SITOGEO: A geographic database used for GIS applications

This contribution aims to present the geographic database “SITOGEO” developed with GIS technology. This database manages data of different nature, source and resolution (land images, digital elevation model, cartographic maps and vector data) covering the whole of Italy. In this paper we show that our database can be used for the assessment, management and mitigation of risks regarding the preservation of cultural heritage and as valid support for the remote-sensing technologies

The culture of the project in view of new synergies for the (r)evolution of the healthcare sector

The contemporary era, defined by Schwad (2015) as the "Fourth Industrial Revolution '' is the era that is outlined on the theme of major innovations and a growth of technologies of exponential type. At the social level, we are witnessing a progressive aging of the population, aging or rejuvenation, as some would argue (OECD, 2020). Technological growth and innovation is evolving the standards of health in which the population falls, is reshaping life expectancy and with it, also the age of seniority. Technological growth and population increase bring with them clear concerns about health management: we will face an increasing number of chronic diseases, and the demand for higher standards of personalized care, precision medicine, regenerative medicine, all of which will increase demands and put great stress on our health systems. The two years marked by the Covid-19 pandemic have already provided us with a demonstration of the consequences associated with extremes of demand for care. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, which holds the advent of Information Technologies and Artificial Intelligence, tells us of a future that will see an increasing interaction between humans, machines and computational intelligences, to alleviate us and empower our existence. This era will also speak about the increasingly imperative need to assert in the design treatment the component of acceptance and exaltation of human values in order to mitigate the possible outcomes of human alienation in the face of indefinable technological availability. Also in this case we can refer to the examples of degenerations resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, with generalizing crisis phenomena and dismissive visions from the surrounding reality, such as the No-Vax, movements or other phenomena of technological alienation as in the case of the increase in the percentage of adolescents now in a cycle of self-induced isolation. Considering the areas of light and shadow of the challenges of our future, it is clear how we will need the increasingly synergistic action of the various disciplines of human knowledge, in order to arrive at the delineation of a correct exploitation of human values. With regard to this, the discipline of design, understood as that discipline useful to generate with efficiency, a bridge between technological innovation and human interaction, will be fundamental as able to bring positive and empathic elements to the design, to derive a generalized improvement in the quality of life, and in the case of healthcare, of care. Our research highlights the etymologically new figure of the "Medical Designer" and asserts in the design process new functions on the theme of medical devices: among them, the theme of autonomy and automation. In full response to the "trend" and aimed at assimilating to the already established potential of industries, they will be crucial elements of designs and investments of new devices. The research that derives from it has had practical implications arriving at the definition of forms of care that subjugate in a single device both the function of reading parameters, and the function of administration of care

Performance modeling of ultraviolet Raman lidar systems for daytime profiling of atmospheric water vapor

We describe preliminary results from a comprehensive computer model developed to guide optimization of a Raman lidar system for measuring daytime profiles of atmospheric water vapor, emphasizing an ultraviolet, solar-blind approach

A morphometric model of the Aeolian Islands (Italy)

A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the Aeolian Islands (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) is presented, with a 5 m horizontal resolution, derived from photograms at a relative medium scale of 1:35000, collected during an aerophotogrammetric flight in 1994-5. The seada tacome from ah ydrographic survey (1996-1997) of the seabed topography, carried out in accordance with present international standards. The sounding density of the bathymetric survey varies: it is more accurate near the coasts and in areas of structural interest. Previous bathymetric surveys, when available, were limited to small areas. The present DEM is enclosed in arecta ngle with limits of longitude 14◦16�'32"-15◦22'51"E and latitude 38◦20'55"-38◦53'50"N. The DEM of the islands and of the seabed, merged together, is presented here for the first time. The shadowed raster images of the DEM clearly outline the structural and volcanological features of the archipelago

Reduction of hydraulic losses in a piston pump

The hydraulic losses are the decrease in energy of the fluid due to vortex formation, friction between the fluid and the pipe, changing the flow of fluid. The decrease in energy of the fluid, in turn, leads to the following consequences: decrease efficiency, increase energy consumption and decrease cavitation stock pump. The main danger in a piston pump is to reduce cavitation stock. This leads to boiling of water by pressure reduction and rapid destruction the flow part of the pump

How Data Set Characteristics Influence Ocean Carbon Export Models

Ocean biological processes mediate the transport of roughly 10 petagrams of carbon from the surface to the deep ocean each year and thus play an important role in the global carbon cycle. Even so, the globally integrated rate of carbon export out of the surface ocean remains highly uncertain. Quantifying the processes underlying this biological carbon export requires a synthesis between model predictions and available observations of particulate organic carbon (POC) flux; yet the scale dissimilarities between models and observations make this synthesis difficult. Here we compare carbon export predictions from a mechanistic model with observations of POC fluxes from several data sets compiled from the literature spanning different space, time, and depth scales as well as using different observational methodologies. We optimize model parameters to provide the best match between model‐predicted and observed POC fluxes, explicitly accounting for sources of error associated with each data set. Model‐predicted globally integrated values of POC flux at the base of the euphotic layer range from 3.8 to 5.5 Pg C/year, depending on the data set used to optimize the model. Modeled carbon export pathways also vary depending on the data set used to optimize the model, as well as the satellite net primary production data product used to drive the model. These findings highlight the importance of collecting field data that average over the substantial natural temporal and spatial variability in carbon export fluxes, and advancing satellite algorithms for ocean net primary production, in order to improve predictions of biological carbon export

Two-pulse rapid remote surface contamination measurement.

