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In this paper, we describe the work done in order to run the CT 3-D reconstruction algorithm on the 120 GB raw data from the more than 25\thinspace000 radiographs acquired from the Kongo Rikishi (XIII century) Japanese wooden statue. The work was done using the Microsoft (Redmond) HPC cluster and then on a local cluster at the INFN of Bologna. A speed-up factor of 75 was reached. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes the beam flux monitoring system that has been developed at the Superconducting Cyclotron at INFN-LNS (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy) in order to monitor the beam parameters such as energy, flux, beam profile, for SEE (Single Event Effects) cross-sections determination and DD (Displacement Damage) studies. In order to have an accurate and continuous monitoring of beam parameters we have developed fully automatic dosimetry setup to be used during SEE (with heavy ions) and DD (with protons up to 60 MeV) tests of electronic devices and systems. The final goal of our activity is to demonstrate that the operation of such a system in air is not detrimental to the accuracy on controlling the beam profile, energy and fluence delivered onto the DUT (Device Under Test) surface, even with non relativistic heavy ions. We have tested our beam monitoring system with the “Reference SEU monitor” developed by ESA/ESTEC, the results are discussed here. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper presents the innovative technology of high altitude wind power generation, indicated as Kit energy, which exploits the automatic flight of tethered airfoils (e.g., power kites) to extract energy from wind blowing between 200 and 800 m above the ground. The key points of this technology are described and the design of large scale plants is investigated, in order to show that it has the potential to overcome the limits of the actual wind turbines and to provide large quantities of renewable energy, with competitive cost with respect to fossil sources. Such claims are supported by the results obtained so far in the Kit energy project, undergoing at Politecnico di Torino, Italy, including numerical simulations, prototype experiments, and wind data analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the current evolution of the telelaboratory facilities at the University of Pisa. In particular, starting from a standard environment providing remote access to a set of experiments, the telelaboratory is now organized as a collection of learning objects, i.e., modular didactic units designed following specific learning objectives within control systems and robotic fields. The telelaboratory has a remote web-based access which can be used both as a simulation environment and as a remote way of performing real physical experiments. The developed telelaboratory is based on free open-source software such as Scilab/Scicos, Comedi, and Real-Time Application Interface patch for Linux kernels. In-house software tools, such as a Java wEb Hyper modUlar inTerface sYstem, graphic environment tools, and a virtual laboratory interface based on Java applets, have been developed as a support for the learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the problem of supervising and monitoring a photovoltaic (PV) plant. First, an offline descriptive and inferential statistical procedure for evaluating the goodness of system performance is presented. Then, an online inferential algorithm for real-time monitoring and fault detection is introduced. The two methodologies utilize the energy output of inverters as input data and are valid for both Gaussian and non-normal distribution of data. The procedures have been tested on a real PV installation, and results are reported for the case of a grid-connected PV plant in Italy for which one PV module over 132 resulted in being badly connected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scattering properties of the individual components of seafloors consisting of discrete patches of different materials may have a complicated relationship in terms of their angular response and/or frequency dependence. Consequently, this relationship directly influences the angular and frequency response of scattered envelope probability density functions (pdfs). In this paper, the influence of the relative scattering strength of seafloor patches on scattered envelope statistics will be explored through both a modified form of a recently developed model [Abraham and Lyons, IEEE J. Ocean. Eng., vol. 27, pp. 800-813, 2002] and analysis of experimental data collected off Elba Island, Italy, in May 2003, by the NATO Undersea Research Centre, La Spezia, Italy. Qualitative comparisons of the K-distribution shape parameter (α) between that predicted by the model and that measured from data display promising similarities such as the inverse relationship between α and bandwidth, the relative difference in values of α for the various seafloor types studied, and the dependence on grazing angle. The favorable model/data comparisons show that it is possible to link the scattered envelope distribution to measurable geoacoustic properties, providing the foundation necessary for solving several important problems related to the detection of targets in non-Rayleigh clutter