An enhanced modelling approach for debris flow inception and propagation

Le colate detritiche sono una componente principale della pericolosità idraulica nelle aree montane e sono spesso innescate dal collasso di versanti eccessivamente ripidi lungo il reticolo di drenaggio di un bacino. L’identificazione delle aree instabili durante un evento meteorico intenso a scala di bacino è cruciale per la mappatura delle aree potenzialmente impattate. In letteratura molti contributi utilizzano dei modelli fisicamente basati a scala di bacino per modellare il fenomeno. Nella maggior parte delle applicazioni la componente geotecnica di questi modelli fornisce il Fattore di Sicurezza (FS) utilizzando il modello di versante infinito (IS) accoppiato con opportune ipotesi idrologiche. Tuttavia, è possibile riscontrare in letteratura che il modello IS, il quale considera ogni cella del bacino in modo isolato, diviene via via meno adeguato all’aumentare della risoluzione del modello di elevazione del bacino, contribuendo a sovrastimare le aree instabili. In questo lavoro verrà presentato un originale miglioramento del calcolo della stabilità dei versanti, modificando il metodo di stabilità di Janbu per poter essere applicato a scala di bacino. Il metodo proposto è un miglioramento rispetto all’IS su casi test semplificati in cui un’analisi di stabilità rigorosa consente di validare le risposte dei modelli. Infine, è stato applicato il modello introdotto ad un caso test ben documentato in letteratura: il Mettman Ridge in Oregon. Nell’ottica di modellare la propagazione delle colate detritiche dopo l’innesco è stato implementato un codice numerico ai volumi finiti chiamato DEBRA (Debris-flow Evolution and Behaviour for Risk Assessment) in grado di simulare la propagazione degli shock grazie alla risoluzione delle equazioni delle acque basse bidimensionali a forte pendenza su grigliati non strutturati. DEBRA è dotato di svariati modelli reologici (Manning, Voellmy e O’Brien) utilizzati in letteratura e in altri software commerciali, consentendo all’utente di poter selezionare la formulazione migliore considerando le peculiarità del caso in esame. In primo luogo, lo schema numerico è stato validato utilizzando soluzioni analitiche di rottura di diga o presenti in letteratura o derivate appositamente per la reologia considerata. In secondo luogo, sono stati confrontati i risultati di DEBRA e di un software commerciale (RAMMS) relativamente alla propagazione di una colata accaduta realmente a Niardo (Italia) dove sono disponibili alcune informazioni di riferimento relative alla deposizione e all’estensione delle aree impattate.Debris flows are a major component of hydraulic hazard in mountainous environments and are often triggered by the collapse of steep slopes along the drainage network of a watershed. The identification of unstable areas during a rainfall event inside a catchment is crucial to the assessment of the impacted areas. In literature many contributions deal with this task by using physically based distributed models. In most applications the geotechnical component of these models provides the Factor of Safety (FS) using the Infinite Slope (IS) assumption coupled with suitable hydrologic hypothesis. However, there is evidence in literature, that the IS assumption, that considers single cells stability, becomes increasingly inadequate with the growing space resolution of the elevation model, contributing to the overprediction of unstable areas that affect these models. In this work it is proposed an original improvement to the stability calculation of physically based distributed models, by presenting a modification of the Janbu’s method of slices suitable to basin scale applications. The proposed method is systematically better than the local IS prediction for a set of elementary test cases in which a rigorous stability analysis is available, confirming the predictive capabilities of the proposed approach. Finally, it is showed the applicability of the method at the watershed scale by considering its application to a well-known test case in Oregon, i.e. the Mettman Ridge. In order to model the propagation of debris flows after being triggered, a numerical software has been implemented. DEBRA (Debris-flow Evolution and Behaviour for Risk Assessment) is a shock capturing finite volume numerical scheme which solves the monophasic 2D Steep Slope Shallow Water Equations on an unstructured grid. DEBRA is equipped with multiple rheological laws (Manning, Voellmy and O’Brien) used in most commercial software allowing the user to choose the best formulation according to experience or field characteristics. Firstly, the numerical scheme is validated against dam break analytical solutions which are obtained specifically for each rheology. Secondly, DEBRA and a commercially available software (RAMMS) are compared on a real event happened in Niardo (Italy) where information about deposition maps and inundation extent are available

An emerging user-led participatory methodology: Mapping impact pathways of urban food system sustainability innovations

This chapter presents an emerging effort to develop a participatory mapping methodology that will illuminate the pathways through which sustainable urban food systems achieve lasting impact. Carried out in collaboration with Està (Economia e Sostenibilità), the UNESCO Chair in World Food System (at Montpellier SupAgro), CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development) and the LCSFS (Laurier Center for Sustainable Food Systems), this initiative aims to provide an alternative to quantitative tools that lack precision at the local level, and to qualitative approaches holding a narrow focus that may obscure broader systemic dynamics. This URBAL project focuses on innovations in consumer practices, value-chains, and governance by examining 12 case studies in eight cities in the Global South and North

