Sample records for valutazione dei valori
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Esposito, Mauro; Cavallo, Stefania; Rosato, Guido; Chiaravalle, Eugenio; Miedico, Oto; Pellicanò, Roberta; Soprano, Vittorio; Baldi, Loredana
2016-01-01
INTRODUZIONE: una vasta area compresa tra le province di Napoli e Caserta nella regione Campania ha negli ultimi anni attirato l'attenzione dei mass media a causa degli interramenti illeciti di rifiuti di varia origine nei campi o del loro abbandono lungo le strade. A tali pratiche illecite si aggiunge il fenomeno dei roghi incontrollati di questo materiale, motivo per il quale la zona è stata soprannominata "Terra dei fuochi". OBIETTIVI: ricerca di elementi in tracce presenti nei prodotti alimentari di origine vegetale prodotti nella Terra dei fuochi. DISEGNO E SETTING: piano di monitoraggio per il rilevamento dei livelli di alcuni metalli tossici ed essenziali nei vegetali coltivati in Campania nella Terra dei fuochi. La determinazione dei microelementi è stata effettuata dopo mineralizzazione della sostanza organica mediante microonde, utilizzando la spettrometria di massa a plasma induttivamente accoppiato (ICP-MS). RISULTATI: durante l'attività di monitoraggio sono stati raccolti 65 campioni di ortaggi e 49 campioni di frutta in 43 comuni rientranti nella Terra dei fuochi. Il contenuto medio di metalli tossici, cadmio e piombo nei prodotti ortofrutticoli è risultato ben lontano dai limiti massimi fissati dalla normativa europea. I valori delle concentrazioni sono significativamente inferiori rispetto a quanto riscontrato in zone ad alto impatto ambientale a causa della presenza di impianti industriali. CONCLUSIONI: la presenza di elementi tossici o potenzialmente tali nei campioni vegetali prodotti nella Terra dei fuochi è attribuibile a una varietà di fattori ambientali rilevanti (caratteristiche geologiche dell'area, inquinamento del suolo, dell'atmosfera e delle acque di irrigazione, pratiche illecite di smaltimento dei rifiuti industriali); non sembra, tuttavia, sussistere un rischio per la salute dei consumatori. Resta comunque l'allerta per la loro presenza nell'ambiente e la necessità che le attività di monitoraggio continuino.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cavenago, Dario; Mezzanzanica, Mario
I servizi sono oramai centrali nella vita sociale di ogni Paese. L'aspettativa di ogni attore sociale, sia esso cittadino/utente e/o istituzione, è quella di ricevere da uno scambio che ha alla base un servizio un contributo che si caratterizza per una qualità intrinseca. Il mantenimento di tale promessa richiede all'azienda erogatrice un forte coinvolgimento, nel disegno del servizio, degli utenti ed una capacità di gestione della conoscenza; ciò è particolarmente significativo per quei servizi che si caratterizzano per una forte personalizzazione o complessità progettuale. Disegnare un servizio, metterlo in produzione e gestirne l'erogazione ha una complessità variabile in base al grado di coinvolgimento dei destinati ed alle dimensioni critiche che esprimono le condizioni di fattibilità di un servizio di qualità appropriato alle attese degli utilizzatori. Ugualmente la globalizzazione dell'economia e la scarsità delle risorse ha portato l'attenzione, ai fini della sostenibilità delle condizioni sopra richiamate, di una ricerca di modelli e strumenti che permettano una valutazione e una standardizzazione dei processi di produzione ed erogazione secondo condizioni di economicità. Tali primi e sintetici elementi hanno condotto diversi attori istituzionali, grandi imprese ed università attraverso i loro centri di ricerca, ad una azione di riflessione sul grado di "ingegnerizzazione" dei processi sottesi alla erogazione dei servizi ed in particolare ai servizi che attuano le politiche dei grandi settori di base dell'economia di una Nazione: educazione, sanità, sociale, sviluppo infrastrutture ecc.
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[Atmospheric non-methane hydrocarbons near plants of crude oil first treatment].
Bustaffa, Elisa; De Marinis Loiotile, Annamaria; Farella, Genoveffa; Petraccone, Stefania; De Gennaro, Gianluigi; Bianchi, Fabrizio
2016-01-01
La continua espansione delle attività di perforazione ai fini dell'estrazione petrolifera in prossimità di aree abitate ha fatto sì che negli ultimi anni l'attenzione si focalizzasse sull'impatto di questo processo fortemente industrializzato sulla salute pubblica. Le comunità che vivono nei dintorni di impianti di questo tipo devono, infatti, fronteggiare diversi problemi, quali l'inquinamento atmosferico e acustico, la contaminazione del suolo e delle acque sotterranee, il traffico dei camion da e verso il sito, incidenti e malfunzionamenti all'interno dell'impianto. In questo contesto, la valutazione del rischio per la salute è ostacolata dal fatto che l'esposizione alle sostanze chimiche presenti non può essere valutata in via definitiva, poiché non sempre si è a conoscenza di tutti i composti immessi nell'ambiente né delle loro concentrazioni, per non parlare del problema delle coesposizioni ad altri inquinanti. Nonostante l'oramai conclamato e vasto interesse generato da questo argomento, ad oggi esistono pochi studi basati su popolazioni riguardanti gli effetti sulla salute delle comunità che vivono in prossimità dei siti di perforazione ed estrazione; ciò genera la necessità di condurre campagne di monitoraggio mirate e studi epidemiologici che verifichino l'eventuale esistenza e natura di pattern di malattie associati a tali attività. La presente rassegna bibliografica individua, quindi, i principali inquinanti atmosferici presenti in prossimità di un impianto di primo trattamento del greggio e cerca di fornire un quadro generale delle loro potenziali sorgenti e caratteristiche.
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[La diagnosi del disturbo da uso di alcol dal punto di vista psicologico].
Coriale, Giovanna; Fiorentino, Daniela; Porrari, Raffaella; Battagliese, Gemma; Capriglione, Ida; Cereatti, Federica; Iannuzzi, Silvia; Mauri, Benilde; Galli, Domenica; Fiore, Marco; Attilia, Maria Luisa; Ceccanti, Mauro
2018-01-01
RIASSUNTO. Il disturbo da uso di alcol (DUA) è uno dei disturbi psichiatrici più comuni nella popolazione generale. Il DUA è caratterizzato da un pattern di bere eccessivo, che si mantiene nonostante gli effetti negativi che l'alcol ha sul funzionamento lavorativo, sulla salute, sulle problematiche legali, sull'educazione e sulla vita sociale. Attualmente, il modello bio-psico-sociale è quello che spiega meglio il DUA. Infatti, molte ricerche hanno fornito evidenze su come il DUA sia una patologia multidimensionale. Variabili biologiche, psicologiche e socio-culturali entrano in gioco nell'eziologia, nella natura, nel mantenimento e nel cambiamento nel tempo del disturbo. La fase diagnostica è un momento importante del processo di cura, perché il successo del trattamento dipende in larga misura dall'esattezza e dall'adeguatezza della diagnosi. La diagnosi clinica si basa su una valutazione globale del funzionamento del paziente e utilizza il colloquio e gli strumenti psicometrici come mezzo di raccolta di informazioni. Questo articolo fornirà una panoramica delle dimensioni psicologiche più importanti da valutare e sui migliori strumenti psicometrici da usare per una diagnosi adeguata.
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Il ruolo svolto dall’attività lavorativa sull’ipertensione arteriosa
Barbini, N.; Gorini, G.; Ferrucci, L.; Biggeri, A.
2009-01-01
RIASSUNTO Introduzione I parametri di pressione arteriosa, sistolica (PAS) o diastolica (PAD) hanno costituito I’oggetto di numerosi studi, alcuni dei quali stabiliscono un’associazione tra I’aumnto di tali parametri e la mortalità, in particolare alle età medie. I fattori di rischio di ipertensione più frequentemente studiati sono il consumo di alcol, il fumo e I’origine etnica in riferimento sia alle differenze genetiche che nella condotta alimentare, mentre i fattori di origine professionale sono stati presi in considerazione più raramente e in maniera poco approfondita, inoltre sono state riferite notevoli differenze nelle pressioni arteriose medie di individui che svolgono professioni diverse. Sembra infatti che i “colletti blu” siano più a rischio dei “colletti bianchi”. Obiettivi Il nostro scopo è valutare se determinati rischi o vincoli connessi con l’attività professionale o determinati stili di vita rappresentano un fattore di rischio per l’ipertensione arteriosa in considerazioni dell’aumentare dell’età. Elementi specifici che rendano conto di questa relazione non sono stati ancora completamente chiariti e soprattutto i dati sulla popolazione italiana sono molto limitati. Metodi La metodologia di ricerca utilizzata è stata quella dell’indagine francese ESTEV (Derriennic, Touranchet, Volkoff) - VISAT (Marquie, Janson), studio epidemiologico longitudinale su oltre 23000 lavoratori attivata in Francia nel 1990 al fine di indagare gli effetti a lungo termine delle condizioni di lavoro, riferite all’intera vita professionale, sia sull’invecchiamento sia sulla salute dei lavoratori. Analoga indagine è stata avviata in Italia, nel 2000, in 6 Regioni, prendendo in esame i lavoratori dipendenti di diversi settori produttivi appartenenti a 5 coorti di età: da 32 a 52 anni con intervallo di 5 anni. Le rilevazioni sono state effettuate dai medici del lavoro di azienda attraverso 3 questionari: 1. sulle condizioni professionali (esposizione a determinati rischi o vincoli); 2. sugli stili di vita e la salute percepita secondo il Nottingham Health Profile; 3. sulle condizioni oggettive di salute. Per il presente lavoro saranno considerati solo alcuni parametri utili all’approfondimento epidemiologico nel settore cardiocircolatorio. Essi riguarderanno: 1) le condizioni di lavoro, 2) la valutazione soggettiva del lavoro, 3) costrizioni specifiche del lavoro vissute come più gravose con l’avanzare dell’età. Relativamente all’ipertensione, sono stati considerati ipertesi i soggetti che presentavano una PAS ≥160 mm/Hg e/o una PAD ≥90 mm/Hg nonché coloro in cura antipertensiva. Risultati I risultati si riferiscono a 1104 lavoratori, di cui 76% uomini e 24% donne. La prevalenza di ipertensione si è dimostrata più elevata nei maschi (33% Vs 22%). Le stime del rischio hanno evidenziato una associazione statisticamente significativa con alcuni fattori lavorativi come mantenere posture difficili (O.R. 1.71), lavorare in presenza di calore (O.R. 1.43), a contatto con agenti chimici (O.R, 1.31). stare a lungo seduti (O.R. 1.48), fare più cose contemporaneamente (O.R. 1.41), essere interrotti nel proprio lavoro (O.R. 1,35). non poter distogilere gli occhi dal lavoro (O.R.1.61). Conclusioni Noi abbiamo osservato che alcune caratteristiche fisiche del lavoro, ma soprattutto quelle di tipo organizzativo sono fortemente associate all’ipertensione arteriosa. Un elemento importante è sembrata la valutazione soggettiva del valore che i lavoratori danno del proprio lavoro: tale elemento è fortemente connesso con I’organizzazione del lavoro, pertanto è un possibile target di prevenzione (fattore di rischio modificabile). PMID:17886759
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Meningococco B: controllo di due focolai epidemici mediante vaccinazione
2014-01-01
Riassunto La problematica di un efficace approccio vaccinale nei confronti del Meningococco B (MenB) è stata superata identificando con la metodica della "reverse vaccinology" alcuni antigeni capaci di indurre una risposta verso la maggior parte dei ceppi di MenB circolanti nel mondo. Il nuovo vaccino MenB a 4 componenti (4CMenB) è stato autorizzato in Europa, Australia e Canada, ed è entrato nei calendari di immunizzazione pediatrica internazionali: Australia, Canada, UK. In Italia, le prime regioni che hanno raccomandato la vaccinazione contro il MenB sono state Basilicata e Puglia. La gestione di epidemie/focolai epidemici richiede la messa in atto di una risposta rapida da parte delle autorità sanitarie nei confronti di una emergenza sanitaria ad elevato impatto, anche emotivo, sulla popolazione, come recentemente dimostrato in due università americane. Alla dichiarazione di focolaio epidemico in atto, in entrambi i contesti si è attivata una procedura per l'uso del vaccino 4CMenB non ancora autorizzato negli USA. È stato così possibile organizzare gli interventi di profilassi attiva nei due campus universitari, adottando il primo impiego su larga scala del nuovo vaccino 4CMenB e conseguendo, in tempi relativamente brevi, elevati tassi di copertura vaccinale. A fronte di circa 14000 studenti immunizzati con almeno una dose, non è stata segnalata alcuna problematica di eventi avversi conseguenti all'immunizzazione; ad oggi non si sono verificati casi nei soggetti che hanno ricevuto il vaccino. Come conseguenza dei due focolai descritti, è oggi in corso la valutazione da parte dell'FDA per l'estensione dell'uso del vaccino 4CMenB negli Stati Uniti negli adolescenti e giovani adulti. PMID:25916017
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SSC-20170608-Journey Band Member Tours Stennis
2017-06-08
Ross Valory, bass guitar player with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Journey, visited NASA’s Stennis Space Center on June 8. Valory, along with several members of their crew, toured various facilities at Stennis including the B-2 Test Stand which will be used to test the core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System or SLS. The SLS is a powerful, advanced launch vehicle for a new era of human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. With its unprecedented power and capabilities, SLS will launch crews of up to four astronauts in the agency’s Orion spacecraft on missions to explore multiple, deep-space destinations eventually including Mars. During the tour, Valory made this short video about America’s journey to Mars.
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Bonsignore, Maria; Andolfi, Nunzia; Quinci, Enza Maria; Madeddu, Anselmo; Tisano, Francesco; Ingallinella, Vincenzo; Castorina, Maria; Sprovieri, Mario
2016-01-01
OBIETTIVI: valutare e quantificare l'esposizione umana al mercurio (Hg) ed esplorare i fattori chiave che influenzano la contaminazione nelle popolazioni residenti in prossimità della Rada di Augusta, un'area a elevato rischio ambientale a causa degli effetti degli sversamenti incontrollati di Hg da parte di uno dei più grandi impianti cloro-soda d'Europa. DISEGNO: un campione di residenti nei comuni di Augusta, Priolo e Melilli (Sicilia orientale) è stato selezionato per lo studio di biomonitoraggio umano. Un questionario dettagliato è stato somministrato a ogni partecipante per raccogliere informazioni anagrafiche sulle abitudini di vita e alimentari. I livelli di Hg in sangue e capelli, usati come traccianti di esposizione a metilmercurio, sono stati messi in relazione al consumo di pesce locale. Il contenuto di Hg nelle urine è stato utilizzato per esplorare eventuali esposizioni atmosferiche a Hg inorganico. Una regressione lineare multivariata è stata applicata con l'obiettivo di esplorare i fattori che influenzano l'esposizione umana al Hg. L'approccio tossicocinetico è stato impiegato al fine di calcolare la dose settimanale provvisoria tollerabile ( provisional tolerable weekly intake, PTWI) e di predire le concentrazioni di Hg attese nel sangue degli individui con una dieta alimentare basata esclusivamente su pesce locale. 224 individui residenti nei comuni di Augusta, Melilli e Priolo. RISULTATI: eccessi di Hg sono stati misurati nel sangue e nei capelli del campione considerato. I più alti livelli sono stati rilevati ad Augusta, dove anche il consumo di pesce locale risulta maggiore. I valori di dose settimanale tollerabile provvisoria (PTWI) calcolati eccedono, nella maggior parte dei casi, le raccomandazioni internazionali, specialmente nei residenti ad Augusta. CONCLUSIONI: gli elevati livelli di Hg registrati nei campioni di sangue e capelli derivano, con ogni probabilità, dal consumo di pesce locale. Rispetto ad Augusta, gli individui di Priolo e Melilli subiscono un impatto più limitato. L'esposizione a Hg inorganico può essere considerata trascurabile.
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Aortopexy for the treatment of tracheomalacia in children: review of the literature
2012-01-01
Abstract Severe tracheomalacia presents a significant challenge for Paediatricians, Intensivists, Respiratory Physicians, Otolaryngologists and Paediatric Surgeons. The treatment of tracheomacia remains controversial, but aortopexy is considered by most to be one of the best options. We conducted a review of the English literature relating to aortopexy. Among 125 papers, 40 have been included in this review. Among 758 patients (62% males) affected with tracheomalacia, 581 underwent aortopexy. Associated co-morbidities were reported in 659 patients. The most frequent association was with oesophageal atresia (44%), vascular ring or large vessel anomalies (18%) and innominate artery compression (16%); in 9% tracheomalacia was idiopathic. The symptoms reported were various, but the most important indication for aortopexy was an acute life-threatening event (ALTE), observed in 43% of patients. The main preoperative investigation was bronchoscopy. Surgical approach was through a left anterior thoracotomy in 72% of patients, while median approach was chosen in 14% and in 1.3% a thoracoscopic aortopexy was performed. At follow-up (median 47 months) more than 80% of the patients improved significantly, but 8% showed no improvement, 4% had a worsening of their symptoms and 6% died. Complications were observed in 15% of patients, in 1% a redo aortopexy was deemed necessary. In our review, we found a lack of general consensus about symptom description and evaluation, indications for surgery, though ALTE and bronchoscopy were considered by all an absolute indication to aortopexy and the gold standard for the diagnosis of tracheomalacia, respectively. Differences were reported also in surgical approaches and technical details, so that the same term “aortopexy” was used to describe different types of procedures. Whatever approach or technique was used, the efficacy of aortopexy was reported as high in the majority of cases (more than 80%). A subgroup of patients particularly delicate is represented by those with associated gastro-esophageal reflux, in whom a fundoplication should be performed. Other treatments of tracheomalacia, particularly tracheal stenting, were associated with a higher rate of failure, severe morbidity and mortality. Non english abstract La tracheomalacia severa rappresenta una sfida per Pediatri, Intensivisti, Pneumologi, Otorinolaringoiatri, Chirurghi Pediatri. Il trattamento della tracheomalacia è tuttora controverso. L’aortopessi è considerata da molti la migliore opzione terapeutica. Abbiamo condotto una revisione della letteratura di lingua inglese su tale argomento. Di 125 lavori, 40 sono stati inclusi nella revisione. Tra 758 pazienti (62% maschi) affetti da tracheomalacia, 581 sono stati sottoposti ad aortopessi tra il 1968 e il 2008. In 659 pazienti alcune comorbidità erano presenti. L’associazione più frequente era con l’atresia esofagea (44%), l’anello vascolare o un’anomalia dei grossi vasi (18%), la compressione da parte dell’arteria innominata (16%); nel 9% la tracheomalacia era idiopatica. I sintomi riportati sono stati variabili, ma l’indicazione più importante all’aortopessi sono stati eventi di ALTE, osservati nel 43% dei pazienti. Lo studio diagnostico preoperatorio principale è stato la broncoscopia. L’approccio chirurgico è avvenuto attraverso una toracotomia anteriore sinistra nel 72% dei pazienti, mentre un approccio mediano è stato scelto nel 14% e nell’1.3% dei casi è stato eseguito un approccio toracoscopico. Al follow-up (mediana di 47 mesi) la maggioranza dei pazienti sono migliorati significativamente, ma l’8% di essi non è migliorato, il 4% è peggiorato e il 6% è morto. Complicazioni sono state riportate nel 15% dei pazienti, nell’1% un nuovo intervento di aortopessi è stato necessario. In questa revisione abbiamo trovato che non c’è un consenso generale sulla valutazione e sulla descrizione dei sintomi, sulle indicazioni chirurgiche ed esami preoperatori, anche se le ALTE e la broncoscopia venivano considerate rispettivamente un’indicazione assoluta all’aortopessi e il “gold standard” diagnostico per la tracheomalacia. Venivano riportate differenze negli approcci chirurgici e nei dettagli tecnici, e lo stesso termine di aortopessi veniva usato per indicare diverse procedure chirurgiche. In ogni caso, indipendentemente dall’approccio o tecnica utilizzati, l’efficacia dell’aortopessi veniva riportata come elevata nella maggioranza dei casi (più dell’80%). Un sottogruppo di pazienti particolarmente delicato è rappresentato da quelli con reflusso gastroesofageo associato, nei quali sarebbe indicata una fundoplicatio. Altri trattamenti della tracheomalacia, quali stent tracheale, sembrano gravati da una maggiore percentuale di insuccessi, morbidità severa e mortalità. PMID:23110796
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Maxwell, O.; Wagiran, H.; Lee, S. K.; Embong, Z.; Ugwuoke, P. E.
2015-02-01
The activity concentrations of uranium and toxic elements in Dei-Dei borehole, Kubwa borehole, Water Board and hand-dug well water samples in Abuja area were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) system. The results obtained were used to calculate human radiological risk over lifetime consumption by the inhabitants in the area. The activity concentrations of 238U in all the water supplies for drinking ranges from 0.849 mBq L-1 to 2.699 mBq L-1 with the highest value of 2.699 mBq L-1 noted at Dei-Dei borehole whereas the lowest value of 0.849 mBq L-1 was noted in Kubwa borehole. The highest annual effective dose from natural 238U in all the water samples was found in Dei-Dei borehole with a value of 8.9×10-5 mSv y-1 whereas the lowest value was noted in Kubwa borehole with a value of 2.8×10-5 mSv y-1. The radiological risks for cancer mortality were found distinctly low, with the highest value of 1.01×10-7 reported at Dei-Dei borehole compared to Kubwa borehole with a value of 3.01×10-8. The cancer morbidity risk was noted higher in Dei-Dei borehole with a value of 1.55×10-7 whereas lower value of 4.88×10-9 was reported in Kubwa borehole. The chemical toxicity risk of 238U in drinking water over a lifetime consumption has a value of 0.006 μg kg-1 day-1 in Dei-Dei borehole whereas lower value of 0.002 μg kg-1 day-1 was found in Kubwa borehole. Measured lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) concentrations reported higher in Water Board compared to Dei-Dei and Kubwa borehole samples. Significantly, this study inferred that the 238U concentrations originate from granitic strata of the tectonic events in the area; thus, there was a trend of diffusion towards north to south and re-deposition towards Dei-Dei area.
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1992-10-23
C.; Dei, A.; Gatteschi , D.; Pardi, L Inorg. Chem. 1989, 2L 1476; (b) Benel, C.; Dei, A.; Gatteschi , D.; Ckdel, H. U.; Pardi, L Inorg. Ckem. 1989, 28...3091; (c) Benelli, C.; Dei, A.; Gatteschi , D.; Pardi, L Inorg.Chem. 1990,2& 3409. 16. Bruni, S.; Cariati, F.; Dei, A.; Gatteschi , D. Inog Cbim. Ata...1991, 186 157. 17. Dei, A.; Gatteschi , D.; Pardi, L; Barra, A. L; Brunel, L C. Chem, Py. Lett.. 1990, 175. 589; Dei, A.; Pardi, L Inorg, Chim.Acta
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[National epidemiological surveillance systems of mesothelioma cases].
Ferrante, Pierpaolo; Binazzi, Alessandra; Branchi, Claudia; Marinaccio, Alessandro
2016-01-01
INTRODUZIONE: sebbene la relazione causale tra esposizione ad amianto e malattie neoplastiche sia ben nota, in molti Paesi il consumo del materiale è ancora rilevante e crescente. A causa della lunga latenza, nei Paesi dove è stato bandito (come in Italia) è oggi in corso un'epidemia di malattie correlate ad amianto. OBIETTIVI: descrivere i sistemi di sorveglianza dei mesoteliomi attivi nel mondo mediante un'analisi comparativa. è stata condotta una revisione bibliografica della letteratura disponibile sui sistemi di sorveglianza epidemiologica dei mesoteliomi attivi nel mondo, comparando metodi e risultati disponibili. RISULTATI: sistemi di ricerca dei casi incidenti e di analisi anamnestica dei soggetti ammalati sono attivi solo in Italia, Francia e Corea del Sud. I Paesi presso i quali sono attivi sistemi di rilevazione e controllo dei casi incidenti di mesotelioma sono quelli in cui vige il bando dell'amianto e che hanno sperimentato consumi rilevanti in passato. Non sono stati istituiti sistemi epidemiologici di sorveglianza in molti Paesi dove il consumo di amianto è ancora importante (inclusi Russia, Cina, India e Brasile). CONCLUSIONI: si conferma l'importanza dei sistemi di sorveglianza epidemiologica dei mesoteliomi per la sanità pubblica, il sostegno alle politiche di welfare e la prevenzione dei rischi. Lo sviluppo di progetti per tendere a una maggiore uniformità nei metodi di ricerca dei casi, di classificazione delle diagnosi e dell'esposizione e nelle tecniche di analisi dei dati potrebbe consentire una maggiore fruibilità dei dati aggregati. La disponibilità di dati internazionali confrontabili può essere di stimolo all'adozione di provvedimenti di bando internazionale.
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47 CFR 1.1315 - The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... 47 Telecommunication 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments. 1.1315 Section 1.1315 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND... § 1.1315 The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments. (a) The DEIS shall include: (1) A...
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47 CFR 1.1315 - The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... 47 Telecommunication 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments. 1.1315 Section 1.1315 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND... § 1.1315 The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments. (a) The DEIS shall include: (1) A...
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47 CFR 1.1315 - The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... 47 Telecommunication 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments. 1.1315 Section 1.1315 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND... § 1.1315 The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments. (a) The DEIS shall include: (1) A...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-10-23
... DEIS for Proposed Runway Safety Area Improvements at the Kodiak Airport, Kodiak, AK AGENCY: Federal... advise the public that a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for proposed Runway Safety Area... the DEIS can be submitted to the individual listed in the section, FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. A...
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47 CFR 1.1315 - The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS... Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments. (a) The DEIS shall include: (1) A concise description of the... way to comment on the environmental impact of the facilities, a statement of his or her qualifications...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-08-18
... Statement for the General Management Plan (DEIS/GMP), Canaveral National Seashore, FL AGENCY: National Park... General Management Plan (DEIS/GMP), Canaveral National Seashore (Seashore). SUMMARY: Pursuant to 42 U.S.C... DEIS/GMP for Canaveral National Seashore, Florida. The document provides a framework for management...
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Yin, Hong-xia; Huang, Zhi-feng; Wang, Zhen-chang; Liu, Zhao-hui; Li, Yong; Zhu, Pei-ping
2010-03-23
To study the application of DEI technique in imaging the small structures of rabbit eyeball. DEI technique was used to image the eyeball of New Zealand white rabbit in vitro. The experiments were performed using beamline 4W1A at the topography station of Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF). DEI image showed clearly the fine structures of the rabbit eyeball, such as the transparent cornea, the sclera, the ciliaris, and the ciliary body. DEI is a new X-ray imaging modality which achieves high contrast and spatial resolution. It also showed obvious effect of edge enhancement. DEI has good potential in observing the micro-structures of eyeballs and other small organs.
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Lista dei caratteri macroscopici per l’identificazione dei legni
Flavio Ruffinatto; Alan Crivellaro; Alex C. Wiedenhoeft
2016-01-01
Lâidentificazione dei legni costituisce il primo passo per ottenere conoscenze indispensabili in molti ambiti di studio. Ad esempio, prima di eseguire il restauro di un manufatto di interesse culturale è indispensabile conoscere il nome dei legni che lo compongono. Oppure, nel caso in cui si sospetti che un legno protetto da convenzioni internazionali sia stato...
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Elaborazione dei dati sperimentali
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dapor, M.; Ropele, M.
L'analisi statistica dei dati sperimentali, la loro elaborazione ed una corretta stima degli errori sono conoscenze necessarie agli studenti di fisica, biologia, chimica, ingegneria e dei corsi di specializzazione tecnico-scientifici in cui a di laboratorio. Chi si occupa di problemi tecnici e di misure, per studio o per lavoro, deve possedere gli strumenti matematici di calcolo e di analisi necessari ad una corretta interpretazione dei dati sperimentali. Il testo fornisce in modo sintetico, chiaro ed esaustivo, tutte le nozioni e le conoscenze utili allo scopo.
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Dielectric and Insulating Technology 2004 : Review & Forecast
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Okamoto, Tatsuki
This article reports the state-of-art of DEIS activites. DEIS activiteis are basically based on the activites of 8-10 investigation committees’ under DEIS committee. Recent DEIS activites are categlized into three functions in this article and remarkable activity or trend of each category is mentioned. Those are activities on insulation diagnosis (AI application and asset management), activities on new insulation technology for power tansmission (high Tc super conducting cable insulation and all solid sinulated substation), and activities on new insulating materials (Nanocomposite).
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Sand, Daniel; She, Rosemary; Shulman, Ira A; Chen, David S; Schur, Mathew; Hsu, Hugo Y
2015-05-01
To evaluate the spectrum and antibiotic susceptibility panel of infectious keratitis at a major tertiary care referral eye center and a major county hospital in Southern California. Retrospective case series. All cultured infectious keratitis cases from July 1, 2008, through December 31, 2012, from the Doheny Eye Institute (DEI) and the Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center (LAC+USC) were evaluated. Microbiology records were reviewed retrospectively. Microbial isolates as well as antibiotic susceptibility patterns were analyzed. One hundred eighty-four (63%) of 290 cases showed positive culture results at DEI and 152 (82%) of 186 cases showed positive culture results at LAC+USC. Gram-positive pathogens were found to be the most common at both DEI (70%) and LAC+USC (68%), with coagulase-negative Staphylococcus being the most common gram-positive organism (58% at DEI and 44% at LAC+USC). Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common gram-negative organism (57% at DEI and 43% at LAC+USC). Ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin susceptibility for all tested pathogens was 73% at DEI and 81% at LAC+USC (P = 0.16). Oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ORSA) was found in 42% of cases at DEI and in 45% of cases at LAC+USC (P = 1.00). There is no significant difference in the spectrum of pathogens or antibiotic susceptibility of pathogens at DEI versus LAC+USC, and ORSA was found in approximately half of all S. aureus samples. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-04-05
... constructed over a 4-year time period. It also examines potential impacts to surrounding lands and/or local... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Army Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for... prepared a DEIS to analyze the environmental and socioeconomic impacts resulting from the proposed...
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Connor, D.M.; Miller, L.; Benveniste, H.
Our understanding of early development in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is clouded by the scale at which the disease progresses; amyloid beta (A{beta}) plaques, a hallmark feature of AD, are small ({approx} 50 {micro}m) and low contrast in diagnostic clinical imaging techniques. Diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI), a phase contrast x-ray imaging technique, has greater soft tissue contrast than conventional radiography and generates higher resolution images than magnetic resonance microimaging. Thus, in this proof of principle study, DEI in micro-CT mode was performed on the brains of AD-model mice to determine if DEI can visualize A{beta} plaques. Results revealed small nodules inmore » the cortex and hippocampus of the brain. Histology confirmed that the features seen in the DEI images of the brain were A{beta} plaques. Several anatomical structures, including hippocampal subregions and white matter tracks, were also observed. Thus, DEI has strong promise in early diagnosis of AD, as well as general studies of the mouse brain.« less
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Digitally Enhanced Heterodyne Interferometry
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Shaddock, Daniel; Ware, Brent; Lay, Oliver; Dubovitsky, Serge
2010-01-01
Spurious interference limits the performance of many interferometric measurements. Digitally enhanced interferometry (DEI) improves measurement sensitivity by augmenting conventional heterodyne interferometry with pseudo-random noise (PRN) code phase modulation. DEI effectively changes the measurement problem from one of hardware (optics, electronics), which may deteriorate over time, to one of software (modulation, digital signal processing), which does not. DEI isolates interferometric signals based on their delay. Interferometric signals are effectively time-tagged by phase-modulating the laser source with a PRN code. DEI improves measurement sensitivity by exploiting the autocorrelation properties of the PRN to isolate only the signal of interest and reject spurious interference. The properties of the PRN code determine the degree of isolation.
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
1997-01-01
Wilmer Reed gained international recognition for his innovative research, contributions and patented ideas relating to flutter and aeroelasticity of aerospace vehicles at Langley Research Center. In the early 1980's, Reed retired from Langley and joined the engineering staff of Dynamic Engineering Inc. While at DEI, Reed conceived and patented the DEI Flutter Exciter, now used world-wide in flight flutter testing of new or modified aircraft designs. When activated, the DEI Flutter Exciter alternately deflects the airstream upward and downward in a rapid manner, creating a force similar to that produced by an oscillating trailing edge flap. The DEI Flutter Exciter is readily adaptable to a variety of aircraft.
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The Use of Optical Electronegativities to Assign Electronic Spectra of Semiquinone Complexes
1990-08-03
Auburn, E.S. Dodsworth, M. Haga, W. Liu, M. Melnik and W.A. Nevin, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 110 (1988) 8076. 8. C. Benelli, A. Dei, D. Gatteschi and L. Pardi...Inorg. Chim. Acta 163 (1989) 99. 9. C. Benelli, A. Dei, D. Gatteschi and L. Pardi, Inorg. Chem. 28 (1989) 1476. 10. C. Benelli, A. Dei, D. Gatteschi , H.U
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Noise properties and task-based evaluation of diffraction-enhanced imaging
Brankov, Jovan G.; Saiz-Herranz, Alejandro; Wernick, Miles N.
2014-01-01
Abstract. Diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) is an emerging x-ray imaging method that simultaneously yields x-ray attenuation and refraction images and holds great promise for soft-tissue imaging. The DEI has been mainly studied using synchrotron sources, but efforts have been made to transition the technology to more practical implementations using conventional x-ray sources. The main technical challenge of this transition lies in the relatively lower x-ray flux obtained from conventional sources, leading to photon-limited data contaminated by Poisson noise. Several issues that must be understood in order to design and optimize DEI imaging systems with respect to noise performance are addressed. Specifically, we: (a) develop equations describing the noise properties of DEI images, (b) derive the conditions under which the DEI algorithm is statistically optimal, (c) characterize the imaging performance that can be obtained as measured by task-based metrics, and (d) consider image-processing steps that may be employed to mitigate noise effects. PMID:26158056
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Muehleman,C.; Li, J.; Zhong, Z.
2006-01-01
Objective: To demonstrate the ability of a novel radiographic technique, Diffraction Enhanced Radiographic Imaging (DEI), to render high contrast images of canine knee joints for identification of cartilage lesions in situ. Methods: DEI was carried out at the X-15A beamline at Brookhaven National Laboratory on intact canine knee joints with varying levels of cartilage damage. Two independent observers graded the DE images for lesions and these grades were correlated to the gross morphological grade. Results: The correlation of gross visual grades with DEI grades for the 18 canine knee joints as determined by observer 1 (r2=0.8856, P=0.001) and observer 2more » (r2=0.8818, P=0.001) was high. The overall weighted ? value for inter-observer agreement was 0.93, thus considered high agreement. Conclusion: The present study is the first study for the efficacy of DEI for cartilage lesions in an animal joint, from very early signs through erosion down to subchondral bone, representing the spectrum of cartilage changes occurring in human osteoarthritis (OA). Here we show that DEI allows the visualization of cartilage lesions in intact canine knee joints with good accuracy. Hence, DEI may be applicable for following joint degeneration in animal models of OA.« less
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Defense Energy Information System (DEIS): DEIS-80 Design System Specification. Revision A.
1981-07-01
and consumption of petroleum products such as aviation gasoline, jet fuels, motor gasolines, distillate, and residual oil within DoD. DEIS I software...water, fuel oil , coal, solar/thermal power, and wind power. This subsystem also reports environmental data such as degree days during a reporting period...Petroleum Oil and Lubricants Officer, the Fuels Officer, the Supply Of- ficer, or the Engineering Officer on the base or facility consolidate in
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A Study of MX Environmental Management Information System (MXEMIS) Needs.
1983-12-01
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MXEMIS) NEEDS by Ronald Webster Ralph Mitchell Valorie Young -J : 2 34 LA--. Approved for public release...System (SAIFS) The MX Management Information System (MX MIS) The Mobilization Early Warning System (MEWS) The Computer-Aided Environmental Baseline...26 REFERENCES DISTRIBUTION I5 S’ t A STUDY OF MX ENVIRONMENTAL 2 EXISTING SYSTEMS CLASSIFICATION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MXEMIS
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sigismondi, Costantino
2014-05-01
La Torre dei Venti domina l’angolo Sud Ovest del cortile della Pigna (nell'area dei Musei Vaticani), ed è inclusa negli ambienti dell'Archivio Segreto Vaticano. Non è aperta al pubblico, ma è universalmente nota per la fama che da oltre quattrocento anni la circonda, legata alle vicende della riforma Gregoriana del calendario. La meridiana tracciata da padre Egnazio Danti (1536-1586) nella torre dei Venti, fu visitata anche da Gregorio XIII, probabilmente il 21 marzo 1581 come suppone il padre Stein, per convincersi dell'anticipo ormai arrivato a dieci giorni dell'equinozio di primavera sulla data che il concilio di Nicea aveva fissato al 21 marzo per il computo pasquale. La ricognizione astrometrica del febbraio-marzo 2009 fatta dall'autore viene qui presentata.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Woltjer, L.
1987-06-01
En la reunion celebrada en diciembre dei ano pasado informe al Consejo de mi deseo de terminar mi contrato como Director General de la ESO una vez que fuera aprobado el proyecto dei VLT, que se espera sucedera hacia fines de este aAo. Cuando fue renovada mi designacion hace tres aAos, el Consejo conocia mi intencion de no completar los cinco aAos dei contrato debido a mi deseo de disponer de mas tiempo para otras actividades. Ahora, una vez terminada la fase preparatoria para el VLT, Y habiendose presentado el proyecto formalmente al Consejo el dia 31 de marzo, y esperando su muy probable aprobacion antes dei termino de este ano, me parece que el 10 de enero de 1988 presenta una excelente fecha para que se produzca un cambio en la administracion de la ESO.
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Emergency and Continuous Exposure Limits for Selected Airborne Contaminants. Volume 1
1984-04-01
fuels, corn remover, drawing inks, fuel-system deicer, glue, nail-polish remover, paint-brush cleaners, paint and varnish removers, and china ,• ~ ~film...and fire hazards of butanone and acetone. Ind. Bull. (N.Y. State Dept. Labor) 23:173-176. Societa Italiana di Medicina del Lavoro. 1975. Associazione...Italiana di Medicina del Lavoro 1975. Associazione Italiana - -degli Igienisti Industriali. Valori Limite Ponderati degli Inquinanti Chimici e
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The genus Alphocoris in the Indomalaya (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Scutelleridae).
RÉdei, DÁvid; Tsai, Jing-Fu; Jindra, ZdenĚk
2018-02-21
The Indomalayan species of the genus Alphocoris Germar, 1839 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Scutelleridae: Odontotarsinae: Odontotarsini) are revised. Three species, A. caudatus Rédei, Tsai Jindra, sp. nov. (India: Maharashtra), A. naso Rédei Tsai, sp. nov. (India: Goa), and A. asper Rédei, Tsai Jindra, sp. nov. (India: Goa and Maharashtra), are recognized. The type material of A. lixoides Germar, 1839 (type locality: Senegal) is documented; previous records of this species from India and Pakistan are considered as based on misidentifications, the species is restricted to the Afrotropical Region.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
1980-12-01
EI "Palomar Observatory Sky Survey" es un medio auxiliar bien conocido y ütil para los astronomos. Todo el cielo dei hemisferio Norte esta captado en lotografias, cuyas reproducciones se encuentran archivadas en las bibliotecas de casi todos los observatorios importantes dei mundo.
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Saravanan, Subramanian; Schrama, Johan W.; Figueiredo-Silva, A. Claudia; Kaushik, Sadasivam J.; Verreth, Johan A. J.; Geurden, Inge
2012-01-01
The hypothesis was tested that fish fed to satiation with iso-energetic diets differing in macronutrient composition will have different digestible energy intakes (DEI) but similar total heat production. Four iso-energetic diets (2×2 factorial design) were formulated having a contrast in i) the ratio of protein to energy (P/E): high (HP/E) vs. low (LP/E) and ii) the type of non-protein energy (NPE) source: fat vs. carbohydrate which were iso-energetically exchanged. Triplicate groups (35 fish/tank) of rainbow trout were hand-fed each diet twice daily to satiation for 6 weeks under non-limiting water oxygen conditions. Feed intake (FI), DEI (kJ kg−0.8 d−1) and growth (g kg−0.8 d−1) of trout were affected by the interaction between P/E ratio and NPE source of the diet (P<0.05). Regardless of dietary P/E ratio, the inclusion of carbohydrate compared to fat as main NPE source reduced DEI and growth of trout by ∼20%. The diet-induced differences in FI and DEI show that trout did not compensate for the dietary differences in digestible energy or digestible protein contents. Further, changes in body fat store and plasma glucose did not seem to exert a homeostatic feedback control on DEI. Independent of the diet composition, heat production of trout did not differ (P>0.05). Our data suggest that the control of DEI in trout might be a function of heat production, which in turn might reflect a physiological limit related with oxidative metabolism. PMID:22496852
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Technical Communications in Urban Operations (Les communications techniques en operations urbaines)
2010-09-01
SCUTI – Scuola Trasmissioni ed Informatica dell’Esercito Italiano Via dei Genieri, 287, 00143-Roma Cecchignola Email: Mario.DiStefano@selex...comms.com Lt. Fabrizio LAMBIASE SCUTI – Scuola Trasmissioni ed Informatica dell’Esercito Italiano Via dei Genieri, 287, 00143 Roma Cecchignola
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Qualitative evaluation of titanium implant integration into bone by diffraction enhanced imaging.
Wagner, A; Sachse, A; Keller, M; Aurich, M; Wetzel, W-D; Hortschansky, P; Schmuck, K; Lohmann, M; Reime, B; Metge, J; Arfelli, F; Menk, R; Rigon, L; Muehleman, C; Bravin, A; Coan, P; Mollenhauer, J
2006-03-07
Diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) uses refraction of x-rays at edges, which allows pronounced visualization of material borders and rejects scattering which often obscures edges and blurs images. Here, the first evidence is presented that, using DEI, a destruction-free evaluation of the quality of integration of metal implants into bone is possible. Experiments were performed in rabbits and sheep with model implants to investigate the option for DEI as a tool in implant research. The results obtained from DEI were compared to conventional histology obtained from the specimens. DE images allow the identification of the quality of ingrowth of bone into the hydroxyapatite layer of the implant. Incomplete integration of the implant with a remaining gap of less than 0.3 mm caused the presence of a highly refractive edge at the implant/bone border. In contrast, implants with bone fully grown onto the surface did not display a refractive signal. Therefore, the refractive signal could be utilized to diagnose implant healing and/or loosening.
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Qualitative evaluation of titanium implant integration into bone by diffraction enhanced imaging
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wagner, A.; Sachse, A.; Keller, M.; Aurich, M.; Wetzel, W.-D.; Hortschansky, P.; Schmuck, K.; Lohmann, M.; Reime, B.; Metge, J.; Arfelli, F.; Menk, R.; Rigon, L.; Muehleman, C.; Bravin, A.; Coan, P.; Mollenhauer, J.
2006-03-01
Diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) uses refraction of x-rays at edges, which allows pronounced visualization of material borders and rejects scattering which often obscures edges and blurs images. Here, the first evidence is presented that, using DEI, a destruction-free evaluation of the quality of integration of metal implants into bone is possible. Experiments were performed in rabbits and sheep with model implants to investigate the option for DEI as a tool in implant research. The results obtained from DEI were compared to conventional histology obtained from the specimens. DE images allow the identification of the quality of ingrowth of bone into the hydroxyapatite layer of the implant. Incomplete integration of the implant with a remaining gap of less than 0.3 mm caused the presence of a highly refractive edge at the implant/bone border. In contrast, implants with bone fully grown onto the surface did not display a refractive signal. Therefore, the refractive signal could be utilized to diagnose implant healing and/or loosening.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-08-31
...This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) as lead agency, with the Seminole Tribe of Florida (Tribe), City of Coconut Creek (City), and Broward County serving as cooperating agencies, intends to file a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Seminole Tribe of Florida Fee-to-Trust Project, City of Coconut Creek, Florida, Broward County, Florida. This notice announces that the DEIS is now available for public review and the date, time, and location of a public hearing to receive comments on the DEIS.
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78 FR 9024 - Sea Turtle Conservation; Shrimp Trawling Requirements
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-02-07
...-BC10 Sea Turtle Conservation; Shrimp Trawling Requirements AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service... Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to Reduce Incidental Bycatch and Mortality of Sea Turtles in the... DEIS and proposed rule in response to elevated sea turtle strandings in the Northern Gulf of Mexico...
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47 CFR 1.1315 - The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-10-01
... 47 Telecommunication 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); Comments. 1.1315 Section 1.1315 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Procedures Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 § 1.1315 The Draft...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Murmura, Federica; Casolani, Nicola; Bravi, Laura
2016-01-01
This paper develops a theoretical framework that could facilitate the application of the Autovalutazione, Valutazione periodica, Accreditamento (AVA) method in Italian universities, trying to simplify the use of this approach, and to cover the existing gap between Italy and others European academic institutions. The new competitive environment in…
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sciarone, A. G.
1979-01-01
An approach to language textbooks evaluation based on objective criteria and relying on data easily obtained by means of computers, such as word frequency lists, is proposed. The importance of vocabulary acquisition in language learning is emphasized. Accordingly, word selection and rate of repetition are seen as central evaluation criteria. (MES)
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49 CFR 520.27 - Legislative actions.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... 49 Transportation 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Legislative actions. 520.27 Section 520.27... Legislative actions. (a) A DEIS on both legislative proposals and reports for which NHTSA either develops the... 72-6, “Proposed Federal Actions Affecting the Environment.” (c) A DEIS and any comments that have...
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Local reconstruction in computed tomography of diffraction enhanced imaging
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Huang, Zhi-Feng; Zhang, Li; Kang, Ke-Jun; Chen, Zhi-Qiang; Zhu, Pei-Ping; Yuan, Qing-Xi; Huang, Wan-Xia
2007-07-01
Computed tomography of diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI-CT) based on synchrotron radiation source has extremely high sensitivity of weakly absorbing low-Z samples in medical and biological fields. The authors propose a modified backprojection filtration(BPF)-type algorithm based on PI-line segments to reconstruct region of interest from truncated refraction-angle projection data in DEI-CT. The distribution of refractive index decrement in the sample can be directly estimated from its reconstruction images, which has been proved by experiments at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The algorithm paves the way for local reconstruction of large-size samples by the use of DEI-CT with small field of view based on synchrotron radiation source.
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Language Policy and Planning: The Case of Italian Sign Language
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Geraci, Carlo
2012-01-01
Italian Sign Language (LIS) is the name of the language used by the Italian Deaf community. The acronym LIS derives from Lingua italiana dei segni ("Italian language of signs"), although nowadays Italians refers to LIS as Lingua dei segni italiana, reflecting the more appropriate phrasing "Italian sign language." Historically,…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-10-12
... Environmental Impact Statement for the Herring River Restoration Project, Cape Cod National Seashore... Herring River Restoration Project in Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts. The DEIS provides a... a press release to area media. ADDRESSES: The DEIS for the Herring River Restoration Project will be...
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The Athletae Dei: Missing the Meaning of Sport.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hoffman, Shirl J.
By making virtue of ascesis or self-discipline in their sport, the athlete evangelists (the "athletae-Dei"), unwittingly rob sport of its fundamental theological significance. These proponents of an evangelical brand of protestant theology have shifted drastically from an anti-sport stance of a century ago to a position that not only…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-05-22
... Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the General Management Plan (GMP) and Wilderness Study for Fort... of the monument, the DEIS/GMP/Wilderness Study describes three alternatives including the NPS... and enjoyment of the monument's resources. An up-to-date GMP is needed to address how visitors access...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-11-05
... (DEIS) for New Medium- and Heavy-Duty Fuel Efficiency Improvement Program AGENCY: National Highway... commercial medium- and heavy-duty on-highway vehicles and work trucks (``HD vehicles''), which NHTSA recently... to Create First-Ever National Efficiency and Emissions Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks...
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lupato, G.
1993-04-01
The author illustrates an empirical correlation linking planet distances from the Sun to some physical characteristics of the central body such as mass, equatorial radius, density. Such a formula is applicable, with good approximation, also to the major planet satellite systems.
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Doherty, Angela L.; Bodnar, Robert J.; De Vivo, Benedetto; Bohrson, Wendy A.; Belkin, Harvey E.; Messina, Antonia; Tracy, Robert J.
2012-01-01
The Aeolian Islands are an arcuate chain of submarine seamounts and volcanic islands, lying just north of Sicily in southern Italy. The second largest of the islands, Salina, exhibits a wide range of compositional variation in its erupted products, from basaltic lavas to rhyolitic pumice. The Monte dei Porri eruptions occurred between 60 ka and 30 ka, following a period of approximately 60,000 years of repose. The bulk rock composition of the Monte dei Porri products range from basaltic-andesite scoria to andesitic pumice in the Grey Porri Tuff (GPT), with the Monte dei Porri lavas having basaltic-andesite compositions. The typical mineral assemblage of the GPT is calcic plagioclase, clinopyroxene (augite), olivine (Fo72−84) and orthopyroxene (enstatite) ± amphibole and Ti-Fe oxides. The lava units show a similar mineral assemblage, but contain lower Fo olivines (Fo57−78). The lava units also contain numerous glomerocrysts, including an unusual variety that contains quartz, K-feldspar and mica. Melt inclusions (MI) are ubiquitous in all mineral phases from all units of the Monte dei Porri eruptions; however, only data from olivine-hosted MI in the GPT are reported here. Compositions of MI in the GPT are typically basaltic (average SiO2 of 49.8 wt %) in the pumices and basaltic-andesite (average SiO2 of 55.6 wt %) in the scoriae and show a bimodal distribution in most compositional discrimination plots. The compositions of most of the MI in the scoriae overlap with bulk rock compositions of the lavas. Petrological and geochemical evidence suggest that mixing of one or more magmas and/or crustal assimilation played a role in the evolution of the Monte dei Porri magmatic system, especially the GPT. Analyses of the more evolved mineral phases are required to better constrain the evolution of the magma.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Henrique Muniz Lima, Pedro; Luiza Coelho Netto, Ana; do Couto Fernandes, Manoel
2016-04-01
Morphometric parameters, acquired notoriety mainly after the Drainage Density proposition (Horton 1932, 1945) and after they were applied by geomorphologists on the perspective to understand landscape functionalities, quantifying their characteristics through parameters and indexes. After the drainage density, many other parameters which describe the basin characteristics, behavior and dynamics have been proposed. Among them, for example, the DEI was proposed by Coelho Netto and contributors during the 80's, while they were seek to understand the hydrological and erosive dynamics on Bananal river basin (Brazilian Southeastern). Through this investigations the DEI was created, revealing the importance of parameters as hollow and drainage density, conjugated to the topographic gradient (Meis et al. 1982) who prosecute controls on the water flow efficiency along the hollows in order to activate the regressive erosion of the main channel. Later on this index was applied on the basin scale in several works developed in mountainous regions, showing a remarkable correlation with the occurrence of landslides such as showed by Coelho Netto et al. (2007); that posteriorly use this index as one of the components of the landslide susceptibility map for the Tijuca Massif, located in Rio de Janeiro Municipality. This work aims to establish patterns of the DEI index values (applied to mountainous low order basins) and the relationship on the occurrence of Debriflows or shallow translational slides. For this, the DEI index was applied on 4 different study areas located on the Southeastern mountainous region of Brazil to address deeply the connection between the index and the occurrence of landslides of different types applied for first and second order basins. The major study area is the Córrego Dantas Basin, situated in Nova Friburgo municipality (RJ), which is a 53 km² basin was affected by 327 landslides caused by a heavy rainfall on January 2011; Coelho Netto et al. (in press). The other selected areas were also affected by landslides and were selected to enrich the sampling and turn the analysis more reliable and complete. Briefly regarding the results, it was found a heavy relationship between the Debris flows occurrence and basin with high values of DEI and also a good relationship between shallow landslides and low values of DEI index, as expected. This relation can be briefly explained through one of the initial believes that expect on basin with a high drainage potential, consequently high values of DEI, are more prone to happen landslides as Debriflows enhancing regressive erosion of the main channel and their development on the headward direction. While basin with low drainage potential, consequently lower values of DEI are more prone to happen landslides as shallow translational that are movements more related to the particular slope properties. Finally we believe that the proposed index can be a good predictor of landslide occurrence (on their different types) when applied to lower order basin. Supplementary analysis are intend to be showed during the presentation during the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2016.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-03-14
... to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbor Act, from the Village.../Projects/index.html , under the Village of Bald Head Island Terminal Groin Project. SUPPLEMENTARY... DEIS with the North Carolina Division of Water Quality (NCDWQ) to assess the potential water quality...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-10-11
... General Management Plan (GMP) for Blue Ridge Parkway (parkway). Consistent with NPS laws, regulations, and policies and the purpose of the parkway, the DEIS/GMP describes the NPS preferred alternative-- Alternative... public on the DEIS/GMP for at least 60 days, starting from the date the Environmental Protection Agency...
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Ultraviolet Communication for Medical Applications
2015-06-01
DEI procured several UVC phosphors and tested them with vacuum UV (VUV) excitation. Available emission peaks include: 226 nm, 230 nm, 234 nm, 242...SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Report contains color. 14. ABSTRACT Under this Phase II SBIR effort, Directed Energy Inc.’s (DEI) proprietary ultraviolet ( UV ...15. SUBJECT TERMS Non-line-of-sight (NLOS), networking, optical communication, plasma-shells, short range, ultraviolet ( UV ) light 16. SECURITY
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Largo, Remo; Stolzmann, Paul; Fankhauser, Christian D; Poyet, Cédric; Wolfsgruber, Pirmin; Sulser, Tullio; Alkadhi, Hatem; Winklhofer, Sebastian
2016-06-01
This study investigates the capabilities of low tube voltage computed tomography (CT) and dual-energy CT (DECT) for predicting successful shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) of urinary stones in vitro. A total of 33 urinary calculi (six different chemical compositions; mean size 6 ± 3 mm) were scanned using a dual-source CT machine with single- (120 kVp) and dual-energy settings (80/150, 100/150 Sn kVp) resulting in six different datasets. The attenuation (Hounsfield Units) of calculi was measured on single-energy CT images and the dual-energy indices (DEIs) were calculated from DECT acquisitions. Calculi underwent SWL and the number of shock waves for successful disintegration was recorded. The prediction of required shock waves regarding stone attenuation/DEI was calculated using regression analysis (adjusted for stone size and composition) and the correlation between CT attenuation/DEI and the number of shock waves was assessed for all datasets. The median number of shock waves for successful stone disintegration was 72 (interquartile range 30-361). CT attenuation/DEI of stones was a significant, independent predictor (P < 0.01) for the number of required shock waves with the best prediction at 80 kVp (β estimate 0.576) (P < 0.05). Correlation coefficients between attenuation/DEI and the number of required shock waves ranged between ρ = 0.31 and 0.68 showing the best correlation at 80 kVp (P < 0.001). The attenuation of urinary stones at low tube voltage CT is the best predictor for successful stone disintegration, being independent of stone composition and size. DECT shows no added value for predicting the success of SWL.
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[The Accademia dei Lincei (1603-1630) and the Accademia del Cimento (1657-1667].
Mazzolini, Renato G
2008-01-01
The development of scientific academies during the 17th century in the old Italian States is illustrated on the basis of two examples: that of the Accademia dei Lincei with seat in Rome and that of the Accademia del Cimento with seat in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. After a short survey of their activities follow some reflections on the causes of their ending.
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Clam Shell Dredging in Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, Louisiana. Volume 2. Public Comments.
1987-11-01
levels and pattern of distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , is presented, despite the fact that these compounds are identified . . as the...DEIS. Moreover, the DEIS implies that the potential for bioaccumulation of the pollutants present in Lake Ponchartrain is low except for a small...CHEMICAL AIR PRODUCTS SHELL OIL CO SHELL CHEMICAL CIBA GEIGY CORPORATION UNION TEXAS PETROLEUM SAVOIE INDUSTRIES SUNLAND SERVICES VULCAN MATERIAL
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Not Available
1992-12-01
The first section of this volume summarizes the content of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and this Addendum, which together constitute the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) prepared on the decommissioning of eight surplus plutonium production reactors at Hanford. The FEIS consists of two volumes. The first volume is the DEIS as written. The second volume (this Addendum) consists of a summary; Chapter 9, which contains comments on the DEIS and provides DOE`s responses to the comments; Appendix F, which provides additional health effects information; Appendix K, which contains costs of decommissioning in 1990 dollars; Appendix L, which containsmore » additional graphite leaching data; Appendix M, which contains a discussion of accident scenarios; Appendix N, which contains errata; and Appendix 0, which contains reproductions of the letters, transcripts, and exhibits that constitute the record for the public comment period.« less
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Rhoades, Glendon W; Belev, George S; Chapman, L Dean; Wiebe, Sheldon P; Cooper, David M; Wong, Adelaine TF; Rosenberg, Alan M
2015-01-01
The objective of this project was to develop and test a new technology for imaging growing joints by means of diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) combined with CT and using a synchrotron radiation source. DEI–CT images of an explanted 4-wk-old piglet stifle joint were acquired by using a 40-keV beam. The series of scanned slices was later ‘stitched’ together, forming a 3D dataset. High-resolution DEI-CT images demonstrated fine detail within all joint structures and tissues. Striking detail of vasculature traversing between bone and cartilage, a characteristic of growing but not mature joints, was demonstrated. This report documents for the first time that DEI combined with CT and a synchrotron radiation source can generate more detailed images of intact, growing joints than can currently available conventional imaging modalities. PMID:26310464
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Contact sponge water absorption test implemented for in situ measures
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gaggero, Laura; Scrivano, Simona
2016-04-01
The contact sponge method is a non-destructive in-situ methodology used to estimate a water uptake coefficient. The procedure, unlike other in-situ measurement was proven to be directly comparable to the water uptake laboratory measurements, and was registered as UNI 11432:2011. The UNI Normal procedure requires to use a sponge with known density, soaked in water, weighed, placed on the material for 1 minute (UNI 11432, 2011; Pardini & Tiano, 2004), then weighed again. Difficulties arise in operating on test samples or on materials with porosity varied for decay. While carrying on the test, fluctuations in the bearing of the environmental parameters were negligible, but not the pressure applied to the surface, that induced the release of different water amounts towards the material. For this reason we designed a metal piece of the same diameter of the plate carrying the sponge, to be screwed at the tip of a pocket penetrometer. With this instrument the sponge was kept in contact with the surface for 1 minute applying two different loads, at first pushed with 0.3 kg/cm2 in order to press the sponge, but not its holder, against the surface. Then, a load of 1.1 kg/ cm2 was applied, still avoiding deviating the load to the sponge holder. We applied both the current and our implemented method to determine the water absorption by contact sponge on 5 fresh rock types (4 limestones: Fine - and Coarse grained Pietra di Vicenza, Rosso Verona, Breccia Aurora, and the silicoclastic Macigno sandstone). The results show that 1) the current methodology imply manual skill and experience to produce a coherent set of data; the variable involved are in fact not only the imposed pressure but also the compression mechanics. 2) The control on the applied pressure allowed reproducible measurements. Moreover, 3) the use of a thicker sponge enabled to apply the method even on rougher surfaces, as the device holding the sponge is not in contact with the tested object. Finally, 4) the implemented measurements gave the possibility of a direct comparison with the capillary water absorption method. Pardini C. & Tiano P. 2004. Valutazione in situ dei trattamenti protettivi per il materiale lapideo, proposta di una nuova semplice metodologia. ARKOS, 5, 30-36. UNI 11432. 2011. Beni culturali Materiali lapidei naturali ed artificiali - Misura della capacita di assorbimento di acqua mediante spugna di contatto. P. 6.
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Cai, Wenli; Zhang, Da; Lee, June-Goo; Shirai, Yu; Kim, Se Hyung; Yoshida, Hiroyuki
2013-01-01
The purpose of our study was to measure the dual-energy index (DEI) value of colonic luminal air in both phantom and clinical fecal-tagging dual-energy computed tomography (CT) colonography (DE-CTC) images and to demonstrate its impact on dual-energy electronic cleansing. For the phantom study, a custom-ordered colon phantom was scanned by a dual-energy CT scanner (SOMATON Definition Flash; Siemens Healthcare, Forchheim, Germany) at two photon energies: 80 and 140 kVp. Before imaging, the phantom was filled with a 300-mL mixture of simulated fecal materials tagged by a nonionic iodinated contrast agent at three contrast concentrations: 20, 40, and 60 mg/mL. Ten regions-of-interest (ROIs) were randomly placed in each of the colonic luminal air, abdominal fat, bony structure, and tagged material in each scan. For the clinical study, 22 DE-CTC (80 and 140 kVp) patient cases were collected, who underwent a low-fiber, low-residue diet bowel preparation and orally administered iodine-based fecal tagging. Twenty ROIs were randomly placed in each of the colonic luminal air, abdominal fat, abdominal soft tissue, and tagged fecal material in each scan. For each ROI, the mean CT values in both 80- and 140-kVp images were measured, and then its DEI was calculated. In the phantom study, the mean DEI values of luminal air were 0.270, 0.298, 0.386, and 0.402 for the four groups of tagging conditions: no tagged material and tagged with three groups of contrast concentrations at 20, 40, and 60 mg/mL. In the clinical study, the mean DEI values were 0.341, -0.012, -0.002, and 0.188 for colonic luminal air, abdominal fat, abdominal soft tissue, and tagged fecal material, respectively. In our study, we observed that the DEI values of colonic luminal air in DE-CTC images (>0.10) were substantially higher than the theoretical value of 0.0063. In addition, the observed DEI values of colonic luminal air were significantly higher than those of soft tissue. These findings have an important impact on electronic cleansing: it may provide an effective means of differentiating colonic soft-tissue structures from the air-tagging mixture caused by the partial volume effect and thus of minimizing the cleansing artifacts.
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A hybrid framework for assessing maize drought vulnerability in Sub-Saharan Africa
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kamali, B.; Abbaspour, K. C.; Wehrli, B.; Yang, H.
2017-12-01
Drought has devastating impacts on crop yields. Quantifying drought vulnerability is the first step to better design of mitigation policies. The vulnerability of crop yield to drought has been assessed with different methods, however they lack a standardized base to measure its components and a procedure that facilitates spatial and temporal comparisons. This study attempts to quantify maize drought vulnerability through linking the Drought Exposure Index (DEI) to the Crop Failure Index (CFI). DEI and CFI were defined by fitting probability distribution functions to precipitation and maize yield respectively. To acquire crop drought vulnerability index (CDVI), DEI and CFI were combined in a hybrid framework which classifies CDVI with the same base as DEI and CFI. The analysis were implemented on Sub-Saharan African countries using maize yield simulated with the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model at 0.5° resolution. The model was coupled with the Sequential Uncertainty Fitting algorithm for calibration at country level. Our results show that Central Africa and those Western African countries located below the Sahelian strip receive higher amount of precipitation, but experience high crop failure. Therefore, they are identified as more vulnerable regions compared to countries such as South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya. We concluded that our hybrid approach complements information on crop drought vulnerability quantification and can be applied to different regions and scales.
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Ichikawa, Yoko; Hiramatsu, Fumie; Hamada, Hisayo; Sakai, Atsuko; Hara, Keiko; Kogirima, Miho; Kawahara, Kazuhiko; Minakuchi, Jun; Kawashima, Shu; Yamamoto, Shigeru
2007-10-01
This cross sectional study was performed to find the adequate amount and combination of dietary protein and energy for maintaining better nutritional status for stable non-diabetic maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. The body composition including body fat, total body water, body cell mass and body protein were measured by multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis in 200 stable MHD patients without diabetes (124 men, 76 women). Dietary energy intake (DEI) and dietary protein intake (DPI) were assessed by a brief self-administered diet history questionnaire (BDHQ), the DPI value being confirmed by calculating the normalized protein equivalent of total nitrogen appearance (nPNA). The nutritional status and the body composition were compared among 4 groups of patients in each gender that were divided by the combination of DEI and DPI; high energy (HE)/high protein (HP), HE/low protein (LP), low energy (LE)/HP and LE/LP groups. The mean DPI ranged between 1.17-1.23 and 0.89-0.95 g/kg IBW/d in the HP and LP groups, respectively for both genders, and the mean DEI was 35-37 and 24-25 kcal/kg IBW/d in HE and LE groups, respectively. BMI and serum albumin concentration were not different among the 4 groups. Body cell mass index (BCMI) was maintained in the HE groups regardless of DPI, and it was significantly higher in the HE/HP group than in the LE/LP group. Multiple regression analysis also showed that the BCMI was more greatly affected by DEI than DPI. These results indicated that a DPI of 0.89-0.95 g/kg IBW/d could be sufficient for maintaining BCMI, if DEI is kept over 35 kcal/kg IBW/d in stable non-diabetic MHD patients. This DPI level is lower than the recommended DPI proposed by dietary guidelines in the US and Japan.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Marseguerra, M.; Pauli, G.
1958-07-01
The kinetic behavior of thermal neutrons in a time-offlight spectrometer is examined. An analytical method for obtaining the expressions for the probability for slow neutron transmission through a revolving slit (the general case of a curved slit is considered) is presented and discussed in detail. (auth)
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Tereanu, Carmen; Bettega, Silvia; Regalia, Enrico; Mazza, Roberto; Greco, Margherita; Lozza, Laura; Saita, Luigi; Borreani, Claudia; Quattrocolo, Alberto
2014-01-01
The "Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori" ( National Tumour Institute) in Milan (Italy) offers mediation services aimed at restoring communication between patients and healthcare professionals, when their relationship has been altered by a conflict during the diagnosis or treatment process. A method derived from transformative mediation is used. The purpose of mediation is not to examine clinical aspects, nor to identify who is right and who is wrong. Individual sessions are often sufficient to reduce litigation.
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Defense Energy Information System (DEIS): DEIS-80 Design System Specification. Revision B,
1982-07-01
are samples of the queries that may be requested. - Display the data for DoDAAC = XXYMOX, Date = MMYY, Product Code = XXX. - What is the total...consumption in gallons. What is the percent change in total consumption (or average daily consumption) for Major Command = X---X, between this month and this...month a year ago (or this quarter and the previous 5 quarters) for distillates (or fuel oil)? What is the total consumption for each Service for the
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wiebe, S.; Rhoades, G.; Wei, Z.; Rosenberg, A.; Belev, G.; Chapman, D.
2013-05-01
Refraction x-ray contrast is an imaging modality used primarily in a research setting at synchrotron facilities, which have a biomedical imaging research program. The most common method for exploiting refraction contrast is by using a technique called Diffraction Enhanced Imaging (DEI). The DEI apparatus allows the detection of refraction between two materials and produces a unique ''edge enhanced'' contrast appearance, very different from the traditional absorption x-ray imaging used in clinical radiology. In this paper we aim to explain the features of x-ray refraction contrast as a typical clinical radiologist would understand. Then a discussion regarding what needs to be considered in the interpretation of the refraction image takes place. Finally we present a discussion about the limitations of planar refraction imaging and the potential of DEI Computed Tomography. This is an original work that has not been submitted to any other source for publication. The authors have no commercial interests or conflicts of interest to disclose.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Demanins, F.; Rado, V.; Vinci, F.
1963-04-01
The macroscopic absorption cross section, diffusion constant, diffusion cooling constant, transport mean free patu, extrapolated distance, diffusion length, and mean life for thermal neutrons were determined for Dowtherm A at 20 deg C, using a pulsed neutron source. The experimental assembly and data analysis method are described, and the results are compared with other determinations. (auth)
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Signorelli, Carlo; Odone, Anna; Bianco, Daniela; Di Vivo, Natalia; Bevere, Francesco
2016-01-01
Il dato dell'Organizzazione per la cooperazione e lo sviluppo economico (OCSE) del 2012, che indicava l'Italia come il Paese con la più bassa spesa in prevenzione sanitaria, ha dato lo spunto per una raccolta sistematica e un'analisi critica dei flussi disponibili sulla spesa per le attività di prevenzione in Italia. Le statistiche correnti di spesa sanitaria sono raccolte centralmente dall'Agenzia nazionale per i servizi sanitari regionali (Agenas) attraverso i modelli di rilevazione dei costi dei livelli essenziali di assistenza (LEA) delle aziende USL. Le tre macroaree dei LEA sono: assistenza distrettuale, assistenza ospedaliera e assistenza sanitaria collettiva in ambiente di vita e di lavoro. Le spese per la prevenzione rientrano in quest'ultima e sono ripartite nelle seguenti voci: attività di prevenzione rivolte alle persone, igiene degli alimenti e della nutrizione, igiene e sanità pubblica, prevenzione e sicurezza negli ambienti di lavoro, sanità pubblica veterinaria, attività medico-legale per finalità pubblica. Tra il 2006 e il 2013, ultimo dato disponibile, la spesa per le attività di prevenzione del Servizio sanitario nazionale (SSN) è rimasta costante in rapporto alla spesa sanitaria totale (4,2%), pari a 4,9 miliardi nel 2013. Nel periodo di studio considerato (2006-2013) appaiono in aumento le spese per le attività rivolte alle persone (+8,7%), attribuibili soprattutto a vaccinazioni e screening, e in diminuzione le attività di igiene pubblica (-5,7%) e quelle della sanità pubblica veterinaria (-3,8%). I confronti internazionali indicano una spesa per la prevenzione del 2,9% rispetto alla spesa sanitaria totale, costante negli anni e nella media dei Paesi OCSE. Per la prevenzione, l'Italia spende tanto quanto i Paesi che non possiedono un servizio sanitario pubblico; il dato risulta inferiore del 5% rispetto alla programmazione nazionale, con poche eccezioni e molta variabilità regionale all'interno delle componenti delle voci di spesa. In questo contesto si sottolinea l'importanza di investire maggiori risorse nella pianificazione e nell'implementazione di interventi preventivi di provata efficacia e costo-efficacia.
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Dielectric and Insulating Technology 2005 : Reviews & Forecasts
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Okamoto, Tatsuki
This article reports the state-of-art of TC-DEI ( Technical Committee of Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation of IEEJ) activites. The activiteis are basically based on the activites of 8-10 investigation committees under TC-DEI. Recent activites were categorized into three functions in this article and remarkable activity or trend for each category is mentioned as was done in the article of 2003. Thoese are activities on asset management (AI application and insulation diagnosis), activities on new insulating and functional materials (Nano composite) and activities on new insulation technology for power tansmission (high Tc superconducting cable insulation).
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Dielectric and Insulating Technology 2006 : Review & Forecast
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Okamoto, Tatsuki
This article reports the state-of-art of TC-DEI ( Technical Committee of Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation of IEEJ) activites. The activiteis are basically based on the activites of 8-10 investigation committees under TC-DEI. Recent activites were categorized into three functions in this article and remarkable activity or trend for each category is mentioned as was seen in the articles of 2005. Those are activities on asset management (AI application and insulation diagnosis), activities on new insulating and functional materials (Nano composite) and activities on new insulation technology for power tansmission (high Tc superconducting cable insulation).
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Donepudi, R.; Cesareo, R; Brunetti, A
Images of the cork used for wine and other bottles are visualized with the use of diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) technique. Present experimental studies allowed us to identify the cracks, holes, porosity, and importance of soft-matter (soft-material) and associated biology by visualization of the embedded internal complex features of the biological material such as cork and its microstructure. Highlighted the contrast mechanisms above and below the K-absorption edge of iodine and studied the attenuation through a combination of weakly and strongly attenuating materials.
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[Linee guida italiane per il trattamento dell'alcolismo].
Ceccanti, Mauro; Iannitelli, Angela; Fiore, Marco
2018-01-01
RIASSUNTO. L'Europa è la regione con il più forte consumo di alcol al mondo, con la più elevata percentuale di malattie totali e morti premature alcol-correlate. In Italia, questo fenomeno coinvolge circa il 13% della popolazione oltre i 18 anni e oltre il 25% dei pazienti ospedalizzati. Sfortunatamente, solo il 5% di questi pazienti vengono riconosciuti come persone affette da disturbo da uso di alcol (DUA). Una scarsa conoscenza della malattia, la mancanza di accesso alle cure e le poche risorse messe a disposizione nella gestione del problema sono tra le principali cause di ritardo nella diagnosi, alla fine con conseguenze cliniche molto più importanti e costose da gestire. Alla luce di ciò, abbiamo deciso di dedicare questo numero speciale della Rivista di psichiatria a una serie di articoli riguardanti le linee guida italiane per il trattamento della dipendenza da alcol. Realizzate in collaborazione con numerosi esperti e importanti società scientifiche italiane come il Centro di Riferimento Alcologico della Regione Lazio (CRARL), la Società Italiana Tossicodipendenze (SITD), la Società italiana per il Trattamento dell'Alcolismo e le sue Complicanze (SITAC), la Società Italiana Psichiatria delle Dipendenze (SIPDip), la Società Italiana Patologie da Dipendenza (SIPaD) e l'Istituto di Biologia Cellulare e Neurobiologia (IBCN-CNR), queste linee guida forniscono agli operatori una serie di raccomandazioni basate su prove di efficacia volte ad aumentare la conoscenza e un uso appropriato dei farmaci per le persone affette da DUA. Con la possibilità di un continuo aggiornamento, l'obiettivo principale di queste linee guida sarà quello di garantire l'omogeneità dei trattamenti e un incremento qualitativo nell'assistenza dei pazienti affetti da DUA, così da ridurre le conseguenze psicosociali e sulla salute pubblica di questa importante malattia psichiatrica.
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Montinari, Maria Rosa; Gianicolo, Emilio Antonio Luca; Vigotti, Maria Angela
2016-01-01
OBIETTIVI: valutare l'andamento temporale della mortalità per patologie respiratorie nelle province pugliesi utilizzando dati omogenei per fonte e metodologia di calcolo. DISEGNO: analisi ecologica storica degli andamenti temporali di mortalità per tumori e patologie dell'apparato respiratorio nelle province pugliesi, in Puglia e nelle ripartizioni geografiche italiane dal 1933 al 2010. SETTING E PARTECIPANTI: i dati di mortalità e le popolazioni residenti sono di fonte Istat. Sono state esaminate tutte le cause di decesso, il tumore della laringe, il tumore del polmone, l'insieme dei tumori respiratori, la bronchite, la polmonite e la broncopolmonite considerate congiuntamente, e l'insieme delle patologie respiratorie. Le analisi sono disaggregate per sesso dal 1969. PRINCIPALI MISURE DI OUTCOME: rapporti standardizzati di mortalità (SMR%) in riferimento all'Italia, con intervalli di confidenza al 95%, e tassi di mortalità standardizzati col metodo diretto (TSD ) in riferimento alla popolazione standard europea. RISULTATI: dal 1933 al 2010, i TSD per tumori respiratori e per bronchiti diminuiscono in tutte le aree analizzate. Tuttavia, nelle province di Taranto, Brindisi e Lecce, l'SMR% per tumori respiratori, inferiore al riferimento nazionale fino agli anni Sessanta, si allinea (a Brindisi) e supera (a Lecce e Taranto) il riferimento negli anni successivi. Nelle province di Foggia e Bari il numero dei decessi per tumore del polmone è costantemente inferiore all'atteso. CONCLUSIONI: la ricostruzione storica e l'analisi dei trend temporali di mortalità dal 1933 al 2010 mostrano alcune criticità sanitarie in periodi specifici. L'elaborazione dei dati di mortalità per un arco temporale di circa 80 anni ha messo in evidenza la maggiore rilevanza di queste criticità con l'avvio dello sviluppo industriale.
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Pelizza, Lorenzo; Raballo, Andrea; Semrov, Enrico; Chiri, Luigi Rocco; Azzali, Silvia; Scazza, Ilaria; Garlassi, Sara; Paterlini, Federica; Fontana, Francesca; Favazzo, Rosanna; Pensieri, Luana; Fabiani, Michela; Cioncolini, Leonardo; Pupo, Simona
2017-07-26
To establish the concordant validity of the "Checklist per la Valutazione dell'Esordio Psicotico" (CVEP) in an Italian help-seeking population. The CVEP is the Italian adaptation of the "early detection Primary Care Checklist," a 20-item tool specifically designed to assist primary care practitioners in identifying young people in the early stages of psychosis. The checklist was completed by the referring practitioners of 168 young people referred to the "Reggio Emilia At Risk Mental States" Project, an early detection infrastructure developed under the aegis of the Regional Project on Early Detection of Psychosis in the Reggio Emilia Department of Mental Health. The concordant validity of the CVEP was established by comparing screen results with the outcome of the "Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental States" (CAARMS), a gold standard assessment for identifying young people who may be at risk of developing psychosis. The simple checklist as originally conceived had excellent sensitivity (98%), but lower specificity (58%). Using only a CVEP total score of 20 or above as cut-off, the tool showed a slightly lower sensitivity (93%) with a substantial improvement in specificity (87%). Simple cross-tabulations of the individual CVEP item scores against CAARMS outcome to identify the more discriminant item in terms of sensitivity and specificity were carried out. In comparison to other, much longer, screening tools, the CVEP performed well to identify young people in the early stages of psychosis. Therefore, the CVEP is well suited to optimize appropriate referrals to specialist services, building on the skills and knowledge already available in primary care settings. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Heistand, R.N.; Atwood, R.A.; Richardson, K.L.
1980-06-01
From 1973 to 1978, Development Engineering, Inc. (DEI), a subsidiary of Paraho Development Corporation, demostrated the Paraho technology for surface oil shale retorting at Anvil Points, Colorado. A considerable amount of environmentally-related research was also conducted. This body of data represents the most comprehensive environmental data base relating to surface retorting that is currently available. In order to make this information available, the DOE Office of Environment has undertaken to compile, assemble, and publish this environmental data. The compilation has been prepared by DEI. This report includes the process characterization, air quality, and water quality categories.
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OCT structural examination of Madonna dei Fusi by Leonardo da Vinci
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Targowski, Piotr; Iwanicka, Magdalena; Sylwestrzak, Marcin; Kaszewska, Ewa A.; Frosinini, Cecilia
2013-05-01
Madonna dei Fusi (`Madonna of the Yarnwider') is a spectacular example of Italian Renaissance painting, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The aim of this study is to give an account of past restoration procedures. The evidence of a former retouching campaign will be presented with cross-sectional images obtained non-invasively with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Specifically, the locations of overpaintings/retouchings with respect to the original paint layer and secondary varnishes will be given. Additionally, the evidence of a former transfer of the pictorial layer to the new canvas support by detecting the presence of its structure incised into paint layer will be shown.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Grassi, N.
2005-06-01
In the framework of the extensive study on the wood painting "Madonna dei fusi" attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) techniques were used at the Florence accelerator laboratory to get information about the elemental composition of the paint layers. After a brief description of the basic principle and the general features of IBA techniques, we will illustrate in detail how the analysis allowed us to characterise the pigments of original and restored areas and the substrate composition, and to obtain information about the stratigraphy of the painting, also providing an estimate of the paint layer thickness.
