Does eContent talk to the heart?

The idea to add some value to already existing data was already addressed by the EC within the eContent framework: Content and services sometimes are built on top of existing data sets, and more than ten years ago the European Commission created the eContent framework to improve the added value reuse of public data sets. At that time, one of the challenges faced when submitting project proposals was to understand: which kind of data sets and how to reuse them—according to IPRs, according to privacy rules, etc.? The recently emerged keyword “open data” represents one of the nowadays’ challenges. Institutions and companies are investing time and resources in order to turn such a concept into reality. Open data refers to the idea that certain data should be freely available for use and re-use. When dealing with open data we must take into consideration, among others, two main aspects: the public body can legally dispose of the processed data using them freely and eventually re-firing them as it may consider useful? How it can be wise to behave in managing their rights? This is a real problem when dealing with public administrations especially in the field of cultural heritage, because there is a lot of material, such as books, pictures, maps and other potential content, but people don’t know exactly how to manage the rights and how to transfer certain rights to people using the material afterwards. There are some European Regulations in the EU concerning open data; guidelines in order to use such kind of data sets, basically 2 or 3 directives. Some of the EU Member States adopted the European directives at a local level, other countries were able to tune their already existing regulations in order to fit the European directives and other just continued with their already existing regulations. All public bodies are mainly concerned about data ownership, intellectual property and privacy. These issues are directly related to questions such as the origin of the data sets, i.e., the responsible of the project, data providers, harvesting procedure etc.; the procedure used to collect the data, the intellectual property ownership and transfer, i.e., who is the actual owner, which rights have been transferred, etc.; the protection of sensitive data and related citizens’ privacy issues; as well as statistic confidentiality, i.e., data anonymization. The release and re-use of public bodies’ datasets may impact citizens’ privacy. Personal information represent a wide range of data; they include any data concerning any identifiable individual and in some countries this applies even to companies if their data may involve individuals. .....

On Correction Factor In Scaling Law For Low Pressure Dc Gas Breakdown

The low pressure gas breakdown described by Paschen's law in Townsend theory, i.e. the breakdown voltage as a function of gas pressure p and the electrode distance d, provides an accurate description of breakdown in DC discharges when the ratio between inter-electrode gap distance d and electrode radii R tends to zero. On increasing of the ratio d/R, the Paschen's curves are shifted to the region of higher breakdown voltage and higher pd values. A modified Paschen's law recently proposed is well satisfied in our measurements. However, the value of constant b changes not only due to gas type but also according to electrode gap distance; furthermore, gas breakdown voltages are considerably modified by plasma-wall interactions due to glass tube proximity in the discharge.5111Townsend, J.S., (1915) Electricity in Gases, , Oxford: ClarendonKolobov, V.I., Fiala, A., (1994) Phys. Rev., 50, pp. 3018-3032Lisovskiy, V.A., Yakovin, S.D., Yegorenkov, V.D., (2000) J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 33 (21), pp. 2722-2730. , 0022-3727 310Raizer, Y.P., (1991) Gas Discharge Physics, , 10.1007/978-3-642-61247-3 (Berlin: Springer

On Graph Refutation for Relational Inclusions

We introduce a graphical refutation calculus for relational inclusions: it reduces establishing a relational inclusion to establishing that a graph constructed from it has empty extension. This sound and complete calculus is conceptually simpler and easier to use than the usual ones.Comment: In Proceedings LSFA 2011, arXiv:1203.542

Remarks on the Permian-Triassic transition in Central and Eastern Lombardy (Southern Alps, Italy)

