Smart sampling approaches for Decision-Focused Learning

Many real-word decision- making problems are defined based on forecast parameters: for example, one may plan an urban route by relying on traffic predictions. In these cases, the conventional approach consists in training a predictor and then solving an optimization problem. This may be problematic since mistakes made by the predictor may trick the optimizer into taking dramatically wrong decisions. Recently, the field of Decision-Focused Learning overcomes this limitation by merging the two stages at training time, so that predictions are rewarded and penalized based on their outcome in the optimization problem. There are however still significant challenges toward a widespread adoption of the method, mostly related to the limitation in terms of generality and scalability. One possible solution for dealing with the second problem is introducing a caching-based approach, to speed up the training process. This project aims to investigate these techniques, in order to reduce even more, the solver calls. For each considered method, we designed a particular smart sampling approach, based on their characteristics. In the case of the SPO method, we ended up discovering that it is only necessary to initialize the cache with only several solutions; those needed to filter the elements that we still need to properly learn. For the Blackbox method, we designed a smart sampling approach, based on inferred solutions.

Sistemi smart per il miglioramento del processo di raccolta differenziata

Questo documento presenta un modello efficiente di gestione e di monitoraggio dei rifiuti basato sull’IoT per migliorare l’ambiente di vita nelle città. Il sistema proposto utilizza sensori e tecnologie di comunicazione che raccolgono ed elaborano in tempo reale dati trasmessi da cassonetti smart permettendo un’efficace gestione dell’igiene urbana e riducendo sconvenienti malfunzionamenti dei cassonetti, fastidiosi sia per i cittadini sia per gli operatori pubblici. Il risultato del progetto è un insieme di oggetti e processi interconnessi in un mondo, quello della raccolta dei rifiuti, in cui l’automazione non esiste ancora o è poco diffusa e che invece potrebbe portare un buon incremento nel funzionamento.

Paddler 4.0. Attrezzatura sportiva acquatica circolare e smart.

Paddler 4.0, attrezzatura sportiva acquatica circolare e smart si focalizza sul rapporto tra uomo-natura-sport, e su come queste tre dimensioni sono interconnesse tra di loro. Questa scelta è scaturita da una grande passione personale per l’ambiente marino e più in generale per il mare e ciò che rappresenta per moltissime persone. La tesi magistrale in Advanced Design è stata un’opportunità per approfondire meglio le diverse tematiche che avvolgono questo habitat e di poter realizzare un progetto inerente. Uomo-sport-natura sono tre dimensione che coesistono in una sola, la sostenibilità. In questa tesi vengono esposti diversi aspetti, tra cui la condizione ambientale odierna, gli sport acquatici analizzando la storia, la cultura, gli elementi tecnici e le diverse discipline, principalmente lo Stand Up Paddle “SUP” ed infine facendo un focus sui metodi e le tecnologie trasformative più utilizzate oggi. Il prodotto scaturito dall’argomento di tesi implementa al suo interno tutti questi elementi ponendo al centro il rispetto dell’ambiente, la circolarità e dando nuova vita a materiali di scarto, promuovendo e sensibilizzando l’utente verso comportamenti più etici. Inoltre, il progetto cerca di immettere sul mercato una nuova tipologia di prodotto che rispetta i criteri tecnico/funzionali del settore in cui si inserisce.

Smart Mirror: remote verification of an identity document holder

Nowadays, some activities, such as subscribing an insurance policy or opening a bank account, are possible by navigating through a web page or a downloadable application. Since the user is often “hidden” behind a monitor or a smartphone, it is necessary a solution able to guarantee about their identity. Companies are often requiring the submission of a “proof-of-identity”, which usually consists in a picture of an identity document of the user, together with a picture or a brief video of themselves. This work describes a system whose purpose is the automation of these kinds of verifications.