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1988-08-01
by crash- associated fires. I -2 An Epual Opportunity Agency b. all off-road tracks created by vehicles driven to the site to retrieve the wreakage...require responses: 1. The DEIS established that in 1977, 10,394 supersonic sorties capable of creating sonic booms were flown in the Sells Airspace, DEIS...report discuss the effect of a typical case of a F-16 aircraft flying at interme- diate power and z00 feet AGL creating a noise of 103dB. RDEI3 §4.3.2.1
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WANG, Jia-Qi; WANG, Jia-Jia; WU, Xu-Jian; ZHENG, Wei-Hong; LIU, Jin-Song
2016-01-01
Environmental cues play important roles in the regulation of an animal’s physiology and behavior. One such cue, photoperiod, plays an important role in the seasonal acclimatization of birds. It has been demonstrated that an animal’s body mass, basal metabolic rate (BMR), and energy intake, are all affected by photoperiod. The present study was designed to examine photoperiod induced changes in the body mass, metabolism and metabolic organs of the silky starling, Sturnus sericeus. Captive silky starlings increased their body mass and BMR during four weeks of acclimation to a short photoperiod. Birds acclimated to a short photoperiod also increased the mass of certain organs (liver, gizzard and small intestine), and both gross energy intake (GEI) and digestible energy intake (DEI), relative to those acclimated to a long photoperiod. Furthermore, BMR was positively correlated with body mass, liver mass, GEI and DEI. These results suggest that silky starlings increase metabolic thermogenesis when exposed to a short photoperiod by increasing their body and metabolic organ mass, and their GEI and DEI. These findings support the hypothesis that bird species from temperate climates typically display high phenotypic flexibility in thermogenic capacity. PMID:27029864
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Filacchione, Gianrico
2006-10-01
Nel corso dell’ultimo decennio l’esplorazione planetaria ha potuto beneficiare dei dati prodotti dagli spettrometri ad immagine: grazie a questa nuova classe di strumenti, realizzati per l’osservazione in remoto di superfici ed atmosfere planetarie, è possibile acquisire dati iperspettrali con elevati poteri risolutivi spaziali e spettrali. Il principale vantaggio offerto dagli spettrometri ad immagine, rispetto alle camere ed agli spettrometri puntuali, è rappresentato dalla capacità di misurare, identificare e mappare le unità composizionali delle superfici planetarie; queste informazioni permettono di investigare sia l’evoluzione geochimica delle superfici sia la dinamica e la composizione delle atmosfere. Sebbene i primi spettrometri ad immagine siano stati francesi (Phobos/ISM, Imaging Spectrometer for Mars) e statunitensi (Galileo/NIMS, Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer), il nostro paese nel corso degli ultimi anni è stato in grado di proporre alla com unità spaziale internazionale degli strumenti dalle elevate prestazioni che sono stati infatti accettati come payload scientifici su diverse missioni interplanetarie: dai canali visibili di VIMS (Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) su Cassini (Nasa, JPL, ESA, ASI) e di OMEGA (Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l’Eau, les Glacies et l’Activitè de Mars) su MarsExpress (ESA) ai due VIRTIS (Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) su Rosetta (ESA) e VenusExpress (ESA) fino a VIR-MS (Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) su Dawn (Nasa). In questo momento inoltre altri due spettrometri sono in avanzata fase di studio: JIRAM (Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper) su Juno (missione New Discovery Nasa) e VIHI (Visible and Infrared Hyperspectral Imager) integrato nel payload italiano di remote sensing SIMBIO-SYS di BepiColombo (missione cornerstone ESA). La realizzazione di uno spettrometro ad immagini da utilizzare su una missione interplanetaria richiede un’accurata analisi in fase progettuale e realizzativa dei parametri e de lle prestazioni strumentali; in generale infatti non solo sarà necessario mantenere le dimensioni, il peso, i consumi elettrici ed il data-volume entro i requisiti disponibili del satellite ma anche ottimizzare i disegni ottici, meccanici ed elettronici al fine di ottenere le massime prestazioni possibili in funzione della natura del target osservato e dei parametri orbitali della missione. Questa tesi descrive i metodi utilizzati per caratterizzare il funzionamento di spettrometri ad immagine per l’esplorazione planetaria. L’attività svolta ha riguardato sia la misura in laboratorio dei parametri strumentali fondamentali sia l’analisi dei dati in volo su cui verificarne ed eventualmente correggerne la risposta. Il funzionamento degli strumenti e la metodologia di calibrazione vengono descritti nelle due parti principali e nelle appendici di questa tesi per gli esperimenti Cassini-VIMS-V e Rosetta-VIRTIS-M. La prima parte è dedicata all’esperimento VIMS-V sul satellite Cassini, il cui disegno ottico, originariamente proposto da Francis Reininger, verrà successivamente riutilizzato e perfezionato su VIRTIS-M (Reininger et al., 1994; Miller et al., 1996). Il capitolo 1 contiene una descrizione dei parametri ottici, strutturali, termici ed elettronici di VIMS-V mettendone in risalto gli aspetti più innovativi del progetto. Vengono inoltre descritti la collocazione dell’esperimento sul satellite Cassini, il coallineamento con gli altri strumenti di remote sensing, i possibili modi operativi ed il formato dei dati scientifici. Il capitolo 2 riguarda il processo di calibrazione ed analisi dei dati in volo di VIMS-V. La procedura eseguita per calibrare radiometricamente lo strumento utilizzando i dati della superficie della Luna e per stimare il flat-field mediante i dati dell’atmosfera di Venere viene dettagliatamente descritta assieme agli algoritmi utilizzati per la rimozione di diversi effetti strumentali (read-out noise e tilt spettrale); alcuni di questi effetti sono stati caratterizzati e dettagliamente misurati in laboratorio utilizzando il modello spare (flight) di VIMS-V. Parte del capitolo è dedicata alla verifica della procedura di calibrazione su diversi target aventi caratteristiche spettroradiometriche note. Questi algoritmi di processamento sono correntemente utilizzati dal team scientifico di VIMS per calibrare i dati del canale -VIS rilasciati ufficialmente alla comunità scientifica internazionale attraverso il Planetary Data System (PDS) della Nasa. La seconda parte riguarda l’esperimento VIRTIS-M sul satellite Rosetta. Il capitolo 3 contiene la descrizione dello strumento mettendo in risalto l’evoluzione dal precedente progetto VIMS-V ed i problemi tecnologici e costruttivi da questo derivanti. I diversi modi operativi, la sequenza di acquisizione e di processamento dei dati nell’elettronica principale sono ampiament e discussi. Viene inoltre evidenziata la collocazione dello spettrometro sul satellite Rosetta. Nel capitolo 4 viene descritta l’attività di calibrazione effettuata in Galileo Avionica (Campi Bisenzio, FI, Italia) ed allo IAS (Orsay, Francia) subito dopo l’integrazione di VIRTIS ed il conseguente processamento dei dati necessario per ricavare i principali parametri di funzionamento (calibrazioni spettrali e geometriche, flat-field, funzioni di trasferimento, lampade di calibrazione interne). Nel capitolo 5 l’accuratezza di queste grandezze è stata verificata su i primi dati in volo ottenuti da VIRTIS-M durante la fase di commissioning e di cruise del satellite (Terra, Luna e Saturno); queste osservazioni sono inoltre state utilizzate per migliorare e verificare alcuni aspetti della procedura di calibrazione che non erano stati sufficientemente definiti durante i test a terra. L’appendice A riguarda il formato PDS (Planetary Data System) utilizzato per l’archiviazione dei dati e degli housekeepings ingegnerisitici e scientifici delle osservazioni; nell’appendice B è contenuta la descrizione del modello radiometrico teorico di VIRTIS-M utilizzato per stimare il rapporto segnale/rumore; nelle appendici C e D sono infine contenute diverse Tabelle non incluse nel testo delle parti principali a causa della loro lunghezza.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
United States. Bonneville Power Administration.
In regard to the proposed Tenaska Washington II Generation Project, the goal of the Bonneville Power Administration`s (BPA) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) public involvement process is to determine the issues to be examined and pertinent analyses to be conducted and to solicit comments on the content and quality of information presented in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Comments and questions are solicited from the public and government agencies during the scoping process and during the comment period and public hearing on the DEIS, to find out what is of most concern to them. The end product of the publicmore » involvement process is the Comment Report which follows in part of this volume on Public Involvement.« less
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VII Workshop Italiano sulla fisica pp a LHC
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
LHCpp2016 è la settima edizione dell'incontro nazionale sulla fisica p-p a LHC. Questa serie di incontri è nata a Pisa nel 2003 con lo scopo di stimolare lo scambio di idee tra le comunità sperimentali di ATLAS, CMS e LHCB e la comunità teorica. Caratteristica fondamentale di questi incontri è la preparazione di larga parte dei talk in collaborazione tra i vari esperimenti e la comunità teorica. Largo spazio nella preparazione e presentazione dei talk viene dato ai giovani ricercatori. In questa settima edizione, che si tiene di nuovo a Pisa, vogliamo concentrare l'attenzione sulle potenzialità di scoperta offerte dai dati raccolti durante il runII di LHC.
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Compression and fast retrieval of SNP data
Sambo, Francesco; Di Camillo, Barbara; Toffolo, Gianna; Cobelli, Claudio
2014-01-01
Motivation: The increasing interest in rare genetic variants and epistatic genetic effects on complex phenotypic traits is currently pushing genome-wide association study design towards datasets of increasing size, both in the number of studied subjects and in the number of genotyped single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This, in turn, is leading to a compelling need for new methods for compression and fast retrieval of SNP data. Results: We present a novel algorithm and file format for compressing and retrieving SNP data, specifically designed for large-scale association studies. Our algorithm is based on two main ideas: (i) compress linkage disequilibrium blocks in terms of differences with a reference SNP and (ii) compress reference SNPs exploiting information on their call rate and minor allele frequency. Tested on two SNP datasets and compared with several state-of-the-art software tools, our compression algorithm is shown to be competitive in terms of compression rate and to outperform all tools in terms of time to load compressed data. Availability and implementation: Our compression and decompression algorithms are implemented in a C++ library, are released under the GNU General Public License and are freely downloadable from http://www.dei.unipd.it/~sambofra/snpack.html. Contact: sambofra@dei.unipd.it or cobelli@dei.unipd.it. PMID:25064564
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Free-response operator characteristic models for visual search
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hutchinson, T. P.
2007-05-01
Computed tomography of diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI-CT) is a novel x-ray phase-contrast computed tomography which is applied to inspect weakly absorbing low-Z samples. Refraction-angle images which are extracted from a series of raw DEI images measured in different positions of the rocking curve of the analyser can be regarded as projections of DEI-CT. Based on them, the distribution of refractive index decrement in the sample can be reconstructed according to the principles of CT. How to combine extraction methods and reconstruction algorithms to obtain the most accurate reconstructed results is investigated in detail in this paper. Two kinds of comparison, the comparison of different extraction methods and the comparison between 'two-step' algorithms and the Hilbert filtered backprojection (HFBP) algorithm, draw the conclusion that the HFBP algorithm based on the maximum refraction-angle (MRA) method may be the best combination at present. Though all current extraction methods including the MRA method are approximate methods and cannot calculate very large refraction-angle values, the HFBP algorithm based on the MRA method is able to provide quite acceptable estimations of the distribution of refractive index decrement of the sample. The conclusion is proved by the experimental results at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
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SNTP environmental, safety, and health
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Harmon, Charles D.
1993-01-01
Viewgraphs on space nuclear thermal propulsion (SNTP) environmental, safety, and health are presented. Topics covered include: program safety policy; program safety policies; and DEIS public hearing comments.
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Jones, Rochelle D; Chapman, Christina H; Holliday, Emma B; Lalani, Nafisha; Wilson, Emily; Bonner, James A; Movsas, Benjamin; Kalnicki, Shalom; Formenti, Silvia C; Thomas, Charles R; Hahn, Stephen M; Liu, Fei-Fei; Jagsi, Reshma
2018-05-01
A lack of diversity has been observed in radiation oncology (RO), with women and certain racial/ethnic groups underrepresented as trainees, faculty, and practicing physicians. We sought to gain a nuanced understanding of how to best promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) based on the insights of RO department chairs, with particular attention given to the experiences of the few women and underrepresented minorities (URMs) in these influential positions. From March to June 2016, we conducted telephone interviews with 24 RO department chairs (of 27 invited). Purposive sampling was used to invite all chairs who were women (n = 13) or URMs (n = 3) and 11 male chairs who were not URMs. Multiple analysts coded the verbatim transcripts. Five themes were identified: (1) commitment to DEI promotes quality health care and innovation; (2) gaps remain despite some progress with promoting diversity in RO; (3) women and URM faculty continue to experience challenges in various career domains; (4) solutions to DEI issues would be facilitated by acknowledging realities of gender and race; and (5) expansion of the career pipeline is needed. The chairs' insights had policy-relevant implications. Bias training should broach tokenism, blindness, and intersectionality. Efforts to recruit and support diverse talent should be deliberate and proactive. Bridge programs could engage students before their application to medical school. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Spanish Summary (Nuevos meteoritos encountrados en lmilac)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
1987-03-01
Desde tiempos prehistoricos han sido coleccionadas piedras que caen dei cielo. Hasta hace poco eran la unica fuente para hacer estudios de laboratorio de la materia extragal, ktica, e incluso en nuestra era espacial, siguen siendo una valiosa fuente de investigacion de la temprana historia dei sistema solar. Se estima que como termine medio cada kilometro cuadrado de la superficie terrestre es golpeada cada millon de aiios por un meteorito con un pese superior a 500 gramos. La mayoria se pierden en los oceanos 0 caen en regiones con escasa poblacion. Como resultado, los museos en el munda reciben anualmente tan solo alrededor de 6 meteoritos cuya caida fuera atestiguada. Otros llegan por hallazgos casuales que en la mayoria de los casos son meteoritos que han cardo en tiempos prehistoricos.
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Ethical issues in astrobiology: a Christian perspective (Invited)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Randolph, R. O.
2009-12-01
With its focus on the origin, extent, and future of life, Astrobiology raises exciting, multidisciplinary questions for science. At the same time, Astrobiology raises important questions for the humanities. For instance, the prospect of discovering extraterrestrial life - either intelligent or unintelligent - raises questions about humans’ place in the universe and our relationship with nature on planet Earth. Fundamentally, such questions are rooted in our understanding of what it means to be human. From a Christian perspective, the foundational claim about human nature is that all persons bear the "imago dei", the image of God. This concept forms the basis for how humans relate to one another (dignity) and how humans relate to nature (stewardship). For many Christians the "imago dei" also suggests that humans are at the center of the universe. The discovery of extraterrestrial life would be another scientific development - similar to evolution - that essentially de-centers humanity. For some Christian perspectives this de-centering may be problematic, but I will argue that the discovery of extraterrestrial life would actually offer a much needed theological corrective for contemporary Christians’ understanding of the "imago dei". I will make this argument by examining two clusters of ethical issues confronting Astrobiology: 1. What ethical obligations would human explorers owe to extraterrestrial life? Are there ethical obligations to protect extraterrestrial ecosystems from harm or exploitation by human explorers? Do our ethical considerations change, if the extraterrestrial life is a “second genesis;” in other words a form of life completely different and independent from the carbon-based life that we know on Earth? 2. Do we have an ethical obligation to promote life as much as we can? If human explorers discover extraterrestrial life and through examination determine that it is struggling to survive, do we have an ethical obligation to assist that ecological community to become stronger? If after a thorough investigation we determine that no life exists and that a planet is nothing more than a lifeless body of rocks and dust, do we have an ethical obligation to attempt the creation of life through a process called planetary ecosynthesis? Or, do we have the opposite obligation to respect the rocks and dust for what they are, and refrain from any attempts to engineer life on a lifeless planet? While these two clusters of issues pose new ethical questions, I will argue that from a Christian perspective the framework for responding to these challenges would remain the Genesis Creation stories and the concept of the "imago dei". However, the new ethical challenges posed by Astrobiology require a re-framing of the "imago dei" that is closer to the intent of the original scriptures and that predicts simultaneously the presence of extraterrestrial life and the de-centering of humanity.
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78 FR 54868 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-09-06
... the Omnibus Essential Fish Habitat Amendment Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) based on... year 2014. The Scientific and Statistical Committee will report on its acceptable biological catch (ABC...
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The Dioxin Exposure Initiative (DEI) is no longer active. This page contains a summary of the dioxin exposure initiative with illustrations, contact and background information.Originally supported by scientist Matthew Lorber, who retired in Mar 2017.
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75 FR 12505 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-03-16
... alternatives and Committee motions related to inclusion of alternatives in the DEIS. Other issues may be raised... physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other...
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Informatics in Radiology: Dual-Energy Electronic Cleansing for Fecal-Tagging CT Colonography
Kim, Se Hyung; Lee, June-Goo; Yoshida, Hiroyuki
2013-01-01
Electronic cleansing (EC) is an emerging technique for the removal of tagged fecal materials at fecal-tagging computed tomographic (CT) colonography. However, existing EC methods may generate various types of artifacts that severely impair the quality of the cleansed CT colonographic images. Dual-energy fecal-tagging CT colonography is regarded as a next-generation imaging modality. EC that makes use of dual-energy fecal-tagging CT colonographic images promises to be effective in reducing cleansing artifacts by means of applying the material decomposition capability of dual-energy CT. The dual-energy index (DEI), which is calculated from the relative change in the attenuation values of a material at two different photon energies, is a reliable and effective indicator for differentiating tagged fecal materials from various types of tissues on fecal-tagging CT colonographic images. A DEI-based dual-energy EC scheme uses the DEI to help differentiate the colonic lumen—including the luminal air, tagged fecal materials, and air-tagging mixture—from the colonic soft-tissue structures, and then segments the entire colonic lumen for cleansing of the tagged fecal materials. As a result, dual-energy EC can help identify partial-volume effects in the air-tagging mixture and inhomogeneous tagging in residual fecal materials, the major causes of EC artifacts. This technique has the potential to significantly improve the quality of EC and promises to provide images of a cleansed colon that are free of the artifacts commonly observed with conventional single-energy EC methods. © RSNA, 2013 PMID:23479680
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Termopoli, Veronica; Famiglini, Giorgio; Palma, Pierangela; Cappiello, Achille; Vandergrift, Gregory W.; Krogh, Erik T.; Gill, Chris G.
2016-02-01
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are USEPA regulated priority pollutants. Their low aqueous solubility requires very sensitive analytical methods for their detection, typically involving preconcentration steps. Presented is the first demonstrated `proof of concept' use of condensed phase membrane introduction mass spectrometry (CP-MIMS) coupled with direct liquid electron ionization (DEI) for the direct, on-line measurement of PAHs in aqueous samples. DEI is very well suited for the ionization of PAHs and other nonpolar compounds, and is not significantly influenced by the co-elution of matrix components. Linear calibration data for low ppb levels of aqueous naphthalene, anthracene, and pyrene is demonstrated, with measured detection limits of 4 ppb. Analytical response times (t10%-90% signal rise) ranged from 2.8 min for naphthalene to 4.7 min for pyrene. Both intra- and interday reproducibility has been assessed (<3% and 5% RSD, respectively). Direct measurements of ppb level PAHs spiked in a variety of real, complex environmental sample matrices is examined, including natural waters, sea waters, and a hydrocarbon extraction production waste water sample. For these spiked, complex samples, direct PAH measurement by CP-MIMS-DEI yielded minimal signal suppression from sample matrix effects (81%-104%). We demonstrate the use of this analytical approach to directly monitor real-time changes in aqueous PAH concentrations with potential applications for continuous on-line monitoring strategies and binding/adsorption studies in heterogeneous samples.
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Rapid Sequential in Situ Multiplexing with DNA Exchange Imaging in Neuronal Cells and Tissues.
Wang, Yu; Woehrstein, Johannes B; Donoghue, Noah; Dai, Mingjie; Avendaño, Maier S; Schackmann, Ron C J; Zoeller, Jason J; Wang, Shan Shan H; Tillberg, Paul W; Park, Demian; Lapan, Sylvain W; Boyden, Edward S; Brugge, Joan S; Kaeser, Pascal S; Church, George M; Agasti, Sarit S; Jungmann, Ralf; Yin, Peng
2017-10-11
To decipher the molecular mechanisms of biological function, it is critical to map the molecular composition of individual cells or even more importantly tissue samples in the context of their biological environment in situ. Immunofluorescence (IF) provides specific labeling for molecular profiling. However, conventional IF methods have finite multiplexing capabilities due to spectral overlap of the fluorophores. Various sequential imaging methods have been developed to circumvent this spectral limit but are not widely adopted due to the common limitation of requiring multirounds of slow (typically over 2 h at room temperature to overnight at 4 °C in practice) immunostaining. We present here a practical and robust method, which we call DNA Exchange Imaging (DEI), for rapid in situ spectrally unlimited multiplexing. This technique overcomes speed restrictions by allowing for single-round immunostaining with DNA-barcoded antibodies, followed by rapid (less than 10 min) buffer exchange of fluorophore-bearing DNA imager strands. The programmability of DEI allows us to apply it to diverse microscopy platforms (with Exchange Confocal, Exchange-SIM, Exchange-STED, and Exchange-PAINT demonstrated here) at multiple desired resolution scales (from ∼300 nm down to sub-20 nm). We optimized and validated the use of DEI in complex biological samples, including primary neuron cultures and tissue sections. These results collectively suggest DNA exchange as a versatile, practical platform for rapid, highly multiplexed in situ imaging, potentially enabling new applications ranging from basic science, to drug discovery, and to clinical pathology.
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Mooren, Trudy T M; Kleber, Rolf J
2013-11-01
This study examines late consequences of war and migration in both non-clinical and clinical samples of child survivors of World War II. This is one of the very few studies on the mental health of children who were subjected to internment in camps, hiding, and violence under Japanese occupation in the Far East. It provides a unique case to learn about the significance of experiences of war and migration in later life. Long-term sequelae of the Japanese persecution in the Dutch East Indies (DEI) in child survivors were studied by analyzing sets of standardized questionnaires of 939 persons. Instruments dealt with post-traumatic responses, general health, and dissociation. Participants were recruited through community services and registers of clinical services. Discriminant analyses were conducted to evaluate the significance of early experiences in determining group belonging. Compared with age-matched controls that lived through the German occupation in the Netherlands during World War II, the child survivors from the DEI reported both more trauma-related experiences and mental health disturbances in later life. In particular, the number of violent events during the war, among which especially internment in a camp, contributed to the variation among groups, in support of the significance of these disruptive experiences at older age. The results underline the long-term significance of World War II-related traumatic experiences in the population of elderly child survivors who spent their childhood in the former DEI.
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75 FR 27990 - New England Fishery Management Council; Public Meeting
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-05-19
... Amendment 2 DEIS. As time permits and pending completion of analyses by the PDT, discuss ongoing PDT work and recommendations related to deep- sea coral protection areas, Habitat Areas of Particular Concern...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-10-23
..., economics, visual resources/aesthetics, general environmental concerns, historic properties, fish and... necessarily be limited to, Section 401 of the Clean Water Act; Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) consultation...
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Best practices for the 3D documentation of the Grotta dei Cervi of Porto Badisco, Italy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Beraldin, J. A.; Picard, M.; Bandiera, A.; Valzano, V.; Negro, F.
2011-03-01
The Grotta dei Cervi is a Neolithic cave where human presence has left many unique pictographs on the walls of many of its chambers. It was closed for conservation reasons soon after its discovery in 1970. It is for these reasons that a 3D documentation was started. Two sets of high resolution and detailed three-dimensional (3D) acquisitions were captured in 2005 and 2009 respectively, along with two-dimensional (2D) images. From this information a textured 3D model was produced for most of the 300-m long central corridor. Carbon dating of the guano used for the pictographs and environmental monitoring (Temperature, Relative humidity, and Radon) completed the project. This paper presents this project, some results obtained up to now, the best practice that has emerged from this work and a description of the processing pipeline that deals with more than 27 billion 3D coordinates.
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Visits to La Plata Observatory
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Feinstein, A.
1985-03-01
La Plata Observatory will welcome visitors to ESO-La Silla that are willing to make a stop at Buenos Aires on their trip to Chile or on their way back. There is a nice guesthouse at the Observatory that can be used, for a couple of days or so, by astronomers interested in visiting the Observatory and delivering talks on their research work to the Argentine colleagues. No payments can, however, be made at present. La Plata is at 60 km from Buenos Aires. In the same area lie the Instituto de Astronomia y Fisica dei Espacio (IAFE), in Buenos Aires proper, and the Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomia (IAR). about 40 km from Buenos Aires on the way to La Plata. Those interested should contacl: Sr Decano Prof. Cesar A. Mondinalli, or Dr Alejandro Feinstein, Observatorio Astron6mico, Paseo dei Bosque, 1900 La Plata, Argentina. Telex: 31216 CESLA AR.
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Al-Amiri, Athari; Tabbaa, Sawsan; Preston, Charles Brian; Al-Jewair, Thikriat
2013-05-01
To determine the prevalence of permanent tooth anomalies in patients attending the graduate orthodontic clinic at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Charts of 496 subjects (310 females and 186 males) met the inclusion criteria for this study. The mean ages were 16 years and 3 months for the combined gender sample that received orthodontic treatment in the graduate orthodontic clinic between 2007 and 2010. Full pretreatment records (intraoral photographs, digital study models, lateral cephalograms and panoramic radiographs) were used for the assessment. Charts were examined for these anomalies: agenesis, supernumerary, impaction and delayed tooth eruption. Subjects were categorized by gender and ethnicity. The percentages of the anomalies were assessed according to type of malocclusion, gender, race, location, tooth class and region in the dental arches. Sixty-four subjects (12.9%) had at least one occurrence of delayed eruption and impaction (DEI), followed by 47 subjects (9.5%) who had at least one occurrence of agenesis, and seven (1.4%) had a supernumerary condition. Approximately 80% of the subjects had no dental anomalies. The presence of more than one anomaly was observed in 61 subjects. Twelve subjects (2.4%) had both agenesis and DEI. Agenesis tended to be more common in class II malocclusions (p=0.012). The prevalence of permanent tooth anomalies was (20.4%). The percentage occurrence of DEI was the highest (12.9%) followed by dental agenesis (9.5%) and supernumerary teeth (1.4%) in the orthodontic patients at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
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Development of an x-ray prism for analyzer based imaging systems
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Bewer, Brian; Chapman, Dean
Analyzer crystal based imaging techniques such as diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) and multiple imaging radiography (MIR) utilize the Bragg peak of perfect crystal diffraction to convert angular changes into intensity changes. These x-ray techniques extend the capability of conventional radiography, which derives image contrast from absorption, by providing large intensity changes for small angle changes introduced from the x-ray beam traversing the sample. Objects that have very little absorption contrast may have considerable refraction and ultrasmall angle x-ray scattering contrast improving visualization and extending the utility of x-ray imaging. To improve on the current DEI technique an x-ray prism (XRP)more » was designed and included in the imaging system. The XRP allows the analyzer crystal to be aligned anywhere on the rocking curve without physically moving the analyzer from the Bragg angle. By using the XRP to set the rocking curve alignment rather than moving the analyzer crystal physically the needed angle sensitivity is changed from submicroradians for direct mechanical movement of the analyzer crystal to tens of milliradians for movement of the XRP angle. However, this improvement in angle positioning comes at the cost of absorption loss in the XRP and depends on the x-ray energy. In addition to using an XRP for crystal alignment it has the potential for scanning quickly through the entire rocking curve. This has the benefit of collecting all the required data for image reconstruction in a single measurement thereby removing some problems with motion artifacts which remain a concern in current DEI/MIR systems especially for living animals.« less
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Development of an x-ray prism for analyzer based imaging systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bewer, Brian; Chapman, Dean
2010-08-01
Analyzer crystal based imaging techniques such as diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) and multiple imaging radiography (MIR) utilize the Bragg peak of perfect crystal diffraction to convert angular changes into intensity changes. These x-ray techniques extend the capability of conventional radiography, which derives image contrast from absorption, by providing large intensity changes for small angle changes introduced from the x-ray beam traversing the sample. Objects that have very little absorption contrast may have considerable refraction and ultrasmall angle x-ray scattering contrast improving visualization and extending the utility of x-ray imaging. To improve on the current DEI technique an x-ray prism (XRP) was designed and included in the imaging system. The XRP allows the analyzer crystal to be aligned anywhere on the rocking curve without physically moving the analyzer from the Bragg angle. By using the XRP to set the rocking curve alignment rather than moving the analyzer crystal physically the needed angle sensitivity is changed from submicroradians for direct mechanical movement of the analyzer crystal to tens of milliradians for movement of the XRP angle. However, this improvement in angle positioning comes at the cost of absorption loss in the XRP and depends on the x-ray energy. In addition to using an XRP for crystal alignment it has the potential for scanning quickly through the entire rocking curve. This has the benefit of collecting all the required data for image reconstruction in a single measurement thereby removing some problems with motion artifacts which remain a concern in current DEI/MIR systems especially for living animals.
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Development of an x-ray prism for analyzer based imaging systems.
Bewer, Brian; Chapman, Dean
2010-08-01
Analyzer crystal based imaging techniques such as diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) and multiple imaging radiography (MIR) utilize the Bragg peak of perfect crystal diffraction to convert angular changes into intensity changes. These x-ray techniques extend the capability of conventional radiography, which derives image contrast from absorption, by providing large intensity changes for small angle changes introduced from the x-ray beam traversing the sample. Objects that have very little absorption contrast may have considerable refraction and ultrasmall angle x-ray scattering contrast improving visualization and extending the utility of x-ray imaging. To improve on the current DEI technique an x-ray prism (XRP) was designed and included in the imaging system. The XRP allows the analyzer crystal to be aligned anywhere on the rocking curve without physically moving the analyzer from the Bragg angle. By using the XRP to set the rocking curve alignment rather than moving the analyzer crystal physically the needed angle sensitivity is changed from submicroradians for direct mechanical movement of the analyzer crystal to tens of milliradians for movement of the XRP angle. However, this improvement in angle positioning comes at the cost of absorption loss in the XRP and depends on the x-ray energy. In addition to using an XRP for crystal alignment it has the potential for scanning quickly through the entire rocking curve. This has the benefit of collecting all the required data for image reconstruction in a single measurement thereby removing some problems with motion artifacts which remain a concern in current DEI/MIR systems especially for living animals.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-01-25
...), and the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR part 1500-1508), the National Park... are protected and enhanced over the life of the plan. The Merced River Plan/DEIS evaluates the...
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76 FR 35915 - Proposed Information Collection Request
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-06-20
... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of Disability Employment Policy Proposed Information Collection Request... Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) of the Department of Labor (DOL) is soliciting comments concerning the... of Disability Employment Policy Disability Employment Initiative (DEI). A copy of the proposed...
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76 FR 57022 - Coastal Zone Management Program: Illinois
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-09-15
... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration Coastal Zone Management Program: Illinois AGENCY: Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM), National Oceanic and... Resource Management. The DEIS assesses the environmental impacts associated with approval of the Illinois...
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75 FR 27708 - Stanford University Habitat Conservation Plan
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-05-18
... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service RIN 0648-XV36 Stanford University Habitat Conservation Plan AGENCIES... University Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan), the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-04-22
... Department of Defense foreign language Proficiency Enhancement Program (PEP) changes the student-to... as part of the POM- centric alternative. (3) The POM and OMC alternative proposes new construction at...
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Ultraviolet Communication for Medical Applications
2015-06-01
In the previous Phase I effort, Directed Energy Inc.’s (DEI) parent company Imaging Systems Technology (IST) demonstrated feasibility of several key...accurately model high path loss. Custom photon scatter code was rewritten for parallel execution on a graphics processing unit (GPU). The NVidia CUDA
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24 CFR 58.60 - Preparation and filing of environmental impact statements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-04-01
... ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES Environmental Review Process: Procedures for Draft, Final and Supplemental... responsible entity must prepare the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and the final environmental... may request waivers from the time requirements specified for the draft and final EIS as prescribed in...
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24 CFR 58.60 - Preparation and filing of environmental impact statements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-04-01
... ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES Environmental Review Process: Procedures for Draft, Final and Supplemental... responsible entity must prepare the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and the final environmental... may request waivers from the time requirements specified for the draft and final EIS as prescribed in...
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24 CFR 58.60 - Preparation and filing of environmental impact statements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-04-01
... ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES Environmental Review Process: Procedures for Draft, Final and Supplemental... responsible entity must prepare the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and the final environmental... may request waivers from the time requirements specified for the draft and final EIS as prescribed in...
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24 CFR 58.60 - Preparation and filing of environmental impact statements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-04-01
... ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES Environmental Review Process: Procedures for Draft, Final and Supplemental... responsible entity must prepare the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and the final environmental... may request waivers from the time requirements specified for the draft and final EIS as prescribed in...
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DOT National Transportation Integrated Search
2008-06-01
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has prepared this Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to disclose and analyze the potential environmental impacts of the proposed new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards a...
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Foreword to "The Secret of Childhood."
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stephenson, Margaret E.
2000-01-01
Discusses the basic discoveries of Montessori's Casa dei Bambini. Considers principles of Montessori's organizing theory: the absorbent mind, the unfolding nature of life, the spiritual embryo, self-construction, acquisition of culture, creativity of life, repetition of exercise, freedom within limits, children's discovery of knowledge, the secret…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-07-22
... Combined Cycle Project; Preliminary Staff Assessment and Draft Environmental Impact Statement AGENCY... Combined Cycle Project Preliminary Staff Assessment/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (PSA/DEIS) (DOE... Gasification Combined Cycle Project, which would be designed, constructed, and operated by HECA, LLC. HECA's...
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Paolo Citton; Romano, Marco; Salvador, Isabella; Avanzini, Marco
2017-08-01
About thirty human footprints made approximately 12,000 years B.P. inside the 'Sala dei Misteri' Cave of Básura near Toirano, Liguria, northern Italy, were studied by standard ichnological analysis. Eleven of the best-preserved tracks were examined further using morpho-classificatory and morphometric approaches, in order to estimate the minimum number of trackmakers; biometric measurements were also used to tentatively determine their physical characteristics (e.g., height and age). Results indicate at least three different producers, two youths and the third of tender age. Analysis of the data demonstrate the power of 3D, of landmark-based morphometrics, and the utility of methods of forensic anthropology in the determination of human footprints. The study of the number of trackmakers using the principal component analysis (PCA) on 'multi-trampling' surfaces could represent a model in the ichnological study of cave sites.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-04-26
... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service Coral Reef Restoration Plan, Draft Programmatic... Coral Reef Restoration Plan, Biscayne National Park. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental... availability of a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Coral Reef Restoration Plan...
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Hypersonic-Flow Governing Equations with Electromagnetic Files
2009-09-01
CO. [15] B. Finzi, Principio d’azione stazionaria nell’elettrodinamica dei fluidi, Annali di Matematica Pura e Applicata 50 (1960) 321–339. [16] L...Waves, 2nd Edition, W. H. Freeman & Company, San Francisco CA, 1970. [45] E. Persico, Introduzione alla Fisica Matematica , 3rd Edition, Zanichelli
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49 CFR 520.27 - Legislative actions.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... Legislative actions. (a) A DEIS on both legislative proposals and reports for which NHTSA either develops the... been received should be available to the Congress and to the public for consideration in connection with the proposed legislation or report on proposed legislation. In cases where the scheduling of...
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49 CFR 520.27 - Legislative actions.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... Legislative actions. (a) A DEIS on both legislative proposals and reports for which NHTSA either develops the... been received should be available to the Congress and to the public for consideration in connection with the proposed legislation or report on proposed legislation. In cases where the scheduling of...
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49 CFR 520.27 - Legislative actions.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... Legislative actions. (a) A DEIS on both legislative proposals and reports for which NHTSA either develops the... been received should be available to the Congress and to the public for consideration in connection with the proposed legislation or report on proposed legislation. In cases where the scheduling of...
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49 CFR 520.27 - Legislative actions.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR
2011-10-01
... Legislative actions. (a) A DEIS on both legislative proposals and reports for which NHTSA either develops the... been received should be available to the Congress and to the public for consideration in connection with the proposed legislation or report on proposed legislation. In cases where the scheduling of...
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49 CFR 520.24 - Internal processing of draft environmental impact statements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... 49 Transportation 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Internal processing of draft environmental impact... ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS Procedures § 520.24 Internal processing of draft environmental impact statements. Before... that a potentially significant environmental effect exists; (b) Attach the DEIS; (c) Identify the...
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46 CFR 504.7 - Environmental impact statements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-10-01
... 46 Shipping 9 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Environmental impact statements. 504.7 Section 504.7... POLICY ANALYSIS § 504.7 Environmental impact statements. (a) General. (1) An environmental impact... environmental impact statements. (1) A draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) will initially be prepared in...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-05-25
... Tamiami Trail Modifications: Next Steps Project, Everglades National Park Tamiami Trail Modifications... Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Tamiami Trail... Statement (DEIS) for the Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41) Modifications: Next Steps Project for Everglades...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-01-20
... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Reclamation Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin, Riverside-Corona... Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIR/DEIS) for the proposed Riverside-Corona Feeder (RCF) Project... Bernardino, California 92410 Corona Public Library, 650 South Main Street, Corona, California 92882 Riverside...
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77 FR 38631 - Radio Broadcasting Services; AM or FM Proposals To Change the Community of License
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-06-28
... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Radio Broadcasting Services; AM or FM Proposals To Change the Community of License AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The following applicants filed AM or FM proposals to change the community of license: AGNUS DEI COMMUNICATIONS, INC...
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Assistive Technology for Every Child
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Boyd, Barbara Foulks
2008-01-01
The Montessori philosophy advocates that the classroom be a reflection of the home, the community, and the world. Now, a century after Maria Montessori founded her Casa dei Bambini, the world is becoming a high-technology society, with computers a part of everyday American lives. Computers are almost a household necessity, and basic…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-08-09
...] Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Alabama Beach Mouse General Conservation Plan for Incidental... future incidental take applications. The take would affect the federally endangered Alabama beach mouse... GCP and the dEIS. These documents analyze the take of the Alabama beach mouse incidental to...
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24 CFR 58.60 - Preparation and filing of environmental impact statements.
Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR
2010-04-01
... environmental impact statements. 58.60 Section 58.60 Housing and Urban Development Office of the Secretary... Environmental Impact Statements § 58.60 Preparation and filing of environmental impact statements. (a) The responsible entity must prepare the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and the final environmental...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-06-21
... Journal, the Missoulian, and on the following Web site: www.mackdays.com . Written comments on the DEIS... Lake and River Fisheries Co-Management Plan, Bull Trout Restoration Plan, Cutthroat Memorandum of... Management Plan. Stakeholders from the Flathead Basin comprise an interdisciplinary team that includes...
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75 FR 41157 - Stanford University Habitat Conservation Plan; Extension of Comment Period
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-07-15
... Fish and Wildlife Service RIN 0648-XX52 Stanford University Habitat Conservation Plan; Extension of... extending the comment period for our joint request for comments on the Stanford University Habitat... issued Stanford University Habitat Conservation Plan, a DEIS for Authorization of Incidental Take and...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-08-05
...] General Management Plan, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Gateway National Recreation Area, New... (NPS) is releasing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the General Management Plan (GMP... alternatives to guide the management of the site over the next 20 years. The NPS preferred alternative...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-08-12
...., Charleston, SC 29403. To submit comments please see our Web site at: http://www.sac.usace.army.mil/?action... container traffic and cargo value. In 2009, the Charleston port district was ranked ninth (out of 200 deep... [[Page 50188
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-07-25
..., identifying significant environmental issues in the DEIS/EIR, providing useful information such as published and unpublished data, and knowledge of relevant issues and recommending mitigation measures to offset... the scoping process. c. Individuals and agencies may offer information or data relevant to the...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-08-01
... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service Draft Environmental Impact Statement on a Denali..., Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on a Denali Park Road... announces the availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on a Denali Park Road Vehicle...
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77 FR 70551 - Highly Migratory Species; Atlantic Shark Management Measures
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-11-26
... uncertain. The Southeast Fisheries Science Center addressed the questions from the peer reviewers in a post... condition. The stock assessment scientists showed in the post-review updates and projections document that... lb dw in the Gulf of Mexico. Using the ex-vessel prices described in the DEIS under Alternative Suite...
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Generalizing Galileo's Passe-Dix Game
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hombas, Vassilios
2012-01-01
This article shows a generalization of Galileo's "passe-dix" game. The game was born following one of Galileo's [G. Galileo, "Sopra le Scoperte dei Dadi" (Galileo, Opere, Firenze, Barbera, Vol. 8). Translated by E.H. Thorne, 1898, pp. 591-594] explanations on a paradox that occurred in the experiment of tossing three fair "six-sided" dice.…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-09-26
... Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a Proposed Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Project for the Quiver... its intent to prepare a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) assessing the reasonably foreseeable environmental impact of a proposal to restore the aquatic ecosystem of the Quiver River, a...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-01-25
... Environmental Impact Statement for Tuolumne Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan, Yosemite... Statement (DEIS) for the proposed Tuolumne Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan (TRPCMP). The...), and will provide long-term guidance for management of the 54 miles of the Tuolumne River that flows...
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Time Frequency Analysis and Spatial Filtering in the Evaluation of Beta ERS After Finger Movement
2001-10-25
Italy. 5IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia , via Ardeatina 306, Roma, Italy Fig. 1 Scheme of the Wavelet Packet decomposition. The gray boxes represent...surface splines. J. Aircraft, 1972, 9: 189-191. [8]Maceri, B., Magnone, S., Bianchi, A., Cerutti, S. Studio della decomposizione wavelet dei segnali
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-12-22
...). The Plan/DEIS evaluates four alternatives for updating the current approach to management in Golden.... In recognition of the complexity of the proposed plan alternatives, and with deference to interest... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service [NPS-PWR-PWRO-1108-8862; 2031-A038-409] Draft...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-12-17
... environmental impact statement (DEIS). SUMMARY: NMFS, Southeast Region, in collaboration with the South Atlantic... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration RIN 0648-BD77 Fisheries of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Snapper-Grouper Fishery Off the South Atlantic...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-03-17
... until the discovery in 1990 that white phosphorus (a substance contained in certain Army munitions... when the ice is sufficiently thick to eliminate the risk of disturbing any underlying white phosphorus... white phosphorus from the local ecosystem. Active CERCLA cleanup at Eagle River Flats is scheduled for...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-01-21
... Predominantly Criminal Aliens at a Privately- Owned and Operated Institution in Either Hinton, OK; McRae, GA... Meetings for the proposed housing of inmates under the Criminal Alien Requirement 12 (CAR 12) solicitation... predominantly criminal aliens. Proposals received by the BOP from private contractors include existing...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-01-25
... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service [NPS-IMR-LAMR-10224; 2310-0091-422] Off-Road... Service (NPS) is releasing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Off- Road Vehicle... impacts of four alternatives that address off-road vehicle (ORV) management in the national recreation...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-07-26
... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34-62515; File No. SR-EDGX-2010-02] Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGX Exchange, Inc; Order Approving a Proposed Rule Change Relating to Direct Edge... DE Holdings, and DE Holdings will be the sole stockholder of DEI. The self-regulatory functions of...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-07-26
... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34-62514; File No. SR-EDGA-2010-02] Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGA Exchange, Inc.; Order Approving a Proposed Rule Change Relating to Direct Edge... Holdings will be the sole stockholder of DEI. The self-regulatory functions of the Exchange will remain...
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1980-12-01
Analysis of the White Pine Power Project. Bureau of Business and Economic Research, University of Nevada, Reno. Basile , J. V., and T. N. Lonner, 1979...Suspected of Pesticide Poisoning. Avian Diseases 18:487-489. Resource Area, Nye County, Nevada. Bureau of Land Management, Battle Mountain District. Rhoads, W
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Ahead of the Curve: State Success in the Developmental Education Initiative
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Altstadt, David
2012-01-01
Building on their work through Achieving the Dream, six states and 15 community colleges joined the Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) in 2009 to take on one of higher education's most daunting challenges: improving the success of students who enter community college academically underprepared. The states and Jobs for the Future, which…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-11-15
..., intends to file a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) with the U.S. Environmental Protection... Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. ADDRESSES: You may... hearings will be held at the Taunton High School, 50 William Street, Taunton, Massachusetts, and Mashpee...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR
2012-10-01
... impact upon the environment, for which Environmental Impact Statements must be prepared. 1.1305 Section 1... which normally will have a significant impact upon the environment, for which Environmental Impact... the human environment requires the preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR
2014-10-01
... impact upon the environment, for which Environmental Impact Statements must be prepared. 1.1305 Section 1... which normally will have a significant impact upon the environment, for which Environmental Impact... the human environment requires the preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and...
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Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR
2013-10-01
... impact upon the environment, for which Environmental Impact Statements must be prepared. 1.1305 Section 1... which normally will have a significant impact upon the environment, for which Environmental Impact... the human environment requires the preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and...
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All projects planned and implemented under the EPA Dioxin Exposure Initiative (DEI) are required to have completed Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs) EPA Order 5360.1 A2 states, All work funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that involves the ...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-10-25
...-FF08RSFC00] South Farallon Islands Invasive House Mouse Eradication Project; Farallon National Wildlife... Statement (revised DEIS) for the South Farallon Islands Invasive House Mouse Eradication Project on the... non-native invasive house mice from the South Farallon Islands, part of the Farallon National Wildlife...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hoke, Betsy
2014-01-01
Imagine going back in time and being the guiding spirit in Montessori's first "Casa dei Bambini" but with all the knowledge and skills developed as a Montessori teacher today. That is precisely the privilege this author has had as, over the past 2 years, she has worked to establish an Early Childhood Montessori program in Usa River,…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-06-15
... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service [5130-0400-NZM] Draft Oil and Gas Management Plan... Management Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement for Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and... gas management plan/environmental impact statement (OGMP/DEIS) for the proposed Big South Fork...
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Generalizing Galileo's passé-dix game
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hombas, Vassilios
2012-07-01
This article shows a generalization of Galileo's 'passé-dix' game. The game was born following one of Galileo's [G. Galileo, Sopra le Scoperte dei Dadi (Galileo, Opere, Firenze, Barbera, Vol. 8). Translated by E.H. Thorne, 1898, pp. 591-594] explanations on a paradox that occurred in the experiment of tossing three fair 'six-sided' dice.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-04-25
... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service [NPS-PWR-PWRO--0315-696; 8145-8B90-SZM] Dog... Impact Statement/Dog Management Plan, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. SUMMARY: The National Park Service has prepared a Draft Dog Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Plan/DEIS). The Plan...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Francescato, Giuseppe
1978-01-01
This article discusses the linguistic background of two Italian children who lived with their parents for an extended period of time in Holland and for a brief time in Puerto Rico and spent vacations in Italy where their relatives spoke the dialects of Veneto and Friuli. (CFM)
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fasoli, Paolo
1992-01-01
Summarizes trends over the last century of analyzing literature (poetry and prose) through the aid of linguistic theory. The contributions and shortcomings of various schools (Structuralist, Danish, Formalist, Transformationalist, Generativist) to the evaluation of literature are briefly outlined. (LET)
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The Hungry Mind: From the Casa dei Bambini to Cosmic Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Grazzini, Baiba Krumins
2016-01-01
Baiba Krumins Grazzini has generously transformed her lecture, delivered at the AMI-USA Refresher Course in 2014, into a legacy article. This article establishes the role of storytelling in Cosmic Education while capturing both the whole and the detailed parts of Montessori Cosmic Education. Working from the early childhood transition into the…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-09-27
...] Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Habitat Conservation Plan for Oncor Electric Delivery... availability of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and the draft Oncor Electric Delivery Company... announced that Oncor Electric Delivery Company, LLC, has applied under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered...
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INFEZIONI VIRALI CONGENITE, PERINATALI E NEONATALI VIRAL INFECTIONS OF THE FETUS AND NEWBORN INFANT
Tremolada, Sara; Delbue, Serena; Ferrante, Pasquale
2009-01-01
Riassunto Alcuni virus possono essere trasmessi verticalmente da madre a figlio in seguito allo sviluppo, da parte della madre, di un’infezione primaria, ricorrente o cronica. La trasmissione materno-fetale dei virus, che può avvenire in utero (infezione congenita), durante il travaglio del parto (infezione perinatale), oppure attraverso l’allattamento (infezione postnatale), può causare aborto spontaneo, morte fetale, ritardo di crescita intrauterino, anomalie congenite e patologie neonatali o postnatali di diversa entità. Alcuni fattori di rischio sembrano influenzare l’incidenza di trasmissione materno-fetale dei virus, come ad esempio la presenza di altre infezioni virali, la carica virale materna, il tipo di infezione (primaria o ricorrente), la durata della rottura delle membrane, la modalità con cui avviene il parto, le condizioni socio-economiche e l’allattamento. Oggi è possibile prevenire la trasmissione materno-fetale di molti virus grazie all’utilizzo di vaccini, immunizzazione passiva e farmaci antivirali. Il rischio di trasmissione delle infezioni perinatali e postnatali, inoltre, può essere diminuito evitando l’allattamento o ricorrendo ad un parto cesareo. PMID:19216201
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Mass density images from the diffraction enhanced imaging technique.
Hasnah, M O; Parham, C; Pisano, E D; Zhong, Z; Oltulu, O; Chapman, D
2005-02-01
Conventional x-ray radiography measures the projected x-ray attenuation of an object. It requires attenuation differences to obtain contrast of embedded features. In general, the best absorption contrast is obtained at x-ray energies where the absorption is high, meaning a high absorbed dose. Diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) derives contrast from absorption, refraction, and extinction. The refraction angle image of DEI visualizes the spatial gradient of the projected electron density of the object. The projected electron density often correlates well with the projected mass density and projected absorption in soft-tissue imaging, yet the mass density is not an "energy"-dependent property of the object, as is the case of absorption. This simple difference can lead to imaging with less x-ray exposure or dose. In addition, the mass density image can be directly compared (i.e., a signal-to-noise comparison) with conventional radiography. We present the method of obtaining the mass density image, the results of experiments in which comparisons are made with radiography, and an application of the method to breast cancer imaging.
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Mogami, Junro; Fujita, Yasunari; Yoshida, Takuya; Tsukiori, Yoshifumi; Nakagami, Hirofumi; Nomura, Yuko; Fujiwara, Toru; Nishida, Sho; Yanagisawa, Shuichi; Ishida, Tetsuya; Takahashi, Fuminori; Morimoto, Kyoko; Kidokoro, Satoshi; Mizoi, Junya; Shinozaki, Kazuo
2015-01-01
Protein phosphorylation events play key roles in maintaining cellular ion homeostasis in higher plants, and the regulatory roles of these events in Na+ and K+ transport have been studied extensively. However, the regulatory mechanisms governing Mg2+ transport and homeostasis in higher plants remain poorly understood, despite the vital roles of Mg2+ in cellular function. A member of subclass III sucrose nonfermenting-1-related protein kinase2 (SnRK2), SRK2D/SnRK2.2, functions as a key positive regulator of abscisic acid (ABA)-mediated signaling in response to water deficit stresses in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Here, we used immunoprecipitation coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analyses to identify Calcineurin B-like-interacting protein kinase26 (CIPK26) as a novel protein that physically interacts with SRK2D. In addition to CIPK26, three additional CIPKs (CIPK3, CIPK9, and CIPK23) can physically interact with SRK2D in planta. The srk2d/e/i triple mutant lacking all three members of subclass III SnRK2 and the cipk26/3/9/23 quadruple mutant lacking CIPK26, CIPK3, CIPK9, and CIPK23 showed reduced shoot growth under high external Mg2+ concentrations. Similarly, several ABA biosynthesis-deficient mutants, including aba2-1, were susceptible to high external Mg2+ concentrations. Taken together, our findings provided genetic evidence that SRK2D/E/I and CIPK26/3/9/23 are required for plant growth under high external Mg2+ concentrations in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, we showed that ABA, a key molecule in water deficit stress signaling, also serves as a signaling molecule in plant growth under high external Mg2+ concentrations. These results suggested that SRK2D/E/I- and CIPK26/3/9/23-mediated phosphorylation signaling pathways maintain cellular Mg2+ homeostasis. PMID:25614064
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bewer, Brian E.
Analyzer crystal based imaging techniques such as diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) and multiple imaging radiography (MIR) utilize the Bragg peak of perfect crystal diffraction to convert angular changes into intensity changes. These X-ray techniques extend the capability of conventional radiography, which derives image contrast from absorption, by providing a large change in intensity for a small angle change introduced by the X-ray beam traversing the sample. Objects that have very little absorption contrast may have considerable refraction and ultra small angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) contrast thus improving visualization and extending the utility of X-ray imaging. To improve on the current DEI technique this body of work describes the design of an X-ray prism (XRP) included in the imaging system which allows the analyzer crystal to be aligned anywhere on the rocking curve without moving the analyzer from the Bragg angle. By using the XRP to set the rocking curve alignment rather than moving the analyzer crystal physically the needed angle sensitivity is changed from muradians for direct mechanical movement of the analyzer crystal to milliradian control for movement the XRP angle. In addition to using an XRP for the traditional DEI acquisition method of two scans on opposite sides of the rocking curve preliminary tests will be presented showing the potential of using an XRP to scan quickly through the entire rocking curve. This has the benefit of collecting all the required data for image reconstruction in a single fast measurement thus removing the occurrence of motion artifacts for each point or line used during a scan. The XRP design is also intended to be compatible with combined imaging systems where more than one technique is used to investigate a sample. Candidates for complimentary techniques are investigated and measurements from a combined X-ray imaging system are presented.
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Line x-ray source for diffraction enhanced imaging in clinical and industrial applications
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Xiaoqin
Mammography is one type of imaging modalities that uses a low-dose x-ray or other radiation sources for examination of breasts. It plays a central role in early detection of breast cancers. The material similarity of tumor-cell and health cell, breast implants surgery and other factors, make the breast cancers hard to visualize and detect. Diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI), first proposed and investigated by D. Chapman is a new x-ray radiographic imaging modality using monochromatic x-rays from a synchrotron source, which produced images of thick absorbing objects that are almost completely free of scatter. It shows dramatically improved contrast over standard imaging when applied to the same phantom. The contrast is based not only on attenuation but also on the refraction and diffraction properties of the sample. This imaging method may improve image quality of mammography, other medical applications, industrial radiography for non-destructive testing and x-ray computed tomography. However, the size, and cost, of a synchrotron source limits the application of the new modality to be applicable at clinical levels. This research investigates the feasibility of a designed line x-ray source to produce intensity compatible to synchrotron sources. It is composed of a 2-cm in length tungsten filament, installed on a carbon steel filament cup (backing plate), as the cathode and a stationary oxygen-free copper anode with molybdenum coating on the front surface serves as the target. Characteristic properties of the line x-ray source were computationally studied and the prototype was experimentally investigated. SIMIION code was used to computationally study the electron trajectories emanating from the filament towards the molybdenum target. A Faraday cup on the prototype device, proof-of-principle, was used to measure the distribution of electrons on the target, which compares favorably to computational results. The intensities of characteristic x-ray for molybdenum, tungsten and rhodium targets were investigated with different window materials for -30kV to -100kV applied potential. Heat loading and thermal management of the target has been investigated computationally using COMSOL code package, and experimental measurements of target temperature rise was taken via thermocouples attached to the target. Temperature measurements for low voltage, low current regime without active cooling were compared to computational results for code-experiment benchmarking. Two different phantoms were used in the simulation of DEI images, which showed that the designed x-ray source with DEI setup could produce images with significant improved contrast. The computational results, along with experimental measurements on the prototype setup, indicate the possibility of scale up to larger area x-ray source adequate for DEI applications.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-05-28
... counties of Washoe, Storey, Lyon, and Churchill. DATES: Submit written comments on the RMP/DEIS on or... the public meetings. The public meetings will be held at the following locations: Fallon at Churchill... County Library, and the Churchill County Library Natural Resources Library, Department of the Interior...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-07-14
... and Draft Environmental Impact Statement: Highway 35, Between Norfolk and South Sioux City, NE AGENCY... Environmental Impact Statement. SUMMARY: The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that we are rescinding the Notice of Intent (NOI) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for improvements that...
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Conceptualising Diversity in a Rural School
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tuters, Stephanie
2015-01-01
This article describes a qualitative study which investigated how teachers made meaning of and responded to diversity in their rural school. While there is a large amount of information regarding how diversity plays out in urban settings and how teachers respond to it [e.g. Dei, G. J. S., I. M. James, L. L. Karumanchery, S. James-Wilson, and J.…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-04-26
... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Indian Affairs Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Spokane Tribe of Indians West Plains Casino and Mixed Use Project, City of Airway Heights, Spokane... Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Spokane Tribe of Indians West Plains casino and mixed use project, City...
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L'Uso dei Materiali Video nei Test Linguistici (The Use of Video Materials in Language Tests).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Diadori, Pierangela
1995-01-01
This article argues that a communicative language course must have communicative exams. It explains how to choose and use material to test students' listening comprehension and socio-cultural knowledge. Transcripts of a commercial, a talk show, a film, a TV news show, and a documentary are included accompanied by exercises. (CFM)
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-07-23
... related material on the DEIS and the proposed project's impact on river navigation. All comments received... Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Construction of a Highway Bridge Across the Manatee River at... for the Manatee River Draft Environmental Impact Statement published in the Federal Register on July 5...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-05-20
... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Indian Affairs Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the... Jemez, intends to file a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with the U.S. Environmental... to be located within Do[ntilde]a Ana County, New Mexico. The document contained an error in the...
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Developing Resilient Children: After 100 Years of Montessori Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Drake, Meg
2008-01-01
In this millennium, educators are faced with a number of issues that Dr. Maria Montessori could not have predicted. Today, students are different from the children Dr. Montessori observed in her "Casa dei Bambini." They are influenced by technology in all its forms. Some suffer from medical problems such as complex food allergies, which wreak…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-05-13
... Region, in collaboration with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) intends to prepare... total recreational red snapper quota that could be allocated among regions. NMFS, in collaboration with... even if a region has remaining quota. NMFS, in collaboration with the Council, will develop a DEIS to...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-04-08
.... Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the proposed approval of a 70.277 acre fee-to-trust transfer and..., location, and areas of environmental concern addressed in the DEIS are provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY..., Bureau of Indian Affairs, Southwest Regional Office, 1001 Indian School Road, NW., Albuquerque, New...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-11-10
... central receiver or tower, a solar field consisting of mirrors or heliostats to reflect the sun's energy... Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Solar Reserve LLC Quartzsite Solar Energy Project, La Paz County... (DEIS) for the proposed Quartzsite Solar Energy Project (Project), in La Paz County, Arizona, and the...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-06-16
... Edge, Inc. June 10, 2010. Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act... its corporate structure to provide that it will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Direct Edge, Inc. (``DEI'') instead of Direct Edge Holdings, LLC (``DE Holdings''). The proposed Certificate of...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-06-16
... Edge, Inc. June 10, 2010. Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act... its corporate structure to provide that it will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Direct Edge, Inc. (``DEI'') instead of Direct Edge Holdings, LLC (``DE Holdings''). The proposed Certificate of...
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Addendum to Effectiveness of Cognitive Tutor Algebra I at Scale. Working Paper WR-1050-DEIES
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pane, John F.; Griffin, Beth Ann; McCaffrey, Daniel F.; Karam, Rita
2014-01-01
This addendum to previously published results presents alternative analyses of data from large-scale effectiveness studies of Cognitive Tutor Algebra I in middle schools and high schools. These alternative analyses produce results that are substantively the same as previously reported. We find a significant positive effect of 0.21 standard…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-01-27
...); scoping meetings; request for comments. SUMMARY: The Caribbean Fishery Management Council (Council) and NMFS intend to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze management alternatives to be included in an amendment to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Fishery of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-12-04
... Region, in collaboration with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), intends to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze a range of alternatives for management actions to be included in Regulatory Amendment 17 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-04-17
... collaboration with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), intends to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze a range of alternatives for management actions to be included in Regulatory Amendment 14 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-12-04
... South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council), intends to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze a range of alternatives for management actions to be included in Regulatory Amendment 16 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Regulatory Amendment 16...
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Shared Versus Distributed Memory Multiprocessors
1991-01-01
multiprocessors should hawe shared or dis.trimuted meieo-% ha~ trr ~ g ’’~ de~i c4~accio;, S Cm teaicners argue S trongly tor Outiding (li15 tri huted...Applications, MIT Press (1985). 161 D. Gajski et el., "Cedar," Proc. Compcon, pp. 306-309 (Spring 19S9). 171 S. Ahuja, N. Carriero and D. Gelernter, "Linda
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-06-03
... orally or in writing, on the DEIS. Notification of the meeting will be announced following same format as... affect approximately 1.08 acres of near- shore hard bottom habitat through direct burial. Because of the extensive hard bottom resources immediately adjacent to the beach, the high recreational uses of the project...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gordon, Megan K.; Zinga, Dawn M.
2012-01-01
The black-focused school introduced by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in 2009 has been controversial since the community consultations were conducted. Although media representations and Dei (1996, 2006) provide insight into what Torontonians' reactions are to the proposed black-focused school, the reactions of black youth in the Greater…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-09-05
... Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed RES Americas Moapa Solar Energy Center, Clark County, Nevada... environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the proposed RES Americas Moapa Solar Energy Center on the Moapa River... Progress and on the following Web site: www.MoapaSolarEnergyCenterEIS.com . In order to be fully considered...
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Malet, Antoni
2009-01-01
Jose Maria Albareda (1902-1966) was an applied chemist and a prominent member of the Roman Catholic organization, Opus Dei, who played a crucial role in organizing the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientficas (CSIC), the new scientific institution created by the Franco regime in 1939. The paper analyses first the formative years in…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-12-27
..., 2004. Following the release of the 2004 DEIS/EIR, the public comment period, and input from the cities... proposed project is located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties encompassing six adjoining cities... west and Montclair on the east. The project area includes the cities of Glendora, San Dimas, La Verne...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-01-18
... Environmental Impact Statement for Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean AGENCY: National Marine... Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Effects of Oil and Gas Activities in the Arctic Ocean.'' Based on... Web page at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/eis/arctic.htm . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-10-14
... waters of the United States and the potential impacts to the natural and human environment. Therefore, in... development approvals within its jurisdiction. The Corps and the Port have agreed to jointly prepare a DEIS... development and operation. The site, located at 1925 Pier D Street, is bounded by Channel 3 to and SSA Matson...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-11-07
... the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Amendment 28 to the Fishery Management Plan for the... collaboration with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) intends to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze management alternatives to be included in Amendment 28 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-12-24
... the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Amendment 40 to the Fishery Management Plan for the... collaboration with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) intends to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze management alternatives to be included in Amendment 40 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-02-02
... the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and South Atlantic; Amendment 32 to the Fishery Management Plan for the... collaboration with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council) intends to prepare a DEIS to describe and analyze management alternatives to be included in an amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for...
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-05-13
... Training Land Expansion at Fort Benning, GA and AL AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD. ACTION: Notice of... acquisition of approximately 82,800 acres of land in the vicinity of Fort Benning, Georgia (GA) and Alabama... more training land). Alternative 3 (acquire land in Stewart County, GA) is the Army's preferred...
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Proposed Columbia Wind Farm No. 1 : Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Joint NEPA/SEPA.
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
United States. Bonneville Power Administration; Klickitat County
1995-03-01
This Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) addresses the Columbia Wind Farm {number_sign}1 (Project) proposal for construction and operation of a 25 megawatt (MW) wind power project in the Columbia Hills area southeast of Goldendale in Klickitat County, Washington. The Project would be constructed on private land by Conservation and Renewable Energy System (CARES) (the Applicant). An Environmental Impact Statement is required under both NEPA and SEPA guidelines and is issued under Section 102 (2) (C) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) at 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq and under the Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) as provided bymore » RCW 43.21C.030 (2) (c). Bonneville Power Administration is the NEPA lead agency; Klickitat County is the nominal SEPA lead agency and CARES is the SEPA co-lead agency for this DEIS. The Project site is approximately 395 hectares (975 acres) in size. The Proposed Action would include approximately 91 model AWT-26 wind turbines. Under the No Action Alternative, the Project would not be constructed and existing grazing and agricultural activities on the site would continue.« less
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Ganglioneuroblastoma: Case report and review of the literature.
Alessi, S; Grignani, M; Carone, L
2011-06-01
Neuroblastoma are among the most important tumors of extracranial origin in pediatric patients. They arise from embryonal cells involved in the development of the sympathetic nervous system, whose differentiation has been arrested [1,2]. They are the tumors most frequently diagnosed during the first decade of life. Their evolution is unpredictable, ranging from progression to spontaneous regression or maturation, and their location and metastatic potential vary. Little is known about the cause of these tumors and the risk factors associated with their development. This article describes a typical case of ganglioneuroblastoma and provides a review of the literature on this type of tumor.Sommario Il neuroblastoma è uno dei più importanti tumori pediatrici di derivazione extracranica; esso origina dalle cellule embrionali coinvolte nello sviluppo del sistema nervoso simpatico a causa di un blocco nel loro processo di differenziamento [1,2]. È la più frequente neoplasia della prima decade di vita; la sua progressione biologica è imprevedibile, regressione spontanea, maturazione a ganglioneuroma, localizzazione e metastatizzazione variabili. Poco è noto a riguardo dei fattori di rischio e della sua eziopatogenesi. Viene presentato un caso tipico di ganglioneuroblastoma e riesaminata la letteratura su questa neoplasia.
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2D and 3D optical diagnostic techniques applied to Madonna dei Fusi by Leonardo da Vinci
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fontana, R.; Gambino, M. C.; Greco, M.; Marras, L.; Materazzi, M.; Pampaloni, E.; Pelagotti, A.; Pezzati, L.; Poggi, P.; Sanapo, C.
2005-06-01
3D measurement and modelling have been traditionally applied to statues, buildings, archeological sites or similar large structures, but rarely to paintings. Recently, however, 3D measurements have been performed successfully also on easel paintings, allowing to detect and document the painting's surface. We used 3D models to integrate the results of various 2D imaging techniques on a common reference frame. These applications show how the 3D shape information, complemented with 2D colour maps as well as with other types of sensory data, provide the most interesting information. The 3D data acquisition was carried out by means of two devices: a high-resolution laser micro-profilometer, composed of a commercial distance meter mounted on a scanning device, and a laser-line scanner. The 2D data acquisitions were carried out using a scanning device for simultaneous RGB colour imaging and IR reflectography, and a UV fluorescence multispectral image acquisition system. We present here the results of the techniques described, applied to the analysis of an important painting of the Italian Reinassance: `Madonna dei Fusi', attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
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Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
2000-07-01
MCB Marine Corps Base MCCDC Marine Corps Combat Development Center MCHC Marine Corps Heritage Center MCHMD Marine Corps History and Museum...other federal agencies. In addition to the MCU, the base is the site of the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School (OCS), the Marine Corps Combat ...at the Air-Ground Museum to support instruction and research on combat doctrine, tactics, and technology. The Air-Ground Museum also loans items to
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The LIS Corpus Project: A Discussion of Sociolinguistic Variation in the Lexicon
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Geraci, Carlo; Battaglia, Katia; Cardinaletti, Anna; Cecchetto, Carlo; Donati, Caterina; Giudice, Serena; Mereghetti, Emiliano
2011-01-01
Following a well-established tradition going back to the 1980s (cf. Volterra 1987/2004), the authors use the name Lingua dei Segni Italiana (Italian Sign Language [LIS]) for the language used by Italian deaf people (and by Swiss deaf people living in the Ticino canton). LIS is becoming more and more visible, and its status as a minority language…
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Giacomo Colle; Antonio Floris; Gianfranco Scrinzi; Giovanni Tabacchi; Lorenzo Cavini
2009-01-01
In this article, we describe in depth the analysis and solutions to manage the multiple coordinates of the sampling objects coming from the three different phases of the second Italian national forest inventory (Inventario Nazionale delle Foreste e dei serbatoi forestali di Carbonio [INFC]). In particular, this article describes the criteria used to determine the...
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1984-03-15
MOLINI I. PANAREA C. FARO SALINA n. FOSSA FELCI SAL. PTA LINGUA SALINA M. ARIA VULCANO PTA DEI PORCI VUL, ® LONGITUDE + E, -W 15.152...I-l I-l I-l 30 SACLANTCEN SM-170 PTA SPADILLO PANT. PTA LI MARS I " C. PONENTE LAMPED. C. GRECALE PTA B. TUCCIO LIN. M. VULCANO LINOSA
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1987-12-01
c-oup nustemnera. It the -"ociltng fr-o the increased coads aaacntated ,ith the n bcei aseline inremtental poern comtes fe-s BaRsin, the coat. lei...for 0111 thdis pr~oject W tEF: 540 21. Authorization. Section 6.0 of the DEIS contains a -;t of only federal "Authorizing Agust 21. 1987 Actions
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1989-11-01
Resources .............................. 3-27 3.3.2 Threatened and Endangered Species ............................. 3-27 3.4 Human Environment...Wildlife Resources .............................. 4-7 4.2.2 Threatened and Endangered Species ............................. 4-8 4.3 Human Environment...their resource management effectiveness. Relo- ’- cating the center from Norton AFB to Kirtland AFB allos consolidation with the MEXICO AFISC Directorate
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Ultraviolet Communication for Medical Applications
2014-05-01
parent company Imaging Systems Technology (IST) demonstrated feasibility of several key concepts are being developed into a working prototype in the...program using multiple high-end GPUs ( NVIDIA Tesla K20). Finally, the Monte Carlo simulation task will be resumed after the Milestone 2 demonstration...is acceptable for automated printing and handling. Next, the option of having our shells electroded by an external company was investigated and DEI
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A Modular, Reconfigurable Surveillance UAV Architecture
2003-09-02
Una Società Galileo Avionica A Modular, Reconfigurable Surveillance UAV Architecture METEOR, Finmeccanica Group Zona Industriale di Soleschiano Via...ES) METEOR, Finmeccanica Group Zona Industriale di Soleschiano Via Mario Stoppani 21 34077 Ronchi dei Legionari (GO) ITALY 8. PERFORMING...PMSFMS RS1Backup FMS NSU Payload Control Actuators Router Router RS2 Recovery Devices Una Società Galileo Avionica • Daylight TV Camera • IR Sensor • HR
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1980-12-01
leaved rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) and Mormon tea ( Ephedra viridis ). The Sevier River contains surface water year-round, and riparian...sagebrush, rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus), and Mormon tea ( Ephedra spp). Shifts in dominance occur locally in response to topographic...bush (Larrea divaricata), Nevada ephedra ( Ephedra nevadensis), Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera), and spiny menodora (Menodora spinescens). Creosote brush
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cahill, Kevin
2015-01-01
This paper is a critical policy analysis of intersections between social class inequality and education policy in Ireland. The focus is upon contemporary policy and legislation such as The Irish Constitution and equality legislation; social inclusion policies such as the DEIS scheme; literacy and numeracy policy documents; as well as current…
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2011-09-29
...--County on January 28, 2011. The public notice is available on Charleston District's public Web site at... eight open mining pits over a twelve-year period, with pit depths ranging from 110 to 840 feet deep. The... of January 28, 2011, and are available on Charleston District's public Web site at http://www.sac...
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fagnano, Massimo; Fioretnino, Nunzio
2017-04-01
The definition of a soil contamination is a 2 step process, based on screening values and risk analysis. The variability of values of screening values across Europe casts some doubts about the ecological and toxicological meaning of such values. In the case of agricultural soils, the situation is more unclear since there is not a clear process for evaluation of the suitability of a soil for food production. Different methods have been proposed (i.e metal bioavailability by using different extracting agents), but the final response is given by plant analyses that can assess if the contaminants have been accumulated in edible organs. The study case of the so called Terra dei Fuochi (plainy area of Campania Region, Southern Italy) is presented, since in this area the LIFE-Project Ecoremed was developed with the aim to identify the contaminated soils in the perspective of their phytoremediation with biomass crops that could be used as source of renewable energy, thus avoiding competition for land between energy and food crops. At the end of assessment activities, the contaminated agricultural soils in this area resulted too few (about 30 ha) for satisfying the exigence of a bio-refinery. Therefore in Terra dei Fuochi area there aren't perspectives for biomass crops, because there is an intense production of high-value, healthy and safe vegetables and water buffalo mozzarella cheese, that are exported worldwide. Instead other marginal areas are very spread in internal hilly arable land of Southern Italy where 100,000 ha of durum wheat are not sustainable both from economic and environmental points of view. In particular, yields are very low (2-3 t/ha) and income (4-600 €/ha) doesn't cover the cultivation costs; soils are vulnerable to soil losses due to water erosion (not covered from tillage in August to germination in November) in the months in which rainfall erosivity is higher. A reasonable percentage of this area (i.e. 10%) could be used for producing biomasses, this justifying the construction of commercial-scale biorefineries in this area.
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Lellis, William A.; Blakeslee, Carrie J.; Allen, Laurie K.; Molnia, Bruce F.; Price, Susan D.; Bristol, R. Sky; Stewart, Brent
2012-01-01
Between 2007 and 2010, National Park Service (NPS) staff at the Point Reyes National Seashore, California, collected over 300,000 photographic images of Drakes Estero from remotely operated wildlife monitoring cameras. The purpose of the systems was to obtain photographic data to help understand possible relationships between anthropogenic activities and Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) behavior and distribution. The value of the NPS photographs for use in assessing the frequency and impacts of seal disturbance and displacement in Drakes Estero has been debated. In September 2011, the NPS determined that the photographs did not provide meaningful information for development of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Drakes Bay Oyster Company Special Use Permit. Limitations of the photographs included lack of study design, poor photographic quality, inadequate field of view, incomplete estuary coverage, camera obstructions, and weather limitations. The Marine Mammal Commission (MMC) reviewed the scientific data underpinning the Drakes Bay Oyster Company DEIS in November 2011 and recommended further analysis of the NPS photographs for use in characterizing rates and consequences of seal disturbance (Marine Mammal Commission, 2011). In response to that recommendation, the NPS asked the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct an independent review of the photographs and render an opinion on the utility of the remote camera data for informing the environmental impact analyses included in the DEIS. In consultation with the NPS, we selected the 2008 photographic dataset for detailed evaluation because it covers a full harbor seal breeding season (March 1 to June 30), provides two fields of view (two cameras were deployed), and represents a time period when cameras were most consistently deployed and maintained. The NPS requested that the photographs be evaluated in absence of other data or information pertaining to seal and human activity in the estuary and that we focus on the extent to which the photographs could be used in understanding the relationship between human activity (including commercial oyster production) and harbor seal disturbance and distribution in the estuary.
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Small Groups, Big Change: Preliminary Findings from the Sparks for Change Institute
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kirsch, R.; Batchelor, R. L.; Habtes, S. Y.; King, B.; Crockett, J.
2017-12-01
The geoscience professoriate continues to under represent women and minorities, yet the value of diversity, both for science as well as recruiting and retaining diverse students, is well known. While there are growing numbers of early career tenure-track minority faculty, low retention rates pose a challenge for sustained diversity in the professoriate. Part of this challenge is the lack of institutional support and recognition in tenure and promotion pathways for faculty who undertake broadening participation efforts. Sparks for Change is a NSF Geoscience Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity (GOLD)-funded project that aims to change departmental culture to better value and reward inclusion and broadening participation efforts. By encouraging, recognizing, and rewarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts at the department level, we aim to support and retain underrepresented minority (URM) faculty, who often disproportionately undertake these efforts, and to build more inclusive environments for faculty, staff and students alike. Sparks for Change utilizes a small group theory of change, arguing that the effort of a small group of committed individuals inside the organization is the best way to overcome the institutional inertia of academic departments that makes them resistant to change. For this effort, we propose that the ideal composition of these small groups is a junior faculty URM who is interested in DEI in the geosciences, a senior member of that same department who can lend weight to efforts and is positioned to help enact department policy, and an external broadening participation expert who can share best practices and provide accountability for the group. Eleven of these small groups, representing a range of institutions, will be brought together at the Sparks for Change Institute in Boulder, CO, in September. There they will receive leadership training on adaptive, transformative, and solidarity practices, share DEI experiences and best practices, build a community of "change agents", and develop department-specific action plans for their own institution. In this talk we will discuss our findings from the institute and highlight some of the action plans the small groups developed for changing their department.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2013-01-11
... turbines installed by Invenergy. The manufacturer and model of the wind turbines have not yet been selected... to 85 3-MW wind turbines. Each turbine would have a hub height up to 309 feet, rotor diameter up to... to 80 2-MW wind turbines (totaling 160 MW from wind) in combination with up to 40 1-MW solar...
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1980-12-01
tridentata, A. nova, and A. arbriscula), sticky-leaved rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) and Mormon tea ( Ephedra viridis ). The Sevier River contains...Chrysothamnus nauseosus), and Mormon tea ( Ephedra spp). Shifts in dominance occur locally in response to topographic and geographic variances. In general...divaricata), Nevada ephedra ( Ephedra nevadensis), Mojave yucca (Yucca schidigera), and spiny menodora (Menodora spinescens). Creosote brush scrub occurs
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Zhong,Z.; Bennett, D.; Chapman, D.
We explored diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) in both planar and computed tomography (CT) modes for early detection of beta amyloid deposition, a hallmark feature in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Since amyloid plaques precede clinical symptoms by years, their early detection is of great interest. These findings were correlated with results from synchrotron infrared microspectroscopic imaging and X-ray fluorescence microscopy, to determine the secondary structure of the amyloid beta protein and metal concentration in the amyloid plaques, respectively.
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[Analysis of factors predicting early unplanned readmissions].
Di Domenico, Gabriella; Tersigni, Ivan; Federico, Bruno; Leuter, Cinzia
2016-01-01
OBIETTIVI: determinare i fattori associati ai ricoveri ripetuti per identificare i pazienti a rischio di riospedalizzazione entro i 30 giorni dalla dimissione. DISEGNO: analisi retrospettiva delle dimissioni nell'anno 2013 attraverso le schede di dimissione ospedaliera (SDO). 3.900 pazienti ricoverati presso il presidio ospedaliero "Fabrizio Spaziani" di Frosinone. PRINCIPALI MISURE DI OUTCOME: analisi bivariata per l'analisi dell'associazione tra variabili. La regressione logistica è stata utilizzata per identificare i fattori di rischio associati al ricovero ripetuto. RISULTATI: tra i 3.900 pazienti considerati, il 12,8% ha avuto una riammissione non programmata entro un mese dalla dimissione precedente per le stesse categorie diagnostiche principali (MCD). Sono state rilevate differenze statisticamente significative tra i pazienti con e senza ricovero ripetuto per età, durata della degenza, titolo di studio, condizione occupazionale e diagnosi. I fattori che aumentano la probabilità di una riospedalizzazione sono il vivere da solo, la condizione di pensionato o casalinga, una degenza più lunga e alcune diagnosi, fra cui malattie dell'apparato respiratorio, del sistema nervoso e dell'apparato urinario. CONCLUSIONE: alcune caratteristiche sociodemografiche e la diagnosi dei pazienti ospedalizzati sono associate al rischio di riospedalizzazione entro 30 giorni dalla dimissione. I dati disponibili nell'archivio delle SDO possono essere utilizzati per un'identificazione dei pazienti a rischio sui quali definire specifici piani di dimissione.
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Dynamic electronic institutions in agent oriented cloud robotic systems.
Nagrath, Vineet; Morel, Olivier; Malik, Aamir; Saad, Naufal; Meriaudeau, Fabrice
2015-01-01
The dot-com bubble bursted in the year 2000 followed by a swift movement towards resource virtualization and cloud computing business model. Cloud computing emerged not as new form of computing or network technology but a mere remoulding of existing technologies to suit a new business model. Cloud robotics is understood as adaptation of cloud computing ideas for robotic applications. Current efforts in cloud robotics stress upon developing robots that utilize computing and service infrastructure of the cloud, without debating on the underlying business model. HTM5 is an OMG's MDA based Meta-model for agent oriented development of cloud robotic systems. The trade-view of HTM5 promotes peer-to-peer trade amongst software agents. HTM5 agents represent various cloud entities and implement their business logic on cloud interactions. Trade in a peer-to-peer cloud robotic system is based on relationships and contracts amongst several agent subsets. Electronic Institutions are associations of heterogeneous intelligent agents which interact with each other following predefined norms. In Dynamic Electronic Institutions, the process of formation, reformation and dissolution of institutions is automated leading to run time adaptations in groups of agents. DEIs in agent oriented cloud robotic ecosystems bring order and group intellect. This article presents DEI implementations through HTM5 methodology.
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Nutritional intake of elite football referees.
Teixeira, Vitor Hugo; Gonçalves, Liliana; Meneses, Tiago; Moreira, Pedro
2014-01-01
There is a paucity of dietary data in football referees. In this study, 23 elite main and assistant referees (34.4 ± 5.6 years) completed a 7-day dietary record during the competitive season. No nutritional intake differences were observed between main and assistant referees. Referees' mean daily energy intake (DEI) was 2819 ± 279 kcal. The intake of proteins (1.7 ± 0.2 g · kg(-1)), carbohydrates (4.1 ± 0.8 g · kg(-1)) and fats (1.4 ± 0.2 g · kg(-1)) represented, respectively, 18.4 ± 1.5%, 44.4 ± 4.4% and 34.6 ± 4.1% of the DEI. Carbohydrate intakes before, during and after exercise were 66 ± 42, 7 ± 15 and 120 ± 62 g. Daily carbohydrate, fibre, polyunsaturated fat and water intakes were below recommendations, while fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium intakes were above recommended values. The prevalence of inadequate intake was high for vitamin E (96%), folate (74%), vitamin A (61%), vitamin C (39%), magnesium (26%) and calcium (22%). Carbohydrate intake before, during and after exercise were far from achieving the minimum recommended values. Most referees demonstrated a negligent behaviour of hydration during exercise. Referees would benefit from dietary education in order to optimise performance and health.
