Multi-Criteria Optimal Planning for Energy Policies in CLP

In the policy making process a number of disparate and diverse issues such as economic development, environmental aspects, as well as the social acceptance of the policy, need to be considered. A single person might not have all the required expertises, and decision support systems featuring optimization components can help to assess policies. Leveraging on previous work on Strategic Environmental Assessment, we developed a fully-fledged system that is able to provide optimal plans with respect to a given objective, to perform multi-objective optimization and provide sets of Pareto optimal plans, and to visually compare them. Each plan is environmentally assessed and its footprint is evaluated. The heart of the system is an application developed in a popular Constraint Logic Programming system on the Reals sort. It has been equipped with a web service module that can be queried through standard interfaces, and an intuitive graphic user interface.Comment: Accepted at ICLP2014 Conference as Technical Communication, due to appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP

Geohazard features of the north-western Sicily and Pantelleria

We present maps of geohazard features identified across north-western Sicily and Pantelleria in the framework of the Magic project (MArine Geohazard along Italian Coasts), which involved Italian marine geological researchers in 2007-2013. These seafloor features were recognized using high-resolution bathymetry data and rely on the morphological expression of the seafloor and shallow sub-surface processes. The north-western Sicily is a complex continental margin, affected by morphodynamic, depositional, and tectonic processes. The Egadi offshore is controlled by fault escarpments and alternating retreating and progradational processes. Ustica and Pantelleria submerged edifices show the effect of volcanic activity. The Ustica seafloor is interested in volcanic, tectonic, and gravitational instability processes, while the Pantelleria offshore underwent erosive-depositional processes and the effect of bottom currents. Two levels of interpretation are represented: the physiographic domain at a scale of 1:250.000 and the morphological units and morpho-bathymetric elements at a 1:100.000 scale

Assessing Coastal Sustainability: A Bayesian Approach for Modeling and Estimating a Global Index for Measuring Risk

Integrated Coastal Zone Management is an emerg- ing research area. The aim is to provide a global view of dif- ferent and heterogeneous aspects interacting in a geographical area. Decision Support Systems, integrating Computational Intelligence methods, can be successfully used to estimate use- ful anthropic and environmental indexes. Bayesian Networks have been widely used in the environmental science domain. In this paper a Bayesian model for estimating the Sustainable Coastal Index is presented. The designed Bayesian Network consists of 17 nodes, hierarchically organized in 4 layers. The first layer is initialized with the season and the physiographic region information. In the second layer, the first-order in- dexes, depending on raw data, of physiographic regions are computed. The third layer estimates the second-order indexes of the analyzed physiographic regions. In the fourth layer, the global Sustainable Coastal Index is inferred. Processed data refers to 13 physiographic regions in the Province of Trapani, western Sicily, Italy. Gathered data describes the environ- mental information, the agricultural, fisheries, and economi- cal behaviors of the local population and land. The Bayesian Network was trained and tested using a real dataset acquired between 2000 and 2006. The developed system presents inter- esting results

MoMoWo 3rd international conference-workshop. Women designers, architects and engineers between 1969 and 1989. Programme and abstract

Il volume raccoglie gli abstract del MoMoWo 3nt INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE -WORKSHOP. Women Designers, Architects and Engineers between 1969 and 1989 che rappresenta una delle principali attività di ricerca e disseminazione del progetto Europeo MoMoW

The recent spread of the invasive woody alien plant Melia azedarach L. (Meliaceae) in Sicily

This paper aims at reporting the ongoing process of naturalization of Melia azedarach L. in Sicily. In fact, over half a century after the first detection of spontaneous self-sown seedlings, an abrupt increase of naturalization cases has been recorded by the authors during the last twenty years. More in detail, M. azedarach successfully colonized many suburban lowland areas along the coasts of the island which are characterised by thermo-Mediterranean bioclimate. According to both field and literature data, a gradual spread of M. azedarach in the island can be expected, although it is not possible to predict the speed with which this will occur. Historical information on its introduction at global and local scales and on the traditional use of its seeds is provided, too

Sustainable valorisation of biowaste for soilless cultivation of salvia officinalis in a circular bioeconomy

