Exploring the Role of Inter-Organizational Information Systems within SMEs Aggregations

Interorganizational Information Systems (IOIS) will play a relevant role in shaping competition in the next years. Even though companies have become extremely efficient in managing information and logistics inside their boundaries, communication and coordination among partners is still far from effective. Both obsolete technologies and very scarce ICT supported interorganizational process are found in practice. In a global market where the entire supply chain is involved in company success, the proper design and implementation of an IOS is becoming mandatory. SMEs, and in particular those inside industrial aggregations, could greatly benefit from IOIS implementation, however a widely accepted IOS adoption theory is still lacking. Focusing on the description of an industrial aggregation this paper proposes a framework, its implementation and a field test on 70 companies belonging to an industrial district, to understand the relationships among aggregation’s main players. The analysis of the results proved that this approach offers useful insight for the comprehension of the aggregation and suggest its use as a pre-design IOIS tool.6-8 June 200

Perturbation theory predictions and Monte Carlo simulations for the 2-d O(n) non-linear sigma-model

By using the results of a high-statistics (O(10^7) measurements) Monte Carlo simulation we test several predictions of perturbation theory on the O(n) non-linear sigma-model in 2 dimensions. We study the O(3) and O(8) models on large enough lattices to have a good control on finite-size effects. The magnetic susceptibility and three different definitions of the correlation length are measured. We check our results with large-n expansions as well as with standard formulae for asymptotic freedom up to 4 loops in the standard and effective schemes. For this purpose the weak coupling expansions of the energy up to 4 loops for the standard action and up to 3 loops for the Symanzik action are calculated. For the O(3) model we have used two different effective schemes and checked that they lead to compatible results. A great improvement in the results is obtained by using the effective scheme based on the energy at 3 and 4 loops. We find that the O(8) model follows very nicely (within few per mille) the perturbative predictions. For the O(3) model an acceptable agreement (within few per cent) is found.Comment: latex source + 15 e-postscript figures. It generates 26 pgs. Replaced version containing more corrections to scaling for the Symanzik action, more detailed explanation of the calculation of $C_\chi$ and a few more citation

Discovery of another peculiar radial distribution of Blue Stragglers in Globular Clusters: The case of 47 Tuc

We have used high resolution WFPC2-HST and wide field ground-based observations to construct a catalog of blue straggler stars (BSS) in the globular cluster 47 Tuc spanning the entire radial extent of the cluster. The BSS distribution is highly peaked in the cluster center, rapidly decreases at intermediate radii, and finally rises again at larger radii. The observed distribution closely resembles that discovered in M3 by Ferraro et al (1993,1997). To date, complete BSS surveys covering the full radial extent (HST in the center and wide field CCD ground based observations of the exterior) have been performed for only these two clusters. Both show a bimodal radial distribution, despite their different dynamical properties. BSS surveys covering the full spatial extent of more globular clusters are clearly required to determine how common bimodality is and what its consequence is for theories of BSS formation and cluster dynamics.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, accepted for pubblication in Ap

Multiplex PCR to detect bacteriophages from natural whey cultures of buffalo milk and characterisation of two phages active against Lactococcus lactis, фApr-1 and фApr-2

This work investigated bacteriophage induced starter failures in artisanal buffalo Mozzarella production plants in Southern Italy. Two hundred and ten samples of whey starter cultures were screened for bacteriophage infection. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed phage infection in 28.56% of samples, all showing acidification problems during cheese making. Based on DNA sequences, bacteriophages for Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis), Lactobacillus delbruekii (L. delbruekii) and Streptococcus thermophilus (S. thermophilus) were detected. Two phages active against L.  lactis, фApr-1 and фApr-2, were isolated and characterised. The genomes, approximately 31.4 kb and 31 kb for фApr-1 and фApr-2 respectively, consisted of double-stranded linear DNA with pac-type system. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed one major structural protein of approximately 32.5 kDa and several minor proteins. This is the first report of phage isolation in buffalo milk and of the use of multiplex PCR to screen and study the diversity of phages against Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) strains in artisanal Water Buffalo Mozzarella starters

X-TIME: An in-memory engine for accelerating machine learning on tabular data with CAMs

Structured, or tabular, data is the most common format in data science. While deep learning models have proven formidable in learning from unstructured data such as images or speech, they are less accurate than simpler approaches when learning from tabular data. In contrast, modern tree-based Machine Learning (ML) models shine in extracting relevant information from structured data. An essential requirement in data science is to reduce model inference latency in cases where, for example, models are used in a closed loop with simulation to accelerate scientific discovery. However, the hardware acceleration community has mostly focused on deep neural networks and largely ignored other forms of machine learning. Previous work has described the use of an analog content addressable memory (CAM) component for efficiently mapping random forests. In this work, we focus on an overall analog-digital architecture implementing a novel increased precision analog CAM and a programmable network on chip allowing the inference of state-of-the-art tree-based ML models, such as XGBoost and CatBoost. Results evaluated in a single chip at 16nm technology show 119x lower latency at 9740x higher throughput compared with a state-of-the-art GPU, with a 19W peak power consumption

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

Guidelines for RFId implementation in Supply Chains

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