Accidental impacts on historical and architectural heritage in port areas: the case of Brindisi

Most port areas can produce impacts on the historical and architectural heritage, leading to rapid pathological effects and generating high risks in terms of damages and losses of historical, artistic, and cultural values. In effect, in addition to stationary actions (air pollution, waste, water discharge), port activities could generate exceptional impacts: the so-called “major accidents”, such as fires or explosions and chemical releases. The present contribution analyses and discusses a given case, the port of Brindisi, suggesting a methodology for the assessment of exceptional impacts in ports, in order to identify those potential accidents and their effects on the historical landscape. It points out that, as often occurs in ports, the most frequent major accidents are caused by activities involving hazardous materials. The methodology proposed for this given case aims to demonstrate that in the historical port areas, such as in the Mediterranean Sea, the development and management should be accompanied, or even oriented to the protection of the historical and cultural landscape.Postprint (author's final draft

AUTOMATIC POINT CLOUD SEGMENTATION FOR THE DETECTION OF ALTERATIONS ON HISTORICAL BUILDINGS THROUGH AN UNSUPERVISED AND CLUSTERING-BASED MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH

Abstract. The article describes an innovative procedure for the three-dimensional analysis of decay morphologies of ancient buildings, through the application of machine learning methods for the automatic segmentation of point clouds. In the field of Cultural Heritage conservation, photogrammetric data can be exploited, for diagnostic and monitoring support, to recognize different typologies of alterations visible on the masonry surface, starting from colour information. Actually, certain stone and plaster surface pathologies (biological patina, biological colonization, chromatic alterations, spots,…) are typically characterized by chromatic variations. To this purpose, colour-based segmentation with hierarchical clustering has been implemented on colour data of point clouds, considered in the HSV colour-space. In addition, geometry-based segmentation of 3D reconstructions has been performed, in order to identify the main architectural elements (walls, vaults), and to associate them to the detected defects. The proposed workflow has been applied to some ancient buildings' environments, chosen because of their irregularity both in geometrical and colorimetric characteristics

Polychrome majolica of Apulian domes: history, technique, pathology and conservation

The paper is focused on the historical-architectural evolution and material-technical qualification of polychrome majolica domes that were built between the 17th and 19th centuries in Apulian religious buildings. In particular, the cultural context in which this solution spread throughout the Mediterranean area is identified. Moreover, the case history of construction and decorative techniques that are distinctive of the regional territory is discussed in terms of underlying structure, installation of elements and surface colours. The study is then detailed on the Church of Santa Maria della Vetrana in Castellana Grotte (BA), for which the morpho-typological survey and mapping of the decay state are presented, based on the use of terrestrial and aerial digital photogrammetry. Finally, based on the identification of the main pathologies from both direct and indirect alteration factors, the most appropriate conservation and maintenance interventions are outlined, with specific focus on repair and integration of the majolica tiles, according to principles of high compatibility and low intrusiveness for a solution meeting artisan tradition and technical practice

Polychrome majolica of Apulian domes: history, technique, pathology and conservation

[EN] The paper is focused on the historical-architectural evolution and material-technical qualification of polychrome majolica domes that were built between the 17th and 19th centuries in Apulian religious buildings. In particular, the cultural context in which this solution spread throughout the Mediterranean area is identified. Moreover, the case history of construction and decorative techniques that are distinctive of the regional territory is discussed in terms of underlying structure, installation of elements and surface colours. The study is then detailed on the Church of Santa Maria della Vetrana in Castellana Grotte (BA), for which the morpho-typological survey and mapping of the decay state are presented, based on the use of terrestrial and aerial digital photogrammetry. Finally, based on the identification of the main pathologies from both direct and indirect alteration factors, the most appropriate conservation and maintenance interventions are outlined, with specific focus on repair and integration of the majolica tiles, according to principles of high compatibility and low intrusiveness for a solution meeting artisan tradition and technical practice.De Fino, M.; Porcari, VD.; Scioti, A.; Guida, A.; Fatiguso, F. (2022). Polychrome majolica of Apulian domes: history, technique, pathology and conservation. VITRUVIO - International Journal of Architectural Technology and Sustainability. 7(2):34-45. https://doi.org/10.4995/vitruvioijats.2022.1868434457

