CLP-based protein fragment assembly

The paper investigates a novel approach, based on Constraint Logic Programming (CLP), to predict the 3D conformation of a protein via fragments assembly. The fragments are extracted by a preprocessor-also developed for this work- from a database of known protein structures that clusters and classifies the fragments according to similarity and frequency. The problem of assembling fragments into a complete conformation is mapped to a constraint solving problem and solved using CLP. The constraint-based model uses a medium discretization degree Ca-side chain centroid protein model that offers efficiency and a good approximation for space filling. The approach adapts existing energy models to the protein representation used and applies a large neighboring search strategy. The results shows the feasibility and efficiency of the method. The declarative nature of the solution allows to include future extensions, e.g., different size fragments for better accuracy.Comment: special issue dedicated to ICLP 201

Constraint Logic Programming approach to protein structure prediction

BACKGROUND: The protein structure prediction problem is one of the most challenging problems in biological sciences. Many approaches have been proposed using database information and/or simplified protein models. The protein structure prediction problem can be cast in the form of an optimization problem. Notwithstanding its importance, the problem has very seldom been tackled by Constraint Logic Programming, a declarative programming paradigm suitable for solving combinatorial optimization problems. RESULTS: Constraint Logic Programming techniques have been applied to the protein structure prediction problem on the face-centered cube lattice model. Molecular dynamics techniques, endowed with the notion of constraint, have been also exploited. Even using a very simplified model, Constraint Logic Programming on the face-centered cube lattice model allowed us to obtain acceptable results for a few small proteins. As a test implementation their (known) secondary structure and the presence of disulfide bridges are used as constraints. Simplified structures obtained in this way have been converted to all atom models with plausible structure. Results have been compared with a similar approach using a well-established technique as molecular dynamics. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained on small proteins show that Constraint Logic Programming techniques can be employed for studying protein simplified models, which can be converted into realistic all atom models. The advantage of Constraint Logic Programming over other, much more explored, methodologies, resides in the rapid software prototyping, in the easy way of encoding heuristics, and in exploiting all the advances made in this research area, e.g. in constraint propagation and its use for pruning the huge search space

Belle e maledette. Come le icone del design ci affascinano ancora oggi / Beautiful and damned. How design icons still fascinate us today

The icons of contemporary design, cult objects that represent the most popular stylistic movements, nowadays increasingly appear in our homes, in our bookcases, on the desks of our offices. These objects, which have become almost a "designer's and architect’s" fetish, are flanked by as many small obsessions, manias or simple recursive approaches of their creators, established designers but human in their funny oddities. A little of all this, and the "curse" of design that makes it so fascinating and attractive, is investigated in "Maledetto Design. L’ossessione pop delle icone"

Davide Ferrario filme Turin : une ville en transformation

Les critiques et les chercheurs qui ont étudié le cinéma du réalisateur italien contemporain Davide Ferrario soulignent la variété de sa filmographie, aussi bien par les sujets que par les genres abordés, ce qui rend, au premier abord, sa production difficile à classer. L'étude des films de Davide Ferrario tournés à Turin s'inscrit dans la tendance de la production cinématographique italienne d'associer le nom d'un réalisateur à une ville. Un point commun des trois films réalisés à partir d'un sujet original est donc l'unité de lieu que l'on peut trouver dans chaque film et surtout l'attention particulière pour les décors l'architecture et le paysage turinois. Dans la rédaction de ce mémoire, j'aimerais montrer comment des lieux bien identifiés de la ville façonnent le scénario et la mise en scène des films de Davide Ferrario et, en même temps, essayer de comprendre comment ce réalisateur filme les changements qui ont eu lieu dans les deux dernières décennies à Turin

Questões avançadas de design: uma abordagem estratégica e investigativa para projetos sem mercado

The economic crisis that has hit countries in the west in recent years has generated a decline in the presence and the strength of the entrepreneurial class and also of its traditional role of “customer” of the design sector. Design has recently responded to this new situation by generating new working methods. Politecnico di Torino has evolved its classic demanding approach to design and brought it up to date by incorporating “explorative” capacities into the training of its students, providing them with the necessary skills to cope with an absence of market, proposing the designer as a key fi gure capable of exploring existing situations and off ering new solutions. The aim of this paper is to show how, in the absence of market, the strategies that Exploring Design can implement generate system-product, process, service design projects that are always original and innovative, capable of leading quite easily to new methods, business ideas and spheres of activity in which customers can become involved later on.Keywords: Advanced design, Exploring Design, Design education, Design methodology.A crise econômica que atingiu os países do oeste nos últimos anos tem gerado uma queda na presença e na força da classe empresarial e também no seu tradicional papel de “cliente” do setor de design. O design recentemente respondeu a essa nova situação gerando novos métodos de trabalho. A Politecnico di Torino tem evoluído a sua abordagem clássica para projetar e a mantém atualizada incorporando capacidades “exploratórias” na formação dos seus alunos, proporcionando-lhes as habilidades necessárias para lidar com a ausência de mercado, apresentando o designer como uma fi gura importante capaz de explorar as situações existentes e oferecendo novas soluções. O objetivo deste artigo é mostrar como, na ausência de mercado, as estratégias que Explorando o Design pode implementar, gerando produto do sistema, processo, projetos de design que são sempre originais e inovadores, capazes de conduzir facilmente a novos métodos, ideias de negócios e esferas de atividade em que os clientes possam se envolver no futuro.Palavras-chave: Design avançado, Explorando o Design, Educação do design, Metodologia de design

