Le patrimoine de la ville durable en Méditerranée. Projets et réalisations à Tunis

Cette proposition vise à questionner les nouvelles modalités de conception des villes au sud de la Méditerranée et s’intéresse à l’analyse des nouvelles stratégies de rénovation, qui ont comme objectif primaire la valorisation du Patrimoine matériel de la ville durable en Méditerranée . L’héritage historique de plusieurs millénaires et le patrimoine urbain et architectural constituent inévitablement une caractéristique de la ville Méditerranéenne. Qu’il s’agisse de villes maghrébines de Salé ou de Marrakech, ou encore de Tunis ou de Sousse, l’intervention sur les tissus urbains historiques de manière intégrée, par un approche multidisciplinaire, devient de plus en plus une nécessité pour préserver, valoriser et améliorer leur Patrimoine dans une perspective de rénovation durables des villes et des leurs quartiers existants

A fast robust optimization-based heuristic for the deployment of green virtual network functions

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) has attracted a lot of attention in the telecommunication field because it allows to virtualize core-business network functions on top of a NFV Infrastructure. Typically, virtual network functions (VNFs) can be represented as chains of Virtual Machines (VMs) or containers that exchange network traffic which are deployed inside datacenters on commodity hardware. In order to achieve cost efficiency, network operators aim at minimizing the power consumption of their NFV infrastructure. This can be achieved by using the minimum set of physical servers and networking equipment that are able to provide the quality of service required by the virtual functions in terms of computing, memory, disk and network related parameters. However, it is very difficult to predict precisely the resource demands required by the VNFs to execute their tasks. In this work, we apply the theory of robust optimization to deal with such parameter uncertainty. We model the problem of robust VNF placement and network embedding under resource demand uncertainty and network latency constraints using robust mixed integer optimization techniques. For online optimization, we develop fast solution heuristics. By using the virtualized Evolved Packet Core as use case, we perform a comprehensive evaluation in terms of performance, solution time and complexity and show that our heuristic can calculate robust solutions for large instances under one second.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A NEW MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE ON KERMES VERMILIO (PLANCHON) (HEMIPTERA: COCCOIDEA: KERMESIDAE)

A NEW MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE ON KERMES VERMILIO (PLANCHON) (HEMIPTERA: COCCOIDEA: KERMESIDAE). Kermes vermilio (Planchon) is a common scale insect living on Quercus ilex L. in urban environments in Southern Italy. Morphological studies on the nymphs and prepupae showed the presence of a pair of membranous ventral frontal lobes, situated just antero-medially to each basal antennal segment. Similar lobes are only currently known in the family Eriococcidae. These structures are therefore here recorded in the Kermesidae for the first time, although it is thought probable that they are present on other species of the family. Their function is unknown. Key words: phylogenetic relationships, Pseudococcidae, Dactylopiidae, Coccidae, Lecanodiaspididae

Efficient Management of Flexible Functional Split through Software Defined 5G Converged Access

Softwarization of mobile and optical networks facilitates the inter-working between control planes of the two domains, allowing a more efficient management of available resources. Radio resource utilization benefits from the centralization of mobile network functionalities with the application of high-order functional split options by fronthauling. However, higher-order options require larger bandwidth and lower latency in the fronthaul. Advanced mechanisms for the joint control of the access network represent the sole solution to support such fronthaul requirements. This paper proposes a new cooperation scheme to manage the adaptive flexible functional split in 5G networks conditioned to the resource availability in the optical access network. Results show that the proposed converged approach guarantees the optimal allocation of optical resources through a software defined wavelength and bandwidth allocation. The proposed scheme adapts to current traffic demand and simultaneously allows the mobile network to take advantage of the highest possible centralization of mobile network functions by leveraging flexible functional split adaptively compliant to the current optical traffic demand.This work was partially supported by the Italian Government under CIPE resolution no. 135 (December 21, 2012), project INnovating City Planning through Information and Communication Technologies (INCIPICT) and by the EC through the H2020 5G-TRANSFORMER project (Project ID 761536

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Forecasts in Countries of the European Union by Means of a Multifactor Algorithm

