Towards a Collaborative Filtering Framework for Recommendation in Museums: From Preference Elicitation to Group's Visits

AbstractRecommendation systems based on collaborative filtering methods can be exploited in the context of providing personalized artworks tours within a museum. However, in order to be effectively used, several problems have to be addressed: user preferences are not expressed as rating, items to be suggested are located in a physical space, and users may be in a group. In this work, we present a general framework that, by using the Matrix Factorization (MF) approach and a graph representation of a museum, addresses the problem of generating and then recommending an artworks sequence for a group of visitors within a museum. To reach a high-quality initial personalization, the recommendation system uses a simple, but efficient, elicitation method that is inspired by the MF approach. Moreover, the proposed approach considers the individual or the aggregated artworks' ratings to build up a solution that takes into account the physical location of the artworks

SEISMIC ANISOTROPY AND ITS RELATION WITH FAULTS AND STRESS FIELD IN THEVAL D'AGRI (SOUTHERN ITALY).

Shear-wave splitting is measured at 17 seismic stations deployed in the Val DAgri by INGV, which recorded local back-ground seismicity from May 2005 to June 2006 . The splitting results suggest the presence of an anisotropic upper crust (max hypocentral depth 15.5 km). The dominant fast polarisation direction strikes NW-SE parallel to the Apennines orogen and is approximately parallel to the maximum horizontal stress in the region and also parallel to the strike of the main normal faults in the Val DAgri. The size of the delay times, average is 0.1 second suggests 4.5% shear-wave velocity anisotropy. At stations located at the North West portion of the deployment average delay times are larger on the order of 0.2s. These parameters agree with an interpretation of seismic anisotropy in terms of the Extensive-Dilatancy Anisotropy model which considers the rock volume to be pervaded by fluid-saturated microcracks aligned by the active stress field. We cannot completely rule out the contribution of aligned macroscopic fractures as the cause of the shear wave anisotropy even if the parallel shear-wave polarisations we found are diagnostic of transverse isotropy with a horizontal axis of symmetry. This symmetry is commonly explained by parallel stress-aligned microcracks

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

A comparison of two preference elicitation approaches for museum recommendations

Recommendation systems based on collaborative filtering methods can be exploited in the context of providing personalized artworks tours within a museum. However, to be effectively used, we have several problems to be addressed: user preferences are not expressed as rating and recommendation systems must provide for new users efficient and simple preferences elicitation processes that do not require much effort and time. In this work, we present and evaluate 2 state-of-the-art approaches that share the aim not to rely on individual item ratings. The first method uses a clustering algorithm to categorize items and provide recommendations, while the second one is inspired by the matrix factorization approach to select a couples of item groups that users have to evaluate to obtain preference profiles. We evaluate the 2 approaches with both an off-line simulation and a user study with the aim to find the optimal configuration as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of the 2 proposed methods. Results show that the elicitation processes permit to obtain preference profiles in a time substantially less than the baseline method, while the differences in terms of prediction accuracy are minimal

SEISMIC ANISOTROPY AND ITS RELATION WITH FAULTS AND STRESS FIELD IN THEVAL D'AGRI (SOUTHERN ITALY).

Shear-wave splitting is measured at 17 seismic stations deployed in the Val DAgri by INGV, which recorded local back-ground seismicity from May 2005 to June 2006 . The splitting results suggest the presence of an anisotropic upper crust (max hypocentral depth 15.5 km). The dominant fast polarisation direction strikes NW-SE parallel to the Apennines orogen and is approximately parallel to the maximum horizontal stress in the region and also parallel to the strike of the main normal faults in the Val DAgri. The size of the delay times, average is 0.1 second suggests 4.5% shear-wave velocity anisotropy. At stations located at the North West portion of the deployment average delay times are larger on the order of 0.2s. These parameters agree with an interpretation of seismic anisotropy in terms of the Extensive-Dilatancy Anisotropy model which considers the rock volume to be pervaded by fluid-saturated microcracks aligned by the active stress field. We cannot completely rule out the contribution of aligned macroscopic fractures as the cause of the shear wave anisotropy even if the parallel shear-wave polarisations we found are diagnostic of transverse isotropy with a horizontal axis of symmetry. This symmetry is commonly explained by parallel stress-aligned microcracks.SubmittedPerugia3.1. Fisica dei terremoti3.2. Tettonica attivaope