Proof of Location through a Blockchain Agnostic Smart Contract Language: Design and Evaluation over Algorand and Ethereum

Le applicazioni che offrono servizi sulla base della posizione degli utenti sono sempre più utilizzate, a partire dal navigatore fino ad arrivare ai sistemi di trasporto intelligenti (ITS) i quali permetteranno ai veicoli di comunicare tra loro. Alcune di questi servizi permettono perfino di ottenere qualche incentivo se l'utente visita o passa per determinate zone. Per esempio un negozio potrebbe offrire dei coupon alle persone che si trovano nei paraggi. Tuttavia, la posizione degli utenti è facilmente falsificabile, ed in quest'ultima tipologia di servizi, essi potrebbero ottenere gli incentivi in modo illecito, raggirando il sistema. Diviene quindi necessario implementare un'architettura in grado di impedire alle persone di falsificare la loro posizione. A tal fine, numerosi lavori sono stati proposti, i quali delegherebbero la realizzazione di "prove di luogo" a dei server centralizzati oppure collocherebbero degli access point in grado di rilasciare prove o certificati a quegli utenti che si trovano vicino. In questo lavoro di tesi abbiamo ideato un'architettura diversa da quelle dei lavori correlati, cercando di utilizzare le funzionalità offerte dalla tecnologia blockchain e dalla memorizzazione distribuita. In questo modo è stato possibile progettare una soluzione che fosse decentralizzata e trasparente, assicurando l'immutabilità dei dati mediante l'utilizzo della blockchain. Inoltre, verrà dettagliato un'idea di caso d'uso da realizzare utilizzando l'architettura da noi proposta, andando ad evidenziare i vantaggi che, potenzialmente, si potrebbero trarre da essa. Infine, abbiamo implementato parte del sistema in questione, misurando i tempi ed i costi richiesti dalle transazioni su alcune delle blockchain disponibili al giorno d'oggi, utilizzando le infrastrutture messe a disposizione da Ethereum, Polygon e Algorand.

Towards a Smart Campus Digital Twin: Promoting Awareness and Sustainability Through Wayfinding and Real-Time Environmental Data

The newly inaugurated Navile District of the University of Bologna is a complex created along the Navile canal, that now houses various teaching and research activities for the disciplines of Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Pharmacy, Biotechnology and Astronomy. A Building Information Modeling system (BIM) gives staff of the Navile campus several ways to monitor buildings in the complex throughout their life cycle, one of which is the ability to access real-time environmental data such as room temperature, humidity, air composition, and more, thereby simplifying operations like finding faults and optimizing environmental resource usage. But smart features at Navile are not only available to the staff: AlmaMap Navile is a web application, whose development is documented in this thesis, that powers the public touch kiosks available throughout the campus, offering maps of the district and indications on how to reach buildings and spaces. Even if these two systems, BIM and AlmaMap, don't seem to have many similarities, they share the common intent of promoting awareness for informed decision making in the campus, and they do it while relying on web standards for communication. This opens up interesting possibilities, and is the idea behind AlmaMap Navile 2.0, an app that interfaces with the BIM system and combines real-time sensor data with a comfort calculation algorithm, giving users the ability not just to ask for directions to a space, but also to see its comfort level in advance and, should they want to, check environmental measurements coming from each sensor in a granular manner. The end result is a first step towards building a smart campus Digital Twin, that can support all the people who are part of the campus life in their daily activities, improving their efficiency and satisfaction, giving them the ability to make informed decisions, and promoting awareness and sustainability.

Onecook: una smart cooking station per le nuove esigenze abitative di persone singole.

