Reasoning with Data Flows and Policy Propagation Rules

Data-oriented systems and applications are at the centre of current developments of the World Wide Web. In these scenarios, assessing what policies propagate from the licenses of data sources to the output of a given data-intensive system is an important problem. Both policies and data flows can be described with Semantic Web languages. Although it is possible to define Policy Propagation Rules (PPR) by associating policies to data flow steps, this activity results in a huge number of rules to be stored and managed. In a recent paper, we introduced strategies for reducing the size of a PPR knowledge base by using an ontology of the possible relations between data objects, the Datanode ontology, and applying the (A)AAAA methodology, a knowledge engineering approach that exploits Formal Concept Analysis (FCA). In this article, we investigate whether this reasoning is feasible and how it can be performed. For this purpose, we study the impact of compressing a rule base associated with an inference mechanism on the performance of the reasoning process. Moreover, we report on an extension of the (A)AAAA methodology that includes a coherency check algorithm, that makes this reasoning possible. We show how this compression, in addition to being beneficial to the management of the knowledge base, also has a positive impact on the performance and resource requirements of the reasoning process for policy propagation

Electroweak Physics in Six-Fermion Processes at Future Colliders

Recent developments in the field of complete electroweak tree-level calculations for six-fermion final states in e+ e- collisions are briefly reviewed. Particular attention is given to top-quark and Higgs boson physics, which are items of primary importance at the Next Linear Collider. The relevance of electroweak backgrounds and finite-width effects is discussed, showing the importance of complete calculations for precision studies at the colliders operating in the TeV energy range.Comment: LaTeX (using npb style), 6 pages, 5 .eps figure

Six-fermion production at e+e- colliders

The class of six-fermion production processes at e+e- colliders comprises very interesting particle reactions, such as the production of top-quark pairs and of Higgs bosons in the intermediate Higgs mass range, the scattering of massive gauge bosons, and triple gauge-boson production. The Monte Carlo event generator LUSIFER is designed for the analysis of such processes. A few illustrating results obtained with LUSIFER are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, latex, 4 eps files, to appear in the proceedings of the "International Workshop on Linear Colliders", August 26-30, 2002, Jeju Island, Kore

Innovations of a sub-regional plan: Palermo and its territory in Sicily

Abstract Territorial planning (provincial or sub-regional) in Italy is still up to this day regulated, at national level, similarly to the local administrative planning, but with less influence on the use of the territory, particularly for public infrastructures. This makes the territorial planning inadequate in keeping up with nowadays fast pace transformations. The required transformations are depending less on the regular planning process and are increasingly following the expenditure needs for uncoordinated individual investments, particularly from the European Union. The new pace of the expenditures, mainly imposed for more significant works and based on the link “financing-project-disbursement”, does not correspond with the timeframe of the Plan which – often surpassed and inadequate – delays even further its implementation. This is contributing to the widespread opinion that planning is not useful for development and for the utilization of the resources, which generates a profound misrepresentation of the purposes and theoretical foundations of planning. The Provincial Territorial Plan (PTP) is the planning tool that more encompasses the contradictions originating from its late formation and its inadequacy. Nevertheless, being a tool for vast areas (not restricted) and maybe due to its distance from the strict regulation of the use of the territory, which is mainly done through the local administration planning, the PTP has the potential for innovative methods. Within the territorial plan, the metropolitan dimension (nowadays credited as metropolitan city) is justified by the territorial context relations who amplify its potential of network and points. The actions and objectives of the PTP, which acts as connection between the development policies of the Region and the local administrative planning, consist of a matrix of values (competition and cohesion, balance, productivity and accessibility) related to the different level of services (social and cultural, for the economic development, for the organization of the territory and protection of the environment). The choices of the PTP are articulated in systems that highlight the territorial context relations within an integrated and unified strategic framework. The systems are divided in two parts: the natural environment system and the urban territory system. The first one is sustained and coordinated by the provincial ecological network (derived from the regional ecological network). The second system comprises productive activities, services, residential areas and historical centers and infrastructures. The intervention actions, verified by the strategic framework for systems, represent the basis of the Operational framework of the PTP. The PTP vision is therefore able to represent a methodology for building strategies, and related evaluations, which is open and flexible to the sustainable implementation within the territorial context

