A new approach for transport network design and optimization

The solution of the transportation network optimization problem actually requires, in most cases, very intricate and powerful computer resources, so that it is not feasible to use classical algorithms. One promising way is to use stochastic search techniques. In this context, Genetic Algorithms (GAs) seem to be - among all the available methodologies- one of the most efficient methods able to approach transport network design and optimization. Particularly, this paper will focus the attention on the possibility of modelling and optimizing Public Bus Networks by means of GAs. In the proposed algorithm, the specific class of Cumulative GAs(CGAs) will be used for solving the first level of the network optimization problem, while a classical assignment model ,or alternatively a neural network approach ,will be adopted for the Fitness Function(FF) evaluation. CGAs will then be utilized in order to generate new populations of networks, which will be evaluated by means of a suitable software package. For each new solution some indicators will be calculated .A unique FF will be finally evaluated by means of a multicriteria method. Altough the research is still in a preliminary stage, the emerging first results concerning numerical cases show very good perspectives for this new approach. A test in real cases will also follow.

Confocal Microscopy Provides a Rapid Intraoperative Histological Assessment of Brain Neoplasms: Experience with 106 Cases

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine.Frozen section histological analysis is the mainstay for intra-procedural tissue diagnosis during resection of intracranial neoplasms and for evaluating tumor margins. However, frozen sections are time-consuming and sometimes inaccurate. This study describes potential advantages of CSM imaging of fresh human brain tumor tissues labeled various fluorophores within the neurosurgical operating room facility.This item is part of the College of Medicine - Phoenix Scholarly Projects 2019 collection. For more information, contact the Phoenix Biomedical Campus Library at [email protected]

Rician MIMO Channel- and Jamming-Aware Decision Fusion

In this manuscript we study channel-aware decision fusion (DF) in a wireless sensor network (WSN) where: (i) the sensors transmit their decisions simultaneously for spectral efficiency purposes and the DF center (DFC) is equipped with multiple antennas; (ii) each sensor-DFC channel is described via a Rician model. As opposed to the existing literature, in order to account for stringent energy constraints in the WSN, only statistical channel information is assumed for the non-line-of sight (scattered) fading terms. For such a scenario, sub-optimal fusion rules are developed in order to deal with the exponential complexity of the likelihood ratio test (LRT) and impractical (complete) system knowledge. Furthermore, the considered model is extended to the case of (partially unknown) jamming-originated interference. Then the obtained fusion rules are modified with the use of composite hypothesis testing framework and generalized LRT. Coincidence and statistical equivalence among them are also investigated under some relevant simplified scenarios. Numerical results compare the proposed rules and highlight their jammingsuppression capability.Comment: Accepted in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing 201

Emotion Regulation and Parental Bonding in Families of Adolescents With Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

Parental bonding and emotional regulation, while important to explain difficulties that may arise in child development, have mainly been studied at an individual level. The present study aims to examine alexithymia and parental bonding in families of adolescents with psychiatric disorders through different generations. The sample included a total of 102 adolescent patients with psychiatric disorders and their parents. In order to take a family level approach, a Latent Class Analysis was used to identify the latent relationships among alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale), perceived parental bonding (Parental Bonding Instrument) and the presence of adolescent internalizing or externalizing psychiatric symptoms (Youth Self-Report). Families of internalizing and externalizing adolescents present different and specific patterns of emotional regulation and parenting. High levels of adolescent alexithymia, along with a neglectful parenting style perceived by the adolescent and the father as well, characterized the families of patients with internalizing symptoms. On the other hand, in the families with externalizing adolescents, it was mainly the mother to remember an affectionless control parental style. These results suggest the existence of an intergenerational transmission of specific parental bonding, which may influence the emotional regulation and therefore the manifestation of psychiatric symptoms

Model Order Selection Rules For Covariance Structure Classification

The adaptive classification of the interference covariance matrix structure for radar signal processing applications is addressed in this paper. This represents a key issue because many detection architectures are synthesized assuming a specific covariance structure which may not necessarily coincide with the actual one due to the joint action of the system and environment uncertainties. The considered classification problem is cast in terms of a multiple hypotheses test with some nested alternatives and the theory of Model Order Selection (MOS) is exploited to devise suitable decision rules. Several MOS techniques, such as the Akaike, Takeuchi, and Bayesian information criteria are adopted and the corresponding merits and drawbacks are discussed. At the analysis stage, illustrating examples for the probability of correct model selection are presented showing the effectiveness of the proposed rules

