Da Tarsis a Tartesso. Riflessioni sulla presenza greca oltre Gibilterra durante l’età arcaica

Recent excavations in Huelva suggest to stress once again the role of greek trade, besides that of Phoenicians, in tartessic area during the archaic age: Euboians left several marks of their presence in the mythical tradition. After Euboians, Phoceans reached the Atlantic coasts: at a first stage, when Massalia hadn’t yet reached control of that traffic, they followed the same route as their predecessors. Many onomastic coincidences with other areas of phocean colonization (southern coast of the Black Sea, in particular) allow to draw this route, from north-western Sicily, to Libya, Balearic Islands and spanish coast, towards Gibraltar

X-ray Spectroscopic Characterization of Shock-Ignition-Relevant plasmas

Experiments with multilayer plastic/Cu targets performed at a PALS laser system aimed at the study of matter at conditions relevant to a shock ignition ICF scheme, and, in particular, at the investigation of hot electrons generation. Plasma temperature and density were obtained using high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. 2D-spatially resolved quasi–monochromatic imaging was observing the hot electrons via fluorescence K emission in the copper tracer layer. Found values of plasma temperature 690 ± 10 eV, electron density 3 × 1022 cm-3 and the effective energy of hot electrons 45 ± 20 keV demonstrate the potential of X-ray methods in the characterization of the shock ignition environmental conditions

Clinical review: Noninvasive ventilation in the clinical setting – experience from the past 10 years

This brief review analyses the progress of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) over the last decade. NIV has gained the dignity of first line intervention for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, assuring reduction of the intubation rate, rate of infection and mortality. Despite positive results, NIV still remains controversial as a treatment for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, largely due to the different pathophysiology of hypoxemia. The infection rate reduction effect achieved by NIV application is crucial for immunocompromised patients for whom the endotracheal intubation represents a high risk. Improvements in skills acquired with experience over time progressively allowed successful treatment of more severe patients

Product complexity and quality in assembly processes: state-of-art and challenges for Human-Robot Collaboration

Purpose - It is widely accepted in quality management that product complexity is a primary cause of defects. A primary goal of this work is to provide a comprehensive review of complexity assessment methods to highlight different approaches and their application purposes. Moreover, the spread of collaborative robotics in industrial environments has also led to the consideration of a new definition of assembly complexity. This article attempts to fill this gap, with the specific aim of understanding which of the available methods may be suitable for modelling “complexity” in human-robot collaboration (HRC). Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review of complexity assessment methods in manufacturing is carried out. From this analysis, three main approaches to complexity assessment emerged. A practical case is then introduced to test each of the three previous approaches and to highlight their strengths and weaknesses, with a special focus on their future adaptation to a collaborative assembly process. Findings - To date, none of complexity assessment methods is specifically able to face the problem of interaction between agents (i.e., humans and robots). Only system-centered approaches hypothesize a holistic view of complexity, including some variables that are also crucial in the assessment of human-robot collaboration. Originality/value – This article aims to extend the concept of industrial quality to HRC. In this framework, it cannot be ignored the fact that the dynamics of interaction between agents can equally influence both process and product quality

Efficient Management of Flexible Functional Split through Software Defined 5G Converged Access

Softwarization of mobile and optical networks facilitates the inter-working between control planes of the two domains, allowing a more efficient management of available resources. Radio resource utilization benefits from the centralization of mobile network functionalities with the application of high-order functional split options by fronthauling. However, higher-order options require larger bandwidth and lower latency in the fronthaul. Advanced mechanisms for the joint control of the access network represent the sole solution to support such fronthaul requirements. This paper proposes a new cooperation scheme to manage the adaptive flexible functional split in 5G networks conditioned to the resource availability in the optical access network. Results show that the proposed converged approach guarantees the optimal allocation of optical resources through a software defined wavelength and bandwidth allocation. The proposed scheme adapts to current traffic demand and simultaneously allows the mobile network to take advantage of the highest possible centralization of mobile network functions by leveraging flexible functional split adaptively compliant to the current optical traffic demand.This work was partially supported by the Italian Government under CIPE resolution no. 135 (December 21, 2012), project INnovating City Planning through Information and Communication Technologies (INCIPICT) and by the EC through the H2020 5G-TRANSFORMER project (Project ID 761536

Exploiting flexible functional split in converged software defined access networks

5G targets to offer a huge network capacity to support the expected unprecedented traffic growth due mainly to mobile and machine-type services. Thus, the 5G access network has to comply with very challenging architectural requirements. Mobile network scalability is achieved by playing appropriately with the centralization of network functions and by applying the functional split introducing the fronthaul. Although more advantageous in terms of network management and performance optimization, low-layer functional split options require larger bandwidth and lower latency to be guaranteed by the fronthaul in the access network, while preserving other concurrent fiber-to-the-x services. Thus, advanced mechanisms for the efficient management of available resources in the access network are required to control jointly both radio and optical domains. Softwarized mobile and optical segments facilitate the introduction of dedicated protocols to enable the inter-working of the two control planes. This paper proposes a new cooperation scheme to manage the adaptive flexible functional split in 5G networks conditioned to the resource availability in the optical access network. Techniques for the accurate estimation of available bandwidth and the associated real-time selection of the best suitable functional split option are investigated. Results show that the proposed software defined converged approach to wavelength and bandwidth management guarantees the optimal allocation of optical resources. The triple exponential smoothing forecasting technique enables efficient coexistence of mobile fronthaul and fixed connectivity traffic in the network, reducing traffic impairments with respect to other well-known forecasting techniques, while keeping the same level of centralization.This work was partially supported by the Italian Government under CIPE resolution no. 135 (December 21, 2012), project INnovating City Planning through Information and Communication Technologies (INCIPICT) and by the EC through the H2020 5G-TRANSFORMER project (Project ID 761536)

