foraging activities performed by males in a well-established feeding area