A Medium-Resolution Wave Hindcast Study Over the Central and Western Mediterranean Sea

The present study is aimed at determining the confidence limits of design wave parameters derived from numerical modeling - for both extremes and operational conditions - over the Central and Western Mediterranean Sea. The paper presents the methodology and results of an extensive validation activity conducted on a chain of medium resolution third generation wave models used for hindcast purposes. The stringent requirements of state-of-art coastal and offshore engineering applications over this area make the adoption of medium or high resolutions hindcast wave and wind models almost mandatory because of the complex coastal geometry, bathymetry and orography that in turn lead to large variations of the design wave parameters even within small regions. The chains of nested meteorological and wave models used in this hindcast study belong to the ETA and WaveWatch III families respectively. In this study the wind and wave numerical models have been run over the past 20 years, with increasing resolutions of the wave models from 0.2\ub0 up to 0.04\ub0. The results here presented have a 0.1\ub0 resolution for both wind and wave models. The wave data obtained are compared with available measurements from 14 wave buoys in coastal zones in the Central and Western Mediterranean Sea

Uncertainty evaluation of CTD measurements: a metrological approach to water-column coastal parameters in the Gulf of La Spezia area

The ENEA Marine Environment Research Centre of S. Teresa has been involved since the ‘70s in monitoring, analysis and comprehension of physical, chemical and biological processes in marine environment. The purpose of this work is to describe the recently-implemented metrological approach aimed at evaluating the uncertainty associated with measurements performed by a Conductivity-Temperature-Depth profiler (CTD) during routine coastal campaigns in the Eastern Ligurian Sea, close to the Gulf of La Spezia. Main effort of this work is focused on applying, to each involved parameter, the standard framework for uncertainty evaluation as prescribed by the Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement. To this aim, an appropriate uncertainty evaluation is performed by combining type A and B contributions, evaluated from experimental data obtained in reproducibility conditions and from calibration certificates periodically supplied by manufacturer, respectively. Concerning in situ measured practical salinity, probability density functions modelling water pressure, temperature and conductivity, from which salinity depends, are propagated by application of the Monte Carlo method for propagation of distributions, hence obtaining the salinity uncertainty

Phylogeography of Sarmarutilus rubilio (Cypriniformes: Leuciscidae): Complex Genetic Structure, Clues to a New Cryptic Species and Further Insights into Roaches Phylogeny

Italy hosts a large number of endemic freshwater fish species due to complex geological events which promoted genetic differentiation and allopatric speciation. Among them, the South European roach Sarmarutilus rubilio inhabits various freshwater environments in three different ichthyogeographic districts. We investigated the genetic diversity of S. rubilio using two different mitochondrial markers (COI and CR), aiming to define its relationship with other similar taxa from the Balkan area and, from a phylogeographic perspective, test the effects of past hydrogeological dynamics of Italian river basins on its genetic structure and demographic history. Our analysis highlighted a marked genetic divergence between S. rubilio and all other roach species and, among Italian samples, revealed the existence of three deeply divergent geographic haplogroups, named A, B and C. Haplogroup C likely corresponds to a new putative cryptic species and is located at the northern border of the South European roach range; haplogroup B is restricted to Southern Italy; and haplogroup A is widespread across the entire range and in some sites it is in co-occurrence with C or B. Their origin is probably related to the tectonic uplifting of the Apuan Alps in the north and of the Colli Albani Volcano in the south during the Pleistocene, which promoted isolation and vicariance followed by secondary contacts

3. Le buone pratiche nella gestione del fiume

Vengono presentate e discusse buone pratiche per la gestione degli ambienti fluviali finalizzate alla tutela della loro funzionalit\ue0 ecologica e alla difesa della biodiversit\ue0

Phylogeography and population structure of Squalius lucumonis: A baseline for conservation of an Italian endangered freshwater fish

The brook chub (Squalius lucumonis) is a freshwater fish, endemic of Central Italy, which is experiencing a rapid range decline so that it is presently listed as Critically Endangered in the Italian IUCN Red List. For effective conservation, information about the spatial pattern of genetic diversity is crucial. Therefore, we analysed the mitochondrial Control Region and nuclear (microsatellites) markers to investigate population genetic structure, demography and spatial diversity over the whole species distribution range. We revealed significant divergence among populations, even at the local spatial scale, according to the isolation by distance model. At the biogeographic spatial scale, genetic diversity was shaped by past hydrogeological and climatic events that iso-lated the principal drainage basins (Vara, Tiber and Arno) from each other. On the other hand, strong genetic differentiation within the Tiber drainage basin could be due to local factors that acted at single-stream scale, as recent barriers to fish dispersal and irregular seasonal flow rates typical of small Mediterranean streams. Our findings contribute to the basal data collection on S. lucumonis required by European Habitats Directive and necessary for planning protection actions. We recommend that the three river drainages and most of the sampling sites should be regarded as different Management Units (MUs) to preserve their genetic distinctiveness. A recovery plan for the brook chub should consider environmental intervention and creation of protected areas, as well as in situ/ex situ restocking activities with juveniles produced by breeders from the same MU, to preserve local (adaptive) diversity

Evaluation of air photoactivation at linear accelerators for radiotherapy

High-energy x-rays produced by radiotherapy accelerators operating at potentials above 10 MV may activate the air via (γ, n) reactions with both oxygen and nitrogen. While the activation products are relatively short-lived, personnel entering the accelerator room may inhale some radioactive air, which warrants internal dosimetry assessments. This work illustrates a method based on the use of ammonium nitrate solutions for the evaluation of photon-induced air activation and for the estimate of internal doses to radiotherapy personnel. Air activation and internal dosimetry assessments based on our method are presented for some widespread radiotherapy linear accelerator models. Our results indicate that the equivalent dose to the lungs of radiotherapy personnel is negligible for beam energies below 18 MeV

Dosimetria e qualità dell'immagine di protocolli pediatrici per TC craniche

Lo scopo di questo lavoro è l’ottimizzazione dei protocolli TC, ossia l’individuazione dei parametri di scansione che consentano di ottenere una qualità dell’immagine adeguata agli scopi diagnostici, minimizzando nello stesso tempo la dose di radiazione, secondo quanto stabilito dal principio ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable)