Seismic Vulnerability of Chemical Racks in the Cross-Aisle Direction

Information on the seismic response of chemical containers located in storage racks is very limited. Unfortunately, no clearly established data and statistics exist related to potential damage of chemical racking systems during earthquakes. Hence, this work presents an approach for developing fragility curves for chemical racking systems in the cross-aisle direction through dynamic non-linear analysis. It aims to simulate the structural behaviour of various racking systems in the cross-aisle direction for the worst-case scenario, in order to quantify the vulnerability of chemical racks in seismic areas and to better understand the associated natech risk. Analytical fragility curves and a fault tree model were derived and used to evaluate the probabilities of chemical containers falling from racks. The damage state limits were considered as four levels of intensity of loss of containment. Three damage modes (overturning, sliding, and buckling), two types of chemical containers (205 l metal drums and 1000 l IBCs), three types of rack base anchoring (unanchored, anchored-brittle, and anchored-plastic), and four rack heights (3, 4.5, 6, 7.5, 9 m) were considered in the analysis. Overall, twenty-four fragility curves were developed based on twenty-six strong motion records from the PEER Strong Motion database. However, the analytical method employed in this study can also be used for deriving fragility curves for other merchandise types of racking structures. In order to assess the natech risk of a chemical rack containing a flammable substance, to test the developed fragility curves, and to illustrate the natech risk assessment and mapping capabilities of RAPID-N, a case study based on the 1786 Olivieri earthquake scenario was conducted. The findings demonstrate that chemical racks loaded with IBCs are more vulnerable than those loaded with drums. Moreover, although a very robust anchorage reduces the probability of collapse of the rack, it increases the probability of chemical containers falling.JRC.G.5-Security technology assessmen

On the use of asymmetric PSF on NIR images of crowded stellar fields

We present data collected using the camera PISCES coupled with the Firt Light Adaptive Optics (FLAO) mounted at the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). The images were collected using two natural guide stars with an apparent magnitude of R<13 mag. During these observations the seeing was on average ~0.9". The AO performed very well: the images display a mean FWHM of 0.05 arcsec and of 0.06 arcsec in the J- and in the Ks-band, respectively. The Strehl ratio on the quoted images reaches 13-30% (J) and 50-65% (Ks), in the off and in the central pointings respectively. On the basis of this sample we have reached a J-band limiting magnitude of ~22.5 mag and the deepest Ks-band limiting magnitude ever obtained in a crowded stellar field: Ks~23 mag. J-band images display a complex change in the shape of the PSF when moving at larger radial distances from the natural guide star. In particular, the stellar images become more elongated in approaching the corners of the J-band images whereas the Ks-band images are more uniform. We discuss in detail the strategy used to perform accurate and deep photometry in these very challenging images. In particular we will focus our attention on the use of an updated version of ROMAFOT based on asymmetric and analytical Point Spread Functions. The quality of the photometry allowed us to properly identify a feature that clearly shows up in NIR bands: the main sequence knee (MSK). The MSK is independent of the evolutionary age, therefore the difference in magnitude with the canonical clock to constrain the cluster age, the main sequence turn off (MSTO), provides an estimate of the absolute age of the cluster. The key advantage of this new approach is that the error decreases by a factor of two when compared with the classical one. Combining ground-based Ks with space F606W photometry, we estimate the absolute age of M15 to be 13.70+-0.80 Gyr.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, presented at the SPIE conference 201

fUel-SAVing trip plannEr (U-SAVE): a product of the JRC PoC Instrument: Final report

Available tools for trip planning mostly rely on travel time and travel distance. Fuel costs, when taken into account, are based on simplified fuel consumption models and are usually independent from vehicle type and technology. Building on the work carried out by the Sustainable Transport Unit of the Joint Research Centre, European Commission, in developing (a.) CO2MPAS, the official tool supporting the WLTP/NEDC Correlation Exercise and allowing the back-translation of a WLTP test to the equivalent NEDC CO2 emission value during the type approval, and (b.) Green Driving, an interactive web-based tool allowing the estimation of fuel costs and CO2 emissions of individual car journeys on the basis of variables such as car segment, engine power, fuel type and driving style, the present project aimed at developing and proving the concept of a routing machine to be used when fuel consumption minimization is considered. Throughout the project a stand-alone off-board trip planner has been developed, the U-SAVE Desktop Version, while a smartphone application, the U-SAVE Navigation Application, is currently under the last development phase, and shall be used once completed as a low cost in-board navigation system. The tool has been extensively validated internally demonstrating both its capability to accurately estimate fuel and energy consumption via alternative trip options, and its capacity to provide a more efficient route when different from the shortest and/or fastest options. An open-access version of the tool is expected to become a reference instrument for private citizens who are concerned about their fuel consumption and a more efficient use of their vehicles, while a premium API-based commercial version of the tool can operate as a viable and scalable business model targeting, among others, established navigation software providers who want to extend their offering by providing an alternative route option to their clients, mainly private companies managing fleets of light-duty vehicles, for whom saving fuel from the daily vehicle operations is of crucial financial importance.JRC.C.4-Sustainable Transpor