The aim of this work is to assess the usefulness of biowaste deriving from Circular Bioeconomy (CBE) processes (i.e.,vermicompost, compost and digestate), as growing substrates for the partial or total replacement of peat, by measuring the vegetation biometric parameters of sage (Salvia officinalisL.)—leaf area; Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) value (index of chlorophyll concentration); fresh and dry weight ofleaves; stem weight; root length. The results showed that vermicompost positively influenced most of above parameters (+16.7% for leaf area, +7.3% for fresh leaf weight, +6.4% for dry leaf weight, +8.5% for fresh stem weight, +0.9% for dry stem weight, +16% for root length) and, therefore,can be used as a sustainable growing substrate, alternative to peat, for the sage soilless cultivation. Yet, the results of some biometric parameters are better with peat rather than with compost (—7.2% for SPAD value,—47.3% for fresh leaf weight,—46.8% for dry leaf weight,—32.9% for fresh stem weight,—39.1% for dry stem weight,—52.4% for fresh root weight,—56.6% for dry root weight) and digestate (—30.2% for fresh leaf weight,—33.6% for dry leaf weight,—23.9% for fresh stem weight,—27% for dry stem weight,—51.8% for fresh root weight,—34.4% for dry root weight,—16% for root length). Therefore, these results are interesting for potted plants in nursery activity, while the above differences must be verified also after the transplanting of the testedplants in open field. However, the use of all the above growing substrates alternative to peat allows the sustainable valorization of food industry by-products, plant biomass, animal manure and the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW)

Women Designers, Architects and Engineers between 1946 and 1968. MoMoWo 2nd International Conference-Workshop. Programme and Abstracts

Il volume raccoglie gli abstract del MoMoWo 2nt INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE –WORKSHOP. Women Designers, Architects and Engineers between 1946 and 1963 che rappresenta una delle principali attività di ricerca e disseminazione del progetto Europeo MoMoW

The Diaptomidae (Copepoda, Calanoida) of Tunisia and the role of spatial and environmental factors as drivers of their distribution patterns

Even in a biodiversity hotspot such as the Mediterranean basin, aspects relating to the distribution of some groups of microcrustaceans still need clarification. In this paper, we critically analyse the available information on diaptomid copepods in Tunisian inland waters and, based on the largest sampling campaign to date carried out in the country, report new data on their distribution. In the frame of this study, 248 crustacean samples were collected from 190 sites, and 10 diaptomid species belonging to 7 genera and 2 subfamilies were found in the samples. Their distribution follows a climate gradient determined by precipitation, and ecological variables mainly affect diaptomid distribution in the study area, while pure spatial factors are of negligible importance. Diaptomid biodiversity is therefore strongly linked to the diversity of inland waters that characterise the country. This is especially true in the wetlands of the Medjerda alluvial plain, where six diaptomid species co-occurred sympatrically, with up to four or five species coexisting syntopically and synchronically in some sites. Unfortunately, the natural water bodies of this plain are currently strongly threatened by urban expansion and agricultural reclamation, and the risk of local extinction for the species they host is increasingly high

Step-by-step regeneration of tentacles after injury in anemonia viridis—morphological and structural cell analyses

Benthic marine invertebrates, such as corals, are often subjected to injury caused by several sources. Here, the differences and characteristics in injured and health tissues in terms of cellular components are shown through a histological investigation of the soft coral Anemonia viridis at 0 h, 6 h, 24 h, and 7 days after injury caused by tentacle amputation. In addition, a new tool was used for the first time in invertebrates, positron emission tomography, in order to investigate the events that occur during regeneration within a longer time period (0 h, 24 h, and 14 days after the tentacles were cut). Higher integrated density values were measured through a densitometric analysis in sections stained with Fontana-Masson at 24 h after the tentacles were cut. This suggests an increase in melanin-like containing cells and a subsequent increase in fibroblast-like cells differentiated by amoebocytes that converge to the lesion site in the early stages of inflammation and regeneration. This work provides, for the first time, an elucidation of the events that occur during wound-healing and regeneration in basal metazoan, focusing on the characterisation of immune cells and their role. Our results indicate that Mediterranean anthozoan proves to be a valuable model for studying regeneration. Many events highlighted in this research occur in different phyla, suggesting that they are highly conserved

Women Designers, Craftswomen, Architects and Engineers between 1918 and 1945. MoMoWo 1st International Conference-Workshop. Programme and Abstracts

Il volume contiene il programma e gli abstract dei contributi presentati in occasione della prima conferenza-workshop del progetto europeo "MoMoWo - Women's creativity since the Modern Movement" co-finanziato dal programma Creative Europe e capofilato dal Politecnico di Torino. L'attività si è svolta dal 23 al 25 Settembre 2015 presso Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society