Observational Evidence of the Basin-Wide Gyre Reversal in the Gulf of Taranto

The paper shows for the first time the observational evidence of basin-wide gyre reversal in the Gulf of Taranto (north-western Ionian Sea in the eastern Mediterranean Sea) by means of two specifically designed in situ oceanographic campaigns (based on CTD and ADCP measurements). The analysis of the in situ data shows a change in circulation from anticyclonic in October 2014 to cyclonic in June\u2013July 2016. Furthermore, long-term (1993\u20132018) analysis using gridded satellite altimetry data in the Gulf of Taranto shows that the cyclonic gyres are more frequent than anticyclonic gyres. The latter occur only for 2 to 3 years at a time in some decades

High performing ensemble of convolutional neural networks for insect pest image detection

Pest infestation is a major cause of crop damage and lost revenues worldwide. Automatic identification of invasive insects would significantly speed up the recognition of pests and expedite their removal. In this paper, we generated ensembles of CNNs based on different topologies (EfficientNetB0, ResNet50, GoogleNet, ShuffleNet, MobileNetv2, and DenseNet201) optimized with different Adam variants for pest identification. Two new Adam algorithms for deep network optimization based on DGrad are proposed that introduce a scaling factor in the learning rate. Six CNN architectures that vary in their optimization function were trained on the Deng (SMALL), large IP102, and Xie2 (D0) pest data sets. Ensembles were compared and evaluated using several performance indicators. The best performing ensemble, which combined the CNNs using the different Adam variants, including the new ones proposed here, competed with human expert classifications on the Deng data set and achieved state of the art on all three insect data sets: 95.52% on Deng, 74.11% on IP102, and 99.81% on Xie2. Additional tests were performed on data sets for medical imagery classification that further validated the robustness and power of the proposed Adam optimization variants. All MATLAB source code is available at https://github.com/LorisNanni/

Using historical data to examine the accuracy of sand transport field measurements in two nearshore marine settings

A re-Analysis of historical data from two field campaigns was undertaken to examine the accuracy of measurements of bed load (Qb) and total transport (Qtot) of sand in (1) a wave-dominant shoreface off western Newfoundland, Canada, and (2) a tide-dominant inlet of Venice Lagoon, Italy. Video tapes recorded within Sea Carousel (a benthic annular flume) deployed off Newfoundland were used to determine the transport of medium to coarse sand under controlled unidirectional flow conditions. These results were compared with Helley-Smith sand trap measurements of bed load of fine to medium sand in a tidal inlet of Venice Lagoon, Italy. Ripple migration rates in Sea Carousel were similar to those measured in rivers and shallow marine settings at similar flows. Accuracy of sand transport rate (derived from ripple motion) was assessed by comparison to fundamental methods presented in the literature. Some of the scatter in correlations with earlier methods was removed by using a nondimensional form of total sand transport and correlating it to excess stream power (i.e. above a traction threshold). Better correlations were found between immersed (bed load) transport rate and excess stream power by applying a published adjustment to the observations for flow depth and grain diameter. Total immersed (normalized) sand transport in Sea Carousel correlated with excess stream power in a fashion similar to results reported in the literature: = 0.288(ω-ωcr)1.65 kg m-1 s-1, where the immersed total sand transport is normalized with respect to flow depth and grain diameter. The sand trap data also followed this fit in part (2006 data only) but demonstrated greater scatter. The data herein thus fell in line with those reported in the literature from a wide variety of flume and field settings and for a wide variety of grain sizes. It is concluded that annular benthic flumes offer a reasonable and reliable method of assessing sand transport under controlled conditions of flow. The results from Sea Carousel and the Helley-Smith traps appear to follow the same relationships and so appear compatible. However, benthic sand traps show a higher degree of scatter, perhaps due to the uncertainties in how they sit on the seabed, and due to the arbitrary conditions of flow to which they are subjected when deployed.</p

Retrospective study 2005-2015 of all cases of fetal death occurred at 6523 gestational weeks, in Friusli Venezia Giulia, Italy

Background: Intrauterine fetal death (IUFD) is a tragic event and, despite efforts to reduce rates, its incidence remains difficult to reduce. The objective of the present study was to examine the etiological factors that contribute to the main causes and conditions associated with IUFD, over an 11-year period in a region of North-East Italy (Friuli Venezia Giulia) for which reliable data in available. Methods: Retrospective analysis of all 278 IUFD cases occurred between 2005 and 2015 in pregnancies with gestational age 65 23 weeks. Results: The incidence of IUFD was 2.8\u2030 live births. Of these, 30% were small for gestational age (SGA), with immigrant women being significantly over-represented. The share of SGA reached 35% in cases in which a maternal of fetal pathological condition was present, and dropped to 28% in the absence of associated pathology. In 78 pregnancies (28%) no pathology was recorded that could justify IUFD. Of all IUFDs, 11% occurred during labor, and 72% occurred at a gestational age above 30 weeks. Conclusion: The percentage of IUFD cases for which no possible cause can be identified is quite high. Only the adoption of evidence-based diagnostic protocols, with integrated immunologic, genetic and pathologic examinations, can help reduce this diagnostic gap, contributing to the prevention of future IUFDs