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Legends about Legends: Abraham Eleazar's Adaptation of Nicolas Flamel.
Priesner, Claus
2016-02-01
This paper explores the relationship between three illustrated alchemical treatises, all of which are associated with Jewish adepts: the famous Le Livre des figures hieroglyphiques attributed to Nicolas Flamel, and two treatises published in 1735 in Erfurt-the Uraltes Chymisches Werckh and the Donum Dei. The Werckh is supposedly written by Rabbi Abraham Eleazar, while the Donum Dei is attributed to an ancient alchemist-cabalist, Rabbi Samuel Baruch. I argue that these authors are fictitious, and that both works were in fact written in the early eighteenth century by their supposed editor, the probably pseudonymous Julius Gervasius. Gervasius connects the Werckh with the legend of Nicolas Flamel by suggesting that it is based on the original, Jewish manuscript which helped Flamel to find the Stone of the Sages. Gervasius used various strategies to confer a sense of Jewish "authenticity" on these works, borrowing from contemporary (non-Jewish) perceptions of Jewish ritual, Hebrew language, and Christian Cabala. The Werckh also borrows and adapts a sequence of allegorical illustrations from those in pseudo-Flamel's Livre, and I compare the two sets of figures and, where possible, interpret them. I conclude that the later works in fact teach us far more about the state of alchemy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries than they do about either medieval alchemy or Judaism.
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1980-10-01
34normal" or the interaction of a nonuniform relative velocity distribution into the representation, oing to condition (21. average over 0, but the results...the Oi-dei of 10"i see ) inn this of tile integrals :rppra-inij~g in Eq’(. (i3. I) and,(in ase, a lair !’ anneunlt of vnigCy Joel, collisijon totecniin
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Individual Differences in Vigilance and Performance During Continuous/Sustained Operations
2002-11-01
Casagrande Dipartimento di Psicologia UniversitA degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" Via dei Marsi, 78 -00185 Roma, Italy Aeronautica Militare Italiana...8217based. approach, Journal of Personality and Social Psychologv. 56, 267-283. Casagrande M, Violani C, Curcio G., Bertini M. (1997) Individual differences...Multidimensional assessment of coping: A critical evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 58: 844-854. Evans FJ, Cook MR, Cohen HD, Ome EC
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Scheduling and Coordination of Multiple Dynamic Systems.
1979-12-01
Lemna 9. For C (.) defined in (39), .im C (D) -C (D ) exists V DE(.,D) (42) D-D and him4 C(D) C*(D+) exists V DE[D,D). (43) D-D Proof. For any DEi(,D] a...0[t0 ,1 ] where -to - [t,..., tK ’ (151) With this minor abuse of notation, the gradient of C[(t,V1 is to be K found with respect to t ER This
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1990-09-14
and can be fused separately. The RTU’s low-power consumption makes them ideally suited for battery and solar powered applications. 3.5 Redundant...dei movimenti e delle sollecitazioni di una nave in mare tempestoso per mezzo del metodo dello spettro di energia e della teoria della
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1980-12-01
would increase recreational activities, including ORV use and poaching . The sum of direct and indirect impacts on this species could be significant...months, and increased policing for poaching could reduce the long-term impacts to insignificant or even positive levels. No impacts would be predicted...comparable species found in five counties. Short-term impacts are expected from poaching and ORVs. The prairie chicken will likely reoccupy habitat
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1988-09-09
On Synthesis Of Dialkyl d-Trimethylsilyloxyalkylphosphonates Zhao Yong-Zhen and Li Zhong- Rua Dpartment o chemistry, Hua Zhong Normal University, Wuhan...Jose Vicente. Jose-AntelC hAd. Na-Yeij~xa Qhicote. Ju~an-Francisco Gutliez-Jugo. Carmen Ramirez do Arel lano. Departamento do Oulmica InordanIca...Peruzzini, Jos& Antonio Ramirez , Alberto Vacca, Francesco Vizza and Fabrizio Zanobini, Istituto per lo Studio della Stereochimica ed Energetica dei
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Ipotesi di variazioni del clima correlate alla precessione dei nodi lunari
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
de Donà, Giuseppe
2005-04-01
The paper shows the existence of a striking correlation between seasonal and yearly mean temperatures, recorded from 1925 through 2003 at the Arabba Avalanche Center, and the Moon's latitude over the ecliptic during the same period. Also the mean amount of rain in the same time period may be controlled by the Moon, but this quantity shows an anti-correlation to the lunar latitude instead of the direct correlation displayed by the mean temperatures.
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Santo, A; Mattana, E; Grillo, O; Bacchetta, G
2015-03-01
Brassica insularis is a perennial plant growing on both coastal and inland cliffs. Three seed lots from Sardinia were analysed using an image analysis system to detect differences in seed morphology, both within and among populations. Germination requirements at constant (5-25 °C) and alternating temperatures (25/10 °C), both in light and in darkness, were evaluated for all populations. In addition, the effect of a dry after-ripening period (90 days at 25 °C) was also investigated. Morpho-colorimetric analysis clearly identified seeds from different populations and discriminated three chromatic categories for seeds belonging to the Isola dei Cavoli coastal population, but not for the inland Masùa and the coastal Planu Sartu. Inter-population variability was also observed in germination behaviour. B. insularis seeds germinated, with percentages up to 60%, in a wide range of temperatures (5-25 °C), and neither light nor dry after-ripening affected final germination percentages. Moisture content measurements were made for seeds of each colour, but there were no particular differences among colours. Inter-populational variability in germination behaviour may be a survival strategy for species growing under unpredictable environmental conditions, such as under Mediterranean climate, while heteromorphy may be due to independent evolutionary divergence processes of the Isola dei Cavoli population. © 2014 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Balletti, C.; D'Agnano, F.; Guerra, F.; Vernier, P.
2016-06-01
The paper describes how new digital methodologies can be used within the field of Cultural Heritage, not only with the aim of documenting the actual state of an architecture but to review the past transformations it has undergone, conserving and representing these histories as well. The premise to conservation and enhancement of our Heritage is a deep study in terms of position, shape, colour, and also of the historical and artistic features. Survey methods have acquired data acquisition techniques in line with technological progress: today's electronic and IT technologies, that are the tools of modern Geomatics, allow the effective survey and representation of 3D objects, from architectural structures to sculptures or archaeological finds. Over the last few years, the methodologies of acquisition and integrated representation for 3D patrimony documentation have developed and consolidated considerably: the possibilities of the digital realm can augment the understanding and the valorisation of a monument. The specific case offered in the present paper, Ca' Venier dei Leoni, the palace where is the Guggenheim Museum in Venice, is a significant example. It suggests not only the theme of the "no longer existing", or better never built, but also the opportunity to formulate hypotheses regarding its implementation and the impact that the palace would have had in the Venetian contest.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kamali, Bahareh; Abbaspour, Karim C.; Wehrli, Bernhard; Yang, Hong
2018-03-01
Drought as a slow-onset phenomenon inflicts important losses to agriculture where the degree of vulnerability depends not only on physical variables such as precipitation and temperature, but also on societal preparedness. While the scopes of physical and social vulnerability are very different in nature, studies distinguishing these two aspects have been lacking. In this study we address the physical and social aspects of drought vulnerability of maize (CDVIphy and CDVIsoc) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To quantify vulnerability, we applied a probabilistic framework combining a Drought Exposure Index (DEI) with a physical or social Crop Failure Index, CFIphy or CFIsoc, respectively. DEI was derived from the exceedance probability of precipitation. Maize yields, simulated using the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model, were used to build CFIphy, whereas the residual of simulated and FAO recorded yields were used to construct CFIsoc. The results showed that southern and partially central Africa are more vulnerable to physical drought as compared to other regions. Central and western Africa, however, are socially highly vulnerable. Comparison of CDVIphy and CDVIsoc revealed that societal factors cause more vulnerability than physical variables in almost all SSA countries except Nigeria and South Africa. We conclude that quantification of both drought vulnerabilities help a better characterization of droughts and identify regions where more investments in drought preparedness are required.
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ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Arcaini, Giovanna
1988-01-01
The political speech is a unique kind of document that reflects the socio-historic climate of its time. Two historical events (Dunkirk and the Falkland Islands Crisis) and a principal protagonist from each are discussed, and the speeches of these two individuals are analyzed in order to find similarities and differences, and to find their basic…
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INRiM Time and Frequency Laboratory: A New Data Management System (DMS)
2010-11-01
protocols defined at international level. The INRIM TFL, at present, is equipped with a set of measuring and control devices (SAD – Sistema di...Proceedings of the 22 th European Frequency and Time Forum (EFTF), 22-25 April 2008, Toulouse, France. [2] G. Vizio, 2000, “ Sistema per l’acquisizione...dei dati del Laboratorio di Tempo e Frequenza,” Manuale Operativo INRIM – 2000. [3] R. Costa, D. Orgiazzi, G. C. Cerretto, and V. Pettiti, 2010
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Analysis of the Binary Euclidean Algorithm
1976-06-01
Probleme de Gauss," Atti del Congresso Internationale dei Matematici 6 (Bologna, 1928), 83-89. Levy [29] Levy, P., "Sur les Lois de Probabilite...r- Report) 11. SUPPL ENEN T A IllY NOTES lt . KEY WOI’IOS ( Continue on revere• ai de II nec:eaeary and Identify by bloc I< number) I 20...easily de - n n duced by differentiation. 3. The Distribution Functions F ’’ LI The following theorem gives the form of F (x) for finite n n
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Theoretical Bases of Polymer Photodegradation and Photooxidation,
1987-10-15
UNCLASSIFIED FTD- AD(RS)T-E868-87 F/G 7/6 NL MhEEOEE~~h EhiIIIEEEEEI -M Mi(ROC PY RESOLUtIO(N TEST CHA NA ION- A j ~A M R ~ . DEiC FILE CME ( 1 ) FTD-ID...In addition, when such processes are carried out in an atmosphere of air, numerous carbonyl, carboxyl , hydroxyl etc. groups form along the polymer...photoaging this should be multilateral with consideration of the following basic processes [ 1 -93: ...... 1 . Photochemical reactions of the actual
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1980-12-01
consequences such that the ecosystem will not recover at all, (7) are the consequences such that the impact may be large but the recovery process...Bswe $Vicinitoe MLWI Impact Analysis Process DEPLOYMENT AREA SELECTION AND LAND WITHDRAWAL/ ACQUISITION DISI, DEPARTMENT OF THE AmR F1ORC ’oritinax...Subtitle) S. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVEREDDraft Environmental Impact Statement-MX Deployment Area Selection-Environmental Draft-December 80 Consequences
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7TH Annual Anesthesia and Critical Care Symposium (7th) Held in Paris (France) on 22-24 April 1994,
1994-09-30
4006 6. AUTHOR(S) Christopher M. Grande, M.D. 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS( ES ) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION International Trauma...Anesthesia & Critical REPORT NUMBER Care Society (ITACCS) P.O. Box 4826 Baltimore, Maryland 21211 9. SPONSORING/ MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS( ES ...nan accessibas la Iscompressian direare - sortagraphie p r usie pour usage parentbral, bolites de 1 I or-D SORT DU OCLICAMlT De-.i ap lasmar que courre
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Huber, M. C. E.
1986-09-01
Los astronomos de ESO dedican una considerable parte de su tiempo a la preparacion de solicitudes para tiempo de observacion en La Silla. Sin embargo, debido a la gran demanda par los telescopios, se debe hacer una seleccion, aveces drastica, de los programas de observacion presentados. EI Comite de Programas de Observacion (OPC) tiene como tarea evaluar el merito cientifico de las solicitudes presentadas. Basada en las recomendaciones dei OPC, ESO prepara una Lista de Tiempos de Observacion en la cual distribuye el tiempo disponible en los telescopios a los programas mejor evaluados.
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2013-09-01
her sight and hearing at a young . said that hearing loss was the greater atni ction f()r reason. r,\\ professionals in the music mdustry. their...A. Approved for public release: distribution unlimited. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Report totals 2440 pages 14. ABSTRACT Development and fielding of...cognitive development of James A. Dumont, Esq. R0252 GP-20 NO-8 E-483 Comments of Richard Joseph eta! on F-35A Operational Basing DEIS July
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1998-10-01
resistant to TGF-ß-induced growth arrest suggest that both types of receptors are required for signaling (Boyd and Massague, 1989; Laiho et ah, 1990...II in TGF-ß- resistant cell mutants implicates both receptor types in signal transduction. J. Biol. Chem. 265, 18518-18524. Lechleider, R. J., de...I-1 « -J AD GRANT NUMBER DAMD17-94-J-4339 TITLE: A Genetic Approach to Identifying Signal Transduction Mechanisms Initiated by Receptors
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The Material Properties of Gelatin Gels
1975-03-01
Since the gelatin gel is soluble in water, a seare’h was conducted to find a liquid that would be totally inert to the gel, and that had a dei,sity less...amount of foam removed from a gelatin batch. For example, in the 0.0% gelatin p-paration, 43g of foam was recovered out of a total of of water *.id...indeed, some hakples appeared totally unchanged iafter 75 dtas ale the container. Another particular container had only gtwo aplea on the lower level
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Profit as a Motivational Tool: Fact or Fiction.
1984-08-01
tactors. L: 2529 dei-jhtEd guidelines drcw mixed reactions and was thje sub- -- je ct of a~ great deal of study during the 1960’s and 19701s...target fees. 6. Results ajpudr to have been mixed and od the whole unsuccessful, if the goal was to raisc the profitability of defense invest- aent. L7...often beyond tlhe control of the Government" C7: 1957. But are they re- ally Leyond our contrcl? What exactly are these extracon- tLACtUal motivating
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The influence of donor factors on corneal organ culture contamination.
Gruenert, Anja K; Rosenbaum, Katja; Geerling, Gerd; Fuchsluger, Thomas A
2017-11-01
To evaluate the contamination rate and the corresponding spectrum of microbes and to identify donor risk factors for corneal organ culture contaminations. A total of 3306 organ-cultured donor corneas were included in the study. We performed a retrospective database analysis to evaluate donor factors such as gender, age, death-to-explantation interval (DEI), procurement site and cause of death and to determine their influence on donor cornea contaminations. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for each factor. The overall contamination rate was 7.8% (n = 259). Younger donor age (OR: 2.2, p = 0.003, chi-squared test), a DEI of more than 24 hr (OR: 1.6, p < 0.001), hospitalization prior to death (OR: 2.2, p < 0.001) and death caused by sepsis (OR: 2.7, p < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of contamination, whereas donor gender did not have an effect on donor cornea contaminations. The most frequently isolated microbes were Enterococci (19%), Staphylococci (10.8%) and Candida (37.4%). This study helps to estimate the contamination risk of a cultured cornea based on specific donor factors. However, donors with risk factors should not be generally excluded from cornea donation. Further studies including antibiograms might clarify whether a change in the antibiotic composition of the culture medium would be useful to deal with the increasing number of multi-resistant microbes. © 2017 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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[Cyberstalking among Italian nurses: a large multicentric study].
Comparcini, Dania; Simonetti, Valentina; Lupo, Roberto; Galli, Francesco; Bocij, Paul; Cicolini, Giancarlo
2016-01-01
Determinare la prevalenza di cyberstalking tra gli infermieri italiani e valutare il livello di ansia e depressione nelle vittime. Da aprile a settembre 2014 è stato condotto uno studio multicentrico trasversale in un campione di infermieri italiani (n=997) utilizzando il questionario "Cyberstalking" per analizzare il fenomeno del cyberstalking. Ai partecipanti, che si sono autodefinite vittime di cyberstalking, è stato chiesto anche di compilare gli strumenti "Beck Depression Inventory" e "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory" per valutare, rispettivamente, i livelli di depressione ed ansia. La prevalenza di cyberstalking tra gli infermieri italiani è risultata pari al 23.3%. Il 42.7% ha dovuto cambiare il proprio stile di vita e lavorativo. Il cyberstalker era prevalentemente di sesso maschile (52%) e, nel 49% dei casi, era un paziente. Le vittime hanno riferito moderati livelli di ansia (media=28.4, SD=23.2) e depressione (media=92.7, SD=18.3); i risultati hanno mostrato un aumento dei livelli di depressione negli infermieri esperti nell'utilizzo del computer, gestori di siti web o blog, e una correlazione negativa tra il livello di ansia e gli infermieri esperti (r = -0.264). Il cyberstalking è un fenomeno che si riscontra frequentemente tra gli infermieri. Il rapporto infermiere - paziente gioca un ruolo centrale nello sviluppo del fenomeno e le vittime hanno riferito disordini correlati allo stress che influenzano la vita lavorativa. Questi risultati preliminari potrebbero sensibilizzare, i dirigenti ospedalieri, la politica e i centri antiviolenza al fine di sviluppare strategie risolutiv.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Meier, M. M. M.; Steele, R. C. J.; Schmitz, B.; Piani, L.; Maden, C.; Plant, A. A.; Schönbächler, M.; Busemann, H.
2017-12-01
A temporarily increased flux of extraterrestrial dust to Earth can lead to tell-tale clues in sediments of the same age. A common example is peaks of 3He in sediments, which occur because extraterrestrial material is rich in implanted solar wind that has a high 3He/4He ratio compared to the atmosphere. One of two known 3He-peaks in Cenozoic sediments is found within the Miocene, at an age of about 8 Ma (Tortonian stage). This peak has been tied to the asteroid break-up event which formed the Veritas family (Farley et al., Nature, 2006). The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Tortonian is located near Monte Dei Corvi, in Ancona, Italy. It has previously been well characterized using both magneto- and cyclostratigraphy (Hüsing et al., EPSL, 2009), and can thus provide excellent time-constraints on the age of the event, now dated to have started at 8.47±0.05 Ma (Montanari et al., GSA Bulletin, 2017). In this project, we study these sediments with the primary goal of determining the meteoritic type of the extraterrestrial dust. We have been following three different avenues towards that goal: (1) light noble gas (He, Ne) analyses of bulk sediments (Meier et al., Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, 2016), which are used as tracers of dust flux. The measured He vs. Ne allows us to characterize the preservation state of the extraterrestrial noble gases in the sediments (see Chavrit et al., EPSL, 2016); (2) Cr abundance and isotope analysis of bulk sediments and residues, which should allow us to determine the meteoritic type of the deposited dust (e.g., Rotaru et al., Nature, 1992); (3) an attempt to isolate and characterize potentially surviving meteoritic organic matter in the bulk sediments from Monte Dei Corvi. Insoluble organic matter, which contributes 1-2% of the mass in some carbonaceous chondrites (tied to C- and D-type asteroids, like the ones found abundantly in the Veritas family; Ziffer et al., Icarus, 2011) is strongly acid- and temperature-resistant, and shows D/H and 14N/15N isotopic anomalies (e.g., Piani et al., EPSL, 2015). It thus has potential as a new tracer for dust deposition events from carbonaceous chondrite parent asteroids. We will provide an update for all three projects at the conference.
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Picardi, Nicola
2018-01-01
È pleonastico ricordare che ogni individuo raziocinante delle essere responsabile delle sue azioni: deve agire con la coscienza degli scopi che si propone evitando possibili conseguenze negative dei suoi atti. In ambito medico questo tipo di responsabilità è codificata con le norme della "deontologia". Per secoli l'arte terapeutica è stata praticata da individui dotati di una particolare vocazione ed una particolare cultura acquisita da Maestri dell'arte ancor prima che dalla propria esperienza, con nozioni di erboristeria e di elementari conoscenze anatomiche e di fisiologia, circondati da un'aura sacerdotale e da un rispetto derivante dal timore e dall'ammirazione per il coraggio e auspicabilmente dai successi, e facendo riferimento nell'occidente mediterraneo alle regole operative fissate nel Giuramento di Ippocrate, di significato tra il sacro ed il deontologico. Lo sviluppo delle tecniche anestesiologiche a partire dalla seconda metà dell'800 ha determinato l'ampliamento delle iniziative chirurgiche di tipo elettivo, a fianco con gli storici interventi in emergenza per la cura di lesioni traumatiche, ancor prima delle acquisizioni riguardanti le infezioni. Con l'espansione del campo di azione della chirurgia, le possibili complicanze ed i possibili insuccessi hanno fatto da contrappeso ai sentimenti di rispetto e di fiducia nei confronti dei chirurghi, giungendo a far assimilare in tali casi la loro opera quale causa all'origine di danni, provocati rientrando quindi nella categoria dei reati sottoposti alla Legge penale. Così, al termine deontologico di "responsabilità" valido per ogni iniziativa ed ogni professione, per i medici è venuto ad associarsi la qualifica di "professionale", con un significato di presunta colpevolezza. Da una parte le regole deontologiche si sono ampliate, ed hanno coinvolto direttamente il paziente nella fase decisionale delle terapie chirurgiche, formalizzate programmaticamente in moderni codici deontologici ed operativamente nel documento del "consenso informato". Per altro verso le leggi innovative del Codice Civile definito nel 1942, che al posto delle pene del codice penale introduceva il criterio della risarcibilità economica del danno in caso di riconosciuta "responsabilità professionale", ha determinato il coinvolgimento di altre figura professionali, e cioè di avvocati e di medici legali, oltre che delle organizzazioni assicurative, con detrimento alla serenità nell'espletamento delle professioni sanitarie e con l'insorgenza per reazione della cosidetta "medicina difensiva". La concretezza di queste problematiche hanno richiesto l'interessamento attivo della Giurisprudenza con una serie di sentenze, ed una formulazione di decreti e nuove leggi parlamentari, ancora in pieno assestamento nel corso del 2017, lasciano in qualche modo ancora irrisolti alcuni nodi.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Giordano, G.; Zanella, E.; Trolese, M.; Baffioni, C.; Vona, A.; Caricchi, C.; De Benedetti, A. A.; Corrado, S.; Romano, C.; Sulpizio, R.; Geshi, N.
2018-05-01
Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) can have devastating impacts on urban settlements, due to their dynamic pressure and high temperatures. Our degree of understanding of the interplay between these hot currents and the affected infrastructures is thus fundamental not only to implement our strategies for risk reduction, but also to better understand PDC dynamics. We studied the temperature of emplacement of PDC deposits that destroyed and buried the Villa dei Papiri, an aristocratic Roman edifice located just outside the Herculaneum city, during the AD79 plinian eruption of Mt Vesuvius (Italy) by using the thermal remanent magnetization of embedded lithic clasts. The PDC deposits around and inside the Villa show substantial internal thermal disequilibrium. In areas affected by convective mixing with surface water or with collapsed walls, temperatures average at around 270 °C (min 190 °C, max 300 °C). Where the deposits show no evidence of mixing with external material, the temperature is much higher, averaging at 350 °C (min 300 °C; max 440 °C). Numerical simulations and comparison with temperatures retrieved at the very same sites from the reflectance of charcoal fragments indicate that such thermal disequilibrium can be maintained inside the PDC deposit for time-scales well over 24 hours, i.e. the acquisition time of deposit temperatures for common proxies. We reconstructed in detail the history of the progressive destruction and burial of Villa dei Papiri and infer that the rather homogeneous highest deposit temperatures (average 350 °C) were carried by the ash-sized fraction in thermal equilibrium with the fluid phase of the incoming PDCs. These temperatures can be lowered on short time- (less than hours) and length-scales (meters to tens of meters) only where convective mixing with external materials or fluids occurs. By contrast, where the Villa walls remained standing the thermal exchange was only conductive and very slow, i.e. negligible at 50 cm distance from contact after 24 hours. We then argue that the state of conservation of materials buried by PDC deposits largely depends on the style of the thermal interactions. Here we also suggest that PDC deposit temperatures are excellent proxies for the temperatures of basal parts of PDCs close to their depositional boundary layer. This general conclusion stresses the importance of mapping of deposit temperatures for the understanding of thermal processes associated with PDC flow dynamics and during their interaction with the affected environment.
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Motor and cognitive development: the role of karate.
Alesi, Marianha; Bianco, Antonino; Padulo, Johnny; Vella, Francesco Paolo; Petrucci, Marco; Paoli, Antonio; Palma, Antonio; Pepi, Annamaria
2014-04-01
regular physical activity has an effect on biological responses in both muscles and organs that, in turn, alter the structure and functions of the brain. Therefore, this study aims at comparing motor (sprint, coordination ability and explosive legs strength skills) and cognitive abilities (working memory, attention, executive functioning) in children. 39 children with average chronological age of 9 years were divided in: Karatekas (n=19) and Sedentary (n=20) groups. Their abilities were measured by motor and cognitive tests. Motor skills were assessed through a battery composed by the 20 mt Sprint test, the Agility test and the Standing board jump Test. Cognitive profile was assessed by a battery of tests derived from BVN 5-11, "Batteria di Valutazione Neuropsicologica per l'Et à Evolutiva": Visual discrimination test, Reaction time test, Forwards and Backwards Digit Span Tests, Corsi Block-Tapping test and Tower of London. our results reveal significant differences between two groups (p < 0.05). Karate children show better speed times, explosive legs strength and coordination skills. They scored better on working memory, visual selective attention and executive functions. karate exercise training shows global benefits resulting in physiological and psychological gains in children.
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Motor and cognitive development: the role of karate
Alesi, Marianha; Bianco, Antonino; Padulo, Johnny; Vella, Francesco Paolo; Petrucci, Marco; Paoli, Antonio; Palma, Antonio; Pepi, Annamaria
2014-01-01
Summary Background: regular physical activity has an effect on biological responses in both muscles and organs that, in turn, alter the structure and functions of the brain. Therefore, this study aims at comparing motor (sprint, coordination ability and explosive legs strength skills) and cognitive abilities (working memory, attention, executive functioning) in children. Methods: 39 children with average chronological age of 9 years were divided in: Karatekas (n=19) and Sedentary (n=20) groups. Their abilities were measured by motor and cognitive tests. Motor skills were assessed through a battery composed by the 20 mt Sprint test, the Agility test and the Standing board jump Test. Cognitive profile was assessed by a battery of tests derived from BVN 5–11, “Batteria di Valutazione Neuropsicologica per l’Et à Evolutiva”: Visual discrimination test, Reaction time test, Forwards and Backwards Digit Span Tests, Corsi Block-Tapping test and Tower of London. Results: our results reveal significant differences between two groups (p < 0.05). Karate children show better speed times, explosive legs strength and coordination skills. They scored better on working memory, visual selective attention and executive functions. Conclusion: karate exercise training shows global benefits resulting in physiological and psychological gains in children. PMID:25332920
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1980-12-01
TEXAS, AND NEW MEXICO . ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES OP BOTH U-STATE REGIONS AND OP OPERATING BNASE VICDUTIES ARE PRESENTED. RESOURCES ADDRESSED INCLUOE2...Figure A-4, p. 30) 5-15 5.1.4.4 Arizona - New Mexico - SW Texas (Highlands) (Reference Figure A-5, p. 31) 5-16 5.1.4.5 West Texas/New Mexico (southern...List of Preparers 5-67 5.5 Distribution List 5-81 5.5.1 Congressional Delegations: Nevada, Utah, Texas, and New Mexico 5-81 5.5.2 Federal Government
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1980-12-01
above the U.S. average), it ranked behind growth in Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, and Idaho . More than half of the state’s population reside in Salt Lake and...Rocky Silt bottoms Petts .,amoaus~a K anwanii notb;.s E Resident Sinkholes , Sprinos Known from localities) 1 Lidanaered * Threatened "teeds west cf...Ute Ute Res. Quay Canadian (50 mi) Tucumcari Lake Hudson Lake Conchas Canal Plaza Largo Frio La Tule Lake Curry Lewiston Lake Roosevelt Salt Lake
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1980-12-01
PARMER COUNTY, TX. FAmt- M R LUNG IE ’ ALEA LONG Tam NATIVE *-X INUCED CHNGE NATIVE N-x INDE CANG 0( above normal growth baseline) ( above normal...your family, the clean air to see the next mountain and the freedom to climb it. The concerns expressed by local residents about population growth and... mountain passes, where capacity is severely reduced by steep grades and winding alignment, congestion might occur at times due to slow moving trucks
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1980-12-01
avoidance of roads and, therefore, loss of habitat near roads (Rost and Bailey, 1979; Basile and Lonner, 1979). Increases in traffic would increase highway...recreational activity near their roost sites. Much of the reason for the decline of bald eagles has been attributed to pesticides (Broley, 1958; Stickel et al...should not be significant. Endangerment of peregrine falcons has resulted primarily from accumulation of persistent pesticides , especially DDT and its
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1981-06-01
believed to be due to irregularities in the field at the cathode) from occurring. These DEIS EAROMs operate at lower power due to the small injected SiO...memory devices which can store information without an external power supply for long periods of time are currently an area of much interest [1-5]. Current...oppose each other. These require- ments are to get charge into and out of a charge storage layer at low voltages and powers in times on the order of
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1981-10-02
services. 61 6 PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE DRAFT ETs: "As our members have discussed the proposed \\-X system and its drastic impacts on the Great Basin land...whether you care. Not much quantitative understanding of the Great Basin is reflected in the DEIS and no qualitative understanding is expressed at all...We realize that qualitative values are difficult both to convey and to be understood, especially )y people who see the Great Basin as an alien
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The International Gravity Standardization Net 1971 (I.G.S.N.71)
1972-05-31
Companion of Individual Adjustments Discussions at the May 1971 meeting of the Working Sub-Group in Ottawa were concerned mainly with the differences...34"*^™«»*-’ — —— mm n„, I,,J, i..„ TIU -i i M WII «pi iL i.i.wiwiink’.WA,.iMP> "^W^ 3.2.1. Companion of Scale Factor Dttarmination Otter »a Ail...pendolari sulla base europea di taratura dei gravimetri. Pubbl. CGI, Mem. n. 12. C. MORELLI, 1946a : Per un sistema di riferimento
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Differential PIXE for investigating the layer structure of paintings
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mandò, P. A.; Fedi, M. E.; Grassi, N.; Migliori, A.
2005-09-01
This paper reports an example of how the differential PIXE technique can be successfully applied to the investigation of wood or canvas paintings. The work analysed is a famous wood painting by Leonardo da Vinci, the "Madonna dei fusi" (ex-Reford version, 1501), chosen for a pilot study in a wide international project aimed at analysing Leonardo's works of art by means of non-destructive techniques. While illustrating the results obtained concerning the identification of pigments and the discrimination of the stratigraphy of layers, the merits and limits of differential PIXE in general are pointed out.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Rao, D.V.; Zhong, Z.; Akatsuka, T.
Images of the cork used for wine and other bottles are visualized with the use of diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) technique. Present experimental studies allowed us to identify the cracks, holes, porosity, and importance of soft-matter (soft-material) and associated biology by visualization of the embedded internal complex features of the biological material such as cork and its microstructure. Highlighted the contrast mechanisms above and below the K-absorption edge of iodine and studied the attenuation through a combination of weakly and strongly attenuating materials.
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Simulated Driving Assessment (SDA) for Teen Drivers: Results from a Validation Study
McDonald, Catherine C.; Kandadai, Venk; Loeb, Helen; Seacrist, Thomas S.; Lee, Yi-Ching; Winston, Zachary; Winston, Flaura K.
2015-01-01
Background Driver error and inadequate skill are common critical reasons for novice teen driver crashes, yet few validated, standardized assessments of teen driving skills exist. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the construct and criterion validity of a newly developed Simulated Driving Assessment (SDA) for novice teen drivers. Methods The SDA's 35-minute simulated drive incorporates 22 variations of the most common teen driver crash configurations. Driving performance was compared for 21 inexperienced teens (age 16–17 years, provisional license ≤90 days) and 17 experienced adults (age 25–50 years, license ≥5 years, drove ≥100 miles per week, no collisions or moving violations ≤3 years). SDA driving performance (Error Score) was based on driving safety measures derived from simulator and eye-tracking data. Negative driving outcomes included simulated collisions or run-off-the-road incidents. A professional driving evaluator/instructor reviewed videos of SDA performance (DEI Score). Results The SDA demonstrated construct validity: 1.) Teens had a higher Error Score than adults (30 vs. 13, p=0.02); 2.) For each additional error committed, the relative risk of a participant's propensity for a simulated negative driving outcome increased by 8% (95% CI: 1.05–1.10, p<0.01). The SDA demonstrated criterion validity: Error Score was correlated with DEI Score (r=−0.66, p<0.001). Conclusions This study supports the concept of validated simulated driving tests like the SDA to assess novice driver skill in complex and hazardous driving scenarios. The SDA, as a standard protocol to evaluate teen driver performance, has the potential to facilitate screening and assessment of teen driving readiness and could be used to guide targeted skill training. PMID:25740939
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Morrissey, L. A.; Weinstock, K. J.; Mouat, D. A.; Card, D. H.
1984-01-01
An evaluation of Thematic Mapper Simulator (TMS) data for the geobotanical discrimination of rock types based on vegetative cover characteristics is addressed in this research. A methodology for accomplishing this evaluation utilizing univariate and multivariate techniques is presented. TMS data acquired with a Daedalus DEI-1260 multispectral scanner were integrated with vegetation and geologic information for subsequent statistical analyses, which included a chi-square test, an analysis of variance, stepwise discriminant analysis, and Duncan's multiple range test. Results indicate that ultramafic rock types are spectrally separable from nonultramafics based on vegetative cover through the use of statistical analyses.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Marsequerra, M.; Pauli, G.
1958-12-01
On the basis of the results obtained in Part I (CNC-1), expressions are derived for the transmission probability through a revolving curved slit for neutrons having a velocity distribution f(v), the distribution shown by the neutrons after the flight, and the uncertainty in the energy of neutrons detected in an infinitesimal time interval. (auth)
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1980-12-01
soohonnUera Tept 1461 M. 2a-Cainrk- han-ea! Aeneara- hS 808)-sig to Mntano A -sdy species of Jane- ra- -,c o 0cm falls 1GresM1 maheenfthre Idaho southtn A...behind growth in Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, and Idaho . More than half of the state’s population reside in Salt Lake and Utah counties. The annual...Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon Wash- Year Montana, Utah, and and ington California and Idaho New Mexico Nevada 1973 86.34 72.45 65.61 64.7, 83.1] 1974 89.6 62.3
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Normative aspects of the human body.
Siep, Ludwig
2003-04-01
In cultural history the human body has been the object of a great variety of opposing valuations, ranging from "imago dei" to "the devil's tool". At present, the body is commonly regarded as a mere means to fulfill the wishes of its "owner". According to these wishes it can be technically improved in an unlimited way. Against this view the text argues for a conception of the human body as a valuable "common heritage". The "normal" human body as the result of natural and cultural history is an essential condition of the modern social and legal order. The consequences of its technical alteration should be the subject of public debates and common decisions.
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Aircraft and satellite thermographic systems for wildfire mapping and assessment
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Brass, J. A.; Arvesen, J. C.; Ambrosia, V. G.; Riggan, P. J.; Myers, J. S.
1987-01-01
Two complementary sensors, the DAEDALUS DEI-1260 Multispectral Scanner aboard the NASA U-2 aircraft and the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer aboard National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration orbiting satellites were tested for their applicability in monitoring and predicting parameters such as fire location, temperature and rate of spread, soil heating and cooling rates, and plume characteristics and dimensions. In addition, the satellite system was tested for its ability to extend the relationships found between fire characteristics and biospheric consequences to regional and global scales. An overall system design is presented, and special requirements are documented for the application of this system for fire research and management.
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Dischi (E Jet) Nelle Stelle Massicce Giovani
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cesaroni, Riccardo
2017-11-01
In questo contributo verrà discussa l'importanza dei dischi e jet ad essi asso- ciati per la formazione delle stelle di tipo spettrale OB e verranno presentati i risultati recentemente ottenuti con ALMA in questo ambito. In particolare mostr- eremo che la struttura del disco sembra risentire della complessità dell'ambiente circostante e che la probabilità di rivelare un disco attorno alle stelle di più alta massa è massima in una fase evolutiva intermedia. Infine discuteremo la possibilità che il fenomeno di accrescimento dal disco sulla stella possa avvenire in maniera discontinua mediante "burst", probabilmente dovuti ad instabilità nel disco.
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1980-12-01
desert tortoise distribution at Coyote Spring OB and vicinity. 4-179 4.3.1.9-3 Utah Prairie Dog distribution and Proposed Action conceptual project...layout. 4-185 4.3.1.9-4 Distribution of Utah prairie dog in the vicinity of the Milford OB. 4-187 4.3.1.9-5 Distribution of Utah prairie dog in the...Coyote Spring. 4-180 4.3.1.9-2 Potential impact to the Utah prairie dog around operating bases (OBs) for the Proposed Action and Alternatives 1-8. 4-188
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1980-12-01
2.3.17 Housing 2-139 2.3.18 Public Finance 2-142 2.3.19 Educational Services 2-143 2.3.20 Health Services Personnel 2-143 2.3.21 Public Safety 2...2-161 2.4.16 Population 2-161 2.4.17 Housing 2-161 2.4.18 Public Finance 2-162 2.4.19 Educational Services 2-162 2.4.20 Health Services Personnel 2...2.5.17 Housing 2-167 2.5.18 Public Finance 2-168 2.5.19 Educational Services 2-168 2.5.20 Health Services Personnel 2-168 2.5.21 Public Safety 2-168
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Cerrai, E.; Ronchetti, C.; Triulzi, C.
1963-05-01
The preparation of an acidic cationic exchanger from a calcium bentonite is described. The behavior and properties of acidic montmorillonite and activated clay are given as well as the effect of thermal treatment and gamma irradiation on cationic exchange capacity and internal surface area. (auth)
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Instrumentation For Diffraction Enhanced Imaging Experiments At HASYLAB
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Lohmann, M.; Dix, W.-R.; Metge, J.
The new X-ray radiography imaging technique, named diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI), enables almost scatter free absorption imaging, the production of the so-called refraction images of a sample. The images show improved contrast compared to standard imaging applications. At the HASYLAB wiggler beamline W2 at the 2nd-generation storage ring DORIS a 5cm wide beam with an adjustable energy between 10 and 70keV is available. A Si [111] pre-monochromator is used followed by the main monochromator using the (111) or the (333)-reflection. Visualization of fossils, detecting internal pearl structures, monitoring of bone and cartilage and documentation of implant healing in bone aremore » application examples at HASYLAB.« less
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Factors Affecting the Vertical Motion of a Zero-Pressure, Polyethylene, Free Balloon
1985-05-31
Delle Traiettorie Dei Palloni Stratos- ferici Per Missioni Di Lunga Durata, Instituto di Tecnologia Aerospaziale, Universita di Boma (translation). 19...2) TD=E2-V ( 3D , 2) !%..TI)/DX ~(C.LI.EI) GO0TO 900 Tr (ALIS(rD) LT..01o) Hl=II1*EXFP(-CC*DX/Y(JD,2)) 1)T X 600- ( D rI.eVJD,2)+R1*DX IF (A&OS...MD.GE.U.01) 3P=H1*((Y(JD.?*)/TK)**(CCR)) IF (AL133(TD).LT.0.01) 9P-H14"IXP(-CL’*DXlY( 3D ,2)) c PREFSSUR~E CONVWRGI!NCE CHECK c C:0IRiiCTS MONOTONIC
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Mohebali, Ghasemali; Kaytash, Ashk; Etemadi, Narges
2012-10-01
Water-oil emulsions occur throughout oil production, transportation, and processing. The breaking of the water/oil emulsion improves oil quality and as a consequence chemically synthesized de-emulsifiers are commonly used in the petroleum industries. Microbial de-emulsifiers represent potential alternatives to the chemicals and may become important products for petroleum industries. The main goal of this work was isolation, identification, and characterization of an efficient de-emulsifying bacterium. Following a multi-step enrichment programme a de-emulsifying bacterium, Ochrobactrum anthropi strain RIPI5-1was isolated from the oil-polluted sandy bank of Siri Island, Iran. The presence of an oil phase in growth medium was found to be unnecessary for production of the de-emulsifier. The de-emulsifying activity of both the whole culture and the cells of this strain was examined using a model multiple water-crude oil (w/o/w) emulsion. This w/o/w emulsion was used for the first time in microbial de-emulsification research. Whole cells of strain RIPI5-1 exhibited high de-emulsifying activity during the late-exponential growth and stationary phases; de-emulsifying activity of the whole culture was highest during the early-exponential growth phase. The time course of de-emulsification by whole culture and whole cells of strain RIPI5-1 was investigated; the initial rate (DeI(1)) of breaking of the multiple water-crude oil emulsion by whole culture and whole cells was calculated as 11% and 54%, respectively. However, overall de-emulsification (DeI(8.5)) for whole culture and whole cells was calculated as 63% and 72%, respectively. A clear correlation was observed between cell surface hydrophobicity and the de-emulsifying activity of whole cells. With the water/kerosene emulsion, emulsion half-life (t(1/2)) was found to be <0.5h. The potential activity of this strain was also explained using a complex oilfield emulsion. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Noise and Analyzer-Crystal Angular Position Analysis for Analyzer-Based Phase-Contrast Imaging
Majidi, Keivan; Li, Jun; Muehleman, Carol; Brankov, Jovan G.
2014-01-01
The analyzer-based phase-contrast X-ray imaging (ABI) method is emerging as a potential alternative to conventional radiography. Like many of the modern imaging techniques, ABI is a computed imaging method (meaning that images are calculated from raw data). ABI can simultaneously generate a number of planar parametric images containing information about absorption, refraction, and scattering properties of an object. These images are estimated from raw data acquired by measuring (sampling) the angular intensity profile (AIP) of the X-ray beam passed through the object at different angular positions of the analyzer crystal. The noise in the estimated ABI parametric images depends upon imaging conditions like the source intensity (flux), measurements angular positions, object properties, and the estimation method. In this paper, we use the Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB) to quantify the noise properties in parametric images and to investigate the effect of source intensity, different analyzer-crystal angular positions and object properties on this bound, assuming a fixed radiation dose delivered to an object. The CRLB is the minimum bound for the variance of an unbiased estimator and defines the best noise performance that one can obtain regardless of which estimation method is used to estimate ABI parametric images. The main result of this manuscript is that the variance (hence the noise) in parametric images is directly proportional to the source intensity and only a limited number of analyzer-crystal angular measurements (eleven for uniform and three for optimal non-uniform) are required to get the best parametric images. The following angular measurements only spread the total dose to the measurements without improving or worsening CRLB, but the added measurements may improve parametric images by reducing estimation bias. Next, using CRLB we evaluate the Multiple-Image Radiography (MIR), Diffraction Enhanced Imaging (DEI) and Scatter Diffraction Enhanced Imaging (S-DEI) estimation techniques, though the proposed methodology can be used to evaluate any other ABI parametric image estimation technique. PMID:24651402
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Bena, Antonella; Chiusolo, Monica; Orengia, Manuela; Cadum, Ennio; Farina, Elena; Musmeci, Loredana; Procopio, Enrico; Salamina, Giuseppe
2016-01-01
Si intende qui descrivere il sistema di sorveglianza sugli effetti sulla salute (SpoTT) dell'inquinamento ambientale nelle aree circostanti l'inceneritore di Torino. SPoTT ha 3 linee di attività: 1. monitoraggio epidemiologico degli effetti a breve termine attraverso analisi temporali e misura della correlazione tra livelli giornalieri di emissioni dell'impianto e andamento degli eventi individuati dagli archivi dei dimessi (SDO), di pronto soccorso e di mortalità; sono coinvolti coloro che nel 2013-2018 risiedevano nell'area di ricaduta delle emissioni; 2. sorveglianza epidemiologica degli effetti a lungo termine, stimando tassi standardizzati di mortalità e morbosità; a ogni soggetto è attribuito il valore stimato di esposizione cumulato nel tempo caratteristico della residenza anagrafica; le informazioni sulla salute sono reperite dagli archivi SDO, di mortalità e dai certificati di assistenza al parto; sono studiati due decenni pre-post l'avvio dell'impianto: 2003-2012 e 2013-2022; 3. monitoraggio biologico con misurazione pre-post di metalli, PCDD/F, PCB, OH-IPA; sono coinvolti 196 residenti esposti e 196 di controllo di 35-69 anni, campionati a caso dalle anagrafi comunali; sono effettuate misure di funzionalità endocrina e respiratoria, pressione arteriosa, rischio cardiovascolare; l'esposizione cumulativa sarà stimata per ciascuna persona campionata integrando l'indirizzo di residenza, il tempo di permanenza in ciascun indirizzo e i dati ricavati dai modelli di ricaduta; sarà costituita una biobanca per future indagini di laboratorio; sono coinvolti anche 20 allevatori e i lavoratori dell'impianto. Una quarta linea di attività, non descritta in questo articolo, riguarda il monitoraggio della salute dei lavoratori addetti all'impianto. SPoTT è il primo studio in Italia su inceneritori e salute che adotta un disegno di studio longitudinale di adeguata potenza sia per i residenti sia per i lavoratori. I primi risultati sono attesi nel corso del 2016.
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Simulated Driving Assessment (SDA) for teen drivers: results from a validation study.
McDonald, Catherine C; Kandadai, Venk; Loeb, Helen; Seacrist, Thomas S; Lee, Yi-Ching; Winston, Zachary; Winston, Flaura K
2015-06-01
Driver error and inadequate skill are common critical reasons for novice teen driver crashes, yet few validated, standardised assessments of teen driving skills exist. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the construct and criterion validity of a newly developed Simulated Driving Assessment (SDA) for novice teen drivers. The SDA's 35 min simulated drive incorporates 22 variations of the most common teen driver crash configurations. Driving performance was compared for 21 inexperienced teens (age 16-17 years, provisional license ≤90 days) and 17 experienced adults (age 25-50 years, license ≥5 years, drove ≥100 miles per week, no collisions or moving violations ≤3 years). SDA driving performance (Error Score) was based on driving safety measures derived from simulator and eye-tracking data. Negative driving outcomes included simulated collisions or run-off-the-road incidents. A professional driving evaluator/instructor (DEI Score) reviewed videos of SDA performance. The SDA demonstrated construct validity: (1) teens had a higher Error Score than adults (30 vs. 13, p=0.02); (2) For each additional error committed, the RR of a participant's propensity for a simulated negative driving outcome increased by 8% (95% CI 1.05 to 1.10, p<0.01). The SDA-demonstrated criterion validity: Error Score was correlated with DEI Score (r=-0.66, p<0.001). This study supports the concept of validated simulated driving tests like the SDA to assess novice driver skill in complex and hazardous driving scenarios. The SDA, as a standard protocol to evaluate teen driver performance, has the potential to facilitate screening and assessment of teen driving readiness and could be used to guide targeted skill training. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.
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Brunner, J; Hirsch, T; Steger, F
2016-05-01
Madness served primarily as a form of amusement for the spectators in operas of the seventeenth century. This representation was far removed from clinical reality. This circumstance changed in the eighteenth century at the time when tragic madness emerged in numerous operas. The opera buffa Arcifanfano-Re dei matti (Arcifanfano-King of fools, premiered in 1749 in Venice, text by Carlo Goldoni 1707-1793 and music by Baldassare Galuppi 1706-1785), which continuously enacts a realm of fools and is meant to appear amusing, is riddled with psychopathological abnormalities for which a retrospective diagnosis is methodologically rejected. However, the opera presents many subjects for working out a typology of fools based on outlasting personality traits of the protagonists. The libretto is investigated. A musical analysis is spared. The conceptualized typology of fools in the opera, which is oriented towards the seven main vices or deadly sins serves, in the tradition of moral satire, to critically hold up a mirror to the audience to reflect their own vices by an amusing characterization of the latter. Historically classified, the treatment of fools by means of isolation, custody, locking up in cages as well as authoritarian measures of submission reflects the custom in those days before humanizing the treatment of people with mental illness in the course of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The opera Arcifanfano is essentially characterized by continuous madness. A typology of the fools can be worked out from the precise depiction of the personalities. A mirror is held up to the spectators in terms of vices, in the tradition of the contemporary baroque opera. At the same time, the opera can be classified psychiatrically and historically as a seismograph of its time when in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries people with mental illness were isolated and incarcerated.
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Modelling digestive constraints in non-ruminant and ruminant foregut-fermenting mammals.
Munn, Adam J; Streich, W Jürgen; Hummel, Jürgen; Clauss, Marcus
2008-09-01
It has been suggested that large foregut-fermenting marsupial herbivores, the kangaroos and their relatives, may be less constrained by food intake limitations as compared with ruminants, due mainly to differences in their digestive morphology and management of ingesta particles through the gut. In particular, as the quality of forage declines with increasing contents of plant fibre (cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin; measured as neutral-detergent fibre, NDF), the tubiform foregut of kangaroos may allow these animals to maintain food intakes more so than ruminants like sheep, which appear to be limited by fibrous bulk filling the foregut and truncating further ingestion. Using available data on dry matter intake (DMI, g kg(-0.75) d(-1)), ingesta mean retention time (MRT, h), and apparent digestibility, we modelled digestible dry matter intake (DDMI) and digestible energy intake (DEI) by ruminant sheep (Ovis aries) and by the largest marsupial herbivore, the red kangaroo (Macropus rufus). Sheep achieved higher MRTs on similar DMIs, and hence sheep achieved higher DDMIs for any given level of DMI as compared with kangaroos. Interestingly, MRT declined in response to increasing DMI in a similar pattern for both species, and the association between DMI and plant NDF contents did not support the hypothesis that kangaroos are less affected by increasing fibre relative to sheep. However, when DEI was modelled according to DDMIs and dietary energy contents, we show that the kangaroos could meet their daily maintenance energy requirements (MER) at lower levels of DMI and on diets with higher fibre contents compared with sheep, due largely to the kangaroos' lower absolute maintenance and basal energy metabolisms compared with eutherians. These results suggest that differences in the metabolic set-point of different species can have profound effects on their nutritional niche, even when their digestive constraints are similar, as was the case for these ruminant and non-ruminant foregut fermenters.
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Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-02-29
...Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and National Park Service (NPS) policy in Director's Order Number 2 (Park Planning) and Director's Order Number 12 (Conservation Planning, Environmental Impact Analysis, and Decision- making) the NPS announces the availability of a DEIS/GMP for Buck Island Reef National Monument, Virgin Islands. The document provides a framework for management, use, and development options for Buck Island Reef National Monument by the NPS for the next 15 to 20 years. It describes four management alternatives for consideration, including a No-Action Alternative that continues current management policies and the NPS's preferred alternative. The document analyzes the environmental impacts of the alternatives.
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1980-12-01
4.4.2-4 Distribution of the larger playa lakes in the Texas high plains. 4-793 4.4.2-5 Distribution of elk in the vicinity of Beryl, Utah, OB. 4-796 4.4.2... lIMA 28DAA SUITABILITY AREAS * 221 Ci~)HYDROLOGIC SUBUNITS 08 SUITABILITY AREAS (2 ARIONA In 22M 2211 212 / 3222-D Table 4.3.2.10-1. Summary of energy...is constructed 4-636 W F’ 130 --- *47 In- IGIA 744 711 soo LPL IS12 13 0 Um ?S ______________ 119 47 lIMA 14PROVO 13 UTN4 SEVE -. 4 t UT "SA 2111 06
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Effetto black drop e istanti dei contatti nel transito di Venere sul Sole
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
di Giovanni, Giovanni
2005-04-01
Digital measurements of the chords common to the Sun and Venus during the transit of 8 June 2004 are reported. The time of the four contacts of the planet with the solar limb are calculated resolving the relative equations for entry and exit phases. The solutions were obtained with least square methods applied to experimental data with analytical functions used by different Authors during the Sun's eclipses. The well-known black drop effect was observed during the third contact. Atmospheric turbulence and optical effects interfere making timings uncertain by at least one second. There is also a comment about the numerical values and the estimate of the experimental errors. The observations were made by four high school students.
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Magi, M; Bertani, M; Dell'Omodarme, M; Prati, M C
2002-12-01
Since 1995 the population of wild ungulates increased significantly in the "Parco provinciale dei Monti Livornesi" (Livorno, Tuscany, Central Italy). We studied the intestinal macroparasites of two hosts, the wild boar (Sus scrofa) and the mouflon (Ovis gmelini musimon). In the case of wild boars we found a dominant parasite species, Globocephalus urosubulatus. For this parasite the frequency distribution of the number of parasites per host agrees with a negative binomial distribution. There is not a significant correlation between the age of the animals and the parasitosis. Furthermore the mean parasite burden of male and female wild boars does not differ significantly. In the case of mouflons we found a dominant parasite species Nematodirus filicollis with Trichuris ovis as codominant species.
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Sanchez, Katherine; Eghaneyan, Brittany H; Trivedi, Madhukar H
2016-07-29
Barriers to depression treatment among Hispanic populations include persistent stigma, inadequate doctor patient communication (DPC) and resultant sub-optimal use of anti-depressant medications. Stigma is primarily perpetuated due to inadequate disease literacy and cultural factors. Common concerns about depression treatments among Hispanics include fears about the addictive and harmful properties of antidepressants, worries about taking too many pills, and the stigma attached to taking psychotropic medications. The current manuscript presents the study protocol for the Depression Screening and Education: Options to Reduce Barriers to Treatment (DESEO) study funded by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Grants to Support the Hispanic Health Services Research Grant Program. DESEO will implement universal screening with a self-report depression screening tool (the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)) that is presented through a customized web application and a Depression Education Intervention (DEI) designed to increase disease literacy, and dispel myths about depression and its treatment among Hispanic patients thus reducing stigma and increasing treatment engagement. This project will be conducted at one community health center whose patient population is majority Hispanic. The target enrollment for recruitment is 350 patients over the 24-month study period. A one-group, pretest-posttest design will be used to asses knowledge of depression and its treatment and related stigma before, immediately after, and one month post intervention. Primary care settings often are the gateway to identifying undiagnosed mental health disorders, particularly for people with comorbid physical health conditions. This study is unique in that it aims to examine the specific role of patient education as an intervention to increase engagement in depression treatment. By participating in the DEI, it is expected that patients will have time to understand treatment options, participate in shared decision-making with their provider, and increase engagement in treatment of depression which might lead to improved overall health. It is also expected that implementation of the iPad Depression Screening application will increase provider awareness of the incidence and prevalence of depression in their own practice and improve the performance and care the clinic provides. The study was registered with: NCT02491034 July 2, 2015.
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Rocco, Gaetano; Petitti, Tommasangelo; Martucci, Nicola; Piccirillo, Maria Carmela; LA Rocca, Antonello; LA Manna, Carmine; DE Luca, Giuseppe; Morabito, Alessandro; Chirico, Andrea; Franco, Renato; Accardo, Rosanna; Normanno, Nicola; Botti, Gerardo; Lodato, Sergio; Ciliberto, Gennaro; Pedicini, Tonino; Giordano, Antonio
2016-05-01
Terra dei Fuochi (TdF), the so-called 'Land of Fires' in Southern Italy, is an agricultural territory characterized by illegal dumping of toxic waste known to occur since the 1980s. It is unknown whether prognosis of patients developing cancer and living in that area may differ compared to those living in areas not exposed to this specific type of pollution. We retrospectively analyzed the 5-year survival rates of patients originating from the TdF diagnosed with lung cancer compared to patients from other areas. Patients consecutively operated on for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between November 2004 and April 2013 at the Division of Thoracic Surgery of the National Cancer Institute of Naples were eligible. The study outcome was overall survival (OS). In addition, the TdF and non-TdF groups were compared through propensity score matching (PSM). Overall, 439 patients with resectable NSCLC were operated on, 123 (28%) from the TdF and 316 (72%) from other referral centers of our catchment area. There were 301 males and 138 females; the median age of the entire surgical population was 65 years (range=25-83) years. Apart from a different prevalence of hypertension and underweight patients, preoperative factors were evenly distributed between the two groups. At univariate analysis, OS was not different between the TdF and non TdF group (median 72 and 68 months, respectively; p=0.75 log-rank test). Multivariable analysis confirmed that living in the TdF area had no prognostic impact (hazard ratio=1.05; 95% confidence interval=0.70-1.57; p=0.78) on OS. PSM confirmed no statistically significant difference of OS (hazard ratio=1.01, 95% confidence interval=0.67-1.52; p=0.93). Following surgery for lung cancer, TdF and non-TdF surgical candidates had similar long-term survival. Originating from the TdF does not seem to be associated with worse outcomes after surgical treatment of patients with lung cancer. Copyright© 2016 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.
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Bird Ingestion into Large Turbofan Engines
1992-05-01
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The Nordic contribution to the English language twin literature.
Schwartz, R M; Keith, L G; Keith, D M
1986-01-01
This project was inspired by the extensive contribution of Nordic researchers to the English language twin literature. The purpose of the study was to compile a source bibliography of twin literature written at Nordic institutions. The bibliography compiled as a supplement for this paper provides as complete a survey as is possible to obtain in the United States. Our search began with a Medline Computer data base. To make our survey more complete, we cross-referenced and added to this using the Index Medicus, the National Institute of Mental Health Bibliography, Excerpta Medica, specific article references, references provided by Nordic university libraries and Gedda's Estudio dei Gemelli. The full bibliography of 313 references is available at no cost from the Center for the study of multiple Birth, Rm. 476, 333 E. Superior, Chicago, Ill. 60611, U.S.A.
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Cerniglia, Luca; Cimino, Silvia; Ballarotto, Giulia
2014-01-01
The article aims to study mother-child and father-child interactions with 24-month-old children during feeding, considering the possible influence of time spent by the parent with the child, the infantile temperament, and the parental psychological profile. The families were recruited from 12 preschools in Italy (N = 77 families). Through an observation of the feeding [Scala di Valutazione dell'Interazione Alimentare (SVIA - Feeding Scale; I. Chatoor et al., ; L. Lucarelli et al., )], self-reporting [Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R; L.R. Derogatis, ), and report-form questionnaires [Italian Questionnaires on Temperament (QUIT; G. Axia, )], and information provided by the parents about the amount of time spent with their children, results showed that the overall quality of father-child interactions during feeding is lower than that of mother-child interactions. Fathers showed higher psychological symptoms than did mothers. No associations were found between the fathers' psychopathological risk and the quality of interactions with their children during feeding. Mothers' psychopathological risks predicted less contingent exchanges interactions with their children during feeding. Children's temperaments significantly influence mother-child interactions, but no association exists between maternal involvement and the quality of interactions with their children. Paternal involvement predicts a better quality of father-infant interactions when associated with a child's higher scores on Social Orientation. The quality of parents' interactions with their children during feeding are impacted by different issues originating from the parent's psychological profile, the degree of involvement, and from the child's temperament. © 2014 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.
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Synthesis of High-Speed Digital Systems.
1985-11-08
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Four Classical Methods for Determining Planetary Elliptic Elements: A Comparison
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Celletti, Alessandra; Pinzari, Gabriella
2005-09-01
The discovery of the asteroid Ceres by Piazzi in 1801 motivated the development of a mathematical technique proposed by Gauss, (Theory of the Motion of the Heavenly Bodies Moving about the Sun in Conic Sections, 1963) which allows to recover the orbit of a celestial body starting from a minimum of three observations. Here we compare the method proposed by Gauss (Theory of the Motion of the Heavenly Bodies Moving about the Sun in Conic Sections, New York, 1963) with the techniques (based on three observations) developed by Laplace (Collected Works 10, 93 146, 1780) and by Mossotti (Memoria Postuma, 1866). We also consider another method developed by Mossotti (Nuova analisi del problema di determinare le orbite dei corpi celesti, 1816 1818), based on four observations. We provide a theoretical and numerical comparison among the different procedures. As an application, we consider the computation of the orbit of the asteroid Juno.
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An effective automatic procedure for testing parameter identifiability of HIV/AIDS models.
Saccomani, Maria Pia
2011-08-01
Realistic HIV models tend to be rather complex and many recent models proposed in the literature could not yet be analyzed by traditional identifiability testing techniques. In this paper, we check a priori global identifiability of some of these nonlinear HIV models taken from the recent literature, by using a differential algebra algorithm based on previous work of the author. The algorithm is implemented in a software tool, called DAISY (Differential Algebra for Identifiability of SYstems), which has been recently released (DAISY is freely available on the web site http://www.dei.unipd.it/~pia/ ). The software can be used to automatically check global identifiability of (linear and) nonlinear models described by polynomial or rational differential equations, thus providing a general and reliable tool to test global identifiability of several HIV models proposed in the literature. It can be used by researchers with a minimum of mathematical background.
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Maimonides’ Appreciation for Medicine
Gesundheit, Benjamin
2011-01-01
Moses Maimonides, the illustrious medieval rabbi and philosopher, dedicated the last decade of his life primarily to medicine. His strong interest in medicine was an integral component of his religious-philosophical teachings and world view. In this paper various sources from his rabbinic writings are presented that explain Maimonides’ motivation regarding and deep appreciation for medicine: (A) The physician fulfills the basic biblical obligation to return lost objects to their owner, for with his knowledge and experience the physician can restore good health to his sick fellow human being; (B) medicine provides a unique opportunity to practice imitatio dei, as it reflects the religious duty to maintain a healthy life-style; (C) as an important natural science, medicine offers tools to recognize, love, and fear God. These three aspects address man’s relationship and obligation towards his fellow-man, himself and God. Biographical insights supported by additional sources from Maimonides’ writings are discussed. PMID:23908790
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[The role of endoscopy in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors].
Magno, L; Sivero, L; Napolitano, V; Ruggiero, S; Fontanarosa, G; Massa, S
2010-01-01
Versione italiana Riassunto: Il ruolo dell'endoscopia nei tumori neuroendocrini gastroenteropancreatici. L. Magno, L. Sivero, V. Napolitano, S. Ruggiero, G. Fontanarosa, S. Massa I tumori neuroendocrini (NET) gastro-entero-pancreatici (GEP) sono neoplasie rare che originano dalle cellule neuroendocrine del tubo digerente e del pancreas. L'endoscopia digestiva e l'ecoendoscopia rivestono un ruolo importante nella diagnosi, stadiazione e sorveglianza dei pazienti con NET. Inoltre, in casi selezionati, le tecniche endoscopiche operative consentono il trattamento di queste neoplasie in fase precoce. English version Summary: The role of endoscopy in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. L. Magno, L. Sivero, V. Napolitano, S. Ruggiero, G. Fontanarosa, S. Massa Gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumors (NET) are rare neoplasia arisen from neuroendocrine cells present in the gut mucosa and pancreas. Digestive endoscopy and endoscopic ultrasonography play a relevant role in NET diagnosis, stadiation and surveillance. Moreover, in selected patients, surgical endoscopy allows the tratment of these cancers at an early stage.
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IL TRAPIANTO ORTOTOPICO DEL FEGATO
STARZL, THOMAS E.
2010-01-01
E’ormai noto che esiste la possibilità rivoluzionaria di utilizzare il fegato per il trattamento della stadio terminale delle epatopatie. Nel gennaio 1980 si celebra il decimo anna di sopravvivenza con fegato trapiantato (la più lunga della letteratura) di un paziente da noi trattato. Si tratta di uno dei 12 malati sottoposti a trapianto e seguiti per più di 5 anni. La nota positiva di questa tipo di trattamento è rappresentata dall’eccellente tenore di vita che i pazienti conducono e dalla riabilitazione sociale e professionale. La nota negativa è data, invece, dal fatto che i buoni risultati non vengono raggiunti con regolarità e non possono essere previsti con esattezza. In questa breve rassegna considereremo la esperienza da noi fatta presso l’Università di Denver nel Colorado, mettendo in risalto le cause dell’elevata mortalità precoce e le prospettive future di questa mezzo terapeutico. PMID:21572898
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CORRIGENDUM: Atoms riding Rayleigh waves Atoms riding Rayleigh waves
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Benedek, G.; Echenique, P. M.; Toennies, J. P.; Traeger, F.
2010-09-01
In the original paper the affiliation list is incorrect. The correct address list is as follows: G Benedek1, 5, P M Echenique1, 2, J P Toennies3 and F Traeger4 1 Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Paseo Manuel de Lardizábal 4, 20018 Donostia—San Sebastián, Spain 2 Departamento de Física de Materiales and CFM (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, E-20018 San Sebastián/Donostia, Spain 3 Max Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation, Bunsenstraße 10 D-37073 Göttingen, Germany 4 Fakultät für Chemie und Biochemie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany 5 Permanent address: Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Universitá di Milano-Bicocca, Via Cozzi 53, 20125 Milano, Italy
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Oakley, Francis
2018-03-01
This paper is an intervention in the debate inaugurated by Peter Harrison in 2002 when he called into question the validity of what has come to be called 'the voluntarism and early-modern science thesis'. Though it subsequently drew support from such historians of science as J. E. McGuire, Margaret Osler, and Betty-Joe Teeter Dobbs, the origins of the thesis are usually traced back to articles published in 1934 and 1961 respectively by the philosopher Michael Foster and the historian of ideas Francis Oakley. Central to Harrison's critique of the thesis are claims he made about the meaning of the scholastic distinction between the potentia dei absoluta et ordinata and the role it played in the thinking of early-modern theologians and natural philosophers. This paper calls directly into question the accuracy of Harrison's claims on that very matter.
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Underwater Explosion (UWE) Analysis of the ROKS Cheonan Incident
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kim, So Gu; Gitterman, Yefim
2013-04-01
The underwater explosion (UWE) resulting in the sinking of the South Korean warship, ROKS Cheonan occurred on March 26 2010. Raw data was analyzed from several 3-component stations—Baengyeong-do Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) station (BAR), Ganghwa KMA station (GAHB), Incheon Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) station (INCN), the short-period station—Deokjeok-do KMA station (DEI), as well as from the seismo-acoustic array Baengyeong-do Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) station (BRDAR). The ROKS Cheonan incident has been investigated by both the Multinational Civilian-Military Joint Investigation Group (Ministry of National Defense, 2010) and Hong (Bull Seism Soc Am 101:1554-1562, 2011). Their respective methods and conclusions are also presented in this study. One of the main differences between their findings and ours is that we deducted that the fundamental bubble frequency was 1.01 Hz with a subsequent oscillation of 1.72 Hz. Also, in contrast to findings by the MCMJIG and Hong, our analysis shows the first reverberation frequency to be 8.5 Hz and the subsequent one to be ≈25 Hz. The TNT-equivalent charge weight (seismic yield) and seismic magnitude were estimated from an observed bubble frequency of 1.01 Hz and the analytical model of a bubble pulse. From the data analyzed, we deducted that the seismic yield would be about 136 kg of TNT, which is equivalent to the individual yield of a large number of land control mines (LCM) which were abandoned in the vicinity of the ROKS Cheonan incident by the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy in the 1970s (Ministry of National Defense 2010). Also, whereas both the MCMJIG and HONG estimated the local magnitude at 1.5, our findings came to the conclusion of a local magnitude of approximately 2.04 based on the bubble frequency of 1.01 Hz measured on the vertical component of BAR station data considering the empirical relationship between charge weight (TNT yield) and underwater explosion magnitude. Strong high-frequency signals collected at the 3-component BAR station approximately 30 s after P-wave arrivals and infrasound records at BRDAR clearly indicate powerful acoustic phases and N-waves caused by a relatively shallow UWE. T-phases are also observed on seismograms and spectra at 15-17 Hz on the DEI, GAHB, and INCN stations.
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Finotto, Sergio; Gradellini, Cinzia; Bandini, Stefania; Burrai, Francesco; Lucchi Casadei, Sandra; Villani, Carolina; Vincenzi, Simone; Mecugni, Daniela
2017-01-01
To evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the Scheda di Valutazione delle Attività di Tirocinio (SVAT). The degree courses in Nursing of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, site of Reggio Emilia, the University of Bologna Formative Section BO1, Imola and training center of Cesena, the University of Ferrara training centers of Ferrara and Codigoro were all enrolled in the research. For the content validation the reactive Delphi method was chosen. The panel of experts expressed a qualitative-intuitive judgment on the adequacy of language and on the stimulus material (SVAT). For internal consistency Cronbach's alpha was calculated the. The test-retest method was used for the reliability of stability. all indicators of the SVAT have achieved a degree of consensus not less than 80% demonstrating its content validity. The face validity is demonstrated by an average score equal to or greater than 7 obtained by all indicators. The reliability of internal consistency of the SVAT was appraised by Cronbach's alpha that was 0.987 for the entire instrument. The reliability of the stability has been calculated through the correlation's coefficient expressed by Pearson's r that was 0.983 (p = 1.3E-198). in Italy there is no a "gold standard" tool to evaluate the clinical performance of nursing students during and at the end of their clinical training. The SVAT proves to be a valuable and reliable tool it furthermore could stimulate the discussion and the debate among educators and nurses, so that also in our country, it may be possible develop and refine tools that support the evaluation of clinical skills of nursing students.
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A new approach to assessing the water footprint of wine: an Italian case study.
Lamastra, Lucrezia; Suciu, Nicoleta Alina; Novelli, Elisa; Trevisan, Marco
2014-08-15
Agriculture is the largest freshwater consumer, accounting for 70% of the world's water withdrawal. Water footprints (WFs) are being increasingly used to indicate the impacts of water use by production systems. A new methodology to assess WF of wine was developed in the framework of the V.I.V.A. project (Valutazione Impatto Viticoltura sull'Ambiente), launched by the Italian Ministry for the Environment in 2011 to improve the Italian wine sector's sustainability. The new methodology has been developed that enables different vines from the same winery to be compared. This was achieved by calculating the gray water footprint, following Tier III approach proposed by Hoekstra et al. (2011). The impact of water use during the life cycle of grape-wine production was assessed for six different wines from the same winery in Sicily, Italy using both the newly developed methodology (V.I.V.A.) and the classical methodology proposed by the Water Footprint Network (WFN). In all cases green water was the largest contributor to WF, but the new methodology also detected differences between vines of the same winery. Furthermore, V.I.V.A. methodology assesses water body contamination by pesticides application whereas the WFN methodology considers just fertilization. This fact ended highlights the highest WF of vineyard 4 calculated by V.I.V.A. if compared with the WF calculated with WFN methodology. Comparing the WF of wine produced with grapes from the six different wines, the factors most greatly influencing the results obtained in this study were: distance from the water body, fertilization rate, amount and eco-toxicological behavior of the active ingredients used. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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The METIS project for generalist ultrasonography.
Bono, F; Campanini, A
2007-12-01
Reorganization of the community healthcare system and the growing presence of group practices in the field of general medicine have increased the demands placed on primary-care medicine, in terms of the skills required and the level of responsibility. Satisfying the need for rapid, effective primary-care solutions to the health problems of citizens is easier thanks to technological and medical advances that provide high level equipment at costs within the reach of general practitioners (GPs). In the near future, trained GPs equipped with appropriate diagnostic scanners will be able to handle up to 40% of the requests of ultrasound examinations of each primary-care group (each PCG includes approximately 15,000-20,000 citizens). The Italian Federation of General Practitioners (Federazione Italiana dei Medici di Medicina Generale - FIMMG) and its Scientific Society, METIS, have organized national courses for those GPs who wish to become generalist ultrasonographers, in a joint effort with the two most important Italian scientific societies of imaging, the Italian Society of Ultrasonology in Medicine and Biology and the Italian Society of Medical Radiology.
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Musco, Marianna; Cuttitta, Angela; Bicchi, Erica; Quinci, Enza Maria; Sprovieri, Mario; Tranchida, Giorgio; Giaramita, Luigi; Traina, Anna; Salvagio Manta, Daniela; Gherardi, Serena; Mercurio, Pietro; Siragusa, Angelo; Mazzola, Salvatore
2017-04-15
This study investigates living benthic foraminiferal assemblages as bio-indicators of anthropogenic activities in a coastal area within the Gulf of Palermo (Sicily, Italy), affected by industrial and urban activities, and evaluates the environmental quality through the calibration of a Tolerant Species index (%TS std ). Sediments from 6 stations were sampled along a bathymetric transect from the coast to offshore. Sediment grain size, TOC, major, minor and trace elements and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were compared to benthic foraminiferal assemblages and species at each station. Diversity and density of benthic foraminiferal assemblages were not affected by the presence of pollutants, while tolerant species increased with organic (TOC and PAHs) or chemical (As and Pb) concentrations. Moreover, the calibration of the %TS std formula to >125μm foraminiferal assemblage, gives a detailed description of environmental quality along the transect, representing a good and sensitive tool to evaluate marine coastal environment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Dipierri, José Edgardo; Bronberg, Rubén Adrian
2017-09-08
Debido al incremento de casos de microcefalia por virus Zika en Brasil el Ministerio de Salud de Argentina recomienda incrementar la vigilancia de esta malformación. A fin de profundizar el conocimiento del comportamiento epidemiológico de microcefalia en el país se analiza la mortalidad infantil por microcefalia entre 1998-2012. Los datos proceden de la Dirección de Estadísticas e Información de Salud (DEIS). Se calculó por provincias y regiones la tasa de mortalidad infantil por microcefalia (TMI-M) y se realizó un análisis de agrupamiento a nivel departamental. Las tasas más elevadas se observaron en las regiones y provincias del norte del país. La distribución espacial de la TMI-M guarda relación con las prevalencias de microcefalia en recién nacidos. Esta distribución se relaciona con la mayor pobreza y consanguinidad del norte de la Argentina, factores sinérgicos predisponentes de la ocurrencia de malformaciones congénitas en general y de microcefalia en particular.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hönnicke, M. G.; Foerster, L. A.; Navarro-Silva, M. A.; Menk, R.-H.; Rigon, L.; Cusatis, C.
2005-08-01
Enhanced contrast X-ray imaging is achieved by exploiting the real part of the refraction index, which is responsible for the phase shifts, in addition to the imaginary part, which is responsible for the absorption. Such techniques are called X-ray phase contrast imaging. An analyzer-based X-ray phase contrast imaging set-up with Diffraction Enhanced Imaging processing (DEI) were used for preliminary studies in anatomy and embryology of insects. Parasitized stinkbug and moth eggs used as control agents of pests in vegetables and adult stinkbugs and mosquitoes ( Aedes aegypti) were used as samples. The experimental setup was mounted in the SYRMEP beamline at ELETTRA. Images were obtained using a high spatial resolution CCD detector (pixel size 14×14 μm 2) coupled with magnifying optics. Analyzer-based X-ray phase contrast images (PCI) and edge detection images show contrast and details not observed with conventional synchrotron radiography and open the possibility for future study in the embryonic development of insects.
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Virtual unrolling and deciphering of Herculaneum papyri by X-ray phase-contrast tomography
Bukreeva, I.; Mittone, A.; Bravin, A.; Festa, G.; Alessandrelli, M.; Coan, P.; Formoso, V.; Agostino, R. G.; Giocondo, M.; Ciuchi, F.; Fratini, M.; Massimi, L.; Lamarra, A.; Andreani, C.; Bartolino, R.; Gigli, G.; Ranocchia, G.; Cedola, A.
2016-01-01
A collection of more than 1800 carbonized papyri, discovered in the Roman ‘Villa dei Papiri’ at Herculaneum is the unique classical library survived from antiquity. These papyri were charred during 79 A.D. Vesuvius eruption, a circumstance which providentially preserved them until now. This magnificent collection contains an impressive amount of treatises by Greek philosophers and, especially, Philodemus of Gadara, an Epicurean thinker of 1st century BC. We read many portions of text hidden inside carbonized Herculaneum papyri using enhanced X-ray phase-contrast tomography non-destructive technique and a new set of numerical algorithms for ‘virtual-unrolling’. Our success lies in revealing the largest portion of Greek text ever detected so far inside unopened scrolls, with unprecedented spatial resolution and contrast, all without damaging these precious historical manuscripts. Parts of text have been decoded and the ‘voice’ of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus is brought back again after 2000 years from Herculaneum papyri. PMID:27265417
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An analysis on Wildland Urban Interface in North Sardinia
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Arca, B.; Pellizzaro, G.; Canu, A.; Pintus, G. V.; Ferrara, R.; Duce, P.
2012-04-01
Climate variability and drought, typical of the Mediterranean climate, together with different anthropogenic disturbances (modifications of land use, deforestation, grazing, forest fires, etc.) makes the Mediterranean basin ecosystems extremely sensitive and vulnerable. In the last three decades, an increasing number of fires threatening the wildland urban interface (WUI) was observed. In Sardinia, this phenomenon is particularly evident in tourist and coastal areas where a large number of resorts is built within and surrounded by Mediterranean vegetation that is highly prone to events of wildfire. In these situations, the related risk of damage for villages, tourist resorts, other human activities and people is elevated especially in summer when the presence of human people is highest and meteorological conditions are extreme. In addition, fire can have significant effect on the hydrological response of the WUI causing the intensification of the erosive processes. Therefore, the development of planning policies is required in order to implement strategies to prevent and reduce wildfire and soil erosion risk in wildland urban interface areas. The main aims of this work are i) to assess presence and characteristics of wildland urban interface in a touristic areas of North Sardinia and ii) to evaluate fire danger and soil erosion risk in the studied area. The study was carried out in a coastal area located in North Sardinia, characterized by strong touristic development in the last thirty years. In that area, the characterization and mapping of the WUI were performed. In addition several simulation were carried out by the Farsite fire area simulator with the aim to study the spatial pattern of the fire danger factors in the vegetated areas closer to the WUI. Finally, maps of soil erosion were produced for the identification of the areas at high erosion risk in the WUI. This work is supported by MIIUR - Metodologie e indicatori per la valutazione del rischio di Incendio nelle aree di Interfaccia Urbano Rurale in ambiente mediterraneo. Legge Regionale 7 agosto 2007, n. 7.
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77 FR 44528 - Dry Cargo Residue Discharges in the Great Lakes
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2012-07-30
...The Coast Guard proposes replacing its existing interim rule with a new rule to regulate the operation of U.S. and foreign vessels carrying bulk dry cargo such as limestone, iron ore, and coal on the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes, and the operation of U.S. bulk dry cargo vessels anywhere on the Great Lakes. Specifically, the Coast Guard proposes new requirements for the discharge of bulk dry cargo residue (DCR) on the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard also announces the availability of the tiered Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) prepared in support of this proposal. The proposed rule would continue to allow non-hazardous and non-toxic discharges of bulk DCR in limited areas of the Great Lakes. However, vessel owners and operators would need to minimize DCR discharges using methods they would be required to document in DCR management plans. The proposed rule would prohibit limestone and clean stone DCR discharges in some waters where they are now permitted. The proposed rule promotes the Coast Guard's strategic goals of maritime mobility and safety and protection of natural resources.
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Federico Cesi and his field studies on the origin of fossils between 1610 and 1630.
Scott, A C
2001-09-01
In 1603 Federico Cesi, along with four of his friends, founded the first Scientific Academy in Europe, the Accademia dei Lincei, which included Galileo Galillei as a member. Between 1611 and 1630 Cesi undertook an ambitious project to collect and record fossils from his lands around Acquasparta in Umbria. He had drawings and descriptions made of all the excavated fossils, fossil woods and their sites of origin. He died before his work could be published and it was left to his friend Francesco Stelluti to publish a monograph in which he claimed that evidence demonstrated that the fossil woods were formed from stone and were 'not once living'. The corpus of drawings, now in the Royal Collection at Windsor, has allowed the project to be reconstructed and fieldwork in Italy has shown that the complex nature of the fossil preservation could have easily confused the researchers and have led to misinterpretation of the fossils. This research by Cesi is the first to combine field and specimen data to interpret the origin of fossils and has been widely neglected by historians of Science.
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Jeffreys, Derek S
2001-12-01
Peter Singer's recent appointment to Princeton University created considerable controversy, most of it focused on his proposal for active euthanasia of disabled infants. Singer articulates utilitarian ideas that often appear in public discussions of euthanasia. Drawing on Pope John Paul II's work on ethics and suffering, I argue that Singer's utilitarian theory of value is impoverished. After introducing the Pope's ethic based on the imago dei, I discuss love as self-gift. I show how this concept supports a theory of value in which spiritual goods are preeminent over material goods. I then describe how suffering reveals spiritual goods, discussing how participation in Christ's suffering can alter our perception of value. I also consider how communal responses to suffering provide opportunities for self-giving. Third, I consider Singer's proposal for killing infants with hemophilia, arguing that it arbitrarily ignores spiritual goods. I then discuss proposals to kill anencephalic infants, discussing how parental responses to their suffering can demonstrate an extraordinary love in seemingly hopeless circumstances. I conclude by calling for a more sustained social response to euthanasia initiatives.
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Central radio galaxies in groups: cavities, bubbles and the history of AGN heating
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Giacintucci, S.; Venturi, T.; Raychaudhury, S.; Vrtilek, J.
