Helicopter operations: the environmental impact and ground facilities. Procedures and operational standards for the system’s acceptance.

The link between the heliports, environmental quality and safety is an important challenge in the field of helicopter transport. This challenge is especially crucial when the helicopter operations are carried out on densely urbanized areas. Often these areas have significant constraints and obstacles, particularly in terms of noise pollution. These constraints make the approach/takeoff maneuvers very complicated. The theme of the environmental sustainability of the rotorcraft is strongly felt in many countries. The production of noise is subjected to numerous rules and procedures, which tend to improve the acceptability of the helicopter by residents in neighboring areas to verti/heliports. The attention of manufacturers towards the problems of noise compatibility has produced technological innovations to reduce emissions, such as the shape of the tip of rotor blades, a speed reduction of rotation of the rotors, etc. Environmental concerns are becoming increasingly important when siting all aviation facilities. In particular, heliport facilities generate both positive and negative impacts on the surrounding environment. Negative impacts are mainly related to soil quality, water resources, safety issues, air environment (especially during the construction phase), noise (during operations) and biological environment. Positive ones could occur by the increase of emergency services, revenue generation, and the provision of a better connectivity with the neighborhoods located nearby the facility, the raise of employment opportunities and the general improvement of air transport facilities. The current international regulatory framework on heliport facilities seems to be lacking with regards to the evaluation of the environmental impacts of the heliport facilities. Moreover, the national rules on this topic are often undefined or vague. For this reason, it seems necessary to define guidelines to improve the awareness of the consequences which spontaneously arise from the planning and designing phase of heliports. Already from the site selection stage, heliport planners have to take into account all potential environmental issues. Noise is always the primary concern in these cases. A candidate site must be compatible with its surroundings. Compatibility must include any increase in activity resulting from IFR capability. Additional issues that citizens and municipalities are concerned about include air pollution, water pollution, ground access, and safety flight operations. Air pollution by helicopters is negligible although this issue may be brought up by concerned citizens and communities. Water pollution caused by fueling or maintenance facilities at a verti/heliport is coming under greater scrutiny. The ability to deal with all these public issues must be addressed during final site selection and community standards must be upheld. Ground access to a new transportation mode may increase traffic at and en route to that location and create a potential increase in noise and air pollution. These concerns must be dealt with in the design of ground access to the facility and by incorporating the individual community's standards, regulations, and goals. The receptivity of community leaders to work with the vertical landing facility to solve these problems should be measured in the final site selection process. Beyond the direct benefit of affecting the environment as little as possible, addressing environmental issues is an additional, albeit indirect tool, in obtaining and keeping good relations with the local government and its citizens. A heliport that has been developed into an IFR facility must be viable for a sufficient length of time to realize a return on investment (ROI) and to also achieve a contribution to the transportation system. In order to select a potentially viable heliport it is vital to consider the compatibility of surrounding land uses, both existing and future. A heliport that, at the present time, is considered by its neighbors as a nuisance cannot be counted on to remain in operation for an acceptable amount of time. Plans for future land use in the area must be determined through an investigation of planning documents at the appropriate levels (city, county, regional, etc.). Issues that instead will be addressed are related to the identification of the flight phases producing noise, by analyzing the different type of noise emission regarding the flight phase. Moreover, the role of helicopter’s pilot into the restraint of helicopter’s noise with particular regards to the driving behavior and its impact on noisiness’ reduction will be treated. In general, it can be stated that pilots have to do everything for reducing helicopter’s noise while remaining within the safety range’s parameters of the rotorcraft. Here comes the need of developing a worldwide analysis of the regulatory constraints for restricting helicopters’ impact on the populations residing nearby ground facilities. These constraints dictate operational rules for departure and approach phases of rotorcraft. Others factors affecting noise emissions are, for instance, temperature, humidity, wind, rotor blades. Standard procedures for noise abatement are: to fly at the highest altitude possible among those compatible with the airspace and safety rules; to enhance the awareness of the different noise perception that can be induced depending on the overflown environment (e.g. urban areas or country); The proposed study is articulated as follow: identification of measures to be implemented for reducing the environmental impact; analysis of current standard rules in several countries with regards to environmental constraints; proposals for initiatives aiming to the rules’ standardization regarding operations on heliports and helipads; samples of operational actions to be implemented for departure and approach phases; review of international experiences in the flight procedures applied for noise abatement

