Analisi morfologica di sistemi carsici tramite software di elaborazione 3D: il caso dei Piani Eterni nel Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi, Veneto, Italia

Negli ultimi anni lo sviluppo di software per la resa vettoriale 3D dei sistemi carsici e per la costruzione di modelli geologici, ha permesso di ampliare notevolmente le potenzialità delle analisi di controllo strutturale e litologico dei vuoti carsici. L’analisi tridimensionale dei condotti, in cavità topografate per almeno 5 km di sviluppo spaziale (sistemi di dimensione non locale), permette di individuare le zone di maggiore carsificazione dei massicci carbonatici e di metterle in relazione al contesto geologico della zona. Le caratteristiche morfologiche dei sistemi carsici epigenetici sono controllate da fattori direttamente connessi con l’assetto strutturale dei massicci, le litologie e l’evoluzione paleogeografica dell’area. Grazie ai software di resa 3D è possibile individuare inception horizons da analisi statistiche della distribuzione dei vuoti, ricostruire in tre dimensioni particolari orizzonti stratigrafici e desumere le successive fasi di stazionamento della tavola d’acqua nel sistema carsico. Lo studio tramite metodologie 3D del Sistema dei Piani Eterni, nelle Dolomiti Bellunesi, ha evidenziato le varie fasi di stazionamento del livello di base, le relazioni tra le paleo- tavole d’acqua con le superfici di controllo stratigrafico e tettonico, fornendo interessanti spunti sull’evoluzione paleogeografia e morfotettonica dell’intero massiccio.In the last decade the development of 3D cave topography software has allowed to perform new methods of analysis on the structural and lithological control of karst systems. The 3D statistical analysis of conduit distribution provides identification of strata or structural discontinuities more favorable for the speleogenetic process and the finding of correlations with the geological context of the area. The structural settings, the lithologies and the paleogeographical conditions control directly the morphologic characters and the general shape of an epigenic karst system. The 3D analysis permits to identify inception horizons and to infer the subsequent lowering stages of the paleo-watertable. This study of the Piani Eterni Karst System (Belluno Dolomites) by a 3D approach has demonstrated the validity of this method, detecting the most important paleo-phreatic levels and their relationship with the inception horizons, and the main structural and stratigraphic surfaces

Resilient Drone Mission Management and Route Optimization in Drone Delivery Context

The last two decades were characterized by a rapidly increasing of innovative solutions in the microelectronic field, having therefore a significant impact on a huge set of applicative scenarios. This aspect allows the development and improvement of new solutions, giving the possibility of growth and development of new markets, such as the drones ones. Actually, in the unmanned field we have seen an exponential growth of the market, given not only from the increased computing capabilities, but also by a more efficient developed hardware, thus leading to the definition of innovative uses, service paradigms and applications. The latter span in several different areas, from agriculture monitoring to society's services including the Package Delivery which immediately plays a strategic role in the modern society. These types of applications took place mainly in an urban environment, highlighting therefore new rules, needs and management system in order to accommodate the mission's achievement guaranteeing at the same time a high degree of resilience, citizen safety and risks minimization. Furthermore, to assist these types of operations, T-DROMES, a RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems) fleet and mission management solution, was developed allowing to scale-up the use of drones in complex operations from a geographical and mission point of view, in different applicative scenarios. The paper aims therefore to presents the tools capabilities and how the developed architecture is able to manage the entire mission for any context scenario and how the developed platforms and tools can be a valid framework for developing new operative working models

Histopathology and ex vivo insulin secretion of pancreatic islets in gestational diabetes: A case report

Gestational diabetes (GD) results from insufficient endogenous insulin supply. No information is available on features of islet cells in human GD. Herein, we describe several properties of islets from a woman with GD. Immunohistochemical stainings and EM analyses were performed on pancreatic samples. Islet isolation was achieved by enzymatic dissociation and density gradient centrifugation. Ex vivo insulin secretion was studied in response to fuel secretagogues. Control islets were obtained from matched non-pregnant, non-diabetic women. Total insulin positive area was lower in GD, mainly due to the presence of smaller islets. β-cell apoptosis and the presence of Ki67 positive islet cells were similar in GD and controls, whereas the amount of insulin positive cells in or close to the ducts was decreased in GD. Ex vivo insulin secretion did not differ between GD and non-pregnant, non-diabetic islets. These findings suggest that in this case of human GD there might mainly be a defect of β-cell amount, not due to increased apoptosis, but possibly to insufficient regeneration

X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure calculations with pseudopotentials. Application to K-edge in diamond and alpha-quartz