The main lithological and petrographical characteristics of the Permian-Lower Triassic Orobic and Brescian successions in central and eastern Lombardy are briefl y recorded, especially with regard to the units cropping out below and above the P-T boundary. The lower formation is represented by the Verrucano Lombardo, which consists of continental, fluvial red clastics, barren of fossils, generally Late Permian (Lopingian) in age, whereas the overlying Servino Formation, which is represented by well-bedded clastic and carbonate polychrome sediments, generally rich in fossils, pertains to the Early Triassic (Induan-Olenekian). The sequences of the two above-mentioned areas differ at least in part, as proof of their regional division, probably because of an inherited paleotopography and syntectonic activity. Taking into account the units bracketing the P-T boundary, which represents the real topic of this work, the Verrucano Lombardo of the Orobic Alps is paraconformably covered by the conglomerates and sandstones of the Prato Solaro Member in the lower part of the Servino Formation, cropping out extensively, although discontinuously, from the eastern side of Lake Como to the upper Scalve Valley in the Camonica region. The shape of some quartz rock fragments, derived from the Variscan crystalline basement and its Upper Carboniferous siliciclastic cover, has been interpreted as due to relatively coeval aeolian activity, and testifi es to an arid climatic “event” probably late Dienerian-early Smithian in age. In contrast, in the Brescia province, the onset of the Servino is made up of wave and current rippled, fi ne clastics, 1-2 m thick, and a typical horizon of oolitic dolostones (“Praso Limestone” Auct.), continuous from the lower Camonica Valley to the western Trentino. This unit could laterally correlate towards east, in the eastern South-Alpine segment, with the famous oolitic Tesero Member at the base of the Werfen Formation of the Dolomitic and Carnic Alps. In the Brescian Prealps, the above oolitic deposits crop out below some Claraia beds yielding forms common to those present in the Siusi Member of the Dolomites, generally attributed to late Griesbachian-early Dienerian times. Their age could be ascribed to a slightly older Griesbachian, i.e. to early Induan. Therefore, the P-T boundary in central and eastern Lombardy seems substantially located between the fi nal part of the Permian and the very base of the respective Triassic successions, temporally and spatially ranging in different ways and generally affected by non-depositional and perhaps tectonic processes. In our opinion, however, the duration of the gap, based on correlations with the well-documented stratigraphical studies recently carried out in the nearby Dolomitic area and other European regions, should be considered as slightly longer than previously recognized: the maximum gap could be estimated at about 3-4 Ma. As a consequence, we thus point out that the Servino Formation of the Brescian Alps rests, itself, paraconformably on the Verrucano Lombardo red beds, even if the P-T gap was probably less for correlation with the well-known Dolomites sections. At the end of the paper, for a more comprehensible understanding of the late- to post-Variscan geological scenario, is a tentative synthesis of the regional evolution.Se resumen las principales características litológicas y petrológicas de las sucesiones Oróbica y Bresciana del Pérmico y Triásico Inferior del este de Lombardía, especialmente las referidas a aquellas unidades que afl oran por encima y por debajo del límite P-T. La formación inferior está representada por el “Verrucano Lombardo”, que está constituido de sedimentos continentales clásticos de color rojo, de origen fluvial y sin fósiles y que muestran generalmente una edad Pérmico Superior (Lopingiense), mientras que la unidad inmediatamente superior, Formación Servino, representada por sedimentos bien estratifi cados, clásticos y carbonáticos, con abundantes fósiles y diferentes colores, es de edad Triásico Inferior (Induense-Olenekian). Las sucesiones de las dos áreas arriba mencionadas difieren entre sí, debido, entre otros motivos, a aquellos ligados a las características paleogeográfi cas y tectónicas propias de las zonas en las que afloran. El Verrucano Lombardo, en los afloramientos de los Alpes Oróbicos, que aflora extensivamente aunque de forma discontinua desde la parte este del lago Como hasta la parte alta del valle Scalve, en la región Carmónica, se sitúa, mediante una paraconformidad, bajo los conglomerados y areniscas del Miembro Prato Solaro, pertenecientes a la parte inferior de la Formación Servino. La forma de algunos fragmentos de roca, derivados del basamento cristalino varisco, así como los sedimentos siliciclásticos del Carbonífero Superior que los cubren, han sido relacionadas con una actividad de tipo eólica, testificando un evento climático de tipo árido, probablemente de edad Dieneriense superior-Smithiense inferior. En contraste, en la provincia de Brescia, la Formación Servino está constituida por sedimentos clásticos con ripples de oscilación y corriente, de tamaño de grano fino, constituyendo un espesor de 1-2 m y un nivel típico de dolomías oolíticas (“Praso Limestone” Auct.), que aparece desde la parte inferior del valle de Camonica hasta el oeste Trentino. Hacia el oeste, en el segmento este de los Alpes Meridionales, esta unidad podría correlacionarse lateralmente con el Miembro Tesero, de carácter oolítico, de la base de la Formación Werfen de los Alpes Dolomíticos y Cárnicos. En los Prealpes Brescianos, los depósitos oolíticos anteriormente mencionados afloran por debajo de algunas capas con Claraia, mostrando formas parecidas a las existentes del actual Miembro Siusi de los Dolomitas, generalmente atribuidos a una edad Griesbachiense-Dineriense inferior. Su edad podría ser ligeramente anterior a Griesbachiense, i.e. Induense inferior. Así, el límite P-T en el centro y este de Lombardía, estaría básicamente estar localizado entre la parte final de los sedimentos considerados pérmicos y aquellos de la parte más baja de los considerados Triásico Inferior, aunque con ciertas variaciones temporales y espaciales, variando en función de los procesos no deposicionales y, posiblemente, tectónicos. En nuestra opinión y, basándonos en correlaciones bien documentadas estudios estratigráficos llevados a cabo en los Dolomitas y en otras regiones europeas, prolongación en el tiempo de esta etapa en la que falta registro sedimentario podría ser considerada como ligeramente más larga de lo inicialmente reconocido: esta etapa podría ser considerada en torno a 3-4 Ma. Como consecuencia, consideramos que la Formación Servino de los Alpes Brescianos, como tal, paraconformable sobre las capas rojas del Verrucano Lombardo incluso aunque el vacío sedimentario de la transición P-T en esta zona fuese menor que el de la zona correlacionable y bien conocida de las secciones de los Dolomitas

