Communicating with communities (CwC) during post-disaster reconstruction: an initial analysis

International organisations have acknowledged that providing information to and communicating with communities affected by disasters should be considered as an integral part of the humanitarian aid. Yet little is known on the information and communication needs of the population during the disaster reconstruction phase. This paper presents a case study of the information and communication needs of the population and the role of social media during the reconstruction process after the earthquake that struck Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) in 2012. Data were collected through field notes and a multiple choices questionnaire distributed online and by hand to community-based groups. Results show that the most sought information concerns housing and infrastructure reconstruction, funds/refunds, business recovery and damage assessment and that city councils and regional council are considered as the main source of the information. Communication channels used to search for reconstruction-related information vary between online and offline respondents. Social media technology is used by citizens affected as a platform to read and share recovery information and post queries rather than as an engagement tool with recovery agencies. Main barriers to engagement are lack of trust towards the authorities and the belief that authorities do not use social media to communicate with citizens. In this context, community-based groups, especially those supported by social media, play an important role in sharing recovery-related information to other residents, clarifying legal acts and regulations and providing informational support to the affected population

Mortality in the l'aquila (central Italy) earthquake of 6 april 2009.

This paper presents the results of an analysis of data on mortality in the magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck the central Italian city and province of L'Aquila during the night of 6 April 2009. The aim is to create a profile of the deaths in terms of age, gender, location, behaviour during the tremors, and other aspects. This could help predict the pattern of casualties and priorities for protection in future earthquakes. To establish a basis for analysis, the literature on seismic mortality is surveyed. The conclusions of previous studies are synthesised regarding patterns of mortality, entrapment, survival times, self-protective behaviour, gender and age. These factors are investigated for the data set covering the 308 fatalities in the L'Aquila earthquake, with help from interview data on behavioural factors obtained from 250 survivors. In this data set, there is a strong bias towards victimisation of young people, the elderly and women. Part of this can be explained by geographical factors regarding building performance: the rest of the explanation refers to the vulnerability of the elderly and the relationship between perception and action among female victims, who tend to be more fatalistic than men and thus did not abandon their homes between a major foreshock and the main shock of the earthquake, three hours later. In terms of casualties, earthquakes commonly discriminate against the elderly and women. Age and gender biases need further investigation and should be taken into account in seismic mitigation initiatives

Fast model predictive control for hydrogen outflow regulation in ethanol steam reformers

© 20xx IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.In the recent years, the presence of alternative power sources, such as solar panels, wind farms, hydropumps and hydrogen-based devices, has significantly increased. The reasons of this trend are clear: contributing to a reduction of gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. Hydrogen-based devices are of particular interest due to their significant efficiency and reliability. Reforming technologies are among the most economic and efficient ways of producing hydrogen. In this paper we consider the regulation of hydrogen outflow in an ethanol steam reformer (ESR). In particular, a fast model predictive control approach based on a finite step response model of the process is proposed. Simulations performed using a more realistic non-linear model show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in driving the ESR to different operating conditions while fulfilling input and output constraints.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A nonparametric approach for model individualization in an artificial pancreas

The identification of patient-tailored linear time invariant glucose-insulin models is investigated for type 1 diabetic patients, that are characterized by a substantial inter-subject variability. The individualized linear models are identified by considering a novel kernel-based nonparametric approach and are compared with a linear time invariant average model in terms of prediction performance by means of the coefficient of determination, fit, positive and negative max errors, and root mean squared error. Model identification and validation are based on in-silico data collected from the adult virtual population of the UVA/Padova simulator. The data generation involves a protocol designed to produce a sufficient input excitation without compromising patient safety, compatible also with real life scenarios. The identified models are exploited to synthesize an individualized Model Predictive Controller (MPC) for each patient, which is used in an Artificial Pancreas to maintain the blood glucose concentration within an euglycemic range. The MPC used in several clinical studies, synthesized on the basis of a non-individualized average linear time invariant model, is also considered as reference. The closed-loop control performance is evaluated in an in-silico study on the adult virtual population of the UVA/Padova simulator in a perturbed scenario, in which the MPC is blind to random variations of insulin sensitivity in each virtual patient. © 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Soccer pitches performances as affected by construction method, sand type and turfgrass mixture

