Multicriteria Fuzzy Analysis for a GIS-Based Management of Earthquake Scenarios

Objective of this article is the formulation andthe implementation of a decision-making model for theoptimal management of emergencies. It is based on theaccurate definition of possible scenarios resulting fromprediction and prevention strategies and explicitly takesinto account the subjectivity of the judgments of prefer-ence. To this end, a multicriteria decision model, basedon fuzzy logic, has been implemented in a user-friendlygeographical information system (GIS) platform so asto allow for the automation of choice processes betweenseveral alternatives for the spatial location of the investi-gated scenarios. In particular, we have analyzed the po-tentialities of the proposed approach in terms of seismicrisk reduction, simplifying the decision process leadingto the actions to be taken from directors and managers ofcoordination services. Due to the large number of vari-ables involved in the decision process, it has been pro-posed a particularly flexible and streamlined method inwhich the damage scenarios, based on the vulnerabilityof the territory, have represented the input data to de-rive a vector of weights to be assigned to different de-cision alternatives. As an application of the proposedapproach, the seismic damage scenario of a region of400 km2, hit by the 2009 earthquake in L’Aquila (Italy),has been analyzed

Forces on Obstacles in Rotor Wake – A GARTEUR Action Group

The paper describes the objectives and the structure of the GARTEUR Action Group HC/AG-22 project which deals with the basic research about the forces acting on obstacles when immersed in rotor wakes. The motivation started from the observation that there was a lack of experimental databases including the evaluation of the forces on obstacles in rotor wakes; and of both numerical and experimental investigations of the rotor downwash effects at medium-to-high separation distances from the rotor, in presence or without sling load. The four research centres: CIRA (I); DLR (D); NLR (NL); ONERA (F); and three universities: NTUA (GR); Politecnico di Milano (I); University of Glasgow (UK) created a team for the promotion of activities that could contribute to fill these gaps. In particular, both numerical and experimental investigations were proposed by the team to study, primarily, the effects of the confined area geometry on a hovering helicopter rotor, and, secondarily, the downwash and its influence on the forces acting on a load, loose or slung, at low to high separation distances from the rotor disc. The following activities were planned: a) application and possible improvement of computational tools for the study of helicopter rotor wake interactions with obstacles; b) set-up and performance of four cost-effective wind tunnel test campaigns aimed at producing a valuable experimental database for the validation of the numerical methodologies applied; c) final validation of the numerical methodologies. The project started in November 2014 and has a duration of three years

REMODEL. WP4. Vision Based Perception. T4_3. Cable Detection And Tracking. Electric Wires Dataset. Training and Test sets for Image Segmentation. v0

The dataset contains data for semantic segmentation of electric wires with domain independence, generated in the framework of REMODEL project. The dataset is automatically generated using chroma-key technique and contains 57300 images (where 28650 are RGB images and the other 28650 are the corresponding ground truth binary masks)

α-Synuclein is a Novel Microtubule Dynamase.

α-Synuclein is a presynaptic protein associated to Parkinson's disease, which is unstructured when free in the cytoplasm and adopts α helical conformation when bound to vesicles. After decades of intense studies, α-Synuclein physiology is still difficult to clear up due to its interaction with multiple partners and its involvement in a pletora of neuronal functions. Here, we looked at the remarkably neglected interplay between α-Synuclein and microtubules, which potentially impacts on synaptic functionality. In order to identify the mechanisms underlying these actions, we investigated the interaction between purified α-Synuclein and tubulin. We demonstrated that α-Synuclein binds to microtubules and tubulin α2β2 tetramer; the latter interaction inducing the formation of helical segment(s) in the α-Synuclein polypeptide. This structural change seems to enable α-Synuclein to promote microtubule nucleation and to enhance microtubule growth rate and catastrophe frequency, both in vitro and in cell. We also showed that Parkinson's disease-linked α-Synuclein variants do not undergo tubulin-induced folding and cause tubulin aggregation rather than polymerization. Our data enable us to propose α-Synuclein as a novel, foldable, microtubule-dynamase, which influences microtubule organisation through its binding to tubulin and its regulating effects on microtubule nucleation and dynamics