2008-10-01
E' noto che le regioni centrali degli ammassi e gruppi di galassie costituiscono un ambiente in cui gas caldo e plasma radioemittente proveniente dalle galassie dominanti interagiscono tra loro. In particolare, si pensa che la radioemissione dell'AGN centrale ed i suoi possibili cicli di attivita', siano strettamente legati alla presenza di cavita' e "bubbles" nel gas intergalattico. Si presentera' lo status di un progetto osservativo effettuato con il Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT, India) su di un campione di 18 gruppi di galassie, osservati a tre frequenze radio (235 MHz, 325 MHz e 610 MHz). Lo studio della morfologia radio degli AGN centrali e la relativa analisi spettrale permettono di ottenere stime sull'eta' di questi oggetti, e sulla loro energia totale, che a loro volta sono in relazione con le proprieta' X dei gruppi stessi. Per tutti gli oggetti del campione sono disponibili osservazioni Chandra di proprieta'. Per due oggetti del campione, 4C+24.36 (al centro di AWM04) e NGC741 (al centro di RSOG17) verra' presentato uno studio dettagliato.
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CNOT sequences for heterogeneous spin qubit architectures in a noisy environment
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ferraro, Elena; Fanciulli, Marco; de Michielis, Marco
Explicit CNOT gate sequences for two-qubits mixed architectures are presented in view of applications for large-scale quantum computation. Different kinds of coded spin qubits are combined allowing indeed the favorable physical properties of each to be employed. The building blocks for such composite systems are qubit architectures based on the electronic spin in electrostatically defined semiconductor quantum dots. They are the single quantum dot spin qubit, the double quantum dot singlet-triplet qubit and the double quantum dot hybrid qubit. The effective Hamiltonian models expressed by only exchange interactions between pair of electrons are exploited in different geometrical configurations. A numerical genetic algorithm that takes into account the realistic physical parameters involved is adopted. Gate operations are addressed by modulating the tunneling barriers and the energy offsets between different couple of quantum dots. Gate infidelities are calculated considering limitations due to unideal control of gate sequence pulses, hyperfine interaction and unwanted charge coupling. Second affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, University of Milano Bicocca, Via R. Cozzi, 55, 20126 Milano, Italy.
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TOM: a web-based integrated approach for identification of candidate disease genes.
Rossi, Simona; Masotti, Daniele; Nardini, Christine; Bonora, Elena; Romeo, Giovanni; Macii, Enrico; Benini, Luca; Volinia, Stefano
2006-07-01
The massive production of biological data by means of highly parallel devices like microarrays for gene expression has paved the way to new possible approaches in molecular genetics. Among them the possibility of inferring biological answers by querying large amounts of expression data. Based on this principle, we present here TOM, a web-based resource for the efficient extraction of candidate genes for hereditary diseases. The service requires the previous knowledge of at least another gene responsible for the disease and the linkage area, or else of two disease associated genetic intervals. The algorithm uses the information stored in public resources, including mapping, expression and functional databases. Given the queries, TOM will select and list one or more candidate genes. This approach allows the geneticist to bypass the costly and time consuming tracing of genetic markers through entire families and might improve the chance of identifying disease genes, particularly for rare diseases. We present here the tool and the results obtained on known benchmark and on hereditary predisposition to familial thyroid cancer. Our algorithm is available at http://www-micrel.deis.unibo.it/~tom/.
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NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Aase, J. K.; Millard, J. P.; Siddoway, F. H. (Principal Investigator)
1982-01-01
Radiance measurements from handheld (Exotech 100-A) and air-borne (Daedalus DEI 1260) radiometers were related to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) stand densities (simulated winter wheat winterkill) and to grain yield for a field located 11 km northwest of Sidney, Montana, on a Williams loam soil (fine-loamy, mixed Typic Argiborolls) where a semidwarf hard red spring wheat cultivar was needed to stand. Radiances were measured with the handheld radiometer on clear mornings throughout the growing season. Aircraft overflight measurements were made at the end of tillering and during the early stem extension period, and the mid-heading period. The IR/red ratio and normalized difference vegetation index were used in the analysis. The aircraft measurements corroborated the ground measurements inasmuch as wheat stand densities were detected and could be evaluated at an early enough growth stage to make management decision. The aircraft measurements also corroborated handheld measurements when related to yield prediction. The IR/red ratio, although there was some growth stage dependency, related well to yield when measured from just past tillering until about the watery-ripe stage.
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[Trattamento del disturbo da uso di alcol da un punto di vista psicologico].
Coriale, Giovanna; Fiorentino, Daniela; De Rosa, Francesca; Solombrino, Simona; Scalese, Bruna; Ciccarelli, Rosaria; Attilia, Fabio; Vitali, Mario; Musetti, Alessia; Fiore, Marco; Ceccanti, Mauro
2018-01-01
RIASSUNTO. L'elaborazione del piano di trattamento rappresenta un momento molto delicato e complesso del processo terapeutico del disturbo da abuso di alcol (DUA). È la fase in cui le informazioni raccolte da un'équipe di professionisti (medici, psicologi e assistenti sociali) (modello bio-psico-sociale del DUA) vengono messe insieme per decidere il percorso terapeutico più adatto. Per quanto riguarda la parte psicologica, è di notevole importanza scegliere un trattamento clinico in grado di ridurre al minimo la mancata adesione al trattamento e, per i soggetti che rimangono in trattamento, di garantirne l'efficacia. Se da una parte, le tecniche psicoanalitiche e comportamentali hanno fornito le basi della terapia psicologica dell'alcolismo, dall'altra, gli approcci basati sull'evidenza scientifica sono stati elaborati a partire dai principi del colloquio motivazionale e della terapia cognitivo-comportamentale. In questo articolo viene fornita una panoramica dei trattamenti che sono risultati più efficaci nel trattare il DUA e delle modalità temporali più adeguate per monitorare l'efficacia del trattamento.
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[Trattamento della dipendenza da alcol. Alcol e giovani: punto di vista sociale].
Alessandrini, Giovanni; Ciccarelli, Rosaria; Battagliese, Gemma; Lombardo, Giuseppe; De Rosa, Francesca; Messina, Marisa Patrizia; Vitali, Mario; Pisciotta, Fabiola; Nanut, Miriana; Attilia, Maria Luisa; Ceccanti, Mauro
2018-01-01
RIASSUNTO. Gli adolescenti rappresentano la fascia di età più vulnerabile ai danni causati dall'abuso di alcol, in quanto iniziare a bere in giovane età è associato a un aumento del rischio di dipendenza da alcolici in età adulta. I giovani tendono a bere grandi quantità di alcolici al fine di ricercare forti emozioni e nel tentativo di raggiungere il divertimento a ogni costo, tramite le proprietà psicotrope degli alcolici. Le cause che li inducono ad assumere questi comportamenti sono da ricercare nella non conoscenza degli effetti dannosi dell'alcol, nel rito di convivialità sociale (evenienza per la quale si attribuisce all'alcol la funzione di facilitatore dell'aggregazione tra giovani), nella mancanza di interessi personali, nella scarsità dei controlli e nelle abitudini familiari. Le azioni da intraprendere per limitare o arrestare il consumo nocivo di alcol nei giovani si devono basare su interventi finalizzati a ritardare l'età del primo contatto con le bevande alcoliche, mediante la realizzazione di campagne educazionali rivolte ai giovani stessi, ai loro familiari e alla società intera.
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Balboa, L; Hinojosa, A; Riquelme, C; Rodríguez, S; Bustos, J; George-Nascimento, M
2009-10-01
The taxonomic status of Profilicollis ( = Falsifilicollis Webster, 1948) species in crustaceans in Chile is examined. Mole crabs, Emerita analoga (Stimpson 1857), living in the splash zone of a sandy beach at Lenga off the coast of central Chile, harbor Polymorphus (Profilicollis) bullocki Mateo, Córdova and Guzmán 1982, while the estuarine crabs, Hemigrapsus crenulatus (Milne-Edwards, 1837), living in an oligohaline inlet at the same site, harbor Profilicollis spp. cystacanths which cannot be distinguished specifically to either Profilicollis antarcticus or P. chasmagnathi Holcman-Spector, Mañé-Garzón and Dei-Cas 1977. We found no morphological data supporting records of P. altmani along the coast of Chile. Therefore, and after examination of both their morphology and the literature, we consider that P. bullocki must be reinstated as a valid species in the genus. There is a widespread distribution of habitats, such as sandy beaches and inlets, as well as a variety of host taxa involved in the life cycle of Profilicollis spp. Consequently, they provide an interesting scenario for testing hypotheses regarding the coevolution and host specificity of these parasites.
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Thomas Linacre at the University of Padua.
Porzionato, Andrea; Macchi, Veronica; De Caro, Raffaele
2010-11-01
The Bo (meaning 'ox' in the Venetian dialect) is the historic seat of the University of Padua, founded in 1222. A full-length portrait of Thomas Linacre stands in its prestigious Sala dei Quaranta (Hall of the Forty), so called because of the portraits of forty great foreign scholars of the University, painted by Giacomo dal Forno in 1942. Thomas Linacre came to Italy in 1485, following an embassy by Henry VII to the Vatican. Linacre visited Bologna, Florence, Rome, Venice, Vicenza and Padua, where he took his degree in medicine in 1496 with great distinction. During his stay in Italy he met illustrious humanists and physicians, including Poliziano, Hermolaus Barbarus and Aldus Manutius Romanus, and Nicolaus Leonicenus who further stimulated him to the translation of classic works by Hippocrates and Galen. In 1518 Linacre played a pivotal role in the foundation of the Royal College of Physicians in London which, as first President, he organized on the basis of Italian models. With his portrait, the University of Padua celebrates the life and work of an astonishing figure linking the Italian and English medical cultures.
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Effective four-fermion operators in top physics: A roadmap
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aguilar-Saavedra, J. A.
2011-02-01
We write down a minimal basis for dimension-six gauge-invariant four-fermion operators, with some operator replacements with respect to previous ones which make it simpler for calculations. Using this basis we classify all four-fermion operator contributions involving one or two top quarks. Taking into account the different fermion chiralities, possible colour contractions and independent flavour combinations, a total number of 572 gauge-invariant operators are involved. We apply this to calculate all three-body top decay widths t→dud, t→dei+ν, t→uuu, t→uej+ei-, t→uνν (with i,j,k generation indices) mediated by dimension-six four-fermion operators, including the interference with the Standard Model amplitudes when present. All single top production cross sections in pp, pp¯ and ee collisions are calculated as well, namely ud→dt, dd→ut, ud→dt, uu→ut, uu→ut, ee→ut and the charge conjugate processes. We also compute all top pair production cross sections, uu→tt¯, dd→tt¯, uu→tt and ee→tt¯. Our results are completely general, without assuming any particular relation among effective operator coefficients.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vettori, S.; Pecchioni, E.; Camaiti, M.; Garfagnoli, F.; Benvenuti, M.; Costagliola, P.; Moretti, S.
2012-04-01
In the recent past, a wide range of protective products (in most cases, synthetic polymers) have been applied to the surfaces of ancient buildings/artefacts to preserve them from alteration [1]. The lack of a detailed mapping of the permanence and efficacy of these treatments, in particular when applied on large surfaces such as building facades, may be particularly noxious when new restoration treatments are needed and the best choice of restoration protocols has to be taken. The presence of protective compounds on stone surfaces may be detected in laboratory by relatively simple diagnostic tests, which, however, normally require invasive (or micro-invasive) sampling methodologies and are time-consuming, thus limiting their use only to a restricted number of samples and sampling sites. On the contrary, hyperspectral sensors are rapid, non-invasive and non-destructive tools capable of analyzing different materials on the basis of their different patterns of absorption at specific wavelengths, and so particularly suitable for the field of cultural heritage [2,3]. In addition, they can be successfully used to discriminate between inorganic (i.e. rocks and minerals) and organic compounds, as well as to acquire, in short times, many spectra and compositional maps at relatively low costs. In this study we analyzed a number of stone samples (Carrara Marble and biogenic calcarenites - "Lecce Stone" and "Maastricht Stone"-) after treatment of their surfaces with synthetic polymers (synthetic wax, acrylic, perfluorinated and silicon based polymers) of common use in conservation-restoration practice. The hyperspectral device used for this purpose was ASD FieldSpec FR Pro spectroradiometer, a portable, high-resolution instrument designed to acquire Visible and Near-Infrared (VNIR: 350-1000 nm) and Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR: 1000-2500 nm) punctual reflectance spectra with a rapid data collection time (about 0.1 s for each spectrum). The reflectance spectra so far obtained in the laboratory experiments indicate that this hyperspectral technique is able to distinguish the different protective agents and, therefore, may be used to monitor the conservation treatments employed for the stone surfaces of historic materials. [1] G.G. Amoroso, M. Camaiti, Scienza dei materiali e restauro - La pietra: dalle mani degli artisti e degli scalpellini a quelle dei chimici macromolecolari, Alinea Ed., Firenze, 1997. [2] S. Vettori, M. Benvenuti, M. Camaiti, L. Chiarantini, P. Costagliola, S. Moretti, E. Pecchioni, 2008, "Assessment of the deterioration status of historical buildings by hyperspectral imaging techniques", in Proceedings of the "In situ Monitoring of Monumental Surfaces -SMS/08" Congress, Edifir-Edizioni Firenze 2008, 55-64. [3] M. Camaiti, S. Vettori, M. Benvenuti, L. Chiarantini, P. Costagliola, F. Di Benedetto, S. Moretti, F. Paba, E. Pecchioni, 2011, "Hyperspectral sensor for gypsum detection on monumental buildings", Journal of Geophysics and Engineering, 8, S126-S131.
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Houin, R
2008-12-01
Culicoides were described for the first time in England in 1713, but named by Latreille in 1809 only. Even so, they were better known as Ceratopogon until Kieffer reintroduced the name Culicoides. The family name became Ceratopogonidae, the description by Meigen (1803) being better adapted to that systematic level. Culicoides were considered simply as biting insects until it was found that they can carry filaria and viruses. In 1944, du Toit in Transvaal described their role in the transmission of blue-tongue virus. Blue-tongue disease has since extended progressively northward from South Africa, disseminated by Culicoides imicola. At the end of the 20th century, it reached the southern shores of the Mediterranean sea, and has since threatened the southern Europe. Surveillance and prevention procedures were put in place, but fortress Europe was taken breached when a different strain of the virus entered through Belgium in 2006. Transmitted by local Culicoides species that were aggressive and abundant, the disease spread quickly, in a disastrous epizootic southward through more than half of France. Westward, infected insects have been carried by wind over the Channel, introducing the disease to England.
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Amarone: a modern wine coming from an ancient production technology.
Paronetto, Lanfranco; Dellaglio, Franco
2011-01-01
Amarone wine is a renowned dry red wine produced in Valpolicella (Verona, Northern Italy). It is made from local grapes varieties (Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara) that are slowly dried under natural conditions during the fall into winter. After the postharvest drying, carried out for several weeks in dedicated lofts called fruttaio, the grapes are vinified: crushed, given prefermentative cold maceration, undergo alcoholic fermentation on the skins, malolactic fermentation, and finally maturation. The partially dried grapes are traditionally crushed during the second half of January to February. Because cellar conditions are unfavorable for either alcohol or malolactic fermentation, selected microbial cultures (yeasts and malolactic bacteria) are often necessary to correctly manage fermentation. The progress of both fermentation processes needs constant surveillance. During maturation conducted in vessels or wooden containers (tonneau in durmast oak), clarification and stabilization lead to improvements in quality. Product specifications require that Amarone not be bottled before the wine has been aged for 2years (Anonymous (2010). Disciplinare di produzione dei vini a denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita "Amarone della Valpolicella". Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana. Serie generale n. 84. April 12). Amarone achieved its DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Denomination) status in 2010. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Physical and chemical investigations on natural dyes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Acquaviva, S.; D'Anna, E.; de Giorgi, M. L.; Della Patria, A.; Baraldi, P.
2010-09-01
Natural dyes have been used extensively in the past for many purposes, such us to colour fibers and to produce inks, watercolours and paints, but their use declined rapidly after the discovery of synthetic colours. Nowadays we witness a renewed interest, as natural dyes are neither toxic nor polluting. In this work, physical and chemical properties of four selected dyes, namely red (Madder), yellow (Weld and Turmeric) and blue (Woad) colours, produced by means of traditional techniques at the Museo dei Colori Naturali (Lamoli, Italy), have been investigated. The chromatic properties have been studied through the reflectance spectroscopy, a non-invasive technique for the characterisation of chromaticity. Reflection spectra both from powders and egg-yolk tempera models have been acquired to provide the typical features of the dyes in the UV-vis spectral range. Moreover, to assess the feasibility of laser cleaning procedures, tempera layers were investigated after irradiation with an excimer laser. Micro Raman spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-Ray analyses have complemented the survey, returning compositional and morphological information as well. Efforts have been made to give scientific feedback to the production processes and to support the research activity in the restoration of the artworks where these dyes were employed.
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Cosmogenic radioisotopes in Gebel Kamil meteorite
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Taricco, C.; Colombetti, P.; Bhandari, N.; Sinha, N.; Di Martino, M.; Vivaldo, G.
2012-04-01
Recently a small (45 m in diameter) and very young (< 5,000 years) impact crater was discovered in Egypt (Folco et al., 2010, 2011); it was generated by an iron meteorite named Gebel Kamil (Meteoritical Bulletin No. 98, Weisberg et al. 2010). During systematic searches, many specimens were found in the area surrounding the crater. We present the gamma-activity measurement of a 672 g fragment using a highly selective Ge-NaI spectrometer operating at Monte dei Cappuccini Laboratory (IFSI, INAF) in Torino, Italy. This apparatus allows to reveal the radioisotope activity generated by cosmic rays in the meteoroids as they travel through the interplanetary space before falling on the Earth. From the 26Al activity measurement and its depth production profiles, we infer (i) that the radius of the meteoroid should be about 1 m, constraining to 30-40 ton the range of pre-atmospheric mass previously proposed and (ii) that the fragment should have been located deeply inside the meteoroid, at a depth > 0.7 m. The 44Ti activity is under the detection threshold of the apparatus; using the depth production profiles of this radioisotope and its half-life T1/2 = 59.2 y, we deduce an upper limit to the date of fall.
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The complexity of classical music networks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rolla, Vitor; Kestenberg, Juliano; Velho, Luiz
2018-02-01
Previous works suggest that musical networks often present the scale-free and the small-world properties. From a musician's perspective, the most important aspect missing in those studies was harmony. In addition to that, the previous works made use of outdated statistical methods. Traditionally, least-squares linear regression is utilised to fit a power law to a given data set. However, according to Clauset et al. such a traditional method can produce inaccurate estimates for the power law exponent. In this paper, we present an analysis of musical networks which considers the existence of chords (an essential element of harmony). Here we show that only 52.5% of music in our database presents the scale-free property, while 62.5% of those pieces present the small-world property. Previous works argue that music is highly scale-free; consequently, it sounds appealing and coherent. In contrast, our results show that not all pieces of music present the scale-free and the small-world properties. In summary, this research is focused on the relationship between musical notes (Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si, and their sharps) and accompaniment in classical music compositions. More information about this research project is available at https://eden.dei.uc.pt/~vitorgr/MS.html.
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Sonnet XXX: Love, dignity, and dying.
Ely, E Wesley
2016-05-01
All of us in medicine who care for patients who are chronically critically ill, dying of incurable illnesses, will be faced with discussions about the value of their lives and about the appropriateness of ongoing supportive care. Such discussions are good and true, and they must always be done within the context of the sanctity of every human life and the promise of God that we are His children, each and every one of us. In this article, I explore the end-of-life path of a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and the courageous faith that she demonstrated in the face of her illness. I explore with you, the reader, the hard-core conversations that took place at her bedside and their meaning in light of Catholic moral teaching. This story is not meant to indicate that we should always do all interventions at all times for all patients. That would be a teaching counter to Evangelium vitae . This story is meant to help you think through the path of your patients and of you as a physician or other type of healthcare professional in serving your patients. Primum non nocere. Ad majorem Dei gloriam .
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Sonnet XXX: Love, dignity, and dying†
Ely, E. Wesley
2016-01-01
All of us in medicine who care for patients who are chronically critically ill, dying of incurable illnesses, will be faced with discussions about the value of their lives and about the appropriateness of ongoing supportive care. Such discussions are good and true, and they must always be done within the context of the sanctity of every human life and the promise of God that we are His children, each and every one of us. In this article, I explore the end-of-life path of a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and the courageous faith that she demonstrated in the face of her illness. I explore with you, the reader, the hard-core conversations that took place at her bedside and their meaning in light of Catholic moral teaching. This story is not meant to indicate that we should always do all interventions at all times for all patients. That would be a teaching counter to Evangelium vitae. This story is meant to help you think through the path of your patients and of you as a physician or other type of healthcare professional in serving your patients. Primum non nocere. Ad majorem Dei gloriam. PMID:27833193
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Identification of lapis-lazuli pigments in paint layers by PIGE measurements
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Grassi, N.; Migliori, A.; Mandò, P. A.; Calvo del Castillo, H.
2004-06-01
Lapis-lazuli is a semi-precious stone used in the past to produce a blue pigment. Its main component is lazurite, 3Na 2O·3Al 2O 3·6SiO 2·2Na 2S. The possibility of using PIXE to identify this pigment in canvas and wood painting is severely limited by the strong absorption of low-energy X-rays in the protective varnish and - when, as typical, the pigment is mixed with lead white - by the overlapping of Pb M lines with S K α. In this work we discuss the possibility of identifying lapis-lazuli by detecting sodium with PIGE. PIXE and PIGE measurements have been performed on samples containing lapis-lazuli mixed to lead white in different percentage, covered with polymeric foils to simulate the presence of varnish. At a percentage of lapis-lazuli below 50%, Na X-rays are hardly detectable even with the thinner foil; on the contrary the characteristic γ-rays are clearly detected down to about 1%. A first application has been successfully performed on the "Madonna dei fusi" by Leonardo da Vinci, in the framework of an extensive scientific investigation on the painting techniques used by the Renaissance genius.
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Chromosomenindividualität or Entmischung? The debate between Paolo Della Valle and Edmund B. Wilson.
Volpone, Alessandro
2015-01-01
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Italian cytologist Paolo Della Valle developed a theory of instable chromosomes (teoria dei cromosomi labili). He radically criticized the so-called Sutton-Boveri hypothesis (Martins and Martins, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 22:261-271, 1999), focusing on numerical constancy in the species and individuality. On the basis of bibliographical review and personal observations, he maintained that the chromosomes were neither stable bodies, nor permanent structures, but transitory cellular materials, resulting from the periodical rearrangement of the chromatin during the cell division. German and English-speaking biologists reacted. The paper shows some content of the argumentations used by Thomas H. Montgomery and especially Edmund B. Wilson. The discussion was characterized by the same data which is interpretedby different scholars in different ways. And the point is that no one of them had the decisive test to demonstrate his own point of view. Wilson simply invoked on his behalf a certain 'common sense', defending at least a 'high degree of constancy'. The debate waned along with the reception of Morgan's chromosome theory of heredity, but only the advent of molecular biology definitively stated the nature of chromosomes as permanent structures of the cell.
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Pileri, S
1994-01-01
Just one year ago the Italian Society of Pathology (S.I.A.P.) created a Study Group which included members of the most active Italian hematopathology teams. Prof. Pasquale Calapso was asked to chair the Group and Prof. Stefano Pileri to take care of secretarial duties. The aim of the Group is to spread hematopathologic knowledge among young pathologists and to promote activities that can contribute to updating Italian pathologists on topics of both speculative and diagnostic interest. The first Workshop of the S.I.A.P. Hematopathology Group was held at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Bologna, November 20, 1993. About 150 pathologists from all over Italy took part in the meeting, which consisted of two sections devoted to: a) discussion of the boundaries between Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and b) a case seminar illustrating the impact of immunohistochemistry in the diagnosis of bone-marrow biopsy. The first section included 5 presentations and a Round Table chaired by Prof. Luciano Fiore-Donati. Below, the contributors to this section summarize the content of their presentations, which were aimed at answering specific questions the Organizers had put to them.
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First-time observation of Mastro Giorgio masterpieces by means of non-destructive techniques
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Padeletti, G.; Ingo, G. M.; Bouquillon, A.; Pages-Camagna, S.; Aucouturier, M.; Roehrs, S.; Fermo, P.
2006-06-01
For the first time some excellent pieces belonging to the majolica production of the great master Giorgio Andreoli from Gubbio (Central Italy) have been characterized from a chemical and structural point of view with the aim to identify the composition of both pigments and lustres. A series of particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) and Raman analyses have been performed on some plates coming from Museo del Palazzo dei Consoli (Gubbio) and several French museums (Louvre, Musée National de la Céramique, Musée National de la Renaissance) lustred by Giorgio Andreoli and decorated by famous majolica painters such as Francesco Xanto Avelli. The three techniques are complementary and useful in the investigation of art objects since they are non-destructive. Furthermore, the low detection limits allow the identification of all elements and compounds present, and RBS allows concentration profiling, too. It is worth noticing that the examined objects are characterized by the presence of both gold and ruby-red lustres, a peculiarity of Mastro Giorgio’s technique. The measurements by PIXE and RBS have been carried out on the AGLAE accelerator at C2RMF, Louvre Palace.
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"Marvin, the Paranoid Android": The Case of an Alpha-PVP User in the Expanding Galaxy of NPS.
Pierluigi, Simonato; Laura, Bulsis; Attilio, Negri; Gurjeet K, Bansal; Gloria, Pessa; Davide, Mioni; Borgherini, Giuseppe; Giovanni, Martinotti; Fabrizio, Schifano; Perini, Giulia; Ornella, Corazza
2018-05-16
Alpha-PVP can be defined as a novel psychoactive substance (NPS)-more specifically, a novel synthetic cathinone with unpredictable stimulant effects in humans. "Marvin" arrived at a Dual Diagnosis Unit at Parco dei Tigli, Italy. He underwent a 30-day rehabilitation program to overcome his problematic Alpha-PVP use as a psychonaut. We conducted an online search to understand the properties of Alpha-PVP and its presence in scientific literature, reviewing official reports and the online drug market (e.g., fora, webpages). In the Dual Diagnosis Unit, Marvin completed the 30-day rehabilitation program that included assessments and group and individual cognitive behavioral therapy. Alpha-PVP is a synthetic cathinone with stimulant properties, available in the online market but with unpredictable effects in humans. The present case reports an important risk of psychosis in a psychonaut patient who arrived and declared its intense use before admission to our Unit. This article describes the psychopathological effects of the novel compound Alpha-PVP in a psychonaut patient. Patients attending clinics that have used Alpha-PVP pose a new challenge for traditional services of mental health and addiction.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tzanova, A.; Herbert, T.; Lawrence, K. T.; Peterson, L.; Kelly, C. S.
2015-12-01
We focus on the period of ~ 9 - 5 Ma when an episode of notably cool temperatures corresponds to evidence of high latitude Northern Hemisphere glaciation and mid-latitude terrestrial evolution. Alkenone-based sea surface temperatures (SST) from six globally distributed sites: ODP Sites 907 and 982 in the North Atlantic, ODP Site 1088 in the South Atlantic and ODP Sites 883, 884 and 887 in the North Pacific, and the Monte dei Corvi marine section in the Mediterranean unequivocally establish a dramatic, Late Miocene cold episode that persisted over approximately 2.5 Myr. In this work we establish the timing and synchronization of temperature decrease as well as rebound at orbital timescales. All sites were notably warmer than their modern annual average at ~9 Ma and exhibit sustained cooling beginning at ~8 Ma. SSTs rebound close to ~5.9 Ma at most locations suggesting that the cooling trend that began in the Late Miocene slowed down or even reversed in some locations in the Pliocene. The newly reconstructed SSTs highlight the role of cooling and an increase in equator to pole temperature gradients in terrestrial evolution at this pivotal time.
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Rodríguez, Sara M; Diaz, Julia I; D'Elía, Guillermo
2017-05-01
Profilicollis chasmagnathi Holcman-Spector, Mañé-Garzón & Dei-Cas, 1977 (Acanthocephala: Polymorphidae) has been reported to parasitise different grapsid species as intermediate hosts along the South Atlantic shores, i.e. Cyrtograpsus angulatus (Dana) and Neohelice granulata (Dana) in Uruguay and Cyrtograpsus altimanus (Rathbun) in Argentina. Larvae of a similar acanthocephalan described as Profilicollis antarcticus Zdzitowiecki, 1985 were recorded in the crab Hemigrapsus crenulatus (Milne-Edwards) from an estuarine habitat on the Southeast Pacific shore in Chile. Earlier studies have questioned the specific assignation of the Chilean estuarine populations of Profilicollis Meyer, 1931. The aim of this study was to re-examine the identification of these acanthocephalans by means of morphological and molecular analyses of cystacanths of Profilicollis spp. gathered from C. angulatus, N. granulata, C. altimanus and H. crenulatus. Our analyses showed that a single species of Profilicollis, P. chasmagnathi, parasitises these four crab species. The assessment of specimens from the South Shetlands Islands, the type-locality of P. antarcticus, is needed before formally proposing that P. antarcticus is a junior subjective synonym of P. chasmagnathi.
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Biagio Bartalini's "Catalogo dei corpi marini fossili che se trovano intorno a Siena" (1776).
Manganelli, Giuseppe; Benocci, Andrea; Spadini, Valeriano
2011-01-01
In 1776, the Sienese botanist Biagio Bartalini (1750-1822) published a catalogue of wild plants growing around Siena, adding an appendix on fossils found in the same area, that is the first monograph on Sienese fossils and one of the first works of its kind in Italy. This paper provides tentative identifications of the species and an analysis of the value and meaning of Bartalini's work. The catalogue reports 72 species, each denoted by a list of names applied to analogous living taxa. Identification of single entities is extremely problematical because it can only be attempted through analysis of the literature, since the original material cannot be traced. The most interesting report is the first record of a Euro-Mediterranean Pliocene species of Sthenorytis (Gastropoda, Epitoniidae). Though important, the catalogue is incomplete, with oversights and mistakes, suggesting little familiarity with the subject. Shortcomings include some inconsistencies in the species sequence, the report of giant clams and the absence of molluscs ubiquitous in the Sienese Pliocene and sharks. Nor is it true that it is the first Italian palaeontological work in which binomial nomenclature was used, as sometimes claimed.
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Connor, D M; Hallen, H D; Lalush, D S; Sumner, D R; Zhong, Z
2009-10-21
Diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) is an x-ray-based medical imaging modality that, when used in tomography mode (DECT), can generate a three-dimensional map of both the apparent absorption coefficient and the out-of-plane gradient of the index of refraction of the sample. DECT is known to have contrast gains over monochromatic synchrotron radiation CT (SRCT) for soft tissue structures. The goal of this experiment was to compare contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and resolution in images of human trabecular bone acquired using SRCT with images acquired using DECT. All images were acquired at the National Synchrotron Light Source (Upton, NY, USA) at beamline X15 A at an x-ray energy of 40 keV and the silicon [3 3 3] reflection. SRCT, apparent absorption DECT and refraction DECT slice images of the trabecular bone were created. The apparent absorption DECT images have significantly higher spatial resolution and CNR than the corresponding SRCT images. Thus, DECT will prove to be a useful tool for imaging applications in which high contrast and high spatial resolution are required for both soft tissue features and bone.
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Pugliano, Valentina
2015-01-01
Famed for his collection of drawings of naturalia and his thoughts on the relationship between painting and natural knowledge, it now appears that the Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605) also pondered specifically color and pigments, compiling not only lists and diagrams of color terms but also a full-length unpublished manuscript entitled De coloribus or Trattato dei colori. Introducing these writings for the first time, this article portrays a scholar not so much interested in the materiality of pigment production, as in the cultural history of hues. It argues that these writings constituted an effort to build a language of color, in the sense both of a standard nomenclature of hues and of a lexicon, a dictionary of their denotations and connotations as documented in the literature of ancients and moderns. This language would serve the naturalist in his artistic patronage and his natural historical studies, where color was considered one of the most reliable signs for the correct identification of specimens, and a guarantee of accuracy in their illustration. Far from being an exception, Aldrovandi's 'color sensibility'spoke of that of his university-educated nature-loving peers.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kalyanapu, A. J.; Thames, B. A.
2013-12-01
Dam breach modeling often includes application of models that are sophisticated, yet computationally intensive to compute flood propagation at high temporal and spatial resolutions. This results in a significant need for computational capacity that requires development of newer flood models using multi-processor and graphics processing techniques. Recently, a comprehensive benchmark exercise titled the 12th Benchmark Workshop on Numerical Analysis of Dams, is organized by the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) to evaluate the performance of these various tools used for dam break risk assessment. The ICOLD workshop is focused on estimating the consequences of failure of a hypothetical dam near a hypothetical populated area with complex demographics, and economic activity. The current study uses this hypothetical case study and focuses on evaluating the effects of dam breach methodologies on consequence estimation and analysis. The current study uses ICOLD hypothetical data including the topography, dam geometric and construction information, land use/land cover data along with socio-economic and demographic data. The objective of this study is to evaluate impacts of using four different dam breach methods on the consequence estimates used in the risk assessments. The four methodologies used are: i) Froehlich (1995), ii) MacDonald and Langridge-Monopolis 1984 (MLM), iii) Von Thun and Gillete 1990 (VTG), and iv) Froehlich (2008). To achieve this objective, three different modeling components were used. First, using the HEC-RAS v.4.1, dam breach discharge hydrographs are developed. These hydrographs are then provided as flow inputs into a two dimensional flood model named Flood2D-GPU, which leverages the computer's graphics card for much improved computational capabilities of the model input. Lastly, outputs from Flood2D-GPU, including inundated areas, depth grids, velocity grids, and flood wave arrival time grids, are input into HEC-FIA, which provides the consequence assessment for the solution to the problem statement. For the four breach methodologies, a sensitivity analysis of four breach parameters, breach side slope (SS), breach width (Wb), breach invert elevation (Elb), and time of failure (tf), is conducted. Up to, 68 simulations are computed to produce breach hydrographs in HEC-RAS for input into Flood2D-GPU. The Flood2D-GPU simulation results were then post-processed in HEC-FIA to evaluate: Total Population at Risk (PAR), 14-yr and Under PAR (PAR14-), 65-yr and Over PAR (PAR65+), Loss of Life (LOL) and Direct Economic Impact (DEI). The MLM approach resulted in wide variability in simulated minimum and maximum values of PAR, PAR 65+ and LOL estimates. For PAR14- and DEI, Froehlich (1995) resulted in lower values while MLM resulted in higher estimates. This preliminary study demonstrated the relative performance of four commonly used dam breach methodologies and their impacts on consequence estimation.
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A gene network simulator to assess reverse engineering algorithms.
Di Camillo, Barbara; Toffolo, Gianna; Cobelli, Claudio
2009-03-01
In the context of reverse engineering of biological networks, simulators are helpful to test and compare the accuracy of different reverse-engineering approaches in a variety of experimental conditions. A novel gene-network simulator is presented that resembles some of the main features of transcriptional regulatory networks related to topology, interaction among regulators of transcription, and expression dynamics. The simulator generates network topology according to the current knowledge of biological network organization, including scale-free distribution of the connectivity and clustering coefficient independent of the number of nodes in the network. It uses fuzzy logic to represent interactions among the regulators of each gene, integrated with differential equations to generate continuous data, comparable to real data for variety and dynamic complexity. Finally, the simulator accounts for saturation in the response to regulation and transcription activation thresholds and shows robustness to perturbations. It therefore provides a reliable and versatile test bed for reverse engineering algorithms applied to microarray data. Since the simulator describes regulatory interactions and expression dynamics as two distinct, although interconnected aspects of regulation, it can also be used to test reverse engineering approaches that use both microarray and protein-protein interaction data in the process of learning. A first software release is available at http://www.dei.unipd.it/~dicamill/software/netsim as an R programming language package.
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Conti, Adelaide; Delbon, Paola; Laffranchi, Laura; Paganelli, Corrado; De Ferrari, Francesco
2012-06-01
The processing of sensitive information in the health field is subject to rigorous standards that guarantee the protection of information confidentiality. Recently, the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali) stated their formal opinion on a standard procedure in dental offices involving the submission of a questionnaire that includes the patient's health status. HIV infection status is included on the form. The Authority has stated that all health data collection must be in accordance with the current Italian normative framework for personal data protection and respect the patient's freedom. This freedom allows the patient to decide, in a conscious and responsible way, whether to share health information with health personnel without experiencing any prejudice in the provision of healthcare requested. Moreover, data collection must be relevant and cannot exceed the principles of treatment goals with reference to the specific care of the concerned person. However, the need for recording information regarding HIV infection at the first appointment, regardless of the clinical intervention or therapeutic plan that needs to be conducted, should not alter the standard protection measures of the healthcare staff. In fact, these measures are adopted for every patient.
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Computation of mass-density images from x-ray refraction-angle images.
Wernick, Miles N; Yang, Yongyi; Mondal, Indrasis; Chapman, Dean; Hasnah, Moumen; Parham, Christopher; Pisano, Etta; Zhong, Zhong
2006-04-07
In this paper, we investigate the possibility of computing quantitatively accurate images of mass density variations in soft tissue. This is a challenging task, because density variations in soft tissue, such as the breast, can be very subtle. Beginning from an image of refraction angle created by either diffraction-enhanced imaging (DEI) or multiple-image radiography (MIR), we estimate the mass-density image using a constrained least squares (CLS) method. The CLS algorithm yields accurate density estimates while effectively suppressing noise. Our method improves on an analytical method proposed by Hasnah et al (2005 Med. Phys. 32 549-52), which can produce significant artefacts when even a modest level of noise is present. We present a quantitative evaluation study to determine the accuracy with which mass density can be determined in the presence of noise. Based on computer simulations, we find that the mass-density estimation error can be as low as a few per cent for typical density variations found in the breast. Example images computed from less-noisy real data are also shown to illustrate the feasibility of the technique. We anticipate that density imaging may have application in assessment of water content of cartilage resulting from osteoarthritis, in evaluation of bone density, and in mammographic interpretation.
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Phase and Index of Refraction Imaging by Hyperspectral Reflectance Confocal Microscopy.
Selci, Stefano
2016-12-16
A hyperspectral reflectance confocal microscope (HSCM) was realized by CNR-ISC (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche-Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi) a few years ago. The instrument and data have been already presented and discussed. The main activity of this HSCM has been within biology, and reflectance data have shown good matching between spectral signatures and the nature or evolution on many types of cells. Such a relationship has been demonstrated mainly with statistical tools like Principal Component Analysis (PCA), or similar concepts, which represent a very common approach for hyperspectral imaging. However, the point is that reflectance data contains much more useful information and, moreover, there is an obvious interest to go from reflectance, bound to the single experiment, to reflectivity, or other physical quantities, related to the sample alone. To accomplish this aim, we can follow well-established analyses and methods used in reflectance spectroscopy. Therefore, we show methods of calculations for index of refraction n , extinction coefficient k and local thicknesses of frequency starting from phase images by fast Kramers-Kronig (KK) algorithms and the Abeles matrix formalism. Details, limitations and problems of the presented calculations as well as alternative procedures are given for an example of HSCM images of red blood cells (RBC).
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Seddighi, Mona; Briguglio, Antonino; Hohenegger, Johann; Papazzoni, Cesare Andrea
2015-01-01
Settling velocities of 58 well-preserved tests of fossil Nummulites were experimentally determined using a settling tube. The tests were collected from the nummulite banks of Pederiva di Grancona (A forms of N. lyelli and N. striatus, Middle Eocene) and San Germano dei Berici (A and B forms of N. fabianii, Late Eocene), both in the Berici Mts. (Veneto, northern Italy). The data were compared with estimated settling velocities that the same specimens might have had in life conditions. This was done by reconstructing their densities simulating water-filled condition and, to simulate post-diagenetic effects, under calcite-filled condition. These simulations show that A and B forms, even if they greatly diverge in shape, volume and size, still possess comparable settling velocities, and that each nummulite bank is characterized by specific hydrodynamic parameters. The use of settling velocity as a parameter to quantify the hydrodynamic behaviour of particles in seawater enables estimation of palaeoenvironmental conditions such as depth, substrate and the energy scenario. Such information is useful in obtaining further insights into the genesis of nummulite banks, the autochthony or allochthony of which is still being debated. Our results point to an autochthonous interpretation. PMID:26681827
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Seddighi, Mona; Briguglio, Antonino; Hohenegger, Johann; Papazzoni, Cesare Andrea
2015-09-01
Settling velocities of 58 well-preserved tests of fossil Nummulites were experimentally determined using a settling tube. The tests were collected from the nummulite banks of Pederiva di Grancona (A forms of N. lyelli and N. striatus, Middle Eocene) and San Germano dei Berici (A and B forms of N. fabianii, Late Eocene), both in the Berici Mts. (Veneto, northern Italy). The data were compared with estimated settling velocities that the same specimens might have had in life conditions. This was done by reconstructing their densities simulating water-filled condition and, to simulate post-diagenetic effects, under calcite-filled condition. These simulations show that A and B forms, even if they greatly diverge in shape, volume and size, still possess comparable settling velocities, and that each nummulite bank is characterized by specific hydrodynamic parameters. The use of settling velocity as a parameter to quantify the hydrodynamic behaviour of particles in seawater enables estimation of palaeoenvironmental conditions such as depth, substrate and the energy scenario. Such information is useful in obtaining further insights into the genesis of nummulite banks, the autochthony or allochthony of which is still being debated. Our results point to an autochthonous interpretation.
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Compression and fast retrieval of SNP data.
Sambo, Francesco; Di Camillo, Barbara; Toffolo, Gianna; Cobelli, Claudio
2014-11-01
The increasing interest in rare genetic variants and epistatic genetic effects on complex phenotypic traits is currently pushing genome-wide association study design towards datasets of increasing size, both in the number of studied subjects and in the number of genotyped single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This, in turn, is leading to a compelling need for new methods for compression and fast retrieval of SNP data. We present a novel algorithm and file format for compressing and retrieving SNP data, specifically designed for large-scale association studies. Our algorithm is based on two main ideas: (i) compress linkage disequilibrium blocks in terms of differences with a reference SNP and (ii) compress reference SNPs exploiting information on their call rate and minor allele frequency. Tested on two SNP datasets and compared with several state-of-the-art software tools, our compression algorithm is shown to be competitive in terms of compression rate and to outperform all tools in terms of time to load compressed data. Our compression and decompression algorithms are implemented in a C++ library, are released under the GNU General Public License and are freely downloadable from http://www.dei.unipd.it/~sambofra/snpack.html. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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Draft environmental impact statement for the Galileo Mission (Tier 2)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
1988-01-01
This Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) addresses the environmental impacts which may be caused by the preparation and operation of the Galileo spacecraft, including its planned launch on the Space Transportation System (STS) Shuttle and the alternative of canceling further work on the mission. The launch configuration will use the STS/Inertial Upper Stage (IUS)/Payload Assist Module-Special (PAM-S) combination. The Tier 1 EIS included a delay alternative which considered the Titan 4 launch vehicle as an alternative booster stage for launch in 1991 or later. However, the U.S. Air Force, which procures the Titan 4 for NASA, could not provide a Titan 4 vehicle for the 1991 launch opportunity because of high priority Department of Defense requirements. The only expected environmental effects of the proposed action are associated with normal Shuttle launch operations. These impacts are limited largely to the near-field at the launch pad, except for temporary stratospheric ozone effects during launch and occasional sonic boom effects near the landing site. These effects have been judged insufficient to preclude Shuttle launches. In the event of: (1) an accident during launch, or (2) reentry of the spacecraft from earth orbit, there are potential adverse health and environmental effects associated with the possible release of plutonium dioxide from the spacecraft's radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG).
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Synthesis, extraction and electronic structure of Ce@C2n
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Liu, Bing-Bing; Zou, Guang-Tian; Yang, Hai-Bin; Yu, San; Lu, Jin-Shan; Liu, Zi-Yang; Liu, Shu-Ying; Xu, Wen-Guo
1997-11-01
In view of the growing interest in endohedral lanthanide fullerenes, Ce, as a typical+ 4 oxidation state lanthanide element, has been systematically studied. The synthesis, extraction and electronic structure of Ce @ C2n are investigated. Soot containing Ce@C2n was synthesized in high yield by carbonizing CeO2-containing graphite rods and are back-burning the CeC2-enriched cathode deposit in a DC arc plasma apparatus. Ce@C2n dominated by Ce@C82, can be efficiently extracted from the insoluble part of the soot after toluene Soxhlet extraction by pyridine at high temperature and high pressure in a closed vessel. About 60% Ce@C2n(2n = 82, 80, 78, 76) and 35% Ce@C82 can be enriched in the pyridine extract. This fact is identified by desorption electron impact mass spectrometry (DEI MS). The electronic structure of Ce@C2n is analyzed by using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) of pyridine-free film. It is suggested that the encapsulated Ce atom is in a charge state close to+ 3 and was effectively protected from reaction with water and oxygen by the enclosing fullerene cage. Unlike theoretical expectation, the electronic state of Ce@C82 is formally described as Ce+3@C3-82.
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Teixeira da Silva, Jaime A; Dobránszki, Judit
2018-05-01
Nonostante i cambiamenti in corso nell'ambito delle pubblicazioni scientifiche (STEM - scienza, tecnologia, ingegneria e medicina), è indubbio che i direttori delle riviste restano i più importanti custodi del processo editoriale. In questo articolo vengono analizzati i motivi per cui i direttori delle riviste devono continuare ad attenersi ai principi editoriali fondamentali e a utilizzare le nuove tecnologie digitali solo per dare forza al contenuto, ma non per sostituirlo nella sua qualità. Per raggiungere questo obiettivo, in un'epoca caratterizzata da controlli ed equilibri, i direttori delle riviste devono essere attentamente sorvegliati e ritenuti responsabili tanto quanto gli autori che essi stessi valutano. Qualunque scorciatoia potrebbe avere conseguenze negative e inaspettate per quella rivista che non si attenesse a tali regole, che vedrebbe intaccata la propria reputazione e che dovrebbe faticare per recuperare la fiducia dei propri lettori. Quindi, a rischio di sembrare scontati, è meglio prevenire il danno alla reputazione piuttosto che curarlo. L'unico modo per evitarlo è che i direttori delle riviste si adattino a un crescente movimento sempre più critico, che richiede maggiore trasparenza e responsabilità da parte di chi contribuisce a costruire la base delle conoscenze scientifiche e dalla società, specialmente laddove la ricerca è finanziata pubblicamente.
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2014-03-26
Last week researchers from around the world gathered at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome for the Science with the Hubble Space Telescope IV conference. The event celebrated the history of Hubble’s extraordinary achievements, and looked to the future at what might yet be achieved and how the James Webb Space Telescope will build on our knowledge of the Universe. As part of this celebration artist Tim Otto Roth revealed a new artwork, Heaven’s Carousel, inspired by Hubble’s work on the accelerating expansion of the Universe. This installation, named Heaven’s Carousel, links together the fields of art, music and astronomy. Conceptualised and designed by German artist and composer Tim Otto Roth, the work is inspired by novel work on the accelerating expansion of the Universe by Nobel laureate Adam Riess (STScl), Greek cosmology and Renaissance astronomers. Read more here: www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1407/ Credit: NASA, ESA, and Pam Jeffries (STScI) NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram
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Merkel, P A; Cuthbertson, D D; Hellmich, B; Hoffman, G S; Jayne, D R W; Kallenberg, C G M; Krischer, J P; Luqmani, R; Mahr, A D; Matteson, E L; Specks, U; Stone, J H
2009-01-01
Currently, several different instruments are used to measure disease activity and extent in clinical trials of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, leading to division among investigative groups and difficulty comparing study results. An exercise comparing six different vasculitis instruments was performed. A total of 10 experienced vasculitis investigators from 5 countries scored 20 cases in the literature of Wegener granulomatosis or microscopic polyangiitis using 6 disease assessment tools: the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS), The BVAS for Wegener granulomatosis (BVAS/WG), BVAS 2003, a Physician Global Assessment (PGA), the Disease Extent Index (DEI) and the Five Factor Score (FFS). Five cases were rescored by all raters. Reliability of the measures was extremely high (intraclass correlations for the six measures all = 0.98). Within each instrument, there were no significant differences or outliers among the scores from the 10 investigators. Test/retest reliability was high for each measure: range = 0.77 to 0.95. The scores of the five acute activity measures correlated extremely well with one another. Currently available tools for measuring disease extent and activity in ANCA-associated vasculitis are highly correlated and reliable. These results provide investigators with confidence to compare different clinical trial data and helps form common ground as international research groups develop new, improved and universally accepted vasculitis disease assessment instruments.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Porfido, Sabina; Alessio, Giuliana; Gaudiosi, Germana; Nappi, Rosa; Spiga, Efisio
2017-04-01
The recent seismic sequence that struck central Italy, started the August 24, 2016, is characterized by five events with magnitude Mw> 5.0. The strongest events of the seismic sequence were the August 24, with Mw = 6.0 located between Accumoli and Amatrice towns and the October 30 with Mw = 6.5, located between Norcia and Visso town. These earthquakes shocked not only Central Italy, with the death of about 300 people and the almost complete destruction of historical towns (Amatrice, Arquata del Tronto, Accumoli, Pescara del Tronto, Castelluccio, Norcia, Visso), but also shook the entire Italian country, strongly proposing the issue of the vulnerability of the city historical centers. The knowledge, the conservation and preservation of the natural and urban environment represent issues to be faced urgently for preventing the devastation of our heritage, unique in the world. The historical center of Naples was affected by the 30 event October 2016 with an intensity I = V MCS. In the last millennium more than a hundred earthquakes hit Naples, with intensity I> III MCS, ten of which has exceeded the damage level, sometimes with intensity greater of VII MCS. The historical Neapolitan urban context suffered devastating effects, reaching levels of damage equal to the VIII degree MCS, as a result of the large earthquakes occurred in 1456 (I0=XI MCS), 1688 (I0=XI MCS) and 1805 (I0=X MCS). In the twentieth century the city of Napoli was shaken by the 1930, 1962 and 1980, the three strong earthquakes occurred in southern Apennines, between Irpinia and Basilicata regions. The review of earthquakes with higher energy (M> 6) shows that the metropolitan area of Naples suffered high damage levels with intensity I = VIII MCS, especially in the historical center, with a damage recurring on the same architectonic elements of the historical heritage. The recent past of the seismic history teaches us that the Apennines is highly seismic, consequently in the future we can expected seismic events of the same magnitude that could still cause damages to the city of Naples. This brief review of the strong Apennines earthquakes highlights that the city of Naples has a high seismic risk level. Therefore is crucial to implement all appropriate measures to reduce seismic risk, but also for planning measures of prevention, useful for the preservation of the rich local architectural heritage declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995. References Porfido, et al., 2007-Seismically induced ground effects of the 1805, 1930 and 1980 earthquakes in the southern Apennines, in «Boll. Soc. Geol. It.»,126, p. 333-346 Porfido S., Alessio G., Gaudiosi G., Nappi R., Spiga E., 2017-Analisi dei risentimenti dei forti terremoti appenninici che hanno colpito Napoli. Proc. Int, Conf.:La Baia di Napoli. Strategie integrate per la conservazione e la fruizione del paesaggio culturale". (in press) Pucci S., P. M. De Martini, R. Civico, F. Villani, R. Nappi et al. 2017 - Coseismic ruptures of the 24 August 2016, Mw 6.0 Amatrice earthquake (central Italy) DOI: 10.1002/2016GL071859
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How changes in nutrition have influenced the development of allergic diseases in childhood
2012-01-01
The increasing prevalence of allergic diseases in childhood in the last decades could be linked to concomitant dietary changes, especially with the modified and lower consumption of fruit, vegetables and minerals. The consumption of these foods by pregnant women and children in the first years of life seems to be associated with a reduced risk of asthma and related symptoms. Foods that can prevent the development of wheezing through their antioxidant effects contain vitamin C and selenium; blood levels of these elements correlate negatively with the risk of wheezing. Intake of vitamin E during pregnancy also appears to be correlated with a reduced risk of wheezing for the unborn child. Similarly, low intake of zinc and carotenoids by pregnant women is associated with an increased risk of wheezing and asthma in childhood. Fiber also has anti-inflammatory properties and protective effects against allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis and asthma. The consumption of fat influences the development of the airways. Populations in Western countries have increased their consumption of n-6 PUFAs and, in parallel, reduced n-3 PUFAs. This has led to decreased production of PGE2, which is believed to have a protective effect against inflammation of the airways. Conflicting hypotheses also concern vitamin D; both an excess and a deficiency of vitamin D, in fact, have been associated with an increased risk of asthma. Further studies on the role of these substances are necessary before any conclusions can be drawn on a clinical level. Astratto La crescente prevalenza negli ultimi decenni delle malattie allergiche in età pediatrica potrebbe essere legata a concomitanti cambiamenti nella dieta, in particolare alla minore e modificata introduzione di frutta, verdura e minerali. Il consumo di questi alimenti da parte delle donne in gravidanza e dei bambini nei primi anni di vita sembra essere associato ad un ridotto rischio di asma e di sintomi correlati. Gli alimenti che possono prevenire lo sviluppo di respiro sibilante (wheezing) attraverso i loro effetti antiossidanti contengono vitamina C e selenio; i livelli ematici di questi elementi sono correlati negativamente con il rischio di wheezing. Inoltre l'assunzione di vitamina E durante la gravidanza sembra essere correlato con un rischio ridotto di respiro sibilante per il nascituro. Allo stesso modo, basso apporto di zinco e di carotenoidi in donne in gravidanza è associata ad un aumentato rischio di wheezing e asma nell'infanzia. Anche le fibre hanno proprietà anti-infiammatorie ed effetti protettivi contro le malattie allergiche come la dermatite atopica e l’asma. Il consumo di grassi influenza lo sviluppo delle vie aeree. Le popolazioni dei paesi occidentali hanno aumentato il loro consumo di n-6 PUFA e, parallelamente, ridotto n-3 PUFA. Ciò ha portato alla diminuzione della produzione di PGE2, che si ritiene abbia un effetto protettivo contro l'infiammazione delle vie aeree. Ipotesi contrastanti riguardano la vitamina D, sia un eccesso che una carenza di vitamina D, infatti, sono stati associati ad un aumentato rischio di asma. Ulteriori studi sul ruolo di queste sostanze sono necessari prima di trarre conclusioni sul piano clinico. PMID:22651129
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Search for cosmogenic Ar-42 in meteorites
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cini Castagnoli, G.; Cane, D.; Taricco, C.; Bhandari, N.
2003-04-01
We have evidence for decreasing galactic cosmic ray (GCR) flux in the past 3 centuries by a factor about two [1]. The measurements of the activity of cosmogenic 44Ti (T1/2 = 59.2 y) produced by GCR in stony meteorites that fell during the last two centuries are in good agreement with the calculated values and validate the decreasing trend of GCR flux. The measurements were obtained by an hyperpure (372 cm3) Ge-NaI(Tl) spectrometer operating in the Monte dei Cappuccini laboratory in Torino[2]. To further improve upon statistical precision of 44Ti data and also to be able to measure the 42Ar (T1/2 = 33 y) which is produced in even smaller amounts by GCR in meteorites, we have set up in the same laboratory a larger (581 cm3) hyperpure Ge detector operating in coincidence with a 100 kg NaI(Tl) crystal assembly. This should enable us to confirm the above results about GCR variations. We wish to acknowledge our deep gratitude to professor Bonino, deceased on September 29, 2002, to whom the assemblage of the new equipment is due. [1] G. Bonino, G. Cini Castagnoli, D. Cane, C. Taricco and N. Bhandari,Proc. XXVII Intern. Cosmic Ray Conf. (Hamburg, 2001) 3769-3772. [2] Bonino G., Cini Castagnoli G., Cane D., Taricco C., Bhandari N, textit {34th COSPAR Sci. Ass. Houston 2002 (Adv. Space Res.)}, in press
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The nature of the fluids associated with the Monte Rosa gold district, NW Alps, Italy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lattanzi, P.
1990-12-01
Recent O-isotope and fluid inclusion studies have provided evidence on the nature of the fluids associated with the late-Alpine quartz-gold deposits of the Monte Rosa district. The most abundant inclusions in quartz from these deposits contain a low salinity aqueous fluid (about 2% to 10% wt. NaCl eq.), and a CO2 phase (usually less than 20% mol), in places with minor methane. CO2 densities and total homogenization temperatures vary widely throughout the district, reflecting diverse conditions of trapping (P = 1 to 3 kb, T = 300° to 450°C). At Miniera dei Cani, unmixing between CO2-rich and H2O-rich fluids possibly occurred. A second type of inclusion contains an aqueous brine without recognizable CO2, and is especially abundant at Val Toppa. O-isotope studies suggest that fluids were largely equilibrated in a metamorphic environment. It is concluded that the gold-related fluids in the district were mainly of a metamorphic nature; at Val Toppa, both isotopic and fluid inclusion data point to contributions of unexchanged meteoric waters. Mechanisms of gold transport and precipitation are less contrained. A possible model involves transport of gold as bisulfide complexes, and precipitation due to one or more of the following processes: decrease of sulfur activity due to precipitation of sulfides, wall-rock reaction, cooling/dilution, and/or fluid unmixing.
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Torres, Kamil; Błoński, Marcin; Pietrzyk, Łukasz; Piasecka-Twaróg, Małgorzata; Maciejewski, Ryszard; Torres, Anna
2017-02-01
To assess the usefulness of the new NEMA (Neck Circumference Minus Acromion-Acromion Distance) parameter, in preoperative identification of patients' difficult intubation and compare it with other commonly used scales and tests. Prospective study. District Specialist Hospital of Lublin, Poland. Six hundreds twenty-nine patients underwent nonemergency surgical interventions. The NEMA parameter was confronted with: Modified Mallampati classification, TMD, RHTMD, NC, MPND, SMD, I-I D, A-AD, and medical history of difficult intubation and diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea syndrome or snoring. Higher medians of NEMA and Mallampati parameters were reported in patients with difficult intubation. AUC for Mallampati parameter was 0.733 while the NEMA parameter's AUC was 0.625. Sensitivity and specificity for Mallampati and NEMA parameter were respectively 0.79; 0.55 and 0.42; 0.75. Significantly higher MPN, RHTMD, Mallampati, and NEMA parameter were observed in patients in whom the BURP was used. Easy intubation occurs more frequently in patients with a history of OSAS or snoring than in those with difficult intubation. It seems that none of the known bedside tests for predicting difficult intubation have a discriminating power sufficient for clinicians. Our study draws attention to a novel parameter, called NEMA, which appears to be a strong predictor of DEI, especially in combination with the Mallampati scale. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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2014-03-26
Last week researchers from around the world gathered at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome for the Science with the Hubble Space Telescope IV conference. The event celebrated the history of Hubble’s extraordinary achievements, and looked to the future at what might yet be achieved and how the James Webb Space Telescope will build on our knowledge of the Universe. As part of this celebration artist Tim Otto Roth revealed a new artwork, Heaven’s Carousel, inspired by Hubble’s work on the accelerating expansion of the Universe. This image shows audiences taking in the new astronomy-inspired art installation premiered in Rome at the Science with the Hubble Space Telescope IV conference. The installation, named Heaven’s Carousel, links together the fields of art, music and astronomy. Conceptualised and designed by German artist and composer Tim Otto Roth, the work is inspired by novel work on the accelerating expansion of the Universe by Nobel laureate Adam Riess (STScl), Greek cosmology and Renaissance astronomers. Read more here: www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1407/ Credit: NASA, ESA, and Pam Jeffries (STScI) NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram
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Conservation of Stone Cladding on the FAÇADE of Royal Palace in Caserta
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Titomanlio, I.
2013-07-01
The beauty of cultural heritage and monumental architecture, is often linked to their non-structural elements and decorative stones façades cladding. The collapse of these elements causes significant consequences that interest the social, the economic, the historical and the technical fields. Several regulatory documents and literature studies contain methods to address the question of relief and of the risk analysis and due to the non - structural stones security. Among the references are widespread international regulatory documents prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States by Applied Technology Council and California. In Italy there are some indications contained in the Norme Tecniche per le Costruzioni and the Direttiva del Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri in 2007, finalize to the reduction of seismic risk assessment of cultural heritage. The paper, using normative references and scientific researches, allows to analyze on Royal Palace of Caserta the safety and the preservation of cultural heritage and the vulnerability of non-structural stones façade cladding. Using sophisticated equipments of Laboratory ARS of the Second University of Naples, it was possible to analyze the collapse of stone elements due to degradation caused by natural phenomena of deterioration (age of the building, type of materials, geometries , mode of fixing of the elements themselves). The paper explains the collapse mechanisms of stones façade cladding of Luigi Vanvitelli Palace.
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PREFACE: DICE 2006—Quantum Mechanics between Decoherence and Determinism
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Diósi, Lajos; Elze, Hans-Thomas; Vitiello, Giuseppe
2007-06-01
These proceedings are based on the Invited Lectures and Contributed Papers of the Third International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy—DICE 2006, which was held at Castello di Piombino (Tuscany), 11 15 September 2006. They are meant to document the stimulating exchange of ideas at this interdisciplinary workshop and to share it with the wider scientific community. It successfully continued what was begun with DICE 20021 and followed by DICE 20042 uniting more than seventy participants from more than a dozen different countries worldwide. It has been a great honour and inspiration for all of us to have Professor G. 't Hooft (Nobel Prize for Physics 1999) from the Spinoza Institute and University of Utrecht with us, who presented the lecture `A mathematical theory for deterministic quantum mechanics' (included in this volume). Discussions under the wider theme `Quantum Mechanics between decoherence and determinism: new aspects from particle physics to cosmology' took place in the very pleasant and productive atmosphere at the Castello di Piombino, with a fluctuation of stormy weather only on the evening of the conference dinner. The program of the workshop was grouped according to the following topics: complex systems, classical and quantum aspects Lorentz symmetry, neutrinos and the Universe reduction, decoherence and entanglement quantum, gravity and spacetime -- emergent reality? quantum gravity/cosmology The traditional Public Opening Lecture was presented this time by E. Del Giudice (Milano), who captivated the audience with `Old and new views on the structure of matter and the special case of living matter' on the evening of the arrival day. The workshop has been organized by S. Boccaletti (Firenze), L. Diósi (Budapest), H.-T. Elze (Pisa, chair), L. Fronzoni (Pisa), J. Halliwell (London), and G. Vitiello (Salerno), with great help from our conference secretaries M. Pesce-Rollins (Siena) and L. Baldini (Pisa). Several institutions and sponsors generously supported the workshop and their representatives and, in particular, the citizens of Piombino are deeply thanked for the hospitality: G. Anselmi (Sindaco del Comune di Piombino), O. Dell'Omodarme (Assessore alle Culture), A. Tempestini (Assessore alla Pubblica Istruzione), E. Murzi (Assessore al Turismo), A. Falchi (Dirigente dei Servizi Educativi e Culturali), M. Gianfranchi (Responsabile del Servizio Promozione Culturale), T. Ghini (Ufficio Beni Culturali), and L. Grilli, C. Boggero and P. Venturi (Ufficio Cultura), M. Pierulivo (Segreteria del Sindaco), L. Pasquinucci (URP e Comunicazione). Thanks go to Idearte (Cooperativa di Servizi Culturali) and especially to L. Pesce (Vitrium Galleria, Populonia). Funds made available by Universitá di Pisa (Centro Interdisciplinare per lo Studio dei Sistemi Complessi -- CISSC and Domus Galilaeana) and Universitá di Salerno (Dipartimento di Fisica and INFN) are gratefully acknowledged. The research papers presented at the workshop, often incorporating further developments since then, have been edited by L. Diósi, H.-T. Elze and G. Vitiello. They are collected here, essentially following the program of the workshop, however, divided into Invited Lectures and Contributed Papers, respectively. In the name of all participants, we would like to thank G. Douglas (IOP Publishing, Bristol) for his friendly advice and immediate help during the editing process. Lajos Diósi, Hans-Thomas Elze and Giuseppe Vitiello Budapest, Pisa, Salerno, March 2007 1Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems ed H-T Elze Lecture Notes in Physics 633 (Berlin: Springer, 2004) 2Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy DICE 2004 ed H-T Elze Braz. J. Phys. 35, 2A and 2B (2005) pp 205 529 freely accessible at: www.sbfisica.org.br/bjp
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Elshehawi, Waleed; Alsaffar, Hani; Roberts, Graham; Lucas, Victoria; McDonald, Fraser; Camilleri, Simon
2016-04-01
The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a Reference Data Set for Dental Age Assessment of the Maltese population and compare the mean Age of Attainment to a UK Caucasian Reference Data Set. The Maltese Reference Data Set was developed from 1593 Dental Panoramic Tomograms of patients aged between 4 and 26 years, taken from the radiographic archives of the Dental Department, Mater Dei Hospital, Malta. Tooth Development Stages were recorded for all 16 maxillary and mandibular permanent teeth on the left side and both permanent third molars on the right, according to Demirjian's staging method. Summary and percentile data were calculated for each Tooth Development Stage, including the mean Age of Attainment. These means were used to estimate the Dental Age of each subject in the study sample using the simple unweighted average method. The estimated Dental Age was compared to the gold standard of the Chronological Age. Comparison of the Maltese and UK Caucasian Reference Data Set was by a series of t-tests, carried out for each paired Tooth Development Stage by gender. The mean Age of Attainment was slightly higher for the Maltese than the UK Caucasians in both males and females. However there was no statistically significant difference between the Chronological Age and Dental Age for either sex. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.
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Hgis and Archive Researches: a Tool for the Study of the Ancient Mill Channel of Cesena (italy)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bitelli, G.; Bartolini, F.; Gatta, G.
2016-06-01
The present study aims to demonstrate the usefulness of GIS to support archive searches and historical studies (e.g. related to industrial archaeology), in the case of an ancient channel for mill powering near Cesena (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), whose history is weaved together with the history of the Compagnia dei Molini di Cesena mill company, the most ancient limited company in Italy. Several historical maps (about 40 sheets in total) inherent the studied area and 80 archive documents (drawings, photos, specifications, administrative acts, newspaper articles), over a period of more than 600 years, were collected. Once digitized, historical maps were analysed, georeferenced and mosaicked where necessary. Subsequently, in all the maps the channel with its four mills and the Savio river were vectorized. All the additional archive documents were digitized, catalogued and stored. Using the QGIS open source platform, a Historical GIS was created, encompassing the current cartographic base and all historical maps, with their vectorized elements; each archive document was linked to the proper historical map, so that the document can be immediately retrieved and visualized. In such a HGIS, the maps form the base for a spatial and temporal navigation, facilitated by a specific interface; the external documents linked to them complete the description of the represented elements. This simple and interactive tool offers a new approach to archive searches, as it allows reconstruction in space and time of the evolution of the ancient channel and the history of this important mill company.
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DAISY: a new software tool to test global identifiability of biological and physiological systems.
Bellu, Giuseppina; Saccomani, Maria Pia; Audoly, Stefania; D'Angiò, Leontina
2007-10-01
A priori global identifiability is a structural property of biological and physiological models. It is considered a prerequisite for well-posed estimation, since it concerns the possibility of recovering uniquely the unknown model parameters from measured input-output data, under ideal conditions (noise-free observations and error-free model structure). Of course, determining if the parameters can be uniquely recovered from observed data is essential before investing resources, time and effort in performing actual biomedical experiments. Many interesting biological models are nonlinear but identifiability analysis for nonlinear system turns out to be a difficult mathematical problem. Different methods have been proposed in the literature to test identifiability of nonlinear models but, to the best of our knowledge, so far no software tools have been proposed for automatically checking identifiability of nonlinear models. In this paper, we describe a software tool implementing a differential algebra algorithm to perform parameter identifiability analysis for (linear and) nonlinear dynamic models described by polynomial or rational equations. Our goal is to provide the biological investigator a completely automatized software, requiring minimum prior knowledge of mathematical modelling and no in-depth understanding of the mathematical tools. The DAISY (Differential Algebra for Identifiability of SYstems) software will potentially be useful in biological modelling studies, especially in physiology and clinical medicine, where research experiments are particularly expensive and/or difficult to perform. Practical examples of use of the software tool DAISY are presented. DAISY is available at the web site http://www.dei.unipd.it/~pia/.
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Di Renzo, Nicola; Montanini, Antonella; Mannina, Donato; Dondi, Alessandra; Muci, Stefania; Mancuso, Salvatrice; De Paolis, M Rosaria; Plati, Caterina; Stelitano, Caterina; Patti, Catia; Olivieri, Attilio; Liardo, Eliana; Buda, Gabriele; Cantaffa, Renato; Federico, Massimo
2011-10-01
The control of nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy is paramount for overall treatment success in cancer patients. Antiemetic therapy during chemotherapy in lymphoma patients generally consists of anti-serotoninergic drugs and dexamethasone. The aim of this trial was to evaluate the efficacy of a single dose of palonosetron, a second-generation serotonin type 3 (5-HT(3)) receptor antagonist, in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC) containing steroids. Patients received a single intravenous bolus of palonosetron (0.25 mg) before administration of chemotherapy. Complete response (CR) defined as no vomiting and no rescue therapy during overall phase (0-120 h) was the primary endpoint. Complete control (CC) defined as CR and only mild nausea was a secondary endpoint. Eighty-six evaluable patients entered in the study. A CR was observed in 74 patients (86.0%) during the overall phase; the CR during the acute (0-24 h) and delayed (24-120 h) phases was 90.7% and 88.4%, respectively. CC was 89.5% during the acute and 84.9% during the delayed phase; the overall CC was 82.6%. This was the first trial, which demonstrated the efficacy of a single dose of palonosetron in control CINV in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma receiving MEC regimen containing steroids.
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[Health inequality gap in inmigrant versus local children in Chile].
Cabieses, Baltica; Chepo, Macarena; Oyarte, Marcela; Markkula, Niina; Bustos, Patricia; Pedrero, Víctor; Delgado, Iris
2017-12-01
Children and young international migrants face different health challenges compa red with the local population, particularly if they live in insecure environments or adverse social conditions. This study seeks to identify gaps in health outcomes of children between immigrant and local population in Chile. This study analyses data from three sources: (i) Born in Chile: Electronic records of antenatal visits from all municipal antenatal clinics of Recoleta in 2012; (ii) Growing up in Chile: Population survey "National Socioeconomic Characterization" (CASEN) from 2013 and (iii) Getting sick in Chile: Data of all hospital discharges in 2012, provided by the department of statistics and health information (DEIS) of the Ministry of Health. (I) Born in Chile: Im migrants more frequently have psychosocial risk (62.3% vs 50.1% in Chileans) and enter later into the program (63.1% vs 33.4% enter later than 14 weeks of pregnancy). All birth outcomes were better among immigrants (e.g. caesarean sections rates: 24.2% immigrants vs % Chileans). (ii) Growing up in Chile: A higher proportion of migrant children is outside the school system and lives in multidi mensional poverty (40% immigrants vs 23.2% Chileans). (iii) Getting sick in Chile: Injuries and other external causes were more frequent cause of hospitalisation among migrants (23.6%) than the local population (16.7%) aged between 7 and 14 years. Addressing the needs of the children in Chile, regardless of their immigration status, is an ethical, legal and moral imperative.
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Baili, Paolo; Torresani, Michele; Agresti, Roberto; Rosito, Giuseppe; Daidone, Maria Grazia; Veneroni, Silvia; Cavallo, Ilaria; Funaro, Francesco; Giunco, Marco; Turco, Alberto; Amash, Hade; Scavo, Antonio; Minicozzi, Pamela; Bella, Francesca; Meneghini, Elisabetta; Sant, Milena
2015-01-01
In clinical research, many potentially useful variables are available via the routine activity of cancer center-based clinical registries (CCCR). We present the experience of the breast cancer clinical registry at Fondazione IRCCS "Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori" to give an example of how a CCCR can be planned, implemented, and used. Five criteria were taken into consideration while planning our CCCR: (a) available clinical and administrative databases ought to be exploited to the maximum extent; (b) open source software should be used; (c) a Web-based interface must be designed; (d) CCCR data must be compatible with population-based cancer registry data; (e) CCCR must be an open system, able to be connected with other data repositories. The amount of work needed for the implementation of a CCCR is inversely linked with the amount of available coded data: the fewer data are available in the input databases as coded variables, the more work will be necessary, for information technology staff, text mining analysis, and registrars (for collecting data from clinical records). A cancer registry in a comprehensive cancer center can be used for several research aspects, such as estimate of the number of cases needed for clinical studies, assessment of biobank specimens with specific characteristics, evaluation of clinical practice and adhesion to clinical guidelines, comparative studies between clinical and population sets of patients, studies on cancer prognosis, and studies on cancer survivorship.
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Elices, Matilde; Carmona, Cristina; Narváez, Vanessa; Seto, Victoria; Martin-Blanco, Ana; Pascual, Juan C; Soriano, José; Soler, Joaquim
2017-12-01
To compare individuals with eating disorders (EDs) to healthy controls (HCs) to assess for differences in direct engagement in the eating process. Participants (n=58) were asked to eat an orange slice. To assess the degree of direct engagement with the eating process, participants were asked to write down 10 thoughts about the experience of eating the orange slice. Next, the participants were instructed to classify the main focus of each thought as either experiential ("direct experience") or analytical ("thinking about"). A direct experience index (DEI) was computed by dividing the number of times that participants classified an experience as a "direct experience" (the numerator) by the total number of all observations (i.e., direct experience+thinking about). Participants also completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) to assess mindfulness facets and decentering, respectively. Compared to controls, participants in the EDs group presented significantly lower levels of direct experience during the eating task (EDs group: mean=43.54, SD=29.64; HCs group: mean=66.17, SD=22.23, p=0.03). Participants in the EDs group also scored significantly lower on other mindfulness-related variables. These findings suggest that engagement with the direct experience of eating is lower in individuals with EDs. Future research should investigate the role of mindfulness-based interventions to address direct experience while eating in individuals with EDs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Potential advantages of using synchrotron X-ray based techniques in pediatric research.
Pascolo, L; Esteve, F; Rizzardi, C; James, S; Menk, R H
2013-01-01
Synchrotron radiation (SR), which combines extremely high intensity, high collimation, tunability, and continuous energy spectrum, allows the development of advanced X-ray based techniques that are becoming a uniquely useful tool in life science research, along providing exciting opportunities in biomedical imaging and radiotherapy. This review summarize emerging techniques and their potential to greatly enhance the exploration of dynamical biological process occurring across various spatial and temporal regimes, from whole body physiology, down to the location of individual chemical species within single cells. In recent years pediatric research and clinic practice have started to profit from these new opportunities, particularly by extending the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of these X-ray based techniques. In diagnosis, technical advances in DEI and KES imaging modalities have been demonstrated as particularly valuable for children and women since SR allows dose minimization, with significant reductions compared to conventional approaches. However, the greatest expectations are in the field of SR based radiotherapy, increasingly studies are demonstrating SR radiotherapy provides improved chances of recovery; this is especially the case for pediatric patients. In addition, we report on the applicability of advanced X-ray microscopy techniques that offer exceptional spatial and quantitative resolution in elemental detection. These techniques, which are useful for in vitro studies, will be particularly advantageous where investigators seek deeper understanding of diseases where mismetabolism of metals, either physiological important (i.e. Cu, Zn) or outright toxic (i.e. Pb), underlies pathogenesis.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Doronzo, Domenico; Dellino, Pierfrancesco; Sulpizio, Roberto; Lucchi, Federico
2017-04-01
In order to obtain significant volcanological results from computer simulations of explosive eruptions, one either needs a systematic statistical approach to test a wide range of initial and boundary conditions, or needs using a well-constrained field case study. Here we followed the second approach, using data obtained from field mapping of the Grotta dei Palizzi 2 pyroclastic deposits (Vulcano Island, Italy) as input for numerical modeling. This case study deals with impulsive phreatomagmatic explosions that generated ash-rich pyroclastic density currents, interacting with the high topographic obstacle of the La Fossa Caldera rim. We demonstrate that by merging field data with 3D numerical simulation it is possible to highlight the details of the dynamical current-terrain interaction, and to interpret the lithofacies variations of the associated deposits as a function of topography-induced sedimentation rate. Results suggest that a value of the sedimentation rate lower than 5 kg/m2s at the bed load can still be sheared by the overlying current, producing tractional structures in the deposit. Instead, a sedimentation rate in excess of that threshold can preclude the formation of tractional structures, producing thick massive deposits. We think that the approach used in this study could be applied to other case studies to confirm or refine such threshold value of the sedimentation rate, which is to be considered as an upper value as for the limitations of the numerical model.
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Gianicolo, Emilio Antonio Luca; Mangia, Cristina; Cervino, Marco; Bruni, Antonella; De Marchi, Bruna; Biggeri, Annibale; Porcu, Rosa; Vigotti, Maria Angela
2016-01-01
OBIETTIVI: valutare lo stato di salute della popolazione residente nel comune di Manfredonia dal 1970 al 2013. DISEGNO: analisi descrittiva dell'andamento temporale della mortalità generale, per gruppi di cause, dal 1970 al 2013. SETTING E PARTECIPANTI: i dati di mortalità e le popolazioni residenti sono di fonte Istat. Sono state esaminate 55 cause di decesso. Le analisi sono disaggregate per sesso e periodo. PRINCIPALI MISURE DI OUTCOME: sono stati elaborati i rapporti standardizzati di mortalità (SMR%), con i rispettivi intervalli di confidenza al 90% (IC90%), e i tassi di mortalità standardizzati col metodo diretto (TSD ). RISULTATI: lo stato di salute misurato dal tasso di mortalità per tutte le cause migliora nel tempo: i TSD passano da 92 x10.000 negli anni 1970-1974 a 52 x10.000 nel biennio 2012-2013 negli uomini, da 70 x10.000 a 39 x10.000 nelle donne. Tuttavia, rispetto alla media regionale Manfredonia perde progressivamente il suo vantaggio, passando da -20% a -10% negli uomini, e da -20% a +1,5% nelle donne. Questo andamento è molto evidente per il complesso delle cause cardiovascolari, mentre i tumori maligni sono in generale nella media regionale. Nell'ultimo periodo disponibile per causa di decesso (2006-2011), la mortalità per infarto miocardico è stata più alta della media regionale (uomini: +35%; donne: +54%). I rapporti standardizzati di mortalità (SMR) mostrano tra gli uomini valori in crescita, in particolar modo rispetto al riferimento provinciale, con un eccesso a cominciare dal periodo 2006-2011 (22 decessi/anno e 19 attesi; SMR%: 117,2; IC90% 101,1-135,2; riferimento: provincia di Foggia). Anche tra le donne gli SMR% superano i riferimenti provinciali negli ultimi periodi esaminati (nel 2012-2013: 7 decessi/ anno e 4,2 attesi; SMR%: 116,4; IC90% 97,0-260,7; riferimento: provincia di Foggia). CONCLUSIONI: la mortalità a Manfredonia è diminuita in misura minore rispetto a quella osservata nei riferimenti provinciali e regionali. Il vantaggio che si osservava negli anni Sessanta si è, infatti, ridotto nel tempo, fino ad annullarsi negli ultimi anni. Dal 1970, Manfredonia ha progressivamente perso il vantaggio che aveva. Dagli anni Duemila, la mortalità per infarto del miocardio è in eccesso sulla media regionale e provinciale. Da casi documentati in letteratura si osserva che le popolazioni che sperimentano catastrofi di origine naturale o antropica possono fronteggiare un aumento di patologie cardiovascolari. La mortalità per tumore polmonare mostra un eccesso sulla media regionale, in particolare provinciale, a cominciare dal 2000, coerentemente con i tempi di latenza legati all'esposizione ad arsenico negli anni Settanta.
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Clustering of reads with alignment-free measures and quality values.
