Integration of geochemical and geophysical data at a NAPL-contaminated site

The joint use of borehole geo-electrical measurements and the chemico-physical monitoring of the subsoi is discussed; it permitted in the specific case to locate the zone characterized by intense bio-degradation activity, demonstrating the effectiveness of the integrated approac

Micro-geophysics to assess the integrity of some statues in the Museo Egizio of Turin, Italy

On request of the Soprintendenza in charge of the Museo Egizio of Turin, a quite large number of tests have been performed on four statues of the museum to assess their integrity both for practical (moving the statue) and archaeological purposes. Ultrasonic tomography and georadar have been used with fine results on sub-decimeter scale. In this paper we present the main results on the statues of the Pharaons Ramses II (Fig.1 left) and Tuthmosis I. (Fig.2 left). Both the statues belong to the collection set up by Bernardino Drovetti, Console Generale of France in Egypt in the early XIX century. Ramses II statue was restored in the first half of the XIX century. Few documents can be found on these restoration works: very likely the statue arrived broken to Turin and was reassembled with cement mortar (Hartleben, 1909) No news can be found neither on the type of mortar nor on the quantity of mortar actually used. The statue of Ramses was probably found at Tebe in 1818. It is made by basanite exploited from a quarry in Uadi Hammamat. The basanite is a basaltic extrusive rock also known as Lydian stone or lydite. It was almost exclusively reserved to the crafting of statues of pharaons or divinities. In many parts of the statue the mortar (as dark as the stone) is clearly visible (Fig.1 right). The statue of Tutmosis I was found by J.J. Rifaud , a Drovetti 's agent, in 1818 in Tebe, very likely in the Karnak temple. The king sits on a throne with many scripts on both the sides of the seat. The statue is made by a dark diorite with some light pink plagioclase crystals sizing few centimeters. Its conservation seems fairly goo

2D and 3D data processing of archaeo-magnetic data

Introduction. The Sabine Necropolis at Colle del Forno (700-300 B.C.) at Montelibretti, Rome is characterized by dromos chamber tombs, most of them unexplored till now. The tombs can be assimilated to cavities of a standard volume of some cubic meters; the entrance of the tombs is a corridor 6 m long with a 1 square meter section . The surficial geology of the area consists of a series of tuffs about 10 m thick overlying Pleistocene-Quaternary sandy-clayey sediments. A thin layer of top soil (20 - 30 cm) covers the tuff. The investigation of the Necropolis in the past decade has been performed by different geophysical methodologies: electrical, electromagnetic and magnetic methods have been widely adopted to investigate several chamber tombs (Piro et al, 2001). The aim of this paper is to analyze an integrated approach to the processing of magnetic survey data. The magnetic susceptibility contrast between topsoil, subsoil and rocks (topsoil is normally more magnetic than subsoil) permits to detect ditches, pits and other silted-up features that were excavated and then silted or back-filled with topsoil. Meanwhile back-filled areas produce positive anomalies, less magnetic material introduced into topsoil, including many kinds of masonry (for example, limestone walls) may produce negative anomalies of the order of some nanoteslas. The same behavior is related to the presence of cultural voids and tombs whose magnetic anomaly is generated by the lack of magnetic materials due to the cavities of the tombs. In the area a diffused magnetisation is manly due to the presence of top soil and tuff materials and high negative susceptibility contrasts can be expected because of the presence of the tombs. The magnetic survey was performed along a regular grid of 0.5 m x 0.5 m using a optical pumped Caesium-vapour magnetometer G858 (Geometrics), in the gradient configuration, on an area which is well known as far as the presence, size and position of tombs are concerne

Highlights from the SoilCAM project: Soil Contamination, Advanced integrated characterisation and time-lapse Monitoring

The SoilCAM project (Soil Contamination, Advanced integrated characterisation and time-lapse Monitoring 2008-2012, EU-FP7-212663) is aimed at improving current methods for monitoring contaminant distribution and biodegradation in the subsurfac

Application and comparison of three tomographic techniques for detection of decay in trees

This paper reports application of electric, ultrasonic, and georadar tomography for detection of decay in trees and their comparison with the traditional penetrometer. Their feasibility in arboriculture is also evaluated, critically considering some "open problems." The experiments were carried out in an urban environment on two plane (Platanus hybrida Brot.) trees. Both trees, after felling, showed extensive white rot in the central cylinder. The electric tomography revealed low resistivity zones roughly centered in the trunk. A comparison with the successively cut sections showed a fine correspondence to decayed areas and a strong correspondence between high moisture zones and low resistivity zones. Ultrasonic tomography demonstrated to be a very effective tool for the detection of internal decay, accurately locating the position of the anomalies and estimating their size, shape, and characteristic in terms of mechanical properties. With the georadar technique, the high contrast of electromagnetic impedance measured between the inner decayed section and the outside sound section allowed the detection of the interface between the sound and decayed section of the tree, using radar acquisition in reflection modality. The penetrometer profiles detected the low-resistance areas inside the two trunk

P-wave and surface wave survey for permafrost analysis in alpine regions

We discuss the results of seismic survey to delineate temporal and spatial changes of frozen layer in Alpine environments. The seismic characterization allows us to detect changes of soil deformability properties related to the temperature effect on subsoi

Flowmeter and Ground Penetrating Radar: comparison between hydrogeological and geophysical methods

We discuss a comparison between saturated hydraulic conductivity calculated with Electromagnetic Borehole Flowmeter (EBF) and water content obtained by Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Zero Offset Profile (ZOP