Advanced Design issues: a strategic and investigating research approach to design without a market

The economic crisis that has hit countries in the west in recent years has generated a decline in the presence and the strength of the entrepreneurial class and also of its traditional role of "customer" of the design sector. Design has recently responded to this new situation by generating new working methods. Politecnico di Torino has evolved its classic demanding approach to design and brought it up to date by incorporating "explorative" capacities into the training of its students, providing them with the necessary skills to cope with an absence of market, proposing the designer as a key fi gure capable of exploring existing situations and off ering new solutions. The aim of this paper is to show how, in the absence of market, the strategies that Exploring Design can implement generate system-product, process, service design projects that are always original and innovative, capable of leading quite easily to new methods, business ideas and spheres of activity in which customers can become involved later on. Keywords: Advanced design, Exploring Design, Design education, Design methodology

Could Black Be the New Gold? Design-Driven Challenges in New Sustainable Luxury Materials for Jewelry

Is there a new material for use in jewelry, matching gold and precious stones, capable of maintaining the same perception of “preciousness” but that is also more sustainable, ethical, and inexpensive? This article deals with a case study within the European EcoDesign Network research project, aimed at investigating how sustainable design can help prestigious companies pinpoint new materials for the creation of jewelry, focusing on new and environmentally friendly opportunities while preserving their market position and target audience. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. Adopting the exploring design path, a jewelry background analysis pointed out both stereotypes and possible innovations in the jewelry field: an analysis was carried out on the perception of jewels by a panel guided by a cognitive ergonomics specialist, also using the eye-tracking machine to examine participants’ reactions to the jewelry involved in the study, and to establish paradigms of sustainability, preciousness, and innovation. Several meta-project proposals regarding innovations in materials and finishing were hypothesized and tested, following the main guidelines and principles of ecodesign. Lastly, a prototyping phase and some mechanical tests were implemented to verify the hypotheses of innovation. The results allowed the creation of a first set of sustainable jewelry, currently on the market

Questões avançadas de design: uma abordagem estratégica e investigativa para projetos sem mercado

The economic crisis that has hit countries in the west in recent years has generated a decline in the presence and the strength of the entrepreneurial class and also of its traditional role of “customer” of the design sector. Design has recently responded to this new situation by generating new working methods. Politecnico di Torino has evolved its classic demanding approach to design and brought it up to date by incorporating “explorative” capacities into the training of its students, providing them with the necessary skills to cope with an absence of market, proposing the designer as a key fi gure capable of exploring existing situations and off ering new solutions. The aim of this paper is to show how, in the absence of market, the strategies that Exploring Design can implement generate system-product, process, service design projects that are always original and innovative, capable of leading quite easily to new methods, business ideas and spheres of activity in which customers can become involved later on.Keywords: Advanced design, Exploring Design, Design education, Design methodology.A crise econômica que atingiu os países do oeste nos últimos anos tem gerado uma queda na presença e na força da classe empresarial e também no seu tradicional papel de “cliente” do setor de design. O design recentemente respondeu a essa nova situação gerando novos métodos de trabalho. A Politecnico di Torino tem evoluído a sua abordagem clássica para projetar e a mantém atualizada incorporando capacidades “exploratórias” na formação dos seus alunos, proporcionando-lhes as habilidades necessárias para lidar com a ausência de mercado, apresentando o designer como uma fi gura importante capaz de explorar as situações existentes e oferecendo novas soluções. O objetivo deste artigo é mostrar como, na ausência de mercado, as estratégias que Explorando o Design pode implementar, gerando produto do sistema, processo, projetos de design que são sempre originais e inovadores, capazes de conduzir facilmente a novos métodos, ideias de negócios e esferas de atividade em que os clientes possam se envolver no futuro.Palavras-chave: Design avançado, Explorando o Design, Educação do design, Metodologia de design

Discharge hydrograph estimation at upstream-ungauged sections by coupling a Bayesian methodology and a 2-D GPU shallow water model

Abstract. This paper presents a novel methodology for estimating the unknown discharge hydrograph at the entrance of a river reach when no information is available. The methodology couples an optimization procedure based on the Bayesian geostatistical approach (BGA) with a forward self-developed 2-D hydraulic model. In order to accurately describe the flow propagation in real rivers characterized by large floodable areas, the forward model solves the 2-D shallow water equations (SWEs) by means of a finite volume explicit shock-capturing algorithm. The two-dimensional SWE code exploits the computational power of graphics processing units (GPUs), achieving a ratio of physical to computational time of up to 1000. With the aim of enhancing the computational efficiency of the inverse estimation, the Bayesian technique is parallelized, developing a procedure based on the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol that allows one to take advantage of remote high-performance computing clusters (including those available on the Cloud) equipped with GPUs. The capability of the methodology is assessed by estimating irregular and synthetic inflow hydrographs in real river reaches, also taking into account the presence of downstream corrupted observations. Finally, the procedure is applied to reconstruct a real flood wave in a river reach located in northern Italy