Probabilistic approach to provide scenarios of earthquake-induced slope failures (PARSIFAL) applied to the Alcoy Basin (South Spain)

The PARSIFAL (Probabilistic Approach to pRovide Scenarios of earthquake-Induced slope FAiLures) approach was applied in the basin of Alcoy (Alicante, South Spain), to provide a comprehensive scenario of earthquake-induced landslides. The basin of Alcoy is well known for several historical landslides, mainly represented by earth-slides, that involve urban settlement as well as infrastructures (i.e., roads, bridges). The PARSIFAL overcomes several limits existing in other approaches, allowing the concomitant analyses of: (i) first-time landslides (due to both rock-slope failures and shallow earth-slides) and reactivations of existing landslides; (ii) slope stability analyses of different failure mechanisms; (iii) comprehensive mapping of earthquake-induced landslide scenarios in terms of exceedance probability of critical threshold values of co-seismic displacements. Geotechnical data were used to constrain the slope stability analysis, while specific field surveys were carried out to measure jointing and strength conditions of rock masses and to inventory already existing landslides. GIS-based susceptibility analyses were performed to assess the proneness to shallow earth-slides as well as to verify kinematic compatibility to planar or wedge rock-slides and to topples. The experienced application of PARSIFAL to the Alcoy basin: (i) confirms the suitability of the approach at a municipality scale, (ii) outputs the main role of saturation in conditioning slope instabilities in this case study, (iii) demonstrates the reliability of the obtained results respect to the historical dat

Building pathology and environment: Weathering and decay of stone construction materials subjected to a Csa mediterranean climate laboratory simulation

Building stone materials have to satisfy long-term durability requirements in different environments in terms of mechanical strength and resistance to aggressive conditions. Several studies and field observations show that weathering on geo-materials is related to average annual precipitation and temperature. The decay also depends on salts air/soil concentrations and biological agents, but the more harmful impact is given by greenhouse gas (e.g. CO2, SOX, NOX, O3). These last induce the acidification of the rain and runoff waters. Nowadays, decay prediction is required in order to estimate the behaviour of stone materials over time. This research represents a second part of a previous work where the response to weathering of some construction materials used in ancient and contemporary architecture and cultural heritage has been evaluated by a labo- ratory simulation of hot-summer Csa Mediterranean climate. Simulation consists of accelerate ageing test on climate chamber by reproducing macro (e.g. daily and seasonal cycles of temperature, relative humidity, CO2 air concentration) and micro (e.g. rain, soil capillary rising) environments. Some non-destructive testing were executed to evaluate some physical–mechanical “decay markers” before and after the ageing. Test caused both decreasing and increasing of Leeb D hardness, decreases of permeability and a general decrease of ultrasonic speed, mainly due to the formations of patinas, crusts and efflorescences on the surfaces

Il trionfo della terra nei racconti di Horacio Quiroga

Horacio Quiroga, padre del racconto ispano-americano, inizia la sua carriera influenzato dal modernismo di Rubén Darío e Leopoldo Lugones, oltre che dai modelli europei come Maupassant e Villiers de l’Isle Adam, e dal nordamericano Edagar Allan Poe. La scoperta della selva di Misiones, tuttavia, rappresenta una svolta decisiva per la sua vita e la sua produzione artistica. Quiroga si emancipa dai maestri e riscopre le radici autentiche dell’America Latina, riaprendo quel conflitto secolare fra civiltà e barbarie che aveva segnato inesorabilmente tutta la storia della letteratura ispanoamericana, dai tempi dei conquistadores al romanticismo degli scrittori dell’Asociación de mayo.Horacio Quiroga, padre del cuento hispanoamericano, empieza su carrera influenciado por el modernismo de Rubén Darío y Leopoldo Lugones, por los modelos europeos (como Maupassant y Villiers de l’Isle Adam) y norteamericanos (como Edgar Allan Poe). El descubrimiento de la selva de Misiones representa un momento crucial para su vida y para su producción artística. Quiroga se emancipa de sus maestros y redescubre las raíces auténticas de América Latina, reabriendo ese secular conflicto entre civilización y barbarie que había marcado inexorablemente toda la historia de la literatura hispanoamericana, de los tiempos de la Conquista hasta el romanticismo de los escritores de la Asociación de Mayo.Horacio Quiroga has been the father of Hispano-American short story. At first his work was influenced by modernist authors such as Rubén Darío and Leopoldo Lugones, and by European and North-American models such as Maupassant, Villiers de l’Isle Adam, and Edgar Allan Poe. The turning point of both his life and craft was the discovery of the forest of Misiones. Quiroga became independent of the masters and detected the true roots of Latin America. This way he renewed the clash between civilisation and barbarism, which has been a feature of Hispano-American literature from the time of the conquistadores up to the Romanticism of the Asociación de mayo

Identidicación, medición, evaluación y control de ruido a los trabajadores de las áreas de handling y mantenimiento de TAME EP, en plataformas aeroportuarias.