Implementazione di metodologie di lean production in un'azienda cartaria

Questo lavoro di tesi verte sull'introduzione, all'interno del gruppo cartiera Lucchese, di metodologie facenti parte della cultura Lean, al fine di perseguire il principio dell'efficienza e ottenere una riduzione degli sprechi . La prima fase di lavoro svolto all'interno del Lucart Group è consistita nell' analisi delle performance dei vari stabilimenti produttivi ,seguita da un lavoro di revisione e correzione dei dati del reparto di trasformazione ,necessaria per raggiungere la massima efficienza delle macchine. Dallo stesso tipo di analisi deriva il lavoro svolto per lo stabilimento francese di Troyes, nel quale si è cercato di risolvere il problema di un cambio formato macchina che comportava tempi di esecuzione eccessivi rispetto a quelli indicati dal costruttore. Per cercare di diffondere la filosofia lean in tutte le aree aziendali è stato redatto un database contenente descrizioni ed esempi degli strumenti gestionali ,al quale tutto il middle management può attingere per far fronte alle situazioni in cui l'uso di questi strumenti si renda necessario. La conclusione del percorso consiste nella pianificazione di alcuni cicli di formazione all'uso degli strumenti fondamentali ,per capi reparto o responsabili di funzione. Il perseguimento dell'efficienza attraverso l'applicazione di strumenti di ottimizzazione dei processi effettuato all'interno di Cartiera Lucchese,dimostra quanto la filosofia Lean stia assumendo un ruolo centrale nella cultura aziendale che sempre più guarda all'eliminazione degli sprechi con metodo e precisione

Perspectivas comparadas en historia reciente del Cono Sur: informes sobre las violaciones de derechos humanos, sanci\uf3n penal y cambios legislativos del siglo XXI

It is possible to find out a chain clarification-punishment in the way how the Southern Cone\u2019s countries of Latin America to reports of human rights violations committed during ring the civil-military dictatorships of the 70s and 80s has followed a criminal sanction. Comparing the cases of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay is possible to individuate stays and differences in a context where cuts and continuities of political hegemony seem key interpretation

Il nuovo volto dell\u2019America latina

A partire dalla fine degli anni \u201890 l\u2019America latina esce da quelli che vengono considerati gli anni del Washington Consensus e dell\u2019ortodossia neoliberale che avevano caratterizzato il ventennio precedente. Una serie di governi di centro-sinistra vengono a caratterizzarsi per la marcata attenzione alle politiche di integrazione continentali e per la ricerca di un\u2019autonomia politica rispetto agli Stati Uniti che, senza diventare mai conflitto aperto, assume spesso toni marcati. Governi come quello brasiliano di Lula da Silva, quello venezuelano di Hugo Ch\ue1vez, il boliviano di Evo Morales, l\u2019argentino di N\ue9stor Kirchner e altri, cambiano completamente il panorama politico continentale riportando in auge il ruolo dello Stato e mettendo l\u2019accento su una rinnovata attenzione per politiche pubbliche di riduzione della povert\ue0 e del disagio sociale. Il saggio, pubblicato sulla rivista edita dalla rivista del SISDE, Sistema d\u2019Informazione per la Sicurezza Della Repubblica, analizza che valore strutturale \ue8 possibile attribuire al percorso storico dei governi integrazionisti latinoamericani, culminata nel dicembre 2007, nella fondazione del Banco del Sur, su come si sta modificando il ruolo degli Stati Uniti in un cortile di casa dove, per la prima volta dal riflusso dell'impero britannico, e ben pi\uf9 di quanto non avesse ambito a fare l'Unione Sovietica, altri attori, come la Cina, l'India, la stessa Unione Europea ed il commercio Sud-Sud stanno ricavando quote di mercato e politiche sempre pi\uf9 importanti. L\u2019idea dell\u2019autore \ue8 che proprio i processi storici latinoamericani rappresentino la palestra per la costruzione di un mondo multipolare

Writing Time: The (Late) Oeuvres of Jacques Derrida and William Kentridge

In order to respond to the infinite provocation of a contemporary thinking of time today, I would like to provide two examples of the relevance of the retreat and the return – indeed, a new conceptualization – of time in the deconstructive writing of Jacques Derrida’s The Beast and the Sovereign, and in the performative poetics of Kentridge’s ‘extended exploration of time’ in the “The Refusal of Time”/ “Refuse the Hour”. Jacques Derrida, the Algerian-French father of Deconstruction; William Kentridge, the South-African artist, performer, drawer of animated films: as a symptomatic, that is, a phantasmatic coincidence in thinking and creative work, these intellectual figures of our contemporaneity both come to the questioning of time, to specific notions of time, sharing a common focus on the ‘instruments’ that make time in the Western world: the written page of the text; the mobilized stage of the performance. In his reading of Robinson Crusoe’s adventures on the deserted island, crossed by Martin Heidegger’s philosophy of solitude, finitude and the world, Derrida speaks of time by focusing on the image of the wheel; Kentridge, on his part, organizes “The Refusal of Time” and sets the terms of “Refuse the Hour” around the clock, the wheel of Fortuna. For both thinkers, the return of the symptoms related to western time is identified with the time of the encounter with the Other. In Derrida’s writing, it is the absolute other of death, in its relation with what is to-come; in Kentridge’s performances, it is the splitting of the ‘I’ into its double, a series of others who act as the propelling force of the future. In my intervention, I will map the return of the symptoms along the paths that Derrida and Kentridge follow on the page of the book and on the threshold between the studio and the external world, reading their goals in the singular approaches to the (im)possible end of the journey into/through time