Il concept alla base di Onecook è stato ispirato dalle esigenze dei giovani adulti che vivono da soli in piccole case. Infatti, molte persone in questa fascia di età hanno appena iniziato a vivere da sole e spesso hanno uno spazio limitato in cucina. Il mio obiettivo era creare un set che includesse tutti gli elementi essenziali, per cucinare in modo più efficiente risparmiando anche energia, con un design compatto e salvaspazio. Per raggiungere questo obiettivo, ho progettato una piastra ad induzione con un’area di riscaldamento flessibile, affinché potesse permettere l’utilizzo simultaneo di pentole e padelle di diverse dimensioni. Grazie a questa flessibilità, la piastra si scalda solamente nell’area utilizzata, aumentando, quindi, l’efficienza energetica e contribuendo a ridurre il consumo energetico complessivo. Inoltre, è stata progettata una cappa di aspirazione filtrante portatile, che può essere facilmente spostata e riposta quando non viene utilizzata. Onecook include anche una varietà di altri strumenti essenziali come un coltello, un tagliere, un mestolo e una spatola. Una delle caratteristiche uniche di questo set è che le padelle e le pentole sono progettate per essere impilabili e modulari, massimizzando lo spazio di archiviazione e facilitando la ricerca della pentola o padella giusta per una ricetta particolare. Oltre alla funzionalità, ho considerato anche l’aspetto estetico del set e scelto colori e materiali moderni e senza tempo. Il prodotto finale è un set funzionale, poco ingombrante e visivamente gradevole. Nel complesso, Onecook è progettato per soddisfare le esigenze dei giovani adulti che cercano un modo compatto ed efficiente per cucinare per loro stessi. Credo che questo set li aiuterà a creare pasti deliziosi e salutari nelle loro piccole case.

Atividade motora adaptada : o conhecimento produzido nos programas Stricto Sensu em Educação Física no Brasil

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Adaptação e validação da escla ASKAS - Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale em idosos brasileiros

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Numerical investigation of the three-dimensional secondary instabilities in the time-developing compressible mixing layer

Mixing layers are present in very different types of physical situations such as atmospheric flows, aerodynamics and combustion. It is, therefore, a well researched subject, but there are aspects that require further studies. Here the instability of two-and three-dimensional perturbations in the compressible mixing layer was investigated by numerical simulations. In the numerical code, the derivatives were discretized using high-order compact finite-difference schemes. A stretching in the normal direction was implemented with both the objective of reducing the sound waves generated by the shear region and improving the resolution near the center. The compact schemes were modified to work with non-uniform grids. Numerical tests started with an analysis of the growth rate in the linear regime to verify the code implementation. Tests were also performed in the non-linear regime and it was possible to reproduce the vortex roll-up and pairing, both in two-and three-dimensional situations. Amplification rate analysis was also performed for the secondary instability of this flow. It was found that, for essentially incompressible flow, maximum growth rates occurred for a spanwise wavelength of approximately 2/3 of the streamwise spacing of the vortices. The result demonstrated the applicability of the theory developed by Pierrehumbet and Widnall. Compressibility effects were then considered and the maximum growth rates obtained for relatively high Mach numbers (typically under 0.8) were also presented.

PARALLAXES OF SOUTHERN EXTREMELY COOL OBJECTS. I. TARGETS, PROPER MOTIONS, AND FIRST RESULTS

We present results from the PARallaxes of Southern Extremely Cool objects ( PARSEC) program, an observational program begun in 2007 April to determine parallaxes for 122 L and 28 T southern hemisphere dwarfs using the Wide Field Imager on the ESO 2.2 m telescope. The results presented here include parallaxes of 10 targets from observations over 18 months and a first version proper motion catalog. The proper motions were obtained by combining PARSEC observations astrometrically reduced with respect to the Second US Naval Observatory CCD Astrograph Catalog, and the Two Micron All Sky Survey Point Source Catalog. The resulting median proper motion precision is 5 mas yr(-1) for 195,700 sources. The 140 0.3 deg(2) fields sample the southern hemisphere in an unbiased fashion with the exception of the galactic plane due to the small number of targets in that region. The proper motion distributions are shown to be statistically well behaved. External comparisons are also fully consistent. We will continue to update this catalog until the end of the program, and we plan to improve it including also observations from the GSC2.3 database. We present preliminary parallaxes with a 4.2 mas median precision for 10 brown dwarfs, two of which are within 10 pc. These increase the present number of L dwarfs by 20% with published parallaxes. Of the 10 targets, seven have been previously discussed in the literature: two were thought to be binary, but the PARSEC observations show them to be single; one has been confirmed as a binary companion and another has been found to be part of a binary system, both of which will make good benchmark systems. These results confirm that the foreseen precision of PARSEC can be achieved and that the large field of view will allow us to identify wide binary systems. Observations for the PARSEC program will end in early 2011 providing three to four years of coverage for all targets. The main expected outputs are: more than a 100% increase in the number of L dwarfs with parallaxes, increment in the number of objects per spectral subclass up to L9-in conjunction with published results-to at least 10, and to put sensible limits on the general binary fraction of brown dwarfs. We aim to contribute significantly to the understanding of the faint end of the H-R diagram and of the L/T transition region.

