326,377 research outputs found
From individual dynamics at the microscopic scale to continuum dynamics at the macroscopic scale: The ant colony paradigm
No full textParticular attention is being paid these days to the mathematical modelling of the social behaviour of individuals in a biological population, for different reasons; on one hand there is an intrinsic interest in population dynamics of herds, on the other hand agent based models are being used in complex optimization problems (ACO's, i.e. Ant Colony Optimization). Further decentralized/parallel computing is exploiting the capabilities of discretization of nonlinear reaction-diffusion systems by means of stochastic interacting particle systems.
Among other interesting features, these systems lead to self organization phenomena, which exhibit interesting spatial patterns.
As a working example, an interacting particle system modelling the social behaviour of ants is proposed here, based on a system of stochastic differential equations, driven by social aggregating/repelling "forces". Specific reference to observed species in nature will be made.
Current interest concerns how properties on the macroscopic level depend on interactions at the microscopic level. Among the scopes of the seminar, a relevant one is to show how to bridge different scales at which biological processes evolve; in particular suitable "laws of large numbers" are shown to imply convergence of the evolution equations for empirical spatial distributions of interacting individuals to nonlinear reaction-diffusion equations for a so called mean field, as the total number of individuals becomes sufficiently large.
In order to support a rigorous derivation of the asymptotic nonlinear integrodifferential equation, problems of existence of a weak/entropic solution will be analyzed.
Further the existence of a nontrivial invariant probability measure is analyzed for the stochastic system of interacting particles.
As a further application of the same paradigm, a multiscale model for tumour-driven angiogenesis will be presented.
REFERENCES
[1] Boi S., Capasso V., and Morale D., Modelling the aggregating behaviour of ants of the species Polyergus Rufescens. Spatial heterogeneity in ecological models. Nonlinear Analysis. Real World Appl. 1:163-176, 2000.
[2] Burger M., Capasso V., and Morale D., On an aggregating model with long and short range interactions. Nonlinear Analysis. Real World Appl. 2006.
[3] Morale D., Capasso V. and Oelschlaeger K., An interacting particle system modelling aggregation behaviour: from individuals to populations. J. Mathematical Biology. 50:49-66, 2005.
[4] Capasso V., and Morale D., Stochastic modelling of tumour-induced angiogenesi
Water purification from humic acids by clinoptilolite-rich tuff
No full textHumic substances (HS) are natural polymers produced by biological decomposition of plants and other organisms (Abate and Masini, 2003) and accounting for 50-80% of natural organic matter in water, soil and sediment. HS are generally subdivided into humin, humic acids (HA) and fulvic acids (FA) based on their solubility under acidic or alkaline conditions in aqueous solution. Among numerous methods developed for HA removal from water, adsorption is the most promising approach. Adsorption by low-cost materials, either natural or by-products of industrial activity, has become the focus of intensive investigation (Leone et al., 2012). Previous work (Capasso et al., 2007a; Capasso et al., 2007b) has shown that the Neapolitan yellow tuff (NYT), a volcanic rock rich in phillipsite/chabazite zeolites, binds HA through the action of surface extra-framework exchangeable cations, whereas HA molecules are too big to enter the system of channels and cages of zeolite crystals. The binding ability is markedly enhanced when the zeolitic material is enriched with divalent cations, especially Ca2+, that act as micro-bridges between negative charges on the zeolite surface framework and HA carboxylic groups. Moreover, it has been shown that HA adsorption by natural zeolites is a relatively long-lasting process with kinetic curves characteristic of a two-stage adsorption process (Ambrosone et al., 2013; Capasso et al., 2007b). Here we report a study on the HA adsorption onto a clinoptilolite-rich tuff. The influence of calcium ions and particle sizes were analyzed
Come scrivere la storia utilizzando i papiri secondo Roger S. Bagnall: la volpe, il riccio e le quattro dracme del contadino egiziano
No full textNel presentare la traduzione italiana del volume di Roger Bagnall, "Reading Papyri, writing History", l'articolo evidenzia il contributo storiografico dei papiri
SOKNOPAIOU NESOS PROJECT MISSIONE ARCHEOLOGICA DEL CENTRO DI STUDI PAPIROLOGICI DELL’UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DEL SALENTO, LECCE, A SOKNOPAIOU NESOS/DIME (EL-FAYYUM - EGITTO) TREDICESIMA CAMPAGNA, OTTOBRE-DICEMBRE 2016
No full textResoconto dei risultati della XIII Campagna di Scavo effettuata a Soknopaiou Nesos/DIme (Fayyum, Egitto) dalla Missione Archeologica del Centro di Studi Papirologici dell'Università del Salento, sotto la direzione di Mario Capasso e Paola Davol
Sustainable Climate Engineering Innovation and the Need for Accountability
No full textAlthough still highly controversial, the idea that we can use technology to radically alter our environment in order to mitigate the climate challenges we now face is becoming an ever more discussed approach. This chapter takes up a specific climate engineering technology, carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS), and highlights how this technology works and how its governance still needs further work to ensure that it is aligned to the ideal of sustainable development. Given that climate engineering technologies like CCUS have the potential to ameliorate many of the climate issues and support the SDGs, there remains a lacuna of inserting these globally impactful technologies within a normative political framework to respect that proper responsibility is attributed. The aim of the chapter is to examine the concept of accountability, how it has been traditionally understood in the literature, and why a polysemic and multidimensional account of accountability is required if climate engineering technologies like CCUS are actually to support sustainable development. This may serve as a first theoretically informed basis for reflection on how to create a synergy between the responsible deployment of climate engineering innovation and the achievement of the SDGs targets, one that can shed light on how justifications and decisions about sustainable strategies and constraints are managed, taken and communicated