Efficacité des équipements de protection 'légers' pour les usagers de 2RM en cas de glissade

Journées scientifiques 'Deux-roues motorisés', Bron, France, 15-/10/2013 - 16/10/2013Cette recherche porte sur les problèmes de sécurité passive des usagers de 2RM lorsque les conditions climatiques sont chaudes. L'objectif est d'analyser et d'évaluer les équipements de protection vestimentaire (à savoir blousons, pantalons et gants) dits « légers » en configuration de glissade sur la chaussée. Le travail s'est décomposé en deux parties complémentaires : une approche expérimentale et une approche numérique. Concernant l'approche expérimentale, elle concernait des essais de glissade sur bitume réalisées avec des corps donnés à la science. Deux campagnes de trois tests (soit au total 6 essais) ont été réalisées à des vitesses de 30km/h et 50 km/h. Pour chaque campagne, un essai a été effectué avec des vêtements légers, un avec des vêtements lourds et un sans équipement spécifique. Les résultats montrent qu'à des vitesses de l'ordre de 30 km/h, le sujet glisse sur environ 4 mètres pour un temps de glissade inférieur à la seconde. A 50 km/h, le sujet glisse durant 1,5 secondes sur une distance d'environ 10 mètres. Concernant la protection offerte par les équipements, si des zones de frottement ont été constatées de manière plus importante sur les vêtements légers que lourds, les résultats montrent toutefois que ces équipements (qu'ils soient légers ou lourds) offrent une protection suffisante dans le cas de glissade courte (moins de 10 mètres) puisqu'aucune lésion notamment de brûlure n'a été constatée. Ce qui n'est pas le cas lors des essais sans protection individuelle où des abrasions de la peau ont été constatées sur les sujets. D'un point de vue numérique, 360 simulations ont été effectuées afin d'identifier l'influence de différents paramètres sur la glissade tels que la vitesse du motocycliste au sol (de 10 à 60 km/h), son orientation (0°, 30°, 90°, 180°), sa position par rapport au sol (dos au sol, de profil, de face, allongé, recroquevillé). Les résultats montrent des distances de glissade jusqu'à 30 mètres pour un temps inférieur à 3 secondes. Les simulations ont également permis de quantifier une force de frottement moyenne d'environ 4000N pouvant aller jusqu'à 12000N. Les segments corporels subissant le plus de frottement sont le tronc et les membres inférieurs. Enfin, ce travail s'est conclu par une réflexion sur les retombées de cette étude concernant les normes existantes sur les équipements

Private laboratories in pharmaceutical industry: Evolution and merger of capitals

Durante la última década se implementaron importantes políticas públicas en salud. Se sancionó la Ley de Investigación y Producción Pública de Medicamentos como bienes sociales pero aun no se implementó en el año 2013. En este artículo nos proponemos explorar los cambios ocurridos en la oferta de la industria farmacéutica privada de capital nacional e internacional. La conclusión de este artículo es que existe una creciente concentración y extranjerización de la industria farmacéutica en el siglo XXI. Los efectos son muy perjudiciales, en especial considerando que las actividades relacionadas con la salud como la producción de medicamentos y la investigación y desarrollo son bienes meritorios, cuya provisión debe ser accesible para el conjunto de la sociedad.The aim of this paper is to evaluate recent changes in private local and foreign pharmaceutical supply, analyzing rankings of pharmaceutical firms ordered by the amount of their annual XX, statistical information of this industry and the performance of pharmaceutical enterprises in the last decade. We found great dynamism in pharmaceutical industry in the last decade. There were important modifications in pharmaceutical supply caused by the the sale of packages of shares of local and foreign enterprises, the purchase of expired production patents by local enterprises, and the emergence of new ventures financed by the State, mainly companies composed by public organizations with national and transnational enterprises. This complex process has produced new mergers, more concentration and foreignization of pharmaceutical industry.Fil: Bramuglia, Cristina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani"; ArgentinaFil: Godio, Cristina de Las M.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Abrutzky, Rosana. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani"; Argentin

La liberación inmediata de buques en procedimientos de medidas provisionales. ¿Nuevas tendencias y desafíos?

This article discusses the incidents and situations created when vessels are detained in foreign ports, and the measures that need to be undertaken to overcome these disputes, analyzing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; that not only provides a frame that all States (who have submitted) should constrain to, but also contributes to define the peaceful means for settlements intended to overcome such controversial situations. Apart from the consideration of all these regulations, jurisprudence and real precedents are explored. In first place, to perceive the way parties react towards these situations, and also to understand how the settlement of disputes be operationalized through the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. For this purpose, contemporary cases such as the Grand Prince, the ARA Libertad, and the Artic Sunrise are deepened.En el presente artículo se ven plasmados los incidentes que pueden presentarse cuando los buques y sus tripulaciones son detenidos en puertos extranjeros, y las distintas medidas a tomar ante estas controversias, analizando la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho del Mar, que no solo provee una regulación marco a la que todos los Estados signatarios deben adecuarse, sino que también contribuye con la enunciación de las distintas formas de solución pacífica creadas para superar estas situaciones. Además de considerar estas regulaciones, es necesario analizar la jurisprudencia al respecto. En primer lugar, ya que ayuda a visualizar la forma en que los Estados actúan frente a estas situaciones y asimismo para comprender cómo el sistema de solución de controversias ha sido llevado a la práctica por el Tribunal de Hamburgo. Con esa finalidad profundizamos sobre algunos casos contemporáneos como el Grand Prince, el ARA Libertad y el Artic Sunrise