B-CoC: A Blockchain-Based Chain of Custody for Evidences Management in Digital Forensics

One of the main issues in digital forensics is the management of evidences. From the time of evidence collection until the time of their exploitation in a legal court, evidences may be accessed by multiple parties involved in the investigation that take temporary their ownership. This process, called Chain of Custody (CoC), must ensure that evidences are not altered during the investigation, despite multiple entities owned them, in order to be admissible in a legal court. Currently digital evidences CoC is managed entirely manually with entities involved in the chain required to fill in documents accompanying the evidence. In this paper, we propose a Blockchain-based Chain of Custody (B-CoC) to dematerialize the CoC process guaranteeing auditable integrity of the collected evidences and traceability of owners. We developed a prototype of B-CoC based on Ethereum and we evaluated its performance

Linear time series modelling for groundwater level forecasting: the case study of the fractured aquifer system of Monsummano terme (central Italy)

Groundwater level, forecasting, Tuscany, Auto Regressive models (AR)

Using the hydrochemical database TANGCHIM to manage groundwater quality data: the case study of a leachate plume from a dumping area

Pollution, landfill, Alpine fluvial valley, TANGCHIM database

Banca dati idrogeologica TANGRAM©: strumento per elaborazioni quantitative di dati per la valutazione delle acque sotterranee - The hydrogeological well database TANGRAM©: a tool for data processing to support groundwater assessment

At the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Milano-Bicocca (DISAT-UNIMIB), a hydrogeological well database, called TANGRAM©, has been developed and published on line at www.TANGRAM.samit.unimib.it, developing an earlier 1989 DOS version. This package can be used to store, display, and process all data related to water wells, including administrative information, well characteristics, stratigraphic logs, water levels, pumping rates, and other hydrogeological information. Currently, the database contains more than 39.200 wells located in the Italian region of Lombardy (90%), Piedmont (9%) and Valle d'Aosta (1%). TANGRAM© has been created both as a tool for researches and for public administration's administrators who have projects in common with DISAT-UNIMIB. Indeed, transferring wells data from paper into TANGRAM© offers both an easier and more robust way to correlate hydrogeological data and a more organized management of the administrative information. Some Administrations use TANGRAM© regularly as a tool for wells data management (Brescia Province, ARPA Valle Aosta). An innovative aspect of the database is the quantitative extraction of stratigraphic data. In the part of the software intended for research purposes, all well logs are translated into 8-digit alphanumeric codes and the user composes the code interpreting the description at each stratigraphic level. So the stratigraphic well data can be coded, then quantified and processed. This is made possible by attributing a weight to the digits of the code for textures. The program calculates the weighted percentage of the chosen lithology, as related to each individual layer. These extractions are the starting point for subsequent hydrogeological studies: well head protection area, reconstruction of the dynamics of flow, realization of the quarry plans and flux and transport hydrogeological models. The results of a two-dimensional distribution of coarse, medium and fine sized material in the first 80 meters of depth are presented here for a study area located within the Province of Brescia (Italy)

Simplified HPLC-UV method for the determination of α-tocopherol in plasma

Vitamin E, known for its great nutritional importance, is normally included in animal diets as DL-α-tocopherol acetate.The authors propose a method that makes it possible to determine the concentration of vitamin E in plasma withoutsaponification. This method enable to avoid aggressive treatments on the analyte and complex procedures; it detectsvitamin E only in form of DL-α-tocopherol.Lipoproteins of analysed plasma were denaturised by methanol. Vitamin E was extracted by petroleum ether in presenceof NaCl. The extract was dried by rotavapor at 45 °C, solubilized by methanol and injected in HPLC (C18 column, reversedphase). The quantitative determination was carried out by UV detector settled on 294 nm.Tests of repeatability inter-analysis and intra-analysis gave coefficient of variability (CV%) respectively of 1.64 and2.41%. The mean recovery was 100%

Preliminary groundwater modelling by considering the interaction with superficial water: Aosta plain case (northern Italy)

The study is developed through scientific cooperation between the University of Milano-Bicocca and the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA) of the Valle d'Aosta Region. Its aim is to produce a decision-support tool to help the Public Administration'manage groundwater and public water supply. The study area is the plain of Aosta, between the cities of Aymavilles and Brissogne; in this area groundwater represents the main source of public water supply. The valley is oriented east-west, along the Baltea for a length of 13.1 km and a width of 4.6 km. The textural and hydrogeological properties of the deposits are strictly connected to glacial deposition and to the subsequent sedimentary processes which took place in glacial, lacustrine and fluvial systems. The study is based on available well information in the Aosta plain - including water wells (133) and piezometers (121) - which have been coded and stored in the well database TANGRAM,. The database facilitates interpretation of the well data, and it allows three-dimensional mapping of subsurface hydrogeological characteristics through database codification and ordinary kriging interpolation. The study is designed to achieve two objectives. The first is to provide the Aosta Public Authorities with a well database in order to simplify groundwater management. The second is to provide Public Authorities with a groundwater flow model of the local aquifer. The model integrates surface and subsurface flows in order to fully account for all important stresses, both natural and anthropogenic, on the groundwater system. It provides a tool for testing hypotheses (such as the impact of new wells) and thereby allows science-based management of the aquifer resource

Hydrogeological conceptual model of a highly impacted watershed: the case study of Oglio river (n Italy)

Oglio River watershed, Italy, water bodies, TANGRAM, groundwater discharge

How to manage potential groundwater contaminations by As, Fe and Mn in lower Po Plain: a proposal from the case study of Cremona

The Legislative Decree 152/06 on environmental regulations also governs polluted site remediation (Part IV). A potentially contaminated site is defined when concentrations exceed the limits reported in the Attachment 5 (Title V). Nevertheless, the Legislative Decree 152/06 considers the possibility of higher limits than Attachment 5 for trace elements in the case of natural high contents by the definition of natural background levels. The lower Po Plain is characterized by high natural concentrations of As, Fe and Mn in groundwater and, at the same time, is one of the most important areas for the Italian productive system, and thus, possible direct sources of As, Fe and Mn or indirect anthropogenic influences could also exist. Therefore, an operative tool is required to determine the natural background levels and to understand if measured high concentrations are attributable to natural backgrounds or to anthropogenic sources/influences, and consequently, to decide on the beginning of the administrative procedure requested by the Legislative Decree 152/09 through the site characterization phase. This work presents a proposal of procedure to manage potentially contaminated site by As, Fe and Mn in the lower Po Plain, that was developed in the framework of a scientific collaboration between the Province of Cremona and the University of Milano-Bicocca. The procedure involves the following four steps, preceded by the derivation of natural background levels as step zero: (1) comparing new measurements to natural background levels; (2) testing the presence of direct anthropogenic sources of As, Fe and Mn; (3) excluding false positives and (4) testing the presence of indirect anthropogenic influences on As, Fe and Mn concentrations. The operative application of the proposed procedure is actually under consideration by the Province of Cremona

The diagnosis and management of central hypothyroidism in 2018

Central hypothyrodism (CeH) is a hypothyroid state caused by an insufficient stimulation by thyrotropin (TSH) of an otherwise normal thyroid gland. Several advancements, including the recent publication of expert guidelines for CeH diagnosis and management, have been made in recent years thus increasing the clinical awareness on this condition. Here, we reviewed the recent advancements and give expert opinions on critical issues. Indeed, CeH can be the consequence of various disorders affecting either the pituitary gland or the hypothalamus. Recent data enlarged the list of candidate genes for heritable CeH and a genetic origin may be the underlying cause for CeH discovered in pediatric or even adult patients without apparent pituitary lesions. This raises the doubt that the frequency of CeH may be underestimated. CeH is most frequently diagnosed as a consequence of the biochemical assessments in patients with hypothalamic/pituitary lesions. In contrast with primary hypothyroidism, low FT4 with low/normal TSH levels are the biochemical hallmark of CeH, and adequate thyroid hormone replacement leads to the suppression of residual TSH secretion. Thus, CeH often represents a clinical challenge because physicians cannot rely on the use of the ‘reflex TSH strategy’ for screening or therapy monitoring. Nevertheless, in contrast with general assumption, the finding of normal TSH levels may indicate thyroxine under-replacement in CeH patients. The clinical management of CeH is further complicated by the combination with multiple pituitary deficiencies, as the introduction of sex steroids or GH replacements may uncover latent forms of CeH or increase the thyroxine requirements