Fault detection and isolation of malicious nodes in MIMO Multi-hop Control Networks

A MIMO Multi-hop Control Network (MCN) consists of a MIMO LTI system where the communication between sensors, actuators and computational units is supported by a (wireless) multi-hop communication network, and data flow is performed using scheduling and routing of sensing and actuation data. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions on the plant dynamics and on the communication protocol configuration such that the Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) problem of failures and malicious attacks to communication nodes can be solved.Comment: 6 page

Optimal co-design of control, scheduling and routing in multi-hop control networks

A Multi-hop Control Network consists of a plant where the communication between sensors, actuators and computational units is supported by a (wireless) multi-hop communication network, and data flow is performed using scheduling and routing of sensing and actuation data. Given a SISO LTI plant, we will address the problem of co-designing a digital controller and the network parameters (scheduling and routing) in order to guarantee stability and maximize a performance metric on the transient response to a step input, with constraints on the control effort, on the output overshoot and on the bandwidth of the communication channel. We show that the above optimization problem is a polynomial optimization problem, which is generally NP-hard. We provide sufficient conditions on the network topology, scheduling and routing such that it is computationally feasible, namely such that it reduces to a convex optimization problem.Comment: 51st IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, 2012. Accepted for publication as regular pape

Association of endometrioid ovarian carcinoma arising from endometriosis, endometrioid endometrial carcinoma, and high-grade undifferentiated endometrial sarcoma. a case report

Endometriosis is a chronic disease that affects women of reproductive age. Malignant transformation in endometriosis is considered to be an unusual event, only occurring in 0.7-0.1% of cases. However the association between endometriosis and endometrial cancer is not well defined. Also in literature, rare cases of uterine sarcoma, about 3% of all uterine malignancies, associated with endometriosis have been reported. The authors report a case of a 47-years-old Italian woman with histologic diagnosis of endometrioid ovarian carcinoma arising from endometriosis, endometrioid endometrial carcinoma, and undifferentiated endometrial sarcoma. Therefore there have been few studies addressing the relationship between endometrial stromal sarcomas (ESS), and endometriosis. Novel scientific findings are necessary to investigate a possible common pathway and an effective treatment, although complete tumor resection can reduce the recurrence rate

Automatic best wireless network selection based on key performance indicators

Introducing cognitive mechanisms at the application layer may lead to the possibility of an automatic selection of the wireless network that can guarantee best perceived experience by the final user. This chapter investigates this approach based on the concept of Quality of Experience (QoE), by introducing the use of application layer parameters, namely Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs are defined for different traffic types based on experimental data. A model for an ap- plication layer cognitive engine is presented, whose goal is to identify and select, based on KPIs, the best wireless network among available ones. An experimenta- tion for the VoIP case, that foresees the use of the One-way end-to-end delay (OED) and the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) as KPIs is presented. This first implementation of the cognitive engine selects the network that, in that specific instant, offers the best QoE based on real captured data. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a cognitive engine that achieves best QoE in a context of heterogeneous wireless networks

Dispersal of larval and juvenile seabream: Implications for Mediterranean marine protected areas

In the marine context, information about dispersal is essential for the design of networks of marine protected areas (MPAs). Generally, most of the dispersal of demersal fishes is thought to be driven by the transport of eggs and larvae in currents, with the potential contribution of dispersal in later life stages relatively minimal.Using otolith chemistry analyses, we estimate dispersal patterns across a spatial scale of approximately 180. km at both propagule (i.e. eggs and larvae) and juvenile (i.e. between settlement and recruitment) stages of a Mediterranean coastal fishery species, the two-banded seabream Diplodus vulgaris. We detected three major natal sources of propagules replenishing local populations in the entire study area, suggesting that propagule dispersal distance extends to at least 90. km. For the juvenile stage, we detected dispersal of up to 165. km. Our work highlights the surprising and significant role of dispersal during the juvenile life stages as an important mechanism connecting populations. Such new insights are crucial for creating effective management strategies (e.g. MPAs and MPA networks) and to gain support from policymakers and stakeholders, highlighting that MPA benefits can extend well beyond MPA borders, and not only via dispersal of eggs and larvae, but also through movement by juveniles

Ovarian endometrioid adenocarcinoma diagnosed in pregnancy. a case report

The prevalence of adnexal masses pregnancy is about 0.19-8.8%. The malignancy rate is around 1-6%, and indeed most cases are benign masses. During pregnancy adnexal masses should be accurately evaluated to identify the patients who need surgery from those who need a 'wait-and-see' strategy. The authors report a case of 36-year-old woman (gravida 2, para 2, two vaginal deliveries) referred to the Gynecologic Department with diagnosis of endometrioid ovarian adenocarcinoma. The patient underwent laparotomic surgery with left salpingo-oophorectomy, total hysterectomy, pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy, and peritoneal washing for optimal surgery staging. No ascites or residual tumour in the abdominal cavity were found macroscopically. Histopathology was negative for residual ovarian cancer. Currently the treatment and the management of ovarian cancer are not well established because scientific evidence is limited

The Structure of Rural Landscape in Monetary Evaluation Studies: Main Analytical Approaches in Literature

Over recent years considerable research has been devoted to the assessment of the rural landscape value. These studies have concerned both use and non-use value estimation. An important issue in monetary evaluations is about taking (or not) into account the structural complexity of landscape. Three analytical approaches may be recognized on the basis of whether landscape structural attributes are involved (global, mono-attribute and multi-attribute approach). The present work is part of a research aimed to seek out rational instruments for guidance policies on rural landscape. It consists in a survey of the main studies appeared in literature. The specific purpose is to classify these empirical analyses in accordance both to the approaches mentioned above and to the landscape typologies (agricultural or forestry) involved.rural landscape, structural attributes, landscape demand, contingent valuation models, choice experiment, Land Economics/Use, Q26,