THE BIAS (BULLYING IN SICILIAN SCHOOL) PILOT STUDY: INVESTIGATING THE PREVALENCE OF BULLYING IN SCHOOL OF PALERMO CITY. A RESEARCH STUDY PROTOCOL

Being a serious threat to physical and emotional health of children and adolescents all over the world, bullying in school represents an important public health issue. Since 2007, in Italy, the Ministry of Education (MIUR) has promoted activities to face and prevent bullying in schools of all levels while at the same time national and local Health Authorities have implemented effective social-health strategies. To date, the lack of consistent data needed to properly describe the concerning increase of this Public Health phenomenon prevents both the ability to systematically survey and measure the effectiveness of the public health strategies against bullying. The Bullying In Sicilian Schools (BIAS) pilot study’s aims: i) to estimate the prevalence of bullying in a sample of secondary first-grade schools of Palermo, the largest city in Sicily, investigating its characteristics, and ii) to assess the feasibility of alternative methods for the detection of the prevalence of bullying in schools. Here we present the research protocol and the questionnaires that will be used

Feasibility and Accuracy of Transduodenal Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration of Solid Lesions Using a 19-Gauge Flexible Needle: A Multicenter Study

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The Gray Needle: Large Grains in the HD 15115 Debris Disk from LBT/PISCES/Ks and LBTI/LMIRcam/L' Adaptive Optics Imaging

We present diffraction-limited \ks band and \lprime adaptive optics images of the edge-on debris disk around the nearby F2 star HD 15115, obtained with a single 8.4 m primary mirror at the Large Binocular Telescope. At \ks band the disk is detected at signal-to-noise per resolution element (SNRE) \about 3-8 from \about 1-2\fasec 5 (45-113 AU) on the western side, and from \about 1.2-2\fasec 1 (63-90 AU) on the east. At \lprime the disk is detected at SNRE \about 2.5 from \about 1-1\fasec 45 (45-90 AU) on both sides, implying more symmetric disk structure at 3.8 \microns . At both wavelengths the disk has a bow-like shape and is offset from the star to the north by a few AU. A surface brightness asymmetry exists between the two sides of the disk at \ks band, but not at \lprime . The surface brightness at \ks band declines inside 1\asec (\about 45 AU), which may be indicative of a gap in the disk near 1\asec. The \ks - \lprime disk color, after removal of the stellar color, is mostly grey for both sides of the disk. This suggests that scattered light is coming from large dust grains, with 3-10 \microns -sized grains on the east side and 1-10 \microns dust grains on the west. This may suggest that the west side is composed of smaller dust grains than the east side, which would support the interpretation that the disk is being dynamically affected by interactions with the local interstellar medium.Comment: Apj-accepted March 27 2012; minor correction

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Helminth Communities of Owls (Strigiformes) Indicate Strong Biological and Ecological Differences from Birds of Prey (Accipitriformes and Falconiformes) in Southern Italy

We compared the helminth communities of 5 owl species from Calabria (Italy) and evaluated the effect of phylogenetic and ecological factors on community structure. Two host taxonomic scales were considered, i.e., owl species, and owls vs. birds of prey. The latter scale was dealt with by comparing the data here obtained with that of birds of prey from the same locality and with those published previously on owls and birds of prey from Galicia (Spain). A total of 19 helminth taxa were found in owls from Calabria. Statistical comparison showed only marginal differences between scops owls (Otus scops) and little owls (Athene noctua) and tawny owls (Strix aluco). It would indicate that all owl species are exposed to a common pool of 'owl generalist' helminth taxa, with quantitative differences being determined by differences in diet within a range of prey relatively narrow. In contrast, birds of prey from the same region exhibited strong differences because they feed on different and wider spectra of prey. In Calabria, owls can be separated as a whole from birds of prey with regard to the structure of their helminth communities while in Galicia helminths of owls represent a subset of those of birds of prey. This difference is related to the occurrence in Calabria, but not Galicia, of a pool of 'owl specialist' species. The wide geographical occurrence of these taxa suggest that local conditions may determine fundamental differences in the composition of local communities. Finally, in both Calabria and Galicia, helminth communities from owls were species-poor compared to those from sympatric birds of prey. However, birds of prey appear to share a greater pool of specific helmith taxa derived from cospeciation processes, and a greater potential exchange of parasites between them than with owls because of phylogenetic closeness

MORFEO enters final design phase

MORFEO (Multi-conjugate adaptive Optics Relay For ELT Observations, formerly MAORY), the MCAO system for the ELT, will provide diffraction-limited optical quality to the large field camera MICADO. MORFEO has officially passed the Preliminary Design Review and it is entering the final design phase. We present the current status of the project, with a focus on the adaptive optics system aspects and expected milestones during the next project phase