Infrastructure, Tariff and Legal Action: How to Achieve a Climate-Friendly Transport System

Transportation absorbs about 70% of oil consumption in EU countries. The fuels that burn in the field of transport are composed of 96% of oil. Energy efficiency of road and air traffic must also be improved. But transport environmental impacts reductions should be made necessarily through a transfer of traffic from the car, lorries and aircraft to train, ship, and non motorized two-wheelers into the EU cities. In fact the former are large producers of greenhouse gases, while the latter are more environmentally friendly means of transport in climate. Reaching an annual increase of 1% of the modal split in favour of more sustainable means of transport on the environment must be set as a goal ecologic. Legal, infrastructure and tariff measures have to be proposed, in addition to technical measures (reduction of traffic, growth in the energy efficiency of vehicles, reduction of ravelled distances, improved logistics, etc.). Legal measures refer to possible law limits in terms on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions due to traffic set by the EU. Infrastructure measures can be distinguished on the basis of the concerned territory. On the one hand there is the city, where it seems appropriate to move with intermodal chain, more secure and environmentally friendly. On the other hand there are fundamentally the suburbs, where investment in new transport infrastructures may be contradictory in terms of climate protection. Tariff measures express the already established concept of "who produces pollution, he pays". The external costs generated by different modes of transport have to be progressively turned over to users

IL RUOLO DELLA QUALITÀ PERCEPITA DEI PERCORSI PEDONALI NELLA SCELTA DEL TRASPORTO PUBBLICO

Il fenomeno del pendolarismo oggigiorno coinvolge ampie fasce della popolazione, manifestandosi attraverso spostamenti sistematici, spesso quotidiani, dal proprio luogo di residenza verso altra destinazione, per motivi di studio o di lavoro. La definizione di spostamento pendolare prescinde dalla distanza percorsa o dal tempo di viaggio. Tipicamente, i pendolari si spostano tra differenti aree di regioni metropolitane, seguendo percorsi multimodali, costituiti anche da itinerari di “mobilità dolce” (pedonale o ciclabile). La mancanza di una cultura della pianificazione urbanistica, la diffusione sul territorio delle funzioni residenziali e l’accentramento delle attività produttive e commerciali hanno determinato, negli ultimi decenni, una crescita intensa dei fenomeni di pendolarismo. A causa del notevole sviluppo dei centri urbani, divenuti delle vere e proprie “città diffuse”, la durata degli spostamenti pendolari ha subito forti incrementi, occupando, in molti casi, gran parte della vita dei viaggiatori. Il pendolarismo, inoltre, è considerato uno dei fattori che maggiormente contribuiscono all’inquinamento atmosferico, a causa della congestione della rete stradale metropolitana. Ne deriva un crescente degrado della “qualità” della vita per gli stessi pendolari e per gli individui residenti nelle aree limitrofe alle grandi arterie di collegamento. Per risolvere questi problemi, si è da tempo affermato l’orientamento ad elaborare politiche per la promozione dell’uso del trasporto collettivo, volte, in particolare, a conseguire miglioramenti dei servizi pubblici sia sul piano dell’efficienza sia su quello dell’efficacia. Tuttavia, in generale, l’attenzione è rivolta alla progettazione dell’offerta del singolo modo di trasporto pubblico, senza considerare l’integrazione con altre forme di trasporto collettivo e con le modalità di “mobilità dolce”. Ne discende una scarsa competitività dei servizi di trasporto pubblico, con la conseguenza di una ripartizione modale molto sbilanciata a favore dell’auto

La riqualificazione della viabilità costiera per la mobilità dolce: il caso di Palermo

