Detection performance assessment of the FM-based AULOS® passive radar for air surveillance applications

In this paper, we report the latest developments obtained with the FM-based configuration of the AULOS® passive radar system designed by Leonardo SpA for air surveillance applications. Specifically, aiming at improving the target detection capability of the sensor, a robust disturbance cancellation technique is adopted. Moreover, to counteract the time-varying performance of the single FM channel we consider the joint exploitation of multiple FM radio channels. For the purposes, the recent processing techniques developed by the research group of Sapienza University of Rome have been successfully applied. The benefits of the proposed solutions have been extensively tested and validated against both traffic of opportunity and small cooperative targets. The reported results clearly show that the choice of appropriate processing strategies is critical for the performance of the resulting system and the exploitation of effective techniques allows a significant widening of its coverage

Impact of mapping errors on the reliability of landslide hazard maps

International audienceIdentification and mapping of landslide deposits are an intrinsically difficult and subjective operation that requires a great effort to minimise the inherent uncertainty. For the Staffora Basin, which extends for almost 300 km2 in the northern Apennines, three landslide inventory maps were independently produced by three groups of geomorphologists. In comparing each map with the others, large positional discrepancies arise (in the range of 55?65%). When all three maps are overlain, the locational mismatch of landslide deposit polygons increases to over 80%. To assess the impact of these errors on predictive models of landslide hazard, for the study area discriminant models were built up from the same set of geological-geomorphological factors as predictors, and the occurrence of landslide deposits within each terrain-unit, derived from each inventory map, as dependent variable. The comparison of these models demonstrates that statistical modelling greatly minimises the impact of input data errors which remain, however, a major limitation on the reliability of landslide hazard maps

Landslide hazard assessment in the Collazzone area, Umbria, Central Italy

We present the results of the application of a recently proposed model to determine landslide hazard. The model predicts where landslides will occur, how frequently they will occur, and how large they will be in a given area. For the Collazzone area, in the central Italian Apennines, we prepared a multi-temporal inventory map through the interpretation of multiple sets of aerial photographs taken between 1941 and 1997 and field surveys conducted in the period between 1998 and 2004. We then partitioned the 79 square kilometres study area into 894 slope units, and obtained the probability of spatial occurrence of landslides by discriminant analysis of thematic variables, including morphology, lithology, structure and land use. For each slope unit, we computed the expected landslide recurrence by dividing the total number of landslide events inventoried in the terrain unit by the time span of the investigated period. Assuming landslide recurrence was constant, and adopting a Poisson probability model, we determined the exceedance probability of having one or more landslides in each slope unit, for different periods. We obtained the probability of landslide size, a proxy for landslide magnitude, by analysing the frequency-area statistics of landslides, obtained from the multi-temporal inventory map. Lastly, assuming independence, we determined landslide hazard for each slope unit as the joint probability of landslide size, of landslide temporal occurrence, and of landslide spatial occurrence

Identification and mapping of recent rainfall-induced landslides using elevation data collected by airborne Lidar

International audienceA high resolution Digital Elevation Model with a ground resolution of 2 m×2 m (DEM2) was obtained for the Collazzone area, central Umbria, through weighted linear interpolation of elevation points acquired by Airborne Lidar Swath Mapping. Acquisition of the elevation data was performed on 3 May 2004, following a rainfall period that resulted in numerous landslides. A reconnaissance field survey conducted immediately after the rainfall period allowed mapping 70 landslides in the study area, for a total landslide area of 2.7×105 m2. Topographic derivative maps obtained from the DEM2 were used to update the reconnaissance landslide inventory map in 22 selected sub-areas. The revised inventory map shows 27% more landslides and 39% less total landslide area, corresponding to a smaller average landslide size. Discrepancies between the reconnaissance and the revised inventory maps were attributed to mapping errors and imprecision chiefly in the reconnaissance field inventory. Landslides identified exploiting the Lidar elevation data matched the local topography more accurately than the same landslides mapped using the existing topographic maps. Reasons for the difference include an incomplete or inaccurate view of the landslides in the field, an unfaithful representation of topography in the based maps, and the limited time available to map the landslides in the field. The high resolution DEM2 was compared to a coarser resolution (10 m×10 m) DEM10 to establish how well the two DEMs captured the topographic signature of landslides. Results indicate that the improved topographic information provided by DEM2 was significant in identifying recent rainfall-induced landslides, and was less significant in improving the representation of stable slopes

MicroRNA-222 regulates muscle alternative splicing through Rbm24 during differentiation of skeletal muscle cells

A number of microRNAs have been shown to regulate skeletal muscle development and differentiation. MicroRNA-222 is downregulated during myogenic differentiation and its overexpression leads to alteration of muscle differentiation process and specialized structures. By using RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) pulldown followed by RNA sequencing, combined with in silico microRNA target prediction, we have identified two new targets of microRNA-222 involved in the regulation of myogenic differentiation, Ahnak and Rbm24. Specifically, the RNA-binding protein Rbm24 is a major regulator of muscle-specific alternative splicing and its downregulation by microRNA-222 results in defective exon inclusion impairing the production of muscle-specific isoforms of Coro6, Fxr1 and NACA transcripts. Reconstitution of normal levels of Rbm24 in cells overexpressing microRNA-222 rescues muscle-specific splicing. In conclusion, we have identified a new function of microRNA-222 leading to alteration of myogenic differentiation at the level of alternative splicing, and we provide evidence that this effect is mediated by Rbm24 protei

Bio-based building components: A newly sustainable solution for traditional walls made of Arundo donax and gypsum