including performance prediction for different systems based on seafloor properties, extrapolation of performance to other system/bandwidths, and optimization of system parameters such as bandwidth to local environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel energy storage system based on a SMES cooled by cryogenic fuel is being developed at the Dept. of Electrical Engineering of the University of Bologna. The system represents an alternative solution with respect to nowadays battery packs for the storage of electrical energy with large specific power. The device may find suitable application on board of road vehicles fed by liquid hydrogen with hybrid power-train (internal combustion engine and electric motor/generation), where a cryogenic tank is already present and no additional cryogenic costs are needed. The housing of the SMES inside the tank used for fuel storage, allows the exploitation of the thermal power required for the continuous evaporation of fuel for feeding the engine to remove the AC losses from the magnet, thus avoiding the need of externally supplied cooling power. In this paper both the design of the magnet and its operation in combination with electronic converter and electric motor/generator during charge/discharge cycles are discussed. Moreover the ongoing activity for the development of a laboratory-scale prototype using MgB2 superconductor is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small hyperspectral imager Compact High- Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS) is the most important instrument for Earth observation included in the payload of the European Space Agency Third-Part Mission Project for On-Board Autonomy (PROBA)-1 satellite. This instrument has provided dozens of images in several target areas in the world, and a good number of acquisitions are available for the test site of Frascati and Tor Vergata, Italy. This paper reports several results concerning the generation of thematic maps obtained from CHRIS mode-3 imagery. The potential of the use of different configurations for the input vector exploiting multispectral, multiangular, and multitemporal measurements has been investigated, and the results have been evaluated and compared in terms of accuracy in the classification. The core of the decision task has been developed using the neural network methodology. Indeed, this approach is characterized by a particular ease in performing nonlinear mapping of a multidimensional set of inputs into the output one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the latest results from the development of 3-D silicon radiation detectors at Fondazione Bruno Kessler of Trento (FBK), Italy (formerly ITC-IRST). Building on the results obtained from previous devices (3-D Single-Type-Column), a new detector concept has been defined, namely 3-D-DDTC (Double- sided Double-Type Column), which involves columnar electrodes of both doping types, etched from alternate wafer sides, stopping a short distance (d) from the opposite surface. Simulations prove that, if d is kept small with respect to the wafer thickness, this approach can yield charge collection properties comparable to those of standard 3-D detectors, with the advantage of a simpler fabrication process. Two wafer layouts have been designed with reference to this technology, and two fabrication runs have been performed. Technological and design aspects are reported in this paper, along with simulation results and initial results from the characterization of detectors and test structures belonging to the first 3-D-DDTC batch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance, reliability and scalability in data-access are key issues in the context of the computing Grid and High Energy Physics data processing and analysis applications, in particular considering the large data size and I/O load that a Large Hadron Collider data centre has to support. In this paper we present the technical details and the results of a large scale validation and performance measurement employing different data-access platforms-namely CASTOR, dCache, GPFS and Scalla/Xrootd. The tests have been performed at the CNAF Tier-1, the central computing facility of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Research (INFN). Our storage back-end was based on Fibre Channel disk-servers organized in a Storage Area Network, being the disk-servers connected to the computing farm via Gigabit LAN. We used 24 disk-servers, 260 TB of raw-disk space and 280 worker nodes as computing clients, able to run concurrently up to about 1100 jobs. The aim of the test was to perform sequential and random read/write accesses to the data, as well as more realistic access patterns, in order to evaluate efficiency, availability, robustness and performance of the various data-access solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR) is a remote sensing technique that allows monitoring ground deformation with accuracy of the order of fractions of the radiated wavelength, by means of proper combination and processing of repeat-pass data. In contrast to the satellite case, application of such a technique to airborne data is not, today, a well-established task. Several airborne campaigns, involving mainly C/L-band data, have been planned in the last years to exploit the potentialities of these more flexible platforms for deformation monitoring. In this paper, we show the results of an airborne DInSAR X-band experiment carried out over the Perugia area (center of Italy) by using the OrbiSAR system. We discuss the processing chain applied to the acquired data, which allows achieving a satisfactory compromise between accuracy and efficiency. Eleven repeated passes were carried out in two days; two corner reflectors were located on the ground in a hilly region. One corner reflector was vertically moved between the two days to evaluate the system detection capability. Moreover, we carry out an analysis of all possible differential interferograms for a region 2 x 4 km wide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design and implementation of an educational testbed developed for a course on industrial communication networks at the Engineering Faculty, University of Catania. The aim is to realize a platform capable of emulating various network configurations, thus enabling students to find out by themselves through practical experiments how different design choices, parameter settings, network configurations, and algorithms impact on the overall network performance. The test-bed comprises a number of basic components (hosts, routers, and access points) implemented on nodes equipped with operating systems and open source software, which together make up a modular system. Each router can be loaded with data flows and monitored over preestablished time windows so as to evaluate its performance in a wide range of operating conditions. The wireless part makes it possible to configure environments with different levels of noise and bandwidth utilization so as to emulate a broad spectrum of real operating environments. The testbed can be used via remote access through a web interface that not only allows the operating conditions to be configured but also permits real-time monitoring. Students can configure the testbed on the basis of the network they are studying and can measure its performance for evaluation purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Italy, the increase of railway traffic and of the power demand by the trains, especially the high-speed trains, has caused a continuous increase of the currents through the electric traction lines rated at 3 kVdc. As a consequence, in some cases, the load currents may approach the value of the fault currents for faults located far from the supply stations. The detection of the faults in such a situation has become difficult for the electromechanical protections at present in operation in Italy in the lines above. In addition, transient phenomena related to the train absorption, frequently cause untimely trippings of the protections above. For such a reason, in the years 1999-2000, a field test campaign was performed in the 3-kVdc lines Campoleone—Cis-terna and Farneta—Montallese in Italy, in order to investigate the phenomena that lead to the untimely trippings above. On the basis of the field test campaign, it was found that such an inconvenience is related to the inner characteristics of the electromechanical protections in use. A digital protection, operating on new protective algorithms, was thus set up and thereafter put in operation in the years 2003-2004. This paper presents the basic principles of the new protection above and the results of the first two years of operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grading programming assignments of courses on distributed programming can greatly benefit from extensive testing, especially if quality aspects such as portability, robustness, security, and performance have to be evaluated. This paper presents a framework that was developed at the Turin Polytechnic, Turin, Italy, to enable seamless and fast implementation of Web portals for automated management of student programming assignments. By using a computational grid facility to schedule testing jobs on different hosts, the framework offers high flexibility and scalability, thus enabling computationally intensive tests and some kinds of distributed tests, such as portability tests and field tests, which otherwise would be difficult to automate. The grid can be made of ordinary and even nondedicated or dismissed PCs, which, according to the authors' experience, is enough to offer students online extensive testing services. The framework was successfully used in two courses on distributed programming, located at different sites, partially overlapped in time, and attended by a total of 60 students. However, the framework should be scalable enough to work with increasing numbers of students and courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the Department of Physics of the University of Pisa, Italy, a new and fully engineered version of the YAP-(S)PET small animal scanner has been recently installed. The new YAP-(S)PET is able to perform both PET and SPECT studies on small animals. The scanner is made up of four heads: each one is composed of a 4 × 4 cm² YAIO3:Ce (or YAP:Ce) matrix of 20 × 20 elements, 2 × 2 × 25 mm³ each, coupled to a Position Sensitive Photomultiplier (PS-PMT) (Hamamatsu R2486). The four modules are positioned on a rotating gantry. The switching to the SPECT modality is easily made by mounting a high resolution parallel hole (0.6 mm ⊘, 0.15 mm