‘Qui totum sibi vendicat quod scripserat esse suum’: The Limits of Papal dominium from a Fictitious Letter of 1307

In 1307, during a session of the Parliament of Carlisle, a Latin letter purportedly fell from the sky. Its aim was to reproach the attempts of the pope to interfere in English economic and politic affairs through the appointment of his candidates to English benefices, the so-called provisores. The letter develops its opposition to the pontiff’s policy by delving into a key contept of Medieval thought: the limitations to the pope’s political and economic dominium. The aim of this paper is to assess this fictitious epistle’s contribution to a debate that had deep roots in medieval legal thought. The paper traces the evolution of the theory of papal dominium from Augustine to Gilles of Rome and assesses the ways in which this letter developed some interesting aspects of the reflexion on the nature of papal dominium that would later be used by leading intellectuals such as William of Ockham and Marsilius of Padua to limit the pontiff’s prerogatives during the debate over apostolic poverty. The paper concludes with an investigation of the fortune of the letter in Early Modern England, in order to assess the peculiar reception of this text by Protestant intellectuals

Roman and avignonese propaganda in the aftermath of the Great Schism: a new perspective on a political clash from two inedited letters (1378-89)

This paper analyses and edits two anonymous Latin letters that help to assess the political climate in the aftermath of the Great Schism: a Devil’s letter addressed to Clement VII and a literary polished invective against Urban VI. After a brief investigation of the events that led to the outbreak of the schism, the paper compares the two letters in light of the contemporary political framework, in order to demonstrate why they qualify as propagandistic documents that present each of the two popes as a threat for Christendom, and to evaluate how they exploited their literary distinctiveness to increase the strength of their political accusations. In doing so the aim is to assess the outbreak of the Schism from a viewpoint based on some distinctive strategies of political communication employed after the double election

Ispirare il management nelle aziende pubbliche: da un caso pratico a considerazioni trasferibili in campo sanitario

L’autore ha inteso approfondire l’ispirazione del management di una azienda pubblica e segnatamente sanitaria. Ha evidenziato, preliminarmente, le difficoltà che incontra la Società pubblica che riceve indirizzi dall’Ente, che ha obiettivi alti e opera attraverso leggi e norme, per trasformarli in opere e servizi attivando il mercato, costituito da aziende e professionisti, che perseguono obiettivi economici. Per attuare un compito così complesso la Società deve avvalersi di un management che sia evoluto dalla cultura dell’atto, arricchita con le competenze manageriali e con quelle che attengono alla relazione, alla cultura del valore. Nel caso della azienda sanitaria il valore è certamente il benessere (nel senso più ampio possibile) del paziente, ma la complessità è elevata, come sostiene Mintzberg, per via della relazione tra i diversi attori coinvolti (CDA, manager, infermieri, medici), taluni più vicini al paziente, o più contigui alla attività della azienda e con ruoli più o meno intermittenti. L’autore ha illustrato il caso concreto del sistema incentivante implementato in una società in house che, per motivare alcune figure come il Responsabile del Procedimento (paradigma del manager pubblico), prevede diverse leve e un MBO orientato al controllo di tempi e costi. Ha esteso poi la riflessione sulle diverse modalità di ispirazione del management, passando dalla formazione al coordinamento alla leadership. The author meant to deepen the inspirations that lead to the evolution of a Public Health Care Enterprise. He, mainly, stressed the struggles of the Public Enterprise while perceiving the vision given by the Ruling Public Entity. The Public Enterprise pursues general interest’s targets operating via laws and rules to be converted into infrastractures and services through the performance of the free market. On the opposite, this free market, made of companies and professionals pursues mainly economical targets. To fulfil such a complex task the Public Entity has to take advantage from a management capable of overcoming the mere culture of the act and pairing with a culture that relies on relationship and value-creating behaviour. In this specific case, for an Health Care Public Company, the value is intended as the patient’s welfare. Fulfilling this challenge has a high degree of complexity, as Mintzberg has been stressing too, mainly for the interactions of different stakeholders (Board of Directors, Managers, Nurses, Doctors), among whom some are closer to the patients, while others are closer to the pure company businesses. The author has described the practical case of an incentive system implemented in an inhouse company which, in order to empower management figure like the Responsible of the Proceedings, has set a time & cost saving based MBO, giving different leverages in order to perceive it. The author has finally extended his analysis on the different ways to inspire/stimulate the management as training, project management and leadership.PAROLE CHIAVE: incentivare, ispirare, gestione, pubblico, sanitario.KEYWORDS: empowerment, inspire, management, public, health

Historical comparison of the damage caused by the propagation of a dam break wave in a pre-alpine valley

