SAT-Based Decision Procedures for Automated Reasoning: a Unifying Perspective

Propositional reasoning (SAT) is an essential part of many reasoning tasks. Many problems in computer science can be compiled to SAT and then effectively decided using state-of-the-art solvers. Alternatively, if reduction to SAT is not feasible, the ideas and technology of state-of-the-art SAT solvers can be useful in deciding the propositional component of the reasoning task being considered. This last approach has been used in different contexts by different authors, many times by authors of this paper. Because of the essential role played by the SAT solver, these decision procedures have been called "SAT-based". SAT-based decision procedures have been proposed for various logics, but also in other areas such as planning. In this paper we present a unifying perspective on the various SAT-based approaches to these different reasoning tasks

Architecture ∩ Project ∩ Philosophy

The title of this first issue of Khōrein is written in the language of Boolean algebra: Architecture ∧ Philosophy. This formal codification allows me to make three premises and begin to outline my project. First, I would like to make a distinction between symbols, starting with the consideration that the symbol representing intersection in set theory (∩) is different from the symbol representing the Boolean operator AND (∧). Given the formal “correspondence” between Boolean AND and intersection in set theory, I would tend to use this second meaning for my reasoning: thus, to begin with, I would place “Architecture ∩ Philosophy” as the premise, instead of “Architecture ∧ Philosophy.” Secondly, it is necessary for me to introduce another set into the discourse, namely the “project.” Thirdly, I must ask myself whether it is possible to find a further intersection between “architectural project” and “philosophy.” For this purpose, I will proceed through a series of statements, constructing them as transitions from a term X to a term Y. Each transit (“from X to Y”) should be verified in two stages: first by describing how it belongs to the intersection set ‘architecture ∩ project’. In a second step, I should provide some references to philosophy texts that have made each transit viable within the architectural project. Both operations will only be carried out on the first two statements in a sketchy manner, then my project draft will stop

Import Penetration, Intermediate Inputs and Productivity: Evidence from Italian Firms

We test the impact of import penetration on the productivity of a sample of roughly 35,000 Italian manufacturing firms operating in the period 1996-2003, considering the impact on productivity of both import penetration in the same industry and import penetration in the up-stream industries. We find that import penetration has a positive effect on productivity, but the effects are three times as large for import penetration in up-stream industries. Trade-related variables do not account however for the bulk of variation in individual firms' TFP.DYNREG, import penetration, intermediate inputs, productivity

The XXI century periphery: Turin and the urban crisis

The crisis affecting the city of Turin needs to be framed in the Italian situation for its general outlines: plunge of the building sector production, contraction of the real estate market, housing crisis. The major planned scenarios seem to be stuck, despite the best intentions of the city government in offering favourable conditions to entrepreneurs. Looking at the peripheral areas of the city, the situation seems to be particularly dramatic. In the increasing competition for localizing new opportunities of development along the urban territory, the suburbs seem to be condemned to exclusion. In absence of favourable benefits, the entire mechanism of urban transformation seems to stop irreparably. The planning tools and procedures have always implied a sort of automatic pressure coming from the development profits, which are now becoming widely uncertain. In a pessimistic projection, cities like Turin could find themselves in a situation of marginality within a globalized real estate market: a sort of XXI century periphery of the world capitalization, where the possibility of driving the public transformation by leveraging private investments is increasingly weakening. We can suppose that, in this situation, the role of urban design and planning should deeply change in order to provide new tools in governing the future development

Projects for a city in the time of crisis

Today, in the time of crisis as a continuous global event that still evolves, the state of uncertainty and indeterminacy has become a persistent condition, not only of the financial and economic systems, but, most of all, of the existing social, political and urban paradigms of the cities. The fact is that the financial crisis has not been restrained only to its financial emergences, but has brought to daylight the questions of legitimacy of the political and social systems in the societies. It has transformed the existing political and social system of distribution of power and responsibilities into technocratic urban management that has cleansed the process from its political relevance to the level where new and non-formal practices and organisations have started to emerge as a response to the lack of capacity of the system to cope with the challenges. The visioning of the urban development based on the existing policies and political agendas, has started to fade away, showcasing that the lack of political accountability has had a strong impact on the visioning and constructing of social and spatial orders in the cities, too. This volume contributes to this situation by providing a collection of, rather diverse projects, investigations and readings of the cities. It is an attempt to map the current conditions and to start a debate about the potential of the projects for a city in the time of crisis that will, hopefully, lead us to a better and more inclusive urban future

Inclusive/Exclusive Cities

In order to understand the potential for joint effort for construction of better cities this book aims to develop a platform of knowledge and promote an informative debate about concepts, approaches and tools that are coherent with the complex nature of the cities and societies, but comprehensible and simple enough to be useful for institutions and citizens that are affected by the processes that are shaping cities. The questions that could be addressed and topics are: 1. Where and how could we identify and analyse the issues of social inclusion/exclusion in a transformation troubled cities and what can we learn from good and bad practices of social inclusion and/or exclusion? 2. Is there a new complexity of the relationship between cities and society, uncertainties, and questions to be addressed? What are the new approaches, tools and practices that will enhance democratization of urban development through better inclusiveness? 3. To what extent could urban disciplines be engaged with urban progress in terms of theory, practice and education in an era with new social networks, new political policies, new digital tools and new forms of art and culture? 4. How cities can encourage urban inclusion at a time of intense social and cultural transformations, especially through design and urban planning? Moreover, to what extent are urban plans able to facilitate communication between citizens and institutions, society and the form of the cities

Urban House with Big Window

A family living in Cambridge, Massachusetts asked Turin-based architects Alessandro Armando and Manfredo di Robilant to overhaul their gabled, 19th-century house. In addition to improved insulation, the clients wanted privacy, but also views to the street