Comin, Matteo; Leoni, Andrea; Schimd, Michele
2015-01-01
The data volume generated by Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies is growing at a pace that is now challenging the storage and data processing capacities of modern computer systems. In this context an important aspect is the reduction of data complexity by collapsing redundant reads in a single cluster to improve the run time, memory requirements, and quality of post-processing steps like assembly and error correction. Several alignment-free measures, based on k-mers counts, have been used to cluster reads. Quality scores produced by NGS platforms are fundamental for various analysis of NGS data like reads mapping and error detection. Moreover future-generation sequencing platforms will produce long reads but with a large number of erroneous bases (up to 15 %). In this scenario it will be fundamental to exploit quality value information within the alignment-free framework. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study that incorporates quality value information and k-mers counts, in the context of alignment-free measures, for the comparison of reads data. Based on this principles, in this paper we present a family of alignment-free measures called D (q) -type. A set of experiments on simulated and real reads data confirms that the new measures are superior to other classical alignment-free statistics, especially when erroneous reads are considered. Also results on de novo assembly and metagenomic reads classification show that the introduction of quality values improves over standard alignment-free measures. These statistics are implemented in a software called QCluster (http://www.dei.unipd.it/~ciompin/main/qcluster.html).
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Saccomani, Maria Pia; Audoly, Stefania; Bellu, Giuseppina; D'Angiò, Leontina
2010-04-01
DAISY (Differential Algebra for Identifiability of SYstems) is a recently developed computer algebra software tool which can be used to automatically check global identifiability of (linear and) nonlinear dynamic models described by differential equations involving polynomial or rational functions. Global identifiability is a fundamental prerequisite for model identification which is important not only for biological or medical systems but also for many physical and engineering systems derived from first principles. Lack of identifiability implies that the parameter estimation techniques may not fail but any obtained numerical estimates will be meaningless. The software does not require understanding of the underlying mathematical principles and can be used by researchers in applied fields with a minimum of mathematical background. We illustrate the DAISY software by checking the a priori global identifiability of two benchmark nonlinear models taken from the literature. The analysis of these two examples includes comparison with other methods and demonstrates how identifiability analysis is simplified by this tool. Thus we illustrate the identifiability analysis of other two examples, by including discussion of some specific aspects related to the role of observability and knowledge of initial conditions in testing identifiability and to the computational complexity of the software. The main focus of this paper is not on the description of the mathematical background of the algorithm, which has been presented elsewhere, but on illustrating its use and on some of its more interesting features. DAISY is available on the web site http://www.dei.unipd.it/ approximately pia/. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Decarlis, Alessandro; Beltrando, Marco; Manatschal, Gianreto; Ferrando, Simona; Carosi, Rodolfo
2017-11-01
The Alpine Tethys rifted margins were generated by a Mesozoic polyphase magma-poor rifting leading to the opening of the Piedmont-Ligurian "Ocean." This latter developed through different phases of rifting that terminated with the exhumation of subcontinental mantle along an extensional detachment system. At the onset of simple shear detachment faulting, two margin types were generated: an upper and a lower plate corresponding to the hanging wall and footwall of the final detachment system, respectively. The two margin architectures were markedly different and characterized by a specific asymmetry. In this study the detailed analysis of the Adriatic margin, exposed in the Serie dei Laghi, Ivrea-Verbano, and Canavese Zone, enabled to recognize the diagnostic elements of an upper plate rifted margin. This thesis contrasts with the classic interpretation of the Southalpine units, previously compared with the adjacent fossil margin preserved in the Austroalpine nappes and considered as part of a lower plate. The proposed scenario suggests the segmentation and flip of the Alpine rifting system along strike and the passage from a lower to an upper plate. Following this interpretation, the European and Southern Adria margins are coevally developed upper plate margins, respectively resting NE and SW of a major transform zone that accommodates a flip in the polarity of the rift system. This new explanation has important implications for the study of the pre-Alpine rift-related structures, for the comprehension of their role during the reactivation of the margin and for the paleogeographic evolution of the Alpine orogen.
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Barr, Ronald D; Bleyer, W Archie
2017-11-23
Adolescents and young adults (AYAs - ages 15 to 39) constitute approximately 40% of the world's population and contribute an estimated one million new cases of cancer annually, the great majority in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In high-income countries (HICs) cancer is the commonest cause of disease-related death in AYAs, though overall 5-year survival rates now exceed 80%. A very different circumstance likely holds in LMICs, but accurate assessments are not readily available.Breast cancer accounts for 40% of tumours in female AYAs and this age group includes the peak incidence of Hodgkin lymphoma. The late Professor Gianni Bonadonna contributed importantly to improved survival in patients with these two diseases. Accordingly, he would be justifiably proud of the advances in AYA oncology that are being made in Italy, especially the impact of his colleagues at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (INT). The initiatives of the Associazione Italiana Ematologia Pediatrica and the Società Italiana Adolescenti con Malattie Onco-ematologiche are particularly noteworthy, with the accomplishment of productive collaboration between paediatric and adult cancer care providers serving as a model for other countries to emulate.Exporting these advances can be successful through the vehicle of "twinning": establishing sustainable cooperation between institutions in HICs and partners in LMICs. Colleagues in Monza and at INT have been leaders in such programmes for decades. Cancer in AYAs remains a global challenge to which Gianni Bonadonna surely would have risen with enthusiasm and leadership while securing measurable achievements.
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The roots of modern oncology: from discovery of new antitumor anthracyclines to their clinical use.
Cassinelli, Giuseppe
2016-06-02
In May 1960, the Farmitalia CEO Dr. Bertini and the director of the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori of Milan Prof. Bucalossi (talent scout and city's Mayor) signed a research agreement for the discovery and development up to clinical trials of new natural antitumor agents. This agreement can be considered as a pioneering and fruitful example of a translational discovery program with relevant transatlantic connections. Owing to an eclectic Streptomyces, found near Castel del Monte (Apulia), and to the skilled and motivated participants of both institutions, a new natural antitumor drug, daunomycin, was ready for clinical trials within 3 years. Patent interference by the Farmitalia French partner was overcome by the good quality of the Italian drug and by the cooperation between Prof. Di Marco, director of the Istituto Ricerche Farmitalia Research Laboratories for Microbiology and Chemotherapy, and Prof. Karnofsky, head of the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute of New York, leading to the first transatlantic clinical trials. The search for daunomycin's sister anthracyclines led to the discovery and development of adriamycin, one of the best drugs born in Milan. This was the second act prologue of the history of Italian antitumor discovery and clinical oncology, which started in July 1969 when Prof. Di Marco sent Prof. Bonadonna the first vials of adriamycin (doxorubicin) to be tested in clinical trials. This article reviews the Milan scene in the 1960s, a city admired and noted for the outstanding scientific achievements of its private and public institutions in drugs and industrial product discovery.
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DAISY: a new software tool to test global identifiability of biological and physiological systems
Bellu, Giuseppina; Saccomani, Maria Pia; Audoly, Stefania; D’Angiò, Leontina
2009-01-01
A priori global identifiability is a structural property of biological and physiological models. It is considered a prerequisite for well-posed estimation, since it concerns the possibility of recovering uniquely the unknown model parameters from measured input-output data, under ideal conditions (noise-free observations and error-free model structure). Of course, determining if the parameters can be uniquely recovered from observed data is essential before investing resources, time and effort in performing actual biomedical experiments. Many interesting biological models are nonlinear but identifiability analysis for nonlinear system turns out to be a difficult mathematical problem. Different methods have been proposed in the literature to test identifiability of nonlinear models but, to the best of our knowledge, so far no software tools have been proposed for automatically checking identifiability of nonlinear models. In this paper, we describe a software tool implementing a differential algebra algorithm to perform parameter identifiability analysis for (linear and) nonlinear dynamic models described by polynomial or rational equations. Our goal is to provide the biological investigator a completely automatized software, requiring minimum prior knowledge of mathematical modelling and no in-depth understanding of the mathematical tools. The DAISY (Differential Algebra for Identifiability of SYstems) software will potentially be useful in biological modelling studies, especially in physiology and clinical medicine, where research experiments are particularly expensive and/or difficult to perform. Practical examples of use of the software tool DAISY are presented. DAISY is available at the web site http://www.dei.unipd.it/~pia/. PMID:17707944
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Giuliani, Jacopo; Bonetti, Andrea
2017-12-01
Riassunto. L'analisi è stata condotta al fine di valutare l'effetto sia sulla sopravvivenza globale (OS) sia sulla sopravvivenza libera da progressione di malattia (PFS) della chemioterapia di combinazione in prima linea per il carcinoma pancreatico in fase avanzata di malattia. La presente analisi è limitata agli studi randomizzati controllati (RCT) di fase III. Successivamente è stata applicata la European Society for Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) agli RCT di fase III analizzati per ricavare uno score relativo all'entità del beneficio clinico ottenuto per ciascun RCT. Sono state calcolate inoltre le differenze in termini di PFS tra i diversi bracci di trattamento rapportandole con i costi dei farmaci necessari per ottenere il beneficio di PFS. La nostra analisi ha valutato 11 RCT di fase III, per un totale di 4572 pazienti. Combinando i costi della terapia con la misura dell'efficacia espressa dalla PFS, è stato ottenuto un costo di 74,12 euro (€) per mese di vita guadagnato in termini di PFS con la combinazione di 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan e oxaliplatino (FOLFIRINOX), 90,14 € per la combinazione di gemcitabina e oxaliplatino (GEMOX) e 4708,7 € per la combinazione di nab-paclitaxel e gemcitabina. Da questo punto di vista riteniamo che l'utilizzo delle "vecche chemioterapie di combinazione" (per es., GEMOX) non dovrebbe essere completamente abbandonato, ma valutato sul singolo paziente, sulla base di diversi fattori (età, ECOG PS, comorbilità, carico di malattia), al fine di ottenere una reale "tailored therapy".
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A trainable decisions-in decision-out (DEI-DEO) fusion system
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dasarathy, Belur V.
1998-03-01
Most of the decision fusion systems proposed hitherto in the literature for multiple data source (sensor) environments operate on the basis of pre-defined fusion logic, be they crisp (deterministic), probabilistic, or fuzzy in nature, with no specific learning phase. The fusion systems that are trainable, i.e., ones that have a learning phase, mostly operate in the features-in-decision-out mode, which essentially reduces the fusion process functionally to a pattern classification task in the joint feature space. In this study, a trainable decisions-in-decision-out fusion system is described which estimates a fuzzy membership distribution spread across the different decision choices based on the performance of the different decision processors (sensors) corresponding to each training sample (object) which is associated with a specific ground truth (true decision). Based on a multi-decision space histogram analysis of the performance of the different processors over the entire training data set, a look-up table associating each cell of the histogram with a specific true decision is generated which forms the basis for the operational phase. In the operational phase, for each set of decision inputs, a pointer to the look-up table learnt previously is generated from which a fused decision is derived. This methodology, although primarily designed for fusing crisp decisions from the multiple decision sources, can be adapted for fusion of fuzzy decisions as well if such are the inputs from these sources. Examples, which illustrate the benefits and limitations of the crisp and fuzzy versions of the trainable fusion systems, are also included.
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Remote sensing for illegal dumps detection: a case study in southern Italy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vincenzo Angelino, Cesario; Focareta, Mariano; Meoli, Giuseppe; Piacquadio, Giovanni; Cicala, Luca; Parrilli, Sara; De Mizio, Marco
2017-04-01
This paper presents a case study about the detection of illegal dumps from optical satellite images in a large territory falling in the provinces of Naples and Caserta, Southern Italy. This location is also known with the term "Terra dei Fuochi" because in this area is particularly widespread the phenomenon of waste burning and, over the past decades, there have been many landfills of hazardous waste of industrial origin. In addition to the potential damage caused to the environmental matrices, this situation has led to considerable concerns over the health of citizens and a serious economic impact on the agricultural sector. In order to contrast this phenomenon, the government of the Campania Region organized some prevention, monitoring and repression activities. In particular, the monitoring activities are employed by periodic inspection of sites, which are often object of illegal deposits (former quarries, illegal dumps, as well as city and country roads). The periodic inspection is usually performed by patrols of the company SMA Campania (the in-house regional company, specialized in environmental protection), and law enforcement. As part of a project, the remote sensing company MAPSAT srl and CIRA (the Italian Aerospace Research Center), have proposed to SMA Campania to support the periodic monitoring inspection of the patrols, with optical satellite acquisitions. This paper describes the proposed approach, the type of data used, the technical problems encountered and solutions introduced. The periodic monitoring with biannual satellite acquisitions, was effective for both finding new illegal spills and to follow the evolution (in terms of extension) of landfills already found in the past.
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Xu, Xiao; Tian, Xue; Chen, Yuan; Yang, Zhi-Kai; Qu, Zhen; Dong, Jie
2018-04-19
Although the association between adipokines such as adiponectin, leptin, and body composition has been noted, whether they could predict the change of fat mass and lean body mass is unknown. We aimed to examine these associations in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) through a prospective cohort study. Body composition (by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) including fat mass and lean body mass were examined at baseline and then at year 3. Serum leptin and adiponectin levels were measured. Demographic data, comorbidity, biochemical data, inflammation (high-sensitive C-reactive protein [hs-CRP]) and insulin resistance (homeostatic model assessment [HOMA-IR]) were also examined. At baseline, serum adiponectin levels were significantly inversely correlated with weight, lean body mass index (LBMI), fat mass index (FMI), lean body mass (LBM), and fat mass (FM) in 213 prevalent patients. At year 3, FMI, LBMI, FM, and the percentage of FM (FM%) increased while the percentage of LBM (LBM%) significantly decreased despite unchanged weight and LBM among the remaining 112 patients. After adjustment for demographic data, comorbidities, hs-CRP, HOMA-IR, and daily energy intake (DEI), serum adiponectin at baseline was not associated with increases in LBMI, FMI, and FM, but independently associated with an increase in FM% and a decrease in LBM%. The predictive effect of high-serum adiponectin level on mortality disappeared after adjusting for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Serum leptin was not associated with any changes in body composition during the follow-up, nor with the mortality in this cohort. A high adiponectin level could predict an increase in FM% and a decrease in LBM% during a 3-year follow-up in PD patients. Serum adiponectin could not independently predict mortality in PD patients.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bonora, N.; Mazzetti, P.; Munafò, M.; Nativi, S.
2011-12-01
The partnership between ISPRA - SINAnet (National Environmental Information System Network) and CNR - GIIDA (Gestione Integrata ed Interoperativa dei Dati Ambientali) builds upon the results of a re-engineering process applied to existing Italian national and local infrastructures in order to contribute to the realization of a National System of Systems (SoS) and connect environmental monitoring and scientific researches. This partnership aims to contribute to the environmental knowledge providing a single access point for the national environmental information. Some pilot projects are ongoing to demonstrate how Public Administrations can support scientific researches by providing their monitoring information through a catalog of federated resources and related access services. These research results provided by the use of monitoring data will be, in turn, made available through the national SoS, advantaging scientists and researchers by increasing information re-use and benefiting the Public Administration with the research outcomes. The exchange of information provided by a single system offers many research and educational advantages over a fragmented/redundant systems, which places high barriers to find, access and re-use data. On the contrary, a SoS provides access to a broader set of data than the one accessible through local systems, thereby providing a greater baseline of factual information for the research community. The benefits arising from a SoS infrastructure may reinforce open scientific inquiry, encouraging different analysis, promoting new researches, allowing the verification of previous results, making possible the testing of new or alternative hypotheses and methods of analysis. The target infrastructure is also conceived as an effective and sustainable contribution to the national implementation of INSPIRE and GEO/GEOSS.
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DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
N /A
Bonneville is responsible for maintaining a network of 24,000 kilometers (km) or 15,000 miles (mi.) of electric transmission lines and 350 substations in a region of diverse vegetation. This vegetation can interfere with electric power flow, pose safety problems for us and the public, and interfere with our ability to maintain these facilities. We need to (1) keep vegetation away from the electric facilities; (2) increase the program efficiency and consistency; (3) review herbicide use (under increased public scrutiny); and (4) maximize the range of tools we can use while minimizing environmental impact (Integrated Vegetation Management). This DEIS establishes Planningmore » Steps for managing vegetation for specific projects (to be tiered to this EIS). In addition to No Action (current practice), alternatives are presented for Rights-of-way, Electric Yards, and Non-electric Facilities (landscaping, work yards). Four vegetation control methods are analyzed: manual, mechanical, herbicide, and biological. Also evaluated are 24 herbicide active ingredients and 4 herbicide application techniques (spot, localized, broadcast, and aerial). For rights-of-way, they consider three sets of alternatives: alternative management approaches (time-driven or establishing low-growing plant communities); alternative method packages; and, if herbicides are in a methods package, alternative vegetation selections (noxious weeds, deciduous, or any vegetation). For electric yards, one herbicide-use alternative is considered. For non-electric facilities, two method package alternatives are considered. For rights-of-way, the environmentally preferred alternative(s) would use manual, mechanical, and biological control methods, as well as spot and localized herbicide applications for noxious and deciduous plant species; the BPA-preferred alternative(s) would add broadcast and aerial herbicide applications, and would use herbicides on any vegetation. Both would factor a management approach that fosters low-growing plant communities.« less
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A journey toward wholeness, a journey to God: physical fitness as embodied spirituality.
Greenwood, Tracey C; Delgado, Teresa
2013-09-01
Physical fitness expressed through exercise can be, if done with the right intention, a form of spiritual discipline that reflects the relational love of humanity to God as well as an expression of a healthy love of the embodied self. Through an analysis of the physiological benefits of exercise science applied to the human body, this paper will demonstrate how such attention to the optimal physical fitness of the body, including weight and cardiovascular training and nutrition, is an affirmation of three foundational theological principles of human embodiment: as created in the "imago Dei", as unified body/spirit, and as part of God's creation calling for proper stewardship. In a contemporary climate where women's bodies in particular are viewed through the lens of commodification-as visual objects for sale based on prescribed notions of superficial esthetics and beauty-as well as the consistently high rates of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and obesity, authors Greenwood and Delgado offer a vision of how women and men can imagine a subjective relationship with their own bodies that reflects the abundant love of God for God's creation. Spoken from the lived experience of professional fitness competitor and trainer, as well as trained biokineticist, Dr. Greenwood presents the most current scientific data in the field of biokinetics that grounds the theological analysis offered by Dr. Delgado, whose personal journey through anorexia and scholarly emphasis on Christian theological anthropology inform this work. Taken together, Greenwood and Delgado suggest a response to God's love for humanity, including our physical bodily humanity, which entails a responsibility to attend to the physical fitness of our bodies in order to live into the fullness, flourishing and love of God's creation as God intended.
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The body and the fading away of abstract concepts and words: a sign language analysis
Borghi, Anna M.; Capirci, Olga; Gianfreda, Gabriele; Volterra, Virginia
2014-01-01
One of the most important challenges for embodied and grounded theories of cognition concerns the representation of abstract concepts, such as “freedom.” Many embodied theories of abstract concepts have been proposed. Some proposals stress the similarities between concrete and abstract concepts showing that they are both grounded in perception and action system while other emphasize their difference favoring a multiple representation view. An influential view proposes that abstract concepts are mapped to concrete ones through metaphors. Furthermore, some theories underline the fact that abstract concepts are grounded in specific contents, as situations, introspective states, emotions. These approaches are not necessarily mutually exclusive, since it is possible that they can account for different subsets of abstract concepts and words. One novel and fruitful way to understand the way in which abstract concepts are represented is to analyze how sign languages encode concepts into signs. In the present paper we will discuss these theoretical issues mostly relying on examples taken from Italian Sign Language (LIS, Lingua dei Segni Italiana), the visual-gestural language used within the Italian Deaf community. We will verify whether and to what extent LIS signs provide evidence favoring the different theories of abstract concepts. In analyzing signs we will distinguish between direct forms of involvement of the body and forms in which concepts are grounded differently, for example relying on linguistic experience. In dealing with the LIS evidence, we will consider the possibility that different abstract concepts are represented using different levels of embodiment. The collected evidence will help us to discuss whether a unitary embodied theory of abstract concepts is possible or whether the different theoretical proposals can account for different aspects of their representation. PMID:25120515
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Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Ulysses Mission (Tier 2)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
1990-01-01
This Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) addresses the environmental impacts which may be caused by the preparation and operation of the Ulysses spacecraft, including its planned launch on the Space Transportation System (STS) Shuttle and the alternative of canceling further work on the mission. The launch configuration will use the STS/Inertial Upper Stage (IUS)/Payload Assist Module-Special(PAM-S) combination. The Tier 1 EIS included a delay alternative which considered the Titan 4 launch vehicle as an alternative booster stage for launch in 1991 or later. However, the U.S. Air Force, which procures the Titan 4 for NASA, could not provide a Titan 4 vehicle for the 1991 launch opportunity because of high priority Department of Defense requirements. The only expected environmental effects of the proposed action are associated with normal Shuttle launch operations. These impacts are limited largely to the near-field at the launch pad, except for temporary stratospheric ozone effects during launch and occasional sonic boom effects near the landing site. These effects have been judged insufficient to preclude Shuttle launches. In the event of (1) an accident during launch, or (2) reentry of the spacecraft from earth orbit, there are potential adverse health and environmental effects associated with the possible release of plutonium dioxide from the spacecraft's radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG). The potential effects considered in this EIS include risks of air and water quality impacts, local land area contamination, adverse health and safety impacts, the disturbance of biotic resources, impacts on wetland areas or areas containing historical sites, and socioeconomic impacts. Intensive analysis of the possible accidents associated with the proposed action are underway and preliminary results indicate small health or environmental risks. The results of a Final Safety Analysis Report will be available for inclusion into the final EIS.
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Guerriero, Chiara; Verdina, Federico; Ferri, Chiara; Pizzaguerra, Martina; Silvestri, Silvia; Tober, Nastassja; Ristagno, Quenya; Costa, Alessandro; Cerasuolo, Michele; Faggiano, Fabrizio; Allara, Elias
2016-01-01
INTRODUZIONE: gli incidenti stradali sono l'ottava causa di morte al mondo e la prima tra i giovani di 15-29 anni. In Italia il Piano nazionale sicurezza stradale raccomanda l'educazione scolastica per la prevenzione degli incidenti stradali; ad oggi non esistono documenti che raccolgano evidenze di efficacia sugli interventi educativi stradali e le rapportino al contesto italiano. OBIETTIVI: riassumere e discutere ciò che è noto in letteratura riguardo agli interventi scolastici per la prevenzione degli incidenti stradali. METODI: sono state ricercate linee guida e revisioni sistematiche usando i seguenti criteri di inclusione: popolazione di età inferiore ai 25 anni di entrambi i sessi; interventi scolastici di educazione stradale; effetti su indicatori primari di esito come riduzione degli incidenti stradali, astinenza dalla guida sotto l'effetto di alcol e dall'accettare passaggi in macchina da guidatori che sono sotto l'effetto di alcol; effetti su indicatori secondari di esito come conoscenze e competenze sui comportamenti di guida sicura. RISULTATI: sono state identificate due revisioni sistematiche. L'educazione stradale nelle scuole non mostra evidenza di efficacia (rischio relativo 1,03; IC95% 0,98-1,08) nel ridurre gli incidenti. Programmi scolastici più specifici mostrano risultati solo in parte convincenti per l'adozione di comportamenti sicuri come l'astinenza dal guidare sotto l'effetto di alcol e dall'accettare passaggi in macchina da guidatori che sono sotto l'effetto di alcol. DISCUSSIONE: le revisioni incluse non hanno trovato programmi efficaci nella riduzione degli incidenti stradali o dei fattori che possano determinarli. Nell'attesa di studi più recenti, appare opportuno promuovere l'implementazione di interventi misti, scolastici e di comunità, che hanno mostrato maggiori prove di efficacia.
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SALVEREMO, an automatic system for the search and rescue in the wilderness and mountain areas
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Penna, Roberto; Allasia, Walter; Bianchi, Luca; Licata, Enrico; Duranti, Pierluigi; Molino, Andrea; Bagalini, Enea; Sagliocco, Sergio; Scarafia, Simone; Prinetto, Paolo; Airofarulla, Giuseppe; Carelli, Alberto
2016-04-01
SALVEREMO project aims at designing and prototyping an innovative system for searching and rescuing individuals (especially hikers and mountaineers) who got lost or in peril in wilderness or mountain areas. It makes use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) equipped with a sensor suite specifically selected according to the requirements identified involving alpine rescuers and government officials. The peculiarity of the proposed solution is the exploitation and integration of the special skill and expertise coming from different competence fields. It will dramatically decrease the searching time in the wilderness and remote areas off the beaten tracks, providing rescuers and operators with a decision support system increasing successful results and reducing rescue missions costs. The system benefits from the adoption of a scaled-down Base Transceiver Station (BTS) embarked in the payload sensor suite of a small RPAS that can be carried in a back pack of rescuers. A Software Defined Radio (SDR) board implementing the BTS protocol stack has been integrated in a complex sensor suite made up of open processing boards and camera devices. Moreover computer vision (CV) algorithms for real time pattern detection and image enhancements have been investigated for assisting the rescuers during the searching operations. An easy-to-use ground station application has been developed for speeding up the overall mission accomplishment. Aknowledgement SALVEREMO project is a research project co-funded by Regione Piemonte according to the call for proposal POR F.E.S.R. 2007/2013, "Linea di attività I.1.3-Innovazione e PMI - Polo della Meccatronica e dei Sistemi Avanzati di Produzione". The authors want to thank "Il Soccorso Alpino Italiano" for the invaluable support for establishing operative requirements.
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Di Petta, Antonio; Simas, Rafael; Ferreira, Clebson L; Capelozzi, Vera L; Salemi, Vera M C; Moreira, Luiz F P; Sannomiya, Paulina
2015-10-01
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is often associated with chronic comorbid conditions of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the association of diabetes and pulmonary emphysema on cardiac structure and function in rats. Wistar rats were divided into control non-diabetic instilled with saline (CS) or elastase (CE), diabetic instilled with saline (DS) or elastase (DE), DE treated with insulin (DEI) groups and echocardiographic measurements, morphometric analyses of the heart and lungs, and survival analysis conducted 50 days after instillation. Diabetes mellitus was induced [alloxan, 42 mg/kg, intravenously (iv)] 10 days before the induction of emphysema (elastase, 0.25 IU/100 g). Rats were treated with NPH insulin (4 IU before elastase plus 2 IU/day, 50 days). Both CE and DE exhibited similar increases in mean alveolar diameter, which are positively correlated with increases in right ventricular (RV) wall thickness (P = 0.0022), cavity area (P = 0.0001) and cardiomyocyte thickness (P = 0.0001). Diabetic saline group demonstrated a reduction in left ventricular (LV) wall, interventricular (IV) septum, cardiomyocyte thickness and an increase in cavity area, associated with a reduction in LV fractional shortening (P < 0.05), and an increase in LViv relaxation time (P < 0.05). Survival rate decreased from 80% in DS group to 40% in DE group. In conclusion, alloxan diabetes did not affect RV hypertrophy secondary to chronic emphysema, even in the presence of insulin. Diabetes per se induced left ventricular dysfunction, which was less evident in the presence of RV hypertrophy. Survival rate was substantially reduced as a consequence, at least in part, of the coexistence of RV hypertrophy and diabetic cardiomyopathy. © 2015 The Authors. International Journal of Experimental Pathology © 2015 International Journal of Experimental Pathology.
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North Atlantic Oscillation influence on the stramflows of the Iberian Rivers
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lorenzo-Lacruz, J.; González-Hidalgo, J. C.; Vicente-Serrano, S. M.; López-Moreno, J. I.
2010-09-01
"NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION INFLUENCE ON THE STREAMFLOWS OF THE IBERIAN RIVERS" LORENZO-LACRUZ, J. ¹, GONZÁLEZ-HIDALGO, J.C.², VICENTE-SERRANO, S.M. ¹, LÓPEZ-MORENO, J.I.¹ ¹Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, CSIC (Spanish Research Council), Campus de Aula Dei, P.O. Box 202, Zaragoza 50080, Spain ²Departamento de Geografía, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. We analyzed the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) influence on the monthly river discharges of Iberian rivers from 1945 to 2005. The study covers most of the Iberian river basins, using 187 monthly discharge series. The aim of this study is to determine the role of the variability of the NAO on the Iberian river discharges. Using the winter NAO we calculated correlations with the monthly river discharge series. We identified the positive and negative phases of the winter NAO for the period 1945-2006, and related to river discharge anomalies. Significant differences in river discharge were found between the positive and negative NAO phases with negative anomalies (dry conditions) during positive NAO periods, and positive anomalies (wet conditions) during negative NAO periods The results show a consistent and strong control of the river discharges by the winter NAO, but some spatial differences are shown, as three different domains were defined: a region under the direct influence of the NAO (central and western part of the Iberian Peninsula), a transition zone (Ebro Valley) and region free from that influence (Eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula). The spatial differences are also identified in the annual pattern of discharge anomalies. The basin characteristics, the location of the gauging stations and the human management are the possible drivers of these differences.
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Sambataro, Maria; Sambado, Luisa; Trevisiol, Enrica; Cacciatore, Matilde; Furlan, Anna; Stefani, Piero Maria; Seganfreddo, Elena; Durante, Elisabetta; Conte, Stefania; Della Bella, Silvia; Paccagnella, Agostino; Dei Tos, Angelo Paolo
2018-02-12
Diabetic neuropathy is the most common complication of diabetes and is frequently associated with foot ischemia and infection, but its pathogenesis is controversial. We hypothesized that proinsulin expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is a process relevant to this condition and could represent a link among hyperglycemia, nerve susceptibility, and diabetic foot lesions. We assessed proinsulin expression by using flow cytometry in dendritic cells from control participants and patients with type 2 diabetic with or without peripheral neuropathy or accompanied by diabetic foot. Among 32 non-neuropathic and 120 neuropathic patients with type 2 diabetic, we performed leg electromyography and found average sensory sural nerve conduction velocities of 48 ± 4 and 30 ± 4 m/s, respectively ( P < 0.03). Of those with neuropathy, 42 were without lesions, 39 had foot lesions, and 39 had neuroischemic foot lesions (allux oximetry <30 mmHg). In this well-defined diabetic population, but not in nondiabetic participants, a progressively increasing level of peripheral blood dendritic cell proinsulin expression was detected, which directly correlated with circulating TNF-α levels ( P < 0.002) and multiple conduction velocities of leg nerves ( P < 0.05). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that, in type 2 diabetes, proinsulin-expressing blood cells, possibly via their involvement in innate immunity, may play a role in diabetic peripheral neuropathy and foot lesions.-Sambataro, M., Sambado, L., Trevisiol, E., Cacciatore, M., Furlan, A., Stefani, P. M., Seganfreddo, E., Durante, E., Conte, S., Della Bella, S., Paccagnella, A., dei Tos, A. P. Proinsulin-expressing dendritic cells in type 2 neuropathic diabetic patients with and without foot lesions.
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Moja, Lorenzo; Passardi, Alessandro; Capobussi, Matteo; Banzi, Rita; Ruggiero, Francesca; Kwag, Koren; Liberati, Elisa Giulia; Mangia, Massimo; Kunnamo, Ilkka; Cinquini, Michela; Vespignani, Roberto; Colamartini, Americo; Di Iorio, Valentina; Massa, Ilaria; González-Lorenzo, Marien; Bertizzolo, Lorenzo; Nyberg, Peter; Grimshaw, Jeremy; Bonovas, Stefanos; Nanni, Oriana
2016-11-25
Computerized decision support systems (CDSSs) are computer programs that provide doctors with person-specific, actionable recommendations, or management options that are intelligently filtered or presented at appropriate times to enhance health care. CDSSs might be integrated with patient electronic health records (EHRs) and evidence-based knowledge. The Computerized DEcision Support in ONCOlogy (ONCO-CODES) trial is a pragmatic, parallel group, randomized controlled study with 1:1 allocation ratio. The trial is designed to evaluate the effectiveness on clinical practice and quality of care of a multi-specialty collection of patient-specific reminders generated by a CDSS in the IRCCS Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST) hospital. We hypothesize that the intervention can increase clinician adherence to guidelines and, eventually, improve the quality of care offered to cancer patients. The primary outcome is the rate at which the issues reported by the reminders are resolved, aggregating specialty and primary care reminders. We will include all the patients admitted to hospital services. All analyses will follow the intention-to-treat principle. The results of our study will contribute to the current understanding of the effectiveness of CDSSs in cancer hospitals, thereby informing healthcare policy about the potential role of CDSS use. Furthermore, the study will inform whether CDSS may facilitate the integration of primary care in cancer settings, known to be usually limited. The increasing use of and familiarity with advanced technology among new generations of physicians may support integrated approaches to be tested in pragmatic studies determining the optimal interface between primary and oncology care. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02645357.
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Cheng, Chunsong; Yuan, Qingxi; Zhou, Hua; Huang, Luqi
2016-02-01
Growth-year authentication has extraordinary significance for plant growth, structure and development research, and has a wide range of applications in value assessment of economic crops. Panax ginseng is the most commonly used medicinal plant in Asian countries. The fix number of growth-year is an important quality evaluation which is difficult to be obtained accurately in current technical conditions. Preliminary authentication theory for growth-year has been described in previous studies using a short-lived perennial medicinal plant (Paeonia lactiflora pall.) as the research material. In this research, we focused on the growth-year estimation in ginseng cultivars, and attempt to explore the age estimation method for vascular plants according to mathematical simulation of the root structure development. Micro data was obtained from 204 individuals of 3 different kinds of ginseng cultivars, which have a series of gradient age and a clear growth record. Outer diameter of the vascular cambium (b) and the radius of cross section (r) were measured with ordinary stereo microscope. We further designed and established two different kinds of authentication model based on the taproot structure development for growth year authentication (P =β*M-α and M = K*X1 (a) (1) X2 (a) (2) ). Moreover, the models were applied to identify the growth year of ginseng without damage using Micro-CT or DEI reconstruction. A potential method, have been recently described, the age of ginseng can be analyzed by telomere length and telomerase activity. However, we found that there are different results indicated in other species. We concluded that microscopic methods perceived currently were provided a more effective means for growth-year authentication. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Archaeology and Astronomy.A 300-year Voyage
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Morellato, Jody
2015-05-01
This article will present a short introduction into my research on archaeoastronomical studies' origin and development. I deliberately focus my attention on a particular epoch: from the beginning of the 18th century to the 1970s: more precisely 1973, a special positive moment for this field, when anthropologist E.C. Baity generated the neologism of 'ethnoastronomy'. The intention is to describe briefly the romantic hypotheses of the earliest eclectic pioneers - subsequently grouped under the name of astro-archaeologists - combining summaries of the main ideas and quotations. We will be able to reconstruct a valid general overview about the topic in question and the facts - described following a natural chronological development - will guide us to the modern idea of archaeoastronomy. Through two interesting moments during the early twentieth century, but especially at the turn of the 1970s it almost seems that a dialogue may be possible. Thanks to institutions such as the British Academy or Royal Society, and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, a point of convergence bringing together archaeology and astronomy will be established, as well as the promotion of an interdisciplinary research. Might the wall of separation between the arts and the sciences, at least in this field, be overcome? Are we at the threshold of a new discipline? To answer these questions we need a deeper understanding of the contemporary studies on cultural astronomy: a history that develops not only in a linear time, but also growth in complexity and tone, involving more and more scholars belonging to the main scientific and humanistic fields. I would leave this point open inviting my colleagues to join and push forward a research we all totally do need.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Doronzo, Domenico M.; Dellino, Pierfrancesco; Sulpizio, Roberto; Lucchi, Federico
2017-01-01
In order to obtain results from computer simulations of explosive volcanic eruptions, one either needs a statistical approach to test a wide range of initial and boundary conditions, or needs using a well-constrained field case study via stratigraphy. Here we followed the second approach, using data obtained from field mapping of the Grotta dei Palizzi 2 pyroclastic deposits (Vulcano Island, Italy) as input for numerical modeling. This case study deals with impulsive phreatomagmatic explosions of La Fossa Cone that generated ash-rich pyroclastic density currents, interacting with the topographic high of the La Fossa Caldera rim. One of the simplifications in dealing with well-sorted ash (one particle size in the model) is to highlight the topographic effects on the same pyroclastic material in an unsteady current. We demonstrate that by merging field data with 3D numerical simulation results it is possible to see key details of the dynamical current-terrain interaction, and to interpret the lithofacies variations of the associated deposits as a function of topography-induced sedimentation (settling) rate. Results suggest that a value of the sedimentation rate lower than 5 kg/m2 s at the bed load can still be sheared by the overlying current, producing tractional structures (laminae) in the deposits. Instead, a sedimentation rate higher than that threshold can preclude the formation of tractional structures, producing thicker massive deposits. We think that the approach used in this study could be applied to other case studies (both for active and ancient volcanoes) to confirm or refine such threshold value of the sedimentation rate, which is to be considered as an upper value as for the limitations of the numerical model.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lazzari, Maurizio; Danese, Maria; Gioia, Dario; Piccarreta, Marco
2013-04-01
Sedimentary budget estimation is an important topic for both scientific and social community, because it is crucial to understand both dynamics of orogenic belts and many practical problems, such as soil conservation and sediment accumulation in reservoir. Estimations of sediment yield or denudation rates in southern-central Italy are generally obtained by simple empirical relationships based on statistical regression between geomorphic parameters of the drainage network and the measured suspended sediment yield at the outlet of several drainage basins or through the use of models based on sediment delivery ratio or on soil loss equations. In this work, we perform a study of catchment dynamics and an estimation of sedimentary yield for several mountain catchments of the central-western sector of the Basilicata region, southern Italy. Sediment yield estimation has been obtained through both an indirect estimation of suspended sediment yield based on the Tu index (mean annual suspension sediment yield, Ciccacci et al., 1980) and the application of the Rusle (Renard et al., 1997) and the USPED (Mitasova et al., 1996) empirical methods. The preliminary results indicate a reliable difference between the RUSLE and USPED methods and the estimation based on the Tu index; a critical data analysis of results has been carried out considering also the present-day spatial distribution of erosion, transport and depositional processes in relation to the maps obtained from the application of those different empirical methods. The studied catchments drain an artificial reservoir (i.e. the Camastra dam), where a detailed evaluation of the amount of historical sediment storage has been collected. Sediment yield estimation obtained by means of the empirical methods have been compared and checked with historical data of sediment accumulation measured in the artificial reservoir of the Camastra dam. The validation of such estimations of sediment yield at the scale of large catchments using sediment storage in reservoirs provides a good opportunity: i) to test the reliability of the empirical methods used to estimate the sediment yield; ii) to investigate the catchment dynamics and its spatial and temporal evolution in terms of erosion, transport and deposition. References Ciccacci S., Fredi F., Lupia Palmieri E., Pugliese F., 1980. Contributo dell'analisi geomorfica quantitativa alla valutazione dell'entita dell'erosione nei bacini fluviali. Bollettino della Società Geologica Italiana 99: 455-516. Mitasova H, Hofierka J, Zlocha M, Iverson LR. 1996. Modeling topographic potential for erosion and deposition using GIS. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems 10: 629-641. Renard K.G., Foster G.R., Weesies G.A., McCool D.K., Yoder D.C., 1997. Predicting soil erosion by water: a guide to conservation planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), USDA-ARS, Agricultural Handbook No. 703.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Martin, S.; Tumiati, S.
2003-04-01
The structural and petrographic studies of the basement units in the Alpine region, independently from their present tectonic setting in the nappe pile, suggest that at the end of the Variscan orogenesis they were in such a position that they suffered relevant up-doming and cooling since Late Carboniferous (Thöni, 1981; Mottana et al., 1985; Martin et al., 1996; Bertotti et al., 1999). This up-doming has been interpreted as due to an isostatic rebound related to the detachment of the slab after the cessation of the subduction at the end of the Variscan orogenesis (Neubauer and Handler, 2000; Ranalli, 2003). The metamorphic setting of the Southalpine basement between the Tonale pass and Lake Maggiore in the Southern Alps, is due to processes which, by extension denudation and erosion, locally took to the surface portions of middle-to-high grade basement, within a horst-graben environment (Cassinis et al., 1997). The basements of the Orobic, Lake Como and Lake Maggiore areas are composed of kyanite-garnet or sillimanite-bearing schists (e.g., Gneiss di Morbegno, Scisti di Edolo, Scisti dei Laghi; Boriani et al., 1990; Siletto et al., 1993), or of low grade schists (e.g., Filladi di Ambria) intruded by Early Permian plutons, covered by continental and volcanic deposits of Late Carboniferous to Permian age, after a marked unconformity (Cadel et al., 1996). The thickness of this clastic cover ranges between a few hundreds to thousands of meters; the clast compositions suggest a low-grade basement as a dominant source; the structures indicate alternance of uplift and collapse and continue deformation during sedimentation (Cassinis et al., 1974). Most of the Upper Austroalpine units of the central and eastern Alps (e.g., Tonale nappe, Languard, Ortles and Campo units) have structural and lithological similarities with the Orobic, Lake Como and Lake Maggiore basement units confirming their appartenance to the same pre-Alpine paleogeographic environment which suffered up-doming and collapse (Martin et al., 1996). The Austroalpine units have a sedimentary cover including basal clastic sediments younger (Late Permian, Verrucano; Furrer, 1985), than the Orobic ones (Late Carboniferous-Permian) indicating erosion and sedimentation diachronous in respect to the Orobic and Lake Como areas. Most of the lower Austroalpine basement units are composed of middle-to-high grade rocks (e.g., Margna) and are covered by very thin Permian sediments, or directly by carbonatic sequences (Campo and Bernina units) typical of a rapid drowning of the passive margin after erosion (Froitzheim and Manatschal, 1996). In this picture, the Variscan basement of the central and eastern Alps suffered a relevant, even if diachronous, up-doming during Late Carboniferous-Permian time. This involved the basement which at present corresponds to the Lower Austroalpine (e.g., Err, Bernina and Margna) and to the Upper Austroalpine units (e.g.; Ortles, Languard and Campo). The up-doming is mostly evidenced by structural and petrographic observations rather than the geochronology because these basements have been thermally re-setted by intrusion of several Early Permian plutons which altered their cooling history. In some places the magmatic activity continued up to Trias with hydrothermal veins and pegmatites, which slowed the cooling evolution down to the Jurassic time. Rb-Sr cooling ages from high grade Austroalpine and Southalpine basements cumulate around Late Jurassic confirming this time as the end of the pre-alpine thermal evolution of the Variscan basement in the Alps (Sanders et al., 1996). References: BERTOTTI G., SEWARD D., WIJBRANS J., VOORDE M.TER, HURFORD A.J. (1999) - Crustal thermal regime prior to, during, and after rifting: A geochronological and modeling study of the Mesozoic South Alpine rifted margin. Tectonics, 18-2: 185-200 BORIANI A., GIOBBI ORIGONI E., BORGHI A., CAIRONI V. (1990) - The evolution of the "Serie dei Laghi" (Strona-Ceneri and Scisti dei Laghi): upper component of the Ivrea-Verbano crustal section; Southern Alps, North Italy and Ticino, Switzerland. Tectonophysics, 182: 103-118 CADEL G., COSI M., PENNACCHIONI G., SPALLA M.I. (1996) - A new map of the Permo-Carboniferous cover and Variscan metamorphic basement in the central Orobic Alps, Southern Alps, Italy: Structural and stratigraphical data. Mem. Sci. Geol., Padova, 48:1-53 CASSINIS G., MONTRASIO A., POTENZA R., VON RAUMER J.F., SACCHI R., ZANFERRARI A. (1974) - Tettonica ercinica nelle Alpi. Mem. Soc. Geol. Ital., Vol. XIII, suppl. 1, 289-318 CASSINIS G., PEROTTI C.R., VENTURINI C. (1997) - Examples of late Hercynian transtensional tectonics in the Southern Alps (Italy). In: Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic Circum Pacific Events and Their Global Correlation (Ed. Dickins J.M., Yang Z., Yin H., Lucas S.G., Acharyya S.K.), Cambridge University Press. DEL MORO A., NOTARPIETRO A. (1987) - Rb-Sr Geochemistry of some Hercynian granitoids overprinted by eo-Alpine metamorphism in the Upper Valtellina, Central Alps. Schweiz. Mineral. Petrogr. Mitt., 67: 295-306 FROITZHEIM N., MANATSCHAL G. (1996) - Kinematics of Jurassic rifting, mantle exhumation, and passive-margin formation in the Austroalpine and Penninic nappes (eastern Switzerland). GSA Bull., 108-9: 1120-1133 FURRER H. ed. (1985) - Field workshop on Triassic and Jurassic sediments in the Eastern Alps of Switzerland. Mitt. Geol. Inst. ETH u. Univ. Zürich, N.F., v. 248, 82 p. MARTIN S., ZATTIN M., DEL MORO A., MACERA P. (1996) - Chronologic constraints for the evolution of the Giudicarie belt (Eastern Alps, NE Italy). Annales Tectonicae, Vol. X, N. 1-2, 60-79 MOTTANA A., NICOLETTI M., PETRUCCIANI C., LIBORIO G., DE CAPITANI L., BOCCHIO R. (1985) - Pre-alpine and alpine eolution of the South-alpine basement of the Orobic Alps. Geol. Rundsch., 74-2: 353-366 NEUBAUER F., HANDLER R. (2000) - Variscan orogeny in the Eastern Alps and Bohemian Massif: How do these units correlate?. Mitt. Österr. Geol. Ges., 92:35-39 RANALLI G. (2003) - A model of Palaeozoic subduction and exhumation of continental crust: Ulten unit, Tonale Nappe, Eastern Austroalpine. Transalp workshop, Trieste 10-12 February. SANDERS C.A.E., BERTOTTI G., TOMMASINI S., DAVIES G.R., WIJBRANS J.R. (1996) - Triassic pegmatites in the Mesozoic middle crust of the Southern Alps (Italy): Fluid inclusions, radiometric dating and tectonic implications. Eclogae Geol. Helv., 89-1: 505-525 SILETTO G.B., SPALLA M.I., TUNESI A., LARDEAUX J.M., COLOMBO A. (1993) - Pre-Alpine structural and metamorphic histories in the Orobic Southern Alps, Italy. In: Pre-Mesozoic geology in the Alps (Ed. By von Raumer J.F. &Neubauer F.), 585-598 THÖNI M. (1981) - Degree and Evolution of the Alpine Metamorphism in the Austroalpine Unit W of the Hohe Tauern in the light of K/Ar and Rb/Sr Age Determinations on Micas. Jahrb. Geol. B.-A., 124-1: 111-174
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Social mobility and health in the Turin longitudinal study.
Cardano, Mario; Costa, Giuseppe; Demaria, Moreno
2004-04-01
One of the most controversial explanations of class inequalities in health is the health selection hypothesis or drift hypothesis which suggests there is a casual link between the health status of individuals and their chances of social mobility, both inter- and intra-generational. This study tests this hypothesis, and tries to answer three related questions: (a) to what extent does health status influence the chances of intra-generational mobility of individuals? (b) what is the impact on health inequalities of the various kinds of social mobility (both mobility in the labour market and exit from employment)-do they increase or reduce inequalities? (c) to what extent does health-related intra-generational social mobility contribute to the production of health inequalities? The data analysed in this paper were drawn from the records of the Turin Longitudinal Study, which was set up to monitor health inequality of the Turin population by combining census data, population registry records and medical records. Occupational mobility was observed during the decade 1981-1991. To evaluate the impact of the various processes of social mobility on health inequalities, mortality was observed over the period 1991-1999. The study population consists of men and women aged 25-49 at the beginning of mortality follow-up (1991), and registered as resident in Turin at both the 1981 and the 1991 censuses (N = 127,384). Health status was determined by observing hospital admission. For the purpose of the study healthy individuals were those with no hospital admissions during the period 1984-1986, while those admitted were classed as unhealthy. Social mobility in the labour market was measured via an interval data index of upward and downward movements on a scale of social desirability of occupations, designed for the Italian labour force via an empirical study carried out by de Lillo and Schizzerotto (La valutazione sociale delle occupazioni. Una scala di stratificazione occupazionale per l'Italia contemporanea, Il Mulino, Bologna, 1985). Movement out of the labour market was described by a discrete variable with four conditions: employed, unemployed, early retired and women returning from work to the housewife status. The relationship between health status and occupational mobility was analysed via analysis of variance and multinomial logistic regression. Health inequalities were measured by the ratio of standardised mortality rates in the unskilled working class and the upper middle class. The study found a weak relationship between health status and occupational mobility chances. Decidedly stronger was the impact on occupational mobility of gender, education and "ethnicity" (being born in the South of Italy). The relationship between occupational mobility and health takes two different forms. Occupational mobility in the labour market decreases health inequalities; occupational mobility out of the labour market (early retirement, unemployment, housewife return) widens them. The maximum contribution health-related intra-generational social mobility can make towards health inequalities was estimated at about 13% for men.
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Endogenous estrogens and breast cancer risk: the case for prospective cohort studies.
Toniolo, P G
1997-01-01
It is generally agreed that estrogens, and possibly androgens, are important in the etiology of breast cancer, but no consensus exists as to the precise estrogenic or androgenic environment that characterizes risk, or the exogenous factors that influence the hormonal milieu. Nearly all the epidemiological studies conducted in the 1970s and 1980s were hospital-based case-control studies in which specimen sampling was performed well after the clinical appearance of the disease. Early prospective cohort studies also had limitations in their small sample sizes or short follow-up periods. However, more recent case-control studies nested within large cohorts, such as the New York University Women's Health Study and the Ormoni e Dieta nell'Eziologia dei Tumori study in Italy, are generating new data indicating that increased levels of estrone, estradiol and bioavailable estradiol, as well as their androgenic precursors, may be associated with a 4- to 6-fold increase in the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Further new evidence, which complements and expands the observations from the latter studies, shows that women with the thickest bone density, which may be a surrogate for cumulated exposure to hormones, experience severalfold increased risk of subsequent breast cancer as compared to women with thin bones. These data suggests that endogenous sex hormones are a key factor in the etiology of postmenopausal breast cancer. New prospective cohort studies should be conducted to examine the role of endogenous sex hormones in blood and urine samples obtained early in the natural history of breast cancer jointly with an assessment of bone density and of other important risk factors, such as mammographic density, physical activity, body weight, and markers of individual susceptibility, which may confer increased risk through an effect on the metabolism of endogenous hormones or through specific metabolic responses to Western lifestyle and diet. PMID:9168000
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D Recording for 2d Delivering - the Employment of 3d Models for Studies and Analyses -
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rizzi, A.; Baratti, G.; Jiménez, B.; Girardi, S.; Remondino, F.
2011-09-01
In the last years, thanks to the advances of surveying sensors and techniques, many heritage sites could be accurately replicated in digital form with very detailed and impressive results. The actual limits are mainly related to hardware capabilities, computation time and low performance of personal computer. Often, the produced models are not visible on a normal computer and the only solution to easily visualized them is offline using rendered videos. This kind of 3D representations is useful for digital conservation, divulgation purposes or virtual tourism where people can visit places otherwise closed for preservation or security reasons. But many more potentialities and possible applications are available using a 3D model. The problem is the ability to handle 3D data as without adequate knowledge this information is reduced to standard 2D data. This article presents some surveying and 3D modeling experiences within the APSAT project ("Ambiente e Paesaggi dei Siti d'Altura Trentini", i.e. Environment and Landscapes of Upland Sites in Trentino). APSAT is a multidisciplinary project funded by the Autonomous Province of Trento (Italy) with the aim documenting, surveying, studying, analysing and preserving mountainous and hill-top heritage sites located in the region. The project focuses on theoretical, methodological and technological aspects of the archaeological investigation of mountain landscape, considered as the product of sequences of settlements, parcelling-outs, communication networks, resources, and symbolic places. The mountain environment preserves better than others the traces of hunting and gathering, breeding, agricultural, metallurgical, symbolic activities characterised by different lengths and environmental impacts, from Prehistory to the Modern Period. Therefore the correct surveying and documentation of this heritage sites and material is very important. Within the project, the 3DOM unit of FBK is delivering all the surveying and 3D material to the interdisciplinary partners of the project to allow successive analyses or derivations of restoration plans and conservation policies.
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TME10/380: Remote Transmission of Radiological Images by means of Intranet/Internet Technology
Sicurello, F; Pizzi, R
1999-01-01
At the Istituto Nazionale Neurologico C. Besta in Milano a network architecture has been developed to connect computers and diagnostic modalities, based on Intranet technology in order to allow the hospital to have an external access through the Internet. The Internet technology has become the "glue" that allows to link different computers and to develop applications able to work independently from the hardware/software platform. Using a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) system integrated to the diagnostic modalities by means of the standardized DICOM image format, the digital radiological images can be transferred, displayed and processed on special visualization workstations all around the hospital. From the workstations the same images can be transferred in DICOM format to a teleconsulting workstation. In fact the hospital is involved in a national project for the remote connection between many Italian hospitals. This national network is linked to already developed regional networks like the Toscana MAN and the ATM Sirius Network. Some links are performed directly in ATM (155 Mbps), others are based on CDN (Direct Numerical Connection, 2Mbps), others are simply based on ISDN connections. The system allows to make it simpler and faster the already established daily exchange of radiological reports between the involved hospitals, especially from Istituto Nazionale Neurologico and Istituto Nazionale deiTumori. All the actions performed by the radiologist are translated by the software into "events" and replied to the remote workstation and vice-versa. In this way the radiologists can see each others, speak together and act in real time on a common "board" of diagnostic images, each one with his own pointer. The adopted technology is evolving on a system based on a web architecture and Java applications, useful for small clinical centers not endowed with expensive information systems. These centers will be able to get consulting performances by the excellence centers, making available accurate diagnoses and therapy protocols.
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Marinaccio, Alessandro; Binazzi, Alessandra; Bonafede, Michela; Corfiati, Marisa; Di Marzio, Davide; Scarselli, Alberto; Verardo, Marina; Mirabelli, Dario; Gennaro, Valerio; Mensi, Carolina; Schallemberg, Gert; Merler, Enzo; Negro, Corrado; Romanelli, Antonio; Chellini, Elisabetta; Silvestri, Stefano; Cocchioni, Mario; Pascucci, Cristiana; Stracci, Fabrizio; Ascoli, Valeria; Trafficante, Luana; Angelillo, Italo; Musti, Marina; Cavone, Domenica; Cauzillo, Gabriella; Tallarigo, Federico; Tumino, Rosario; Melis, Massimo
2015-09-01
Italy produced and imported a large amount of raw asbestos, up to the ban in 1992, with a peak in the period between 1976 and 1980 at about 160,000 tons/year. The National Register of Mesotheliomas (ReNaM, "Registro Nazionale dei Mesoteliomi" in Italian), a surveillance system of mesothelioma incidence, has been active since 2002, operating through a regional structure. The Operating Regional Center (COR) actively researches cases and defines asbestos exposure on the basis of national guidelines. Diagnostic, demographic and exposure characteristics of non-occupationally exposed cases are analysed and described with respect to occupationally exposed cases. Standardised incidence rates for pleural mesothelioma in 2008 were 3.84 (per 100,000) for men and 1.45 for women, respectively. Among the 15,845 mesothelioma cases registered between 1993 and 2008, exposure to asbestos fibres was investigated for 12,065 individuals (76.1%), identifying 530 (4.4%) with familial exposure (they lived with an occupationally exposed cohabitant), 514 (4.3%) with environmental exposure to asbestos (they lived near sources of asbestos pollution and were never occupationally exposed) and 188 (1.6%) exposed through hobby-related or other leisure activities. Clusters of cases due to environmental exposure are mainly related to the presence of asbestos-cement industry plants (Casale Monferrato, Broni, Bari), to shipbuilding and repair activities (Monfalcone, Trieste, La Spezia, Genova) and soil contamination (Biancavilla in Sicily). Asbestos pollution outside the workplace contributes significantly to the burden of asbestos-related diseases, suggesting the need to prevent exposures and to discuss how to deal with compensation rights for malignant mesothelioma cases induced by non-occupational exposure to asbestos. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Anfuso, G.; Pranzini, E.; Vitale, G.
2011-06-01
Occupation of the coast has significantly increased in recent decades, mostly due to a greater demand for recreation and tourism. Today, erosion threatens many human-made structures and activities, requiring an integrated approach for the understanding of coastal dynamics and identification of alternatives to associated problems. This study investigates a 64 km-long coastal physiographic unit in the northern microtidal littoral of Tuscany (Italy). Vertical aerial photographs and direct field surveys were used to retrieve changes in shoreline position over 1938-1997 and 1997-2005 time intervals. Significant beach accretion was observed during the first period updrift of Carrara (84 m) and Viareggio (280 m) harbours and at Marina di Pietrasanta (100 m), whereas severe erosion occurred downcoast of Carrara harbour (- 130 m, at Marina dei Ronchi) and on the northern side of Arno river mouth (- 400 m). Similar trends were observed between 1997 and 2005; beach slope between the 1997 shoreline position and the closure depth correlated well with the distribution of erosion/accretion patterns from the 1938-1997 period (slopes were lower in eroded areas than at sites under accretion). Longshore distribution of erosion/accretion patterns was controlled by coastal compartmentalisation. Three of the main littoral cells were mostly formed by natural limits (i.e., Punta Bianca promontory, Marina di Pietrasanta, the Arno river mouth and the port of Livorno). Several sub-cells were created within these cells due to the introduction of human-made structures (such as Carrara and Viareggio harbours), which formed artificial fixed limits that allowed the transport of sediments (exclusively fines) in one direction only. Results will help improve the understanding of coastal processes and manage littoral sediment transport in a sustainable manner. This will reduce the need for structural interventions, such as breakwaters and groynes, which in the past decades prevented coastal retreat at local scale but shifted erosion downdrift, leading to degradation of the investigated area and requiring continuous maintenance.
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Padua and the Stars: Medieval Painting and Illuminated Manuscripts
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Canova, G. M.
2011-06-01
In the Middle Ages, the University of Padua was one of the most prominent centre for astrological studies in Europe. The Paduan doctor and philosopher, Pietro d'Abano, who lived in the first decades of the 14th century, was the main figure in this field. At the end of the 13th century, during a long stay in Paris, he got in contact with the new astrological doctrines flourished after the translation into Latin of Ptolemy's and Arab's works in Spain. Thus, when he went back to Padua, he published several studies on the influence of celestial bodies on human life and human physical characteristics and psychology. These ideas deeply affected the Paduan society of the 14th century and, consequently, the most important painters chose or were asked to evoke the images of stars, planets, and their properties. This adventure began with Giotto who shows a surprising interest in celestial bodies in the Scrovegni Chapel where he represented a comet, and soon after he produced a cycle of astrological paintings on the vault of the Palazzo della Ragione in the Public Palace of Padua. Unfortunately, in 1420, these paintings were destroyed in a fire, but the magnificent cycle of astrological frescoes realized soon after on the walls of the same room gives us some clues on Giotto's work and shows us the complexity of the Medieval astrological science. Other astrological paintings, still preserved, were realized by the painters of the Carrarese Court such as Guariento, who painted the planets and their influences on human ages in the church of the Eremitani, and Giusto dei Menabuoi who represented a superb zodiac around a realistic map of Earth in the Cathedral Baptistery. So Padua really became the capital of astrological painting in Europe. Other evidence of the astrological image in the Veneto Region, between the 14th and 15th centuries, can be found in the manuscripts illuminated in the milieu of the University of Padua and in the first books printed in Venice.
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Marvaso, Giulia; Jereczek-Fossa, Barbara A; Vischioni, Barbara; Ciardo, Delia; Giandini, Tommaso; Hasegawa, Azusa; Cattani, Federica; Carrara, Mauro; Ciocca, Mario; Bedini, Nice; Villa, Sergio; Morlino, Sara; Russo, Stefania; Zerini, Dario; Colangione, Sarah Pia; Panaino, Costanza Maria Vittoria; Fodor, Cristiana; Santoro, Luigi; Pignoli, Emanuele; Valvo, Francesca; Valdagni, Riccardo; De Cobelli, Ottavio; Orecchia, Roberto
2017-05-12
Definition of the optimal treatment schedule for high-risk prostate cancer is under debate. A combination of photon intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) on pelvis with a carbon ion boost might be the optimal treatment scheme to escalate the dose on prostate and deliver curative dose with respect to normal tissue and quality of dose distributions. In fact, carbon ion beams offer the advantage to deliver hypofractionated radiotherapy (RT) using a significantly smaller number of fractions compared to conventional RT without increasing risks of late effects. This study is a prospective phase II clinical trial exploring safety and feasibility of a mixed beam scheme of carbon ion prostate boost followed by photon IMRT on pelvis. The study is designed to enroll 65 patients with localized high-risk prostate cancer at 3 different oncologic hospitals: Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, and Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica. The primary endpoint is the evaluation of safety and feasibility with acute toxicity scored up to 1 month after the end of RT. Secondary endpoints are treatment early (3 months after the end of RT) and long-term tolerability, quality of life, and efficacy. The study is not yet recruiting; in silico studies are ongoing and we expect to start recruitment by 2017. The present clinical trial aims at improving the current treatment for high-risk prostate cancer, evaluating safety and feasibility of a new RT mixed-beam scheme including photons and carbon ions. Encouraging results are coming from carbon ion facilities worldwide on the treatment of different tumors including prostate cancers. Carbon ions combine physical properties allowing for high dose conformity and advantageous radiobiological characteristics. The proposed mixed beam treatment has the advantage to combine a photon high conformity standard of care IMRT phase with a hypofractionated carbon ion RT boost delivered in a short overall treatment time.
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Homicide in Chile: Trends 2000-2012.
Otzen, Tamara; Sanhueza, Antonio; Manterola, Carlos; Hetz, Monica; Melnik, Tamara
2015-12-15
Homicide, an external cause of morbidity and mortality, caused 473,000 deaths worldwide in 2012, a rate of 6.2 per 100,000 inhabitants. The aim of this study was to describe homicide mortality trends in Chile between 2000 and 2012 by year, gender, age group, geographic distribution (by zone and by region) and type of homicide. This was a population-based study. Data for homicide mortality in Chile between 2000 and 2012 were used and they were provided by the Chilean Ministry of Health's Department of Statistics and Health Information (DEIS) and PAHO/WHO. The homicide mortality rates were calculated per 100,000 inhabitants. The study variables were year, geographic distribution, gender, age group and type of homicide. The annual percentage change (APC) of the rates was analyzed, and a logarithm of the rates by year and region was fitted by applying linear regression models. In addition, relative risks (RR) were calculated. 95% confidence intervals were considered in all the analyses. The average yearly rate of homicide (HMR) in Chile (2000-2012) was 4.9. The rates were higher in men (8.7) than in women (1.1), with a RR of 8.2. The rates were higher in the country's central zone (5.0), increasing in recent years in the southern zone, with a significant positive APC of 1.1%. The Aisén Region had the highest rate (7.6), although Antofagasta was the region with the most significant APC (3.1%). The highest rate (9.2) was verified in the 25 to 39 age group. The highest rate (5.5) was recorded in 2005. The most frequent type of homicide was assault with an object (44.8%). Although the homicide rates are higher in the southern zone of the country, the northern zone is showing a tendency to increase, becoming an even more serious problem, which not only affects those directly involved, but society as a whole.
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Jin, Sanli; Lu, Qian; Su, Chunyan; Pang, Dong; Wang, Tao
♦ BACKGROUND: Limited data are available on clinical outcomes among peritoneal dialysis patients with shortage of appendicular skeletal muscle (ASM). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the shortage of ASM is an independent risk factor for mortality in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. ♦ METHODS: Adult patients undergoing CAPD between March and August 2007 in a single center in China were recruited in this prospective cohort study. Body composition, protein/energy intake, clinical, and biochemical data were collected at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. End points were all-cause mortality by 12 September 2014. The mean follow-up time was 60.21 (± 24.45) months (11.00 - 89.00). ♦ RESULTS: Compared with the baseline, the mean value of ASM in CAPD patients decreased at 12 months (19.40 ± 5.60 vs 21.85 ± 6.14, p < 0.001). According to the estimation of patient survival by Kaplan-Meier, patients with a shortage of ASM had a worse survival rate than those with normal ASM (χ 2 = 16.588, p < 0.001). In the Cox's proportional hazards model, patients' survival was independently associated with a shortage of ASM (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.318, p = 0.024, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.116 - 4.812). Standard daily protein intake (stDPI) and standard daily energy intake (stDEI) in patients with a shortage of ASM were significantly lower than those in patients with normal ASM in the first follow-up year (t = 2.067, p = 0.041; t = 3.673, p = 0.001). ♦ CONCLUSIONS: A shortage of ASM is an independent risk factor for mortality in CAPD patients. Further studies are needed to demonstrate that nutritional intervention helps with improving muscle mass and, consequently, the survival of CAPD patients. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Sow-Hsin; Baglioni, Piero
2006-09-01
This special issue of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter gathers together a series of contributions presented at the workshop entitled `Topics in the Application of Scattering Methods to Investigate the Structure and Dynamics of Soft Condensed Matter' held at Pensione Bencista, Fiesole, Italy, a wonderful Italian jewel tucked high in the hills above Florence. This immaculate 14th century villa is a feast for the eyes with antiques and original artwork everywhere you turn, and a stunning view of Florence, overlooking numerous villas and groves of olive trees. The meeting consisted of about 40 invited talks delivered by a selected group of prominent physicists and chemists from the USA, Mexico, Europe and Asia working in the fields of complex and glassy liquids. The topics covered by the talks included: simulations on the liquid-liquid transition phenomenon dynamic crossover in deeply supercooled confined water thermodynamics and dynamics of complex fluids dynamics of interfacial water structural arrest transitions in colloidal systems structure and dynamics in complex systems structure of supramolecular assemblies The choice of topics is obviously heavily biased toward the current interests of the two organizers of the workshop, in view of the fact that one of the incentives for organizing the meeting was to celebrate Sow-Hsin Chen’s life-long scientific activities on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The 21 articles presented in this issue are a state-of-the-art description of the different aspects reported at the workshop from all points of view---experimental, theoretical and numerical. The interdisciplinary nature of the talks should make this special issue of interest to a broad community of scientists involved in the study of the properties of complex fluids, soft condensed matter and disordered glassy systems. We are grateful to the Consorzio per lo Sviluppo dei Sistemi a Grande Interfase (CSGI), Florence, Italy and to the Materials Science Program of the US Department of Energy for their support of the workshop.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Baldi, B.; Guastaldi, E.; Rossetto, R.
2009-04-01
During the characterization of the Apuan Alps groundwater body ( "Corpo Idrico Sotterraneo Significativo", briefly CISS) (Regione Toscana, 2007) the intrinsic vulnerability has been evaluated for Carrara hydrogeological system (Northern Tuscany, Italy) by means of COP method, developed within COST 620 European Action (Zwalhlen, 2003). This system is both characterized by large data availability and it is considered an highly risky zone since groundwater protection problems (turbidity of the tapped spring waters and hydrocarbons contamination) and anthropic activity (marble quarries). The study area, 20 Km2large, has high relief energy, with elevations ranging from 5 to 1700 m amsl in almost 5 km. Runoff is scarce except during heavy rainfall; due to the presence of carbonate rocks infiltration is high: groundwater discharge at 155-255 m amsl. The area is located in the north-western part of Apuan Alps Metamorphic Complex, characterized by carbonate and non-carbonate rocks belonging to the non-metamorphic Tuscan Units (Carnic-Oligocene), Mesozoic Succession, Middle-Triassic Succession, and metamorphic Paleozoic rocks. The main geological structure of the area is the Carrara Syncline, constituted prevalently by dolostones, marbles and cherty limestones. These carbonate formations define several moderately to highly productive hydrogeological units, characterized by fissured and karst flow. Hydrogeological system may be subdivided in two different subsets, because of both geo-structural set up and area conformation. However, these are hydrogeologically connected since anisotropy and fractures of karst groundwater. The southern boundary of Carrara hydrogeological system shows important dammed springs, defined by low productive units of Massa Unit (Cambriano?-Carnic). COP methodology for evaluating intrinsic vulnerability of karst groundwater is based on three main factors for the definition of vulnerability itself: COPIndex = C (flow Concentration) *O (Overlying layers) *P (Precipitation). In this way it is possible to estimate the natural grade of groundwater protection (O factor), determined by both soils properties and vadose zone lithology, and then evaluate how this protection could be modified by infiltration processes (diffused or concentrated, C factor) and climatic conditions (P factor). Factor elaborations have been calculated by study area discretization by means of raster grid with square cells, 100 m large, yielding the values distribution of sub-factor for each factor, and then the spatial distribution of intrinsic vulnerability, as result of geoprocessing and map analysis raster techniques in software ESRI ArcInfo® 9.1. Results shows in the study area: 1) Medium and high values of vulnerability classes; 2) Areas with high vulnerability located in zones with low O protection index and moderate protection reduction; 3) C factor contributes to the high vulnerability where superficial cover supports more the infiltration than the run-off (slope between 8 and 31%); 4) Low vulnerability grade areas are either inside unproductive hydrogeological units, or with thick superficial covers. Comparing these results with previous study, the distribution obtained by COP methodology shows larger variations between very high and high vulnerability area distribution. Most of the first areas are located in the central part of hydrogeological system, near to the main spring, and also in northern areas, where there is a swallow hole. This result yields a more precautionary scenario for particularly sensitive are characterized by high anthropogenic activity (marble quarry). Moreover, the vulnerability of such area is confirmed by both natural tracers (Lycopodium clavatum; Baldi, 2004) and environmental isotopes (2H, 3H, 18O; Doveri, 2005). This methodology allowed adding further information about intrinsic vulnerability of a hydrological contest very sensitive to anthropogenic pressures, and it is important for water resource as well. Such vulnerability map highlights higher vulnerability areas than those showed in previous studies, demonstrating that relying on just one methodology may lead to underestimation of groundwater protection level, especially in karst systems where anthropogenic contexts are developed. References Baldi, B., 2004. Studio idrogeologico dei bacini marmiferi carraresi mediante l'utilizzo di spore di Lycopodium clavatum. Rapporto Finale. Università degli studi di Pisa, Comune di Carrara (rapporto interno). Regione Toscana, 2007. Rapporto sull'attività svolta per la Convenzione tra la Regione Toscana ed il Centro di GeoTecnologie dell'Università degli Studi di Siena. "Studio idrogeologico prototipale del corpo idrico sotterraneo significativo dell'acquifero carbonatico delle Alpi Apuane, Monti d'Oltre Serchio e Santa Maria del Giudice". 10 Settembre 2007. Doveri, M., 2005. Studio idrogeologico e idrogeochimico dei sistemi acquiferi del Bacino del Torrente Carrione e dell'antistante piana costiera. Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Pisa. Zwalhlen, F., 2003. Vulnerability and risk mapping for the protection of carbonate (karst) aquifers, final report COST Action 620. European Commission, Directorate-General for Research, EUR 20912: p. 183-200.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Deininger, Michael; Vattano, Marco; McDermott, Frank; Frisia, Silvia; Borsato, Andrea; Frank, Norbert; Spötl, Christoph; Scholz, Denis; Di Maggio, Cipriano; Madonia, Giuliana
2017-04-01
Sicily is located in the heart of the Mediterranean and takes a strategic position between the western and eastern Mediterranean as well as between northern Africa and continental Europe. It is a place of a diverse and great cultural heritage that goes back many thousands of years; it had been colonised by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans in Ancient times and served as a trading post and granary - the latter particularly for the Romans. Climate change scenarios studies suggest that Mediterranean ecosystems could change into deserts as a consequence of shifting temperature and precipitation patterns unparalleled in the Holocene period (Guiot and Cramer, 2016). It is, therefore, essential to shed light on past precipitation changes to gain knowledge on the timing, dynamics and causes of these changes by making use of natural environmental archives (such as speleothems). This information is not only important for palaeoclimate data-model comparisons but can also give archaeologists a wealth of information when studying cultural transformations. Speleothems are valuable natural archives of past climatic and environmental conditions on the continents. Major strengths include their suitability for accurate U-series age determinations and their preservation of multiple quasi-independent climate proxies - that can be linked to precipitation changes. Hence, speleothems proxy time series from the Mediterranean can be regarded as an important testimony of past environmental and climate changes (including precipitation) that allow to provide answers to the aforementioned questions. Here we present first result of ongoing speleothem research on Sicily, with focuses on Pietrazzi cave (Grotta dei Pietrazzi) located west of Palermo. It developed in limestone (limestone consisting of bioclastic packstone/wackestones, fore reef coral rudstones (calcirudite) and calcarenites.) of the Calcare di Piano Battaglia Formation. Pietrazzi cave is more than 600 m in length and has a depth of roughly 90m. We will show preliminary analysis of three stalagmites (PZ-1, PZ-2, PZ-3) including U-Th age models and stable oxygen and carbon isotope data of PZ-1. Guiot, J., and Cramer, W.: Climate change: The 2015 Paris Agreement thresholds and Mediterranean basin ecosystems, Science, 354, 465, 2016.
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'Divinity expresses the self ...' An investigation.
Stein, Murray
2008-06-01
The self is more than conscious identity and location (i.e., the ego) because it includes and expresses the full range of the psyche, all conscious and unconscious elements included, and it is responsible for the unity of the psyche as a whole. Beyond this, the self concept sets up the basis for the linkage between analytical psychology and religious doctrines of transcendence. It has been stated by critics and sympathizers that Jung was a 'mystic', or a throwback to pre-Enlightenment medievalism, who equated the self with God, mixed up categories of transcendence and immanence, and put the psyche on a symbolic par with Divinity. While this does contain a kernel of truth about his late views, it is not quite as straightforward as it sounds. This essay(1) explores the complex relation of the self to the transcendent (Divinity), as Jung understood these terms and employed them, focusing especially on a critical passage from his last major work, Mysterium Coniunctionis. The notion of self as imago Dei grasps the paradoxical nature of the self, a coincidentia oppositorum that is at once personal and impersonal, embodying a pattern of Divinity that also is revealed as a coincidentia oppositorum, immanent and transcendent. Jung posits, moreover, a dynamic interactive relation between the self and the transcendence it mirrors. Altogether, this combination of features regarding the self sets Jung's psychology apart from humanistic and personalistic psychologies and secular depth psychologies such as those descended from Freud on the one side, and on the other side it also separates it from pre-Enlightenment dogmatic psychologies such as those belonging to religious fundamentalisms. This essay attempts to explore and to explicate the subtle space between purely secular and religious doctrines and to make the case that Jung's depth psychology represents a post-Enlightenment, post-secular, post-humanistic vision of the human as a material/spiritual being whose psyche links earth and heaven, the here and the beyond, the finite and the infinite. It is a radical attempt to break out of modernity without regressing to medievalism.
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The GIIDA (Management of the CNR Environmental Data for Interoperability) project
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nativi, S.
2009-04-01
This work presents the GIIDA (Gestione Integrata e Interoperativa dei Dati Ambientali del CNR) inter-departimental project of the Italian National Research Council (CNR). The project is an initiative of the Earth and Environment Department (Dipartimento Terra e Ambiente) of the CNR. GIIDA mission is "To implement the Spatial Information Infrastructure (SII) of CNR for Environmental and Earth Observation data". The project aims to design and develop a multidisciplinary cyber-infrastructure for the management, processing and evaluation of Earth and environmental data. This infrastructure will contribute to the Italian presence in international projects and initiatives, such as: INSPIRE, GMES, GEOSS and SEIS. The main GIIDA goals are: • Networking: To create a network of CNR Institutes for implementing a common information space and sharing spatial resources. • Observation: Re-engineering the environmental observation system of CNR • Modeling: Re-engineering the environmental modeling system del CNR • Processing: Re-engineering the environmental processing system del CNR • Mediation: To define mediation methods and instruments for implementing the international interoperability standards. The project started in July 2008 releasing a specification document of the GIIDA architecture for interoperability and security. Based on these documents, a Call for Proposals was issued in September 2008. GIIDA received 23 proposed pilots from 16 different Institutes belonging to five CNR Departments and from 15 non-CNR Institutions (e.g. three Italian regional administrations, three national research centers, four universities, some SMEs). These pilot were divided into thematic areas. In fact, GIIDA considers seven main thematic areas/domains: • Biodiversity; • Climate Changes; • Air Quality; • Soil and Water Quality; • Risks; • Infrastructures for Research and Public Administrations; • Sea and Marine resources Each of these thematic areas is covered by a Working Group which coordinates the activities and the achievements of the respective pilots. Working Groups are called to develop for each area: 1) a specific Web Portal; 2) a thematic catalog service; 3) a thematic thesaurus service; 4) a thematic Wiki; 5) standard access and view services for thematic resources -such as: datasets, models, and processing services; 6) a couple of significant use scenarios to be demonstrated.
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Ingrassia, Pier Luigi; Ragazzoni, Luca; Tengattini, Marco; Carenzo, Luca; Della Corte, Francesco
2014-10-01
In recent years, effective models of disaster medicine curricula for medical schools have been established. However, only a small percentage of medical schools worldwide have considered at least basic disaster medicine teaching in their study program. In Italy, disaster medicine has not yet been included in the medical school curriculum. Perceiving the lack of a specific course on disaster medicine, the Segretariato Italiano Studenti in Medicina (SISM) contacted the Centro di Ricerca Interdipartimentale in Medicina di Emergenza e dei Disastri ed Informatica applicata alla didattica e alla pratica Medica (CRIMEDIM) with a proposal for a nationwide program in this field. Seven modules (introduction to disaster medicine, prehospital disaster management, definition of triage, characteristics of hospital disaster plans, treatment of the health consequences of different disasters, psychosocial care, and presentation of past disasters) were developed using an e-learning platform and a 12-hour classroom session which involved problem-based learning (PBL) activities, table-top exercises, and a computerized simulation (Table 1). The modules were designed as a framework for a disaster medicine curriculum for undergraduates and covered the three main disciplines (clinical and psychosocial, public health, and emergency and risk management) of the core of "Disaster Health" according to the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) international guidelines for disaster medicine education. From January 2011 through May 2013, 21 editions of the course were delivered to 21 different medical schools, and 524 students attended the course. The blended approach and the use of simulation tools were appreciated by all participants and successfully increased participants' knowledge of disaster medicine and basic competencies in performing mass-casualty triage. This manuscript reports on the designing process and the initial outcomes with respect to learners' achievements and satisfaction of a 1-month educational course on the fundamentals of disaster medicine. This experience might represent a valid and innovative solution for a disaster medicine curriculum for medical students that is easily delivered by medical schools. [table: see text].
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Genuis, Quentin I T
2016-02-01
Predominant among the terminological ambiguities that plague contemporary bioethics is confusion attending the meaning of the term "human dignity," particularly as it applies to so-called end-of-life discussions. This study surveys current trends in treatment of the concept of dignity, examining relevant thinkers who see dignity as redundant or as capability-dependent. These inadequate views are contrasted with an attitude, based theologically in Mark 5, that understands human dignity to represent an absolute characteristic that is donated graciously to all bearers of imago Dei . Human dignity must thus be affirmed as inviolable and independent of autonomy, rationality, or capability. A specific task of the Christian Church is to faithfully recognize and proclaim this dignity. This investigation is particularly relevant in the face of contemporary discussions regarding euthanasia and physician-assisted death. Lay Summary: Much of the polarization within the contemporary bioethical discussion proceeds out of confusion regarding how we ought to define the terms of the debate. If we may take the existing debates regarding euthanasia and physician-assisted death as an example, we may understand the vital need for a sensible definition of the term that stands at the heart of the arguments of both sides of the debate: "human dignity." As such, this study seeks to define dignity in a logical, theological, deeply personal, and highly practical fashion, and to outline the critical role of the Church within such an understanding. Sometimes, when I walk into the room, he ignores me. Sometimes he thinks I am someone else. Most often he is asleep, subjugated by drugs designed to prevent agitation, although "agitation" is the sterilized hospital word for what I would call unbridled panic, total disorientation. The night he had the stroke, they had to tie him to the bed just to keep him in the hospital. And they wouldn't let me see him because he had been calling my name. Very dramatic, but most of his suffering, and our grief, is not dramatic. It is just the mundane process of one man slowly fading, becoming, every day, more of a stranger to himself and to those he loves.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Porfido, Sabina; Alessio, Giuliana; Avallone, Paola; Gaudiosi, Germana; Lombardi, Giovanni; Nappi, Rosa; Salvemini, Raffaella; Spiga, Efisio
2016-04-01
This paper, by means of a multidisciplinary approach, deals with changes of the urban and territorial setting in many localities of the epicentral area of the 23 November 1980 Irpinia earthquake. The 23 November 1980 earthquake, known as the "Irpinia-Basilicata earthquake" was the strongest seismic event of the last 80 years in the Southern Apennines of Italy (Mw 6.9, I0=X MCS). It was felt nearly everywhere in Italy, from Sicily in the South, to Emilia Romagna and Liguria in the North. This earthquake was characterized by a complex main rupture, composed of three major sub-events, interpreted as a succession of normal faulting events. Many localities in the Avellino, Salerno and Potenza provinces were nearly completely destroyed (I=IX-X MSK, Postpischl et al., 1985); among them Castelnuovo di Conza, Conza della Campania, Lioni, Santomenna, San Mango sul Calore, San Michele di Serino and Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi. About 800 localities suffered serious damage (Balvano, Bisaccia, Calitri, etc); 75,000 houses collapsed totally and 275,000 were badly damaged. Casualties were 3000, and 10,000 people were wounded. A large amount of information on primary and secondary environmental effects, over all slope movements, was available on the basis of several geological surveys of the area affected by this earthquake. The amount of surface faulting was about 40 km in length and the maximum displacement about 100 cm, while the total area interested by slope movements was estimated in 7400 km2 (Porfido et al., 2002, 2007; Serva et al.2009). In this study we aim to describe trends and specific effects that have taken place in the 35 years following the 1980 earthquake: how the urban and territorial setting have changed, especially in the villages located in the epicentral area; the consequences of the environmental effects on the choices of reconstruction, both in situ, and far from the original historical centre. Therefore, some case histories as San Mango sul Calore and Calitri villages, affected by severe landslide phenomena, and in situ rebuilt, will be examined; whereas Conza della Campania, on the basis of the suffered damages, has been reconstructed far from its original position. In addition, we also illustrate the socio-economic implications that the choices of reconstruction have had, not only for the local communities, but also on the whole Italian country.