La recalificación arquitectónico-ambiental del centro histórico: Recuperación y resignificación de los “Sassi de Matera” The Architectonic-Environmental Requalification of the Historical Centre: Recovery and Resignification of the “Sassi of Matera”

Los Sassi de Matera se encuentran sobre una colina de piedra empinada, donde grupos de casas se asientan paralelamente sobre el terreno, de manera superpuesta, en círculos concéntricos. Conforman un enorme patrimonio arquitectónico que estuvo habitado hasta el año 1952 en condiciones prehistóricas, careciendo de servicios básicos de habitabilidad y urbanismo adaptados a la vida moderna. Durante cuarenta años de abandono, se han estudiado técnicas de restauración y conservación tradicionales para garantizar la adecuada recuperación del lugar. Se presentan dos intervenciones realizadas por los autores, tomadas como casos de estudio, sus problemáticas particulares, y las soluciones concretas dadas a cada uno. Matera ofrece un recorrido por la historia más antigua de la humanidad y sus tradiciones: su adecuada recalificación arquitectónica puede servir de modelo en un futuro para la conservación de los ecosistemas urbanos logrados gracias al correcto uso de los recursos hídricos, del sol y de la piedra disponibles en su momento

Evaluation of Posaconazole Pharmacokinetics in Adult Patients with Invasive Fungal Infection

Mortality and morbidity due to invasive fungal infections have increased over the years. Posaconazole is a second-generation triazole agent with an extended spectrum of activity, which shows a high interindividual variability in its plasma levels, rendering dosing in many patients inconsistent or inadequate. Hence, posaconazole therapeutic drug monitoring, which is easily available in clinical practice, may improve treatment success and safety. The aim of the study was to describe posaconazole pharmacokinetics, and to evaluate the utility of therapeutic drug monitoring for therapy and prophylaxis in a cohort of adult patients. A fully validated chromatographic method was used to quantify posaconazole concentration in plasma collected from adult patients at the end of the dosing interval. Associations between variables were tested using the Pearson test. The Mann-Whitney test was used to probe the influence of categorical variables on continuous ones. A high inter-individual variability was shown. Of the 172 enrolled patients, among those receiving the drug by the oral route (N = 170), gender significantly influenced drug exposure: males showed greater posaconazole concentration than females (p = 0.028). This study highlights the importance of therapeutic drug monitoring in those with invasive fungal infections and its significant clinical implications; moreover we propose, for the first time, the possible influence of gender on posaconazole exposure

La salvaguardia dei valori del preesistente e l'adeguamento funzionale: la difficile integrazione tra architettura e impianti nel recupero del patrimonio edilizio esistente

Dottorato di ricerca in ingegneria edile. 10. ciclo.Coordinatore Enrico Mandolesi. Docenti guida Giovanni Fuzio e Franco StorelliConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale - P.za Cavalleggeri, 1, Florence / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

Performance Characterization and Evaluation of Innovative Cement Mortars and Concretes Made with Recycled EPS

The construction industry involves some of the activities with the highest consumption of raw materials and significant waste production. According to the European Commission, it requires large quantities of resources, representing approximately 50% of all extracted materials, and accounting for over 35% of the EU’s total waste production. In particular, the production and use of concrete, as well as that of EPS (expanded polystyrene), largely exploited for energy-efficient buildings, involve a substantial amount of extracted raw materials and waste. This study focuses on the development of construction materials, such as lightweight and thermally efficient mortars and concretes, incorporating recycled EPS (R-EPS) instead of fine aggregates. Mixtures were designed by partially or completely replacing the fine aggregate with R-EPS on a volume basis. All designed mortars exhibit compressive strength exceeding the minimum values required by Italian legislation and show thermal performance improvements of up to 89.49% compared to the reference mortar. Similarly, the concretes demonstrate strengths compliant with regulations and exhibit thermal characteristic enhancements, ranging from 27.68% for structural lightweight mixes to 74.58% for non-structural ones

Analysis of cooperative interpretation of constructive and degradationinformations for the assessment of the state of physical preservation oftraditional architectures in prevalent vertical development. TheANVIV protocol

The assessment of the conservation status of traditional architectures historical scale requires more extensive analysis tools, which make it possible to synthesize and process parameters of interest for the formulation of an opinion on the state of conservation of the same. The research proposes the development of a protocol for the acquisition of information and interpolation degradation and construction for each sub-system connoting the building, in a position to comment in an expeditious status global and local conservation of the same