239700 research outputs found
Sort by
A Proactive Migration Strategy for MEC Applications in 5G-enabled Vehicular Networks
No full textThe quality of service for delay-sensitive applications in vehicular networks - such as real-time video streaming - can be greatly improved with the adoption of 5G networks and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC). MEC allows vehicular applications to be hosted on virtualized infrastructure at the edge of the network rather than in remote cloud data centers, leveraging improved computing power while keeping end-to-end latency low. In order to experience optimal performance, the MEC application should be kept as close as possible to the vehicle, hence it should be migrated to a different MEC host when the vehicle performs handover to a different radio base station. However, application migration takes a non-negligible, longer time than a radio handover, and this may introduce intolerable delays and hinder service continuity because the vehicle should either halt its communications or stay connected to the previous—suboptimal—MEC host until the migration process has completed. To address this issue, we propose a proactive application migration strategy that leverages a sequence-to-sequence Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model to predict radio handovers and trigger timely migration in advance. Moreover, we show that applications based on Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) are most affected by the above problem due to the congestion control mechanism that may mistakenly confuse higher delays due to migration with network congestion and reduce the application throughput. Thus, we propose a mechanism to properly adjust the size of the TCP congestion window after radio handover based on the MEC Radio Network Information Service (RNIS). System-level simulations show that our proactive application migration solution significantly reduces end-to-end delay compared to traditional reactive strategies, while also preventing unnecessary throughput degradation by optimizing the size of the TCP congestion window
Universal behaviors of the multi-time correlation functions of random processes with renewal: The step noise case (the random velocity of a Lévy walk)
No full textImpolite suffixoids in English slang
No full textThis study conducts a corpus-assisted analysis to investigate the role of some slang morphological means in contexts of impoliteness and offensiveness. In particular, the study adopts a morphopragmatic approach to explore the pragmatic functions/effects associated with the slang suffixoids -ass (e.g. fat ass), -brain (e.g. birdbrain), -face (e.g. shitface), and -head (e.g. airhead) used in verbal aggression. The productivity of -head and similar elements positions them on the borderline between compounding and derivation, as part of transitional morphology, i.e. transitional between sub-components of word-formation. The combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses of data drawn from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA, Davies 2008) demonstrates the frequency of the morphological processes, their privileged co-texts, and their effects in context. The contrastive English-Italian analysis using Open Parallel Corpus – English (OPUS2) illustrates how the two languages express impoliteness and offensiveness through different morphological and syntactic means
The dog domestication: new ichnological evidence from the Upper Palaeolithic of the Bàsura Cave (Toirano, NW Italy)
No full textThe Grotta della Bàsura provides invaluable evidence of human-canid interactions during the Upper Palaeolithic, offering unique insights into early domestication processes and the role of animals in human survival and exploration of hypogean environments. This study focuses on the canine footprints preserved within the cave, combining neoichnological analyses, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and comparative fossil evidence to investigate their origin and significance. Results indicate that the footprints likely belong to a single individual, suggesting a close association between humans and a probable domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris). Neoichnological methods demonstrated that the variation in fossil canine tracks aligns with patterns observed in modern domestic dogs, with key parameters such as footprint width and interdigital angles proving effective for distinguishing forefoot from hindfoot impressions. Regression formulas derived from this analysis reconstructed the trackmaker’s physical characteristics, identifying a large dog weighing approximately 39 kg, with a shoulder height of 69 cm and a total length of 108 cm. The contemporaneity of human and canine tracks is evident through overlapping and superimposed impressions. This ichnological record aligns with genetic and archaeological evidence of dog domestication as a regionally diverse process, dating back 14,400 years. The Grotta della Bàsura represents the earliest direct evidence of domesticated dogs accompanying humans, underscoring their essential role in survival, adaptation, and exploration during the Upper Palaeolithic