During winter, soil compaction and slow turf recovery are the main causes for loss of soccer pitch quality. Sandy materials are commonly used to reduce compaction and improve drainage. Internally porous volcanic sand can provide better growing conditions than silica sand due to higher water holding capacity and nutrient retention. Festuca arundinacea is well adapted to Italian climatic conditions and its increased use could improve the quality of sports fields in the Mediterranean area. In a field trial six construction methods, two sandy materials and two coolseason turfgrass mixtures were compared under simulated winter usage. Results showed a progressive increase in ground cover and water infiltration rate according to the following ranking in the complexity of the design: undrained native soil - drainage systems - sand based profile. Soil amendment was not effective in improving drainage. Higher values of ground cover were observed for the mixture containing tall fescue. Good playing quality was recorded for each of the construction method, sand type and turfgrass mixture. Porous sand produced a lower bulk density in the top layer of the rootzone. Festuca arundinacea and porous sand appear as promising tools in sport fields constructio

Sublethal effects induced by morphine to the freshwater biological model Dreissena polymorpha

Opioids are considered as emerging contaminants in aquatic ecosystems, mainly due to their large illicit consume worldwide. Morphine (MOR) is the main opiate and it was commonly found at measurable concentrations in freshwaters. Even though its occurrence is well documented, just limited information is available regarding its hazard to nontarget organisms. The aim of this study was of the evaluation of sublethal effects induced by MOR to the freshwater bivalve Dreissena polymorpha. We exposed mussels to two MOR concentrations (0.05 \ub5g/L and 0.5 \ub5g/L) for 14 days and we investigated the sublethal effects by a suite of biomarkers. The Neutral Red Retention Assay (NRRA) was used as a test of cytotoxicity, while the oxidative stress was evaluated by the activity of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes, namely catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and by measuring the levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and protein carbonylation (PCC). The genetic damage was assessed by the Single Cell Gel Electrophoresis (SCGE) assay, the DNA diffusion assay and the micronucleus test (MN test). Finally, the filtration rate of D. polymorpha was evaluated in order to investigate possible physiological effects. Both tested concentrations reduced the lysosome membrane stability of bivalves, but only the highest MOR concentration induced significant changes in the activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and GPx) and increase in lipid peroxidation levels. Slight increase in primary DNA fragmentation was noticed, while no fixed genetic damage and alterations of the filtering rate were found

Compensation of Thermal Gradients Effects on a Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Quartz Crystal Microbalances (QCM) are widely used instruments thanks to their stability, low mass, and low cost. Nevertheless, the sensitivity to temperature is their main drawback and is often a driver for their design. Though the crystal average temperature is mostly considered as the only disturbance, temperature affects the QCM measurements also through the in-plane temperature gradients, an effect identified in the past but mostly neglected. Recently, it has been shown that this effect can prevail over that of the average temperature in implementations where the heat for thermal control is released directly on the crystal through deposited film heaters. In this study, the effect of temperature gradients for this kind of crystal is analyzed, the sensitivity of frequency to the average temperature gradient on the electrode border is determined, and a correction is proposed and verified. A numerical thermal model of the QCM has been created to determine the temperature gradients on the electrode borders. The frequency versus temperature-gradient function has been experimentally determined in different thermal conditions. The correction function has been eventually applied to a QCM implementing a crystal of the same manufacturing lot as the one used for the characterization. The residual errors after the implementation of the correction of both average temperature and temperature gradients were always lower than 5% of the initial temperature disturbance. Moreover, using the correlation between the heater power dissipation and the generated temperature gradients, it has been shown that an effective correction strategy can be based on the measurement of the power delivered to the crystal without the determination of the temperature gradient