Abstract: Partitioning a water distribution network comprising a set of nodes, a distance between each pair of nodes is defined based on a pre-defined metric, is provided. At least one candidate partition of the water distribution network is determined. For each candidate partition, a plurality of centrally positioned nodes for each district metered area is identified. Repeating: assigning the set of nodes to a particular district metered area and moving the plurality of centrally positioned nodes according to a local objective function based on distances of other nodes of the particular district metered area from the plurality of centrally positioned nodes, until at least one convergence condition is satisfied. A candidate partition of the water distribution network is selected according to at least one selection criterion. The selected candidate partition is configured to decrease water pressure in each district metered area of the selected candidate partition.

Abstract: A method for configuring a distribution network of a commodity, wherein the determination of a setting of each inflow regulating element (according to at least one optimization criterion) is repeated for different versions of a working subset (defined by one or more of the parts having no outflow regulating element whose setting is still to be determined) until the settings of all the regulating elements have been determined. A further aspect provides a software program and a software program product for implementing the method. A further aspect provides a corresponding system.

Abstract: A method, and associated system and computer program product, for configuring a network of interconnected sources and users of a commodity, the method comprises: providing a partition of the users into a plurality of disjoints parts; initializing a grouping of the sources and parts into a plurality of disjoint groups each one comprising one or more interconnected sources and parts; repeating selecting an enlarging group among the groups being over-supplied, selecting an adding part among the parts adjacent to the enlarging group being under-supplied, merging the adding part and the possible group thereof into the enlarging group, and updating the supply balance of the merged enlarging group and the residual demand of the parts thereof according to the merging until all the parts belong to a single group; and determining an arrangement of intercepting/regulating elements according to the conditions of the inter-part connections.

Abstract: Partitioning a water distribution network comprising a set of nodes, a distance between each pair of nodes is defined based on a pre-defined metric, is provided. At least one candidate partition of the water distribution network is determined. For each candidate partition, a plurality of centrally positioned nodes for each district metered area is identified. Repeating: assigning the set of nodes to a particular district metered area and moving the plurality of centrally positioned nodes according to a local objective function based on distances of other nodes of the particular district metered area from the plurality of centrally positioned nodes, until at least one convergence condition is satisfied. A candidate partition of the water distribution network is selected according to at least one selection criterion. The selected candidate partition is configured to decrease water pressure in each district metered area of the selected candidate partition.

Abstract: A solution is proposed for partitioning a network comprising a plurality of nodes, a distance being defined for each pair of nodes according to a pre-defined metric. A corresponding method comprises generating at least one candidate partition of the network comprising a selected number of parts. For each candidate partition said generating comprises initializing a plurality of poles for each part, each pole being initialized to one of the nodes of the network, and repeating assigning the nodes of the network each one to the part with the pole having the shortest distance from the node, and moving the poles of each part to distinct nodes of the part according to an objective function based on the distances of the other nodes of the part from the poles, until at least one convergence condition is satisfied.

Abstract: A method for configuring a distribution network of a commodity, wherein the determination of a setting of each inflow regulating element (according to at least one optimization criterion) is repeated for different versions of a working subset (defined by one or more of the parts having no outflow regulating element whose setting is still to be determined) until the settings of all the regulating elements have been determined. A further aspect provides a software program and a software program product for implementing the method. A further aspect provides a corresponding system.

Abstract: A method, computer program and system to identify peaks generated by different physical ions in a solution including substances by analyzing mass and intensity coordinates of all peaks in a set of mass spectra measured with errors for a certain concentration c of the solution is here disclosed. The peaks in different mass spectra are associated to a same ion if they are sufficiently ‘close’ according to specific discrimination criteria that go beyond the proximity of mass values. A two stage process is applied, each stage consisting in applying the method to identify peaks in mass spectra. In stage 1, the method to identify peaks is applied on each set of mass spectra for each concentration. Resulting sequences of peaks, one peak in each spectrum, are associated to different ions. This output of stage 1 is converted into a set of virtual mass spectra having as virtual peaks, average peak coordinate values calculated on each sequence.

Abstract: A method, computer program and system to identify peaks generated by different physical ions in a solution including substances by analyzing mass and intensity coordinates of all peaks in a set of mass spectra measured with errors for a certain concentration c of the solution is here disclosed. The peaks in different mass spectra are associated to a same ion if they are sufficiently ‘close’ according to specific discrimination criteria that go beyond the proximity of mass values.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method provide a solution for a computer system. The apparatus may include a package containing or referencing a plurality of software components of the solution and containing a solution definition defining in logical terms the topology requirements of the solution. The plurality of software components may be packaged as installable units which comprise a descriptor providing requirements of a target hosting environment for the software component and the software component to be installed. The solution definition of the package may include target hosting environments of the software components of a solution being defined in terms of requirements each software component has on its own target hosting environment and requirements the solution imposes on the target hosting environments.

Abstract: A method, and associated system and computer program product, for configuring a network of interconnected sources and users of a commodity, the method comprises: providing a partition of the users into a plurality of disjoints parts; initializing a grouping of the sources and parts into a plurality of disjoint groups each one comprising one or more interconnected sources and parts; repeating selecting an enlarging group among the groups being over-supplied, selecting an adding part among the parts adjacent to the enlarging group being under-supplied, merging the adding part and the possible group thereof into the enlarging group, and updating the supply balance of the merged enlarging group and the residual demand of the parts thereof according to the merging until all the parts belong to a single group; and determining an arrangement of intercepting/regulating elements according to the conditions of the inter-part connections.

