Integrating VGI and 2D hydraulic models into a data assimilation framework for real time flood forecasting and mapping

Crowdsourced data can effectively observe environmental and urban ecosystem processes. The use of data produced by untrained people into flood forecasting models may effectively allow Early Warning Systems (EWS) to better perform while support decision-making to reduce the fatalities and economic losses due to inundation hazard. In this work, we develop a Data Assimilation (DA) method integrating Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and a 2D hydraulic model and we test its performances. The proposed framework seeks to extend the capabilities and performances of standard DA works, based on the use of traditional in situ sensors, by assimilating VGI while managing and taking into account the uncertainties related to the quality, and the location and timing of the entire set of observational data. The November 2012 flood in the Italian Tiber River basin was selected as the case study. Results show improvements of the model in terms of uncertainty with a significant persistence of the model updating after the integration of the VGI, even in the case of use of few-selected observations gathered from social media. This will encourage further research in the use of VGI for EWS considering the exponential increase of quality and quantity of smartphone and social media user worldwide

Communication and the Pragmatic Condition

Presented March 9, 201

A Família Está em Chamas(?): Razão de Estado, Conservadorismo e (Reconhecimento à) Diferença

A ascensão de governos neoliberais e de movimentos ultraconservadores vem reforçando a heterocisnormatividade e o racismo, produzindo desigualdade e infligindo ainda mais sofrimento e riscos letais às minorias. Conjurando imposição de regimes de austeridade, limites da presença do Estado e esvaziamento da propriedade social à autorresponsabilização pela gestão da própria vida e saúde, a questão da diferença passou a ser forjada como ponto de instabilidade e ameaça a tais propósitos e pressupostos político-econômicos. Uma das consequências é a ampla circulação de discursos de ódio e desprezo pela diversidade. Este trabalho buscou, assim, compreender como então se estabelecem intersecções enunciativas entre marcadores de diferença e a racionalidade liberal na economia e conservadora nos costumes, tomando como foco a (des)articulação em torno da precarização de parentalidades e conjugalidades diversas. Os resultados desta investigação apontam que, quanto maior a densidade democrática de uma sociedade ou relação sociocultural, maiores as possibilidades de afirmação positiva da alteridade e diferença, bases importantes para a produção da saúde e da cidadania (racial, sexual, de gênero e ambiental)

RoboCup Soccer Leagues

RoboCup was created in 1996 by a group of Japanese, American, and European Artificial Intelligence and Robotics researchers with a formidable, visionary long-term challenge: “By 2050 a team of robot soccer players will beat the human World Cup champion team.” At that time, in the mid 90s, when there were very few effective mobile robots and the Honda P2 humanoid robot was presented to a stunning public for the first time also in 1996, the RoboCup challenge, set as an adversarial game between teams of autonomous robots, was fascinating and exciting. RoboCup enthusiastically and concretely introduced three robot soccer leagues, namely “Simulation,” “Small-Size,” and “Middle-Size,” as we explain below, and organized its first competitions at IJCAI’97 in Nagoya with a surprising number of 100 participants [RC97]. It was the beginning of what became a continously growing research community. RoboCup established itself as a structured organization (the RoboCup Federation www.RoboCup.org). RoboCup fosters annual competition events, where the scientific challenges faced by the researchers are addressed in a setting that is attractive also to the general public. and the RoboCup events are the ones most popular and attended in the research fields of AI and Robotics.RoboCup further includes a technical symposium with contributions relevant to the RoboCup competitions and beyond to the general AI and robotics

Neurologic Involvement in Scleroderma en Coup de Sabre

Localized scleroderma is a rare disease, characterized by sclerotic lesions. A variety of presentations have been described, with different clinical characteristics and specific prognosis. In scleroderma en coup de sabre (LScs) the atrophic lesion in frontoparietal area is the disease hallmark. Skin and subcutaneous are the mainly affected tissues, but case reports of muscle, cartilage, and bone involvement are frequent. These cases pose a difficult differential diagnosis with Parry-Romberg syndrome. Once considered an exclusive cutaneous disorder, the neurologic involvement present in LScs has been described in several case reports. Seizures are most frequently observed, but focal neurologic deficits, movement disorders, trigeminal neuralgia, and mimics of hemiplegic migraines have been reported. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging have aided the characterization of central nervous system lesions, and cerebral angiograms have pointed to vasculitis as a part of disease pathogenesis. In this paper we describe the clinical and radiologic aspects of neurologic involvement in LScs