septum) lead collimator in front of each crystal. This paper reports the performance of the system in terms of absolute sensitivity and spatial resolution for both PET and SPECT modalities. The scatter fraction and noise-equivalent count rate (NEC) for a mouse phantom for different energy windows have been measured in PET modality. Images of phantoms and animals are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) tapes is becoming a suitable and interesting alternative to copper for windings in transformers, thanks to the improvement in performance and the lowering of costs. Of course, optimized designs, different with respect to usual layouts, must be considered, due to the additional requirements of HTS tapes, such as minimization of orthogonal magnetic fields and consideration of additional losses in the HTS. In the framework of a scientific cooperation among some Italian Universities and private companies, a test model for a 10 KVA transformer with HTS secondary windings has been developed, and validated against a demonstrative prototype, manufactured during the project. In the paper, the device model performance is assessed, with particular care to the HTS losses modeling, and some comparisons to the experimental results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we report the accuracy evaluation of the Italian primary frequency standard IEN-CsF1. We discuss the shifts the frequency standard is corrected for and the procedure used for the accuracy evaluation. In the last section we report frequency comparisons of our fountain with those of remote laboratories and with International Atomic Time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a differential synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry (DIFSAR) approach for investigating deformation phenomena on full-resolution DIFSAR interferograms. In particular, our algorithm extends the capability of the small-baseline subset (SBAS) technique that relies on small-baseline DIFSAR interferograms only and is mainly focused on investigating large-scale deformations with spatial resolutions of about 100 x 100 m. The proposed technique is implemented by using two different sets of data generated at low (multilook data) and full (single-look data) spatial resolution, respectively. The former is used to identify and estimate, via the conventional SBAS technique, large spatial scale deformation patterns, topographic errors in the available digital elevation model, and possible atmospheric phase artifacts; the latter allows us to detect, on the full-resolution residual phase components, structures highly coherent over time (buildings, rocks, lava, structures, etc.), as well as their height and displacements. In particular, the estimation of the temporal evolution of these local deformations is easily implemented by applying the singular value decomposition technique. The proposed algorithm has been tested with data acquired by the European Remote Sensing satellites relative to the Campania area (Italy) and validated by using geodetic measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamma-ray large area space telescope (GLAST) is a next generation high-energy gamma-ray space observatory designed for observations of celestial gamma-ray sources in the energy band extending from 10 MeV to more than 100 GeV. The main instrument, the large area telescope (LAT), consists of a microstrip silicon tracker, a calorimeter, an anticoincidence detector, and the data acquisition (DAQ) system. This paper summarizes the results obtained during the radiation testing of the ASIC chips used in the LAT tracker. Both single event effects (SEE) and total ionizing dose effect (TID) tests have been performed, as part of the radiation hardness assurance (RHA) for the planned 5-yr mission. Heavy-ion SEE tests have been performed at the SIRAD irradiation facility at the INFN National Laboratories of Legnaro, Italy (LNL) and at the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Cyclotron Institute, with LET values ranging up to ∼80 MeV × cm²/mg. The tolerance of the chips to ionizing radiation has been evaluated with heavy ions and by irradiating chips with the spherical 60Co gamma source of the LNL CNR-ISOF laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is concerned with the effects of γ-rays on the static, signal and noise characteristics of JFET-based circuits belonging to a fabrication technology made available by the Istituto per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica (ITC-IRST), Trento, Italy. Such a process has been tuned with the aim of monolithically integrating the readout electronics on the same highly resistive substrate as multielectrode silicon detectors. The radiation tolerance of some test structures, including single devices and charge sensitive amplifiers, was studied in view of low-noise applications in industrial and medical imaging, X-and γ-ray astronomy and high energy physics experiments. This paper intends to fill the gap in the study of gamma radiation effects on JFET devices and circuits belonging to detector-compatible technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southern area of Italy is characterized by the presence of many active volcanic areas. In Pozzuoli (Naples, Italy), an urban area characterized by high volcanic risk, a gas