Early right hepatectomy for severe liver trauma: a case report

Liver is frequently involved and injured in blunt abdominal trauma. Although over the last three decades the management of blunt hepatic trauma has gradually shifted toward nonoperative approach whit a significant reduction in overall mortality, surgery remains the main option for hemodinamically unstable patients whit severe liver injuries. A 16-yr-old male in good health suffered a blunt abdominal trauma from a sport accident falling while playing football resulting in a grade V liver injury according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Organ Injury Score. He underwent first to liver packing and next to an early right hepatectomy to arrest the clinical condition impairment In high grade liver injuries, liver resection makes possible to effectively control bleeding, remove necrotic tissue and prevent complications as bile leak. Nevertheless when patient's clinical condition continue to deteriorate despite optimal management a quickly and experienced hands performed hepatectomy may solve the situation

Reservoir Structure and Wastewater-Induced Seismicity at the Val d'Agri Oilfield (Italy) Shown by Three-Dimensional Vp and Vp /Vs Local Earthquake Tomography

Wastewater injection into a high-rate well in the Val d’Agri oilfield, the largest in onshore Europe, has induced swarm microseismicity since the initiation of disposal in 2006. To investigate the reservoir structure and to track seismicity, we performed a high-spatial resolution local earthquake tomography using 1,281 natural and induced earthquakes recorded by local networks. The properties of the carbonate reservoir (rock fracturing, pore fluid pressure) and inherited faults control the occurrence and spatiotemporal distribution of seismicity. A low-Vp, high-Vp/Vs region under the well represents a fluid saturated fault zone ruptured by induced seismicity. High-Vp, high-Vp/Vs bumps match reservoir culminations indicating saturated liquid-bearing zones, whereas a very low Vp, low Vp/Vs anomaly might represent a strongly fractured and depleted zone of the hydrocarbon reservoir characterized by significant fluid withdrawal. The comprehensive picture of the injection-linked seismicity obtained by integrating reservoir-scale tomography, high-precision earthquake locations, and geophysical and injection data suggests that the driving mechanism is the channeling of pore pressure perturbations through a high permeable fault damage zone within the reservoir. The damage zone surrounds a Pliocene reverse fault optimally oriented in the current extensional stress field. The ruptured damage zone measures 2 km along strike and 3 km along dip and is confined between low permeability ductile formations. Injection pressure is the primary parameter controlling seismicity rate. Our study underlines that local earthquake tomography also using wastewater-induced seismicity can give useful insights into the physical mechanism leading to these earthquakes.Published9050-90821TR. Studi per le GeorisorseJCR Journa

Rapid response to the earthquake emergency of May 2012 in the Po Plain, northern Italy

Rapid-response seismic networks are an important element in the response to seismic crises. They temporarily improve the detection performance of permanent monitoring systems during seismic sequences. The improvement in earthquake detection and location capabilities can be important for decision makers to assess the current situation, and can provide invaluable data for scientific studies related to hazard, tectonics and earthquake physics. Aftershocks and the clustering of the locations of seismic events help to characterize the dimensions of the causative fault. Knowing the number, size and timing of the aftershocks or the clustering seismic events can help in the foreseeing of the characteristics of future seismic sequences in the same tectonic environment. Instrumental rapid response requires a high degree of preparedness. A mission in response to a magnitude (ML) 6 event with a rupture length of a few tens of kilometers might involve the deployment within hours to days of 30-50 seismic stations in the middle of a disaster area of some hundreds of square kilometers, and the installation of an operational center to help in the logistics and communications. When an earthquake strikes in a populated area, which is almost always the case in Italy, driving the relevant seismic response is more difficult. Temporary station sites are chosen such as to optimize the network geometry for earthquake locations and source study purposes. Stations have to be installed in quiet, but easily reachable, sites, and for real-time data transmission, the sites might need to have optical intervisibility. The operational center can remain in a town if there is one within the damaged area, and it should coordinate the actions of the field teams and provide information to colleagues, the Civil Protection Authorities and the general public. The emergency system should operate as long as the seismic rate remains high; the duration of any mission might also depend on the seismic history of the area involved. This study describes the seismic response following the May 20, 2012, ML 5.9 earthquake in northern Italy, which included rapid deployment of seismological stations in the field for real-time seismic monitoring purposes, the coordination of further instrumental set-ups according to the spatial evolution of the seismic sequence, and data archiving