Focusing on When and How “the Brahmins Won”: The Case of dakṣiṇā in Reformed and Non-Reformed Vedic Sources
No full textFor some years now some eminent Scholars have been arguing that the officiant-patron distinction and the “orthodox” sacrificial arena might have been realized for the first time by the bearers of the Yajurveda culture. Concurrently, since 2007 onwards, Bronkhorst has in many ways proved that not all ancient Indian institutions necessarily descended from the “Brahmanical” mainstream. In this paper, we show how even what has been commonly considered as an original and evergreen institution, i.e. the dákṣiṇā as priestly gift had indeed been developed especially by the Yajurvedic texts in line with the Brahmins’ action of “re- inventing themselves”. As already demonstrated in Candotti et al. 2020 and 2021, the earliest occurrences of the term testify a completely different ritual and social context. The evolution of the concept in the Yajurveda is grasped through the analysis of every detail of the different versions of the same rite or prayer including the term; this allows us to highlight the intriguing progressive editing process of the handed-down texts
Yet another exponential Hopfield model
No full textWe propose and analyze a new variation of the so-called exponential Hopfield model, a recently introduced family of associative neural networks with unprecedented storage capacity. Our construction is based on a cost function defined through exponentials of standard Mean Squared Error (MSE) loss function per pattern, which naturally favors configurations corresponding to perfect recall. Despite not being a mean-field system, the model admits a tractable mathematical analysis of its dynamics and retrieval properties that agree with those for the original exponential model introduced by Ramsauer and coworkers. By means of a signal-to-noise approach, we demonstrate that stored patterns remain stable fixed points of the zero-temperature dynamics up to an exponentially large number of patterns in the system size. We further quantify the basins of attraction of the retrieved memories, showing that while enlarging their radius reduces the overall load, the storage capacity nonetheless retains its exponential scaling. An independent derivation in the perfect recall regime confirms these results and provides an estimate of the relevant prefactors. We also compare typical case (as standard in statistical mechanics) vs worst case (as standard in machine learning) recall criteria, finding an exponential storage capacity even for the latter case. Our findings thus complement and extend previous studies on exponential Hopfield networks, establishing that even under robustness constraints these models preserve their exceptional storage capabilities. Beyond their theoretical interest, such networks point towards principled mechanisms for massively scalable associative memory, potentially offering a theoretical way out of the storage-bottleneck problem caused by the current trend of digital data production doubling roughly every couple of years. As an illustration, we show that in order to store 150 zettabytes, i.e. approximately all digital data stored worldwide at present, an exponential Hopfield model of the proposed type with less than a hundred neurons would suffice
Combination of Metronomic Chemotherapy and Rituximab in Frail and Elderly Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Follicular Lymphoma and Ineligible for Lenalidomide Treatment: A Retrospective Analysis
No full textBackground/objectives: Relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (rrFL) remains difficult to treat in elderly or frail patients who cannot tolerate standard-dose immuno-chemotherapy as well as novel therapies. Metronomic chemotherapy (mCHEMO) may offer sustained antitumor activity with reduced toxicity. This study assessed the clinical activity and safety of R-DEVEC or R-DEVEC-light in rrFL patients following lenalidomide discontinuation or ineligibility.
Methods: Data from the ReLLi Lymphoma Registry (2013-2025) were retrospectively analyzed. Eligible patients had rrFL after ≥1 prior therapy and initiated mCHEMO at least six months before data cutoff. Thirteen patients received DEVEC or the etoposide-free DEVEC-light regimen; all but one also received rituximab. Responders received maintenance vinorelbine, low-dose prednisone, and rituximab, followed by vinorelbine-only maintenance until progression or intolerance. Responses were assessed by CT after cycle two and PET/CT at completion of six induction cycles.
Results: median age was 77 years (range 58-92); most patients were frail and had advanced disease. At the end of induction, 84% achieved remission (46% CR, 38% PR), with three PR converting to CR during maintenance. After a median follow-up of 27 months, the PFS was 42% (95CI 15-69%) and the OS 73% (95CI 47-100%). A transformation occurred in one patient; the main toxicity was grade 3 neutropenia (31%). DEVEC-light showed improved tolerability versus full DEVEC, with manageable infections and rare discontinuations.