emitting site is present. An high percentage of CO2 is emitted, whose atmospheric concentration measurement is an important task in many environmental and scientific applications. In this paper, we describe the utilization over that area of a mobile infrared (IR) laser system, able to measure the CO2 concentration along rectilinear atmospheric paths up to 1-km length, and the result of tomographic processing applied to retrieve a two-dimensional CO2 concentration field. The laser system computes the link averaged concentration by processing the received IR laser radiation propagated along an open-air rectilinear link connecting the transmitter/receiver laser unit and a passive retroreflector device. A one-day measurement campaign has been made and 15 different atmospheric propagation links were considered moving the transmitter/receiver unit and some retroreflectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-year research project, called DRYSMES 4GRID, was recently funded by the Italian Minister of Economic Development, Italy. The project, which involves five Italian partners (companies, universities, and research institutes), is aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of cost-competitive SMES based on magnesium diboride (MgB2 ) with a cryogen-free cooling bymeans of the manufacturing and the testing of a demonstrator with an objective rating of 500 kJ/200 kW. This rating is deemed suitable for disclosing the critical technological aspects of all components in view of practical applications. A further goal of the project is the assessment of the technical and economic benefits that the SMES can bring to real-world electric grids. The general outline and technical objectives of the project are presented in this paper. Preliminary design assumptions and results concerning the MgB2 coil and the power condition system are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The August President's Page is devoted to a description of the IEEE Future Directions Committee by Roberto Saracco. Roberto Saracco is the President of EIT ICTLABS Italy and Italy Node Director (European Institute of Innovation and Technology). His background is in math and computer science. Up to December 2011 he was the Director of the Telecom Italia Future Centre in Venice, looking at the interplay of technology evolution, economics, and society. At the turn of the century he led a World Bank-Infodev project to stimulate entrepreneurship in Latin America. He is a senior member of IEEE, where he has served in various positions in ComSoc, and he currently leads the Future Directions Committee. He has published over 100 papers in journals and magazines and 11 books. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers information on the Electromagnetic Metrology Symposium (EMS) to be held in Torino, Italy on September 9-13, 2013.

The article offers information on the Electromagnetic Metrology Symposium that will be organized by Commission A of the International Union of Radio Science in Torino, Italy, from September 9 to 13, 2013.

The 13th edition of the International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications (ICEAA), and the first edition of the IEEE AP-S Topical Conference on Antennas and Propagation in Wireless Communications (IEEE APWC), were held at Torino, Italy, September 12–16,2011. ICEAA has the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, the Istituto Superiore Mario Boella, and the Torino Wireless Foundation as principal cosponsors. Other technical cosponsors of this edition of ICEAA 2011 were the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), the IEEE ED and MTT Societies, the IEEE Italy Section, and the IEEE North Italy AP, ED and MTT Joint Chapter. IEEE APWC was the first conference of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society held outside the North American continent. Following the memorandum of understanding between ICEAA and IEEE AP-S finalized in September 2010 at Sydney, Australia, the two conferences shared a common registration, organizing and scientific committees, venue, reception, and banquet, and social events. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation (TAP) introduced an Associate Editor for Communications and Membership in December 2020. Prof. Marco Salucci, University of Trento, Italy, became the first to fulfill this role. The purpose of this new position is twofold. One purpose is to communicate to readers, external and internal to IEEE, the value of our contributions to the technologies that are used daily by billions of people around the world. Another purpose is to increase membership by introducing creative strategies to: 1) attract people that exploit the devices and methodologies developed by our authors; 2) to educate and inform people about our society; and 3) reach out to people traditionally affiliated with other societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at relating the stickiness parameter ($\tau$) of the dense media radiative transfer theory in quasi-crystalline approximation of Mie scattering of densely packed sticky spheres (DMRT-QMS), to the physical parameters of the layered snowpack. A relationship has been derived to express $\tau $ , which modulates the attractive contact force between ice spheres, as a function of ice volume fraction ($\phi $) and coordination number ($n_{c}$). Since $\tau $ is not a measurable parameter, this is a step forward with respect to what is commonly made in the literature, where $\tau $ is assumed as an arbitrary parameter, generally ranging between 0.1 and 0.3, to fit simulated backscattering data with those measured. As a first validation, DMRT-QMS was integrated with the SNOWPACK model to simulate backscattering at X-band (9.6 GHz) driven by nivo-meteorological data acquired on a test area located in Monti Alti di Ornella, Italy. The simulations were compared with Synthetic Aperture Radar COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) satellite observations. The results show a significant agreement ($R^{2} =0.68$), although for a limited dataset of eight points in a unique winter season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need of transport interoperability in Europe is a relevant issue nowadays. Particular interest is given to the signaling systems. The TEN-T project focuses one of its workpackages on “EMC Axle Counter Validation.” This work developed in the frame of the TEN-T project develops a procedure to assess the frequency spectrum of the magnitude of the magnetic field, due to the traction current, at the track level. Full-wave 3-D numerical models are developed to predict the field values. The measuring system is previously tested and then used for a measurement campaign. Results are reported in terms of tables and frequency spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Alpine ski-resorts are conventionally powered by the electrical distribution network to perform the snow-making operations throughout the ski slopes. On one hand, these grids can present a low capacity, and on the other, the line lengths are not negligible due to natural obstacles and altitude changes. As a consequence, the voltage drops are remarkable when several power loads are fed by the low voltage section. Based on this aspect, a novel evolution of ski-resorts power grids toward microgrids is pursued to improve the power system quality of service and to foster the implementation of distributed energy resources (DERs). The article examines the ac electrical distribution system installed in the ski-resort of San Vito di Cadore, Italy. A preliminary power flow analysis identifies bottlenecks on voltage profiles and weights effective solutions to evolve the power grid. Four system configurations are contrasted in terms of voltage drop in order to establish the most convenient redesign. A proper voltage profile along the entire ski-resort is ensured by the last solution, which redistributes the loads powering among the five resort's substations. Finally, a techno-economical-environmental analysis explores the possibility of installing DER and storage to feed the resort loads. The study demonstrates the capability of hydropower plant in enhancing microgrid sustainability and environmental friendliness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biography of Riccardo Felici, the professor of Physics at the University of Pisa, Italy, is presented. He was born on June 11, 1819, in Parma, Italy and studied at the University of Pisa. He was then nominated as an assistant of Carlo Matteucci, a pioneer in electrochemistry and electrophysiology. He was married with Elisa Frilling in 1854 and had a daughter. His main contribution was on electrodynamics induction and devised his own differential techniques for measuring the rapid currents

Three methods for identifying, characterizing, and controlling active sonar clutter are described and demonstrated on broadband, low-frequency (<1800 Hz) normalized data collected in two range-dependent, shallow-water environments: the Malta Plateau off Sicily and the Stanton Banks off Scotland. One method examines short time-scale clutter persistence to stabilize/minimize coherent propagation effects. A second method correlates strong clutter echoes with the depth-weighted topographic slope (relative to the sonar) to help predict the significant scatterers. A third method involves moment-based statistical measures [Poisson-Rayleigh-inspired method (PRIM), K-distribution shape parameter, kurtosis] to distinguish between spatially compact and spatially extended clutter objects. As illustrated with the isolation of several anthropogenic objects from widespread topographic clutter on the Malta Plateau, the new Poisson-Rayleigh (P-R)-based method appears to offer some promise in regards to reducing the false alarm rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents two lectures given by professor Charles K. Kao at the Laurea honoris causa Lectio Magistralis in Padova, Italy on October 18, 1996. In the first lecture, he discussed the role of optical fiber in telecommunication and likened information highway to physical transportation. He then tackled the importance of and innovations in the Internet and information technology.

Discusses the events during the International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications held September 8 to 12, 2003 in Torino, Italy. Sponsors; Registrant distribution; Offer of plenary sessions providing maximum interaction among attendees; Presentation of papers on wireless communications chaired by Danilo Erricolo; Session on electromagnetic modeling chaired by N.J. Champagne.