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Marcon, Alessandro; Vaona, Alberto; Rigon, Giulio; Carazzolo, Marco; Del Zotti, Franco; Girotto, Sandro; Marafetti, Claudio
2016-01-01
OBIETTIVI: descrivere, nella ASL 21 di Legnago (VR), l'andamento di alcuni indicatori sanitari tra il 2009, anno precedente all'avvio di un progetto triennale per la gestione integrata dell'assistenza al paziente con diabete mellito di tipo 2, e il 2012, ultimo anno del progetto. DISEGNO: studio longitudinale trasversale ripetuto. SETTING E PARTECIPANTI: tutti i pazienti diabetici di tipo 2 della ASL 21, identificati nei database aziendali (in base a esenzioni per patologia, accessi al servizio diabetologico, consumo di farmaci antidiabetici e strisce per la determinazione della glicemia) e nelle cartelle cliniche dei medici di famiglia. PRINCIPALI MISURE DI OUTCOME: numero di test diagnostici e di follow-up erogati, consumo di farmaci, prestazioni specialistiche, accessi al pronto soccorso, ricoveri e mortalità. RISULTATI: nonostante un calo generalizzato (-3,1%) nei test erogati dalla ASL 21 ai suoi assistititi nel periodo 2009-2012, l'analisi ha documentato un marcato aumento per gli esami previsti nella gestione del diabete, quali curve da carico glicemico (+104,3%), emoglobina glicata (+19,0%) e microalbuminuria (+296,1%). I soggetti identificati come diabetici sono aumentati da 8.084 nel 2009 (5,2%) a 9.221 nel 2012 (5,9%). Sono stati osservati aumenti nella prevalenza di pazienti visitati presso un servizio diabetologico (dal 22,6% al 39,0%), nonché negli utilizzatori di metformina (dal 28,0% al 37,5%), insuline (dal 13,5% al 18,3%) e incretine (dall'1,4% al 9,0%). Il consumo di sulfaniluree è, invece, calato (dal 49,9% al 40,8%), come anche l'erogazione di alcune prestazioni specialistiche, gli accessi al pronto soccorso e i ricoveri, mentre il tasso di mortalità è rimasto stabile (29,6 decessi x1.000/anno). CONCLUSIONE: durante il periodo di implementazione del progetto sembra essersi verificato un aumento della sensibilità diagnostica e una maggiore presa in carico del paziente diabetico. Anche se la natura osservazionale dello studio non consente di dimostrare una relazione causa-effetto, i risultati sembrano supportare l'ipotesi che la gestione integrata della patologia migliori l'appropriatezza dell'assistenza.
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Calorimetria nucleare in collisioni tra ioni pesanti ad energie intermedie
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Spezzi, L.
2002-07-01
Nel presente lavoro di tesi ci si e' occupati di uno studio sistematico di misure di temperatura ed energia di eccitazione in sistemi nucleari formati in reazioni tra ioni pesanti ad energie intermedie. La temperatura a stata misurata tramite due diversi metodi: rapporto tra le rese di isotopi che differiscono di uno stesso numero di nucleoni ( d/t-3He/4He , 3He/4He -6Li/7Li) - temperatura isotopica -, e rapporto tra le popolazioni degli stati eccitati in frammenti instabili (5Li e 6Li) che decadono in particelle leggere in coincidenza - temperatura di emissione. Le misure in esame sono state effettuate presso i Laboratori Nazionali del Sud per i sistemi 93Nb+93Nb, 93Nb+116,124Sn, 116,120Sn+116,124Sn e 116Sn+93Nb ad energie comprese tra 17 e 40 A MeV. L'apparato di rivelazione era costituito da un odoscopio ad alta granularite (96 telescopi Si (50micron)-Si(300micron)-CsI(Tl) ) e basse soglie di rivelazione, utilizzato sia per identificare risonanze in frammenti eccitati che per misure di rese di isotopi di frammenti con 2<=Z<=6, e dal multirivelatore FIASCO che, grazie alla misura contemporanea di posizione e tempo di volo dei frammenti provenienti dal proiettile (PLF - Projectile Like Fragments) e dal bersaglio (TLF - Target Like Fragment), e' stato utilizzato per misurare direttamente l'energia di eccitazione del sistema in studio. Analisi precedenti, condotte nell'ambito di varie collaborazioni, hanno messo in evidenza la possible esistenza di una transizione di fase liquido-gas del primo ordine nella materia nucleare. In tale contesto, ci siamo occupati di una verifica della curva calorica nucleare, ovvero della correlazione esistente fra temperatura ed energia di eccitazione del sistema, indagando, nel contempo, sulla sua dipendenza dalla massa del sistema che si frammenta. Si e' effettuato, inoltre, un confronto fra i due diversi metodi di misura della temperatura (temperatura isotopica e di emissione): l'andamento plateau-like della curva calorica e' stato confermato sia dalle temperature isotopiche che dalle temperature di emissione. Le "temperature limite", ovvero quelle relative all'andamento plateau-like della curva calorica, misurate per i vari sistemi studiati, sono state confrontate con quelle attualmente disponibili in letteratura, confermando la dipendenza dalla massa del sistema di tale grandezza.
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Valenti, Carla; Pozzi, Paolo; Busia, Alessandra; Mazza, Roberto; Bossi, Paolo; De Marco, Cinzia; Ruprecht, Ario Alberto; Borgini, Alessandro; Boffi, Roberto
2016-01-01
This report is based on an independent study carried out by medical professionals of the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori (National Cancer Institute) in Milan, Italy, and aimed to assess the incidence of respiratory diseases in a Brazilian community (Piquiá de Baixo, in the city of Açailandia) exposed to extreme air pollution in connection to a local steel manufacturing plant. The study has the objective to contribute to the existing literature on the health risks associated with fine particle pollution (PM2.5) due to steel production with data from Brazil. The study is based on a cross-sectional sample of the resident population of Piquiá de Baixo age 16 or over consisting of 220 people. We collected data about the health conditions of participant subjects in two ways: a) medical history questionnaires and b) clinical assessment of respiratory function through spirometry testing. The results were evaluated based on comparative studies. According to the spirometric tests performed, 28 % of the sample population suffers from respiratory pathologies (for the most part of restrictive rather than obstructive nature). This incidence rate is between six and two times higher than those reported in similar studies carried out in other countries (which range between 4.6 and 14.5 %). In addition, the incidence rate is also significantly high in light of the fact that our sample population did not include the category of subjects most at risk for pulmonary disorders in connection to air pollution caused by the Piquiá steel processing complex: in other words, men and women employed in the steel mills or in connection with their industrial cycle (as many as 434 Piquiá residents age 16 and over were unable to participate to our study due to "work-related reasons"). In light of the above considerations, we believe that our findings contribute to the existing literature on the correlation between pulmonary disease and air pollution in industrialized areas, while warranting further scientific research on the public health consequences of industrial production in Piquiá de Baixo. In turn, on the ethical plane, we believe that research of this nature strengthens the need to advocate for more severe environmental and health policies aimed at limiting the hazards associated with the steel industry in Piquiá and in similar contexts around the world.
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[Enteral nutrition: reduction in the contamination risk].
Montemerlo, H; Menéndez, A M; Marcenac, F; Floridia, J; Esteban, L; Barbaricca, M
1996-01-01
Enteral nutrition is used as a routine therapy in patients with caloric-protein malnutrition, severe dysphagia, major burns, intestinal resection, and enterocutaneous fistulae, as long as a portion of the digestive tract still has an active absorptive function. The administration takes place by means of surgical (ostomies) or non-surgical (nasogastric) tubes. In our country, a significant number of hospitalized patients with various diseases receive this type of nutrition. Given that the colonization of the digestive tract by hospital flora is the first step towards developing intra-hospital infections, the contamination implies serious risks. The objective of this study was to study the most appropriate conditions for the manufacturing, storage and administration of the mixture of nutrients of enteral nutrition, to guarantee nutrition with a lower contamination risk. This study was conducted by the Unit of Nutritional Assistance of the Mater Dei Clinic, by means of bacteriological controls, from January 1991 to December 1992, and in 1993 in which the work systematics were reviewed. The study was prospective, and those solutions whose bacteriological counts were lower than 100.000 colony forming units (CFU), and which showed an absence of enteropathological micro-organisms, were considered acceptable, and those solutions which had a bacteriological count greater than or equal to 100.000 CFU and or the presence of enteropathological micro-organisms, were considered unacceptable. During the first period, "usual working conditions", we analyzed the infra-structure, the personnel, the constituents, and the apparatus used in the manufacturing, for which 36 samples were studied at t0 (moment of preparation). Afterwards, in the second period "special working conditions", we analyzed the manufacturing procedures, the storage and the administration of 103 solutions, corresponding to 36 patients, taking samples at t0 and t24 (after 24 hours of preparing). In the first phase, we found a 53% contamination. In the second phase, 99.03% of the solutions were within the limits of acceptability, and only 0.07% were unacceptable. We conclude that it is necessary to have access to a working area which meets the biosecurity norms, to use sterile technique in the preparation, to prefer pharmacologically sterile products for the preparation, to store the prepared mixture between 4 and 8 degrees C, and to keep it cooled during the administration. Lastly, we saw the need to continuously capacitate the nursing, dietary (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
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Role of vegetation on erosion processes: experimental investigation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Termini, Donatella
2014-05-01
Investigations on soil-system ecology are ever more oriented toward quantitative information based on the study of the linkages between physical processes and ecological response in rivers. As it is known, in presence of vegetation, the hydrodynamics characteristics of flow are principally determined by the mutual interrelation between the flow velocity field and the hydraulic behavior (completely submerged or emergent) of the vegetation elements. Much effort has been made toward identifying the theoretical law to interpret the vertical profile of flow longitudinal velocity in vegetated channels. Many theoretical and experimental studies in laboratory channels have been carried out and especially the case of submerged flexible vegetation has been examined (Termini, 2012). The effects of vegetation on flow velocity are significant and of crucial importance for stabilizing sediments and reducing erosion. Vegetation has a complex effect on walls roughness and the study of the hydrodynamic conditions of flow is difficult. Although most studies based on the "boundary layer" scheme so that the hydrodynamic conditions inside and above the vegetated layer are considered separately, some authors (Ghisalberti and Nepft, 2002; Carollo et al., 2008) claim that the "mixing layer" scheme is more appropriate to define the velocity profile both inside and outside the vegetated layer. Experimental program has been recently carried out in two laboratory flumes constructed at the laboratory of Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali - University of Palermo (Italy) with real and flexible vegetation on the bed. In this paper, attention is paid to the influence of vegetation on the erosion processes both on the bed and on the channel banks. The structure of the detailed flow velocity field is analyzed and compared with that obtained in absence of vegetation. Attention is then devoted to the analysis of soil erosion mechanism. Carollo F.G., Ferro V., Termini D. (2008). Flow velocity profile and turbulence characteristics in a vegetated straight flume. International Congress Riverflow 2008- Cesnme - Izmir (Turkey) 3-5 September Ghisalberti, M. & Nepf, H. M. 2002. Mixing layer and coherent structures in vegetated acquatic flows. Journal of Geophysical Reseach 107(2). Termini D. (2012). Experimental investigation on the role of vegetation on sediment transport mechanism: review of recent results - 9th ISE - International Symposium on Ecohydraulics - 2012, ISSN 0945-358X Vienna - CD proceedings-
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Genuis, Quentin I. T.
2016-01-01
Predominant among the terminological ambiguities that plague contemporary bioethics is confusion attending the meaning of the term “human dignity,” particularly as it applies to so-called end-of-life discussions. This study surveys current trends in treatment of the concept of dignity, examining relevant thinkers who see dignity as redundant or as capability-dependent. These inadequate views are contrasted with an attitude, based theologically in Mark 5, that understands human dignity to represent an absolute characteristic that is donated graciously to all bearers of imago Dei. Human dignity must thus be affirmed as inviolable and independent of autonomy, rationality, or capability. A specific task of the Christian Church is to faithfully recognize and proclaim this dignity. This investigation is particularly relevant in the face of contemporary discussions regarding euthanasia and physician-assisted death. Lay Summary: Much of the polarization within the contemporary bioethical discussion proceeds out of confusion regarding how we ought to define the terms of the debate. If we may take the existing debates regarding euthanasia and physician-assisted death as an example, we may understand the vital need for a sensible definition of the term that stands at the heart of the arguments of both sides of the debate: “human dignity.” As such, this study seeks to define dignity in a logical, theological, deeply personal, and highly practical fashion, and to outline the critical role of the Church within such an understanding. Sometimes, when I walk into the room, he ignores me. Sometimes he thinks I am someone else. Most often he is asleep, subjugated by drugs designed to prevent agitation, although “agitation” is the sterilized hospital word for what I would call unbridled panic, total disorientation. The night he had the stroke, they had to tie him to the bed just to keep him in the hospital. And they wouldn't let me see him because he had been calling my name. Very dramatic, but most of his suffering, and our grief, is not dramatic. It is just the mundane process of one man slowly fading, becoming, every day, more of a stranger to himself and to those he loves. PMID:27833177
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Geotube: a network based framework for Goescience dissemination
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Grieco, Giovanni; Porta, Marina; Merlini, Anna Elisabetta; Caironi, Valeria; Reggiori, Donatella
2016-04-01
Geotube is a project promoted by Il Geco cultural association for the dissemination of Geoscience education in schools by open multimedia environments. The approach is based on the following keystones: • A deep and permanent epistemological reflection supported by confrontation within the International Scientific Community • A close link with the territory • A local to global inductive approach to basic concepts in Geosciences • The construction of an open framework to stimulate creativity The project has been developed as an educational activity for secondary schools (11 to 18 years old students). It provides for the creation of a network of institutions to be involved in order to ensure the required diversified expertise. They can comprise: Universities, Natural Parks, Mountain Communities, Municipalities, schools, private companies working in the sector, and so on. A single project lasts for one school year (October to June) and requires 8-12 work hours at school, one or two half day or full day excursions and a final event of presentation of outputs. The possible outputs comprise a pdf or ppt guidebook, a script and a video completely shooted and edited by the students. The framework is open in order to adapt to the single class or workgroup needs, the level and type of school, the time available and different subjects in Geosciences. In the last two years the two parts of the project have been successfully tested separately, while the full project will be presented at schools in in its full form in April 2016, in collaboration with University of Milan, Campo dei Fiori Natural Park, Piambello Mountain Community and Cunardo Municipality. The production of geotube outputs has been tested in a high school for three consecutive years. Students produced scripts and videos on the following subjects: geologic hazards, volcanoes and earthquakes, and climate change. The excursions have been tested with two different high schools. Firstly two areas have been selected for their geodiversity: Val d'Ossola and Varese District, both in the Southern Alps geological region. Then a group of five BS students from University of Milan have been involved in the production of guidebooks and geologic educational itineraries in the two areas. Some of these outputs have been tested within the SOLE (Social Open Learning Environment) Erasmus+ project. Then some of the selected itineraries have been used for excursions with students. Partial tests have so far showed the high educational potential of the Geotube project allowing the creation of a network of institution collaborating for its success in the final complete form.
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Caetano dos Santos, Florentino Luciano; Skottman, Heli; Juuti-Uusitalo, Kati; Hyttinen, Jari
2016-01-01
Aims A fast, non-invasive and observer-independent method to analyze the homogeneity and maturity of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) derived retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells is warranted to assess the suitability of hPSC-RPE cells for implantation or in vitro use. The aim of this work was to develop and validate methods to create ensembles of state-of-the-art texture descriptors and to provide a robust classification tool to separate three different maturation stages of RPE cells by using phase contrast microscopy images. The same methods were also validated on a wide variety of biological image classification problems, such as histological or virus image classification. Methods For image classification we used different texture descriptors, descriptor ensembles and preprocessing techniques. Also, three new methods were tested. The first approach was an ensemble of preprocessing methods, to create an additional set of images. The second was the region-based approach, where saliency detection and wavelet decomposition divide each image in two different regions, from which features were extracted through different descriptors. The third method was an ensemble of Binarized Statistical Image Features, based on different sizes and thresholds. A Support Vector Machine (SVM) was trained for each descriptor histogram and the set of SVMs combined by sum rule. The accuracy of the computer vision tool was verified in classifying the hPSC-RPE cell maturation level. Dataset and Results The RPE dataset contains 1862 subwindows from 195 phase contrast images. The final descriptor ensemble outperformed the most recent stand-alone texture descriptors, obtaining, for the RPE dataset, an area under ROC curve (AUC) of 86.49% with the 10-fold cross validation and 91.98% with the leave-one-image-out protocol. The generality of the three proposed approaches was ascertained with 10 more biological image datasets, obtaining an average AUC greater than 97%. Conclusions Here we showed that the developed ensembles of texture descriptors are able to classify the RPE cell maturation stage. Moreover, we proved that preprocessing and region-based decomposition improves many descriptors’ accuracy in biological dataset classification. Finally, we built the first public dataset of stem cell-derived RPE cells, which is publicly available to the scientific community for classification studies. The proposed tool is available at https://www.dei.unipd.it/node/2357 and the RPE dataset at http://www.biomeditech.fi/data/RPE_dataset/. Both are available at https://figshare.com/s/d6fb591f1beb4f8efa6f. PMID:26895509
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Airborne monitoring of landfills CH_{4} emissions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gasbarra, Daniele; Gioli, Beniamino; Carlucci, Pantaleone; Magliulo, Vincenzo; Toscano, Piero; Zaldei, Alessandro
2017-04-01
The disposal and treatment of waste produces emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which contribute to global climate change. In particular, large quantities of Methane are released in the breakdown of organic matter in landfills. In this work we present a new payload of the Sky Arrow ERA aircraft and an original methodology to compute methane emissions, based on the atmospheric mass budget approach. The payload is presently being used for intensive measurements in the area known as "Terra dei fuochi". In this area, located between the provinces of Naples and Caserta (Southern Italy), urban waste combined with industrial toxic waste has been illegally dumped in old quarries or buried in the nearby countryside for decades. This led to patchy sources of methane, with several hot spots spread over a heterogeneous land. In this context, the use of aircraft allows for the investigation at the landscape as well as at the regional scale, taking into account all sources, including those of small dimensions. The Sky Arrow ERA is equipped with the Mobile Flux Platform, capable of deriving the 3D wind vector at 50 Hz, while CO2 and water vapor densities are measured by an infrared gas analyzer (Licor 7500). A new configuration of the Licor 7700 open path fast methane gas analyzer was developed, based on enclosing the sensor within a cylinder exposed to the external air in-flow. This set-up allows for fast response measurements, while avoiding external modifications, subjected to restrictions. Ambient methane mixing ratios in excess of 7 ppm were measured during landfills overpasses; performing grid flight plans at different heights, to describe a virtual box enclosing the study area, and applying interpolation procedures, it was possible to reconstruct wind components and scalar concentrations in a 5x5 kilometers domain containing 6 different landfills, with a resolution of 50 m horizontal and 20 m vertical. For each flight the methane mass flows along and across the wind direction have been computed as products of gas densities and wind speed, while contributions of each individual landfill to total flows were computed with a GLM (general linear model) approach. More than 15 flights were performed from October 2015 to December 2016. Results revealed high methane emissions ranging from 150 g s-1 to 400 g s-1for the entire domain with a mean value of 240 g s-1; no seasonal variation was observed over the whole measuring period.
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X-ray sterilization of insects and microorganisms for cultural heritage applications
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Borgognoni, F.; Vadrucci, M.; Bazzano, G.; Ferrari, P.; Massa, S.; Moretti, R.; Calvitti, M.; Ronsivalle, C.; Moriani, A.; Picardi, L.
2017-09-01
The APAM (Development of Particle Accelerators and Medical Applications) Laboratory of the ENEA Frascati Research Center is engaged in the preservation of cultural heritage as part of the COBRA (Sviluppo e diffusione di metodi, tecnologie e strumenti avanzati per la COnservazione dei Beni culturali, basati sull'applicazione di Radiazioni e di tecnologie Abilitanti) project addressed to the transfer of innovative technologies and methodologies from research to small and medium enterprises involved in the restorative measures. This work aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of ionizing radiation on the disinfection of biodegraded art objects. The conventional methods for the disinfestation of works of art, using chemicals toxic to humans and environment, might cause some damage to the treated material even on micrometric scale (i. e. either cellulose degradation). Ionizing radiations interact with the infesting biological material causing an irreversible DNA degradation. For this reason, they are certainly suitable for removal treatments of both macro organisms and bacterial colonies. A 4.8 MeV electron linear accelerator, normally dedicated to the characterization of dose detectors and radiographies, has been employed to produce Bremsstrahlung X-rays through a lead converter. The spectral fluence of the radiation source has been calculated using the Monte Carlo MCNPX code. The dosimetric characterization of the radiation field has been made using radiochromic films sensitive in the dose range of our interest (from 50 to 500 Gy) calibrated with a Markus ionization chamber. The irradiation of the artifact prototypes are made within a lead shielded room at a variable distance from the X-rays source. Samples subjected to irradiation consist of a soil bacterium, Agrobacterium rhizogenes, and an insect, Stegobium paniceum, that are found as wall paintings invasive coloniser and as a pest of books, wood works and paintings, respectively. Tests of irradiation have been performed on pest organisms as well as on woods mock-ups to evaluate potential damage to the material during the sterilization. The growing capacity of the treated bacterial cells re-cultured at the end of the treatment was evaluated on the bacterial sample and resulted to strongly inhibit cell growth during post-irradiation incubation, so that after incubation periods at 28 °C, no significant cell growth was observed. The induced levels of insect mortality and sterility vs absorbed dose and operative conditions have been also evaluated, demonstrating the induction of full sterility since the lower dose and 40% mortality by two days after the higher dose treatment. The experiments proved the ability to efficaciously treat objects of cultural heritage with X-rays in order to prevent the increase of the biodeterioration without damaging the materials: in fact, mechanical tests on both irradiated and not irradiated woods have demonstrated the absence of any induced degradation after the radiation exposition.
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Middle and Upper Eocene nummulite banks of Northern Italy: common traits and differences
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Seddighi, M.; Papazzoni, C. A.
2012-04-01
The well-known genus Nummulites flourished in the stable, oligotrophic environments of Eocene. During this time, peculiar monospecific accumulations called nummulite banks (Arni, 1965) developed. The paleoenvironmental interpretation of these banks is still debated. So far, several studies deal with nummulite banks but their quantitative aspects were neglected. Here we present new quantitative observations useful to better define the nummulite bank concept. Samples were collected from Pederiva di Grancona (N. lyelli bank) and San Germano dei Berici (N. fabianii bank; both in the Berici Mts., northern Italy). According to the Shallow Benthic Zonation of Serra Kiel et al. (1998) the Pederiva bank is referred to the SBZ 17 (Early Bartonian), and the San Germano bank to the SBZ 19 (Early Priabonian). In both cases there is a bimodal grain size distribution of microspheres and megalospheres of Nummulites in a fine-grained matrix, giving rise to a packstone texture. In Pederiva, 1448 Nummulites isolated specimens (A-forms) were counted and identified at the species level. Among them 1082 individuals are Nummulites lyelli, so 74.7% of the identified assemblage. Nummulites striatus is the second most-abundant species with the 11.5%, and the rest are the three accessory species N. discorbinus, N. biarritzensis, N. beaumonti. In the San Germano bank, 2043 isolated A-forms of Nummulites were counted and identified at the species level. Among them, 1742 are Nummulites fabianii, which means 85.3% of the assemblage. The second most-abundant species is Nummulites stellatus, accounting for 10.6% of the assemblage. The rest of the assemblage is made by small, lenticular Nummulites (N. incrassatus, N. chavannesi, N. cunialensis and N. garnieri). On polished surfaces of two samples from San Germano and Pederiva, two areas (38 and 76 cm2 respectively) were observed to count all the visible specimens of Nummulites in order to calculate the A/B ratio. The "normal" A/B ratio usually reported in literature is 10:1. However, our results show that the A/B ratio in the banks varies from 28 to 42, whereas in "normal" nummulitic limestones it varies from 86 to 348. Therefore, in the nummulite banks the A-forms are still dominant but the number of B-forms is unusually high. The San Germano and Pederiva banks are both monospecific assemblages, with one species accounting for about 75-85% of the individuals, and relatively low A/B ratio. This is consistent with the definition of nummulite bank by Arni (1965). However, there are some differences probably related to different paleoenvironmental settings: in Pederiva, apart for Nummulites there are only a few Discocyclina, whereas in San Germano the coralline algae and bivalves are accompanied by a few Discocyclina.
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Assimilation of high resolution satellite imagery into the 3D-CMCC forest ecosystem model
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Natali, S.; Collalti, A.; Candini, A.; Della Vecchia, A.; Valentini, R.
2012-04-01
The use of satellite observations for the accurate monitoring of the terrestrial biosphere has been carried out since the very early stage of remote sensing applications. The possibility to observe the ground surface with different wavelengths and different observation modes (namely active and passive observations) has given to the scientific community an invaluable tool for the observation of wide areas with a resolution down to the single tree. On the other hand, the continuous development of forest ecosystem models has permitted to perform simulations of complex ("natural") forest scenarios to evaluate forest status, forest growth and future dynamics. Both remote sensing and modelling forest assessment methods have advantages and disadvantages that could be overcome by the adoption of an integrated approach. In the framework of the European Space Agency Project KLAUS, high resolution optical satellite data has been integrated /assimilated into a forest ecosystem model (named 3D-CMCC) specifically developed for multi-specie, multi-age forests. 3D-CMCC permits to simulate forest areas with different forest layers, with different trees at different age on the same point. Moreover, the model permits to simulate management activities on the forest, thus evaluating the carbon stock evolution following a specific management scheme. The model has been modified including satellite data at 10m resolution, permitting the use of directly measured information, adding to the model the real phenological cycle of each simulated point. Satellite images have been collected by the JAXA ALOS-AVNIR-2 sensor. The integration schema has permitted to identify a spatial domain in which each pixel is characterised by a forest structure (species, ages, soil parameters), meteo-climatological parameters and estimated Leaf Area Index from satellite. The resulting software package (3D-CMCC-SAT) is built around 3D-CMCC: 2D / 3D input datasets are processed iterating on each point of the analysed domain to create a set of monthly/ yearly output maps. The integrated approach has been tested on the "Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini, Italy". The high correlation showed between observed and computed data can be considered statistically meaningful and hence the model can be deemed a good predictor both for high resolution and for short period of simulation. Moreover the coupling satellite data at high resolution and field information as input data have shown that these data can be used in the 3D-CMCC Forest Model run. These data can be also successfully used to simulate the main physiological processes at regional scale and to produce with good accordance with measured and literature data, reliable output to better investigate forest growth, dynamic and carbon stock.
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A geochronological study of mafic and acidic lavas from Veneto Volcanic province (North-East Italy)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Brombin, Valentina; Webb, Laura; Bonadiman, Costanza; Marzoli, Andrea; Coltorti, Massimo
2017-04-01
The Veneto Volcanic Province (VVP), in the North-East of Italy represents one of the most important magmatic province of the Adria Plate. VVP magmatism occurred in a period ranging from late Paleocene to late Oligocene (De Vecchi et al., 1976). Five main volcanic districts can be defined from north-west to south-east: Val d'Adige, Marosticano, Lessini Hills, Berici Hills and Euganean Hills. Most of the volcanic products are relatively undifferentiated lavas, ranging in compostion from mela-nephelinites to quartz-normative tholeiites (Beccaluva et al., 2007). By contrast in the Euganean Hills volcanic and subvolcanic rocks range from subordinate basalts to prevalently acidic types, mostly quartz-trachytes and rhyolites (Milani et al., 1999). Despite of the deep petrological knowledge about this province, the radioisotopic ages of the related volcanic activities for each district are still poorly defined or even totally missing. 40Ar/39Ar ages on 9 samples have been obtained to determine the age range for the VVP. 40Ar/39Ar whole rock step heating analyses yielded ages ranging from 40.7 ± 0.2 Ma to 23.3 ± 1.5 Ma for basanites of Val d'Adige and Marosticano area, respectively. For the Lessinean district, 40Ar/39Ar whole rock analyses for two basanites, one trachybasalt and one alkali basalt close to 40 Ma, while a tholeiite from the same area yielded the youngest age for this district (i.e. 32.9 ± 1.8 Ma). This young age is comparable to 40Ar/39Ar ages obtained for the Euganean Hills intermediate-acidic rocks (Jourdan, pers. comm., 2016), suggesting a time-related shift from more alkaline to Si-saturated magmatism in the whole province. References Barbieri G., Medizza F. (1969). Contributo alla conoscenza geologica della regione di Bolca (Monti Lessini). Memorie dell'Istituto di Geologia e Mineralogia dell'Università di Padova, 27, 1-36. Beccaluva L., Bianchini G., Bonadiman C., Coltorti M., Milani L., Salvini L., Siena F., Tassinari R. (2007). Intraplate lithospheric and sublithospheric components in the Adriatic domain: Nephelinite to tholeiite magma generation in the Paleogene Veneto Volcanic Province, Southern Alps. Geological Society of America, 418, 131-152. De Vecchi, G., Gregnanin, A., Piccirillo, E.M., 1976. Tertiary volcanism in the Veneto. Magmatology, petrogenesis and geodynamics implications. Geologische Rundschau, 65, 701-710. Milani, L., Beccaluva, L., Coltorti, M., 1999. Petrogenesis and evolution of the Euganean magmatic complex, north eastern Italy. European Journal of Mineralogy, 11, 379-399. Savelli, C., Lipparini, E., 1979. Età K/Ar di basalti del vicentino e la scala dei tempi del Paleogene. Bollettino Società Geologica Italiana, 98, 375-385.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Stira, Salvatore
2016-04-01
Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and it was discovered on January 1, 1801, by the Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi. The study of Ceres is especially relevant to my students because this celestial body was discovered in Palermo, in the astronomic observatory located in the UNESCO world heritage site "Palazzo dei Normanni", around 500 meters away from the institute where I teach, and because Ceres was considered the patron goddess of Sicily. Moreover, it received scientists and media attention recently because it was explored by the NASA Dawn spacecraft in 2015. The categorization of Ceres has changed more than once and has been the subject of some disagreement. It was originally considered a planet, but was reclassified as an asteroid in the 1850s when many other objects in similar orbits were discovered. Its status changed again in 2006 when it was promoted to dwarf planet, a classification it shares with Pluto and other Kuiper belt objects. The study of this celestial body has a notable educational value, since the uncertain identity of Ceres constitutes an occasion to reflect on the criterions of classification of the natural objects. The history of its discovery allows the students to understand as the scientific method doesn't always consist in the verification of hypothesis through experiments but it sometimes asks for the forecast of facts through mathematical calculations, repeated and methodic observations, the collaboration between scientists of different sectors and nationality. Furthermore, it is a particularly suitable topic for interdisciplinary connections, as regards both scientific and humanistic matters. In order to promote the scientific competences of my first class students, I have developed a learning unit on Ceres, thanks to good cooperation with the Palermo Observatory scientists, particularly active in the astronomic dissemination towards the schools and the citizens. The most meaningful activities of the learning units have been: 1) Working in groups: classification of solar system objects through the use of cards with figures and description of the celestial bodies. 2) A guided tour to Palermo Astronomic Observatory Museum, where stored instruments used by Piazzi for observation of Ceres and the original scientific documentation regarding this important discovery. 3) Internet search of information on the mission Dawn and implementation of Learning objects on this matter. 4) A guided visit to the exhibition "Cerere, da Piazzi a Dawn"; This learning unit, that has aroused interest and active participation among the students, cannot be regarded as closed, because it can be used for the discussion of other matters (for instance the search of the life on other celestial bodies).
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Balassone, G.; Kastenmeier, P.; di Maio, G.; Mormone, A.; Joachimski, M.
2009-04-01
Pompeii is one of the most famous and complex areas of archaeological investigation in the world and with a uniquely favorable state of preservation. Even if many studies have been devoted in time to many archaeological aspects of this ancient city, large-scale and detailed studies aimed at characterizing mineralogy, petrography and isotope geochemistry of the building stones are still lacking. The scope of the present research is to fill this gap, pointing to the definition of the provenance of the stony materials used for ancient constructions of the city of Pompeii and to the possible trade routes. This work is part of a large-scale survey carried out by the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut of Berlin, with the purposes of reconstructing the sources of raw materials of various archaeological sites of the Sarno Plain (e.g. Longola-Poggiomarino settlement, Nuceria, Stabiae, etc.) and consequently also the paleo-environments of this area during the Olocene (Seiler, 2006, 2008; Kastemeier and Seiler, 2007). We sampled all the litotypes with different macroscopic characteristics from various buildings according to location, age (time span VI century B.C. - I century A.D.) and utilization; the architectural buildings considered for this study are mainly represented public and religious buildings, houses and funerary monuments. As possible source areas, representative litotypes have been sampled from ancient pits and outcrops surrounding Pompeii as well. A set of 80 samples have been sampled by means of micro-drillings for mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical analyses, comprising optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma mass, X-ray fluorescence and C-O isotope geochemistry. Minero-petrographic and XRD studies of Pompeii rock samples have shown that at least ten different litologies occur as building stones, belonging to basaltic to tephritic lavas, pyroclasts (tuffs, scoriae, etc.) and sedimentary rocks (limestone, travertines). Preliminary results on source localities indicate a local provenance for a set of volcanic rock samples, whereas the possible source areas of the sedimentary litotypes seem to be more complex. New minero-petrographic data of samples from surrounding outcrops are presented and compared to the related Pompeii building stones. References Seiler F. (2006) - Current research projects. In: Aktuelle Forchungsprojeckte, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Zentrale, 34-35. Seiler F. (2008) - Rekonstruktion der antiken Kulturlandschaften des Sarno-Beckens. Ein multidisziplinäres Kooperationsprojekt mit Partnern aus Naturwissenschaften und Altertumswissenschaften in Deutschland, Italien und England. In: P. G. Guzzo - M. P. Guidobaldi (Eds), Nuove ricerche archeologiche nell'area vesuviana (scavi 2003-2006). Convegno Internazionale, Roma 1-3 febbraio, 485-490. Kastenmeier P., Seiler F. (2007) - La ricostruzione dei paleo-paesaggi nella piana del Sarno. Quaderni Autorità di Bacino del Sarno. Studi, documentazione e ricerca, 1, 24-26.
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Magnani, Tiziana; Valdagni, Riccardo; Salvioni, Roberto; Villa, Sergio; Bellardita, Lara; Donegani, Simona; Nicolai, Nicola; Procopio, Giuseppe; Bedini, Nice; Rancati, Tiziana; Zaffaroni, Nadia
2012-10-01
Study Type - Therapy (decision analysis) Level of Evidence 2b. What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? The benefits of the multidisciplinary approach in oncology are widely recognised. In particular, managing patients with prostate cancer within a multidisciplinarity and multiprofessional context is of paramount importance, to address the complexity of a disease where patients may be offered multiple therapeutic and observational options handled by different specialists and having severe therapy-induced side-effects. The present study describes the establishing of a multidisciplinary clinic at the Prostate Cancer Programme of Milan Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, its effects on the quality of care provided, and strategies implemented to meet upcoming needs and improve quality standards. Having analysed the data of the 2260 multidisciplinary clinics held from March 2005 to March 2011, our dynamic and modifiable organisational model was evaluated for ways to optimise the human resources, offer high-quality standards, meet new needs and ultimately reduce costs. The study is focused on the organisational aspects and adds a perspective from one of the major oncological centres of reference in Italy and in Europe. To describe the establishing of a multidisciplinary clinic for men with prostate cancer at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan. • To evaluate the quality of care provided and to describe the management changes implemented to improve standards and meet new needs. In March 2005, we established a multidisciplinary clinic comprising weekly clinics and case-discussion sessions. • We have altered the organisational model periodically to meet new needs and improve quality. We held 2260 multidisciplinary clinics up to March 2011. • For stage distribution, patients with low-risk prostate cancer increased to a peak of 61% in 2009, probably because of the anticipation of diagnosis and the active surveillance expertise of the Prostate Cancer Programme at Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan. The slight decrease in 2010 might be due to the availability of robot-assisted prostatectomy in several hospitals in Milan, and the start of a multicentre active surveillance protocol in December 2009. • In terms of the efficacy of our multidisciplinary strategy, 11% of drug therapies (mostly hormones) prescribed outside our institute were terminated in the multidisciplinary clinic, and 6% of indications formulated in the multidisciplinary clinics were altered during the case-discussion sessions. The multidisciplinary approach needs to be adaptable to meet new needs and improve quality. • Our experience has proved successful for both physicians and patients. The team agrees on strategies; complex cases are managed by a multidisciplinary team; dedicated psychologists contribute their knowledge and perspectives; and patients report the feeling of being cared for. © 2012 BJU INTERNATIONAL.
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A National contribution to the GEO Science and Technology roadmap: GIIDA Project
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nativi, Stefano; Mazzetti, Paolo; Guzzetti, Fausto; Oggioni, Alessandro; Pirrone, Nicola; Santolieri, Rosalia; Viola, Angelo; Tartari, Gianni; Santoro, Mattia
2010-05-01
The GIIDA (Gestione Integrata e Interoperativa dei Dati Ambientali) project is an initiative of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) launched in 2008 as an inter-departmental project, aiming to design and develop a multidisciplinary e-infrastructure (cyber-infrastructure) for the management, processing, and evaluation of Earth and Environmental resources -i.e. data, services, models, sensors, best practices. GIIDA has been contributing to the implementation of the GEO (Group of Earth Observation) Science and Technology (S&T) roadmap by: (a) linking relevant S&T communities to GEOSS (GEO System of Systems); (b) ensuring that GEOSS is built based on state-of-the-art science and technology. GIIDA co-ordinates the CNR's digital infrastructure development for Earth Observation resources sharing and cooperates with other national agencies and existing projects pursuing the same objective. For the CNR, GIIDA provides an interface to European and international interoperability programmes (e.g. INSPIRE, and GMES). It builds a national network for dialogue and resolution of issues at varying scientific and technical levels. To achieve such goals, GIIDA introduced a set of guidance principles: • To shift from a "traditional" data centric approach to a more advanced service-based solution for Earth System Science and Environmental information. • To shift the focus from Data to Information Spatial Infrastructures in order to support decision-making. • To be interoperable with analogous National (e.g. SINAnet, and the INSPIRE National Infrastructure) and international initiatives (e.g. INSPIRE, GMES, SEIS, and GEOSS). • To reinforce the Italian presence in the European and international programmes concerning digital infrastructures, geospatial information, and the Mega-Science approach. • To apply the National and International Information Technology (IT) standards for achieving multi-disciplinary interoperability in the Earth and Space Sciences (e.g. ISO, OGC, CEN, CNIPA) In keeping with GEOSS, GIIDA infrastructure adopts a System of Systems architectural approach in order to federate the existing systems managed by a set of recognized Thematic Areas (i.e. Risks, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Air Quality, Land and Water Quality, Ocean and Marine resources, Joint Research and Public Administration infrastructures). GIIDA system of systems will contribute to develop multidisciplinary teams studying the global Earth systems in order to address the needs coming from the GEO Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs). GIIDA issued a Call For Pilots receiving more than 20 high-level projects which are contributing to the GIIDA system development. A national-wide research environmental infrastructure must be interconnected with analogous digital infrastructures operated by other important stakeholders, such as public users and private companies. In fact, the long-term sustainability of a "System of Systems" requires synergies between all the involved stakeholders' domains: Users, Governance, Capacity provision, and Research. Therefore, in order to increase the effectiveness of the GIIDA contribution process to a national environmental e-infrastructure, collaborations were activated with relevant actors of the other stakeholders' domains at the national level (e.g. ISPRA SINAnet).
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Salvador, I.; Vitti, A.
2011-09-01
This work is part of a research on the use of terrestrial laser scanner, integrated with total station and GPS, for the documentation and comprehension of complex architectures in up-land sites. The research is performed in the framework of the project "Ambiente e Paesaggi dei siti di Altura Trentini" - APSAT (Environment and landscape of hill-top sites in Trentino), a multidisciplinary project focused on the evolution of hill-top anthropic system in the Trentino region, Italy. The study area is located in the Gresta Valley and this work concerns on the Nagià Grom site, fortified by the Austria-Hungarian Army during the World War I. The site has been interested by a significant restore operation of a large series of entrenches paths and fortifications in the last decade. The survey herein described has involved an area once interested by military barracks with Officers' Mess, water provision and by one of the biggest field kitchens discovered in the Trentino region. A second survey involved the tunnel connecting the ammunition depot to the artillery stations. The nature of such complex architectures, characterized by an irregular and composite 3D span leads, in general, to necessary simple surveys and representations and somehow to simplified studies too. The 3D point cloud, once filtered by the massive presence of dense vegetation, eventually constitutes a rich data set for further analyses on the spatial, geological, architectural and historical properties of the site. The analysis has been carried out on two different scales. At the architectural-scale, the comparison to historic photos has allowed to understand how the original structure of the barracks was made and to find building characters that now are lost. The on-site observation of the underground stratigraphic splices and their analysis in the 3D point cloud, e.g., spatial extension and slope, have permitted the understanding of the special excavation process guided by the practical advantage of exploiting the natural collapse of the rock along the stratigraphic splices. At the landscape-scale: the 1918's aerial photos, showing the trenches and military barracks during the World War I, have been georeferenced and compared to recent ortho- photos and DTM to evaluate the landscape changes and to assess the complete detection of the entire set of fortified structures. The analysis involved also the evaluation of the landscape visibility from some key points of the fortification and the visibility of the same fortification from the surrounding landscape. That has permitted, for example, to underline the very strategic location of the field kitchen. The availability of the 1×1m ALS DSM suggests a possible processing for the detection of the preserved surface artefacts and trenches so to extend the metric knowledge of the fortification system and to plan further surveys.
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DataCite - Making data sets citable
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Brase, J.
2013-12-01
The scientific and information communities have largely mastered the presentation of, and linkages between, text-based electronic information by assigning persistent identifiers to give scientific literature unique identities and accessibility. Knowledge, as published through scientific literature, is however often the last step in a process originating from scientific research data. Today scientists are using simulation, observational, and experimentation techniques that yield massive quantities of research data. These data are analysed, synthesised, interpreted, and the outcome of this process is generally published as a scientific article. Access to the original data as the foundation of knowledge has become an important issue throughout the world and different projects have started to find solutions. Global collaboration and scientific advances could be accelerated through broader access to scientific research data. In other words, data access could be revolutionized through the same technologies used to make textual literature accessible. The most obvious opportunity to broaden visibility of and access to research data is to integrate its access into the medium where it is most often cited: electronic textual information. Besides this opportunity, it is important, irrespective of where they are cited, for research data to have an internet identity. Since 2005, the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB) has offered a successful Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration service for persistent identification of research data. Since 2010 these services are offered by the global consortium DataCite, carried by 17 member organisations from 12 different countries: The German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB), the German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED), the German National Library of Economics (ZBW) and the German GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. Additional European members are: The Library of the ETH Zürich in Switzerland, the Library of TU Delft, from the Netherlands, the L'Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique (INIST) from France, The technical Information Center of Denmark, The British Library, the Sedish National Data Service (SND), the Conferenza dei Rettori delle Università Italiane (CRUI) from Italy. North America is represented through: the California Digital Library, the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), the Purdue University and the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI). Furthermore the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) and the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) are members. DataCite offers through its members DOI registration for data centers, currently over 2 million objects have been registered with a DOI name and are available through a central search portal at http://search.datacite.org . Based on the DOI registration DataCite offers a variety of services such as a detailed statistic portal of the number of DOI names registered and resolved (http://stats.datacite.org). In June 2012 DataCite and the STM association (http://www.stm-assoc.org) signed a joint statement to encourage publishers and data centers to link articles and underlying data (http://www.datacite.org/node/65 )
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Ground Penetrating Radar employment for searching ancient cisterns.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Semeraro, Grazia; Notario, Corrado; Persico, Raffaele
2017-04-01
Ground Penetrating Radar technology and methodology can provide support for the archaeological research. In particular, investigations in archaeological sites [1-3] and monuments of historical interest [4-6] have provided in many cases information of interest about the presence, the size, the shape and the depth of embedded anomalies, that can range from foundations to crypts, or also walled passages, walled doors, embedded voids or reinforcement bars, fractures and so on. In this contribution we will focus on the possibility to identify ancient cisterns with the aid of a GPR prospection. In particular, the attention will be focused on Messapic cisterns. The Messapians were a population that used to reside in the southern part of the Apulia region (the so called Salento), Their remains dates back from the 8th century B.C. up to the Roman conquest, in the 3rd century B.C. They used to build cisterns for gathering the rain water, both for drinking and for agricultural purposes. The shape of the cisterns can be quite different from case to case, and rarely they are found empty. Rether, in most cases the remains shows a structure with the roof collapsed and filled up with loose materials, which makes their identification with a GPR a challenging issue. At the conference, the results and the interpretation of GPR data gathered in the two Messapic sites of San Vito dei Normanni and Cavallino (both in the Salento area) will be shown and discussed. References 1) R. Lasaponara, G. Leucci, N. Masini, R. Persico, Investigating archaeological looting using satellite images and GEORADAR: the experience in Lambayeque in North Peru, Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 42, pp. 216-230, 2014. 2) R. Castaldo, L. Crocco, M. Fedi, B. Garofalo, R. Persico, A. Rossi, F. Soldovieri, GPR Microwave Tomography for Diagnostic of Archaeological Sites: the Case of a high-way construction in Pontecagnano (Southern Italy), Archaeological Prospection, vol. 16, pp. 203-217, 2009. 3) L. Matera, M. Noviello, M. Ciminale, R. Persico, Integration of multisensor data: an experiment in the archaeological park of Egnazia (Apulia, Southern Italy), Near Surface Geophysics, Vol. 13, n. 6, pp. 613-621, 2015 4) G. Leucci, N. Masini, R. Persico, F. Soldovieri." GPR and sonic tomography for structural restoration : the case of the Cathedral of Tricarico", Journal of Geophysics and Engineering, vol. 8, pp. S76-S92, Aug. 2011. 5) M. Pieraccini, L. Noferini, D. Mecatti, C. Atzeni, R. Persico, F. Soldovieri, Advanced Processing Techniques for Step-frequency Continuous-Wave Penetrating Radar: the Case Study of "Palazzo Vecchio" Walls (Firenze, Italy), Research on Nondestructive Evaluation, vol. 17, pp. 71-83, 2006. 6) N. Masini, R. Persico, E. Rizzo, A. Calia, M.T. Giannotta, G. Quarta, A. Pagliuca, "Integrated Techniques for Analysis and Monitoring of Historical Monuments: the case of S.Giovanni al Sepolcro in Brindisi (Southern Italy)." Near Surface Geophysics, vol. 8, n. 5, pp. 423-432, 2010.
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Calabrò, Luana; Morra, Aldo; Giannarelli, Diana; Amato, Giovanni; D'Incecco, Armida; Covre, Alessia; Lewis, Arthur; Rebelatto, Marlon C; Danielli, Riccardo; Altomonte, Maresa; Di Giacomo, Anna Maria; Maio, Michele
2018-05-14
Tremelimumab, an anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibody, initially showed good activity when used alone in patients with mesothelioma, but did not improve the overall survival of patients who failed on first-line or second-line chemotherapy compared with placebo in the DETERMINE study. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of first-line or second-line tremelimumab combined with durvalumab, an anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, in patients with malignant mesothelioma. In this open-label, non-randomised, phase 2 trial, patients with unresectable pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma received intravenous tremelimumab (1 mg/kg bodyweight) and durvalumab (20 mg/kg bodyweight) every 4 weeks for four doses, followed by maintenance intravenous durvalumab at the same dose and schedule for nine doses. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with an immune-related objective response according to the immune-related modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST; for pleural mesothelioma) or immune-related RECIST version 1.1 (for peritoneal mesothelioma). The primary analysis was done by intention to treat, whereas the safety analysis included patients who received at least one dose of study drug. This trial is registered with the European Clinical Trials Database, number 2015-001995-23, and ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02588131, and is ongoing but no longer recruiting patients. From Oct 30, 2015, to Oct 12, 2016, 40 patients with mesothelioma were enrolled and received at least one dose each of tremelimumab and durvalumab. Patients were followed-up for a median of 19·2 months (IQR 13·8-20·5). 11 (28%) of 40 patients had an immune-related objective response (all partial responses; confirmed in ten patients), with a median response duration of 16·1 months (IQR 11·5-20·5). 26 (65%) patients had immune-related disease control and 25 (63%) had disease control. Median immune-related progression-free survival was 8·0 months (95% CI 6·7-9·3), median progression-free survival was 5·7 months (1·7-9·7), and median overall survival was 16·6 months (13·1-20·1). Baseline tumour PD-L1 expression did not correlate with the proportion of patients who had an immune-related objective response or immune-related disease control, with immune-related progression-free survival, or with overall survival. 30 (75%) patients experienced treatment-related adverse events of any grade, of whom seven (18%) had grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events. Treatment-related toxicity was generally manageable and reversible with protocol guidelines. The combination of tremelimumab and durvalumab appeared active, with a good safety profile in patients with mesothelioma, warranting further exploration. Network Italiano per la Bioterapia dei Tumori Foundation, Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro, AstraZeneca, and Istituto Toscano Tumori. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Reliability and validity of the Italian version of the 14-item Resilience Scale
Callegari, Camilla; Bertù, Lorenza; Lucano, Melissa; Ielmini, Marta; Braggio, Elena; Vender, Simone
2016-01-01
Background In recent years resilience has gained clinical relevance in sociological, psychological, and medical disciplines, and a lot of scales measuring resilience have been developed and have been utilized in the western countries. The aim of the study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the 14-item Resilience Scale (RS-14), by describing its validity and reliability. As agreed with the authors of the original English version of the RS-14, it was translated into Italian. Then the standard procedure for back-translation was followed. Methods In total, 150 participants among the nursing and professional education students of the University of Insubria of Varese and health workers of the “ASST dei Sette Laghi-Ospedale di Circolo” of Varese were enrolled. The responses to the questionnaires were collected only from the students and the health workers between the ages of 18 and 65 years who gave their consent to participate in the study from April to September 2015. A subsample of 26 students and health workers was retested on the RS-14, 5 weeks after the first assessment. The questionnaires were handed out to 214 people, and 150 sets of questionnaires (70%) were returned, of which eight were subsequently removed because >60% of the answers were missing. In order to ensure anonymity, every completed questionnaire was identified only via a code. Results No significant differences were found between the mean values of the resilience scores between women (76.1) and men (76.3), with unpaired t-test = −0.08 and P=0.93. Similarly, no difference between resilience scores were found between mean age group of 18–25 years (75.3) and 26–65 years (78.7), with t-test = 1.6. The overall Cronbach’s alpha of the RS-14 is 0.88, P=0.10. The RS-14 is negatively correlated with the Beck Depression Inventory-Primary Care Version and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire and positively correlated with the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Version. The test-retest reliability, assessed on the 26 subjects 5 weeks after the first evaluation, highlighted an intraclass correlation coefficient value equal to 0.65. Factor analysis retains three factors, and it considers the factor loadings >0.40: RS-14-06 (‘I am determined’) is loaded on all the factors and RS-14-12 (‘In an emergency, I am someone people can generally rely on’) is not loaded on any factor. Conclusion This study demonstrates that the Italian RS-14 has psychometric properties with a good level of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.88), an adequate concurrent validity, verified by relationships with the other scales and as it was expected from literature, and an acceptable test-retest reliability. PMID:27757055
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Loperte, A.; Bavusi, M.; Soldovieri, F.
2012-04-01
Basilicata Region (Southern Italy) is affected by a large amount of landslides due to its geological structure and orogenic history. In particular, due to its location in the Italian Apennine chain, the District of Potenza is particularly affected by this natural hazard, which threatens private buildings and public infrastructures. In this framework, the transport infrastructures result greatly exposed to this kind of damage since there is a great probability that a road intercepts a landslide in its path. In addition, this can have relevant "social and economic" effects at large distance from the landslide due to the interconnected character of the road network. A classical remediation strategy for a damaged road, especially when affected by a localised landslide, consists in restoring its planarity by filling the depression induced by the damage. Moreover a such intervention often causes the recurrence of the damage since it results in a weakness zone in the road section. The result is that there is always an interrupted road somewhere in Basilicata. In order to design an effective remediation strategy at the scale of the district road network, a fast low-cost diagnosis method is needed in order to: • Detect damaged/restored treats of roads; • Characterize previous restoration intervention quality; • Provide a geo-database reporting all at-risk road sections; • Predict which road sections might be damaged with the upcoming rainfall events. In this framework, the Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (IMAA-CNR), also thanks to the cooperation of the Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment (IREA-CNR) has equipped a van with a high-resolution Ground Penetrating Radar and differential GPS instrumentations so to achieve a mobile GPR system. The main elements of the GPR are the control unit IDS DAD MCH Fast-Wave, horn antenna air-launched IDS HN-1000b and high speed encoder, differential GPS 1200 Leica. Main feature of this system regards its high sampling speed allowing to gather a radargram with velocities greater than 50 Km/h. The system is able to acquire up to 100 Km per day of geo-referred radargrams. In order to test the system and the automatic processing routines needed in order to process a huge amount of data, several surveys have been preformed on few roads affected by landslides. The results of the GPR mobile system have been compared and integrated with the outcomes of surveys performed by a GSSI SIR 3000 System with a 400 MHz ground coupled antenna so to achieve information about the section of the road to depths significant for a reliable monitoring and in this work some acquisition examples are described and discussed. Acknowledgements. The research leading to these results has received funding from Provincia di Potenza. Moreover the authors would like to thank Valter Baroncini of Ingegneria dei Sistemi S.p.A for his availability and professionality demonstrated during the preparation of the mobile system.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vito Graziano, Gian
2013-04-01
The development of a society in economic, cultural and ethical terms is always linked to the growth of the scientific and technical knowledge. It follows that the downsizing of the scientific research brings to a slower growth or even, as it is happening these days in Italy, a real cultural decay. The consequences of the economic crisis are evident to everyone, but it is precisely in times of crisis that the best strategies to restart the economy and give new cultural perspectives to society are studied. The crisis is also contrasted with ideas and ability to put them into practice. This, however, also presupposes a different cultural approach, which has to also include a review of values and beliefs, and a redefinition of the objectives to be pursued. This approach is modeled on the basis of several positive experiences that a country can boast. Among these experiences, there are those arising from the scientific culture: geology, for example, such as chemistry, biology or other sciences, can help to change vision. The research and practice of Earth sciences have important implications on the life and activities of the population and therefore the geoscientists, as active subjects in the society, should question their role and responsibilities. They should be at the service of society, especially in the fields of prevention from natural hazards and valorization of georesources. In this sense they can give important indications for economy and development of their country. The Italian Council of Geologists (Consiglio Nazionale dei Geologi - CNG) acts with the aim of highlighting the social role of geoscientists, hoping for a new cultural Renaissance, which leads to new researches, without obscurantism or prejudices. In an authoritative way, the CNG intends to put this social role before any demand from the professional category. Therefore, it has recently presented its political Manifesto, geared essentially to the good governance of the territory, to all the Italian political parties and candidates to the role of Prime Minister, asking them to share it in their election programs. This paper stresses that geology can and must bring those contributions which society requires, in respect of a comprehensive view of the land and its management, with an integrated approach to the major issues that directly or indirectly involve the whole society: finding, exploitation and proper management of natural resources (water, raw materials and sources of energy); knowledge of natural hazards and risks and consequent planning of all those actions necessary and indispensable, since the territorial safety is a fundamental right of every citizen. If the geosciences and geoscientists will be placed at the base of the economic and social structure of a modern country, consequently their contribution in terms of ethical and cultural progress of society will become essential.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Caporali, Alessandro; Braitenberg, Carla; Burrato, Pierfrancesco; Carafa, Michele; Di Giovambattista, Rita; Gentili, Stefania; Mariucci, Maria Teresa; Montone, Paola; Morsut, Federico; Nicolini, Luca; Pivetta, Tommaso; Roselli, Pamela; Rossi, Giuliana; Valensise, Gian Luca; Vigano, Alfio
2016-04-01
Italy is an earthquake-prone country with a long tradition in observational seismology. For many years, the country's unique historical earthquake record has revealed fundamental properties of Italian seismicity and has been used to determine earthquake rates. Paleoseismological studies conducted over the past 20 years have shown that the length of this record - 5 to 8 centuries, depending on areas - is just a fraction of the typical recurrence interval of Italian faults - consistently larger than a millennium. Hence, so far the earthquake potential may have been significantly over- or under-estimated. Based on a clear perception of these circumstances, over the past two decades large networks and datasets describing independent aspects of the seismic cycle have been developed. INGV, OGS, some universities and local administrations have built networks that globally include nearly 500 permanent GPS/GNSS sites, routinely used to compute accurate horizontal velocity gradients reflecting the accumulation of tectonic strain. INGV developed the Italian present-day stress map, which includes over 700 datapoints based on geophysical in-situ measurements and fault plane solutions, and the Database of Individual Seismogenic Sources (DISS), a unique compilation featuring nearly 300 three-dimensional seismogenic faults over the entire nation. INGV also updates and maintains the Catalogo Parametrico dei Terremoti Italiani (CPTI) and the instrumental earthquake database ISIDe, whereas OGS operates its own seismic catalogue for northeastern Italy. We present preliminary results on the use of this wealth of homogeneously collected and updated observations of stress and strain as a source of loading/unloading of the faults listed in the DISS database. We use the geodetic strain rate - after converting it to stress rate in conjunction with the geophysical stress data of the Stress Map - to compute the Coulomb Failure Function on all fault planes described by the DISS database. This may be seen as an indicator of the rate at which the regional stress is transferred to each fault; as its sign can be positive or negative, the Coulomb Failure Function rate should ultimately indicate the rate at which every fault for which sufficient geodetic data are available is loading or unloading elastic energy. A better understanding of the relationships among geodetically-documented strains, present-day stress, active faulting and seismicity for the entire country should enable us to outline regions where the current strains explain well the known seismicity and to single out areas where stress is consistently building up but are historically quiescent. In such areas the lack of seismicity may result from a limited earthquake coupling - i.e. current strains are consumed aseismically - or from the incompleteness of the earthquake record. Our results may ultimately contribute to the assessment of time-dependent seismic hazard in Italy, thus complementing the time-independent approach used for conventional seismic hazard maps.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pajewski, Lara; Benedetto, Andrea; D'Amico, Sebastiano; Ferrara, Vincenzo; Frezza, Fabrizio; Persico, Raffaele; Tosti, Fabio
2017-04-01
This work aims at presenting the main results achieved by Working Group (WG) 1 "Novel Ground Penetrating Radar instrumentation" of the COST (European COoperation in Science and Technology) Action TU1208 "Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar" (www.cost.eu, www.GPRadar.eu). The principal goal of the Action, which started in April 2013 and is ending in October 2017, is to exchange and increase scientific-technical knowledge and experience of Ground Penetrating Radar techniques in civil engineering, whilst promoting throughout Europe the effective use of this safe non-destructive technique. The Action involves more than 300 Members from 28 COST Countries, a Cooperating State, 6 Near Neighbour Countries and 6 International Partner Countries. The most interesting achievements of WG1 include: 1. The state of the art on GPR systems and antennas was composed; merits and limits of current GPR systems in civil engineering applications were highlighted and open issues were identified. 2. The Action investigated the new challenge of inferring mechanical (strength and deformation) properties of flexible pavement from electromagnetic data. A semi-empirical method was developed by an Italian research team and tested over an Italian test site: a good agreement was found between the values measured by using a light falling weight deflectometer (LFWD) and the values estimated by using the proposed semi-empirical method, thereby showing great promises for large-scale mechanical inspections of pavements using GPR. Subsequently, the method was tested on a real scale, on an Italian road in the countryside: again, a good agreement between LFWD and GPR data was achieved. As a third step, the method was tested at larger scale, over three different road sections within the districts of Madrid and Guadalajara, in Spain: GPR surveys were carried out at the speed of traffic for a total of 39 kilometers, approximately; results were collected by using different GPR antennas provided by the Italian company IDS Ingegneria dei Sistemi; in cooperation with the Spanish company Euroconsult, an instrumented lorry equipped with a curviameter was used in the same road sections. Curviameter and GPR results were compared, with very good agreement. 3. A reconfigurable stepped-frequency GPR prototype was improved and widely tested. The original version of this prototype was designed and realised in Italy, in 2008. In June 2014, with the support of the Action TU1208 (and in particular by exploiting the Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) networking tool), this prototype was brought to Norway: tests were carried out in laboratory, on roads and archaelogical sites; results were compared with those obtained by using a commercial system manufactured by the Norwegian manufacturer 3d-radar. As a result of this work, it was possible to understand how to improve the Italian prototype. Changes to the hardware were implemented in cooperation with the company Florence Engineering. In the improved version of the prototype, a more advanced technique is used for the reconfiguration of the integration times. In July 2015, by exploiting again the STSM tool, the prototype was brought to Malta: tests were carried out in buildings, churches, archaeological and geological sites; results were compared with those obtained by using a commercial pulsed system manufactured by IDS Ingegneria dei Sistemi. It is worth pointing out that this was the first time GPR measurements were carried out in Malta, where no GPR systems are available. Finally, in January 2016 the improved prototype was again brought to Malta in order to be used during the experimental sessions of a TU1208 Training School. This is an excellent example of a successful scientific activity where STSM and TS COST networking tools were effectively exploited, the cooperation with industry was of central importance, and a less research-intensive Country was deliberately chosen, to test the improved system. 4. A cheap frequency-modulated continuous-wave GPR prototype was designed and realized by an Italian research team; detailled instructions, describing how to build this radar step-by-step, will be available by the end of the Action. The idea behind this initiative is to support and encourage institutes in less research-intensive Countries, who cannot afford a commercial system, to build their own prototype for training purposes and to start familiarizing with the GPR technique. 5. A new stepped-frequency ground-coupled multi-antenna GPR system for road and bridge inspection was developed by 3d-radar (manufacturer based in Norway) and presented during the GPR 2014 conference as a contribution to COST Action TU1208. The starting point was an analogous commercial system, with air-coupled antennas. For road inspection, air-coupled antennas offer practical advantages over ground-coupled antennas (mainly, the possibility to carry out measurements at higher speeds); moreover, they allow enhanced detection of shallow layers inside the road structure. On the other hand, data from ground-coupled array contain much more details from individual scatterers, making them more suitable to image the granularity of the road base materials and for bridge deck inspection, where reinforcement rebar has to be imaged. Ground-coupled GPR systems also provide higher penetrating depth due to a stronger coupling of energy into the ground. The novel stepped-frequency ground-coupled GPR exploits an array of boomerang-shaped monopole elements. 6. Recommendations for the safety of people and equipment during GPR prospecting were produced. Despite the increasing demand of GPR surveys all over the world, safety matters are rarely considered. The Action put efforts into debating them, with scientists and professionals performing GPR surveys. As an outcome of this activity, a book was published where a series of recommendations are provided. These include general hints, recommendations for surveys carried out in challenging environmental situations, description of risks associated to specific applications, instructions for first medical aid, information about GPR electromagnetic emissions and associated risks, and finally suggestions for a safe use of the equipment and for a respectful interaction with the environment. 7. WG1 contributed to the TU1208 Education Pack, an open-access educational package conceived to teach GPR in University courses. 8. Three Training Schools were organised on radar systems and antennas, in cooperation with the European School of Antennas (ESoA): two editions of the Training School "Future Radar Systems: Radar2020" and a Training School on "UWB Antennas, Technologies and Applications". These courses were held in the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, in Karlsruhe, Germany. Acknowledgement: The Authors are deeply grateful to COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology, www.cost.eu), for funding and supporting the COST Action TU1208 "Civil engineering applications of Ground Penetrating Radar" (www.GPRadar.eu).
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The importance of geoethics in the "Land of Fires"
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Manzo, Ciro
2014-05-01
How was it possible that one of the most fertile soil worldwide called by Romans "Campania Felix", became one of the largest mass poisoning in a Western country? Answer is in the tons of toxic wastes illegally dumped into the fields all around area between Naples and Caserta, which now is known as "Terra dei Fuochi" (The Land of Fires - due to illegal wastes burning). In last 25 years two main emergencies affected Campania, one official started in 1994 due to local waste management system problems, another more hidden and older due to criminal gangs which earn money by illegal disposal of toxic wastes. Those two emergencies are interconnected and have grown in absence of respect for people's health and unknowledge of environmental themes. Apart from judging legal issues, the only evidence visible to public opinion is that during waste emergencies in Campania, decision makers, admitting also their good faith, didn't consider enough environmental risks and decided, in order to solve emergency, to dump wastes in not geological feasible sites, such as landfills at the feet of Vesuvio national park or in abandoned quarries such as Chiaiano tuff pit, exposing local inhabitant and economic activities to high risks. This work wants to underline that geoethics is fundamental as much as the need of geologists participation to whole remediation processes and to raising environmental awareness in the society. Maybe these themes seems to be trivial but geological competences are very important in understanding of pollution risks. This knowledge is practically obscure to decision makers and people, often media provides uncorrected informations which improve the fear of population. In example the idea that whole groundwater in the area is polluted is wrong and is strongly reducing the purchase of agricultural products of the area, and the only way to assess real contamination is site-specific characterization. Indeed Campania plain has a complex stratigraphic architecture with volcanic, alluvial and marine deposits which cause strong spatial and vertical variation of permeability. These deposits host two multi-layer aquifer system, separated by semipervious tuff horizon, whose leakance phenomena are due to local stratigraphic changes, but mostly upward. High density of wells for private and agricultural uses at different depths reduces the separation between two overlaying aquifers, increasing locally the risk of contamination. For this reason it is important have a precise idea of local geology in a way to define precisely water circulation and real risks. Recently geological community started to take seriously into account this problem, encouraged by some alarming forensic geological studies and by rising interest of public opinion due to increase of cancer cases. Current risk is that after landscape, groundwater and rural economic cycle devastations, camorra gangs may introduce itself in the remediation business. For this reason it is fundamental that all professional figures involved in this phase and in particular geologists will be first guards of legality. In this moment geologists have an important responsibility, to demonstrate that geological knowledge is fundamental for human society to preserve and remediate territory and its population.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Scapozza, Cristian; Bruder, Andreas; Domenici, Mattia; Lepori, Fabio; Pera, Sebastian; Pozzoni, Maurizio; Rioggi, Stefano; Colombo, Luca
2017-04-01
Mountain lakes and their catchments of the Alpine cryosphere are facing global pressures including climate warming and deposition of atmospheric pollutants. Due to their remoteness, often low buffer capacities and sensitive biotic communities, alpine lake catchments are particularly well suited as sentinels of environmental change. Lago Nero is the object of an intensive survey, aimed at developing predictive models of catchment-wide ecosystem responses to environmental change (Bruder et al. 2016). Lago Nero is located at the head of Val Bavona (Canton Ticino, southern Switzerland), in a southwest-facing catchment, with altitude ranging from 2385 to 2842 m asl. The substrate is dominated by gneissic bedrock with patches of grassy vegetation and shallow soils. The catchment is snow-covered approximately from November to May. For a similar period, the lake is ice-covered. Lago Nero is an oligotrophic, soft-water lake with a surface of approximatively 13 ha and a maximal depth of 73 m. According to the regional model of potential permafrost distribution in the southern Swiss Alps (Scapozza & Mari 2010), the presence of discontinuous permafrost is probable in almost the entire surface of the catchment covered by loose debris. A direct evidence of permafrost occurrence is the presence of a small active/inactive rock glacier in the south-eastern part of the catchment (front altitude: 2560 m asl). Monitoring of the site began in summer 2014, with an initial phase aimed at developing and testing methodologies and at evaluating the suitability of the catchment and the feasibility of the monitoring program. The intensive survey at Lago Nero measures a wide array of ecosystem responses, including runoff quantity and chemistry, catchment soil temperature (also on the rock glacier) and composition of terrestrial vegetation. Sampling frequency depends on the parameter measured, varying from nearly continuous (e.g. runoff and temperature) to five-year intervals (e.g. soil and vegetation). First results suggest that Lago Nero is particularly sensitive to changes in the cryosphere, particularly concerning thickness of snow cover, snowmelt date and duration, and length of ice-free period of the lake surface. Probable storage of ground ice during the 1966-1985 period (deduced from the nearby Basòdino Glacier) and its significant melting in the last decades may explain the high amounts of sulphur measured in the outflow of the rock glacier. High levels of sulphur are likely to have ecological effects on the sensitive biota of the Lago Nero catchment, for instance by retarding the recovery from past acidification. REFERENCES Bruder A., Lepori F., Pozzoni M., Pera S., Scapozza C., Rioggi S., Domenici M. & Colombo L. (2016). Lago Nero - a new site to assess the effects of environmental change on high-alpine lakes and their catchments. In: S. Kleemola & M. Forsius (eds.), 25th Annual Report 2016. Convention on Long-range transboundary air pollution. Reports of the Finnish Environments Institute 29: 52-56. Scapozza C. & Mari S. (2010). Catasto, caratteristiche e dinamica dei rock glacier delle Alpi Ticinesi. Bollettino della Società ticinese di Scienze naturali 98: 15-29. [http://repository.supsi.ch/2152/
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Coastal evolution and littoral cells distribution in Northern Tuscany (Italy)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Anfuso, Giorgio; Pranzini, Enzo; Vitale, Giovanni
2010-05-01
This paper deals with a 64-km-long coastal physiographic unit located in the northern littoral of Tuscany (Italy). The investigated area recorded important erosion problems in last century due to the reduction in sediment input from rivers and to the feeding effect of ports and shore protection structures. Vertical aerial photographs and direct field surveys (with RTK-GPS and total station) were used for the reconstruction of coastline changes at medium-long temporal scales. The littoral is a microtidal environment and most frequent and severe storms approach from the 245° direction, with maximum one year recurrence Hs values between 3.5 and 4.0 m, less frequent and severe storms approach from the 180° and 200° directions. Concerning coastal evolution for the 1938-2005 period, important accretion was recorded updrift of two harbours (300 at Viareggio and 100 m at Carrara port in a convergence area (100 m at Marina di Pietrasanta), whereas severe erosion occurred downcoast of Carrara harbour (-130 m at Marina dei Ronchi) and at the northern (unprotected) side of the Arno River mouth (with maximum values of 400 m). Locally breakwaters and groins were implemented to solve erosion problems but the structures only - and not always - solved problems at local scale shifting erosion downdrift. Coastal compartmentalisation controlled the longshore distribution of erosion/accretion patterns and it was strongly forced by natural and human structures and coastal orientation in relation to wave approaching fronts. Three main littoral cells were formed by four natural limits: i) Punta Bianca Promontory, which works as a fixed absolute limit; ii) Marina di Pietrasanta, a convergent, free limit; iii) the Arno River Mouth, a divergent limit; and, iv) Livorno harbour, which works as an absolute fixed southern limit. In it is important to highlight that human structures interfere with natural sediment transport within major cells creating small sub-cells. This way, the general natural trend determined by coastal compartmentalisation is only slightly affected by human structures which give rise to erosion/accretion areas within most important cells. In detail, the most important structures are Carrara and Viareggio ports which constitute artificial, fixed limits which allow little transport in a given direction, depending on their protrusion and wave characteristics. They allow periodic, almost unidirectional, transport that, according to field observations, takes place along narrow zones parallel to the shoreline, extending to a variable depth (6-10 m), depending on wave conditions and bottom morphology. Furthermore, bypassing of limits takes place locally as a consequence of bed load sand transport onto longshore bars and only fine sediments bypass the structures. In detail, Carrara port only permits transport in one predominant direction (southward) and Viareggio port probably records a bi-directional transport, even if prevails the northward directed one. Last, obtained results are useful to improve the understanding of coastal processes to manage littoral sediment transport in a sustainable manner and to minimise needs for structural interventions. For this is sufficient to identify independent cells and partially dependent sub-cells for shoreline management units, if not adverse impacts will be inevitability transmitted to the downdrift unit.
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Natural gas seeps in the French Alps: Sources and pathways
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kloppmann, Wolfram; Blessing, Michaela; Proust, Eric; Gal, Frédéric; Bentivegna, Gaetan; Henry, Benoit; Defossez, Pierrick; Catherine, Lerouge; Humez, Pauline; Mayer, Bernhard; Millot, Romain; Gaucher, Eric
2016-04-01
Natural gas emanations are part of the geochemical baseline to take into account when assessing global greenhouse gas emissions and potential impacts of conventional and unconventional gas exploration and exploitation on groundwater. Examples of such natural gas macro-seeps are known in several parts of the world (Etiope et al., 2009). Only a limited number of them have been characterized for their gas and isotopic compositions. Such analyses can provide essential information for baseline studies, providing insight in the sources (biogenic vs. thermogenic or modified thermogenic) and pathways of such seeps and may allow for distinction of natural seeps from stray gas leakage associated with human activities. Here, we report gas concentrations and multi-isotope data (δ13C and δ2H of methane and ethane, δ13C and δ18O of CO2, 3He/4He ratio) of two gas seeps in the French subalpine chains, both in a similar geological and structural position within Middle Jurassic claystones along the eastern border of the large synclinal structures of the Vercors and the Chartreuse massifs (Moss, 1992). The "ardent fountain" (fontaine ardente) of Le Gua, 30 km south of Grenoble has most likely the longest continuous written record of existence of any individual natural gas seep, mentioned explicitly as early as the first quarter of the 5th century (Augustin of Hippo (St. Augustin), approx. 426) This natural seep was described in the past as a "wet seep" associated with a spring, whereas the second investigated seep, Rochasson near Meylan north of Grenoble, is a dry seep. Both seeps contain methane and ethane with thermogenic C and H isotope signatures, comparable with a seep in the Northern Swiss Alps at Giswil (Etiope et al., 2010) but with a higher dryness (C1/(C2+C3)>1000) for the Le Gua seep, possibly due to molecular fractionation upon advective fluid+gas migration (Etiope et al., 2009). Maturity (R0) of the reservoir rocks deduced from δ13C(CH4), δ13C(C2H6) is similar to values found by Moss (1992) for West-alpine Oxfordian shales. CO2 contents of <9% could stem from methane oxidation. He isotope ratios are radiogenic with only minor mantle contributions, as it is typical for the Western Alps (Marty et al., 1992). This preliminary investigation reveals that thermogenic natural gas can migrate naturally to the surface in significant flux rates over millenaries without anthropogenic causes, in cases that appropriate leakage pathways exist. This study was co-funded by French ANR and Canadian NSERC. ND_ABSTRACT@ Etiope G., Feyzullayev A., Baciu C. L. (2009) Marine and Petroleum Geology, 26, 333-344. Etiope G., Zwahlen C., Anselmetti F. S., Kipfer R., Schubert C. J. (2010) Geofluids, 10, 476-485. Marty B., Onions R. K., Oxburgh E. R., Martel D., Lombardi S. (1992) Tectonophysics, 206, 71-78. Moss S. (1992) Journal of the Geological Society, 149, 503-515. Augustin of Hippo (St. Augustin) (approx. 426) De Civitate Dei contra paganos, Vol. Liber XXI, chap. VII
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Documenting Mica Microstructures in Mylonites of the Cossato-Mergozzo-Brissago Line, Northern Italy
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aslin, Joe; Mariani, Elisabetta; Wheeler, John
2016-04-01
The rheology of the Earth's crust is ultimately a function of the properties of its constituent minerals. Nowhere are the results of applied tectonic stresses within the Earth's crust more evident than along large scale fault zones and shear zones where strains become focussed producing localised deformation and displacement. These dynamic tectonic discontinuities are often dominated by fault rocks and mylonites that contain an abundance of phyllosilicates (such as micas) whose inherent weakness, relative to other silicate phases (Mariani et al. 2006), acts to concentrate deformation along these narrow regions. Experimental studies show that even in rocks where the concentration of weak phases, such as micas, is low, their effect on the strength and fabric of the rock is significant due to processes such as strain-induced interconnectivity (Holyoke & Tullis 2006). Once this interconnectivity has been established, very high strains can be accommodated within very narrow regions, termed shear bands or micro-shear zones. In this study, a combination of optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) based techniques including electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) have been used to observe and document features that are indicative of such processes within samples collected from the Cossato-Mergozzo-Brissago (CMB) shear zone in North Western Italy. This tectonic discontinuity is interpreted to be of Permian age and separates the metapelitic schists of the Kinzigite formation of the lower crustal Ivrea-Verbano zone from the mid-crustal schists and amphibolites of the Serie dei Laghi. Despite its present vertical attitude, the CMB line is believed to have formed as a gently inclined, mid-crustal shear zone during the early stages of post-Hercynian crustal stretching (Rutter et al. 2007). This has produced mylonites composed predominantly of quartz, feldspar and abundant phyllosilicates which serve as perfect natural examples on which to study the distribution of micas, their internal structure and the microstructures of other neighbouring phases in order to give insights into the mechanisms of deformation active within micas under conditions of large, predominantly simple shear strain. Future work will include detailed geological mapping of transects across the CMB line as well as the use of quantitative methods including EBSD to identify crystallographic preferred orientations of grains of mica, and other phases with higher strength, in order to better understand the deformation mechanisms of micas and the role they play in strain localisation and deformation within the crust. References Holyoke, C.W.I. & Tullis, J., 2006. Mechanisms of weak phase interconnection and the effects of phase strength contrast on fabric development. Journal of Structural Geology, 28(4), pp.621-640. Mariani, E., Brodie, K.H. & Rutter, E.H., 2006. Experimental deformation of muscovite shear zones at high temperatures under hydrothermal conditions and the strength of phyllosilicate-bearing faults in nature. Journal of Structural Geology, 28, pp.1569-1587. Rutter, E., Brodie, K., James, T. and Burlini, L., 2007. Large-scale folding in the upper part of the Ivrea-Verbano zone, NW Italy. Journal of Structural Geology, 29(1), pp.1-17.
