How to restart? An agent-based simulation model towards the definition of strategies for COVID-19 "second phase" in public buildings

Restarting public buildings activities in the "second phase" of COVID-19 emergency should be supported by operational measures to avoid a second virus spreading. Buildings hosting the continuous presence of the same users and significant overcrowd conditions over space/time (e.g. large offices, universities) are critical scenarios due to the prolonged contact with infectors. Beside individual's risk-mitigation strategies performed (facial masks), stakeholders should promote additional strategies, i.e. occupants' load limitation (towards "social distancing") and access control. Simulators could support the measures effectiveness evaluation. This work provides an Agent-Based Model to estimate the virus spreading in the closed built environment. The model adopts a probabilistic approach to jointly simulate occupants' movement and virus transmission according to proximity-based and exposure-time-based rules proposed by international health organizations. Scenarios can be defined in terms of building occupancy, mitigation strategies and virus-related aspects. The model is calibrated on experimental data ("Diamond Princess" cruise) and then applied to a relevant case-study (a part of a university campus). Results demonstrate the model capabilities. Concerning the case-study, adopting facial masks seems to be a paramount strategy to reduce virus spreading in each initial condition, by maintaining an acceptable infected people's number. The building capacity limitation could support such measure by potentially moving from FFPk masks to surgical masks use by occupants (thus improving users' comfort issues). A preliminary model to combine acceptable mask filters-occupants' density combination is proposed. The model could be modified to consider other recurring scenarios in other public buildings (e.g. tourist facilities, cultural buildings).Comment: 21 pages, 16 figures; submitted to Building and Environmen

Heterogeneous government spending multipliers in the era surrounding the Great Recession

We use novel quarterly data of U.S. states to examine the dynamics of relative spending multipliers in the decade surrounding the Great Recession. While multipliers were around 1 in expansions, they reached values above 4 when a state was in a recession. Also a high (low) degree of household indebtedness augmented (lowered) a state's multiplier by 0.5 in expansions and 2 in recessions. We further document modest positive spillover effects across states and show that a mere redistribution of spending across states also had a significant influence on the aggregate U.S. economy due to cross-state heterogeneity of the effects

A P. menziesii var. menziesii (=viridis) (Schwerin) Franco stand description dataset: a case study of Pavari's experimental Plot 412 ninety years after plantation

This paper describes a dataset containing the historical series of dendrometric data from a P. menziesii var. menziesii (=viridis) (Schwerin) Franco plantation. Implemented in 1932, the plantation is located in “Rio di Mercurella” place, in the Tyrrhenian coastal mountain range of Calabria region (Southern Italy). The experimental plot has been identified as Plot 412 and is characterized by trees with a relevant role for forest community biodiversity. The monitoring started in 1940.  The dataset reported five of all the inventories Until 2013, inventories have been carried out by Istituto Sperimentale di Selvicoltura and Unità di Ricerca per la Selvicoltura in Ambiente Mediterraneo, now CREA Forestry and Wood research centre which has taken over the last two. The following data have been collected: position, number, diameter at breast heigh (DBH) of all the trees and total height (Ht) of a trees sample. Collected data are an important historical source and testimony the first experimental test of P. menziesii introduction which will have to be monitored in the future and will constitute a fundamental contribution to enrich the knowledge on appropriate management in Calabria and evaluate the health state and stability of the forest stand in the future

COVID-19 impact on end-user's maintenance requests. A text mining approach

COVID-19 pandemic changed our way of working, limiting the usual physical attendance of working spaces. Despite the drastic reduction in the number of daily users due to the pandemic restrictions, working buildings were often kept open to provide services to internal and external users. Pandemic obliged to change operation and maintenance (O&M) plans, due to the increase of ventilation requirements and the reduction of other types of services, with a strong impact on cost and management. Now the pandemic is reducing its effects and is time to question the future asset of buildings’ O&M plans, based on the pandemic lesson. Data collected by Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) during COVID-19 then become an important source of understanding the future management of working places. End-users’ maintenance requests are usually expressed by natural language, then a text mining approach can be a useful tool to discover hidden knowledge from unstructured data stored in CMMS. This study applies text mining methods, including sentiment analysis, to the field of building maintenance, with the scope to evaluate how COVID-19 changed some aspects of the facility management process, including users’ perception

flooding risk in existing urban environment from human behavioral patterns to a microscopic simulation model

