104 research outputs found
A Dual Bisection Approach to Economic Dispatch of Generators with Prohibited Operating Zones
No full textWe address economic dispatch of power generators with prohibited operating zones. The problem can be formulated as an optimization program with a quadratic cost, non-convex local operating constraints, and a scalar quadratic coupling constraint accounting for load demand and power losses. A duality-based resolution approach integrating a bisection iterative scheme is proposed to reduce computational complexity while guaranteeing finite time feasibility of the primal iterates and a cost improvement throughout iterations. Extensive simulations show that the approach outperforms state-of-the-art competitors and consistently computes feasible primal solutions with a close-to-zero optimality gap at a low computational cost
A novel decentralized approach to large-scale multi-agent MILPs
No full textWe address the optimal operation of a large-scale multi-agent system where agents have to set their own continuous and/or discrete decision variables so as to jointly minimize the sum of local linear performance indices while satisfying local and global linear constraints. When the number of discrete decision variables is large, solving the resulting Mixed Integer Linear Program becomes computationally demanding, and often impossible in practice. Inspired by some recent methods in the literature, we propose a decentralized iterative scheme that recovers computational tractability by decomposing the dual of the MILP problem into lower-dimensional MILPs, one per agent, and obtains feasibility of the recovered primal solution by introducing a fictitious tightening of the global constraints. The tightening is updated in an adaptive fashion according to an heuristic strategy which allows it to both increase and decrease throughout the iterations, depending on the mismatch between the recovered mixed-integer primal solution and the solution to the relaxed linear problem associated with the current tightening. The procedure is shown to be effective and to outperform state-of-the-art alternative resolution schemes in a benchmark example on optimal charging of a fleet of electric vehicles
DualBi: A dual bisection algorithm for non-convex problems with a scalar complicating constraint
No full textThis paper addresses non-convex constrained optimization problems that are characterized by a scalar
complicating constraint. We propose an iterative bisection method for the dual problem (DualBi
Algorithm) that recovers a feasible primal solution, with a performance that progressively improves
throughout iterations. Application to multi-agent problems with a scalar coupling constraint results in a
decentralized resolution scheme where a central unit is in charge of updating the (scalar) dual variable
while agents compute their local primal variables. In the case of multi-agent MILPs, simulations
showcase the performance of the proposed method compared with state-of-the-art duality-based
approache
Probabilistic feasibility in data-driven multi-agent non-convex optimization
No full textIn this paper, we focus on the optimal operation of a multi-agent system affected by uncertainty. In particular, we consider a cooperative setting where agents jointly optimize a performance index compatibly with individual constraints on their discrete and continuous decision variables and with coupling global constraints. We assume that individual constraints are affected by uncertainty, which is known to each agent via a private set of data that cannot be shared with others. Exploiting tools from statistical learning theory, we provide data-based probabilistic feasibility guarantees for a (possibly sub-optimal) solution of the multi-agent problem that is obtained via a decentralized/distributed scheme that preserves the privacy of the local information. The generalization properties of the data-based solution are shown to depend on the size of each local dataset and on the complexity of the uncertain individual constraint sets. Explicit bounds are derived in the case of linear individual constraints. A comparative analysis with the cases of a common dataset and of local uncertainties that are independent is performed
Logical Architecture Optimization via a Markov chain based Hierarchical Clustering Method
No full textDue to the growing complexity of engineering systems, optimization of logical architectures
is becoming fundamental in the economy of the Systems Engineering process. Clusters of functions that are highly interacting with each other should be identified, while minimizing dependencies across the resulting modules. To this purpose, one can consider the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) describing relation between functions and permute its rows and columns to recover a block-diagonal structure with single or double border, with blocks corresponding to clusters of functions and borders to bus-like elements. This paper proposes a method to achieve this by partitioning the nodes of an undirected graph representation of the DSM. More precisely, starting from the DSM structure, a Markov chain is introduced by associating probabilities to transitions between nodes, which are then clustered based on the
similarity among the probability distributions originating from them using a hierarchical clustering scheme. Interestingly, the method does not require any prior knowledge of system structure (e.g. the number of clusters), and it is computationally less demanding than competing algorithms
"Est animum": la figura di Lucrezia Borgia nell'epistolario di Pietro Bembo
No full textAttraverso un riesame della tradizione manoscritta e a stampa delle lettere inviate da Pietro
Bembo a Lucrezia Borgia, il contributo intende mostrare come tali testi fossero stati inseriti dall’autore
in un’opera letteraria unitaria : un epistolario destinato alla pubblicazione postuma. L’esame delle mo-
difiche che Bembo effettuò sulla successione delle epistole a Lucrezia Borgia offre una nuova chiave di
lettura, evidenziando come l’immagine che l’autore intendeva trasmettere ai posteri di sé stesso e di
Lucrezia abbia subito delle trasformazioni nel corso del tempo.Through a review
of the handwritten and printed tradition of the letters sent by Pietro Bembo to Lucrezia Borgia, the
contribution aims to show how these texts had been inserted by the author in a unitary literary work : an
