Simulation model building of traffic intersections

Designers of traffic systems might take advantage of the simulation-before-construction approach that allows them to study the behavior of a new or existing system by use of simulation models. Nevertheless, the use of simulation models is often hindered by the fact that the model building activity is a critical, time consuming and error prone activity if performed by use of experience and intuition only. Moreover, traffic designers do not usually have the necessary skills to effectively carry out system simulation. This paper overcomes such problems by introducing a model building method, thus enabling traffic designers to seamlessly introduce simulation-before-construction into their best practices. The method is applied to the building of simulation models of traffic intersections, with an example application to a real-world intersection.     

Analysis of MySpace user profiles

Online social networks have attracted millions of users, who have integrated social network web sites into their daily life. Users participate to the changes and to the evolution of these sites because they are producers and reviewers of contents that help them to maintain the existing social relationships, make new friends, collaborate and enrich experiences. This paper presents a study of the characteristics of the users of MySpace web site, with the objective of studying relationships and interactions among users and deriving hints about their behavior. The analysis relies on data collected by monitoring the web site for 12 weeks. Typical user behaviors have been derived and classes of users characterized by different levels of participation to the social network have been identified. In particular, the analysis reveals that most of the users actively participate to the social network and specify many personal details. Social networks web sites allow access to such details; the sharing of information about users and their relationships can lead to non-ethic online activities, which threat the privacy and the security of users themselves.     

Differential evolution solution to the SLAM problem

A new solution to the Simultaneous Localization and Modelling problem is presented in this paper. The algorithm is based on the stochastic search for solutions in the state space to the global localization problem by means of a differential evolution algorithm. This non linear evolutive filter, called Evolutive Localization Filter (ELF), searches stochastically along the state space for the best robot pose estimate. The set of pose solutions (the population) focuses on the most likely areas according to the perception and up to date motion information. The population evolves using the log-likelihood of each candidate pose according to the observation and the motion errors derived from the comparison between observed and predicted data obtained from the probabilistic perception and motion model.The proposed SLAM algorithm operates in two steps: in the first step the ELF filter is used at local level to re-localize the robot based on the robot odometry, the laser scan at a given position and a local map where only a low number of the last scans have been integrated. In the second step, the aligned laser measures and the corrected robot poses are used to detect whether the robot is revisiting a previously crossed area (i.e., a cycle in the robot trajectory exists). Once a cycle is detected, the Evolutive Localization Filter is used again to estimate the accumulated residual drift in the detected loop and then to re-estimate the robot poses in order to integrate the sensor measures in the global map of the environment.The algorithm has been tested in different environments to demonstrate the effectiveness, robustness and computational efficiency of the proposed approach.     

A study of co-occurrence based local features for camera model identification

Camera model identification has great relevance for many forensic applications, and is receiving growing attention in the literature. Virtually all techniques rely on the traces left in the image by the long sequence of in-camera processes which are specific of each model. They differ in the prior assumptions, if any, and in how such evidence is gathered in expressive features. In this work we study a class of blind features, based on the analysis of the image residuals of all color bands. They are extracted locally, based on co-occurrence matrices of selected neighbors, and then used to train a classifier. A number of experiments are carried out on the well-known Dresden Image Database. Besides the full-knowledge case, where all models of interest are known in advance, other scenarios with more limited knowledge and partially corrupted images are also investigated. Experimental results show these features to provide a state-of-the-art performance.     

Ab initio determination of heavy oxide perovskite related structures from precession electron diffraction data

Two complex perovskite-related structures were solved by ab initio from precession electron diffraction intensities. Structure models were firstly derived from HREM images and than have been confirmed independently using two and three-dimensional sets of precession intensities. Patterson techniques prove to be effective for ab initio structure resolution, specially in case of projections with no overlapping atoms. Quality of precession intensity data may be suitable enough to resolve unknown heavy oxide structures.     

MIG Brazing of Galvanized Thin Sheet Joints for Automotive Industry

MIG welding of zinc-coated thin plates in the automotive industry leads to major issues, mainly zinc evaporation followed by a decrease of corrosion resistance, as well as residual strains and stresses difficult to minimize. The use of a lower heat input technique for joining galvanized steels would bring significant benefit, if the final overall mechanical properties of the joints are adequate for the application. The use of MIG brazing (MIGB) with the recently commercialized alloyed copper-based filler metal is an alternative worth considering. The present paper addresses the MIGB processes, describing the influence of the different shielding gases and the process parameters on the mechanical, corrosion, and metallurgical properties of the joint, when lower heat input procedures are targeted. The paper describes the influence of the gases on the mechanical properties of the brazed joint, both in normal conditions after joining and after corrosion in a salt water environment. Microstructural features of the different zones are discussed. Results of corrosion and tensile tests are presented and interpreted.     

Industrial Requirements for Distributed SCM Tool

As software development comes to be viewed more and more as an engineering discipline, Software Configuration Management is increasingly recognised as a key technology in the development of software. The Esprit VISCOUNT project¹ aim is to implement an innovative Software Configuration Management (SCM) tool to use in a geographically distributed software development environment, a Virtual Software Corporation (VSC). The features implemented by the tool will be the following: ·Configurable process modelling ·Inter-working capabilities with COTS SCM tools ·Selective replication of archives ·Open to include plug-in applications (security mechanism, encryption, etc) This paper is based on the work undertaken as part of the VISCOUNT project, partially funded by European Union's Esprit Programme, and it describes the SIA (Societa' Italiana Avionica) requirements defined in the framework of VISCOUNT. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Fenretinide in Cancer and Neurological Disease: A Two-Face Janus Molecule

Recently, several chemotherapeutic drugs have been repositioned in neurological diseases, based on common biological backgrounds and the inverse comorbidity between cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Fenretinide (all-trans-N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) retinamide, 4-HPR) is a synthetic derivative of all-trans-retinoic acid initially proposed in anticancer therapy for its antitumor effects combined with limited toxicity. Subsequently, fenretinide has been proposed for other diseases, for which it was not intentionally designed for, due to its ability to influence different biological pathways, providing a broad spectrum of pharmacological effects. Here, we review the most relevant preclinical and clinical findings from fenretinide and discuss its therapeutic role towards cancer and neurological diseases, highlighting the hormetic behavior of this pleiotropic molecule.     

Eco-Sustainable Silk Fibroin/Pomegranate Peel Extract Film as an Innovative Green Material for Skin Repair

Skin disorders are widespread around the world, affecting people of all ages, and oxidative stress represents one of the main causes of alteration in the normal physiological parameters of skin cells. In this work, we combined a natural protein, fibroin, with antioxidant compounds extracted in water from pomegranate waste. We demonstrate the effective and facile fabrication of bioactive and eco-sustainable films of potential interest for skin repair. The blended films are visually transparent (around 90%); flexible; stable in physiological conditions and in the presence of trypsin for 12 days; able to release the bioactive compounds in a controlled manner; based on Fickian diffusion; and biocompatible towards the main skin cells, keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Furthermore, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production tests demonstrated the high capacity of our films to reduce the oxidative stress induced in cells, which is responsible for various skin diseases.