People's opinion around social and political issues is currently witnessed by messages ordinarily posted on social media. With reference to a specific case study, namely the vaccination topic in Italy, this article discusses a crucial aspect in structuring the data processing pipeline in intelligent systems aimed at monitoring the public opinion through Twitter messages: A plain analysis of tweet contents is not sufficient to grasp the diversity of behavior across users. To get a sharper picture of the public opinion as expressed on social media, user-related information must be incorporated in the analysis. Relying on a dataset of tweets about vaccination and on an established text classification system, we present the results of a stance monitoring campaign with advanced analysis on temporal and spatial scales. The overall methodological workflow provides a sound solution for public opinion assessment from Twitter data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we provide an overview of the early developments of theoretical computer science research in Italy in the Sixties and early Seventies. In the same years, the community of researchers working in this domain were organizing to gain an identity among the more traditional disciplines and to obtain a recognition for the "new science" that was taking its first steps. This led in Italy to the creation of Group of Researchers in Theoretical Informatics, in parallel to the institution of European Association for Theoretical Computer Science at European level. In this article, we characterize the Italian contribution to theoretical computer science research in those early years by describing the landscape of activities developed in Italian Universities and research centers in the late sixties and early seventies, on the basis of a census run in 1971 by the newly born GRIT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recombination dipoles D2 (MBRD) for the luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are double aperture magnets to be placed on each side of ATLAS and CMS experiments, generating 4.5 T along a magnetic length of 7.78 m and a bore diameter of 105 mm. Its development plan foresees the construction of a short model 1.6 m long, followed by a prototype and by the series of 6 magnets. The magnet design was carried out at INFN Genova in a collaboration framework with CERN and the construction is ongoing in the industry (ASG Superconductors, Italy). The short model activities have just been accomplished after a successful power test performed at CERN, while the prototype is in its construction phase. In this contribution, the main features of the D2 magnet will be described, underlining the improvements implemented in the prototype with respect to the short model design. Then, the main results of the power test will be presented, focusing on training performance, protection scheme effectiveness and magnetic measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work deals with an Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) model specifically designed to describe the COVID-19 evolution in Italy. The model is particularised on the basis of National data about the infection status of the Italian population to obtain numerical solutions that effectively reproduce the real data. Our epidemic model is a classical SEIR model that incorporates two compartments of infected subpopulations, representing diagnosed and undiagnosed individuals respectively, and an additional quarantine compartment. Possible control actions representing social, political, and medical interventions are also included. The numerical results of the proposed model identification by least square fitting are analysed and commented with special emphasis on the estimation of the number of asymptomatic infective individuals. Our fitting results are in good agreement with the epidemiological data. Short and long-term predictions on the evolution of the disease are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents proofs to support that Guglielmo Marconi stayed in Italy in the summer of 1895. First, the translated letter of Marconi which used the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy's official paper noted that he was in Oropa mountains describing his discoveries. Second, Marconi acknowledged professor Vincenzo Rosa for his private lessons in physics from the fall of 1891 to October 1892 in Livorno when the Swedish Science Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize.

The article reports on the European Robotics Network's launching of the first European Robotics Symposium (EUROS). The symposium is a response to demands for a high-quality scientific event to present the best research on robotics across applications and topics. EUROS will be organized every two years at European locations, with the first taking place from March 16-17, 2006 in Palermo, Italy.

The article focuses on the High Performance Switching and Routing (HPSR) workshop, which took place in Torino, Italy during June 24-27, 2003 under the technical co-sponsorship of IEEE and was financially supported by a number of other organizations. The workshop is the flagship meeting of the IEEE Communication Society's Technical Committee on Communication Switching and Routing. One hundred thirty participants from 24 countries attended the workshop. The technical program covered a wide spectrum of research topics, such as switch architectures, wavelength- division multiplexiing networks, scheduling algorithms, quality of service issues, metro ring networks, optical burst switching networks, resilience, protection and restoration, traffic engineering, packet lookup, classification and forwarding and routing. A lot of attention was devoted in HPSR 2003 to switch architecture. Traffic engineering is a hot topic that is tightly related to routing. Multipoint-to-point label switched path trees has been proposed as a technique to reduce label space usage.