Experimental and ab-initio calculated vcd spectra of the first OH-stretching overtone of (1R)-(-) and (1S)-(+)-endo-borneol

The near infrared (NIR) absorption and NIR-vibrational circular dichroism (NIR-VCD) spectra of dilute solutions of the two enantiomers of endo-borneol have been measured in the first OH-stretching overtone region (1600–1300 nm). By density functional theory (DFT) we calculate mechanical parameters, i.e. the harmonic mechanical frequency and the anharmonicity constant for the OH stretching, and anharmonic electrical parameters; i.e. the dependence on OH-bond length of atomic polar tensors and atomic axial tensors. We evaluate transition integrals for the calculations of rotational and dipole strengths by Morse anharmonic wavefunctions depending on mechanical harmonic frequencies and mechanical anharmonicity parameters that are calculated ab initio. Experimental and calculated spectra compare quite well and this fact allows us to associate differently signed NIR-VCD features with different conformational states of the OH-bond. Absorption features for the fundamental and for the second overtone of the OH stretching are also compared with experiment

Innovation in the regeneration of the histric center in Sicily: Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto (ME)

Abstract The criteria for intervention on the existing building heritage in the historic centers cannot be pursued without taking into consideration the renovation of the whole relevant urban territory. This does not imply an idea to postpone to future planning, rather to increase the topics in the General Urban Plan (PUG), by bringing into the PUG the elements of the traditional detailed plans for the historic areas with a methodology simplification. The detailed planning has been characterized in the years as “exemplary”, possibly due to the complexity of its project contents and rules and regulations, particularly in the historic areas. Indeed in Italy detailed plans for historic areas are quite rarely introduced and even more rarely implemented. In recent years there has been more awareness of the problem and commitment to change through practical actions. The regional regulations dedicated to the regeneration of the historic centers are an example of this change, and aim at the renovation of the historic areas through a direct intervention (not subordinate to the detailed plan) included in the General Urban Plan of the local administration. The 2007 PUG of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto in Sicily (Fig. 1), is based on a residential capacity of 47,000 people for the next twenty years, with an increase of around 5,000 people. These are distributed over 300 hectares of urbanized area, out of which 86 hectares are represented by historic area, with a residential capacity of 11,600 people and a density of 135 pp/Ha. Recently the local administration has decided to adapt the PUG to the regulations for the regeneration of the historic center. The urban set up of the historic area is characterized by the alignment of the buildings on the old central axis of entrance and exit of the city, incorporating some of the historic rural boroughs. The urban set up is organized as a chessboard, more or less regular, originally over more generating centers, that have today disappeared (the old Dome and the Theater, the first demolished in 1936 and the second one destroyed after a fire in 1972). The building blocks include non allocated spaces and empty areas, as residue of the primitive building set up that was incorporated in the new urban network from the beginning of 1900s. The building units of the historic areas have been touched, particularly in the facades, with interventions that have alternated their original image. Nevertheless, the historic area preserves all its residential and commercial functions, even in the relationship with the new expansion areas and the productive areas. The boundaries of the historic area have been defined by taking into consideration the urban history, the building heritage and its transformations, the functional aspects (accessibility, mobility, availability of services) so as to utilize again the historic building heritage itself. The regeneration interventions have been classified in simplified categories, divided into ordinary and extra-ordinary maintenance, restoration, preservative restoration, regeneration, extensive regeneration, demolition and reconstruction, renovation with the same building typology/philology, demolition without reconstruction. The individual categories are accompanied by other technical detailed regulations to be applied “house-by-house” in the entire historic area