Conclusions: Metronomic R-DEVEC-light is a feasible and effective disease-controlling strategy for frail, heavily pretreated rrFL patients who do not tolerate lenalidomide and are excluded from modern therapies. This schedule warrants further prospective evaluation and exploration in combination with targeted agents
SOLPS-ITER numerical simulations of ITER-scale Snowflake divertors: low-field-side SF−/SF+ and high-field-side SF−/SF+ configurations
No full textUsing the edge plasma code package SOLPS-ITER, we study the four types of Snowflake (SF) divertors for an ITER-size tokamak, with toroidal magnetic field BT similar to 5 T, major radius R similar to 5 m and plasma current Ip similar to 10 MA. Our aim is to provide insights into SF divertor design for future devices. In this work, the impacts of magnetic geometry and divertor target geometry in the four types of SF configurations on plasma behavior and power exhaust performance are investigated in detail. Low-recycling regime, high-recycling and detachment in the four types of SF divertors are obtained through an upstream density scan. The secondary X-point positions of SF divertors are systematically varied to examine their impact. For Low-Field-Side (LFS) SF- and High-Field-Side (HFS) SF- divertors the observed power splitting, induced by the secondary X-point, is consistent with experimental observations. The effect of target geometry is studied by comparing the flat target plates with the ITER-like divertor shape. The overall simulation results reveal a notable consequence of the LFS SF- divertor: a closed structure of the inner target with highly inclined plate can compress recycling neutrals originating from the HFS divertor region towards the LFS Scrape-Off Layer (SOL) and Private Flux Region regions. This results in considerable volumetric dissipation through strong ionization and recombination, causing the connected outer target region to detach. This feature can be considered in the design of the LFS SF- divertor for future devices. For the LFS and HFS SF+ divertors, the region between the two X-points exhibits strong ionization and recombination sources which are close to the primary X-point. This feature might be beneficial for the formation of X-Point Radiator (XPR) but would require further impurity seeding simulation study
La "ripenalizzazione" del blocco stradale nel "decreto sicurezza": la criminalizzazione del dissenso alla prova delle garanzie costituzionali
No full textIl contributo si propone di analizzare le modifiche introdotte dal d.l. 11 aprile 2025, n. 48 (“decreto sicurezza”), in tema di blocco stradale e ferroviario, con particolare riferimento alla riformulazione dell’art. 1-bis d.lgs. 22 gennaio 1948, n. 66. La novella reintroduce la rilevanza penale del blocco realizzato con il proprio corpo e innalza sensibilmente il trattamento sanzionatorio in caso di commissione del fatto da parte di più persone riunite. Dopo aver ripercorso l’evoluzione normativa dell’illecito, evidenziando un andamento oscillante e fortemente influenzato dalle congiunture politico-sociali, l’indagine approfondisce plurimi profili di rilievo dogmatico: la problematica definizione dell’oggetto giuridico del reato, la formulazione in termini di reato d’evento, il rapporto con altri reati e, in particolare, con il delitto di violenza privata (art. 610 c.p.) e, infine, la collisione con i principi di matrice costituzionale e convenzionale. Da ultimo, in una prospettiva critica, si rileva come l’incriminazione costituisca espressione di una diffusa tendenza alla criminalizzazione delle manifestazioni di dissenso politico, in cui il diritto penale si pone quale strumento privilegiato di gestione del conflitto sociale
Optically Transparent Frequency Selective Surfaces for Electromagnetic Shielding in Cybersecurity Applications
No full textWith the widespread diffusion of personal Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Electromagnetic Side-Channel Attacks (EM-SCAs), which exploit electromagnetic emissions to uncover critical data such as cryptographic keys, are becoming extremely common. Existing shielding approaches typically rely on bulky or opaque materials, which limit integration in modern IoT environments; this motivates the need for a transparent, lightweight, and easily integrable solution. Thus, to address this threat, we propose the use of electromagnetic metasurfaces with shielding capabilities, fabricated with an optically transparent conductive film. This film can be easily integrated into glass substrates, offering a novel
and discrete shielding solution to traditional methods, which are typically based on opaque dielectric media. The paper presents two proof-of-concept case studies for shielding against EM-SCAs. The first one investigates the design and fabrication of a passive metasurface aimed at shielding emissions from chip processors in IoT devices. The metasurface is conceived to attenuate a specific frequency range, characteristic of the considered IoT processor, with a target attenuation of 30 dB. At the same time, the metasurface ensures that signals from 4G and 5G services are not affected, thus preserving normal wireless communication functioning. Conversely, the second case study introduces an active metasurface for dynamic shielding/transmission behavior, which can be modulated through diodes according to user requirements. This active metasurface is designed to block undesired electromagnetic emissions within the 150–465 MHz frequency range, which is a common band for screen gleaning security threats. The experimental results demonstrate an attenuation of approximately 10 dB across the frequency band when the shielding mode is activated, indicating a substantial reduction in signal transmission. Both the case studies highlight the potential of transparent metasurfaces for secure and dynamic electromagnetic shielding, suggesting their discrete integration in building windows or other environmental structural elements