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Trump, Donald
2016-05-01
Patient-reported outcomes may help inform treatment choice in advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), particularly between approved targeted therapies with similar efficacy. This double-blind crossover study evaluated patient preference for pazopanib or sunitinib and the influence of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and safety factors on their stated preference. Patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma were randomly assigned to pazopanib 800mg per day for 10 weeks, a 2-week washout, and then sunitinib 50mg per day (4 weeks on, 2 weeks off, 4weeks on) for 10 weeks, or the reverse sequence. The primary end point, patient preference for a specific treatment, was assessed by questionnaire at the end of the two treatment periods. Other end points and analyses included reasons for preference, physician preference, safety, and HRQoL. Of 169 randomly assigned patients, 114 met the following prespecified modified intent-to-treat criteria for the primary analysis: exposure to both treatments, no disease progression before cross over, and completion of the preference questionnaire. Significantly more patients preferred pazopanib (70%) over sunitinib (22%); 8% expressed no preference (P<.001). All preplanned sensitivity analyses, including the intent-to-treat population, statistically favored pazopanib. Less fatigue and better overall quality of life were the main reasons for preferring pazopanib, with less diarrhea being the most cited reason for preferring sunitinib. Physicians also preferred pazopanib (61%) over sunitinib (22%); 17% expressed no preference. Adverse events were consistent with each drug׳s known profile. Pazopanib was superior to sunitinib in HRQoL measures evaluating fatigue, hand/foot soreness, and mouth/throat soreness. This innovative crossover trial demonstrated a significant patient preference for pazopanib over sunitinib, with HRQoL and safety as key influencing factors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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GPR Activities in Italy: a Review
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tosti, Fabio; Ambrosanio, Michele; Battaglia, Enzo; Bianchini Ciampoli, Luca; De Carlo, Lorenzo; Matera, Loredana; Prontera, Santo; Sileo, Maria
2015-04-01
Ground-penetrating radar has been increasingly played an important role over the last 15 years in Italy due to its high reliability in assisting the assessment of the built environment for civil engineering purposes, and in being used for geophysical investigations within many other fields of application. In line with this, original works involving fundamental aspects of this technique and implementing its use more practically in a number of interesting projects have been developed over years, both under a research and an enterprise point of view. This paper will endeavour to review the current status of ground-penetrating radar activities in Italy. Efforts have been devoted to single out the most interesting national research projects, both recent and ongoing, involving ground-penetrating radar in Italy, such as the ARCHEO project in the 90s, funded by the Italian Ministry for Universities, wherein a stepped frequency ultra-wide band radar suited for archaeological surveys was manufactured. In this framework, it is worth citing another important and more recent project, European Community funded, namely, ORFEUS, which started in the late 2006 with the overall aim of providing the capability to locate buried infrastructure accurately and reliably by means of a bore-head ground-penetrating radar for horizontal directional drilling. A review on the main use of this non-destructive technique in management activities of national resources and infrastructures has been also performed, ranging from the applications made by Anas S.p.A., i.e., the main management authority for the Italian road and motorway network, up to private enterprises specialized in both services providing and ground-penetrating radar manufacturing such as, to cite a few, Sineco S.p.A. and IDS Ingegneria dei Sistemi S.p.A., respectively. Current national guidelines, rules or protocols to be followed during radar surveys have been also reviewed. Unlike well-established international standards such as the ASTM D 4748-98 and the ASTM D 6432-99 dealing with, respectively, thicknesses evaluation of bound layers in road pavements, and equipment, field procedures and data-interpretation for the electromagnetic evaluation of subsurface materials, it has to be noted that the Italian body of laws and rules tackles the ground-penetrating radar applications under an indirect and partial approach. Despite of such situation, national guidelines concerning utilities-detection activities as well as other theoretical and practical guidelines established by the major Italian private enterprises on this field can be also considered highly relevant. Moreover, a further focus on the activities and main devices of the major Italian ground-penetrating radar manufacturers have been thoroughly described. Under a research and innovation perspective, the most important test sites, such as the site of the University of Salento to reconstruct archaeological and urban subsurface scenarios have been listed along with the main advances reached in integrating ground-penetrating radar with other non-destructive techniques, to inform and potentially improve the possibility of new developments and collaborations. Acknowledgements - This work is a contribution from the Training School on "Civil Engineering Applications of GPR" held in Pisa, Italy, on September 22nd - 25th, 2014, within the framework of the COST Action TU1208 "Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar".
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PREFACE: International Conference "Trends in Spintronics and Nanomagnetism" (TSN-2010)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Maruccio, Giuseppe; Sanvito, Stefano; Hoffmann, Germar; Wiesendanger, Roland; Rowan, Alan
2011-03-01
Conference banner The International Conference "Trends in Spintronics and Nanomagnetism" (TSN-2010), was organized by partners of the EU-project SpiDME and held in the historical city of Lecce, Italy from 23-27 May 2010, at the Ecotekne Campus, University of Salento. The conference provided an international forum to discuss recent progress and future trends in the field. In particular, the aim was to bring together the community of more conventional spin-transport, with that of molecular and nano-magnetism. The main topics of TSN-2010 were: MATERIALSSPIN-PHYSICS AND THEORY - Molecular Magnets- Spin injection - Magnetic nanoparticles and nanowires- Domain walls, spin torque and vortex dynamics - Magnetic semiconductors- Numerical modeling of organic nanomagnetism - Multiferroics and transition metal oxides APPLICATIONSADVANCES IN CHARACTERIZATION - Magnetic Multilayers- Magneto-optical characterization and spin manipulation - Spin-photonics- Intrinsic spin transport mechanism in organics - Molecular and nano-spintronics- Organometallic molecules on surfaces - Spin-based quantum computation- Single molecular magnets on surfaces - Magnetism for sensing and nanomedicine- Nanoscale characterization and spin-sensitive SPM The scientific programme started on Monday 24 May and ended on Thursday 27 May. The Nobel Laureate A Fert attended the conference giving a plenary talk and the programme also featured invited presentations by (in alphabetical order): M Aeschlimann, M Affronte, N Atodiresei, P A Bobbert, A Dediu, N Kioussis, L W Molenkamp, J Moodera, V Prigodin, M Ruben, R Sessoli, R Tan, and H Wende. TSN2010 had 150 attendees who came from around the globe to present their latest research in 100 oral presentations. Contributed talks were selected by the program committee, composed of Giuseppe Maruccio, Ross Rinaldi, Valentina Arima, Fabio Della Sala, Maurizio Martino (Universitá del Salento, NNL Institute Nanoscience-CNR, Lecce, Italy), Stefano Sanvito (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland), Germar Hoffmann and Roland Wiesendanger (Institute for Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, Germany), and Alan Rowan (NSRIM Institute Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands). This group also acted as the Publication Committee and managed all the submitted papers that were reviewed by expert referees in order to meet the standards of the Journal of Physics: Conference Series. Conference photographNobel Laureate A Fert with some members of the organizing committee. The conference would not have been possible without the support from the local organizing committee at the University of Salento and NNL Institute Nanoscience-CNR, including Anna Paola Caricato, Luigi Martina and the Conference Secretaries Maria Concetta Gerardi, Adriana Amato, and Gabriella Zammillo. We are grateful for the technical assistance of Michele Linciano, Antonio Guerrieri, Carmine Mangia, Luciano Carluccio, and Tommaso Moscara e Francesco Sabetta. We also gratefully acknowledge Serena Chiriacó, Anna Grazia Mondeduro and Massimo Corrado who helped to run the conference. The conference was made possible by the financial support from the European Commission through the SpiDME project (EU-FP6-029002), the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the University of Lecce and its Department of Physics, and all of the sponsors (Lot Oriel, Attocube, Schaefer, Cryogenic Ltd, Oxford Instruments, MTI Corporation, Cantele, Monte dei Paschi di Siena). Conference Chair and Co-Chairs Giuseppe MaruccioStefano SanvitoGermar HoffmannRoland WiesendangerAlan Rowan Logos
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Pollen Forecast and Dispersion Modelling
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Costantini, Monica; Di Giuseppe, Fabio; Medaglia, Carlo Maria; Travaglini, Alessandro; Tocci, Raffaella; Brighetti, M. Antonia; Petitta, Marcello
2014-05-01
The aim of this study is monitoring, mapping and forecast of pollen distribution for the city of Rome using in-situ measurements of 10 species of common allergenic pollens and measurements of PM10. The production of daily concentration maps, associated to a mobile phone app, are innovative compared to existing dedicated services to people who suffer from respiratory allergies. The dispersal pollen is one of the most well-known causes of allergic disease that is manifested by disorders of the respiratory functions. Allergies are the third leading cause of chronic disease and it is estimated that tens millions of people in Italy suffer from it. Recent works reveal that during the last few years there was a progressive increase of affected subjects, especially in urban areas. This situation may depend: on the ability to transport of pollutants, on the ability to react between pollutants and pollen and from a combination of other irritants, existing in densely populated and polluted urban areas. The methodology used to produce maps is based on in-situ measurements time series relative to 2012, obtained from networks of air quality and pollen stations in the metropolitan area of Rome. The monitoring station aerobiological of University of Rome "Tor Vergata" is located at the Department of Biology. The instrument used to pollen monitoring is a volumetric sampler type Hirst (Hirst 1952), Model 2000 VPPS Lanzoni; the data acquisition is carried out as reported in Standard UNI 11008:2004 - "Qualità dell'aria - Metodo di campionamento e conteggio dei granuli pollinici e delle spore fungine aerodisperse" - the protocol that describes the procedure for measuring of the concentration of pollen grains and fungal spores dispersed into the atmosphere, and reported in the "Manuale di gestione e qualità della R.I.M.A" (Travaglini et. al. 2009). All 10 allergenic pollen are monitored since 1996. At Tor Vergata university is also operating a meteorological station (SP2000, CAE Bologna, Italy). With pollen and meteorological dataset was created a provisional model for Poaceae. A PLSDA (Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis) approach was used in order to predict Poaceae pollen critical concentration (Brighetti et al. 2013) To preserve spatial correlation between pollens and PM10, we choose a Multiavariate Linear Spatial Interpolation Method to quantify pollen concentration in function of PM10, wind, rain and temperature. A test and validation procedure have been conducted to estimate the error associated to the pollen concentration. Validation for the year 2012 shows a good agreement between measured and estimated data , in each area depending of orography and of road traffic (r >0.83, 1%< RRMSE <5% ). This study aims to be a added value to agro-meteorological data in a different branch from the classic sector of defence and of crop production, emphasizing the importance of monitoring and forecast the pollen dispersal in urban areas, evaluated its effect on health and quality of life. In the health area the combined analysis between climate, pollution and dispersal of pollen allows to realize significant operational tools and to develop a reference for subsequent implementations.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Venturi, Stefania; Tassi, Franco; Fazi, Stefano; Vaselli, Orlando; Crognale, Simona; Rossetti, Simona; Cabassi, Jacopo; Capecchiacci, Francesco
2017-04-01
Soils in volcanic and hydrothermal areas are affected by anomalously high concentrations of gases released from the deep reservoirs, which consists of both inorganic (mainly CO2 and H2S) and organic (volatile organic compounds; VOCs) species. VOCs in volcanic and hydrothermal fluids are mainly composed of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons (alkanes, aromatics, alkenes, and cyclics), with variable concentrations of O- and S-bearing compounds and halocarbons, depending on the physicochemical conditions at depth. VOCs in interstitial soil gases and fumarolic emissions from four volcanic and hydrothermal systems in the Mediterranean area (Solfatara Crater, Poggio dell'Olivo and Cava dei Selci, in Italy, and Nisyros Island, in Greece) evidenced clear compositional differences, suggesting that their behavior is strongly affected by secondary processes occurring at shallow depths and likely controlled by microbial activity. Long-chain saturated hydrocarbons were significantly depleted in interstitial soil gases with respect to those from fumarolic discharges, whereas enrichments in O-bearing compounds (e.g. aldehydes, ketones), DMSO2 and cyclics were commonly observed. Benzene was recalcitrant to degradation processes, whereas methylated aromatics were relatively instable. The chemical and isotopic (δ13C in CO2 and CH4) composition of soil gases collected along vertical profiles down to 50 cm depth at both Solfatara Crater and Poggio dell'Olivo (Italy) showed evidences of relevant oxidation processes in the soil, confirming that microbial activity likely plays a major role in modifying the composition of deep-derived VOCs. Despite their harsh conditions, being typically characterized by high temperatures, low pH, and high toxic gases and metal contents, the variety of habitats characterizing volcanic and hydrothermal environments offers ideal biomes to extremophilic microbes, whose metabolic activity can consume and/or produce VOCs. In the Solfatara Crater, microbial diversity was assessed by new generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rDNA. Microbiological analyses of samples collected from selected vertical profiles in the soil, where temperatures were up to 60 °C, revealed total prokaryotic abundances ranging from 7.23×106 to 439×106 cell/g WW. The highest abundances were recorded in sites affected by the highest and the lowest CO2 (3,350 and 110 gm-2day-1, respectively) and CH4 (0.059 and 0.00021 gm-2day-1, respectively) soil fluxes, and H2S concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 1.9 mmol/mol. The composition of both archaeal and bacterial communities showed remarkable changes depending on the sampling site, the most abundant phyla being represented by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Euryarchaeota at the highest inputs of hydrothermal fluids, corresponding to VOCs concentrations up to 898 nmol/mol (mainly alkanes and aromatics). Conversely, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, Chloroflexi and Thaumarchaeota dominated in those sites where low gas fluxes and VOCs contents (≤300 nmol/mol; mainly alkanes and O-bearing species) were recognized. The intimate relation between microbial distribution and hydrothermal gas concentrations and gas fluxes demonstrated the critical interplay between soil gases and microorganisms, remarking the potential biodegradation efficiency at extremely high VOCs concentrations in the soil.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Andreozzi, Laura; Giordano, Marco; Leporini, Dino; Tosi, Mario
2003-03-01
This special issue contains the Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Non-equilibrium Phenomena in Supercooled Fluids, Glasses and Amorphous Materials which was held in Pisa, Italy from 22 to 27 September 2002. This was the third of a series of workshops on this theme which started in 1995 as a joint initiative of the University of Pisa and of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. The history of the subject goes back to at least the times of J C Maxwell, whose basic formula τ = η/G∞ has been taken as the symbol of these workshops. The dynamical processes occurring in supercooled fluids and other disordered materials in non-equilibrium states involve different length and time scales. Fast and ultra-slow molecular rearrangements occur in the presence of microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic organization of the system. These phenomena are of particular relevance in several branches of science, technology and engineering, and their characterization appeals to a variety of experimental techniques and to simulational and theoretical studies. The underlying conceptual unity of the field provides a common ground for the scientific community working in its various areas. As for the earlier workshops on the same theme, the main objective of the third workshop was to bring together liquid state physicists, chemists and engineers to comparatively discuss experimental facts and theoretical predictions. In this edition the main themes included topics such as the phenomena of ageing, relaxation processes in materials ranging from systems of low molecular weight and oligomers to polymers, the dependence of relaxation processes on material thickness, the behaviour of multicomponent systems, and several others. Special attention was devoted to features and potentialities for applications of disordered systems. Round table discussions covered two presently hot topics: `Recent developments in potential energy landscape description of slow dynamics' and `Vibrational excitations in glasses at terahertz frequencies'. The core of the workshop was a set of general lectures followed by more specific presentations on current issues in the main areas of the field. These were covered in sessions devoted sequentially to viscous flow and microscopic relaxation, theoretical aspects, numerical simulation, rheology, glassy materials, confined materials, heterogeneities and energy landscape, polymers, and ageing. Three poster sessions further dealt with the above subjects. The structure of the workshop has been preserved in this publication, in which the set of papers from the plenary lectures is followed by topical contributions in the order in which they were presented. Five contributions to the proceedings come from a selection of the posters. The proceedings end with the round table contributions. We wish here to thank all participants in the workshop, who made it enjoyable and scientifically profitable, and all referees who worked in preparing this special issue of the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. We also wish to acknowledge the generous support that we have received from our institutions and the sponsorship and support given by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia and by its section Fisica dei Liquidi e Sistemi Disordinati. The Cassa di Risparmio di Pisa hosted the workshop in the splendid location provided by the Convento delle Benedettine. On the behalf of the international scientific community we express our gratitude to all these institutions as well as to those individuals-we mention here in particular Dr Massimo Faetti, Dr Diego Palazzuoli, Dr Fabio Zulli, Ms Beatrice Pistoresi and Ms Patrizia Pucci-who have contributed to organizing and running the workshop.
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Garavelli, E; Marcantoni, C; Costantino, C; Tedesco, D; Burrai, V; Giraldi, G; D'Andrea, E
2014-01-01
The postgraduate medical Schools in Public Health (locally known as School of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine) should ensure adequate scientific and technical knowledge and professional skills in preventive medicine, health promotion and healthcare planning as provided by Ministerial Decree 285/2005. The Italian Committee of Medical Residents in Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Public Health and Preventive Medicine - S.It.I. (Consulta Nazionale dei medici in formazione specialistica S.It.I.) has always been engaged in monitoring activities on public health teaching, guaranteeing the homogeneity of educational proposals among all national Schools in Public Health. The purpose of this study is to provide a 'snapshot' of public health education and training in Italy and to identify the improvement actions needed for implementing an innovative and homogeneous public health training. A cross-sectional study was carried out over a period of three months (March to May 2013). A self-administered questionnaire was e-mailed to local Committee's delegates of all 32 postgraduate medical Schools in Public Health in Italy. The questionnaire was structured in four sections: general information, University education and training, extra-University training, interdisciplinary activities. The majority of local Committee's delegates have agreed to be enrolled in the survey. A total of 28 questionnaires were returned (88% response rate). The number of residents in each Italian School in Public Health ranged from 7 to 31. The distribution of professors in relation to residents is not similar for each University Schools. The ratio professors/residents spanning from 0.2 to 2. About teaching, only 4 University Schools offered all courses requested by Ministerial Decree 285/2005. Most of them offered at least 75% of the requested courses, but there were Schools in which the courses were less than 50%. The vast majority of schools held more than 60% of the qualifying activities considered essential according to the Decree, while 2 Schools were below 50%. All Schools required an internship of 6-12 months in local health authority offices (ASL), mainly concerning the Department of Prevention activities. In all Schools a period of stay in a Hospital Medical Direction was scheduled, while professional activities at Residential care homes were very rarely included in training programmes. Many Schools allowed residents to attend companies with biological hazard or to follow similar activities in dedicated services of ASL. Finally, in the majority of Schools, a training period in various local (Service for Water Control), regional (Departments) or national (Ministry, National Institute of Health) health facilities was contemplated and, in some cases, also in other Universities or Research Institutes. Although the Ministerial Decree indicates the essential milestones of the public health education, flexibility is seen as an important element in order to optimize resources and contextualize the adequate education of residents. In any case, at least regarding public health courses, the majority of University education and extra-University training activities should be carried out by all Schools. In order to obtain shared knowledge and skills, the Ministerial Decree should be revised taking into account flexibility and changing as intrinsic characteristics of public health profession and learners should be involved in the reform to strengthening the role of public health teaching.
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HELI-DEM portal for geo-processing services
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cannata, Massimiliano; Antonovic, Milan; Molinari, Monia
2014-05-01
HELI-DEM (Helvetia-Italy Digital Elevation Model) is a project developed in the framework of Italy/Switzerland Operational Programme for Trans-frontier Cooperation 2007-2013 whose major aim is to create a unified digital terrain model that includes the alpine and sub-alpine areas between Italy and Switzerland. The partners of the project are: Lombardy Region, Piedmont Region, Polytechnic of Milan, Polytechnic of Turin and Fondazione Politecnico from Italy; Institute of Earth Sciences (SUPSI) from Switzerland. The digital terrain model has been produced by integrating and validating the different elevation data available for the areas of interest, characterized by different reference frame, resolutions and accuracies: DHM at 25 m resolution from Swisstopo, DTM at 20 m resolution from Lombardy Region, DTM at 5 m resolution from Piedmont Region and DTM LiDAR PST-A at about 1 m resolution, that covers the main river bed areas and is produced by the Italian Ministry of the Environment. Further results of the project are: the generation of a unique Italian Swiss geoid with an accuracy of few centimeters (Gilardoni et al. 2012); the establishment of a GNSS permanent network, prototype of a transnational positioning service; the development of a geo-portal, entirely based on open source technologies and open standards, which provides the cross-border DTM and offers some capabilities of analysis and processing through the Internet. With this talk, the authors want to present the main steps of the project with a focus on the HELI-DEM geo-portal development carried out by the Institute of Earth Sciences, which is the access point to the DTM outputted from the project. The portal, accessible at http://geoservice.ist.supsi.ch/helidem, is a demonstration of open source technologies combined for providing access to geospatial functionalities to wide non GIS expert public. In fact, the system is entirely developed using only Open Standards and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) both on the server side (services) and on the client side (interface). In addition to self developed code the system relies mainly on teh software GRASS 7 [1], ZOO-project [2], Geoserver [3] and OpenLayers [4] and the standards WMS [5], WCS [6] and WPS [7]. At the time of writing, the portal offers features like profiling, contour extraction, watershed delineation and analysis, derivatives calculation, data extraction, coordinate conversion but it is evolving and it is planned to extend to a series of environmental modeling that the IST developed in the past like dam break simulation, landslide run-out estimation and floods due to landslide impact in artificial basins. [1] Neteler M., Mitasova H., Open Source GIS: A GRASS GIS Approach. 3rd Ed. 406 pp, Springer, New York, 2008. [2] Fenoy G., Bozon N., Raghavan V., ZOO Project: The Open Wps Platform. Proceeding of 1st International Workshop on Pervasive Web Mapping, Geoprocessing and Services (WebMGS). Como, http://www.isprs.org/proceedings/XXXVIII/4-W13/ID_32.pdf, 26-27 agosto 2010. [3] Giannecchini S., Aime A., GeoServer, il server open source per la gestione interoperabile dei dati geospaziali. Atti 15a Conferenza Nazionale ASITA. Reggia di Colorno, 15-18 novembre 2011. [4] Perez A.S., OpenLayers Cookbook. Packt Publishing, 2012. ISBN 1849517843. [5] OGC, OpenGIS Web Map Server Implementation Specification, http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wms, 2006. [6] OGC, OGC WCS 2.0 Interface Standard - Core, http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=41437, 2010b. [7] OGC, OpenGIS Web Processing Service, http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=24151, 2007.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lonigro, Teresa; Santaloia, Francesca; Polemio, Maurizio
2014-05-01
The aim of this work is to present a methodology, based both on the use methods of time series analyses and of geospatial analyses of monthly climatic data (rainfall, wet days, rainfall intensity, and temperature), annual maximum of short-duration rainfall (from 1 hour to 5 days), historical modification of land use, and population variations in order to characterise the effects of these variables on the occurrence of landsliding in Daunia area, located on the eastern margin of the Southern Apennines thrust belt (southern Italy). Rock strata (mainly) interbedded with clayey marls, clays and silty-clays outcrop in this area. Due to the intense strain history, these successions are found to be from stratified to deeply fractured, up to be disrupted and floating as blocks in a clayey matrix. In turn, the clay units are laminated to intensely fissured and characterised by very poor mechanical properties (Santaloia et al., 2012). The statistical analyses deal with data coming from published databases, integrated by public and private documents, referring to a wide time span. Climate data records from 1877 to 2008 were elaborated, in particular the data coming from sixteen rainfall gauges, ten of which were also thermometric. Moreover, some monthly indices of rainfall, wet days, rainfall intensity, temperature, and landslide occurrence were introduced to simplify the analysis of parameters, characterised by spatial and temporal variability. The population records are from the 19th century up to now while the time period of reference for the land use data is from 1930 up to now. As concerns the landslide events, they were collected from 1918 to 2006. The main source of these records is the AVI database, an existing Italian database that collects data about damaging floods and landslides from 1918 to 1996. This dataset was integrated up to 2006 by consulting newspapers, scientific publications, technical reports, written by the researchers of the CNR-IRPI for the Civil Protection, and also documents belonging to a research project (PS_119; Cotecchia et al. 2010). According to the landslide data collected, the landslide events resulted to be 175 in the study area. The trend analyses show that the landslide occurrence was increased with the time, despite of the rainfall and temperature data are not prone to landsliding. As a matter of fact, the trend of both the monthly rainfall and the rainfall intensity decreases, and the temperature and the wet days show a positive trend during the period of reference. The trend of the short-duration rainfall results generally to decrease. Not existing an evident relationship between climate variability and the increase of landslide occurrence, some other factors should be considered, as, for instance, the poor mechanical soil properties, the role of anthropogenic modifications and the mismanagement of risk-prone areas. In this regards, the preliminary results obtained from the data analyses of the land use and the populations could partly justify the increasing trend of landslide occurrence. More details on previous results of this research activity were recently published (Cotecchia et al., 2010; Polemio and Lonigro, 2011 and 2013; Santaloia et al., 2012). References Cotecchia F., Santaloia F., Lollino P., C. Vitone, G. Mitaritonna (2010) "Deterministic landslide hazard assessment at regional scale". Geoflorida 2010, : 3130-3139. Santaloia F, Cotecchia F, Vitone C (2012) "Applicazione dei metodi avanzati al fronte appenninico apulo-lucano: analisi di I livello. In: Cascini L. (Ed) "Criteri di zonazione della suscettibilità e della pericolosità da frane innescate da eventi estremi (piogge e sisma)"; 130-140, Padova:Composervice srl. Polemio M., Lonigro T. (2011) "Variabilità climatica e ricorrenza delle calamità idrogeologiche in Puglia". In: "Le modificazioni climatiche e i rischi naturali", Polemio M. (Ed.), CNR IRPI, Bari, pp. 13-16. Polemio M., Lonigro T. (2013) "Climate variability and landslide occurrence in Apulia (southern Italy)". In: C. Margottini et al. (eds.), Landslide Science and Practice, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 4: 37-41.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Leocat, E.; Gillot, P.-Y.; Peccerillo, A.
2009-04-01
The Aeolian Archipelago is a volcanic arc in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea located on the continental margin of the Calabro-Peloritan basement. The Aeolian volcanism occurs in a very complex geodynamic setting linked to the convergence of the European and African plates. For that reason, it is strongly related to regional tectonic lineaments, such as the NW-SE trending Tindari-Letojani (TL) fault. The archipelago consists of seven main islands and several seamounts, which extend around the Marsili Basin, forming a ring-like shape, typical for an island arc. While the seamounts began their activities around 1 Ma , the emerged part is active since about 400 ka. The magmatic products of the whole arc range from typical island arc calc-alkaline (CA) and shoshonitic series, to slightly silica undersaturated potassic alkaline series that are typical of post-collisional settings. Furthermore, the TL fault, along which the Lipari and Vulcano islands are developed, separates a calc-alkaline western sector (Alicudi, Filicudi and Salina islands) from the calc-alkaline to potassic eastern system (Panarea and Stromboli islands) (Peccerillo,1999). This makes of the Aeolian Islands a complex volcanism, with a still controversial origin. In this context, the aim of this work is to constrain the sources and spatio-temporal evolution of this magmatism. We present here new K-Ar ages based on the accurate Cassignol-Gillot technique devoted to the dating of very young rocks (Gillot et Cornette, 1986). These geochronological data were used together with new geochemical data on the same samples. In this study, we attempt to understand the origin of those magmatic events and the relationship between the deep processes and the shallow structures. Our results allow us to define specific periods of very quick geomechemical changes. In the case of Filicudi island, the first rocks range in composition from CA basalts to andesites. This period ended with the edification of the Mte Guardia at 189±4 ka. Then the activity was followed by the construction of the Mte Terrione at 168±4 ka (Gillot 1987), which is matched by High K-Ca andesites emplaced in the Chiumento crater. Therefore, two different magmatic series took place in only 15 ka. The last eruption of Filicudi built the High K-CA dacite lava dome of Mte Montagnola. For Lipari island, the same event is observed around 120-100 ka. In fact, the emitted products evolved from CA andesitic basalts, that emplaced from 256±8 ka (Monte Chirica) to 119±7 ka (Monterosa), to High K-CA andesite after 100 ka. The rocks becam more and more differentiated to achieve High K-CA rhyolite composition during the last 40 ka. At the same time, the Monte Fossa delle Felci of Salina island shows a geochemical "excursion" around 100 ka, characterised by High K-CA dacite. The lower limit of Pollara explosive eruption, that emitted High K-CA rhyolite products, is constrain by a Monte dei Porri lava flow affected by Pollara crater and dated at 13±2 ka. Thus, all these magmatic changes correlate with morphological and volcanic variations. Finally, our first results confirm that the Aeolian arc volcanism is generated in a complex source, with important roles of both arc-type and anorogenic-type compositions. Datings on key samples show that role of different mantle sources change within a very short time span, especially in the central portion of the arc, along the TL lithosheric fault system. This work also gives new geochronological constrains on the duration of magmatic evolution and eruptive phases.
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Landslide hazard prediction in the North-Eastern Apennines (Italy)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Disperati, L.; Guastaldi, E.; Rindinella, A.
2003-04-01
In order to assess the landslide hazard nearby the Pergola city (in the Northern-Eastern Apennines, Italy) a ground survey at a scale of 1:10,000 was performed for an extent of about 370 km^2 (Carmignani, 2001), and a GIS of landslides was built. Following statistical analysis allows to assess the correlation among landslide occurrences and causal factors related to the detachment zone (lithology, engineering geology, elevation, slope, aspect, bedding as related with slope face -RBS- and land use). Consequently, considering the morphological, lithological and anthropic characters of current slides, it was agreed to locate possible future landslides in those area actually stable but characterised by similar conditions. Because of that, a geostatistical analysis was performed. Comparing for every landslide the occurence of either single or combined causal factor, the analysis was carried out in grid format. The spatial analysis of the GIS data layers allowed building the unique condition regions (Chung et al., 1995) and creating statistical data on causal factors in relation of landslides. Afterwards, for every region the susceptibility to development of new occurrences (favourability mapping) was calculated by utilising the certainty factor (CF; Chung &Fabbri, 1993). For landslides where crown was identified, the main scarp was considered as occurrence; a buffer around the highest point of landslide was built for all the others (Disperati et al., 2002). Such procedure was applied both for slides (175 occurrences) and flows (464 occurrences). Furthermore, by the application of the procedure to causal factors and their combination, additional information regarding susceptibility to development of new occurrences was calculated. The selection of the most suitable factors combination can be done through the results accuracy assessment in relation of time and/or space (Chung, 1999), by utilising two different hazard information layers, respectively computed from a training dataset of occurrences and a test dataset, a cross validation is made. The valuation both for flows and slides was performed through Prediction Rate Curves (PRC). By utilising the occurrences of the test dataset, PRC derived from the relation between CF trend in the whole area (cumulative percentage), portion of total area and number of landslides. As result, engineering geology can be indicated as the dominant factor for PRC of flows; likewise engineering geology, land use and RBS combination is the more effective combination. On the other side, slope and aspect resulted less determinative in best PRC trend. Moreover, the combination of engineering geology and slope allowed the computation of best PRC for landslide. References CARMIGNANI L. (2001): Realizzazione della cartografia geologica e geotematica e dei relativi supporti informatici alla scala 1/10.000 -- Progetto 1 -- Zona Nord. Progetti strumentali alla funzione di ricostruzione. Interventi strutturali comunitari obiettivo 5b -- Misura 3.1.4 Azioni di ricostruzione e recupero del tessuto urbano infrastrutturale nei territori colpiti dal sisma (Azione 7). Contratto tra la Regione Marche -- Servizio Urbanistica e Cartografia e l'Università degli Studi di Siena. Rapporto Finale. Università degli Studi di Siena, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Dicembre 200 1, pp. 6 I. CHUNG C. J. (1999): Prediction models in spatial data analysis for landslide hazard mapping -- Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada-Mineral Resources Division-Spatial Data Analysis Laboratory, http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/gsc/mrd/sdalweb/landslides/index.htm. CHUNG C. J., FABBRI A.G. (1993): The representation of geoscience information for data integration. Non-renewable Resources, v. 2., n. 3, pp. 1 22-139. CHUNG C. J., FABBRI A.G., VAN WESTEN C.J (1995).- Multivariate regression analysis for landslide hazard zonation. In Carrara, A. and Guzzetti, F., eds.: "Geographical Information Systems in Assessing Natural Hazards". Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 107-133. DISPERATI L., GUASTALDI E., CARMIGNANI L. (2002)-- Landslide mapping and hazard prediction in the Pergola area (Marche, Italy). 8th Annual Conference of the International Association for Mathematical Geology, IAMG 2002, 15-20 September 2002, Berlin, Germany, Terra Nostra 04/2002, 2, pp. 507-512.
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Cosmogenic Effects in Bouvante Eucrite
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bhandari, N.; Bonino, G.; Cini Castagnoli, G.
1992-07-01
The Bouvante meteorite, a single stone weighing 8.3 kg, was found on 30th July 1978 and has been classified as a mononict recrystallized eucrite by Michel Levy et al. (1987). Here are the results of measurements of cosmic ray track density and radioisotopes ^26Al, ^22Na, and ^44Ti in a 700-g fragment taken from the main mass. Track Density: Four samples for track density measurements were taken from the farthest corners of the 700-g fragment and feldspars were etched in boiling 1:2 NaOH for 60 minutes. Track density in different fragments ranged between 3.1 X 10^4 to 2.7 X 10^5 tracks/cm^2 showing some gradient within the fragment. The exposure age of Bouvante has been determined from ^21,22Ne and other rare gases that yield values between 5.6 and 6.7 Ma (Weber et al., 1983). Adopting a value of 6 Ma leads to track production rate of 5 X 10^3 to 4.5 X 10^4 tracks/cm^2 Ma corresponding to ablation ranging between about 18 and 9 cm. If the mean value of 13.5 cm is taken as representative ablation then Bouvante had a pre-atmospheric radius of ~21 cm. Cosmogenic Radionuclides: Gamma ray emitters were measured by whole-rock counting with a low background gamma-ray spectrometer. A high purity, 372 cm^3, coaxial Ge diode located within a 10-cm- thick active NaI(Tl) well scintillator in a 20-cm-thick lead shield, in the underground laboratory of Monte dei Cappuccini in Torino (Bonino et al., 1991) served as the gamma ray detector. The detector was used in two modes, in coincidence and in anticoincidence with the scintillator. The counting efficiency was determined by using the inherently present ^40K as an internal standard and by calibrating the detector at different energies. K in Bouvante is known to be 610 ppm (Michel Levy et al., 1987). The sensitivity and selectivity of the detector is high and the background extremely low so that, in addition to the long lived ^26Al, 48-yr ^44Ti which is produced at very low levels and 2.6-yr ^22Na could be measured even after lapse of more than 13 years of the fall of the meteorite. The measured activities, at the time the meteorite was found are ^26Al = 91.6+-0.7 dpm/kg, ^22Na = 76.0+-7 dpm/kg and ^44Ti = 2.1+-0.5 dpm/kg. Upper limits of 0.8 dpm/kg were obtained for ^60Co and of 0.05 dpm/kg for ^42Ar. Uranium also could be estimated via its daughter ^214Bi to be ~200 ppb. The results could be compared with activities in another eucrite Bereba where a 400-g fragment was counted in a similar manner. The track density and the low ^60Co activity suggests that the meteorite was exposed as a small body (R(sub)pre ~=21 cm) in space. Measured activity of ^22Na is close to the expected value, when corrected for solar cycle modulation, and indicates that the meteorite did not fall much before the time it was found. We are grateful to Drs. P. Pellas and B. Zanda of the Muse de History Naturelle, Paris, for loaning us the Bouvante and Bereba meteorites. We thank Mr. K. M. Suthar for assistance in track analysis. References: Bonino G., Cini Castagnoli G., and Bhandari N. (1991) Il Nuovo Cimento (1991) (submitted); Michel Levy C., Bourot Denise M., Palme H., Spettel B., and Wanke H. (1987) Bull. Mineral., 110, 449; Weber H. W., Braun O., Schultz L., and Begemann F. (1983) Z. Naturforsch, 38a, 267.
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PREFACE: 3rd Italian-Pakistani Workshop on Relativistic Astrophysics (IPWRA2011)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
De Paolis, Francesco; Siddiqui, Azad A.
2012-03-01
The Third Italian-Pakistani Workshop on Relativistic Astrophysics was held at the Rectorate of the University of Salento in Lecce on June 20-22, 2011. It follows the first two editions of this Workshop held at the Department of Physics of the University of Salento on 20-22 June 2007 and at ICRA (International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics) in Pescara on 8-10 July 2009. The Proceedings of the first two editions of this Workshop have been published in two special issues of Nuovo Cimento B [1] and General Relativity and Gravitation [2], respectively. The workshop series, whose aim is that of discussing the different aspects (both theoretical and observational) of Relativistic Astrophysics, follows the signature, in 2006, of an agreement between the University of Salento, Italy and the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan, and aims at promoting scientific and academic cooperation between the parties. The organizing committee of this Workshop has decided to dedicate the present workshop's edition to the celebration of the 65th birthday of the founder of this series of meetings, Prof. Asghar Qadir, one of the greatest Pakistani scientists of any time and a renowned world expert in the theory of general relativity. Many of the Workshop's participants have either been students or collaborators of Asghar Qadir, or both. In Pakistan the words Relativity and Asghar Qadir are synonymous. It would not be entirely wrong to say that anybody who has anything to do with relativity in Pakistan is either his student or a student of one of his students. Asghar Qadir has inspired generations of researchers and teachers, and continues to be a source of inspiration for hard work and dedication. He is a mentor of Pakistani scientists and the equivalent in Pakistan of what John Archibald Wheeler has been in the US. Qadir and Wheeler An autographed picture of John Archibald Wheeler with a young Asghar Qadir Asghar had the rare privilege of being introduced into the world of research by Sir Roger Penrose, who was his PhD supervisor. They worked on Twistor theory, which was one of the foremost runners in the race to quantize gravity at the time. Later in 1971, he joined Quaid-i-Azam University (then Islamabad University) and developed research collaborations with several well-known physicists and mathematicians including John Archibald Wheeler and Remo Ruffini. Of special mention are his efforts with Abdus Salam (NL) for encouraging Physics and Mathematics in the Third World and especially in Pakistan (by running the Salam Prize in Science). Asghar has since become one of the world's top relativists and a leading name in the study of symmetries. In 2004, he founded the Centre for Advanced Mathematics and Physics at NUST. Under his dynamic leadership, the centre has become as influential as any other institute of Pakistan in the development of Mathematics and Mathematical Physics within a very short time. One of his many talents is his amazing ability to detect potential for science among his students. As a result he has been able to successfully guide an astonishing number of PhDs - 14 to be exact and still counting, and no doubt this has been his greatest contribution to Relativity in Pakistan. Asghar has received several national and international awards and honours for his services to science in and outside Pakistan. 65th Birthday Celebrations of the 65th birthday of Asghar Qadir during the third Italian-Pakistani workshop on Relativistic Astrophysics These Proceedings contain revised versions of selected papers presented at the Workshop, which has been sponsored by the Salento University, the National University of Sciences and Technology, the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics and the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN, Section of Lecce). All these institutions are acknowledged here for their support together with the bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Participants Participants of the third Italian-Pakistani workshop on Relativistic Astrophysics We would like to thank all the Workshop's participants, more than 30 physicists coming from at least six countries, and in particular the speakers who contributed with enthusiasm to the scientific success of the Workshop. Special thanks go to the members of the organizing committee, actively involved in the organization of this event, and in particular to Achille Nucita, Gabriele Ingrosso, Mubasher Jamil and Ibrar Hussain.
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Selecting minimum dataset soil variables using PLSR as a regressive multivariate method
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Stellacci, Anna Maria; Armenise, Elena; Castellini, Mirko; Rossi, Roberta; Vitti, Carolina; Leogrande, Rita; De Benedetto, Daniela; Ferrara, Rossana M.; Vivaldi, Gaetano A.
2017-04-01
Long-term field experiments and science-based tools that characterize soil status (namely the soil quality indices, SQIs) assume a strategic role in assessing the effect of agronomic techniques and thus in improving soil management especially in marginal environments. Selecting key soil variables able to best represent soil status is a critical step for the calculation of SQIs. Current studies show the effectiveness of statistical methods for variable selection to extract relevant information deriving from multivariate datasets. Principal component analysis (PCA) has been mainly used, however supervised multivariate methods and regressive techniques are progressively being evaluated (Armenise et al., 2013; de Paul Obade et al., 2016; Pulido Moncada et al., 2014). The present study explores the effectiveness of partial least square regression (PLSR) in selecting critical soil variables, using a dataset comparing conventional tillage and sod-seeding on durum wheat. The results were compared to those obtained using PCA and stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA). The soil data derived from a long-term field experiment in Southern Italy. On samples collected in April 2015, the following set of variables was quantified: (i) chemical: total organic carbon and nitrogen (TOC and TN), alkali-extractable C (TEC and humic substances - HA-FA), water extractable N and organic C (WEN and WEOC), Olsen extractable P, exchangeable cations, pH and EC; (ii) physical: texture, dry bulk density (BD), macroporosity (Pmac), air capacity (AC), and relative field capacity (RFC); (iii) biological: carbon of the microbial biomass quantified with the fumigation-extraction method. PCA and SDA were previously applied to the multivariate dataset (Stellacci et al., 2016). PLSR was carried out on mean centered and variance scaled data of predictors (soil variables) and response (wheat yield) variables using the PLS procedure of SAS/STAT. In addition, variable importance for projection (VIP) statistics was used to quantitatively assess the predictors most relevant for response variable estimation and then for variable selection (Andersen and Bro, 2010). PCA and SDA returned TOC and RFC as influential variables both on the set of chemical and physical data analyzed separately as well as on the whole dataset (Stellacci et al., 2016). Highly weighted variables in PCA were also TEC, followed by K, and AC, followed by Pmac and BD, in the first PC (41.2% of total variance); Olsen P and HA-FA in the second PC (12.6%), Ca in the third (10.6%) component. Variables enabling maximum discrimination among treatments for SDA were WEOC, on the whole dataset, humic substances, followed by Olsen P, EC and clay, in the separate data analyses. The highest PLS-VIP statistics were recorded for Olsen P and Pmac, followed by TOC, TEC, pH and Mg for chemical variables and clay, RFC and AC for the physical variables. Results show that different methods may provide different ranking of the selected variables and the presence of a response variable, in regressive techniques, may affect variable selection. Further investigation with different response variables and with multi-year datasets would allow to better define advantages and limits of single or combined approaches. Acknowledgment The work was supported by the projects "BIOTILLAGE, approcci innovative per il miglioramento delle performances ambientali e produttive dei sistemi cerealicoli no-tillage", financed by PSR-Basilicata 2007-2013, and "DESERT, Low-cost water desalination and sensor technology compact module" financed by ERANET-WATERWORKS 2014. References Andersen C.M. and Bro R., 2010. Variable selection in regression - a tutorial. Journal of Chemometrics, 24 728-737. Armenise et al., 2013. Developing a soil quality index to compare soil fitness for agricultural use under different managements in the mediterranean environment. Soil and Tillage Research, 130:91-98. de Paul Obade et al., 2016. A standardized soil quality index for diverse field conditions. Sci. Total Env. 541:424-434. Pulido Moncada et al., 2014. Data-driven analysis of soil quality indicators using limited data. Geoderma, 235:271-278. Stellacci et al., 2016. Comparison of different multivariate methods to select key soil variables for soil quality indices computation. XLV Congress of the Italian Society of Agronomy (SIA), Sassari, 20-22 September 2016.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lo Sardo, Lorenzo; Gori, Stefano; Falcucci, Emanuela; Saroli, Michele; Moro, Marco; Galadini, Fabrizio; Lancia, Michele; Fubelli, Giandomenico; Pezzo, Giuseppe
2016-04-01
How can be univocally inferred the genesis of a linear surface scarp as the result of an active and capable fault (FAC) in tectonically active regions? Or, conversely, how it is possible to exclude that a scarp is the result of a capable fault activation? Trying to unravel this open questions, we show two ambiguous case studies about the problem of the identification of active and capable faults in a tectonically active area just based on the presence of supposed fault scarps at surface. The selected cases are located in the area comprised between the Middle Aterno Valley Fault (MAVF) and the Campo Imperatore Plain (Abruzzi Region, central Apennines), nearby the epicentral area of the April 6th, 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. In particular, the two case studies analysed are located in a region characterized by a widespread Quaternary faults and by several linear scarps: the case studies of (i) Prata D'Ansidonia area and (ii) Santo Stefano di Sessanio area. To assess the origin and the state of activity of the investigated geomorphic features, we applied a classical geological and geomorphological approach, based on the analysis of the available literature, the interpretation of the aerial photographs, field surveying and classical paleoseismological approach, the latter consisting in digging excavations across the analysed scarps. These analysis were then integrated by morphometrical analyses. As for case (i), we focused on determining the geomorphic "meaning" of linear scarps carved onto fluvial-deltaic conglomerates (dated to the Early Pleistocene; Bertini and Bosi, 1993), up to 3 meters high and up to 1,5 km long, that border a narrow, elongated and flat-bottom depressions, filled by colluvial deposits. These features groove the paleo-landsurface of Valle Daria (Bosi and Bertini, 1970), wide landsurface located between Barisciano and Prata D'Ansidonia. Entwining paleoseismological trenching with geophysical analyses (GPR, ERT and microgravimetrical prospections), it could be possible to infer the genesis of the scarps as due to complex tectono-karstic phenomena. As for case (ii), our ongoing analyses are aimed to analyze the tectonic "significance" of some closed depressions, up to 4 km long and to 0,5-1 km large, that occur along the south-western slope of the Gran Sasso Range. All these small depression are NW-SE trending. As already described by Bosi et al. (1989), Galadini and Giuliani (1993), D'Agostino et al. (1998), Falcucci et al. (2015), these closed depressions are bounded by scarps carved onto the carbonate bedrock and, subordinately, onto early Quaternary slope deposits, reaching height of up to 5 m. These scarps are preferentially NE dipping, even if in few cases some SW dipping scarp are also present . The field work has permitted to attest that these scarps are related to shear planes that that displaced two subsequent of Early Pleistocene breccias formations (the Valle Valiano Fm. and Fonte Vedice Fm.; Bosi e Bertini, 1993; D'agostino et al., 1997). A paleoseismological trench was also performed across one of these scarps, attesting the activity of these shear planes also in recent times, providing indications result about the deformation style. Reference Bertini, T., & Bosi, C. (1993). La tettonica quaternaria della conca di Fossa (L'Aquila). Il Quaternario, 6(2), 293-314. Bertini, T., Bosi, C., & Galadini, F. (1989). La conca di Fossa-S. Demetrio dei Vestini. CNR, Centro di Studio per la Geologia Tecnica, ENEA, PAS in Elementi di tettonica pliocenicoquaternaria ed indizi di sismicita olocenica nell'Appennino laziale-abruzzese, Societa Geologica Italiana, L'Aquila, 26-58. Bosi, C., & Bertini, T. (1970). Geologia della media valle dell'Aterno. Memorie Società Geologica Italiana, 9(4), 719-777. D'Agostino, N., F. Speranza, & R. Funiciello., (1997) "Le Brecce Mortadella dell'Appennino Centrale: primi risultati di stratigrafia magnetica." Il Quaternario10.2: 385-388. D'Agostino, N., Chamot-Rooke, N., Funiciello, R., Jolivet, L. & Speranza, F., (1998). The role of pre-existing thrust faults and topography on the styles of extension in the Gran Sasso range (central Italy). Tectonophysics 292, 229-254. Falcucci, E., Gori, S., Moro, M., Fubelli, G., Saroli, M., Chiarabba, C., & Galadini, F. (2015). Deep reaching versus vertically restricted Quaternary normal faults: Implications on seismic potential assessment in tectonically active regions: Lessons from the middle Aterno valley fault system, central Italy. Tectonophysics, 651, 186-198. Galadini, F. & Giuliani R. (1993), Role of the structural geology analysis in the recent tectonics studies: an example from an area located SW of the Gran Sasso (Central Italy). Ann. Geof., 36 (1), 287-292.
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2002-01-01
Antigenics is developing a therapeutic cancer vaccine based on heat-shock proteins (HSPs). The vaccine [HSPPC-96, Oncophage] is in a pivotal phase III clinical trial for renal cancer at 80 clinical sites worldwide. The trial is enrolling at least 500 patients who are randomised to receive surgical removal of the primary tumour followed by out-patient treatment with Oncophage((R)) or surgery only. This study was initiated on the basis of results from a pilot phase I/II study and preliminary results from a phase II study in patients with renal cell cancer. In October 2001, Oncophage was designated as a fast-track product by the Food and Drug Administration in the US for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma. Oncophage is in phase I/II trials in Italy for colorectal cancer (30 patients) and melanoma. The trials in Italy are being conducted at the Istituto dei Tumouri, Milan (in association with Sigma-Tau). Preliminary data from the phase II trial for melanoma was presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference in Florida, USA, in October 2001. Oncophage is also in a phase I/II (42 patients) and a phase II trial (84 patients) in the US for renal cell cancer, a phase II trial in the US for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (35 patients), a phase II trial in the US for sarcoma (20-35 patients), a phase I/II trial in the US for melanoma (36 patients), and phase I/II trials in Germany for gastric (30 patients) and pancreatic cancers. A pilot phase I trial in patients with pancreatic cancer began in the US in 1997 with 5 patients enrolled. In November 2000, Antigenics announced that this trial had been expanded to a phase I/II study which would now include survival as an endpoint and would enroll 5 additional patients. The US trials are being performed at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The trials in Germany are being carried out at Johannes Gutenberg-University Hospital, Mainz. Oncophage is an autologous vaccine consisting of purified complexes of tumour-derived HSPs linked to tumour antigen peptides. When these HSPPC are readministered to a patient following surgery or biopsy of the tumour, the antigenic tumour peptides are expressed on the surface of potent antigen-presenting cells of the immune system, such as macrophages and dendritic cells. This stimulates a much more powerful anti-tumour immune response than that generated by expression of the same antigens by the tumour cell. Thus, Antigenics autologous HSP technology is attractive because it is highly specific for individual patients and circumvents the need for identification of specific antigens for individual cancers (i.e. it does not require definition of the antigenic epitopes on cancer cells) and it overcomes the immune tolerance associated with various tumours. Oncophage is manufactured in a 10-hour process from surgically resected autologous tumour. A minimum of 1-3g of tumour tissue is required to produce enough Oncophage for a course of treatment. The major limiting factor for producing Oncophage from a particular cancer is the ability to purify HSP from that cancer. From clinical studies to date, Antigenics has been able to produce HSP from 100, 98, 90, 71 and 30% of colorectal carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, melanoma, gastric cancer and pancreatic cancer tumours, respectively. The low success rate with pancreatic cancers is because of the high concentration of proteases in that tissue type. HSPs are a family of highly conserved proteins present in the cells of all organisms. They function as molecular chaperones, assisting the correct folding of polypeptides and aiding intracellular protein transport. In addition, HSPs associate with a broad range of peptides derived from intracellular protein degradation, including antigenic peptides produced in tumour cells. Antigenics has exclusively licensed worldwide rights to its HSP immunotherapeutic complexes from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Fordham University in the USA. On 3 November 1998, Antigenics was issued a US patent (5,830,464) covering immunotherapy in which antigen-presenting cells are isolated and mixed with heat shock protein-antigen complexes purified from patients' tumours. The patent was issued to Fordham University, New York, US, who subsequently licensed it to Antigenics. Antigenics has an agreement with Sigma Tau, under the terms of which the latter company will fund 2 clinical trials in return for an option to market Oncophage in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. Antigenics also has an agreement with Medison for marketing of Oncophage in Israel.
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Muckle, Wendy; Muckle, Jamie; Welch, Vivian; Tugwell, Peter
2012-12-12
Managed alcohol programmes (MAP) are a harm reduction strategy used to minimise the personal harm and adverse societal effects that alcohol dependence can lead to by providing an alternative to zero-tolerance approaches that incorporate drinking goals (abstinence or moderation) that are compatible with the needs of the individual, and promoting access to services by offering low-threshold alternatives. This enables clients to gain access to services despite continued alcohol consumption and works to help the patient understand the risks involved in their behaviour and make decisions about their own treatment goals. To assess the effectiveness of MAP treatment regimens (serving limited quantities of alcohol daily to alcoholics) on their own or as compared to moderate drinking (self-controlled drinking), screening and brief intervention using a harm reduction approach, traditional abstinence-based interventions (12 step programmes) and no intervention. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycINFO up to March 2012. This search was expanded by handsearching of high-yield journals and conference proceedings that had not already been handsearched on behalf of The Cochrane Collaboration, searching reference lists of all papers and relevant reviews identified, references to ongoing and recently completed clinical trials in the National Research Register and IFPMA Clinical Trials Database (which contains ClinicalTrials.gov, Centerwatch, Current Controlled Trials and ClinicalStudyResults.gov, and Osservatorio Nazionale sulla Sperimentazione Clinica dei Medicinali). Trials registers, grey literature and reference lists were also searched. Individuals, organisations and experts in the field were contacted. Randomised control trials (RCT), controlled clinical trials (CCT), interrupted time series (ITS) studies, and control before and after (CBA) studies involving vulnerable people aged 18 years or older who were at high risk for alcohol abuse attending MAP, defined as a structured programme that provided clients with controlled amounts of alcohol on a daily schedule, comparing no treatment, moderate drinking, brief intervention or 12-step variants. All study citations were collated into a single database. Two review author independently screened titles and abstracts and selected references potentially relevant to the review. Differences between selection lists were resolved by discussion. Two review authors independently evaluated whether studies should be included or excluded according to the eligibility criteria. In the event of a disagreement, a third author was consulted. No studies were included in the review. This systematic review was intended to assess the effectiveness of a brief MAP on the reduction of incidence of harmful behaviour; however, no evidence was available to make this comparison; 22 articles were considered possibly relevant and all were excluded. Most articles were excluded because they failed to compare or consider managed alcohol as the experimental or control intervention, as well as one study (Baker 2010), which was also excluded because study participants were under 18 years of age. No study reviewed offered an intervention that was compared with managed alcohol or considered it as the intervention of interest, providing insufficient evidence to address the objectives of the review. Four studies (Aalto 2001; Baker 2010; Bertholet 2005; Tracy 2007) considered alcohol reduction as an outcome of interest, while four engaged interventions in a shelter setting or targeted vulnerable people (Baker 2010; Bradford 2005; Lapham 1993; McGlynn 1993); only one study (Kidd 2011) offered a qualitative assessment of a participant being admitted to MAP, but offered no analysis of the programme itself. These results accurately reflect the use of MAPs in current practice as existing programmes are ongoing only in a small number of sample pilot projects that target individuals with severe alcohol dependence or who consume non-beverage alcohol. The lack of evidence does not allow for a conclusion regarding the efficacy of MAP on their own, or as compared to brief intervention, moderate drinking, no intervention or 12-step variants. It is the review authors' opinion that it is likely to be the objective of MAPs that reduce their reportability and use in current practice, rather than a failure to provide an intervention that reduces the effects of alcohol dependence. Aiming to reduce harmful or antisocial behaviour in vulnerable individuals through the regulation of daily alcohol intake, rather than reducing harmful alcohol intake over time, provides considerable difficulty in developing measures of success from self-reported data (low treatment thresholds), monitoring long-term efficacy or establishing causal links between programme admission and a reduction in targeted behaviours, owing to the fact that prolonged participation in the programme is likely to indicate a willingness in the individual to change their behaviour patterns. More effort is needed to develop reporting measures, as well as methodologies, which address these specific challenges.
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[La Medicina del Lavoro: 100 volumes].
Zocchetti, C
2009-01-01
With these pages La Medicina del Lavoro starts its 100th volume, so we have yet another historical occasion to celebrate the oldest occupational health journal in the world that is still publishing. Over the last few years we have had many occasions to celebrate, for example several anniversaries of the Journal (the 80th volume in 1989, 90 years in 1992, 100 years in 2001); the centenary of the foundation of the Clinica del Lavoro "Luigi Devoto" of Milan in 2001; the celebration of the 300 years' anniversary of the publication of De Morbis Artificum Diatriba by Bernardino Ramazzini, and we obviously hope to continue for many years to come in this positive outlook. One hundred volumes makes for a very large collection, with the highs and lows ofthe Journal's history (here we mean the variations in number of pages and physical size of the Journal). It is thanks to the Editors-in-chief(there have been very few so we can cite them all: Luigi Devoto, 1901-1936; Luigi Preti, 1936-1941; Enrico Vigliani, 1943-1992; e Vito Foà, 1992 to the present); the contributors who in various ways and with varying degrees of commitment but always with an exceptional personal participation, that it has been possible to reach 100 volumes, starting with C. Moreschi who, along with Luigi Devoto, was the first and sole editor at the Journal's foundation; up to the present extended and impressive editorial board; the printers (from the first. Tipografia Cooperativa, Via dei Molini in Pavia, to the latest: Casa Editrice Mattioli in Fidenza); the sponsors, including the most evident who, via advertising (rather limited as a matter offact), directly gave information about themselves, but also those who have often been or are behind the scenes, ensuring fundamental support which is not visible; content. articles, news, events, reports, ideas, opinions, photographs, tables, numbers... etc, which are really impossible to sum up. But the true collection which, for obvious reasons, cannot be individually named, consists of the people and the ideas that have enriched the history of the Journal in its over 100 years of existence. And the subscribers, above all, who by their almost anonymous presence have been the true guarantors of the Journal's ife. And of course the contributors who with their articles have consigned a part of their lives to history. Starting from 1925 we counted nearly 11.000, a really grand number. It would be wonderful if we could invite them all to a hypothetical (and impossible) grand convention to simply say "Thank you, your contributions will not be forgotten". There have been 100 volumes but in actual fact the Journal is more than 100 years old. It was founded in Pavia in 1901 as Il Lavoro-Rivista di fisiologia, clinica ed igiene del lavoro, and between 1901 and 1910 only three volumes were published, then, due to the difficulties during the First World War and the immediate post-war years, there were no issues in 1916, 1918 and 1919. Issues finally became regular in 1920 with volume 11; from that moment on not one issue was missed and the Journal even got through the Second World War without interruptions. In 1925, with volume 16, it took on the name that still distinguishes it to-day: La Medicina del Lavoro, "the official standard bearer of a work of enormous scientific, social and political content" as Luigi Devoto presented the event at the time. The first few years of the Journal were difficult ones (with only three volumes published in 10 years) to the effect that events such as the First International Congress on Occupational Diseases (Milano, 1906), the foundation of the International Commission for Occupational Health (1906), the First National Italian Congress on Occupational Diseases (Palermo, 1907), and above all the inauguration of the Clinica del Lavoro in Milano (20 March, 1910) are not reported in the Journal, which by 1911 had resumed publication but had moved to Milan. Many years have passed since those first three volumes and in the meantime we have moved on to another century and another millenium: this brings new opportunities, new responsibilities, new perspectives, new objectives, but also new subscribers, new contributors, new authors, and new topics. We would like to conclude by repeating the undertaking made "20 volumes ago": The Editorial Board wishes to thank everyone and take the opportunity to renew our unfaltering commitment to work well by ensuring our full respect for authors and readers so as to contribute, via the pages of La Medicina del Lavoro, to spreading love and knowledge of our discipline.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pajewski, Lara; Manacorda, Guido; Persico, Raffaele
2015-04-01
This work aims at presenting the ongoing research activities carried out in Working Group 1 'Novel GPR instrumentation' of the COST (European COoperation in Science and Technology) Action TU1208 'Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar' (www.GPRadar.eu). The principal goal of the COST Action TU1208 is to exchange and increase scientific-technical knowledge and experience of GPR techniques in civil engineering, simultaneously promoting throughout Europe the effective use of this safe and non-destructive technique in the monitoring of infrastructures and structures. Working Group 1 (WG1) of the Action focuses on the development of innovative GPR equipment dedicated for civil engineering applications. It includes three Projects. Project 1.1 is focused on the 'Design, realisation and optimisation of innovative GPR equipment for the monitoring of critical transport infrastructures and buildings, and for the sensing of underground utilities and voids.' Project 1.2 is concerned with the 'Development and definition of advanced testing, calibration and stability procedures and protocols, for GPR equipment.' Project 1.3 deals with the 'Design, modelling and optimisation of GPR antennas.' During the first year of the Action, WG1 Members coordinated between themselves to address the state of the art and open problems in the scientific fields identified by the above-mentioned Projects [1, 2]. In carrying our this work, the WG1 strongly benefited from the participation of IDS Ingegneria dei Sistemi, one of the biggest GPR manufacturers, as well as from the contribution of external experts as David J. Daniels and Erica Utsi, sharing with the Action Members their wide experience on GPR technology and methodology (First General Meeting, July 2013). The synergy with WG2 and WG4 of the Action was useful for a deep understanding of the problems, merits and limits of available GPR equipment, as well as to discuss how to quantify the reliability of GPR results. An innovative reconfigurable ground-coupled stepped-frequency GPR is being studied and optimised by a group of WG1 Members; it was designed in Italy and is equipped with two bow-tie antennas, with a series of switches along their arms, so that their size can be varied. The system was tested in several sites, both indoor and outdoor, in comparison with a commercial ground-coupled pulsed system [1, 3, 4]. Subsequently, within a COST Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM), the prototype device was sent to Norway and compared with a commercial ground-coupled stepped-frequency radar [5]. These experimental activities were fundamental to gain a deepen knowledge of the reconfigurable GPR prototype and to plan its improvement. Another innovative system being designed within the Action and proposed by Italian Members, will allow investigating the mechanical properties of pavement, in addition to its geometrical and electromagnetic properties. Cooperation with the COST Action IC1102 'Versatile, Integrated, and Signal-aware Technologies for Antennas (VISTA)' has been established, concerning the design of GPR antennas. At least two more WG1 activities need to be mentioned, as they are very interesting and promising. The first one, coordinated by Italy and involving Members and external experts from Germany, United Kingdom, Japan and United States, is the development of a protocol providing recommendations for the safety of people and instruments in near surface geophysical prospecting, with a particular focus to the use of GPR. The second initiative is called GPR4Everyone, it was proposed by Italy and consists in creating a virtual store of GPR equipment at the disposal of Members from inclusiveness Countries: some Institutes have GPR systems and complementary NDT equipment no longer used, while there are Institutes who cannot afford to buy a GPR; thus, the idea is to cense the unused equipment and make it available to be given for free to researchers from less research-intensive countries, as a small step to counterbalance research communities' unequal access to funding and resources distribution. Acknowledgement The Authors thank COST, for funding the COST Action TU1208 'Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar.' References [1] Proceedings of the First Action's General Meeting (Rome, Italy, 22-24 July 2013), 1st edition, COST Action TU1208, L. Pajewski, A. Benedetto, Eds., ISBN 978-88-548-6191-6 (Aracne, 2013). [2] Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar, A. Benedetto, L. Pajewski, Eds., ISBN 978-3-319-04812-3 (Springer, 2015, in press). [3] Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar - GPR 2014, S. Lambot, A. Giannopoulos, L. Pajewski, F. De André, E. Slob, C. Craeye, Eds., IEEE Conf. Number 35163 (IEEE, 2014). [4] Proceedings of the Second Action's General Meeting (Vienna, Austria, 30 April-2 May 2014), COST Action TU1208, L. Pajewski, A. Benedetto, Eds., ISBN 978-88-548-7224-0 (Aracne, 2014).
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pierotti, Lisa; Cioni, Roberto
2010-05-01
Since late 2002, a continuous automatic monitoring network (CAMN) was designed, built and installed in Tuscany (Italy), in order to investigate and define the geochemical response of the aquifers to the local seismic activity. The purpose of the investigation was to identify eventual earthquake precursors. The CAMN is constituted by two groups of five measurement stations each. A first group has been installed in the Serchio and Magra graben (Garfagnana and Lunigiana Valleys, Northern Tuscany), while the second one, in the area of Mt. Amiata (Southern Tuscany), an extinct volcano. Garfagnana, Lunigiana and Mt. Amiata regions belong to the inner zone of the Northern Apennine fold-and-thrust belt. This zone has been involved in the post-collision extensional tectonics since the Upper Miocene-Pliocene. Such tectonic activity has produced horst and graben structures oriented from N-S to NW-SE that are transferred by NE-SW system. Both Garfagnana (Serchio graben) and Lunigiana (Magra graben) belong to the most inner sector of the belt where the seismic sources, responsible for the strongest earthquakes of the northern Apennine, are located (e.g. the M=6.5 earthquake of September 1920). The extensional processes in southern Tuscany have been accompanied by magmatic activity since the Upper Miocene, developing effusive and intrusive products traditionally attributed to the so-called Tuscan Magmatic Province. Mt. Amiata, whose magmatic activity ceased about 0.3 M.y. ago, belongs to the extensive Tyrrhenian sector that is characterized by high heat flow and crustal thinning. The whole zone is characterized by wide-spread but moderate seismicity (the maximum recorded magnitude has been 5.1 with epicentre in Piancastagnaio, 1919). The extensional regime in both the Garfagnana-Lunigiana and Mt. Amiata area is confirmed by the focal mechanisms of recent earthquakes. An essential phase of the monitoring activities has been the selection of suitable sites for the installation of monitoring stations. This has been carried out on the basis of: i) hydrogeologic and structural studies in order to assess the underground fluid circulation regime; ii) a detailed geochemical study of all the natural manifestations present in the selected territories, such as cold and hot springs and gas emission zones; iii) logistical aspects. Therefore, a detailed hydrogeochemical study was performed in 2002. A total of 150 water points were sampled in Garfagnana/Lunigiana area (N-W Tuscany) and analysed. Based on the results of this multidisciplinary study, five water points suitable for the installation of the monitoring stations, were selected. They are: Bagni di Lucca (Bernabò spring), Gallicano (Capriz spring) and Pieve Fosciana (Prà di Lama spring) in Garfagnana, Equi Terme (main spring feeding the swimming pool of the thermal resort) and Villafranca in Lunigiana (well feeding the public swimming pool). In the Amiata area, in the preliminary campaign, 69 water points were sampled and analyzed and five sites were selected. They are Piancastagnaio, Santa Fiora, Pian dei Renai and Bagnore, which are fed by the volcanic aquifer, and Bagno Vignoni borehole, which is fed by the evaporite carbonate aquifer. The installation and start-up process of the monitoring systems in the Garfagnana-Lunigiana area begun in November 2002; in the Monte Amiata region it begun in June 2003. From the day of installation, a periodic water sampling and manual measurement of the main physical and physicochemical parameters have been carried out on a monthly basis. Such activity has the double function of performing a cross-check of the monitoring instrumentation, and carrying out additional chemical and isotopic analysis. The continuous automatic monitoring stations operate with flowing water (about 5 litres per minute) and record the following parameters: temperature (T), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), redox potential (ORP) and the content of CO2 and CH4 dissolved in water. Data are acquired once per second; the average value, median value and variance of the samples collected over a period of 5 min are recorded in a local removable non-volatile memory (Compact Flash card). Data can be downloaded both onsite and in remote, via a GSM/GPRS modem connected to the embedded PC. The results of seven years of continuous monitoring can be summarised as follows: i) the monitoring stations made it possible to detect even small variations of the measured parameters, with respect to equivalent commercial devices; ii) acquired data made it possible to identify the groundwater circulation patterns; iii) in most locations, the observed trend of the acquired parameters is consistent with the periodic manual sampling results, and confirms the mixture of different water types that the hydrogeochemical model has determined. The absence of seismic events with a sufficient energy precluded the possibility to locate anomalies, with two exception: Equi Terme and Bagno Vignoni sites. At the Equi Terme station an anomalous increase in the dissolved CO2 content was observed twelve days before a M=3.7 earthquake occurred at a distance of 3 km north of the monitoring station. At the Bagno Vignoni station an anomalous decrease in the temperature and electrical conductivity signal was observed nine days before a M=3.3 earthquake occurred at a distance of 12 km est of the monitoring station. The CAMN resulted as being a suitable tool in order to investigate the anomalous variations of the physical, physicochemical and chemical parameters of aquifer systems as earthquake precursors.
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PREFACE: Young Researcher Meeting, Trieste 2014
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Agostini, F.; Antolini, C.; Aversa, R.; Cattani, G.; Di Stefano, M.; Longobardi, M.; Martinelli, M.; Miceli, A.; Migliaccio, M.; Paci, F.; Pietrobon, D.; Pusceddu, E.; Stellato, F.