Abstract Climate changes-related floods will seriously strike population in existing urban environment. Despite Current assessment methods seem to underestimate the human behaviors influence on individuals' safety, especially during outdoor evacuation. Representing pedestrians' evacuation would allow considering the "human" factor in risk analysis. This work proposes a flood-induced pedestrians' evacuation simulation model, based on a combined microscopic approach. Behavioral rules, obtained by real events videotapes analyses, are organized in an agent-based model. Motion criteria proposals are based on the Social Force Model. Experimental motion quantities values are offered. The model will be implemented in a risk assessment simulation tool

Helicopter Vibratory Loads Alleviation through Combined Action of Trailing-Edge Flap and Variable-Stiffness Devices

The aim of this paper is the assessment of the capability of controllers based on the combined actuation of flaps and variable-stiffness devices to alleviate helicopter main rotor vibratory hub loads. Trailing-edge flaps are positioned at the rotor blade tip region, whereas variable-stiffness devices are located at the pitch link and at the blade root. Control laws are derived by an optimal control procedure based on the best trade-off between control effectiveness and control effort, under the constraint of satisfaction of the equations governing rotor blade aeroelastic response. The numerical investigation concerns the analysis of performance and robustness of the control techniques developed, through application to a four-bladed helicopter rotor in level flight. The identification of the most efficient control configuration is also attempted

Capsule endoscopy in Italy: An unbalanced review of the literature. Authors' response

The comments by Spada et al. (which are similar in style and content to the ones already made by the authors on the Italian Ministry of Health Web site) are based on misunderstandings and manipulations. The essence of systematic reviews is to sum up available knowledge and minimize bias. The latter is done by a priori stating study inclusion criteria both in the protocol and in the full HTA report (see Fig. 1, p. 299) and assessing methodological quality of included studies using an instrument which was specified in the protocol text and never changed (the Quality Assessment Diagnostic Accuracy Studies checklist or QUADAS). The purpose of inclusion criteria and bias minimization efforts is to ensure that what is included in a review is both relevant and contributes evidence weighted by its reliability to answer the study question (in our case the diagnostic performance of WCE in the small bowel). The high number of excluded studies is thus irrelevant, although it is a common feature of systematic reviews. What matters is what the included studies tell us

Sheep brain atlas creation. Diffusion tensor imaging and Scanning electron microscope in sheep brain analysis

IntroductionsAim of EDEN 2020 project is the development of a steerable catheter for CED system in glioblastoma therapy. The VET group is involved in realization and validation of the proper animal model.For surgical planning purpose a Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) of white matter tracts in the sheep is necessary to identify the target points useful for the catheter introduction.The analysis of the sheep brain under a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) is required to understand any alterations due to the catheter introduction and to fluids injection during CED administration. Materials and methodsAnimals were treated in accordance with the European Communities Council directive (86/609/EEC), to the laws and regulations on animal welfare enclosed in D.L.G.S. 26/2014A total of five 70 kg female, one year old, sheep were used for the study.All animals, under general anesthesia, underwent to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) acquisition. MRI scanner used was Philips Ingenia 1.5 Tesla system.Once the DTI imaging were acquired the animals were euthanased, sheep brain was collected and samples of white matter tracts obtained with disposable biopsy punches of 1.5-2 mm of diameter.The samples were fixed, stained in Osmium tetroxide (OsO4) and then embedded with two different protocols (cold curing vs thermal curing) in resin for the Focused Ion Beam (FIB) SEM analyses. Results and discussionAll the DTI images were uploaded to TrackVis software and major white matter fiber tracts analysed. Corticospinal tract, visual radiation, fornix and fronto-occipital fasciculus were identified.Corticospinal tract was identified as major white matter tract in sheep brain and useful as target area for the research aims.For the SEM analysis the thermal protocol was recognised as better curing methods for the research purpose than cold curing one. ConclusionThe data acquired in this study are still submitted to analysis. AcknowledgmentThe project has received funding from the European Union’s EU Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 (no 688279)