A reliability study of the new back strain monitor based on clinical trials

A new Back Strain Monitor (BSM) device has been developed in order to measure, record and analyze movements of the lower back. The purpose of this study was to examine the inter-tester and the intra-tester reliability of the movement measurements given by the BSM accelerometers, and compare it with the reliability of two other conventional measurement methods: the Double Inclinometer method (DI) and the Modified-Modified Schober (MMS) method. The clinical studies included 23 participants (16 males, 7 females) with no recent history of lower back pain, who wore the device during a combination of different anatomical movements (flexion, extension, left lateral flexion and right lateral flexion of the lumber spine). The tests were conducted by three therapists (testers). The reliability results for the BSM accelerometers clearly outperform the results obtained for the DI and the MMS methods. The inter-tester reliability gives the Intra-Class Correlation (ICC) value of 0.95 for the BSM flexion, 0.89 for the DI flexion and 0.74 for the MMS. The intra-tester reliability gives the ICC value of 0.99 for BSM flexion, 0.94 for DI flexion and 0.77 for the MMS. The BSM accelerometers were highly reliable in assessing back movements, measuring these movements with less error than the DI and MMS methods

Reply to discussion on the article “Remarks on the Permian- Triassic transition in Central and Eastern Lombardy (Southern Alps, Italy)” by G. Cassinis, M. Durand and A. Ronchi

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NCAM1, TACR1 and NOS Genes and Temperament: A Study on Suicide Attempters and Controls

Suicide, one of the leading causes of death among young adults, seems to be plausibly modulated by both genetic and personality factors. The aim of this study was to dissect the potential association between genetics and temperament in a sample of 111 suicide attempters and 289 healthy controls. We focused on 4 genes previously investigated in association with suicide on the same sample: the nitric oxide synthase 1 and 3 (NOS1 and NOS3), the neuronal cell adhesion molecule 1 (NCAM1), and the tachykinin receptor 1 (TACR1) genes. In particular, we investigated whether a set of genetic variants in these genes (NOS1 : rs2682826, rs1353939, rs693534; NOS3 : rs2070744, rs1799983, rs891512; NCAM1 : rs2301228, rs1884, rs1245113, rs1369816, rs2196456, rs584427; TACR1 : rs3771810, rs3771825, rs726506, rs1477157) were associated with temperamental traits at the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). No strong evidence was found for the association between TCI personality traits and the polymorphisms considered in the 4 genes, with the exception of an association between reward dependence trait and the rs2682826 SNP in NOS1 in the healthy sample. However, this result could be plausibly interpreted as a false-positive finding. In conclusion, our study did not support the thesis of a direct modulation of these genes on temperament; however, further studies on larger samples are clearly required in order to confirm our preliminary findings and to exclude any possible minor influence. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