The attractiveness and the availability of services offered in urban areas nearby the port terminals are conditioned by the improvement of the connection of different urban transport systems and by the enhancement of the accessibility. But they should be based on the overall improvement of urban mobility. The structural organization of the territory is favored by the presence of links, which realize an infrastructure system to the different levels of connection and accessibility. The interventions could include the requalification of the coastal strip, including the road network component. Attention should be given to the supply quality, the rationalization of a linear model based on the coastal viability and on the access to the poles of the city and its hinterland. It should be also took in to account a rationalization of urban traffic, using exchange parking areas with enhanced public transport systems, and of the creation of pedestrian and bicycle paths for soft mobility on the short and medium range distances

Innovative methods on territorial vulnerability study for the preparation of emergency plans

In recent years, we have witnessed natural events that have had impressive effects on the city and its inhabitants, highlighting a great vulnerability of the territories. In this context, the National Civil Protection has forced local administrations to adopt an Emergency Plan based on risk analysis. The proposed contribution illustrates the application of an innovative methodology that focuses, for the estimation of the vulnerability, on the urban / construction analysis and the operation of emergency health care facilities

Standardization of Road Danger Signs in the European Union

The aim of this research is to find a solution for the standardization of road signs in the EU zone by a comparative analysis of different national sign systems to establish a common set from a single country. This work is based on the idea that road sign standardization might increase the safety level of transnational journeys and foster the relationships among the various members of the EU Community. This paper presents the outcome of the first step of the research, which focuses on the harmonization of danger signs. In more detail, a multicriteria approach is applied to rank 19 EU Member States on the basis of three main aspects: the installation cost of new signs, new sign learning issues and the effectiveness of sign systems. The study allows for the installation cost by quantifying the degree of similarity among road sign systems and the roadway network extension, on which new signs should be placed.</span

Effect of meteorological and agronomic factors on maize grain contamination by fumonisin

Fumonisins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi such as F.verticilloides. Maize is commonly colonized by several spoilage fungi both in pre- and post-harvest conditions. Field infection prevention is the best solution to contain contamination, using practices aimed at restricting plant stress and limiting the propagation of the disease. This work is focused on understanding the effect of environmental factors on the production of fumonisins in Friuli Venezia Giulia (NE Italy) on maize crops. The analysis has been performed on a dataset covering a period of 14 years (from 2000 to 2013), recording fumonisins contamination and daily meteorological data (air temperature, RH, Rain, Wind speed) for 13 different drying plants and for three different harvest times (early, medium and late). The drying plants collect grain production from an area of about 70.000-100.000 ha. Data were analyzed by full factorial ANOVA and a multiple regression approach was performed using STATA and SEMoLa software. ANOVA test pointed out a significant effect of factors \u201cyear\u201d and \u201charvest time\u201d (p<0.01) for fumonisin content. Instead, location had no significant effect. The best regression model (R2=0. 65, 2... observation) detected a significant correlation between fumonisin concentration and meteorological data in the period from 15th to 31st July. High fumonisin contents were positively correlated with daily thermal excursion, minimum temperature and wet conditions in this period. Silk drying and harvest time resulted as the key factors to contain and study fumonisins contamination in maize. Results will be used to implement a more complex dynamic model

An unusual cause for Coffin–Lowry syndrome: Three brothers with a novel microduplication in RPS6KA3

Coffin–Lowry syndrome (CLS) is a rare X‐linked disorder characterized by moderate to severe intellectual disability, hypotonia, craniofacial features, tapering digits, short stature, and skeletal deformities. Using whole exome sequencing and high‐resolution targeted comparative genomic hybridization array analysis, we identified a novel microduplication encompassing exons five through nine of RPS6KA3 in three full brothers. Each brother presented with intellectual disability and clinical and radiographic features consistent with CLS. qRT‐PCR analyses performed on mRNA from the peripheral blood of the three siblings revealed a marked reduction of RPS6KA3 levels suggesting a loss‐of‐function mechanism. PCR analysis of the patients’ cDNA detected a band greater than expected for an exon 4–10 amplicon, suggesting this was likely a direct duplication that lies between exons 4 through 10, which was later confirmed by Sanger sequencing. This microduplication is only the third intragenic duplication of RPS6KA3, and the second and smallest reported to date thought to cause CLS. Our study further supports the clinical utility of methods such as next‐generation sequencing and high‐resolution genomic arrays to detect small intragenic duplications. These methods, coupled with expression studies and cDNA structural analysis have the capacity to confirm the diagnosis of CLS in these rare cases