One of the main goals of software engineering is to provide methods to master complexity by practitioning large software systems into simpler components that can be addressed separately. A number of methods and techniques, distilled from experience and best practices, have been published in the literature to help software engineers in the application of the principle of divide and conquer to software systems development. A complex system can be characterized as a system whose properties cannot be studied by suitably decomposing it into components, but rather depend heavily on the interactions among such components. Some systems are inherently complex, that is, there is no way to identify components that simplify the analysis, in other cases, complexity may derive from the current lack of knowledge or experience, especially when new technologies are introduced and new application areas are discovered. The papers selected for this special section of the January/February issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, are representative of the ideas presented at the IEEE International Conference on Engineering Complex Computer Systems, held in Como, Italy. This special section presents four papers selected from those presented at the conference.

River discharge is an important variable to measure in order to predict droughts and flood occurrences. Once the cross-sectional geometry of the river is known, discharge can be inferred from water level and surface flow velocity measurements. Since river discharges are of particular interest during extreme weather events, when river sites cannot be safely accessed, noncontact sensing technologies are particularly appealing. To this purpose, this work proposes a prototype of a low-cost continuous wave (CW) Doppler radar sensor, which is able to monitor the surface flow velocity of rivers. The prototype is tested at two gauged sites in central Italy, along the Tiber River. The surface flow velocity distribution across the river is monitored by means of the analysis of received Doppler signal. The surface velocity statistics are then extracted using a novel algorithm that is optimized to run on a microprocessor platform with minimal computing power (ArduinoUNO). In particular, the radar measurements are used to initialize a 2-D entropy-based velocity model (EVM) that is able to estimate river discharges in any flow condition. Finally, the results concerning the observed discharge provided by the EVM prove to be comparable with those obtained with more expensive commercial solutions. The results are important since the described methodology can be extended to small-size Doppler radar sensors onboard unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the latter providing a method for mapping surface velocity of rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors discuss the legal liabilities of the professional engineer as both the engineer of record of a project and the construction site manager. In particular, this article analyzes the case of a fire at the end-user medium voltage–low-voltage (MV–LV) substation of a shopping center in Italy, which occurred a few years after the maintenance works on the electrical installation. The professional engineer who had designed and overseen the construction of the substation was accused of professional negligence. The authors through the examination of applicable technical standards, as well as of safety regulations, demonstrate that the professional engineer had acted diligently and that there was no ground for the negligence charges. The analysis of the substation fire is provided, and the importance of the chain of custody, the chronological documentation, and the secure storing of all the artifacts and fire-damaged evidence is discussed. The authors believe that this article can be a useful reference for electrical forensics engineers, investigating similar accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last decade and a half have seen a renewed interest in the development of the IT industry in Italy and the role of the 1950s pioneers. The aim of the article is to retrace key stages of the first Italian project aimed at creating an electronic calculator, carried out by the University of Pisa in collaboration with Olivetti. The re-evaluation of the documents kept in the University's archives, including the technical projects, has proved fruitful and has shed light on lesser-known aspects of a project that opened the way to the birth of computer science in the country as a business and as a scientific discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new challenge in power systems design and operation is to organize and control smart micro grids supplying aggregation of users and special loads as electric vehicles charging stations. The presence of renewable and storage can help the optimal operation only if a good control manages all the elements of the grid. New models of green buildings and energy communities are proposed. For a real application they need an appropriate and advanced power system equipped with a building automation control system. This article presents an economic model predictive control approach to the problem of managing the electric and heating resources in a smart building in a coordinated way, for the purpose of achieving in real time nearly zero energy consumption and automated participation to demand response programs. The proposed control, leveraging a mixed integer quadratic programming problem, allows to meet manifold thermal and electric users’ requirements and react to inbound demand response signals, while still guaranteeing stable operation of the building's electric and thermal storage equipment. The simulation results, performed for a real case study in Italy, highlight the peculiarities of the proposed approach in the joint handling of electric and thermal building flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a brief profile of Luca Selmi, new editor of the journal "IEEE Electron Device Letters." He was born in 1961 in Rome, Italy. He received the doctor of philosophy degree in electronic engineering from the University of Bologna in Italy. His careers in the electronics engineering field are also mentioned.