Responsible nudging for social good: new healthcare skills for AI-driven digital personal assistants
No full textTraditional medical practices and relationships are changing given the widespread adoption of AI-driven technologies across the various domains of health and healthcare. In many cases, these new technologies are not specific to the field of healthcare. Still, they are existent, ubiquitous, and commercially available systems upskilled to integrate these novel care practices. Given the widespread adoption, coupled with the dramatic changes in practices, new ethical and social issues emerge due to how these systems nudge users into making decisions and changing behaviours. This article discusses how these AI-driven systems pose particular ethical challenges with regards to nudging. To confront these issues, the value sensitive design approach is adopted as a principled methodology that designers can adopt to design these systems to avoid harming and contribute to the social good. The AI for Social Good factors are adopted as the norms constraining maleficence. In contrast, higher-order values specific to AI, such as those from the EU High-Level Expert Group on AI and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, are adopted as the values to be promoted as much as possible in design. The use case of Amazon Alexa's Healthcare Skills is used to illustrate this design approach. It provides an exemplar of how designers and engineers can begin to orientate their design programs of these technologies towards the social good
Papiri e Storia Antica, ed. it. a c. di M. Capasso
No full textIl volume analizza il valore storiografico di papiri ed ostraka greci
Big Tech corporations and AI: A Social License to Operate and Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships in the Digital Age
No full textThe pervasiveness of AI-empowered technologies across multiple sectors has led to drastic changes concerning traditional social practices and how we relate to one another. Moreover, market-driven Big Tech corporations are now entering public domains, and concerns have been raised that they may even influence public agenda and research. Therefore, this chapter focuses on assessing and evaluating what kind of business model is desirable to incentivise the AI for Social Good (AI4SG) factors. In particular, the chapter explores the implications of this discourse for SDG #17 (global partnership) and how this goal may encourage Big Tech corporations to strengthen multi-stakeholder partnerships that promote effective public-private and civil society partnerships and the meaningful co-presence of non-market and market values. In doing so, the chapter proposes an analysis of the sociological notion of "social license to operate" (SLO) elaborated in the mining and extractive industry literature and introduces it into the discourse on sustainable digital business models and responsible management of risks in the digital age. This serves to explore how such a social license can be adopted as a practice by digital business models to foster trust, collaboration and coordination among different actors - AI researchers and initiatives, institutions and civil society at large - for the support of SDGs interrelated targets and goals
18. Pernigotti (S.), Capasso (M.), Bakchias. Una città del deserto egiziano che torna a vivere
No full textFournet Jean-Luc. 18. Pernigotti (S.), Capasso (M.), Bakchias. Una città del deserto egiziano che torna a vivere. In: Revue des Études Grecques, tome 109, Juillet-décembre 1996. p. 739
The importance of the thick ascending limb of Henle’s loop in renal physiology and pathophysiology
No full textMiriam Zacchia, Giovanna Capolongo, Luca Rinaldi, Giovambattista Capasso Division of Nephrology, Department of Cardio-Thoracic and Respiratory Sciences, Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy Abstract: The thick ascending limb (TAL) of Henle’s loop is a crucial segment for many tasks of the nephron. Indeed, the TAL is not only a mainstay for reabsorption of sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and divalent cations such as calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) from the luminal fluid, but also has an important role in urine concentration, overall acid–base homeostasis, and ammonia cycle. Transcellular Na+ transport along the TAL is a prerequisite for Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ homeostasis, and water reabsorption, the latter through its contribution in the generation of the cortico-medullar osmotic gradient. The role of this nephron site in acid–base balance, via bicarbonate reabsorption and acid secretion, is sometimes misunderstood by clinicians. This review describes in detail these functions, reporting in addition to the well-known molecular mechanisms, some novel findings from the current literature; moreover, the pathophysiology and the clinical relevance of primary or acquired conditions caused by TAL dysfunction are discussed. Knowing the physiology of the TAL is fundamental for clinicians, for a better understanding and management of rare and common conditions, such as tubulopathies, hypertension, and loop diuretics abuse. Keywords: TAL, sodium handling, potassium handling, acid–base homeostasis, urine concentration 
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