To contribute to the use of bio-based materials in the building sector, a novel bio-based wall panel, with a high thermal performance level, is proposed in this work. The panel is based on an ancient rural technique, widely diffused in southern Italy, which makes use of Arundo donax L. canes combined with gypsum plaster to build walls and ceilings of rural buildings. The enhancement of the thermal capacity of these panels by means of the introduction in the canes of a natural wax oleogel (WO) is proposed in this paper. A specific experimental campaign aiming at the comparison of traditional and innovative panels was carried out to assess the enhanced thermal performance of the proposed solution. The maximum value of heat flow absorbed from the panel with WO was 61.08 W/m(2) around a mean panel temperature of 24 & DEG;C, corresponding to the melting temperature range of the WO. The panel without WO at the same temperature absorbed an incoming heat flow of 34.64 W/m(2) which is about 57% of the panel with WO. The panel with WO released at a temperature of about 27.5 & DEG;C, a heat flow of 43.42 W/m(2). At the same temperature of about 27.5 & DEG;C, the panel without WO released a heat flow of 34.38 W/m(2) which is about 80% that of the panel with WO. The results highlighted that the addition of natural WO has enhanced the thermal capacity of the panel facilitating heat dissipation through the borders. These characteristics make the panel a suitable component for internal partitions of controlled temperature zones such as residential rooms, storage food areas, livestock buildings, and where it is necessary to obtain a constant environmental temperature. In particular, the null or low toxicity of the panel's materials allows for partition use, also in hygienically safe environments

Rainfall induced landslides in December 2004 in south-western Umbria, central Italy: types, extent, damage and risk assessment

International audienceThe autumn of 2004 was particularly wet in Umbria, with cumulative rainfall in the period from October to December exceeding 600 mm. On 4?6 December and on 25?27 December 2004, two storms hit the Umbria Region producing numerous landslides, which were abundant near the town of Orvieto where they affected volcanic deposits and marine sediments. In this work, we document the type and abundance of the rainfall-induced landslides in the Orvieto area, in south-western Umbria, we study the rainfall conditions that triggered the landslides, including the timing of the slope failures, we determine the geotechnical properties of the failed volcanic materials, and we discuss the type and extent of damage produced by the landslides. We then use the recent event landslide information to test a geomorphological assessment of landslide hazards and risk prepared for the village of Sugano, in the Orvieto area. Based on the results of the test, we update the existing landslide hazards and risk scenario for extremely rapid landslides, mostly rock falls, and we introduce a new landslide scenario for rapid and very rapid landslides, including soil slides, debris flows and debris avalanches

Theoretical and numerical studies of wave-packet propagation in tokamak plasmas

Theoretical and numerical studies of wave-packet propagation are presented to analyze the time varying 2D mode structures of electrostatic fluctuations in tokamak plasmas, using general flux coordinates. Instead of solving the 2D wave equations directly, the solution of the initial value problem is used to obtain the 2D mode structure, following the propagation of wave-packets generated by a source and reconstructing the time varying field. As application, the 2D WKB method is applied to investigate the shaping effects (elongation and triangularity) of tokamak geometry on the lower hybrid wave propagation and absorbtion. Meanwhile, the Mode Structure Decomposition (MSD) method is used to handle the boundary conditions and simplify the 2D problem to two nested 1D problems. The MSD method is related to that discussed earlier by Zonca and Chen [Phys. Fluids B 5, 3668 (1993)], and reduces to the well-known "ballooning formalism" [J. W. Connor, R. J. Hastie, and J. B. Taylor, Phys. Rev. Lett. 40, 396 (1978)], when spatial scale separation applies. This method is used to investigate the time varying 2D electrostatic ITG mode structure with a mixed WKB-full-wave technique. The time varying field pattern is reconstructed and the time asymptotic structure of the wave-packet propagation gives the 2D eigenmode and the corresponding eigenvalue. As a general approach to investigate 2D mode structures in tokamak plasmas, our method also applies for electromagnetic waves with general source/sink terms, either by an internal/external antenna or nonlinear wave interaction with zonal structures.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figure

Safety performance assessment of food industry facilities using a fuzzy approach

The latest EU policies focus on the issue of food safety with a view to assuring adequate and standard quality levels for the food produced and/or consumed within the EC. To that purpose, the environment where agricultural products are manufactured and processed plays a crucial role in achieving food hygiene. As a consequence, it is of the utmost importance to adopt proper building solutions which meet health and hygiene requirements and to use suitable tools to measure the levels achieved. Similarly, it is necessary to verify and evaluate the level of safety and welfare of the workers in their working environment. The safety of the workers has not only an ethical and social value but also an economic implication, since possible accidents or environmental stressors are the major causes of the lower efficiency and productivity of workers. However, the technical solutions adopted in the manufacturing facilities in order to achieve adequate levels of safety and welfare of the workers are not always consistent with the solutions aimed at achieving adequate levels of food hygiene, even if both of them comply with sectoral rules which are often unconnected with each other. Therefore, it is fundamental to design suitable models of analysis that allow assessing buildings as a whole, taking into account both health and hygiene safety as well as the safety and welfare of workers. Hence, this paper proposes an evaluation model that, based on an established study protocol and on the application of a fuzzy logic procedure, allows evaluating the global safety level of a building. The proposed model allows to obtain a synthetic and global value of the building performance in terms of food hygiene and safety and welfare of the workers as well as to highlight possible weaknesses. Though the model may be applied in either the design or the operational phase of a building, this paper focuses on its application to certain buildings already operational in a specific productive context