An OSGi-based production process monitoring system for SMEs

The present paper proposes an architecture for a product process monitoring system suitable for SMEs (Small-Medium Enterprises). The monitoring system is the main means by which decision-making systems based on intelligent automation technologies are aware of the state of the system on which they will take decisions. Methods and tools from best-practice and best-effort approaches are proposed in the context of SMEs, where the requirements of low cost, low initial level of digitisation and high production flexibility often coexist and contribute to the complexity of management and control problems in these companies. The paper focuses on the design of the monitoring system using an OSGi framework to meet industry standards and Industry 4.0 requirements, taking into account the peculiarities of SMEs as design constraints. The proposed architecture was first tested using a simulation tool and then implemented on a full-scale production line used for data collection

Pliocene Diatom Biomarkers in Sabrina Coast. EAIS Continental Marginal Dynamics

PNRA Tytan project, supported by the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), focused on the advances and retreats dynamics of the ice sheet and on variations in the glacial regime. Unit 2 focused on Diatom biomarkers and assemblages analysis on sediments of core PC03, collected during the IN2017-V01 cruise on the eastern flank of the Minang-a (or Whale) submarine Canyon. The project aims at reconstructing the depositional environment of the continental margin off the Totten Glacier and diatom data remained a key tools to constrain past ice-sheet dynamics and to forecasting future behaviour in a warming world. Preliminary dataset from diatom biostratigraphic tools allows to refer the base of the core to Pliocene while the upper part of the core records more modern EAIS dynamics, indicative of minor sedimentary evolution steps of the continental margin. Diatom assemblage analyses highlight Eocene-Oligocene reworked material and freshwater diatom inputs in Pliocene sequence, strengthening the debate about ice-sheet and paleoceanographic models, WAIS cyclic collapse and suspected Pliocene EAIS retreat into major subglacial Antarctic basins

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Le collezioni storiche del Dip.Te.Ris. tra '800 e primi '900: testimonianza di un percorso comune nel territorio ligure tra Geologia e Paletnologia

The nineteenth and twentieth century collections of Dip.Te.Ris: testimony to a common geological and palaethnological thread in Liguria The formation and content of the historical collections of Dip.Te.Ris, successor to the old Institute of Geology, are closely linked to the history of geological discovery in Liguria. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the birth and development of palaethnological studies in Liguria were closely linked with such luminaries as A. Issel, don N. Morelli, don G.B. Perrando and G.B.Rossi. The collections, therefore, mirror and testify to a common palaethnological and geological thread, the basis of which was a single and decidedly modern concept of territorial studies. Keywords: historical collections, geology, palaethnology, Liguria

Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2)-Based Frameworks for Increasing Robot Autonomy: A Survey

Future challenges in manufacturing will require automation systems with robots that are increasingly autonomous, flexible, and hopefully equipped with learning capabilities. The flexibility of production processes can be increased by using a combination of a flexible human worker and intelligent automation systems. The adoption of middleware software such as ROS2, the second generation of the Robot Operating System, can enable robots, automation systems, and humans to work together on tasks that require greater autonomy and flexibility. This paper has a twofold objective. Firstly, it provides an extensive review of existing literature on the features and tools currently provided by ROS2 and its main fields of application, in order to highlight the enabling aspects for the implementation of modular architectures to increase autonomy in industrial operations. Secondly, it shows how this is currently potentially feasible in ROS2 by proposing a possible high-level and modular architecture to increase autonomy in industrial operations. A proof of concept is also provided, where the ROS2-based framework is used to enable a cobot equipped with an external depth camera to perform a flexible pick-and-place task

Tropical Forest and Coral Sea of the Beigua Geopark (Liguria, NW Italy)

Some of the most interesting paleontological heritage of the Liguria Region is in the Beigua UNESCO Global Geopark, in Savona Province. The Geopark is characterized by high geodiversity and strong tourist traffic, being easily accessible and already having geological and paleontological visitor centers. The geosites of Stella Santa Giustina (SSG) and Maddalena–Ponte Prina (MPP) are remarkable because they show a high diversity of both fossils and fossil-bearing lithofacies and a unique sedimentary sequence that shows different marine and transitional paleoenvironments. The fossils are very well preserved and they illuminate the geological history of the territory, referring in particular to the pre-transgressive and transgressive depositional phases of the Tertiary Piedmont Basin (TPB) on the inner margin of the Ligurian Alps chain during the Oligocene. This sequence spans almost to the end of the Oligocene, which is characterized by one of the major climatic perturbations of the Cenozoic, the Late Oligocene Warming Event (LOWE). The rock exposures reveal how diverse the fauna was just before a major community turnover took place