HR Del REMNANT ANATOMY USING TWO-DIMENSIONAL SPECTRAL DATA AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL PHOTOIONIZATION SHELL MODELS

The HR Del nova remnant was observed with the IFU-GMOS at Gemini North. The spatially resolved spectral data cube was used in the kinematic, morphological, and abundance analysis of the ejecta. The line maps show a very clumpy shell with two main symmetric structures. The first one is the outer part of the shell seen in H alpha, which forms two rings projected in the sky plane. These ring structures correspond to a closed hourglass shape, first proposed by Harman & O'Brien. The equatorial emission enhancement is caused by the superimposed hourglass structures in the line of sight. The second structure seen only in the [O III] and [N II] maps is located along the polar directions inside the hourglass structure. Abundance gradients between the polar caps and equatorial region were not found. However, the outer part of the shell seems to be less abundant in oxygen and nitrogen than the inner regions. Detailed 2.5-dimensional photoionization modeling of the three-dimensional shell was performed using the mass distribution inferred from the observations and the presence of mass clumps. The resulting model grids are used to constrain the physical properties of the shell as well as the central ionizing source. A sequence of three-dimensional clumpy models including a disk-shaped ionization source is able to reproduce the ionization gradients between polar and equatorial regions of the shell. Differences between shell axial ratios in different lines can also be explained by aspherical illumination. A total shell mass of 9 x 10(-4) M(circle dot) is derived from these models. We estimate that 50%-70% of the shell mass is contained in neutral clumps with density contrast up to a factor of 30.

Search for Lorentz Invariance and CPT Violation with the MINOS Far Detector

We searched for a sidereal modulation in the MINOS far detector neutrino rate. Such a signal would be a consequence of Lorentz and CPT violation as described by the standard-model extension framework. It also would be the first detection of a perturbative effect to conventional neutrino mass oscillations. We found no evidence for this sidereal signature, and the upper limits placed on the magnitudes of the Lorentz and CPT violating coefficients describing the theory are an improvement by factors of 20-510 over the current best limits found by using the MINOS near detector.

New constraints on muon-neutrino to electron-neutrino transitions in MINOS

This paper reports results from a search for nu(mu) -> nu(e) transitions by the MINOS experiment based on a 7 x 10(20) protons-on-target exposure. Our observation of 54 candidate nu(e) events in the far detector with a background of 49.1 +/- 7.0(stat) +/- 2.7(syst) events predicted by the measurements in the near detector requires 2sin(2)(2 theta(13))sin(2)theta(23) < 0.12(0.20) at the 90% C.L. for the normal (inverted) mass hierarchy at delta(CP) = 0. The experiment sets the tightest limits to date on the value of theta(13) for nearly all values of delta(CP) for the normal neutrino mass hierarchy and maximal sin(2)(2 theta(23)).

Neutrino and antineutrino inclusive charged-current cross section measurements with the MINOS near detector

The energy dependence of the neutrino-iron and antineutrino-iron inclusive charged-current cross sections and their ratio have been measured using a high-statistics sample with the MINOS near detector exposed to the NuMI beam from the main injector at Fermilab. Neutrino and antineutrino fluxes were determined using a low hadronic energy subsample of charged-current events. We report measurements of nu-Fe ((nu) over bar - Fe) cross section in the energy range 3-50 GeV (5-50 GeV) with precision of 2%-8% (3%-9%) and their ratio which is measured with precision 2%-8%. The data set spans the region from low energy, where accurate measurements are sparse, up to the high-energy scaling region where the cross section is well understood.