411 research outputs found
Phytosociological survey vegetation map of Sicily (Mediterranean region)
We present the results of a study aimed at developing a vegetation map of Sicily (Italy) including the smaller circum-Sicilian islands, for an area of approximately 25,703â
km2. The work is a synthesis of studies carried out in accordance with the survey methodology of phytosociology in the last 40 years over the whole study area. The vegetation map of Sicily was compiled in a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) environment, in order to produce a cartographic representation at a scale of 1:10,000 (reduced to a scale of 1:250,000). The physiognomic-structural characteristics of the plant landscape of Sicily are analyzed, providing a general and, at the same time, detailed overview of the phytocoenotic aspects represented on the territory, as well as of the relative bibliographic references. At the reference scale, 36 types are represented, 16 of which are related to zonal vegetation (Mediterranean maquis, Quercus ilex woods, Quercus suber woods, Castanea sativa woods, Quercus pubescens deciduous woods, mesophilous deciduous woods, Fagus sylvatica woods, Betula aetnensis woods, woods dominated by woody gymnosperms, forest edge shrubs, orophilous pulvinate shrubs, shrublands and garrigues, Ampelodesmos mauritanicus grasslands, mesophilous and sub-hygrophilous grasslands and pastures), 11 are related to azonal vegetation (riparian, psammophilous herbaceous, chasmo-halophitic, etc.) and 9 are related to anthropogenic vegetation (arable lands and extensive herbaceous crops, vineyards, olive groves and dry cultivation mosaics, hazelnut groves, irrigated citrus groves and orchards, greenhouses, built-up areas)
The new âVegetation map of Sicily (Italy)â: a synthetic overview of the distribution of European habitats on the territory.
The new "Vegetation map of Sicily (Italy)", recently published (Gianguzzi, Papini &
Cusimano, 2015), shows also a synthetic overview of the distribution of European habitats
in the territory; the study area has been extended to small islands circum-Sicilian
(archipelago of the Aeolian; Aegadian, Pelagie Ustica and Pantelleria islands), for a total
area of 25,703 km2.
Our work allowed to resume the knowledge status of the phytosociological studies on
vegetation carried out and to identify the actual plant landscape of the region; the map
was compiled in a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) environment, in order to
produce a cartographic representation in 1:10,000 scale (reduced to a 1:250,000 scale).
At the reference scale 36 phytocoenotic types are represented, 16 of which related to
European habitats of zonal vegetation (Mediterranean maquis, Quercus ilex woods,
Quercus suber woods, Castanea sativa woods, Quercus pubescens deciduous woods,
mesophilous deciduous woods, Fagus sylvatica woods, Betula aetnensis woods, woods
dominated by woody gymnosperms, forest edge shrubs, orophilous pulvinate shrubs,
shrublands and garrigues on substrates of carbonate nature and on substrates of siliceous
nature, Ampelodesmos mauritanicus grasslands, mesophilous and sub-hygrophilous
grasslands and pastures), 11 related to azonal vegetation (riparian vegetation,
psammophilous herbaceous vegetation, chasmo-halophitic vegetation, etc.) and 9
related to anthropogenic vegetation (arable lands and extensive herbaceous crops,
vineyards, olive groves and dry cultivation mosaics, hazelnut groves, irrigated citrus groves
and orchards, greenhouses, built-up areas).
Gianguzzi L., Papini F., Cusimano D., 2015 â Phytosociological survey vegetation map of
Sicily (Mediterranean region). â Journal of Maps:1-7
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2015.1094969)
Modeling cardiac structural heterogeneity via space-fractional differential equations
We discuss here the use of non-local models in space and fractional order operators in the characterisation of structural complexity and the modeling of propagation in heterogeneous biological tissues. In the specific, we consider the application of space-fractional operators in the context of cardiac electrophysiology, where the lack of clear separation of scales of the highly heterogeneous myocardium triggers peculiar features such as the dispersion of action potential duration, that have been observed experimentally, but cannot be described by the standard monodomain or bidomain models. We describe the methodology and compare the results of a standard monodomain model with results of a model with a non-local component in space
Funnel plots and choropleth maps in cancer risk communication: a comparison of tools for disseminating population-based incidence data to stakeholders
Background: Population-based cancer registries provide epidemiological cancer information, but the indicators are often too complex to be interpreted by local authorities and communities, due to numeracy and literacy limitations. The aim of this paper is to compare the commonly used visual formats to funnel plots to enable local public health authorities and communities to access valid and understandable cancer incidence data obtained at the municipal level. Methods: A funnel plot representation of standardised incidence ratio (SIR) was generated for the 82 municipalities of the Palermo Province with the 2003 2011 data from the Palermo Province Cancer Registry (Sicily, Italy). The properties of the funnel plot and choropleth map methodologies were compared within the context of disseminating epidemiological data to stakeholders. Results: The SIRs of all the municipalities remained within the control limits, except for Palermo city area (SIR=1.12), which was sited outside the upper control limit line of 99.8%. The Palermo Province SIRs funnel plot representation was congruent with the choropleth map generated from the same data, but the former resulted more informative as shown by the comparisons of the weaknesses and strengths of the 2 visual formats. Conclusions: Funnel plot should be used as a complementary valuable tool to communicate epidemiological data of cancer registries to communities and local authorities, visually conveying an efficient and simple way to interpret cancer incidence data
Discretizations of the spectral fractional Laplacian on general domains with Dirichlet, Neumann, and Robin boundary conditions
In this work, we propose novel discretisations of the spectral fractional Laplacian on bounded domains based on the integral formulation of the operator via the heat-semigroup formalism. Specifically, we combine suitable quadrature formulas of the integral with a finite element method for the approximation of the solution of the corresponding heat equation. We derive two families of discretisations with order of convergence depending on the regularity of the domain and the function on which the fractional Laplacian is acting. Unlike other existing approaches in literature, our method does not require the computation of the eigenpairs of the Laplacian on the considered domain, can be implemented on possibly irregular bounded domains, and can naturally handle different types of boundary constraints. Various numerical simulations are provided to illustrate performance of the proposed method and support our theoretical results.FdT acknowledges support of
Toppforsk project Waves and Nonlinear Phenomena (WaNP), grant no. 250070 from the Research Council of Norway.