Este documento contiene archivo en PDF.El desarrollo de este trabajo está enfocado en la importancia de un programa de prevención en los aeropuertos de Ecuador donde a mitigación del ruido de la fuente (avión) no es una variable que pueda ser controlada en la plataforma del aeropuerto donde se realizan conjuntamente las medidas de sonometría y dosimetría con sus respectivos equipos, se eligieron dos posiciones laborales de la empresa TAME EP las cuales son Asistencia en Tierra y Mantenimiento. Las mediciones serán realizadas en los Aeropuertos de Latacunga, Loja, Machala-Sta. Rosa y Guayaquil. Este programa es para mitigar enfermedades profesionales tales como la sordera ocupacional que pueden generarse en trabajadores expuestos a las emisiones de ruido que existen en las plataformas del aeropuerto de Ecuador, así como beneficiar a los trabajadores en la identificación, medición, evaluación y control de ruido.The development of this project is focused on the importance of a prevention program in the airport of Ecuador where the mitigation of the noise from the source (aircraft) is not a variable that can be controlled in the airport platforms in which both the appropriate measurements and the evaluation of the results are to equipment, two positions were selected at the company TAME EP, assistance in land and maintenance. The measurements will be carried out at the airports of Latacunga, Loja, Machala-Sta. Rosa and Guayaquil. The objectives of this program are to mitigate occupational diseases such as occupational deafness that is result of the workers being exposed to noise emissions that exist in the airport platforms of Ecuador as well as to benefit workers in the identification, measurement, evaluation and control of noise

Application of a characteristic periods-based (CPB) approach to estimate earthquake-induced displacements of landslides through dynamic numerical modelling

The interaction between seismic waves and slopes is an important topic to provide reliable scenarios for earthquake-(re)triggered landslides. The physical properties of seismic waves as well as slope topography and geology can significantly modify the local seismic response, influencing landslide triggering. A novel approach is here applied to two case studies in Andalusia (southern Spain) for computing the expected earthquake-induced displacements of existing landslide masses. Towards this aim, dynamic stress–strain numerical modelling was carried out using a selection of seismic signals characterized by different spectral content and energy. In situ geophysical measurements, consisting of noise records and temporary seismometric arrays, were carried out to control the numerical outputs in terms of local seismic response. The results consist of relationships between the characteristic period, Tm, of the seismic signals and the characteristic periods of the landslide masses, related to the thickness (Ts) and length (Tl), respectively. These relationships show that the larger the horizontal dimension (i.e. length of landslide) of a landslide is, the more effective the contribution (to the resulting coseismic displacement) of the long-period seismic waves is, as the maximum displacements are expected for a low Tm at each energy level of the input. On the other hand, when the local seismic response mainly depends on stratigraphy (i.e. landslide thickness), the maximum expected displacements occur close to the resonance period of the landslide, except for high-energy seismic inputs.The authors would like to thank the European Union ERDF for financial support via the “Monitorización sísmica de deslizamientos. Criterios de reactivación y alerta temprana” project of the “Programa Operativo FEDER de Andalucia 2007-2013”

Local agglomeration, entrepreneurship and the 2008 recession: evidence from Italian industrial districts

We investigate whether the impact of recessions on entrepreneurship is affected by the presence of industrial districts, a source of local agglomeration economies. Using Italian Labour Force quarterly data from 2006 to 2011 and a "difference-in-differences" approach, we show that the share of entrepreneurs in local labour markets where industrial districts are present has declined more than in comparable areas after the beginning of the 2008 recession. The estimated negative differential effect ranges between 4.8 and 7.9 percent in absolute value. We examine alternative explanations - including differences in industrial specialisation and composition, access to credit propensity, exports, population density and the composition of talents - and conclude that our result is consistent with the intense social interactions typical of industrial districts, acting as a multiplier that amplifies the response to shocks