Mechanisms of atherothrombosis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Patients affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an increased risk of atherothrombotic acute events, independent of smoking and other cardiovascular risk factors. As a consequence, myocardial ischemia is a relevant cause of death in these patients. We reviewed studies concerning the potential mechanisms of atherothrombosis in COPD. Bronchial inflammation spreads to the systemic circulation and is known to play a key role in plaque formation and rupture. In fact, C-reactive protein blood levels increase in COPD and provide independent prognostic information. Systemic inflammation is the first cause of the hypercoagulable state commonly observed in COPD. Furthermore, hypoxia is supposed to activate platelets, thus accounting for the increased urinary excretion of platelet-derived thromboxane in COPD. The potential metabolic risk in COPD is still debated, in that recent studies do not support an association between COPD and diabetes mellitus. Finally, oxidative stress contributes to the pathogenesis of COPD and may promote oxidation of low-density-lipoproteins with foam cells formation. Retrospective observations suggest that inhaled corticosteroids may reduce atherothrombotic mortality by attenuating systemic inflammation, but this benefit needs confirmation in ongoing randomized controlled trials. Physicians approaching COPD patients should always be aware of the systemic vascular implications of this disease

An integrated human health risk assessment framework for alkylphenols due to drinking water and edible crop consumption

INTRODUCTION The scarcity of clean freshwater is becoming a major issue for present and future generations, especially in densely urbanised areas. This situation promotes the potential cross-contamination of different environmental compartments by contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) which, in fact, have already been detected worldwide in surface water, groundwater and soils. In particular, the CECs released by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can end up both in the recipient surface water and groundwater, both of which are used as drinking water (DW) sources. Furthermore, if those water sources and reclaimed wastewater are used for irrigation, CECs can be directly absorbed by crops intended for human consumption or accumulate in soil and translocate to crops over time. Hence, both DW and edible crops are critical CEC exposure pathways for humans, the combined effect of which requires further investigation. This work is aimed at developing an integrated framework for a quantitative chemical risk assessment due to CECs in complex multiple-use scenarios, combining DW and edible crop consumption, as a decision-making support tool for optimising solutions to minimise risks and social costs. METHODOLOGY The developed procedure includes several steps. Firstly, the analysed system boundaries are defined, to evaluate all the phenomena affecting the fate of CECs from source to end user. Then, CEC migration (e.g. diffusion in surface water, infiltration in soil, uptake by food crops) and human exposure (via water and edible crop consumption) are modelled in an integrated framework as a function of boundary conditions, CECs and by-products characteristics, and proposed interventions. Exposure models are calibrated through literature data, field monitoring and lab tests where, for instance, the CECs’ fate and uptake by vegetables from contaminated soils have been investigated. In the hazard assessment step, a toxicological characterisation was performed to obtain single CEC adverse effect potencies, aimed at applying the Relative Potency Factors methodology for combining CECs that affect the same endpoint. Lastly, exposure and hazard assessment steps are combined to quantitatively estimate the risk to human health from a mixture of CECs, which includes uncertainty analyses to account for knowledge gaps and to provide decision-makers with the confidence level of the risk estimation. RESULTS The developed quantitative risk assessment procedure has been applied to a case study on the mixture of two alkylphenols, i.e. bisphenol-A (BPA) and nonylphenol (NP), used as reference CECs. Literature and field-monitoring data were used to feed the model, with an estimate of BPA and NP concentration in DW up to 0.1 and 0.35 μg/L, respectively, as a function of different system boundary conditions. As for their uptake in edible crops, lab tests with contaminated soil (BPA=75 μg/kg and NP=10 mg/kg, according to the range reported in literature for soil irrigated with reclaimed wastewater or amended with biosolids) demonstrated a significant transfer of NP from soil to vegetables, with concentrations of up to 230 μg/kg fresh weight (f.w.) in the edible parts. No BPA (<8 μg/kg f.w.) was found in vegetables, unlike its metabolite para-hydroxybenzoic acid (up to 56 μg/kg f.w). Those results highlight that both DW and edible crop consumption exposure pathways are critical for the risk to human health due to BPA, NP and their by-products. Several interventions in WWTPs or in DW treatment plants and distribution networks were simulated, demonstrating promising cumulative risk reduction. DISCUSSION Integrated modelling of the fate of CEC mixtures in complex multiple-use water systems, combined with quantitative risk assessment, has proven to be an effective tool to identify the main causes of risk for humans and to assign the various CEC source contributions. Lab tests proved to be useful to investigate the fate of CECs, including metabolites, in the soil system and potential transfer to food crops, corroborating the information from literature and monitoring data for model calibration. Integrated modelling also made it possible to explore several intervention strategies to be adopted at different points of the water system, identifying those that achieve the minimum overall mixture risk. Moreover, in addition to CEC toxicological characterisation, this procedure allows decision-makers to prioritise CECs to be regulated not only based on their exposure levels but looking at their contribution to the overall mixture risk. Lastly, uncertainty analysis made it possible to properly consider the availability and quality of CEC data, especially as regards their physical-chemical behaviour and toxicity, thereby providing the degree of confidence for the estimated risk, which is a key factor for taking informed decisions concerning CEC

Software Defined 5G Converged Access as a viable Techno-Economic Solution

Software Defined Converged Access represents a feasible solution to effectively address 5G traffic demands. This paper proposes an integrated mobile-optical control for wavelength and bandwidth allocation. Evaluations of bandwidth utilization and technoeconomic viability are provided.This work was partially supported by the Italian Government under CIPE resolution no. 135 (December 21, 2012), project INnovating City Planning through Information and Communication Technologies (INCIPICT) and by the EC through the H2020 5G-TRANSFORMER project (Project ID 761536)