We present a reciprocal-space pseudopotential scheme for calculating X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra. The scheme incorporates a recursive method to compute absorption cross section as a continued fraction. The continued fraction formulation of absorption is advantageous in that it permits the treatment of core-hole interaction through large supercells (hundreds of atoms). The method is compared with recently developed Bethe-Salpeter approach. The method is applied to the carbon K-edge in diamond and to the silicon and oxygen K-edges in alpha-quartz for which polarized XANES spectra were measured. Core-hole effects are investigated by varying the size of the supercell, thus leading to information similar to that obtained from cluster size analysis usually performed within multiple scattering calculations.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

UNA METODOLOGIA PER LA CONVERSIONE DEL LIVELLO EQUIVALENTE CONTINUO DI RUMORE NEL NUOVO INDICATORE EUROPEO LDEN

La normativa italiana relativa alla misura ed alla gestione del rumore ambientale, al-la luce della L.Q. n.447 del 1995 e dei relativi Decreti attuativi, definisce quale indicato-re per la valutazione del rumore ambientale il livello continuo equivalente di pressione sonora ponderata A (LAeq). In particolare, il D.P.C.M. 14 Novembre 1997 indica i valori limite di emissione e di immissione delle sorgenti sonore, relativi ai periodi di riferi-mento diurni e notturni, corrispondenti rispettivamente al periodo tra le ore 6 e le 22 ed a quello tra le ore 22 e le 6 [1]. La Direttiva 2002/49/CE del 25 giugno 2002 si è proposta di uniformare gli indica-tori dei singoli Paesi membri dell’Unione Europea: a tale scopo, è stato introdotto un nuovo indicatore del rumore ambientale, Lden, calcolato sulla base dei livelli di rumore misurati in tre periodi di riferimento: diurno, serale e notturno [2]. La raccomandazione della Commissione delle Comunità Europee 2003/613/CE del 6 agosto 2003, in base all’allegato I della Direttiva 2002/49/CE, ha successivamente da-to la possibilità ai singoli stati membri di modificare la durata del periodo serale [3]. Ri-sulta pertanto necessario, in previsione di un recepimento della Direttiva europea da parte della legge italiana, poter calcolare e/o stimare i valori del nuovo descrittore euro-peo Lden a partire dai livelli equivalenti di rumore relativi ai periodi di riferimento diur-no e notturno previsti dalla normativa vigente. Nella presente memoria, si propone una ipotesi di ripartizione della giornata nei pe-riodi di riferimento diurno, serale e notturno e una metodologia per la determinazione del descrittore acustico Lden, a partire dal LAeq relativo al periodo diurno e notturno e dalla distribuzione statistica dei livelli misurati durante tali periodi. La metodologia proposta è stata infine applicata ai risultati di una vasta indagine sperimentale che ha consentito di verificarne l’efficacia

The relationship between self-observed and other-observed countertransference and session outcome

For the psychodynamic approach, being aware of and managing countertransference is a core therapeutic competency. Research has demonstrated the negative effect of unmanaged countertransference on the outcomes of all kinds of psychotherapy. In this study, we focused on the relationship between countertransference when measured by therapists and external observers and its impact on session quality. We analyzed 69 counseling sessions, held by 23 in-training psychotherapists with 23 patients. We used the Therapist Response Questionnaire and three external observers (who used the Countertransference Behavior Measure) to measure psychotherapists\u2019 countertransference. We rated the session impact perceived by patients and psychotherapists using the Session Evaluation Questionnaire and by patients through the Session Impact Scale. Psychotherapists\u2019 and observers\u2019 ratings of countertransference correlated though on different dimensions. These results indicate that comparing external and internal evaluations can help to understand various aspects of countertransference since they have different associations with the session outcome. From a methodological point of view, it is necessary to adopt various perspectives to investigate countertransference. Future research should confirm these results on a sample of experienced psychotherapists

Reaction Calorimetry in continuous flow mode. A new approach for the thermal characterization of high energetic and fast reactions

A new method for the calorimetric characterization of high-energetic, fast reactions in flow mode has been developed. The use of an engineered flow reactor in combination with a process modelling software allowed the deconvolution of the reaction enthalpy from space-resolved temperature profiles. The new procedure was verified in a comparison with a conventional batch calorimeter and subsequently implemented for the thermal characterization of an organolithium flow process. The information collected for this reaction successfully supported a scale-up to the pilot plant. Overall, the new approach resulted to be superior when compared with established procedures, enabling the generation of precise calorimetric data in an accurate scale-down flow device