Aeroporto Sanzio: quale futuro?

Contributo pubblicato sulla rivista Realt\ue0 industriale, n. 10 (ottobre), Confindustria March

Sensorimotor dysfunctions as primary features of autism spectrum disorders

Motor impairments in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have received far less research attention than core social-communication and cognitive features. Yet, behavioral, neurophysiological, neuroimaging and histopathological studies have documented abnormal motor system development in the majority of individuals with ASD suggesting that these deficits may be primary to the disorder. There are several unique advantages to studying motor development in ASD. First, the neurophysiological substrates of motor skills have been well-characterized via animal and human lesion studies. Second, many of the single- gene disorders associated with ASD also are characterized by motor dysfunctions. Third, recent evidence suggests that the onset of motor dysfunctions may precede the emergence of social and communication deficits during the first year of life in ASD. Motor deficits documented in ASD indicate disruptions throughout the neuroaxis affecting cortex, striatum, the cerebellum and brainstem. Questions remain regarding the timing and development of motor system alterations in ASD, their association with defining clinical features, and their potential for parsing heterogeneity in ASD. Pursuing these questions through neurobiologically informed translational research holds great promise for identifying gene-brain pathways associated with ASD

Integrated Analysis and Tools for Land Subsidence Surveying and Monitoring: a Semi-Quantitative Approach

This paper presents an integrated approach for land subsidence monitoring using measures coming from different sensors. Eni S.p.A., the main Italian oil and gas company, constantly surveys the land with all the state of the art and innovative techniques, and a method able to integrate the results is an important and actual topic. Nowadays the world is a multi-sensor platform, and measure integration is strictly necessary. Combining the different data sources should be done in a clever way, taking advantages from the best performances of each technique. An integrated analysis allows the interpretation of simultaneous temporal series of data, coming from different sources, and try to separate subsidence contributions. With this purpose Exelis VIS in collaboration with Eni S.p.A. customize PISAV (Permanent Interferometric Scatterometer Analysis and Visualization), an ENVI extension able to capitalize on and combine all the different data collected in the surveys. In this article are presented some significant examples to show the potential of this tool in oil and gas activity: a hydrocarbon storage field where the comparison between SAR and production volumes emphasise a correlation between the two measures in few steps; and a hydrocarbon production field with the Satellite Survey Unit (S.S.U.), where SAR, CGPS, piezometers and assestimeters measure in the same area at the same time, giving the opportunity to analyse data contextually. In the integrated analysis performed with PISAV not always a mathematical rigorous study is possible, and a semi-quantitative approach is the only method for results interpretation. As a result, in the first test case strong correlation between injected hydrocarbon volume and vertical displacement were highlighted; in the second one the integrated analysis has different advantages in monitoring the land subsidence: permits a first qualitative "differentiation" of the natural and anthropic component of subsidence, and also gives more reliability and coverage to each measurement, taking advantages from the strong points of each technique

187^{187}Re(\gamm,n) cross section close to and above the neutron threshold

The neutron capture cross section of the unstable nucleus $^{186}$Re is studied by investigating the inverse photodisintegration reaction $^{187}$Re($\gamma$,n). The special interest of the {\it s}-process branching point $^{186}$Re is related to the question of possible {\it s}-process contributions to the abundance of the {\it r}-process chronometer nucleus ^{187}$Re. We use the photoactivation technique to measure photodisintegration rates. Our experimental results are in good agreement with two different statistical model calculations. Although the cross sections predicted by both models for the inverse reaction$^{186}$Re(n,$\gamma$) is too low to remove the overproduction of$^{186}$Os; the two predicted neutron-capture cross sections differ by a factor of 2.4; this calls for future theoretical study.Comment: Phys. Rev. C, in pres

The role of cerebellar circuitry alterations in the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorders

The cerebellum has been repeatedly implicated in gene expression, rodent model and post-mortem studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). How cellular and molecular anomalies of the cerebellum relate to clinical manifestations of ASD remains unclear. Separate circuits of the cerebellum control different sensorimotor behaviors, such as maintaining balance, walking, making eye movements, reaching, and grasping. Each of these behaviors has been found to be impaired in ASD, suggesting that multiple distinct circuits of the cerebellum may be involved in the pathogenesis of patients' sensorimotor impairments. We will review evidence that the development of these circuits is disrupted in individuals with ASD and that their study may help elucidate the pathophysiology of sensorimotor deficits and core symptoms of the disorder. Preclinical studies of monogenetic conditions associated with ASD also have identified selective defects of the cerebellum and documented behavioral rescues when the cerebellum is targeted. Based on these findings, we propose that cerebellar circuits may prove to be promising targets for therapeutic development aimed at rescuing sensorimotor and other clinical symptoms of different forms of ASD