Micro, Meso, and Macro Data Collection and Analysis, as a Method for Speculative and Artistic Exploration

In this work, an attempt is made to explore the emerging computationally-enhanced private and public environments by analyzing their ecological transitions and its implications on practical, aesthetic, and speculative dimensions. The author has decided to methodologically dissect the multiplicity of information that exists on many possible-to-detect scales (micro, meso, macro), and utilize this extraction as a tool for experimentation and redefinition. With the use of custom-made hardware and software utilities (sensor devices, sentiment analysis algorithms, online APIs, and many more), a vast amount of data is collected and used as a multidimensional layered architecture that constantly shifts and transforms. The extracted and analyzed content of the collection becomes the essence of the work that is shaped and refined through digital and physical making – middleware, recursion, mapping – and by utilizing technological objects within the physical space, the creative process is augmented and amplified, exploring not only new practices and novel applications, but rather redefining behavior, thought-process, and context

Planning under Uncertainty in Linear Time Logic

The “planning as satisfiability” approach for classical planning establishes a correspondence between planning problems and logical theories, and, consequently, between plans and models. This work proposes a similar framework for contingency planning: considering contingent planning problems where the sources of indeterminism are incomplete knowledge about the initial state, non-inertial fluents and nondeterministic actions, it shows how to encode such problems into Linear Time Logic. Exploiting the semantics of the logic, and the notion of conditioned model introduced in this work, a formal characterization is given of the notion of contingent plan (a plan together with the set of conditions that ensure its executability)

Towards a Parallel Search Engine for Planning Systems Based on Linear Time Logic

A planning problem can be entirely encoded as a set of linear temporal logic (LTL) formulae, in such a way that planning is reduced to model search. In order for this approach to be effective, it is important to enhance the performances of LTL provers. In this work, we study a parallel algorithm for LTL model search, based on the tableaux calculus. In paritcular, the approach presented here is based on the “divide et impera” approach: a task in tableaux construction is identified that can be split into smaller homogeneous processes. The parallelization acts during the construction of each time state: the set of formulas to be expanded is split into k disjoint subsets (where k is the number of processes), the k tableaux expansions are carried out in parallel, and the k results are suitably combined. First promising experimental results are also presented: they are based on the algorithm implementation on a cluster of non homogeneous machines

Pdk: the System and its Language

This paper presents the planning system Pdk (Planning with Domain Knowledge), based on the translation of planning problems into Linear Time Logic theories, in such a way that finding solution plans is reduced to model search. The model search mechanism is based on temporal tableaux. The planning language accepted by the system allows one to specify extra problem dependent information, that can be of help both in reducing the search space and finding plans of better quality

Can agricultural fungicides be a source of stress for non-target soil organisms? An ecotoxicological study on Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826)

Plant protection products, highly used in agriculture, can represent a source of stress for non-target soil organism and have a negative effect on ecosystems’ health. In particular, information on toxicological effects of fungicides are very poor or absent, despite their widespread use. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential toxic effects of 4 commercial fungicides (Prosaro®, Amistar®xtra, Mirador® and Icarus®) on the earthworm Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826). Laboratory experiments were conducted using the filter paper test (FPT): E. fetida was exposed to increasing concentration of Prosaro® or Amistar®xtra, being the highest dose of treatment the recommended one for the usage in wheat farming. Field investigations were conducted transplanting E. fetida in cages in the soil of wheat and durum wheat fields before and during treatment with different combinations of the 4 fungicides. E. fetida specimens from laboratory and field work were analysed to evaluate vitality, potential neurotoxic effects (inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE)), phase II enzymatic defense (glutathione S-transferase (GST)), oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation (LPO) and catalase (CAT) activity), genotoxic effects (Comet assay) and effect on the immune system (lysozyme activity). Laboratory studies with Prosaro® and Amistar®xtra showed alterations in organism’s vitality which increased with increasing treatment doses. Significant alteration of phase II metabolising enzymes (GST induction) and significant DNA fragmentation (Comet assay) with respect to controls were detected at environmentally relevant doses of Prosaro®. A statistically significant induction of GST was found in earthworms transplanted in the fields treated with Amistar®xtra alone and Amistar®xtra + Prosaro®. This study represents a first step towards a better understanding of commercial fungicides toxicological potential to non-target organisms. Data obtained indicate that deeper investigations are needed which should include long term artificial soil tests (AST) and further field studie

A prospective validation of the Bova score in normotensive patients with acute pulmonary embolism

Background: The Bova score has shown usefulness in the identification of intermediate-high risk patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE), but lacks prospective validation.The aim of this study was to prospectively validate the Bova score in different settings from the original derivation cohort.Methods: Consecutive, normotensive patients with acute PE recruited at 13 academic or general hospitals were stratified, using their baseline data, into the three Bova risk stages (I-III). The primary outcome was the 30-day composite of PE-related mortality, hemodynamic collapse and non-fatal PE recurrences in the three risk categories.Results: In the study period, 639 patients were enrolled. The primary end point occurred in 45 patients (7.0%; 95% Confidence Intervals, 5.2%-9.3%). Risk stage correlated with the PE-related complication rate (stage I, 2.9%; stage II, 17%; stage III, 27%). Patients classified as stage III by the Bova score had a 6.5-fold increased risk for adverse outcomes (3.1-13.5, p < 0.001) compared with stages I and II combined. Rescue thrombolysis increased from stage I to stage III (0.6%, 12% and 15% respectively). All-cause mortality (5.3%) did not substantially differ among the stages.Conclusions: The Bova score accurately stratifies normotensive patients with acute PE into stages of increasing risk of 30-day PE-related complications