Abstract: A solution is proposed for partitioning a network comprising a plurality of nodes, a distance being defined for each pair of nodes according to a pre-defined metric. A corresponding method comprises generating at least one candidate partition of the network comprising a selected number of parts. For each candidate partition said generating comprises initializing a plurality of poles for each part, each pole being initialized to one of the nodes of the network, and repeating assigning the nodes of the network each one to the part with the pole having the shortest distance from the node, and moving the poles of each part to distinct nodes of the part according to an objective function based on the distances of the other nodes of the part from the poles, until at least one convergence condition is satisfied.

Abstract: A method and a corresponding apparatus for inventoring software products on a plurality of computer are proposed. The inventoring system aims at populating a software catalog without the manual intervention of an administrator. The present invention reduces the cost of producing and maintaining a comprehensive knowledge base (the catalog) which contains definitions of software products and the related signature. Information about software products and their related signature is obtained through a process which gathers information from a potentially very large collection of computers. Any occurrence of a group of identical files across multiple computers is considered a reliable indicator that they belong to the installation footprint of a product.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products for modifying a resource by an authenticated user impersonating another user. In one embodiment of the invention, a lock may be acquired on the resource to be modified, storing the identity of the authenticated user and the identity of the impersonated user inside the lock object, and generating a message indicating that the lock was acquired successfully by the authenticated user impersonating another user.

Abstract: A method, computer program and system to identify peaks generated by different physical ions in a solution including substances by analyzing mass and intensity coordinates of all peaks in a set of mass spectra measured with errors for a certain concentration c of the solution is here disclosed. The peaks in different mass spectra are associated to a same ion if they are sufficiently ‘close’ according to specific discrimination criteria that go beyond the proximity of mass values.

Abstract: A mechanism is provided for managing access authorization to forums open to anonymous users within an organization. A token distributor application provides a unique token to each member of a community or organization. The application is trusted by all members to not store an association between the authenticated user and the token when a token is assigned. The only control exerted by the token distributor is to block users who have already obtained a token from receiving another token. The communication tool or collaboration space may accept creation of a new anonymous identity, such as a nickname, to any individual supplying a token assigned by the token distributor application. An administrator may ban users by token. A banned user cannot access the communication tool or collaboration space using a nickname associated with a banned token.

Abstract: A method and a corresponding system and computer-usable medium for discovering software products on a plurality of one or more computers. The discovering method, system and/or computer-usable medium can populate a software catalogue without the manual intervention of an administrator. Such an approach reduces the cost of producing and maintaining a comprehensive knowledge base (e.g., the catalogue), which contains definitions of software products and the related signature. Signature definitions combine information obtained by the data gathering process and information contained in the registries. This combination allows the creation of a robust signature which reduces to a great extent the possibilities of both “false positive” and “false negative” results.

Abstract: A method, computer program and system to identify peaks generated by different physical ions in a solution including substances by analyzing mass and intensity coordinates of all peaks in a set of mass spectra measured with errors for a certain concentration c of the solution is here disclosed. The peaks in different mass spectra are associated to a same ion if they are sufficiently ‘close’ according to specific discrimination criteria that go beyond the proximity of mass values. A two stage process is applied, each stage consisting in applying the method to identify peaks in mass spectra. In stage 1, the method to identify peaks is applied on each set of mass spectra for each concentration. Resulting sequences of peaks, one peak in each spectrum, are associated to different ions. This output of stage 1 is converted into a set of virtual mass spectra having as virtual peaks, average peak coordinate values calculated on each sequence.

Abstract: A method and a corresponding apparatus for inventoring software products on a plurality of computer are proposed. The inventoring system aims at populating a software catalogue without the manual intervention of an administrator. The present invention reduces the cost of producing and maintaining a comprehensive knowledge base (the catalogue) which contains definitions of software products and the related signature. Information about software products and their related signature is obtained through a process which gathers information from a potentially very large collection of computers. Any occurrence of a group of identical files across multiple computers is considered a reliable indicator that they belong to the installation footprint of a product.

Abstract: A method and a corresponding apparatus for inventorying software products on a plurality of computer are proposed. The inventorying system aims at populating a software catalogue without the manual intervention of an administrator. The present invention reduces the cost of producing and maintaining a comprehensive knowledge base (the catalogue) which contains definitions of software products and the related signature. Information about software products and their related signature is obtained through a process which gathers information from a potentially very large collection of computers. Any occurrence of a group of identical files across multiple computers is considered a reliable indicator that they belong to the installation footprint of a product.

Abstract: A mechanism is provided for managing access authorization to forums open to anonymous users within an organization. A token distributor application provides a unique token to each member of a community or organization. The application is trusted by all members to not store an association between the authenticated user and the token when a token is assigned. The only control exerted by the token distributor is to block users who have already obtained a token from receiving another token. The communication tool or collaboration space may accept creation of a new anonymous identity, such as a nickname, to any individual supplying a token assigned by the token distributor application. An administrator may ban users by token. A banned user cannot access the communication tool or collaboration space using a nickname associated with a banned token.