This project demonstrated the feasibility of a 'pump-probe' optical detection method for standoff sensing of chemicals on surfaces. Such a measurement uses two optical pulses - one to remove the analyte (or a fragment of it) from the surface and the second to sense the removed material. As a particular example, this project targeted photofragmentation laser-induced fluorescence (PF-LIF) to detect of surface deposits of low-volatility chemical warfare agents (LVAs). Feasibility was demonstrated for four agent surrogates on eight realistic surfaces. Its sensitivity was established for measurements on concrete and aluminum. Extrapolations were made to demonstrate relevance to the needs of outside users. Several aspects of the surface PF-LIF physical mechanism were investigated and compared to that of vapor-phase measurements. The use of PF-LIF as a rapid screening tool to 'cue' more specific sensors was recommended. Its sensitivity was compared to that of Raman spectroscopy, which is both a potential 'confirmer' of PF-LIF 'hits' and is also a competing screening technology

L'enseignement universitaire des réalités autochtones dans les cours en sciences de la santé : un examen de la portée

Introduction : Pour répondre à l’appel à l’action #24 de la Commission de vérité et de réconciliation du Canada (2015), les étudiants des écoles de médecine et de sciences infirmières devraient suivre un cours sur les questions liées à la santé des Autochtones. Plusieurs enseignants expriment un inconfort à le faire, alors que la préparation des étudiants pour intervenir auprès d’une clientèle autochtone est essentielle. Méthodes : L’objectif de cet examen de la portée est de brosser un portrait des stratégies pédagogiques utilisées pour l’enseignement universitaire des réalités autochtones en sciences de la santé. La démarche de Arksey et O’Malley (2005) a été utilisée et cinq études ont été retenues à partir des bases de données Education Source, ERIC, CINAHL, Medline et PsychInfo. Les critères d’inclusion pour les études étaient d’être une recherche primaire, en anglais ou en français et publiée entre 2001 et 2021. Résultats : Parmi les cinq études retenues, quatre proviennent du Canada et une d’Australie. Elles ont toutes été rédigées en anglais. Les résultats des études indiquent un grand niveau d’apprentissage et une satisfaction élevée des participants pour ces stratégies pédagogiques développées en collaboration avec des Autochtones, tels que des ateliers, un stage ou encore un exercice immersif. Discussion et conclusion : Un changement de perspectives envers les Autochtones et une meilleure compétence culturelle pour intervenir avec eux ont été observés, ainsi qu’un désir d’action sociale sur la réconciliation. Les stratégies pédagogiques utilisées pour l’enseignement universitaire des réalités autochtones en sciences de la santé sont encore peu documentées, malgré les impacts positifs qu’elles apportent aux étudiants et son importance dans le processus de réconciliation.Introduction : Pour répondre à l’appel à l’action #24 de la Commission de vérité et de réconciliation du Canada (2015), les étudiants des écoles de médecine et de sciences infirmières devraient suivre un cours sur les questions liées à la santé des Autochtones. Plusieurs enseignants expriment un inconfort à le faire, alors que la préparation des étudiants pour intervenir auprès d’une clientèle autochtone est essentielle. Méthodes : L’objectif de cet examen de la portée est de brosser un portrait des stratégies pédagogiques utilisées pour l’enseignement universitaire des réalités autochtones en sciences de la santé. La démarche de Arksey et O’Malley (2005) a été utilisée et cinq études ont été retenues à partir des bases de données Education Source, ERIC, CINAHL, Medline et PsychInfo. Les critères d’inclusion pour les études étaient d’être une recherche primaire, en anglais ou en français et publiée entre 2001 et 2021. Résultats : Parmi les cinq études retenues, quatre proviennent du Canada et une d’Australie. Elles ont toutes été rédigées en anglais. Les résultats des études indiquent un grand niveau d’apprentissage et une satisfaction élevée des participants pour ces stratégies pédagogiques développées en collaboration avec des Autochtones, tels que des ateliers, un stage ou encore un exercice immersif. Discussion et conclusion : Un changement de perspectives envers les Autochtones et une meilleure compétence culturelle pour intervenir avec eux ont été observés, ainsi qu’un désir d’action sociale sur la réconciliation. Les stratégies pédagogiques utilisées pour l’enseignement universitaire des réalités autochtones en sciences de la santé sont encore peu documentées, malgré les impacts positifs qu’elles apportent aux étudiants et son importance dans le processus de réconciliation

Statistics of electromagnetic transitions as a signature of chaos in many-electron atoms

Using a configuration interaction approach we study statistics of the dipole matrix elements (E1 amplitudes) between the 14 lower odd states with J=4 and 21st to 100th even states with J=4 in the Ce atom (1120 lines). We show that the distribution of the matrix elements is close to Gaussian, although the width of the Gaussian distribution, i.e. the root-mean-square matrix element, changes with the excitation energy. The corresponding line strengths are distributed according to the Porter-Thomas law which describes statistics of transition strengths between chaotic states in compound nuclei. We also show how to use a statistical theory to calculate mean squared values of the matrix elements or transition amplitudes between chaotic many-body states. We draw some support for our conclusions from the analysis of the 228 experimental line strengths in Ce [J. Opt. Soc. Am. v. 8, p. 1545 (1991)], although direct comparison with the calculations is impeded by incompleteness of the experimental data. Nevertheless, the statistics observed evidence that highly excited many-electron states in atoms are indeed chaotic.Comment: 16 pages, REVTEX, 4 PostScript figures (submitted to Phys Rev A