A hierarchical autonomous driver for a racing car: Real-time planning and tracking of the trajectory

The aim of this study was to develop trajectory planning that would allow an autonomous racing car to be driven as close as possible to what a driver would do, defining the most appropriate inputs for the current scenario. The search for the optimal trajectory in terms of lap time reduction involves the modeling of all the non-linearities of the vehicle dynamics with the disadvantage of being a time-consuming problem and not being able to be implemented in real-time. However, to improve the vehicle performances, the trajectory needs to be optimized online with the knowledge of the actual vehicle dynamics and path conditions. Therefore, this study involved the development of an architecture that allows an autonomous racing car to have an optimal online trajectory planning and path tracking ensuring professional driver performances. The real-time trajectory optimization can also ensure a possible future implementation in the urban area where obstacles and dynamic scenarios could be faced. It was chosen to implement a local trajectory planning based on the Model Predictive Control(MPC) logic and solved as Linear Programming (LP) by Sequential Convex Programming (SCP). The idea was to achieve a computational cost, 0.1 s, using a point mass vehicle model constrained by experimental definition and approximation of the car’s GG-V, and developing an optimum model-based path tracking to define the driver model that allows A car to follow the trajectory defined by the planner ensuring a signal input every 0.001 s. To validate the algorithm, two types of tests were carried out: a Matlab-Simulink, Vi-Grade co-simulation test, comparing the proposed algorithm with the performance of an offline motion planning, and a real-time simulator test, comparing the proposed algorithm with the performance of a professional driver. The results obtained showed that the computational cost of the optimization algorithm developed is below the limit of 0.1 s, and the architecture showed a reduction of the lap time of about 1 s compared to the offline optimizer and reproducibility of the performance obtained by the driver

Through the Settler’s Eye: A Visual History of Indigeneity in French Algeria and Israel/Palestine

This thesis contributes to existing scholarship reflecting on the ways in which settler colonial narratives are used to enforce discriminatory conceptualisations of self and other in settler societies. In particular, my work investigates how visual narratives play a role in delineating and reproducing normative understandings of settlerhood and indigeneity, and how they convey colonial discourse to both domestic and international audiences. The thesis focuses on two case studies within the Middle East and North Africa region, looking at visual material produced by the French colonial government in Algeria and by Israel (or affiliated agencies) within the area of historic Palestine. Through my analysis, I identify discursive patterns delineating how indigenous Algerian and Palestinian communities were represented, and how this categorisation of the “other” affected the colonial understanding of settlerhood and of the colonial project. In particular, I identify a connection between the tropes used by settler colonial agencies to define both the settler self and the indigenous other, and the structure of colonial communication. As the visual material shows, indigeneity is seen not as an active participant in the communicative process (or, for that matter, in the definition of colonial categories of belonging), but is instead a passive subject of settler discourse. This, in turn, is aimed not at indigenous communities, but at domestic and international audiences that legitimise the existence of the settler colonial project. My work therefore hopes to challenge traditional claims of reciprocity in the colonial communicative process, highlighting how visual material makes use of the indigenous subject without intending it to be part of a mutual relationship. The hegemonic visual narratives produced by settler colonial authorities therefore emphasise the nature of the settler/indigenous relationship, and show the tropes associated with categories of belonging that are used to enforce discriminatory policies against indigenous communities

Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Italy: state of the art and selected research issues

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) was implemented rather late in Italy. The actual implementation took place in 2006 with decree 152/2006 but the Directive was not completely effective until the beginning of 2009, when law 13/2009 provided for the implementation of river basin plans by basin authorities. The objective of this paper is to describe the implementation of the WFD in Italy and to discuss selected policy and research issues. The paper begins with an introduction highlighting the specificities of Italy in terms of water management. With regard to implementation, the general administrative setting, as well as the interpretation of WFD categories related to economic evaluations will be illustrated. Two major issues of particularly high relevance in the present debate are then discussed: a) the evaluation of environmental and resource costs; and b) water regulation in agriculture.Department of Agricultural Economics and Engineering, University of Bologna (Italy). Department of Statistics, University of Bologna (Italy)