A novel multifactor algorithm is developed with the aim of estimating GHG emissions in the EU countries and forecasting different future scenarios. This is created starting from (1) GDP, (2) population and (3) renewable energy share (RES). The determination coefficient (R2) of the multiple regression adopted reaches a value of 0.96; thus, only 4% of the GHG variation cannot be explained by the combination of the three variables. Germany is removed from the model after analysing the statistical outliers, as it presents an unusual behaviour within the European context. Also, France, Italy and Ireland are removed in the forecast analysis since they are characterised by corrected weighting values above the threshold value of the algorithm (0.156). The results show that GHG emissions decrease 14% in a low-growth-rate scenario, increase 24% in an average-growth scenario and increase 104% in a high-growth-rate scenario. Countries that improve the most are the ones that are currently underdeveloped in RES and are expected to decrease their population in the future (Croatia, Latvia, Cyprus and Greece). Other countries currently well positioned but with expected population growth (Sweden, Luxemburg and Denmark) or with expected intense GDP growth (Estonia and Malta) may lack decarbonisation levers. Therefore, policy makers should introduce additional subsidy schemes and tax exemptions in both developed and less developed countries to meet EU decarbonisation targets

Preliminary assessments of microalgae direct transesterification for biodiesel production

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel which can be produced from a wide range of biomasses. In recent years, the possibility to produce it from non-food feedstock such as microalgae has been proposed. It is well known that: i) microalgae may accumulate significant quantities of triglycerides; ii) they are fast-growing photosynthetic organisms capable of sequestering CO2; iii) they can be cultivated in fresh and sea water. Nevertheless the potential of biodiesel production from microalgae, the industrial development still asks investigation. The present contribution reports about recent results of a research program in Napoli on the biodiesel production from microalgae. The study carried out so far have highlighted the success with Stichococcus strains as microalgal feedstocks to produce fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) according to traditional processes: lipid extraction coupled with alkaline catalyzed transesterification of lipids (Olivieri et al., 2011, 2013). Results of the direct alkaline transesterification process of Stichococcus bacillaris algal strains are here presented. Tests were carried out under wide intervals of operating conditions: pre-contact time (time of contact of biomass with alkaline methanol at room temperature), catalyst concentration, methanol/biomass weight ratio, reaction temperature, reaction time, biomass water concentration. Effects of operating conditions on FAME yield were assessed

Glucocorticoid receptor signalling activates YAP in breast cancer

The Hippo pathway is an oncosuppressor signalling cascade that plays a major role in the control of cell growth, tissue homoeostasis and organ size. Dysregulation of the Hippo pathway leads to aberrant activation of the transcription co-activator YAP (Yes-associated protein) that contributes to tumorigenesis in several tissues. Here we identify glucocorticoids (GCs) as hormonal activators of YAP. Stimulation of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) leads to increase of YAP protein levels, nuclear accumulation and transcriptional activity in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we find that GCs increase expression and deposition of fibronectin leading to the focal adhesion-Src pathway stimulation, cytoskeleton-dependent YAP activation and expansion of chemoresistant cancer stem cells. GR activation correlates with YAP activity in human breast cancer and predicts bad prognosis in the basal-like subtype. Our results unveil a novel mechanism of YAP activation in cancer and open the possibility to target GR to prevent cancer stem cells self-renewal and chemoresistance

Impact of CoMP VNF Placement on 5G Coordinated Scheduling Performance

To address demanding requirements in terms of expected throughput, latency and scalability, 5G networks will offer high capacity to support huge volumes of traffic generated by heterogeneous services. Dense deployment of small cells can provide a valid solution but are prone to high levels of interference especially at the cell-edge. However, to reduce inter-cell interference and improve cell-edge throughput, a set of techniques known as Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) has been introduced. Coordinated Scheduling (CS) is a CoMP technique that assigns resources to mobile users to avoid interference between users that are assigned within the same Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs). On the other hand, Software Defined Mobile Networking (SDMN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) represent two key technologies to enhance flexibility and efficiency of resource usage within the Radio Access Network (RAN). However, the implementation of CoMP CS techniques on NFV architecture in a dense small cell scenario have not been analyzed yet. In this paper, we propose the joint use of CoMP CS and NFV by studying the implications of different deployment strategies, as constrained by the physical topology of the underlying RAN. The performance of both distributed and centralized CoMP CS are compared in terms of convergence delay and traffic overhead. Guidelines for the optimal design are provided.This work was partially supported by the Italian Government under CIPE resolution no. 135 (December 21, 2012), project INnovating City Planning through Information and Communication Technologies (INCIPICT) and by the EC through the H2020 5G-TRANSFORMER project (Project ID 761536)