European Atlas of Natural Radiation

Natural ionizing radiation is considered as the largest contributor to the collective effective dose received by the world population. The human population is continuously exposed to ionizing radiation from several natural sources that can be classified into two broad categories: high-energy cosmic rays incident on the Earth’s atmosphere and releasing secondary radiation (cosmic contribution); and radioactive nuclides generated during the formation of the Earth and still present in the Earth’s crust (terrestrial contribution). Terrestrial radioactivity is mostly produced by the uranium and thorium radioactive families together with potassium. In most circumstances, radon, a noble gas produced in the radioactive decay of uranium, is the most important contributor to the total dose. This Atlas aims to present the current state of knowledge of natural radioactivity, by giving general background information, and describing its various sources. This reference material is complemented by a collection of maps of Europe displaying the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources. It is a compilation of contributions and reviews received from more than 80 experts in their field: they come from universities, research centres, national and European authorities and international organizations. This Atlas provides reference material and makes harmonized datasets available to the scientific community and national competent authorities. In parallel, this Atlas may serve as a tool for the public to: • familiarize itself with natural radioactivity; • be informed about the levels of natural radioactivity caused by different sources; • have a more balanced view of the annual dose received by the world population, to which natural radioactivity is the largest contributor; • and make direct comparisons between doses from natural sources of ionizing radiation and those from man-made (artificial) ones, hence to better understand the latter.JRC.G.10-Knowledge for Nuclear Security and Safet

Ottimizzazione delle prestazioni di una rete stradale tramite l’unificazione del sistema della segnaletica