2014-12-01
YRM_LOGO The Young Researcher Meeting (www.yrmr.it) has confirmed once again this year the enthusiasm and determination of Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows and young researchers to play a major role in the scientific progress. Since 2009, we regularly gather together to discuss the most recent developments and achievements in Physics, firmly convinced that sharing our expertise and experience is the foundation of research activity. The format we chose is an informal meeting primarily aimed at graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, who are encouraged to present their work in brief presentations that provide genuine engagement of the audience and cross-pollination of ideas. One of the main purposes of the conference is to create an international network of young researchers, both experimentalists and theorists, and fruitful collaborations across the different branches of Physics. After four editions that strengthened it, the Young Researcher Meeting 2014 was held at the International School for Advanced Studies - SISSA, Trieste, for the second time. The fifth appointment was a two-day conference on July 14th-15th 2014. It has been sponsored by a number of research groups of SISSA, the University of Udine and the Solar Physics group of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata", thus gathering even broader support than previous editions. The success of this year event is testified by an increased number of participants and institutions all around Europe. This resulted in an extremely rich and interactive poster session that covered several areas of pure and applied Physics. With the intent of broadening the contents and stimuli adopting multidisciplinary tools, the YRM 2014 hosted the workshop "Communicating Science" held in collaboration with SISSA Medialab. This choice reflects the growing importance of the outreach activity performed by scientists, especially at the earliest stages of their career, as a way of increasing their expertise and developing soft skills. Engaging the public and finding unconventional ways to communicate results turn out to be real assets in improving the quality of presentation of current research to peers, as well as to the general public. In this volume, we collect part of the contributions that have been presented at the conference. They cover topics in astrophysics and cosmology, particle and theoretical physics, soft and condensed matter, medical physics and applied physics. Given the recent experimental achievements in particle physics and cosmology, several contributions were focused on the latest results obtained in these fields, presenting the impact of experiments such as LHC and Planck to the community of young researchers and forecasting the future goals in these areas of research. Particular interest was aroused by the session fully dedicated to applied Physics and conservation of cultural assets. Besides the intrinsic scientific value of the discussed topics, the increasing relative weight of the applied Physics session is a demonstration of the benefits that fundamental science brings to the community. YRM Organising and Editorial Committee Fabio Agostini (fabio.agostini31@gmail.com) Telespazio A Finmeccanica Thales Company Claudia Antolini (claudia.antolini@sissa.it) SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati and Fudan University Rossella Aversa (raversa@sissa.it) SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Giordano Cattani (giordano.cattani@gmail.com) Marco Di Stefano (distefan@sissa.it) SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Maria Longobardi (marialongobardi@gmail.com) Department of Condensed Matter Physics, University of Geneva Matteo Martinelli (martinelli@thphys.uni-heidelberg.de) SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati and Institut fur Theoretische Physik Alice Miceli (alice.miceli@uniroma2.it) Physics Department, University of Rome Tor Vergata Marina Migliaccio (mm858@ast.cam.ac.uk) Institute of Astronomy and Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge Francesco Paci (fpaci@sissa.it) SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati Davide Pietrobon (davide.pietrobon@berkeley.edu) University of California at Berkeley Emanuela Pusceddu (emanuela.pusceddu@gmail.com) Institute of Biometeorology CNR Francesco Stellato (francesco.stellato@roma2.infn.it) INFN Roma Tor Vergata ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The organisers of the 5th Young Researcher Meeting would like to thank all the scientists who participated to the meeting. We furthermore thank all our sponsors that are listed below for supporting the event. We are grateful to the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) for hosting the conference for the second time, and to its director, Prof. Guido Martinelli, for his support and advice. We owe gratitude to SISSA Medialab, for organising the public event on science communication and providing technical support throughout the entire meeting. The publication of the proceedings of the conference is partially supported by the Solar Physics group in Tor Vertaga; we also acknowledge support from the University of Udine. The event was broadcast live by OggiScienza (http://oggiscienza.wordpress.com). The complete videos of the meeting can be found at the YRM Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw3roeK9oC4NPc-sRQ2t0rg SISSAInternational School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste PRINPRIN 2010-2011 (MIUR 2010YJ2NYW_001) - "Symmetries, Masses and Mysteries: Electroweak symmetry breaking, flavor mixing and CP violation, and Dark Matter in the LHC era" - SISSA, Trieste BIOMolecular and Statistical Biophysics Group - SISSA, Trieste THEOPRIN 2012 (2012CPPYP7_006) - "Theoretical Astroparticle Physics" - SISSA, Trieste ASTROPRIN 2010-2011 (MIUR 2010NHBSBE_008) - "L'Universo oscuro e l'evoluzione cosmica dei barioni: dalle survey attuali a Euclid" - SISSA, Trieste UDINEDepartment of Chemistry, Physics and Environment of the University of Udine BERRILLISolar Physics Group - Department of Physics of the University of Rome "Tor Vergata"
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Diósi, Lajos; Elze, Hans-Thomas; Fronzoni, Leone; Halliwell, Jonathan; Prati, Enrico; Vitiello, Giuseppe; Yearsley, James
2011-07-01
These proceedings present the Invited Lectures and Contributed Papers of the Fifth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2010, held at Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), 13-17 September 2010. These proceedings are intended to document the stimulating exchange of ideas at this conference for both the interested public and the wider scientific community, as well as for the participants. The number of participants attending this series of meetings has been growing steadily, which reflects its increasing attraction. Our intention to bring together leading researchers, advanced students, and renowned scholars from various areas in order to stimulate new ideas and their exchange across the borders of specialization seems to bear fruit. In this way, the series of meetings has continued successfully from the beginning with DICE 2002 [1], followed by DICE 2004 [2], DICE 2006 [3], and DICE 2008 [4], uniting more than 100 participants representing almost 30 countries worldwide. It has been a great honour and inspiration to have Professor Luc Montagnier (Nobel Prize for Medicine 2008) from the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention with us, who presented the lecture DNA waves and water (included in this volume). The discussions took place under the wider theme Space-Time-Matter - current issues in quantum mechanics and beyond in the very pleasant and inspiring atmosphere of Castello Pasquini, which - with its beautiful surroundings, overlooking the Tuscany coast - hosted the conference very successfully for the second time. The five-day program was grouped according to the following topics: Gravity and Quantum Mechanics Quantum Coherent Processes in Biology / Many-Body Systems From Quantum Foundations to Particle Physics The Deep Structure of Spacetime Quantum - Relativity - Cosmology A Public Roundtable Discussion formed an integral part of the program under the theme Sull' Onda Della Coerenza" - le nuove frontiere della scienza moderna with the participation of E Del Giudice (INFN & Università di Milano), L Fronzoni (Università di Pisa) and G Vitiello (Università di Salerno). By now forming a tradition, this evening event drew a large audience, who participated in lively discussions until late. The workshop was organized by L Diósi (Budapest), H-T Elze (Pisa, chair), L Fronzoni (Pisa), J Halliwell (London), E Prati (Milano) and G Vitiello (Salerno), with essential help from our conference seceretaries M Pesce-Rollins and L Baldini and from our students G Gambarotta and F Vallone, all from Pisa. Several institutions and sponsors supported the workshop; their representatives and, in particular, the citizens of Rosignano / Castiglioncello are deeply thanked for their generous help and kind hospitality: Comune di Rosignano - A Franchi (Sindaco di Rosignano), S Scarpellini (Segreteria sindaco), L Benini (Assessore ai lavori pubblici), M Pia (Assessore all' urbanistica). REA Rosignano Energia Ambiente s.p.a. - F Ghelardini (Presidente della REA), E Salvadori (Segreteria). Associazione Armunia - M Paganelli (Direttore), G Mannari (Programmazione). Special thanks go to G Mannari and her collaborators for their advice and great help in all the practical matters that had to be dealt with in order to run the meeting at Castello Pasquini smoothly. Funds made available by Università di Pisa, by Domus Galilaeana (Pisa), Centro Interdisciplinare per lo Studio dei Sistemi Complessi - CISSC (Pisa), Dipartmento di Matematica e Informatica (Università di Salerno), Instituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici - IISF (Napoli), and by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund OTKA, are gratefully ackowledged. Last, but not least, special thanks are due to Laura Pesce (Vitrium Galleria, San Vincenzo) for the exposition for her artwork Dal io al cosmo at Castello Pasquini during the conference. The papers presented at the workshop and collected here have been edited by L Diósi, H-T Elze, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell, E Prati, G Vitiello and J Yearsley. The proceedings essentially follow the order of presentation during the conference program, however, divided into Invited Lectures and Contributed Papers. (We regret that lectures by D Bouwmeester, G G Guerreschi, G C Ghirardi and C Kiefer could not be reproduced here, partly for copyright reasons.) In the name of all the participants, we would like to thank S Toms and G Douglas, and their collaborators at IOP Publishing (Bristol) for their friendly advice and most valuable and immediate help during the editing process and, especially, for their continuing efforts to make the Journal of Physics: Conference Series available to all. Budapest, Pisa, London, Milano and Salerno, May 2011 Lajos Diósi, Hans-Thomas Elze, Leone Fronzoni, Jonathan Halliwell, Enrico Prati, Guiseppe Vitiello and James Yearsley [1] Elze H-T (ed) 2004 Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems Lecture Notes in Physics 633 (Berlin: Springer) [2] Elze H-T (ed) 2005 Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2004 Braz. Journ. Phys. 35 2A and B pp 205-529free access at: www.sbfisica.org.br/bjp[3] Elze H-T, Diósi L, Fronzoni L, Halliwell J J and Vitiello (eds) 2007 Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2006 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 67free access at: www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/67/1[4] Elze H-T, Diósi L, Fronzoni L, Halliwell J J and G Vitiello (eds) 2009 Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2008 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 174free access at: www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/67/1
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Diósi, Lajos; Elze, Hans-Thomas; Fronzoni, Leone; Halliwell, Jonathan; Vitiello, Giuseppe
2009-07-01
These proceedings present the Invited Lectures and Contributed Papers of the Fourth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2008, held at Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), 22-26 September 2008. We deliver these proceedings as a means to document to the interested public, to the wider scientific community, and to the participants themselves the stimulating exchange of ideas at this conference. The steadily growing number of participants, among them acclaimed scientists in their respective fields, show its increasing attraction and a fruitful concept, based on bringing leading researchers together and in contact with a mix of advanced students and scholars. Thus, this series of meetings successfully continued from the beginning with DICE 2002, (Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems ed H-T Elze Lecture Notes in Physics 633 (Berlin: Springer, 2004)) followed by DICE 2004 (Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2004 ed H-T Elze Braz. Journ. Phys. 35, 2A & 2B (2005) pp 205-529 free access at: www.sbfisica.org.br/bjp) and by DICE 2006, (Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2006 eds H-T Elze, L Diósi and G Vitiello Journal of Physics: Conference Series 67 (2007); free access at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/67/1) uniting about one hundred participants from more than twenty different countries worldwide this time. It has been a great honour and inspiration for all of us to have Professor Sir Roger Penrose from the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford with us, who presented the lecture ``Black holes, quantum theory and cosmology'' (included in this volume). Discussions under the wider theme ``From Quantum Mechanics through Complexity to Spacetime: the role of emergent dynamical structures'' took place in the very pleasant and inspiring atmosphere of Castello Pasquini, which - with its beautiful surroundings, overlooking a piece of Tuscany's coast, and with splendid weather throughout - was conducive to the success of the meeting. The 5-day program was grouped according to the following topics: Quantum Physics and Some Important Questions it Raises Emergent Dynamics, from Quantum to Brain and Beyond Exploring Quantum Mechanics Atomistic Theories of Spacetime Quantum-Entanglement/Gravity/Cosmology A Public Roundtable Discussion formed an integral part of the program under the theme ``Dialoghi sulla complessita' - dall' atomo all' Universo'' and with the participation of physicists and philosophers: F T Arecchi (Firenze), L Fronzoni (Pisa), A M Iacono (Pisa), F Luccio (Pisa) and G Vitiello (Salerno, coordinator). This event drew a large audience, who participated in the lively discussions until late in the evening. The workshop has been organized by L Diósi (Budapest), H-T Elze (Pisa, chair), L Fronzoni (Pisa), J Halliwell (London) and G Vitiello (Salerno), with great help from our conference secretaries M Pesce-Rollins (Siena) and L Baldini (Pisa) and from our students F Caravelli and E Di Nardo, both from Pisa. Several institutions and sponsors generously supported the workshop and their representatives and, in particular, the citizens of Rosignano/Castiglioncello are deeply thanked for the help and kind hospitality: Comune di Rosignano A Nenci (Sindaco di Rosignano), S Scarpellini (Segreteria sindaco), D Del Seppia (Assessore allo Sviluppo Economico del Comune di Rosignano), A Franchi (Assessore al turismo del Comune di Rosignano/Presidente dell' associazione Armunia), A Corsini (Ufficio economato del Comune di Rosignano). REA Rosignano Energia Ambiente s.p.a. F Ghelardini (Presidente della REA), A Cecchini (Ufficio - Responsabile stampa della REA). Solvay Chimica Italia s.a. Dott S Piccoli (Responsabile Relazioni Esterne, Solvay Rosignano), G Becherucci (Comunicazione e Relazioni Esterne). Associazione Armunia M Paganelli (Direttore), G Mannari (Programmazione). Special thanks go to G Mannari for her advice and great help in all the many practical matters that had to be dealt with, in order to run the meeting at Castello Pasquini smoothly. Funds made available by Universitá di Pisa, by Domus Galilaeana (Pisa), Centro Interdisciplinare per lo Studio dei Sistemi Complessi - CISSC (Pisa), Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica (Universitá di Salerno), Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici - IISF (Napoli), and by IOP Publishing (Bristol) are gratefully acknowledged. Last but not least, special thanks go to L Pesce (Vitrium Galleria, Populonia) for her artwork (``Art and Science'') displayed during the conference at Castello Pasquini. The research papers presented at the workshop, often incorporating further developments since then, or presenting original new work, have been edited by L Diósi, H-T Elze, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell and G Vitiello, with major assistance from J Yearsley (London), which we gratefully acknowledge. They are collected here, essentially following the program of the workshop, however, divided into Invited Lectures (we regret that lectures by E Arimondo, N Gisin, and W Schleich could not be reproduced here) and Contributed Papers, respectively. In the name of all participants, we would like to thank Dr J Schwarz and G Douglas (IOP Publishing, Bristol), and their collaborators, for friendly advice, always immediate help during the editing process, and for their efforts making the Journal of Physics: Conference Series available to all. Budapest, Pisa, London and Salerno, May 2009 Lajos Diósi, Hans-Thomas Elze, Leone Fronzoni, Jonathan Halliwell and Giuseppe Vitiello
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Biscione, Marilisa; Danese, Maria; Masini, Nicola; Sabia, Canio
2016-04-01
The study is focused on villages that are abandoned throughout the Basilicata from the 13th to the 15th century (Masini 1998), which is an emblematic case of abandonment of settlements in Late Middle Ages, which was a very common phenomenon throughout the whole Europe, attracting the interest of several historians and archaeologists (Demians d'Archimbaud 2001) The aim of the present study is to offer a contribution to knowledge of the medieval Basilicata's landscapes and settlement's dynamics with a multidisciplinary approach, derived from the rescue archeology: we have integrated the documentary sources with the use of spatial analysis and predictive models (Danese et al. 2009). The preventive archeology was born to conciliate the protection of archeological heritage, in evidence and potential, with the needs of urban design and planning. It is of fundamental importance, for a reliable evaluation of archaeological potential (identifying invisible traces) to use innovative diagnostic technologies: geophysical prospections, remote sensing (Lasaponara & Masini 2010; Lasaponara et al. 2016) and spatial analysis for the creation of predictive models. The latter are used to accomplish operational purposes but also for the historical landscape reconstruction (Danese et al. 2013; 2014). They contribute to analyse settlements and their dynamics on the basis of definite method and parameters. Thanks to predictive models it is possible, in fact, to start off by information of well-known archeological sites and use this knowledge as an empiric test for understand which elements have influenced their localization in the space. The relationships among natural environment, social context and position site are analysed in order to make clear the rules of settlement. These rules are then used into the model (Podobnikar et al. 2001). In this work the employed methodology is Spatial Analysis, in order to subdivide the territory based on its importance respect to a given function. The archeological dataset is made up of documentary sources and, in some cases, field survey. We have integrated the observation of Site Catchment Analysis of every site with the organizational principles of the economic space and with the principles of potential agricultural use of soil, which follow of the pointers proceeds from a series of important elements in the territorial evolution. The map algebra used methods are Viewshed Analysis, Cost Weighted Distance, Cost Weighted Allocation, Shortest Path. Furthermore, through the method of land evaluation, in order to understand the potential agricultural use of the soil has been defined the degree of adaptability of some agricultural species to the invariable characteristics of the territories examined, such as the pedology, orography and exposure to light solar. The result obtained with the present study propose an approach of integration of heterogeneous data through the use of techniques that make reference the same principles on which the strategies of localization of the sites of the man of the past were based that is distance, adjacency, interaction, neighborhood. The in-depth study on a few sites and their archaeological excavations has the role of validate the model. References Danese M., Biscione M., Coluzzi R., Lasaponara R., Murgante B., Masini N. 2009, An Integrated Methodology for Medieval Landscape Reconstruction: The Case Study of Monte Serico, in O. Gervasi et al. (Eds.), Computational Science and Its Applications - ICCSA 2009, Proceedings of International Conference, Seoul, Korea, June 29-July 2, 2009, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, part. I, LNCS 5592, pp. 328-340, ISBN: 978-3-642-02453-5, doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-02454-2_23 Danese M., Masini N., Biscione M., Lasaponara R. 2013.GIS and archaeology: a spatial predictive model for neolithic sites of the Tavoliere (Apulia), Proc. SPIE 8795, First International Conference on Remote Sensing and Geoinformation of the Environment (RSCy2013), 87950I (August 5, 2013); doi:10.1117/12.2027954 Danese M., Masini N., Biscione M., Lasaponara R. 2014. Predictive modeling for preventive Archaeology: Overview and case study. Central European Journal of Geosciences. March 2014,Volume 6, Issue 1, 42-55, doi: 10.2478/s13533-012-0160-5 G. Demians d'Archimbaud - Rougiers, Castrum médiéval déserté. In : Pays Sainte-Baume 9 (2001) 6-8 Lasaponara R., Masini N. 2009, Full-waveform Airborne Laser Scanning for the detection of medieval archaeological microtopographic relief, Journal of Cultural Heritage, 10S, pp. e78-e82, doi:10.1016/j.culher.2009.10.004. Lasaponara R., Leucci G., Masini N., Persico R., Scardozzi G., 2016, Towards an operative use of remote sensing for exploring the past using satellite data: The case study of Hierapolis (Turkey), Remote sensing of Environment, vol. 174: 148-164, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2015.12.016 Masini N. 1998, La fotointerpretazione aerea finalizzata allo studio morfologico dei siti urbani e fortificati medioevali della Basilicata, in "Castra ipsa possunt et debent reparari." Indagini conoscitive e metodologie di restauro delle strutture castellane normanno-sveve, a cura C. D. Fonseca, Roma, Edizioni De Luca, tomo I, pp. 205-250, ISBN: 8880162888 Podobnikar, T., Veljanovski, T., Stanèiè, Z., Oštir, K. (2001) Archaeological Predictive Modelling in Cultural Resource Management. In: Konečný, M. (ed): GI in EUROPE: integrative - interoperable - interactive. Proceedings of 4th Agile Conference on Geographic Information Science, April 19-21 2001, Brno, pp. 535-544.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Russo Ermolli, Elda; Romano, Paola; Liuzza, Viviana; Amato, Vincenzo; Ruello, Maria Rosaria; Di Donato, Valentino
2014-05-01
Campania has always offered suitable climatic and physiographic conditions for human settlements since prehistoric times. In particular, many Graeco-Roman towns developed along its coasts starting from the 7th-6th cent. BC. In the last decade, geoarchaelogical surveys have been carried out in the archaeological excavations of Neapolis, Paestum and Elea-Velia allowing the main steps of the landscape evolution around these towns to be defined in detail. The greek town of Neapolis rose in the late 6th cent. BC [1] on a terrace overlooking a low-relief rocky coast surrounded by volcanic hills. Port activities developed in a protected bay facing the town from the 4th-2nd cent. BC up to the 4th cent. AD, as testified by the discovery of structures and shipwrecks [2, 3, 4]. Starting from the 3rd cent. AD a spit bar formed at the bay entrance causing the progressive establishment of a lagoon which was gradually filled up by alluvial inputs and completely closed in the 5th cent. AD. During the same period, episodes of increased alluvial inputs were also recorded further west along the coast, where a narrow sandy beach formed at the cliff toe. The greek town of Poseidonia, renamed Paestum by the Romans, was founded in the 540 BC on a travertine terrace facing the sandy littoral of a prograding coastal plain [5]. In front of the main town door, a coastal lagoon developed thanks to the growth of a dune ridge and was probably used for harbor activities [5]. After this period the shoreline shifted seawards, another dune ridge formed and the back-ridge depression was filled with fluvial-marshy deposits, slowly drying up. Phases of travertine deposition, which characterized the SE sector of the plain all along the Holocene, were recorded in the northern and southern quarters of the town in historical times and were connected to the abandonment of the town in the early Medieval times. The greek colony of Elea-Velia was located on top of a siliciclastic promontory where the ruins of the first archaic settlement (late 6th cent. BC) was unearthed. The Graeco-Roman town expanded downhill, exploiting the growth of a coastal plain, where occasional phases of flooding coexisted with the life of the citizens [6]. The onset of the 3rd cent. AD was characterized by phases of extreme floods which also occurred during the 4th and 5th cent. AD leading to several meters of ground-level aggradation and the burial of buildings [6, 7]. Although the three investigated sites are located in rather different morphological context, they show the evidence of a disequilibrium in the morphodynamics which started in the 3rd-4th cent. AD. The vast amount of collected data strongly suggest that this disequilibrium is a clear sign of a socio-economic decline which affected the Roman Empire during this period rather than the consequence of a climatic deterioration towards dryer conditions, for which no detailed data are available in the Mediterranean area [8]. The abandonment of the towns and their surroundings triggered increased soil erosion on the slopes suffering deforestation and in the farmlands for reduced maintenance, enhancing accumulation rates at the foothills and along coastal areas. References [1] D'Agostino, B., Giampaola, D., 2005. Osservazioni storiche e archeologiche sulla fondazione di Neapolis, in: Harris, W.V., Lo Cascio, E. (Eds.), Noctes Campanae, studi di storia antica e archeologia dell'Italia pre-romana e romana in memoria di Martin W. Frederiksen, Napoli, 63-72. [2] Giampaola, D., Carsana, V., Boetto, G., Bartolini, M., Capretti, C., Galotta, G., Giachi, G., Macchioni, N., Nugari, M. P., Pizzo, B., 2006. La scoperta del porto di Neapolis: dalla ricostruzione topografica allo scavo e al recupero dei relitti. Arch. Mar. Medit., Int. J. Underwat. Arch. 2, 47-91, Ist. Ed. Poligr.Int. MMVI, Pisa - Roma. [3] Allevato, E., Russo Ermolli, E., Boetto, G., Di Pasquale, G., 2010. Pollen-wood analysis at the Neapolis harbour site (1st-3rd century AD, southern Italy) and its archaeobotanical implications. J. Archaeol. Sci. 37, 2365-2375. [4] Russo Ermolli E., Romano P., Ruello M.R., Barone Lumaga M.R, in press. The natural and cultural landscape of Naples (southern Italy) during the Graeco-Roman and Late Antique periods. J. Archaeol. Sci. [5] Amato, V., Aucelli, P.,D'Argenio, B., Da Prato, S., Ferraro, L., Pappone, G., Petrosino, P., Rosskopf, C.M., Russo Ermolli, E., 2012. Holocene environmental evolution of the coastal sector before the Poseidonia-Paestum archaeological area (Sele plain, southern Italy). Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei. doi:10.1007/s12210-011-0161-1 [6] Amato V., Bisogno G., Cicala L., Cinque A., Romano P., Ruello MR., Russo Ermolli E., 2010. Palaeo-environmental changes in the archaeological settlement of Elea-Velia: climatic and/or human impact signatures? In Ciarallo A., Senatore M.R. (2010) Scienze naturali ed archeologia. Il paesaggio antico: interazione uomo/ambiente ed eventi catastrofici. Aracne Editrice, Roma, pag 13-16. ISBN 978-88-548-3525-2 [7] Russo Ermolli E., Romano P., Ruello M.R., 2013. Human-environment interactions in the southern Tyrrhenian coastal area: hypothesis from Neapolis and Elea-Velia. In: Harris W.V. (Ed.) The ancient Mediterranean environment between science and history Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition 39, BRILL Leiden-Boston, ISBN 978-90-04-25343-8, pp. 213-232. [8] Büntgen, U., Tegel, W., Nicolussi, K., McCormick, M., Frank, D., Trouet, V., Kaplan, J.O., Herzig, F., Heussner, K-U., Wanner, H., Luterbacher, J., Esper, J., 2011. 2500 Years of European Climate Variability and Human Susceptibility. Science 331, 578-582.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Righini, Gaia; Del Conte, Sara; Cigna, Francesca; Casagli, Nicola
2010-05-01
In the last decade Persistent Scatterers Interferometry (PSI) was used in natural hazards investigations with significant results and it is considered a helpful tool in ground deformations detection and mapping (Berardino et. al., 2003; Colesanti et al., 2003; Colesanti & Wasowski, 2006; Hilley et al., 2004). In this work results of PSI processing were interpreted after the main seismic shock that affected the Abruzzo region (Central Italy) on 6th of April 2009, in order to carry out a slope instability mapping according to the requirement of National Department of Civil Protection and in the framework of the Landslides thematic services of the EU FP7 project ‘SAFER' (Services and Applications For Emergency Response - Grant Agreement n° 218802). The area of interest was chosen in almost 460 km2 around L'Aquila according the highest probability of reactivations of landslides which depends on the local geological conditions, on the epicenter location and on other seismic parameters (Keefer, 1984). The radar images datasets were collected in order to provide estimates of the mean yearly velocity referred to two distinct time intervals: historic ERS (1992-2000) and recent ENVISAT (2002-2009), RADARSAT (2003-2009); the ERS and RADARSAT images were processed by Tele-Rilevamento Europa (TRE) using PS-InSAR(TM) technique, while the ENVISAT images were processed by e-GEOS using PSP-DIFSAR technique. A pre-existing landslide inventory map was updated through the integration of conventional photo interpretation and the radar-interpretation chain, as defined by Farina et al. (2008) and reported in literature (Farina et al. 2006, Meisina et al. 2007, Pancioli et al., 2008; Righini et al., 2008, Casagli et al., 2008, Herrera et al., 2009). The data were analyzed and interpreted in Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. Main updates of the pre-existing landslides are focusing on the identification of new landslides, modification of boundaries through the spatial radar interpretation and the assessment of the state of activity, intended as defined by Cruden and Varnes (1996). The information coming from the radar interpretation is the basis to evaluate the state of activity and the intensity of slow landslides. Two main situations can occur: the presence of PS within the already mapped landslides, and the presence of PS outside the previous mapped area resulting often in new landslides. The analysis of PSI data allowed to map 57 new landslides and gave information on 203 (39%) landslides mapped of the pre-existed PAI while the updated Landslide Inventory Map has 579 landslides totally: thus EO data did not give any additional information on 319 landslides of the pre-existing inventory map. Considering the 203 updated landslides, the modifications concern 155 phenomena while 48 are confirmed: the modifications are related to the boundary and/or the state of activity and the typology. All the new landslides added are considered active. It is worth noting that almost all the landslides where the state of activity is changed from dormant (or stabilized) to active involve urban areas and the road network where the reliability of radar benchmarks is higher. Radar satellite data were in particular very useful to map slow superficial movements named as "creep" that are widespread in the slopes around L'Aquila: the typical velocity is few centimeters per year which is perfectly suited to the capability of multi-interferometric techniques for ground deformation detection. References: Berardino, P., Costantini, M., Franceschetti, G., Iodice, A., Pietranera, L., Rizzo, V. (2003). use of differential SAR interferometry in monitoring and modelling large slope instability at Maratea (Basilicata, Italy). Engineering Geology, 68 (1-2), 31 - 51. Casagli N., Colombo D., Ferretti A., Guerri L., Righini G. (2008)- Case Study on Local Landslide Risk Management During Crisis by Means of Remote Sensing Data. Proceedings of the First World Landslide Forum. 16-19 November 2008 Tokyo Japan, 125-128. Colesanti, C., Ferretti, A., Prati, C., Rocca, F. (2003). Monitoring landslides and tectonic motions with the Permanent Scatterers Technique. Engineering Geology, 68, 3 - 14. Colesanti, C., Wasowski, J., (2006). Investigating landslides with satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry. Engineering Geology, 88 (3 - 4), 173 - 199. Cruden, D.M., Varnes, D.J. (1996). Landslide types and processes. In: Turner AK, Schuster RL (eds) Landslides investigation and mitigation, Special Report 247. Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, DC, 36 - 75. Farina P., Colombo D., Fumagalli A., Marks F., Moretti S. (2006) - Permanent Scatterers for landslide investigations: outcomes from the ESA-SLAM project. Engineering Geology, v. 88, p.200-217. Farina P., Casagli N., Ferretti A. (2008) - Radar-interpretation of InSAR measurements for landslide investigations in civil protection practices. First North American Landslide Conference, June 3-8, 2007.Vail, Colorado, pp. 272-283. Hilley, G.E, Burgmann, R., Ferretti, A., Novali, F., Rocca, F. (2004). Dynamics of slow-moving landslides from Permanent Scatterer analysis. Science, 304 (5679), 1952 - 1955. Herrera G., Davalillo J.C., Mulas J., Cooksley G., Monserrat O., Pancioli V. (2009) - Mapping and monitoring geomorphological processes in mountainous areas using PSI data: Central Pyrenees case study Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 9, 1587-1598, Meisina C., Zucca F., Fossati D., Ceriani M, Allievi J. (2006) - Ground deformations monitoring by using the Permanent Scatterers Technique: the example of the Oltrepo Pavese (Lombardia, Italy), Engineering Geology, 88, 240-259. Pancioli V., Farina P., (2007) - Analisi dei fenomeni franosi con dati InSAR satellitari: primi risultati del progetto ESA-Terrafirma. Giornale di Geologia Applicata 6-A: 101-102. Righini, G., Del Ventisette, C., Costantini, M., Malvarosa, F., Minati, F. (2008). Space-borne SAR Analysis for Landslides Mapping in the Framework of the PREVIEW Project. Proceedings of the First World Landslide Forum, Tokyo Japan, 505-506.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Diósi, Lajos; Elze, Hans-Thomas; Fronzoni, Leone; Halliwell, Jonathan; Prati, Enrico; Vitiello, Giuseppe; Yearsley, James
2013-06-01
Presented in this volume are the Invited Lectures and the Contributed Papers of the Sixth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2012, held at Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), 17-21 September 2012. These proceedings may document to the interested public and to the wider scientific community the stimulating exchange of ideas at the meeting. The number of participants has been steadily growing over the years, reflecting an increasing attraction, if not need, of such conference. Our very intention has always been to bring together leading researchers, advanced students, and renowned scholars from various areas, in order to stimulate new ideas and their exchange across the borders of specialization. In this way, the series of meetings successfully continued from the beginning with DICE 20021, followed by DICE 20042, DICE 20063, DICE 20084, and DICE 20105, Most recently, DICE 2012 brought together more than 120 participants representing more than 30 countries worldwide. It has been a great honour and inspiration to have Professor Yakir Aharonov (Tel Aviv) with us, who presented the opening Keynote Lecture 'The two-vector quantum formalism'. With the overarching theme 'Spacetime - Matter - Quantum Mechanics - from the Planck scale to emergent phenomena', the conference took place in the very pleasant and inspiring atmosphere of Castello Pasquini - in beautiful surroundings, overlooking a piece of Tuscany's coast. The 5-day program covered these major topics: Quantum Mechanics, Foundations and Quantum-Classical Border Quantum-Classical Hybrids and Many-Body Systems Spectral Geometry, Path Integrals and Experiments Quantum -/- Gravity -/- Spacetime Quantum Mechanics on all Scales? A Roundtable Discussion under the theme 'Nuovi orizzonti nella ricerca scientifica. Ci troviamo di fronte ad una rivoluzione scientifica?' formed an integral part of the program. With participation of E Del Giudice (INFN & Università di Milano), F Guerra (Università 'La Sapienza', Roma) and G Vitiello (Università di Salerno), this event traditionally dedicated to the public drew a large audience involved in lively discussions until late. The workshop was organized by L Diósi (Budapest), H-T Elze (Pisa, chair), L Fronzoni (Pisa), J J Halliwell (London), E Prati (Milano) and G Vitiello (Salerno), with most essential help from our conference secretaries L Fratino, N Lampo, I Pozzana, and A Sonnellini, all students from Pisa, and from our former secretaries M Pesce-Rollins and L Baldini. Several institutions and sponsors supported the workshop and their representatives and, in particular, the citizens of Rosignano/Castiglioncello are deeply thanked for the generous help and kind hospitality: Comune di Rosignano - A Franchi (Sindaco di Rosignano), S Scarpellini (Segreteria sindaco), L Benini (Assessore ai lavori pubblici), M Pia (Assessore all' urbanistica) REA Rosignano Energia Ambiente s.p.a. - F Ghelardini (Presidente della REA), E Salvadori and C Peccianti (Segreteria) Associazione Armunia - A Nanni (Direttore), G Mannari (Programmazione), C Perna, F Bellini, M Nannerini, P Bruni and L Meucci (Tecnici). Special thanks go to G Mannari and her collaborators for advice and great help in all the practical matters that had to be dealt with, in order to run the meeting at Castello Pasquini smoothly Funds made available by Università di Pisa, Domus Galilaeana (Pisa), Centro Interdisciplinare per lo Studio dei Sistemi Complessi - CISSC (Pisa), Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale (Università di Salerno), Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici - IISF (Napoli), Solvay Italia SA (Rosignano), Institute of Physics Publishing - IOP (Bristol), Springer Verlag (Heidelberg), and Hungarian Scientific Research Fund OTKA are gratefully acknowledged. Last, but not least, special thanks are due to Laura Pesce (Vitrium Galleria, San Vincenzo) for the exposition of her artwork 'arte e scienza' at Castello Pasquini during the conference. The papers submitted in the wake of the conference have been edited by L Diósi, H-T Elze, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell, E Prati, G Vitiello and J Yearsley. The proceedings follow essentially the order of presentation during the conference, separating, however, invited lectures and contributed papers6. In the name of all participants, we would like to thank S Toms with her collaborators at IOP Publishing (Bristol) for friendly advice and most valuable immediate help during the editing process and, especially, for their continuing efforts to make the Journal of Physics: Conference Series available to all. Budapest, Pisa, London, Milano, Salerno, Cambridge, April 2013 Lajos Diósi, Hans-Thomas Elze, Leone Fronzoni, Jonathan Halliwell, Enrico Prati, Giuseppe Vitiello and James Yearsley 1 Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems ed H-T Elze Lecture Notes in Physics 633 (Berlin: Springer, 2004) 2 Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2004 ed H-T Elze Braz. Journ. Phys. 35 A & 2B (2005) pp 205-529 free access at: www.sbfisica.org.br/bjp 3 Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2006 eds H-T Elze, L Diósi and G Vitiello Journal of Physics: Conference Series 67 (2007); free access at: www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/67/1 4 Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2008> eds H-T Elze, L Diósi, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell and G Vitiello Journal of Physics: Conference Series 174 (2009); free access at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/174/1 5 Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2010 eds H-T Elze, L Diósi, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell, E Prati, G Vitiello and J Yearsley Journal of Physics: Conference Series 306 (2011); free access at: http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/306/1 6 We regret that invited lectures by Y Aharonov, J Barbour, G Casati and X-G Wen could not be reproduced here, partly for copyright reasons
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Quantifying uncertainty in observational rainfall datasets
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lennard, Chris; Dosio, Alessandro; Nikulin, Grigory; Pinto, Izidine; Seid, Hussen
2015-04-01
The CO-ordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) has to date seen the publication of at least ten journal papers that examine the African domain during 2012 and 2013. Five of these papers consider Africa generally (Nikulin et al. 2012, Kim et al. 2013, Hernandes-Dias et al. 2013, Laprise et al. 2013, Panitz et al. 2013) and five have regional foci: Tramblay et al. (2013) on Northern Africa, Mariotti et al. (2014) and Gbobaniyi el al. (2013) on West Africa, Endris et al. (2013) on East Africa and Kalagnoumou et al. (2013) on southern Africa. There also are a further three papers that the authors know about under review. These papers all use an observed rainfall and/or temperature data to evaluate/validate the regional model output and often proceed to assess projected changes in these variables due to climate change in the context of these observations. The most popular reference rainfall data used are the CRU, GPCP, GPCC, TRMM and UDEL datasets. However, as Kalagnoumou et al. (2013) point out there are many other rainfall datasets available for consideration, for example, CMORPH, FEWS, TAMSAT & RIANNAA, TAMORA and the WATCH & WATCH-DEI data. They, with others (Nikulin et al. 2012, Sylla et al. 2012) show that the observed datasets can have a very wide spread at a particular space-time coordinate. As more ground, space and reanalysis-based rainfall products become available, all which use different methods to produce precipitation data, the selection of reference data is becoming an important factor in model evaluation. A number of factors can contribute to a uncertainty in terms of the reliability and validity of the datasets such as radiance conversion algorithims, the quantity and quality of available station data, interpolation techniques and blending methods used to combine satellite and guage based products. However, to date no comprehensive study has been performed to evaluate the uncertainty in these observational datasets. We assess 18 gridded rainfall datasets available over Africa on monthly, daily and sub-daily time scales as appropriate to quantify spatial and temporal differences between the datasets. We find regional wet and dry biases between datasets (using the ensemble mean as a reference) with generally larger biases in reanalysis products. Rainfall intensity is poorly represented in some datasets which demonstrates some datasets should not be used for rainfall intensity analyses. Using 10 CORDEX models we show in east Africa that the spread between observed datasets is often similar to the spread between models. We recommend that specific observational rainfall datasets datasets be used for specific investigations and also that where many datasets are applicable to an investigation, a probabilistic view be adopted for rainfall studies over Africa. Endris, H. S., P. Omondi, S. Jain, C. Lennard, B. Hewitson, L. Chang'a, J. L. Awange, A. Dosio, P. Ketiem, G. Nikulin, H-J. Panitz, M. Büchner, F. Stordal, and L. Tazalika (2013) Assessment of the Performance of CORDEX Regional Climate Models in Simulating East African Rainfall. J. Climate, 26, 8453-8475. DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00708.1 Gbobaniyi, E., A. Sarr, M. B. Sylla, I. Diallo, C. Lennard, A. Dosio, A. Dhie ?diou, A. Kamga, N. A. B. Klutse, B. Hewitson, and B. Lamptey (2013) Climatology, annual cycle and interannual variability of precipitation and temperature in CORDEX simulations over West Africa. Int. J. Climatol., DOI: 10.1002/joc.3834 Hernández-Díaz, L., R. Laprise, L. Sushama, A. Martynov, K. Winger, and B. Dugas (2013) Climate simulation over CORDEX Africa domain using the fifth-generation Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM5). Clim. Dyn. 40, 1415-1433. DOI: 10.1007/s00382-012-1387-z Kalognomou, E., C. Lennard, M. Shongwe, I. Pinto, A. Favre, M. Kent, B. Hewitson, A. Dosio, G. Nikulin, H. Panitz, and M. Büchner (2013) A diagnostic evaluation of precipitation in CORDEX models over southern Africa. Journal of Climate, 26, 9477-9506. DOI:10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00703.1 Kim, J., D. E. Waliser, C. A. Mattmann, C. E. Goodale, A. F. Hart, P. A. Zimdars, D. J. Crichton, C. Jones, G. Nikulin, B. Hewitson, C. Jack, C. Lennard, and A. Favre (2013) Evaluation of the CORDEX-Africa multi-RCM hindcast: systematic model errors. Clim. Dyn. 42:1189-1202. DOI: 10.1007/s00382-013-1751-7 Laprise, R., L. Hernández-Díaz, K. Tete, L. Sushama, L. ?eparovi?, A. Martynov, K. Winger, and M. Valin (2013) Climate projections over CORDEX Africa domain using the fifth-generation Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM5). Clim. Dyn. 41:3219-3246. DOI:10.1007/s00382-012-1651-2 Mariotti, L., I. Diallo, E. Coppola, and F. Giorgi (2014) Seasonal and intraseasonal changes of African monsoon climates in 21st century CORDEX projections. Climatic Change, 1-13. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-014-1097-0 Nikulin, G., C. Jones, F. Giorgi, G. Asrar, M. Büchner, R. Cerezo-Mota, O. Bøssing Christensen, M. Déqué, J. Fernandez, A. Hänsler, E.van Meijgaard, P. Samuelsson, M. Bamba Sylla, and L.Sushama (2012) Precipitation Climatology in an Ensemble of CORDEX-Africa Regional Climate Simulations. J. Climate, 25, 6057-6078. 10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00375.1 Panitz, H.-J., , A. Dosio, M. Büchner, D. Lüthi, and K. Keuler (2013) COSMO-CLM (CCLM) climate simulations over CORDEX Africa domain: analysis of the ERA-Interim driven simulations at 0.44 degree and 0.22 degree resolution. Clim. Dyn., DOI:10.1007/s00382-013-1834-5 Sylla, M. B., F. Giorgi, E. Coppola, and L. Mariotti (2012) Uncertainties in daily rainfall over Africa: assessment of gridded observation products and evaluation of a regional climate model simulation. Int. J. Climatol., 33:1805-1817. DOI: 10.1002/joc.3551 Tramblay Y., D. Ruelland, S. Somot, R. Bouaicha, and E. Servat (2013) High-resolution Med-CORDEX regional climate model simulations for hydrological impact studies: a first evaluation of the ALADIN-Climate model in Morocco. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., 10, 5687-5737. DOI:10.5194/hessd-10-5687-2013
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Archaeology, historical site risk assessment and monitoring by UAV: approaches and case studies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pecci, Antonio; Masini, Nicola
2016-04-01
Non-invasive methods for archaeological research, like geophysical prospecting, aerial and satellite remote sensing, integrated with field survey activity, can make a large quantity of data essential for both operational uses and scientific purposes: from the detection of buried remains to risk assessment and monitoring (Lasaponara & Masini 2012; 2013; Lasaponara et al. 2016). Among the latest non-invasive methods there are the unmanned air vehicle (UAV) platforms, a real innovation, which proved to be capable for a variety of fields of applications, from the topographic survey to the monitoring of infrastructures. In the field of cultural heritage, for purposes ranging from the documentation to the detection of archaeological features, the use of UAVs is extremely functional, efficient and low-cost. Moreover, UAV flight requires much less time than that required by an Aircraft. A traditional aircraft must take off from an airport, sometimes far from the work area, while a drone, particularly rotary wing, can be transported in the area of interest and take off directly from there in a few minutes. The reason of the success of UAV are also the innovative vision, the very high-resolution of the obtainable products (orthophoto, digital elevations models) and the availability of easy tools of image processing based on Structure from Motion (SfM). (Neitzel & Klonowski 2011; Nex & Remondino 2013). SfM is a range imaging technique which allows to estimate three-dimensional objects from two-dimensional image sequences which may be coupled with local motion signals. Respect to conventional photogrammetry which requires a single stereo-pair, SfM needs multiple, overlapping photographs as input to feature extraction and 3-D reconstruction algorithms. In SfM the geometry of the scene, camera positions and orientation are solved simultaneously using a highly redundant, iterative bundle adjustment procedure, based on a database of features automatically extracted from a set of multiple overlapping images. The usefulness of UAV-based investigations has been given by its integrability with other methods of remote sensing including geophysics, optical and SAR satellite remote sensing. The presentation deals with the methodological approaches and the results in three historical sites for different applications such as: 1) archaeological site discovery, 2) the study and observation of archaeological looting and 3) the 3d reconstruction of building and sites. In the case 1) UAV has been used for the creation of orthophotos and digital elevantion models (DEMs) as well as the identification of archaeological marks and microrelief, as proxy indicators of the presence of archaeological buried remains. The obtained information have been compared and integrated with those provided by georadar and geomagnetic prospections. The investigated site is a medieval settlement, including a benedectine monastery, dated to 12-15th century. It is San Pietro a Cellaria, located in the territory of Calvello, in Basilicata (Southern Italy). The multisensor integrated approach allowed to identify several features referable to buried structures of the monastery (Leucci et al. 2015; Roubis et al. 2015). In the case 2) UAVs have been used for the identification and analysis of traces of grave robbers, in the territory of Anzi (Basilicata). Since the end of the 18th century to the first half of the 20th century, hundreds of tombs of the Archaic, Lucan and Roman age have been destroyed and stolen. The case 3) is related to the ceremonial centre of Pachacamac in Peru, which was investigated for several years by the international mission ITACA (Italian scientific mission for heritage Conservation and Archaeogeophysics) of IBAM/IMAA CNR of Potenza (Italy) (Lasaponara et al. 2016b). For more than 2,000 years, Pachacamac was one of the main centers of religious cult keeping this role unchanged in different historical periods and for different cultures such as Chavin, Lima, Huari, Ychma and Inca. A test site has been selected to assess the capability of SAR satellite data for the identification of earthen archaeological features. UAV surveys have been performed to provide a very detail DEM enabling us to analyze and interpret the radar signal backscattering behaviour of archaeological microrelief and structures. In all the three applications UAV proved to be an effective, user-friendly, less time consuming, flexible tool for a number of applications and aims ranging from from the site detection to the risk evaluation of archaeological interest areas. References Lasaponara R., Masini N. 2012. Remote Sensing in Archaeology: From Visual Data Interpretation to Digital Data Manipulation, In: Lasaponara R., Masini N. (Eds) 2012, Satellite Remote Sensing: a new tool for Archaeology, Springer, Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, ISBN 978-90-481-8800-0, pp. 3-16, doi : 10.1007/978-90-481-8801-7_1. Lasaponara R., Masini N. 2013, Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar in Archaeology and Cultural Landscape: An Overview. Archaeological Prospection, 20, 71-78, doi: 10.1002/arp.1452 Lasaponara R., Leucci G., Masini N., Persico R., Scardozzi G. 2016a. Towards an operative use of remote sensing for exploring the past using satellite data: The case study of Hierapolis (Turkey), Remote sensing of Environment, 174 (2016) : 148-164, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2015.12.016 Lasaponara R., Masini N., Pecci A., Perciante F., Pozzi Escot D., Rizzo E., Scavone M., Sileo M. 2016b, Qualitative evaluation of COSMO SkyMed in the detection of earthen archaeological remains: the case of Pachamacac (Peru)", Journal of Cultural heritage, 2016, in press. Leucci G., Masini N., Rizzo E., Capozzoli L., De Martino G. et al., Integrated Archaeogeophysical Approach for the Study of a Medieval Monastic Settlement in Basilicata, Open Archaeology 2015; 1: 236-246, doi: 10.1515/opar-2015-0014. F. Neitzel, J. Klonowski, Mobile 3d mapping with a low-cost UAV system, Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XXXVIII-1/C22 (2011) 39-44. F. Nex, F. Remondino, UAV for 3D Mapping Applications: A Review. Applied Geomatics, 6 (2013) 1-15. D. Roubis, F. Sogliani, N Masini, V Vitale, G Leucci, E Rizzo, Archeologia dei paesaggi montani in Basilicata: una ricerca integata nel territorio di Calvello, PZ (Basilicata), "Il capitale Culturale". Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage, XII (2015), 385-419, ISSN 2039-2362
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Survey, Hbim and Conservation Plan of a Monumental Building Damaged by Earthquake
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Oreni, D.; Brumana, R.; Della Torre, S.; Banfi, F.
2017-05-01
Surveying a monumental building damaged by the earthquake means to analyse its geometries, the structural elements, the connection still exist between the different parts, in order to define its state of conservation, to make structural analysis and to plan a proper project of restoration, consolidation, seismic improvement or addition of new elements. The survey of structural geometry represents the first necessary moment of building' knowledge investigation, to be performed after the securing of the building by the Firefighters or Civil Protection. How and by which instruments the geometric analysis are conducted depends on many factors, not always exclusively on the will of the experts involved in the restoration project, but more often dictated by political, technical, social or economic needs. The accurate geometrical survey is referred as fundamental operation even by national Directive for evaluation and earthquake risk reduction of cultural heritage (GU n. 24 - 29/01/2008 and 2011 updates), which defines guidelines for preventive interventions on built heritage in order to make the structures less vulnerable in case of earthquake. Nowadays, the wide use of tools and accurate surveying techniques makes it possible to achieve an adequate level of accuracy of information related to the buildings, overcoming the difficulties due to accessibility of the damaged structures. The geometrical survey of the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L'Aquila, was made by Politecnico di Milano starting from 2013, within the project "Ripartire da Collemaggio" (http://www.ungiornoacollemaggio.it/content/2027), financed by Eniservizi. The basilica, an important symbol for the community of L'Aquila, was gravely damaged by the earthquake of 6th April 2009. The objective of Eni was to turn the restoration of the building in a re-birth moment for all the community. The knowledge step was aimed to plan a restoration project able of returning the basilica to a safe and full use. In the two years knowledge investigation steps (geometric survey, historical and stratigraphic analysis, materials investigation, structures and soils examination, in situ tests and numerical elaborations) was involved an interdisciplinary group of researchers from various Italian universities, Politecnico di Milano, Università La Sapienza in Rome and the University of L'Aquila, called to provide a scientific advice to the Soprintendenza ai Beni Architettonici e Paesaggistici per l'Abruzzo, project manager of the restoration step. In early 2016 the yard of restoration was opened and it is still on-going. The geometrical survey of the basilica was aim to investigate, measure and represent the exact geometry of the damaged structures and their three-dimensional complexity; the survey was planned choosing the tools and methods most appropriate in relation with the accessibility and safety of the structures, the operating ranges of acquisition and the level of detail required by the analysis and the project. This meant to integrate global and local surveying techniques, in order to cross relate data derived by different tools and to make the graphical restitution of the entire monumental complex: topography, laser scanning, photogrammetry, but also hands on instruments, at a scale of representation from 1 : 1 to 1 : 50. The laser scanner survey, registered in the accurate geomatics network, responded to the need to punctually investigate and interpret the geometrical configuration of different spaces of the Basilica, as well as its structural articulation, enabling a series of horizontal and vertical profiles, as requested by various experts involved in the diagnostic steps. HBIM model (Historical Building Information Modeling) of the entire basilica was primarily intended as a tool for stereotomic description of the building and its parts, following the constructive logic of each structural element; then it was used as a support tool for the restoration simulation, project, management and yard. To perform the division of the building in its constructive elements, sometimes it has been used stratigraphic methodologies and instruments of analysis. The entirety of the geometric and structural complexity of the basilica, was guarantee using sophisticated 3D software and drawing complex entities, integrated and stored in the parametric BIM logic. This process has allowed to accurately and timely represent the geometry of the structural elements, of the areas characterized by crushing, empties, variations of the masonry sections and out of plumbs. It is on the pillars of the nave that was focused the attention of survey: the will to preserve as much as possible the existing structures, in their material authenticity, required a careful analysis of each individual stone element of each pillar, investigated in its geometry, texture and state of conservation. The aim of the project was to ward a complete replacement of the pillars, preferring instead a removing and replacing intervention of only of the stone ashlars completely deteriorated and no longer recoverable, considering the question of structural safety as fundamental. The HBIM of the basilica had the primary function of connecting into one virtual space all the available data; that model has also been made as a tool for managing the restoration yard, supporting the computation of stone to buy, quarry and grossly slot, saving time on site. Different and complementary skills were used in every knowledge and restoration steps; the accurate analysis of the structures made it possible to plan a consolidation and restoration project as close as possible to the structural conception of the existing building, adding only the new structural elements necessary to increase the resistance and to guarantee the safety of the structures, also in case of new earthquake. The Italian Codice dei Beni culturali e del paesaggio (DL n.42/2004), at paragraph 4 of art. 29, states that the restoration includes structural improvements. For the restoration of Collemaggio the solutions chosen were the ones able to be more effective and, at the same time, less invasive, more respectful as possible of the sacredness of the architecture, its highest historical significance, the authenticity of the material and its cultural significance. The main principles and criteria of restoration were: maximum correspondence of conservation doctrine, with a focus on improving the structural characteristics compared to the seismic risk; exemplarity of the management practices of the restoration process; exemplarity of innovative techniques; transparency of all processes and accurate communication of cultural and scientific content. Despite of some inevitable compromises, the detailed knowledge of the building allowed to design punctual interventions, inserting new structures where the oldest were collapsed and consolidating damaged elements, in order to improve the global safety of the building but without modifying substantially the structural conception of the stratified basilica.
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The Payun-Matru lava field: a source of analogues for Martian long lava flows
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Giacomini, L.; Pasquarè, G.; Massironi, M.; Frigeri, A.; Bistacchi, A.; Frederico, C.
2007-08-01
The Payun Matru Volcanic complex is a Quaternary fissural structure belonging to the back-arc extensional area of the Andes in the Mendoza Province (Argentina). The eastern portion of the volcanic structure is covered by a basaltic field of pahoehoe lava flows advanced over more than 180 km from the fissural feeding vents that are aligned with a E-W fault system (Carbonilla fault). Thanks to their widespread extension, these flows represent some of the largest lava flows in the world and the Pampas Onduladas flow can be considered the longest sub-aerial individual lava flow on the Earth surface [1,2]. These gigantic flows propagated over the nearly flat surface of the Pampean foreland, moving on a 0.3 degree slope. The very low viscosity of the olivine basalt lavas, coupled with the inflation process and an extensive system of lava tubes are the most probable explanation for their considerable length. The inflation process likely develop under a steady flow rate sustained for a long time [3]. A thin viscoelastic crust, built up at an early stage, is later inflated by the underlying fluid core, which remains hot and fluid thanks to the thermal-shield effect of the crust. The crust is progressively thickened by accretion from below and spreading is due to the continuous creation of new inflated lobes, which develop at the front of the flow. Certain morphological features are considered to be "fingerprints" of inflation [4, 5, 6]; these include tumuli, lava rises, lava lobes and ridges. All these morphologies are present in the more widespread Payun Matru lava flows that, where they form extensive sheetflows, can reach a maximum thickness of more than 20 meters. After the emplacement of the major flows, a second eruptive cycle involved the Payun Matru volcanic structure. During this stage thick and channelized flows of andesitic and dacitic lavas, accompanied the formation of two trachitic and trachiandesitic strato-volcanoes (Payun Matru and Payun Liso) culminated with the Payun Matru summit caldera development [7]. Finally a new phase of basaltic volcanism developed from Carbonilla Fault and was associated again with pahoehoe lavas and, at the final stage, by very long "aa" lava flows characterized by spectacular channel-levees systems. Hence, the Payun Matru lava field shows a multiplicity of flow surface morphologies linked to different lava types and related emplacement mechanisms, therefore it can represent an outstanding analogue of several Martian flows. In addition, the understanding of propagation processes of Payun Matru exceptionally widespread flows can give important clues in the comprehension of emplacement mechanisms of the long flows on Mars. Remote sensing data used to map and observe the Payun Matru can be compared with data acquired by similar instruments from various scientific missions to Mars. Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) data has been used to observe the morphology of the Martian lava flows with a resolution of about 10 meters per pixel in order to compare them with the Payn Matru lava flows. The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) was used to investigate the topographic environment over which flows propagated, whereas HRSC data are needed to possibly determine flow thickness and morphological variability. Arsia Mons lava field that includes the longest flows on Mars [8] shows many analogues of the Payun Matru lava flows since it is mainly characterized by sheet-flows with uniform ridged surface texture locally showing features like lava rises and lava tubes. In particular the extensive flow field in Daedalia Planum, at about 300 km south-west of Arsia Mons, is characterized by lobes reaching several kilometeres in length, although the slope of the region is generally minor of 0,5 degree [9]. Therefore it is very likely that inflation is the main emplacement process of these long flows. The presence of tumuli and lava ridges, detected in several areas of the lava field, seems to support this hypothesis. According to this view some linear features at the flow surface can be interpreted as squeeze-ups. They can be generated by vertical growth and fracturing of the sealing crust followed by effusion of hot lava continuously injected beneath the flow surface. In addition some lava tubes were also detected thanks to several aligned pits produced by partial tube collapse. Tumuli are certainly one of the most representative features of inflation mechanism [5], but their unambiguous detection is very difficult for the inadequate resolution of the available images. Nonetheless some tumuli like features has been already detected by Glaze and co-workers (2005) [10] in the regions surroundings Elysium Mons and in this work we have detect similar features in the Tharsis region, at Ascraeus Mons lava field. Finally Zephyria and Elysium Planitia show particular platy flows that can be compared with flat topped lava rise found on Payun flows. In addition in Zephyria flows as well in the Payun ones elongated narrow ridges can be observed near the border of the sheetflow and especially near the isolated pre-existent hills surrounded by the lava flow. Their spatial arrangements suggests that they originated from lateral compression inside the visco-elastic deformation of lava crust under the influence of the above mentioned obstacles. In this case these features should correspond to pressure ridges in the sense of MacDonald (1972) [11]. All these examples suggest that inflation. spreading mechanism is present also for some Martian flows. By contrast, the Olympus Mons slopes are mainly covered by lava flows with lobes, tubes (often partially collapsed) and numerous channels that are very similar to channelized flows developed from Carbonilla Fault during the last eruption cycles of Payun Matru complex. References [1]Pasquarè G., Bistacchi A., Mottana A., 2005. Gigantic individual lava flows in the Andean foothills near Malargüe (Mendoza, Argentina). Rendiconti dell'Accademia dei Lincei, 9, 16 (3), 127-135.[2]Pasquaré G., Bistacchi A., Francalanci L.. Gigantic self-confined pahoehoe inflated lava flows in Argentina. Submitted to Terra Nova. [3]Self, S., Keszthelyi, L., Thordarson, Th., 1998. The Importance of Pahoehoe. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science, 26, 81-110. [4]Anderson T., 1910. The volcano of Matavanu in Savaii. Geological Society of London Quarterly Journal, 66, 621-639. [5] Walker, G.P.L., 1991. Structure and origin by injection of lava under surface crust, of tumuli, "lava rises", "lava rise pits", and "lava inflation clefts" in Hawaii. Bulletin of Volcanology, 53, 546-558. [6] Hon, K, Kauahikaua, J., Denlinger, R., Mackay, K., 1994. Emplacement and inflation of pahoehoe sheet flows: Observations and measurements of active lava flows on Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 106, 351-370. [7] Llambias, E., 1966. Geología y petrográfica del Volcán Payún-Matru. Acta Geológica Lill., VIII: 265-310. Instituto Lillo, Universidad Nacional Tucumán. Tucumán. [8] Zimbelman, J. R., 1998. Emplacement of long lava flows on planetary surface. J. Geophys. Res., 103, 27503- 27516. [9] Smith, D. E. et al., 1999. The global topography of Mars and implications for surface evolution. Science, 284, 1495-1503. [10] Glaze L.S., Anderson S.W., Stofan E.R., Baloga S., Smrekar S. E, 2005. Statistical distribution of tumuli on pahoehoe flow surfaces: analysis of examples in Hawaii and Iceland and potential application to lava flows on Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 110, B08202, doc: 10.1029/2004JB003564. [11] MacDonald, 1972. Volcanoes. Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs. 510 pp.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chen, Sow-Hsin; Baglioni, Piero
2012-02-01
This special section has been inspired by the workshop on Dynamic Crossover Phenomena in Water and Other Glass-Forming Liquids, held during November 11-13, 2010 at Pensione Bencistà, Fiesole, Italy, a well-preserved 14th century Italian villa tucked high in the hills overlooking Florence. The meeting, an assembly of world renowned scientists, was organized as a special occasion to celebrate the 75th birthday of Professor Sow-Hsin Chen of MIT, a pioneer in several aspects of complex fluids and soft matter physics. The workshop covered a large variety of experimental and theoretical research topics of current interest related to dynamic crossover phenomena in water and, more generally, in other glass-forming liquids. The 30 invited speakers/lecturers and approximately 60 participants were a select group of prominent physicists and chemists from the USA, Europe, Asia and Mexico, who are actively working in the field. Some highlights of this special issue include the following works. Professor Yamaguchi's group and their collaborators present a neutron spin echo study of the coherent intermediate scattering function of heavy water confined in cylindrical pores of MCM-41-C10 silica material in the temperature range 190-298 K. They clearly show that a fragile-to-strong (FTS) dynamic crossover occurs at about 225 K. They attribute the FTS dynamic crossover to the formation of a tetrahedral-like structure, which is preserved in the bulk-like water confined to the central part of the cylindrical pores. Mamontov and Kolesnikov et al study the collective excitations in an aqueous solution of lithium chloride over a temperature range of 205-270 K using neutron and x-ray Rayleigh-Brillouin (coherent) scattering. They detect both the low-frequency and the high-frequency sounds known to exist in pure bulk water above the melting temperature. They also perform neutron (incoherent) and x-ray (coherent) elastic intensity scan measurements. Clear evidence of the crossover in the dynamics of the water molecules in the solution is observed in the single-particle relaxational dynamics in the μeV (nanosecond) time scale, but not in the collective dynamics on the meV (picosecond) time scale. Mallamace et al discuss the dynamic crossover phenomenon in both bulk water and protein hydration water. They collect previous and new experimental data from different experimental techniques and molecular dynamic simulations, and are able to develop a unified picture for the different dynamical findings. Gallo et al present a MD study of confined water in MCM-41S-15 in order to test the applicability of Mode Coupling Theory (MCT) to the dynamics of the hydration water confined in the cylindrical pores of nominal diameter 15 Å. They find that the self dynamics of the hydration water is well described by MCT down to the crossover temperature TC. However, below TC the predictions of idealized MCT no longer apply, since hopping processes intervene and water turns into a strong liquid. Soper raises some questions as to the validity of the analysis method employed to determine the density of water confined in porous silica material MCM-41-S15 from recent neutron scattering experiments. Professors Stanley, Franzese and his collaborators describe an efficient Monte Carlo simulation of a coarse-grained model of water to study the phase diagram of a water monolayer confined in a fixed disordered matrix of hydrophobic nanoparticles between two hydrophobic plates. They find a drastic change of phase behavior of the confined water, such as shortening of the liquid-liquid phase transition line, upon increasing the concentration of the hydrophobic nano-particles. Sciortino and collaborators compute the equilibrium phase diagram of two simple models for patchy particles with three and five patches in a very broad range of pressure and temperature. The three-patch model produces a stable gas-liquid critical point. Yun Liu et al investigate, via small angle neutron scattering and neutron spin echo measurements, the effect of temperature on dynamic cluster formation of concentrated lysozyme solutions. Xin Li et al explore the use of the newly developed technique of spin echo small angle neutron scattering (SESANS) to investigate the structure of a colloid. They find the SESANS is able to resolve structural heterogeneity, at both intra- and inter-colloidal length scales. The choice of the topics and their elaboration reflects both the diversified current and past research interests of Professor Chen to whom this special section of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter is dedicated. The issue contains papers from a substantial number of the invited speakers. The papers are arranged in the three categories of water, other glass-forming liquids, and colloids. It is our pleasure to thank all speakers, section chairs and participants who contributed to the great success of the workshop, and to all authors for their additional efforts in preparing their manuscripts. The scientific program of the workshop was organized by Professor Sow-Hsin Chen and Professor Piero Baglioni. The meeting was only possible with the generous financial support of the Consorzio per lo Sviluppo dei Sistemi a Grande Interfase (CSGI) and the University of Florence, Italy. Finally, we express our warmest gratitude to all the members of the local organizing committee and to the staff of the CSGI for all their assistance and great efforts in organizing this meeting. Dynamic crossover phenomena in water and other glass-forming liquids contents Water Neutron spin echo measurements of monolayer and capillary condensed water in MCM-41 at low temperaturesK Yoshida, T Yamaguchi, S Kittaka, M-C Bellissent-Funel and P Fouquet Water dynamics in a lithium chloride aqueous solution probed by Brillouin neutron and x-ray scatteringE Mamontov, A De Francesco, F Formisano, A Laloni, L Sani, B M Leu, A H Said and A I Kolesnikov The dynamical crossover phenomenon in bulk water, confined water and protein hydration water Francesco Mallamace, Carmelo Corsaro, Piero Baglioni, Emiliano Fratini and Sow-Hsin Chen Common features in the microscopic dynamics of hydration water on organic and inorganic surfacesE Mamontov, H O'Neill, Q Zhang, W Wang and D J Wesolowski Water dynamics as affected by interaction with biomolecules and change of thermodynamic state: a neutron scattering studyA Orecchini, A Paciaroni, C Petrillo, F Sebastiani, A De Francesco and F Sacchetti Temperature dependence of structure and density for D2O confined in MCM-41-SWilliam A Kamitakahara, Antonio Faraone, Kao-Hsiang Liu and Chung-Yuan Mou Density profile of water confined in cylindrical pores in MCM-41 silicaAlan K Soper Dynamic crossover in hydration water of curing cement paste: the effect of superplasticizerHua Li, Wei-Shan Chiang, Emiliano Fratini, Francesca Ridi, Francesco Bausi, Piero Baglioni, Madhu Tyagi and Sow-Hsin Chen Water confined in MCM-41: a mode coupling theory analysisP Gallo, M Rovere and S-H Chen Computer simulations of dynamic crossover phenomena in nanoconfined waterG B Suffritti, P Demontis, J Gulín-Gonźlez and M Masia Hydrophobic nanoconfinement suppresses fluctuations in supercooled waterE G Strekalova, M G Mazza, H E Stanley and G Franzese Other glass-forming liquids Quasi-elastic neutron scattering studies of the slow dynamics of supercooled and glassy aspirinYang Zhang, Madhusudan Tyagi, Eugene Mamontov and Sow-Hsin Chen Colloids Phase diagram of trivalent and pentavalent patchy particlesFlavio Romano, Eduardo Sanz, Piero Tartaglia and Francesco Sciortino Distinguishing the monomer to cluster phase transition in concentrated lysozyme solutions by studying the temperature dependence of the short-time dynamicsPéter Falus, Lionel Porcar, Emiliano Fratini, Wei-Ren Chen, Antonio Faraone, Kunlun Hong, Piero Baglioni and Yun Liu Contrast variation in spin-echo small angle neutron scatteringXin Li, Bin Wu, Yun Liu, Roger Pynn, Chwen-Yang Shew, Gregory S Smith, Kenneth W Herwig, J Lee Robertson, Wei-Ren Chen and Li Liu Structural response of polyelectrolyte dendrimer towards molecular protonation: the inconsistency revealed by SANS and NMRKunlun Hong, Yun Liu, Lionel Porcar, Dazhi Liu, Carrie Y Gao, Gregory S Smith, Kenneth W Herwig, Sheng Cai, Xin Li, Bin Wu, Wei-Ren Chen and Li Liu
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sinigoi, Silvano; Quick, James E.; Demarchi, Gabriella; Klötzli, Urs S.
2016-05-01
The Permian Sesia Magmatic System of the southwestern Alps displays the plumbing system beneath a Permian caldera, including a deep crustal gabbroic complex, upper crustal granite plutons and a bimodal volcanic field dominated by rhyolitic tuff filling the caldera. Isotopic compositions of the deep crustal gabbro overlap those of coeval andesitic basalts, whereas granites define a distinct, more radiogenic cluster (Sri ≈ 0.708 and 0.710, respectively). AFC computations starting from the best mafic candidate for a starting melt show that Nd and Sr isotopic compositions and trace elements of andesitic basalts may be modeled by reactive bulk assimilation of ≈ 30% of partially depleted crust and ≈ 15%-30% gabbro fractionation. Trace elements of the deep crustal gabbro cumulates require a further ≈ 60% fractionation of the andesitic basalt and loss of ≈ 40% of silica-rich residual melt. The composition of the granite plutons is consistent with a mixture of relatively constant proportions of residual melt delivered from the gabbro and anatectic melt. Chemical and field evidence leads to a conceptual model which links the production of the two granitic components to the evolution of the Mafic Complex. During the growth of the Mafic Complex, progressive incorporation of packages of crustal rocks resulted in a roughly steady state rate of assimilation. Anatectic granite originates in the hot zone of melting crust located above the advancing mafic intrusion. Upward segregation of anatectic melts facilitates the assimilation of the partially depleted restite by stoping. At each cycle of mafic intrusion and incorporation, residual and anatectic melts are produced in roughly constant proportions, because the amount of anatectic melt produced at the roof is a function of volume and latent heat of crystallization of the underplated mafic melt which in turn produces proportional amounts of hybrid gabbro cumulates and residual melt. Such a process can explain the restricted range in isotopic compositions of most rhyolitic and granitic rocks of the Permo-Carboniferous province of Europe and elsewhere. Sheet labelled "XRF standard analyses" reports replicate analyses normalized to 100 obtained by XRF on international standards analyzed along with our samples. Sheet labelled "XRF replicate sample analyses" reports replicate XRF analyses on two samples of our data set. ICP-MS analyses from Acme Analytical Laboratories Ltd. are shown for comparison. Sheet labelled "ICP-MS analyses" reports replicate analyses of trace elements on standard SO18, its official value and replicate analyses of two our samples provided by Acme Analytical Laboratories Ltd. Sheet labelled "kinzigite". Major and trace elements of amphibolite-facies paragneiss samples of the Kinzigite Formation from the roof of the Mafic Complex. In bold data by ICP-MS, other data by XRF. For Ba, Rb and Sr XRF data were included in the average estimate to increase the statistics. The last column reports the average data of amphibolite-facies rocks from the Kinzigite Formation from Schnetger (1994). Sheet labelled "PBB paragneiss". Data for granulite-facies paragneiss samples in the septa of the paragneiss bearing belt (PBB). XRF data for Ba and Sr were included in the average estimate to increase the statistics (Rb excluded because close to detection limit for XRF in many samples). The last column reports the average data of granulite-facies rocks from Val Strona (stronalite) from Schnetger (1994). Sheet labelled "PBB charnockite". Data for charnockitic rocks included in paragneiss septa. XRF data for Ba and Sr were included in the average estimate to increase the statistics (Rb excluded because close to detection limit for XRF in many samples). Sheet labelled "computed crustal assimilant". Reports the average compositions of paragneiss in amphibolite and granulite facies from this work and from Schnetger (1994). The bulk composition of the septa is computed as 70% paragneiss and 30% charnockite, as roughly estimated in the field. The partially depleted assimilant is computed as a 50/50 mixture of amphibolite- and granulite facies rocks. Sheet labelled "anatectic products" includes leucosomes at the roof of the Mafic Complex, anatectic granites from this work and from the Atesina Volcanic district (Rottura et al., 1998). In bold data by ICP-MS, other data by XRF. Sheet labelled "Valle Mosso granite" reports the whole rock compositions of granitic rocks of the pluton, distinguishing samples from upper and lower granite. XRF data for Ba, Rb and Sr were included in the average estimate to increase the statistics. The last column reports the bulk composition of the pluton, estimated as 70% lower and 30% upper granite. Sheet labelled "Rhyolite" reports whole rock and average compositions of rhyolite. Sheet labelled "UMC gabbro" reports whole rock compositions of gabbros from the upper Mafic Complex. Samples are grouped as pertaining to the "Upper Zone" and "Main Gabbro" according the subdivision of Rivalenti et al. (1975). Gt gabbro = garnet-bearing gabbro. In bold data by ICP-MS, other data by XRF. For Ba and Sr XRF data were included in the average estimate to increase the statistics. Sheet labelled "computed average UMC" reports the whole composition of upper Mafic complex, estimated as 30% Upper Zone and 70% Main Gabbro. Sheet labelled "mafic rocks in middle crust" reports the whole rock compositions from the mafic pod PST262, intruded at the boundary between Ivrea Zone and Serie dei Laghi at 287 ± 5 Ma (Klötzli et al., 2014) and mafic dikes and an enclave intruded in the lower Valle Mosso granite. Sheet labelled "mafic volcanic rocks" reports the whole rock compositions of basaltic andesite and andesite from the Sesia Magmatic System. The average composition is computed excluding altered samples and XRF data for trace elements. Sr and Nd isotope data from this work and previous publications. Sheet labelled "compositions for modelling" reports a summary of the average compositions of the components used for the computations. Sheet labelled "Kd used for AFC and FC modelling" reports the Kd values and percent of mineral phases used in the AFC and FC computations (from Claeson and Meurer, 2004; Rollinson, 1993; Green et al., 2000; Namur et al., 2011). Sheet labelled "trace elements modelling" reports the results of AFC, bulk mixing and FC computations on trace elements. The enclosed figure illustrates the bulk mixing lines between Campore and average crust or anatectic granite respectively. Mixing required getting the composition of andesitic basalt with average crust and anatectic granite varies from 33 to 63% respectively (see text for consequences). The AFC path from Campore to andesitic basalts overlaps the bulk mixing lines. The shape of the mixing line between residual and anatectic melt results in the poor sensibility of Nd to the addition of anatectic melt to the residual one (εNd remains within the field of mafic rocks up to 80% addition of anatectic melt). Sheet labelled "major elements modelling" reports the results of mass balance computations on major-elements based on bulk mixing and XL-FRAC (Stormer and Nicholls, 1978). Sheet labelled "EC-RAXFC modelling" reports input data and results obtained by EC-RAXFC code (Bohrson and Spera, 2007) to simulate the energy constrained AFC from Campore to andesitic basalt. Liquidus temperature and specific heat of magma and assimilant (tlm, tla, cpm, cpa) as well as heat of crystallization and fusion (hm, ha) were obtained by Rhyolite-Melts code (Gualda et al., 2012) at P = 6 kbar (intermediate pressure between the roof and the deepest rocks of the Mafic Complex; Demarchi et al., 1998), assuming QFM + 2, and H2O content = 0.5 for Campore and = 1.0 for assimilant (intermediate between kinzigite and stronalite from Schnetger, 1994). Initial temperature of assimilant (tlo) was assumed equal to the solidus temperature (ts), which results around 850° from the experimental melting of natural metapelite (Vielzeuf and Holloway, 1988). Non-linear melting functions were chosen within the range of values suggested by Bohrson and Spera (2007). Recharge magma (R) was set = 0 because the homogeneity of the Upper Mafic Complex is best explained if each new mafic pulse is injected at the new neutral buoyancy level, above a dense and partially depleted restite, and may be treated as a single pulse. X was set = 1 assuming that all anatectic melt enters the mafic magma. Different simulations were run using alternatively bulk partition coefficients of Sr and Nd for the assimilant (Da) reported for "standard" upper crust by Bohrson and Spera (2001; 1.5 and 0.25, respectively), Da estimated from our data set (2.15 and 2.6, respectively) and intermediate values. For the mafic magma, the bulk D values (Dm) of 0.77 for Sr and 0.34 for Nd result from the Kd and percent of mineral phases used in the AFC computation. Lat-long grid for samples reported in OS tables.
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3D Quaternary deformation pattern in the central Po Plain (Northern Italy)
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sileo, G.; Mueller, K.; Michetti, A. M.; Livio, F.; Berlusconi, A.; Carcano, C.; Rogledi, S.; Vittori, E.
2009-04-01
The Po Plain is a foredeep basin flanked by the two major and active orogens of the Italian Peninsula, the Alps to the North and the Apennines to the South. The basin has a quasi - triangular shape and grades longitudinally to the East in the Adriatic Sea. We used petroleum industry seismic reflection data acquired by ENI E&P in the Central Po Plain, over an area spanning about 6800 km2 from Lake Como to the W to Lake Garda to the E, and from the Lombardian Southern Alps to the N and the Emilia Apennines to the S, in order to analyze and interpret selected seismic reflectors and to define the evolution in space and time of the local active tectonic structures. Folds associated with underlying thrusts were recognized based on deformation recorded by two regional sequence boundary horizons, i.e. the ‘A' Surface (1.6 Myr) and the ‘R' Surface (0. 9 Myr; e.g., Carcano & Piccin, 2002; Muttoni et al., 2003), characterized by good stratigraphic and age bracketing, and marking significant changes in the sedimentary architecture of the Po Basin. Age controls are based on stratigraphic, paleontological and magnetostratigraphic analysis by ENI E&P and Regione Lombardia (Carcano & Piccin, 2002; Scardia et al., 2006). The analysis of strain recorded by these horizons allowed us to: A) recognize a belt of active fold and thrust structures, each 10 to 20 km long, arranged with an en-echelon pattern across the whole Po Basin, and B) analyze their evolution over the Quaternary. 'A' surface (1.6 Myr) The ‘A' surface has been mapped over about 7800 Km2. From North to South four major morphobathymetric domains can be defined in the Pleistocene marine Po Basin: an Alpine platform domain, a slope that links it with the wider central basin domain, a smaller and steeper slope and an Apennine platform domain. The basin shape has an asymmetric transversal profile and is ca. 40 km wide. Several tectonic structures affect this surface. On the Alpine platform domain two small structures have been identified. We interpreted them as N-verging fault propagation folds with low angle ramps that detach the Gonfolite Lombarda clastics (Oligo - Miocene; Bernoulli et al., 1989; Gelati et al., 1991) from the underlying Upper Cretaceous carbonates. The present-day geomorphic evidence of these two structures are represented by the Pievedizio, Capriano, Castenedolo and Ciliverghe Hills South of Brescia (Livio et al, 2008; Michetti et al., 2008). On the basin floor domain nine structures have been identified. Six of them belong to the Southern Alps and we interpreted them as S-verging fault propagation folds. All these structures have a double plunging termination (Burbank & Anderson, 2001) that mark the endpoints of actively slipping blind thrusts. These structures range from 11 to 16 km long with an average strike of N 110° E. The remaining three structures record shortening at the leading edge of the Apennines; their axial lengths range from 8 to 28 km and the average axial strike is 110°. These structures thus define the 3D architecture of blind thrusts hidden beneath the basin floor; these collectively define the two active, facing fronts of the Apennines and Southern Alps thrust belts (Fantoni et al. 2004). ‘R' Surface The second analyzed surface is the ‘R' surface (0.9 Myr.); strain measured across this sequence stratigraphic boundary confirmed and further defines the magnitude and timing of shortening accommodated by fault propagation folds described on the ‘A' surface. Differences between the basin between "A" and "R" surface time include the arrangement of the structures on the basin floor and by the number of the identified structures. The Alpine platform domain in "R" time is in fact more extended than on the ‘A' surface, and a less steep slope links it with a wider but less deep basin domain; the Apennines platform is smaller, because it has been involved in the deformation of the more internal Apennines structures. The basin floor is ca. 30 km wide with a progressive westward narrowing, and still displays an asymmetric transversal profile. Sedimentation rates are considerably higher than uplift rates of the structures, resulting in a paleobathymetry gentler than the ‘A' surface The measurement of the folds axial length becomes consequently more difficult. In order to filter the tectonic signal we conducted a profile curvature analysis perpendicular to the mean axial direction of the structures. We recognized six structures with an average length of 18 - 20 km and an average axial strike of N 110° E. The comparison of these structures with those recognized on the ‘A' surface clearly shows a decreasing number of folds, suggesting some thrusts shut off between "A" and "R" surface time. The similar geometry of folded "R" and "A" surfaces suggest consistent fault geometry and stress orientation during this time. This kinematic pattern is consistent with a spatially - varying shortening rate model (e.g., Salvini & Storti, 2002). The folds appear to grow with constant fault geometry and the displacement varies along strike since the tip of the faults migrates laterally in a direction perpendicular to the regional horizontal stress (Mueller & Talling, 1997, Keller et al., 1999; Champel et al, 2002; Burbank & Anderson, 2001). In summary, the analysis of the two described Quaternary seismic surfaces allowed us to understand the evolution of active folds within the Po Plain and their growth mechanism and evolution both in space and time. These folds are the modern loci of compressive strain that links the Southern Alps with the Northern Apennines. Comparing the two surfaces we can observe a significant shift in the localization of the tectonic deformation, consisting A) in the reactivation of N-verging backthrusts and associated folds in the Southern Alps instead of the main forethrusts, and B) in a similar backward skip of the activity from the outermost Apennines fronts, with the reactivation of the Pedeappenninic Thrust Fault (e.g. Boccaletti & Martelli, 2004). This might be related to a differential sedimentary load between proximal and distal portions of the basin related to increased erosion, especially in the Alps in hinterland areas and corresponding sedimentation in the foreland, both triggered by climate change in the Mid-Pleistocene (e.g. Muttoni et al., 2002). REFERENCES Boccaletti, M. & Martelli, L., (Editors) (2004) - Carta Sismotettonica della Regione Emilia-Romagna: Note Illustrative. Regione Emilia-Romagna, Servizio Geologico, Sismico e dei Suoli CNR - Firenze, SELCA S.r.l., Firenze, 60 p. Burbank, D., Anderson, R. (2001) - Tectonic Geomorphology. Wiley Blackwell. ISBN: 978-0-632-04386-6 Carcano, C. & Piccin, A. (Editors) (2002) - Geologia Degli Acquiferi Padani Della Regione Lombardia. Firenze: S.El.Ca. Champel, B., Van Der Beek, P., Mugnier J.& Leturmy, P. (2002) - Growth And Lateral Propagation Of Fault-Related Folds In The Siwaliks Of Western Nepal: Rates, Mechanisms, And Geomorphic Signature. Journal Of Geophysical Research, 107, B6, doi 10.1029/2001jb000578. Desio, A. (1965) - I Rilievi Isolati Della Pianura Lombarda Ed I Movimenti Tettonici Del Quaternario. Rend. Ist. Lom. Acc. Sc. Lett., Sez. A 99 pp.881-894. Fantoni, R., Bersezio, R., & Forcella, F., (2004) - Alpine structure and deformation chronology at the Southern Alps-Po Plain border in Lombardy. Boll. Soc. Geol. It., 123, 3, p. 463- 476. Keller, E. A., Gurrola, L. & Tierney, T. E. (1999) - Geomorphic Criteria To Determine Direction Of Lateral Propagation Of Reverse Faulting And Folding. Geology (Boulder), 27, 6, p. 515-518. Livio F., Berlusconi A., Michetti A.M., Sileo G., Zerboni A., Cremaschi M., Trombino L., Carcano C., Rogledi S., Vittori E., Mueller K. (2008) - Fagliazione Superficiale Olocenica E Paleoliquefazione Nel Sito Di Monte Netto, Brescia: Implicazioni Sismotettoniche. Rend. Online Sgi, 1, Note Brevi, www.Socgeol.It, p. 101-103. Michetti A.M., Berlusconi A., Livio F., Sileo G., Zerboni A., Cremaschi M., Trombino L, Mueller K., Vittori E., Carcano C., Rogledi S. (2008) - Holocene Surface Faulting At Monte Netto, Brescia, And The Christmas 1222 (Io = Ix Mcs) Earthquake In The Po Plain, Italy: What Does It Mean "Blind Fault"? Geophysical Research Abstracts, 10, Egu2008-A-00000, 2008 Egu General Assembly 2008. Mueller, K. & Talling, P. (1997) - Geomorphic Evidence For Tear Faults Accommodating Lateral Propagation Of An Active Fault-Bend Fold, Wheeler Ridge, California. Journal Of Structural Geology, 19, 3-4, p. 397-411. Muttoni G., Carcano, C., Garzanti, E., Ghielmi, M., Piccin, A., Pini, R., Rogledi, S., Sciunnach, D. (2002) - Onset Of Major Pleistocene Galciations In The Alps. Geology. - 2003. - 11 : 31. - p. 989-992. Salvini, F. & Storti, F. (2002) - Three-Dimensional Architecture Of Growth Strata Associated To Fault-Bend, Fault-Propagation, And Decollement Anticlines In Non-Erosional Environments. Sedimentary Geology, 146, p 57 - 73 Scardia, G., Muttoni, G. & Sciunnach, D. (2006) - Subsurface Magnetostratigraphy Of Pleistocene Sediments From The Po Plain (Italy): Constraints On Rates Of Sedimentation And Rock Uplift. GSA Bulletin 118, 11/12, p.1299-1312.
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NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Di Prima, Simone; Bagarello, Vincenzo; Bautista, Inmaculada; Cerdà, Artemi; Cullotta, Sebastiano; del Campo, Antonio; González-Sanchis, María; Iovino, Massimo; Maetzke, Federico
2016-04-01
In the last years researchers reported an increasing need to have more awareness on the intimate link between land use and soil hydrological properties (soil organic matter storage, water infiltration, hydraulic conductivity) and their possible effects on water retention (e.g., Bens et al., 2006; del Campo et al., 2014; González-Sanchis et al., 2015; Molina and del Campo, 2012). In the Mediterranean ecosystems, special attention needs to be paid to the forest-water relationships due to the natural scarcity of water. Adaptive forest management (AFM) aims to adapt the forest to water availability by means of an artificial regulation of the forest structure and density in order to promote tree and stand resilience through enhancing soil water availability (del Campo et al., 2014). The opening of the canopy, due to the removal of a certain number of trees, is an important practice for the management of forests. It results in important modifications to the microclimatic conditions that influence the ecophysiological functioning of trees (Aussenac and Granier, 1988). However, the effect of thinning may vary depending on the specific conditions of the forest (Andréassian, 2004; Brooks et al., 2003; Cosandey et al., 2005; Lewis et al., 2000; Molina and del Campo, 2012). Different authors reported that a reduction in forest cover increases water yield due to the subsequent reduction in evapotranspiration (Brooks et al., 2003; González-Sanchis et al., 2015; Hibbert, 1983; Zhang et al., 2001). On the other hand, the water increase may be easily evaporated from the soil surface (Andréassian, 2004). In this context, determining soil hydraulic properties in forests is essential for understanding and simulating the hydrological processes (Alagna et al., 2015; Assouline and Mualem, 2002), in order to adapt a water-saving management to a specific case, or to study the effects of a particular management practice. However, it must be borne in mind that changes brought about by the practice of forest management persist for almost one century. It is therefore important to monitor managed sites over longer periods, since short-term investigations are insufficient to detect changes that may influence e.g. larger parts of watersheds (Bens et al., 2006). In addition, soil hydraulic properties exhibit strong spatial and temporal variations and a large number of determinations are required to assess the magnitude of the variation within the selected area (Logsdon and Jaynes, 1996). The use of simple and rapid field techniques is therefore important to obtain reliable data with a sustainable effort (Bagarello et al., 2014; Di Prima et al., 2016). The Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer (BEST) parameters procedure by Lassabatere et al. (2006) is very attractive for practical use since it allows an estimation of both the soil water retention and the hydraulic conductivity functions from cumulative infiltration collected during a ponded field experiment and a few routinely laboratory determinations. Lassabatere et al. (2006) suggested to measure the infiltration time of small volumes of water repeatedly poured on the soil surface confined by a ring inserted to a depth of about 1 cm into the soil. BEST considers a zero ponded infiltration model which was assumed to be appropriate for an infiltration run performed with small, but positive, pressure heads. This assumption was supported by numerical tests carried out by Touma et al. (2007). Recently, Di Prima (2015) developed a method to automate data collection with a compact infiltrometer under constant head conditions. The device, maintaining a small quasi-constant head of water (i.e., 2-3 mm) on the infiltration surface, is equipped with a differential pressure transducer to measure the stepwise drop of water level in the reservoir, and, in turn, to quantify cumulative infiltration into the soil. The data acquisition system has been designed with low cost components and it is based on the open source microcontroller platform, Arduino. The very limited cost of the system could represent a step towards a cheaper and more widespread application of accurate and automated infiltration rate measurement. However, automatic data collection increases measurement speed, permits measurement at short time intervals, improves measurement precision, allows for more efficient data handling and analysis, and reduces the amount of effort involved and the potential for errors that may occur when manual procedures are applied (Di Prima et al., 2016). The main objective of this study was to determine soil hydraulic properties by using the combination of the automated infiltrometer and the BEST algorithm in a natural Mediterranean oak forest. The forest is located in a typical Mediterranean area, within the public forest La Hunde, Valencia (NE Spain). Two contiguous plots established in previous studies conducted by González-Sanchis et al. (2015) were selected, one of them was thinned reducing the forest density from 861 to 414 tree per ha. Control plot was not thinned. These authors studied the water cycle during the period 2012-2013. In particular, they characterized and compared the plots in term of throughfall, stemflow, soil moisture and transpiration, concluding that the AFM results in an increasing water availability, and at the same time in a substantial maintenance of overland and surface flow, precluding therefore enhancement of erosion rate. In this paper, the focus was put on the impacts of thinning on soil hydraulic properties, such as infiltration capacity, hydraulic conductivity and soil water retention, determined by simplified and low-cost methods in connection with a hydrology-oriented silviculture. Acknowledgements This study is a part of research projects: "Indagini sperimentali per la simulazione dei processi di formazione del deflusso superficiale nei suoli boscati, Progetto FIRB 2012 - MIMOSE", and "CGL2011-28776-C02-02, HYDROSIL" References Alagna, V., Bagarello, V., Di Prima, S., Iovino, M., 2015. Determining hydraulic properties of a loam soil by alternative infiltrometer techniques. Hydrol. Process. doi:10.1002/hyp.10607 Andréassian, V., 2004. Waters and forests: from historical controversy to scientific debate. Journal of Hydrology 291, 1-27. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2003.12.015 Assouline, S., Mualem, Y., 2002. Infiltration during soil sealing: The effect of areal heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties. Water Resour. Res. 38, 1286. doi:10.1029/2001WR001168 Aussenac, G., Granier, A., 1988. Effects of thinning on water stress and growth in Douglas-fir. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 18, 100-105. doi:10.1139/x88-015 Bagarello, V., Di Prima, S., Iovino, M., Provenzano, G., 2014. Estimating field-saturated soil hydraulic conductivity by a simplified Beerkan infiltration experiment. Hydrological Processes 28, 1095-1103. doi:10.1002/hyp.9649 Bens, O., Wahl, N.A., Fischer, H., Hüttl, R.F., 2006. Water infiltration and hydraulic conductivity in sandy cambisols: impacts of forest transformation on soil hydrological properties. Eur J Forest Res 126, 101-109. doi:10.1007/s10342-006-0133-7 Brooks, K.N., Folliott, P.F., Gregersen, H.M., DeBano, L.F., 2003. Hydrology and the Management of Watersheds. Hydrology and the Management of Watersheds 575. Cosandey, C., Andréassian, V., Martin, C., Didon-Lescot, J.F., Lavabre, J., Folton, N., Mathys, N., Richard, D., 2005. The hydrological impact of the mediterranean forest: a review of French research. Journal of Hydrology 301, 235-249. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.06.040 del Campo, A.D., Fernandes, T.J.G., Molina, A.J., 2014. Hydrology-oriented (adaptive) silviculture in a semiarid pine plantation: How much can be modified the water cycle through forest management? European Journal of Forest Research 133, 879-894. doi:10.1007/s10342-014-0805-7 Di Prima, S., 2015. Automated single ring infiltrometer with a low-cost microcontroller circuit. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 118, 390-395. doi:10.1016/j.compag.2015.09.022 Di Prima, S., Lassabatere, L., Bagarello, V., Iovino, M., Angulo-Jaramillo, R., 2016. Testing a new automated single ring infiltrometer for Beerkan infiltration experiments. Geoderma 262, 20-34. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.08.006 González-Sanchis, M., del Campo, A., Lidón, A., Lull, C., Bautista, I., García-Prats, A., Francés, F., others, 2015. Incorporación de criterios eco-hidrológicos en la gestión forestal: adaptación a la escasez de agua de una masa marginal de encina. Cuadernos de la Sociedad Española de Ciencias Forestales. Hibbert, A.R., 1983. Water Yield Improvement Potential by Vegetation Management on Western Rangelands1. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association 19, 375-381. doi:10.1111/j.1752-1688.1983.tb04594.x Lassabatère, L., Angulo-Jaramillo, R., Soria Ugalde, J.M., Cuenca, R., Braud, I., Haverkamp, R., 2006. Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer Parameters through Infiltration Experiments - BEST. Soil Science Society of America Journal 70, 521. doi:10.2136/sssaj2005.0026 Lewis, D., Singer, M.J., Dahlgren, R.A., Tate, K.W., 2000. Hydrology in a California oak woodland watershed: a 17-year study. Journal of Hydrology 240, 106-117. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00337-1 Logsdon, S.D., Jaynes, D.B., 1996. Spatial Variability of Hydraulic Conductivity in a Cultivated Field at Different Times. Soil Science Society of America Journal 60, 703. doi:10.2136/sssaj1996.03615995006000030003x Molina, A.J., del Campo, A.D., 2012. The effects of experimental thinning on throughfall and stemflow: A contribution towards hydrology-oriented silviculture in Aleppo pine plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 269, 206-213. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.12.037 Touma, J., Voltz, M., Albergel, J., 2007. Determining soil saturated hydraulic conductivity and sorptivity from single ring infiltration tests. European Journal of Soil Science 58, 229-238. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2389.2006.00830.x Zhang, L., Dawes, W.R., Walker, G.R., 2001. Response of mean annual evapotranspiration to vegetation changes at catchment scale. Water Resour. Res. 37, 701-708. doi:10.1029/2000WR900325