ERCIM ``Alain Benoussan" Fellowship programm
The artificial retina for track reconstruction at the LHC crossing rate
We present the results of an R&D study for a specialized processor capable of
precisely reconstructing events with hundreds of charged-particle tracks in
pixel and silicon strip detectors at , thus suitable for
processing LHC events at the full crossing frequency. For this purpose we
design and test a massively parallel pattern-recognition algorithm, inspired to
the current understanding of the mechanisms adopted by the primary visual
cortex of mammals in the early stages of visual-information processing. The
detailed geometry and charged-particle's activity of a large tracking detector
are simulated and used to assess the performance of the artificial retina
algorithm. We find that high-quality tracking in large detectors is possible
with sub-microsecond latencies when the algorithm is implemented in modern,
high-speed, high-bandwidth FPGA devices.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, ICHEP14. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1409.089
Simulation and performance of an artificial retina for 40 MHz track reconstruction
We present the results of a detailed simulation of the artificial retina
pattern-recognition algorithm, designed to reconstruct events with hundreds of
charged-particle tracks in pixel and silicon detectors at LHCb with LHC
crossing frequency of . Performances of the artificial retina
algorithm are assessed using the official Monte Carlo samples of the LHCb
experiment. We found performances for the retina pattern-recognition algorithm
comparable with the full LHCb reconstruction algorithm.Comment: Final draft of WIT proceedings modified according to JINST referee's
comment
A Specialized Processor for Track Reconstruction at the LHC Crossing Rate
We present the results of an R&D study of a specialized processor capable of
precisely reconstructing events with hundreds of charged-particle tracks in
pixel detectors at 40 MHz, thus suitable for processing LHC events at the full
crossing frequency. For this purpose we design and test a massively parallel
pattern-recognition algorithm, inspired by studies of the processing of visual
images by the brain as it happens in nature. We find that high-quality tracking
in large detectors is possible with sub-s latencies when this algorithm is
implemented in modern, high-speed, high-bandwidth FPGA devices. This opens a
possibility of making track reconstruction happen transparently as part of the
detector readout.Comment: Presented by G.Punzi at the conference on "Instrumentation for
Colliding Beam Physics" (INSTR14), 24 Feb to 1 Mar 2014, Novosibirsk, Russia.
Submitted to JINST proceeding
LHCb VELO Upgrade: Technical Design Report
The upgraded LHCb VELO silicon vertex detector is a lightweight hybrid pixel detector capable of 40 MHz readout at a luminosity of 2Ă10^33 cm^â2 s^â1. The track reconstruction speed and precision is enhanced relative to the current VELO detector even at the high occupancy conditions of the upgrade, due to the pixel geometry and a closest distance of approach to the LHC beams of just 5.1 mm for the first sensitive pixel. Cooling is provided by evaporative CO2 circulating in microchannel cooling substrates. The detector contains 41 million 55ÎŒĂ55ÎŒ pixels, read out by the custom developed VeloPix front end ASIC. The detector will start operation together with the rest of the upgraded LHCb experiment after the LHC LS2 shutdown, currently scheduled to end in 2019. This Technical Design Report describes the upgraded VELO system, planned construction and installation, and gives an overview of the expected detector performanc
The artificial retina processor for track reconstruction at the LHC crossing rate
We present results of an R&D study for a specialized processor capable of
precisely reconstructing, in pixel detectors, hundreds of charged-particle
tracks from high-energy collisions at 40 MHz rate. We apply a highly parallel
pattern-recognition algorithm, inspired by studies of the processing of visual
images by the brain as it happens in nature, and describe in detail an
efficient hardware implementation in high-speed, high-bandwidth FPGA devices.
This is the first detailed demonstration of reconstruction of offline-quality
tracks at 40 MHz and makes the device suitable for processing Large Hadron
Collider events at the full crossing frequency.Comment: 4th draft of WIT proceedings modified according to JINST referee's
comments. 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
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