L’argomento principale di questa tesi si manifesta nella soddisfazione della necessità di armonizzare la segnaletica stradale verticale europea, definendo una strategia di minimizzazione dei costi di sostituzione complessivi della cartellonistica non uniforme, per contribuire a migliorare i livelli di sicurezza e di soddisfacimento dell’utenza dell’infrastruttura stradale. Una maggiore uniformità della segnaletica stradale permetterebbe ai conducenti impegnati nei traffici transfrontalieri su gomma di dover recepire un minor carico di informazioni visive, facendo riferimento ad un numero minore di segnali stradali, in quanto armonizzati con quelli dei loro paesi di provenienza. Altro scopo dell’armonizzazione sarebbe di contribuire a rafforzare l’immagine di unità normativa e territoriale dell’Unione Europea, che, creando maggiore uniformità, determini migliori sensazioni di appartenenza territoriale in un mercato unico e sottolinei il suo intento di migliorare la concorrenzialità e stimolare la crescita economica. Per raggiungere questo obiettivo è stato sviluppato un modello matematico, che misurando e calibrando opportuni parametri, simula la percezione delle caratteristiche di forma appartenenti ad immagini differenti, così come viene interpretata dal cervello umano, e fornisce un risultato numerico di tali grandezze. Per effettuare lo studio è stato creato un database contenente le immagini di quasi tutta la segnaletica stradale verticale appartenente ai paesi dell’Unione Europea (19 Paesi di cui è stato possibile reperire dati). L’applicazione della metodologia è stata in questa prima fase limitata ai segnali appartenenti alla categoria di pericolo, potendola generalizzare in seguito alle altre categorie di segnali. Il software applicativo creato, basandosi su alcune caratteristiche prettamente grafiche, rilevabili, misurabili e confrontabili, valuta quanto due segnali equivalenti differiscano tra loro, creando gruppi correlati di pittogrammi simili ed optando, infine, per quello che racchiude all’interno di una certa soglia di tolleranza il più alto numero possibile di cartelli equivalenti, appartenenti ai set degli altri paesi. Scomponendo un’immagine nelle sue componenti è possibile misurare delle caratteristiche di forma che consentono di confrontare i segnali equivalenti appartenenti ai diversi paesi. Il pannello di un segnale stradale può essere considerato come un’immagine formata dalla sovrapposizione delle sue componenti: • Bordo • Sfondo • Pittogramma Le norme UNI-EN standardizzano già le colorazioni, le dimensioni e le caratteristiche meccaniche e cromatiche dei segnali stradali. Per ottenere risultati riguardanti la similitudine tra i segnali stradali di pericolo bisogna quindi effettuare un’analisi comparativa incrociata tra i pittogrammi e i bordi dei segnali. La creazione di un modello economico di scelta tramite metodi di analisi multicriteria segue l’analisi grafico visiva: per pervenire agli obiettivi di un’analisi multicriteria (MCDA), tali dati, assimilabili tutti a parametri di efficacia e visibilità, sono confrontati con i risultati di un’analisi basata sul criterio di efficienza dei costi di sostituzione della segnaletica esistente. Il passo più critico del processo di MCDA è quello dell’assegnazione dei pesi da attribuire ai singoli criteri utilizzati nell’analisi, che ne definiscono un ordine di preferenza. Dipendendo questi ultimi da vari fattori di origine economica e sociale, in assenza di un decisore politico, sono stati inizialmente assegnati arbitrariamente utilizzando tre set di pesi, ovvero privilegiando di volta in volta un criterio sugli altri. In questa prima fase si sono determinati tre “stati” di analisi. Il passo successivo che si è seguito è il calcolo degli ordinamenti, combinando pesi e indicatori rispetto a ciascuna alternativa. L’ultima fase consiste nell’implementazione dell’analisi di sensitività, processo che prevede la determinazione delle funzioni che regolano l’assegnazione dei pesi e la definizione dei punti di variazione di tali funzioni, che identificano quei valori dei pesi per cui si hanno variazioni negli ordinamenti ottenibili tramite l’analisi multicriteria e quindi variazioni nelle alternative di scelta. Tale indagine permette, quindi, di verificare quali variazioni del modello possono generare differenze sostanziali nelle performance delle alternative: si ricercano i valori dei criteri e degli indicatori a cui corrisponde il “punto di inversione”, ossia quando la graduatoria delle alternative cambia.Road signs were initially introduced as written messages placed on metal structures and situated on the road side in order to provide information to road users. Due to the increase in speed vehicles, it was preferred to use pictorial signs rather than words to simplify and standardize road signs, thus favouring travels. The main goal was to simplify the comprehension of messages expressed by road signs to help reducing the risk of distraction and assure a safe and efficient usage of road infrastructure. As far as road safety is concerned, the statistics on transport in EU-27, show that in 2008 road accidents caused more than 42,000 deaths and 1,277,000 casualties (European Road Accident Database, European Road Federation, 2008). According to the estimate conducted by the European Commission, direct and indirect yearly costs due to road accidents amount to 160 billion Euro, equal to 2% of the European GDP (EU-27). Infrastructural and regulatory proposals (European Commission, 2001), such as defining a common blood alcohol level (BAL), harmonizing sanctions and thesis shows the first results of a research due to the idea that increasing the safety level of road transport and simplifying communication among European countries can also derive from a road sign configuration standardization policy. It is important to emphasize that the perception of unknown or new sign posts could cause an increased response time, therefore the usage of infrastructure would be inefficient and unsafe. The main purpose of this thesis is to find a solution for the standardization of road signs by a comparative analysis of the different systems in order to establish a common set from a single country. This thesis presents the outcome of the first part of the research regarding the standardization of danger signs by means of a multicriteria analysis. Particularly, the non- compensatory approach of the concordance/discordance analysis was applied and it allowed to establish a ranking of 19 EU Member States based on multiple evaluation criteria for the performance of their danger signs