Study region: Valle Camonica basin and Lake Iseo in the Italian pre-alpine and alpine region. Study focus: This paper provides the first hydraulic reconstruction of the terminal part of the Gleno dam break with the propagation of the flood wave along a wide pre-alpine valley. The reconstruction of this part of the event, accomplished with a new 2D Shallow Water Equations solver, provides the occasion to tackle some important issues related to the computation of flood damage, a topic of paramount practical importance for which there is no widely accepted procedure in the literature. New hydrological insights for the region: The hydraulic reconstruction provides insights into the propagation of the flood through the floodplain as far as the inlet of Lake Iseo. A methodology for damage computation is presented that considers a physically based criterion for the vulnerability of human life, with significant implications with respect to the use of simpler approaches based only on the density of the population. The economic evaluation of the damage to the built environment and to agricultural activities is included through a comprehensive recent approach. We discuss the variations of the expected damage due to the hydraulic works accomplished over the last 100 years to decrease the flood hazard, showing that its reduction has been followed by an increase in the expected damage in the surrounding areas

Paediatric Dengue Fever diagnosed through parents' epidemiologic report and preventive strategy during the acute phase of infection

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Quels effets des circuits courts de commercialisation sur les moyens d’existence des agriculteurs familiaux ? Le cas d’une foire paysanne à Quito (Équateur)

En Équateur, les circuits courts se développent, sous l’impulsion de l’État et des organisations de la société civile soucieuses de promouvoir l’agriculture familiale marginalisée. Cet article utilise le cadre analytique des moyens d’existence durables (Sustainable Livelihoods Framework) pour étudier les effets sur des petits producteurs agricoles de leur participation à une foire hebdomadaire de vente directe aux consommateurs, à Quito. Il montre que cette participation entraîne, de manière directe et indirecte, un renforcement de plusieurs de leurs capitaux, qui induit à son tour une amélioration des conditions d’existence et des ressources productives.In Ecuador, short food supply chains are developing under the impetus of the State and civil society organizations concerned with the promotion of marginalized family farming. This paper uses the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to shed light on the effects on small scale farmers of their participation in a weekly fair of direct sales to consumers in Quito. It shows that this participation entails, directly and indirectly, a strengthening of many of their assets, which in turn leads to an improvement in living conditions and productive resources

Comparative branching order and root anatomy of clonal and seed-grown avocado trees (Persea americana Mill.)

Characterizing roots according to their branching order and anatomy is a useful approach for identifying functional differences within and among root systems. In this study, the root branching order and the anatomy of each root order (stele and cortex area) were examined in two-year-old “Duke 7” avocado (Persea americana Mill.) trees propagated by seed and by clonal techniques. The root systems were found to have three different root orders that exhibited differences in the occurrence of secondary xylem. Fine roots (first- and second-order roots) presented only primary growth, whereas the main roots (third-order roots) exhibited secondary growth. Transverse sections of roots from the different orders showed pentarch, hexarch or heptarch tracheal element distributions. Newly emerged, long, unbranched pioneer roots were observed only in the clonal trees and showed particular anatomical features, such as a larger diameter and a proportionally greater cortex area than other roots, as well as primary growth. Additionally, significant differences were found between clonal and seedling trees in the stele area of third-order roots; clonal propagation resulted in larger stele areas in this type of root. Our results suggest that propagation methods influence the presence of new pioneer roots and the anatomy of third-order roots; clonal root systems branch more extensively than seed-grown root systems and develop a vascular system with a larger transport capacity

Nutritional relationships in bitter pit-affected fruit and the feasibility of Vis-NIR models to determine calcium concentration in Fuji apples.

Fuji is among the most cultivated apples worldwide but affected by the disorder bitter pit (BP). Calcium deficiency plays an important role on fruit susceptibility to BP. The objectives of this study were to determine nutritional relationships in BP-affected fruit and to verify if Vis-NIR models can predict Ca concentration in Fuji apples. Fruit was harvested during 2018 season from two different orchards with historical high BP incidence. Seven hundred and fifty apples were stored at 0 ?C for 150 days plus 10 days at 20 ?C for BP assessments. After storage, 20 fruit with BP symptoms (BP+) and 20 healthy fruit (BP?) were assessed individually for mineral concentration. Vis-NIR evaluation involved a spectra range from 285 to 1200 nm to predict Ca concentration from ?Fuji? powder enriched Ca solutions. In each orchard, healthy apples had significantly higher Ca concentration than apples with BP. The K/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios were significantly lower in healthy fruit compared with BP? affected fruit. The relationship B/Ca proved to be significant in BP fruit. Although Ca interaction with organic substances and/or cellular structures could influence NIR spectra in fresh fruit, our results showed that Vis-NIR models could not be used to direct prediction of fruit Ca concentration