epistolary destined for posthumous publication. The examination of the changes that Bembo made on
the succession of the epistles to Lucrezia Borgia offers a new interpretation of these texts, highlighting
how the image of himself and of Lucrezia that the author intended to convey to posterity of himself and
of Lucrezia underwent transformations through time
Mercy for Anne and a Rose for Lucrezia
No full textAs two of Renaissance Europe\u27s most controversial women, Anne Boleyn and Lucrezia Borgia have been the targets of much conjecture in the world of historical fiction. Sarah Dunant, author of the New York Times bestseller Blood and Beauty poses the question: Why bother with the slander when the truth is more unexpected? Dunant\u27s professional research on Lucrezia draws the fine line between historical fact and popular myth. Unlike Hilary Mantel\u27s Wolf Hall-which greatly exaggerates the monster legend surrounding Anne Boleyn-Blood and Beauty succeeds in being the more compellingly accurate novel, and leading work of historical fiction
The medical context of Lucrezia Marinella
No full textLucrezia Marinella, autora de la obra La nobilità et l 'eccellenza delle donne co 'diffetti et mancamenti de gli huomini (1600), era hija del médico Giovanni Marinello, quien escribió Le medicine partenenti alle infermità delle donne (1536). La obra de Marinella recoge los primeros impresos médicos y farmacológicos italianos aplicados a la salud de las mujeres. En este trabajo se estudia la relación de esta mujer con los médicos
italianos de su época. Lucrezia Marinella, author of the book La nobilità et l 'eccellenza delle donne co 'diffetti et mancamenti de gli huomini (1600), was daughter of the doctor Giovanni Marinello, who wrote Le medicine partenenti alle infermità delle donne (1536). Marinello's work compiles the first medical and pharmacological Italian prints applied to women's health. In this paper we study the relationship of this woman with the Italian doctors of her time
Niceta Coniata fonte dell’Enrico, ovvero Bisanzio acquistato (1635) di Lucrezia Marinella
No full textPer la quarta crociata (1202-1204) l’unica fonte greca contemporanea è la Χρονικὴ διήγησις (Narrazione cronologica) di Niceta Coniata (c. 1150-c. 1217). Tra le opere che testimoniano un interesse storico per la quarta crociata si annovera anche un poema epico-cavalleresco, l’Enrico, ovvero Bisanzio acquistato, pubblicato a Venezia nel 1635, di cui è autrice Lucrezia Marinella, che presenta la vicenda secondo la tradizione veneziana. La conoscenza di Niceta Coniata (II 7,13-14; 8,1), attraverso i suoi tre volgarizzamenti, è particolarmente evidente nel passo in cui Lucrezia Marinella ricorda gli ostacoli frapposti dai Bizantini all’avanzata dei crociati (LXIII-LXV) e soprattutto rievoca la battaglia del Meandro.The only contemporary Greek source for the fourth Crusade (1202-1204) is the Χρονικὴ διήγησις (Narration Chronological) of Niketas Choniates (c. 1150-c. 1217). Among the works that testify to an antiquarian interest for the times of the crusade a poem of chivalry stands out, Enrico, ovvero Bisanzio acquistato, printed in Venice in 1635, whose author, Lucrezia Marinella, presents the story according to the Venetian tradition. Knowledge of Nicetas (II 7,13-14; 8,1), through its three translations into the vernacular, is particularly evident in the passage in which the author recalls the endeavour of the Byzantines to thwart the advance of the Crusaders (LXIII-LXV) and especially remembers the battle by Meander river
Family Resilience and Dyadic Coping during the Outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Their Protective Role in Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being
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Family Resilience and Dyadic Coping during the Outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: Their Protective Role in Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being
by Francesca Giorgia Paleari 1,*ORCID,Irem Ertan 1ORCID,Lucrezia Cavagnis 1ORCID andSilvia Donato 2ORCID
1
Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Bergamo, 24129 Bergamo, Italy
2
Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(18), 6719; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186719
Received: 5 July 2023 / Revised: 14 August 2023 / Accepted: 25 August 2023 / Published: 6 September 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Protecting and Promoting Family Members’ Psychological Health in Challenging Times)
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has dramatically worsened people’s psychological well-being. Our aim was to examine for the first time the concurrent and longitudinal relations of family resilience with hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, and the moderating role of socio-demographics. For people having a romantic partner, we also explored whether family resilience and dyadic coping were uniquely related to well-being. One cross-sectional study (N = 325) and one 10-week follow-up study (N = 112) were carried out during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (April–May 2020) in Northern Italy. Adult participants completed an online questionnaire in both studies. Correlation, multivariate regression, and moderation analyses were carried out with IBM SPSS version 28 and its PROCESS macro. Significance of differences in correlation and regression coefficients was tested through Steiger’s procedure, Wald test, and SUEST method. Family resilience was found to relate more strongly to eudaimonic (versus hedonic) well-being concurrently and to hedonic (versus eudaimonic) well-being longitudinally. The concurrent or longitudinal relations with hedonic well-being were generally stronger for females, part-time workers, and people undergoing multiple stressors. For people having a romantic partner, family resilience was concurrently associated with well-being independently of dyadic coping, whereas dyadic coping was longitudinally related to well-being independently of family resilience. Family resilience was found to protect, in the short term, the psychological well-being of people facing the pandemic outbreak. Its protective role mainly concerned hedonic well-being and was more pronounced for more vulnerable people. For persons having a romantic partner, however, dyadic coping seemed to have equal, if not greater, positive short-term effects
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