The influence of social capital on community participation in the energy transition

This doctoral thesis investigates the social and individual processes that shape community participation in the energy retrofitting of historic buildings, with a focus on the role of immaterial resources and sustainable interventions. Central to this exploration is the concept of social capital—analyzed through its structural, cognitive, and relational dimensions—to understand how local actors engage in energy transition initiatives, especially in rural contexts. The research aims to fill a c...

The Domestic Chick as a Model for Studying Early Social Behaviors and Dopaminergic Dysfunctions in Autism and Fragile X Syndrome

The ability to engage in social interactions is essential for survival and adaptation, relying on an intricate interplay of innate orienting mechanisms, motivation, and reinforcement learning. Crucially, early life represents a sensitive window for the emergence of such social abilities, and disruptions in these foundational processes are considered as early manifestations of dysfunctional social development, such as in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Importantly, among the neuromodulatory s...

Applicability of IMU in Clinical Research: Improving Upper Limbs Sensor-to-segment Calibration

Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) represent a staple in contemporary motion tracking technology, and they have countless applications in sports, animation, clinical research and biomechanics due to their portability, reliability and low cost. However, several challenges related to orientation estimation, sensor-to-segment calibration and mitigation of soft tissue artifacts prevent such innovative technology from widespread use among the general population. To fill this gap, this work investiga...

A Geometrical Approach to Machine Learning: From Complexity Measures to Quantization

Quantum computing for biophysical and optimization problems

MODELING AND TESTING OF WELDED STRUCTURAL JOINTS MACHINED WITH LASER CUTTING TECHNOLOGY

This doctorate thesis focuses on the impact of using different welding techniques on the performance and failure mechanisms of Hollow Structural Section (HSS) joints manufactured by Laser Cutting Technology (LCT). In mid-high-rise steel structures, Circular or Rectangular Hollow Structural Sections (CHS/RHS) have emerged as recommended structural members. Nonetheless, the complexity of beam-to-column joints of these members often necessitates extensive use of materials and labour force. Using...

Stochastic Mean Field Games within Complex Systems and Interacting Particle Frameworks

This dissertation aims to analyze several advanced topics in stochastic analysis. We begin by examining diffusion approximations for transport equations with dissipative drifts, addressing both time-dependent and time-independent cases. We establish results on the existence and uniqueness of solutions for perturbed stochastic differential equations (SDEs) and demonstrate the convergence of these solutions to those of the unperturbed equations. These findings are then applied to the Cauchy pro...

BIG-THICK DATA GENERATION VIA LIFE SEQUENCES

The large-scale personal big data is collected at high speeds by smart devices, mainly in the form of sensor data. While this extensive type of data allows for the analysis and inference about the environment where it was collected (e.g., locations) and certain aspects of human behavior (e.g., physical activities and transportation modes), a major limitation of this type of data is that it is not thick, that is it does not carry the information about the context within which it was generated....

The nucleolar protein NOC1 is essential for ribosome biogenesis, and its reduction activates a novel MYC-p53 axis mediating nucleolar stress

Ribosome biogenesis is a complex cellular process that relies on the coordinated action of numerous nucleolar proteins and RNAs; a crucial step in this mechanism is represented by rRNA processing and maturation. Defects in this process result in a condition known as nucleolar stress, a field of intensive studies for its relation with human diseases. In Drosophila, defects in ribosome production and functionality is associated with the process of cell competition, where cells with impaired rib...