Poster Abstract: MagoNode++ - A Wake-Up-Radio-Enabled Wireless Sensor Mote for Energy-Neutral Applications

The combination of low-power design, energy harvesting and ultra-low-power wake-up radios is paving the way for perpetual operation of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). In this work we present the MagoNode++, a novel WSN platform supporting energy harvesting and radio-triggered wake ups for energy- neutral applications. The MagoNode++ features an energy- harvesting subsystem composed by a light or thermoelectric harvester, a battery manager and a power manager module. It further integrates a state-of-the-art RF Wake-Up Receiver (WUR) that enables low-latency asynchronous communication, virtually eliminating idle listening at the main transceiver. Experimental results show that the MagoNode++ consumes only 2.8uA with the WUR in idle listening and the rest of the platform in sleep state, making it suitable for energy-constrained WSN scenarios and for energy-neutral applications

Chapter Il Duomo di Ravenna: rilievo e modellazione dei sarcofagi di S. Rinaldo e di S. Barbaziano

The 43rd UID conference, held in Genova, takes up the theme of ‘Dialogues’ as practice and debate on many fundamental topics in our social life, especially in these complex and not yet resolved times. The city of Genova offers the opportunity to ponder on the value of comparison and on the possibilities for the community, naturally focused on the aspects that concern us, as professors, researchers, disseminators of knowledge, or on all the possibile meanings of the discipline of representation and its dialogue with ‘others’, which we have broadly catalogued in three macro areas: History, Semiotics, Science / Technology. Therefore, “dialogue” as a profitable exchange based on a common language, without which it is impossible to comprehend and understand one another; and the graphic sign that connotes the conference is the precise transcription of this concept: the title ‘translated’ into signs, derived from the visual alphabet designed for the visual identity of the UID since 2017. There are many topics which refer to three macro sessions: - Witnessing (signs and history) - Communicating (signs and semiotics) - Experimenting (signs and sciences) Thanks to the different points of view, an exceptional resource of our disciplinary area, we want to try to outline the prevailing theoretical-operational synergies, the collaborative lines of an instrumental nature, the recent updates of the repertoires of images that attest and nourish the relations among representation, history, semiotics, sciences

Tunnel configurations and seismic isolation optimization in underground gravitational wave detectors

Gravitational wave detectors like the Einstein Telescope will be built a few hundred meters under Earth's surface to reduce both direct seismic and Newtonian noise. Underground facilities must be designed to take full advantage of the shielding properties of the rock mass to maximize the detector's performance. A major issue with the Einstein Telescope design are the corner points, where caverns need to be excavated in stable, low permeability rock to host the sensitive measurement infrastructure. This paper proposes a new topology that moves the top stages of the seismic attenuation chains and Michelson beam re-combination in separate excavations far from the beam-line and equipment induced noise while the test mass mirrors remain in the main tunnels. Distributing the seismic attenuation chain components over multiple tunnel levels allows the use of arbitrarily long seismic attenuation chains that relegate the seismic noise at frequencies completely outside the low-frequency noise budget, thus keeping the door open for future Newtonian noise suppression methods. Separating the input-output and recombination optics of different detectors into separate caverns drastically improves the observatory detection efficiency and allows staged commissioning. The proposed scheme eliminates structural and instrumentation crowding while the reduced sizes of excavations require fewer support measures

Combined impact of forest management and climate change on Boletus edulis productivity: may mycosilviculture mitigate the effects of climate extremes?

Climate change can affect forest ecosystems, especially through an increase of extreme events. In order to verify whether mycosilvicultural practices could mitigate the effects of climate change, productivity of Boletus edulis in Abies alba managed plantations was correlated to intense rainfall and temperature peaks during three years. Fungal productivity in each of the 21 days following an extreme climatic event was considered. Results showed that sudden increases in maximum temperature seemed to have an inhibitory effect on B. edulis productivity in sites with no or modest thinning. In sites with heavy thinning, productivity seemed to be favoured by high temperatures, starting from the twentieth day following the extreme event. Mycosilviculture may mitigate the climate change effects; however, further studies are needed to verify how climate-dominated effects can be altered by local factors and how ecological relationship between B. edulis and forest ecosystem will be affected

Preliminary Results on a "Real" Iris Recognition System under Challenging Operational Conditions

Iris recognition algorithms have recently demonstrated excellent performance in the authentication task. In this paper, we present a technology transfer project for the development and testing of a biometric recognition system under challenging operational conditions. Due to the stringent operational requirements, the design and implementation of the system included a phase of selecting technologically advanced hardware. The lack of corresponding data sets implied a novel acquisition step. The evaluation phase is preliminary as the data set is being expanded for the acquisition of new samples capable of highlighting the system’s critical issues. Current samples were acquired in very different lighting conditions and in the presence of glasses, which was not yet done in the literature. In addition to the selected hardware, such data allowed us to simulate a realistic environmental context for the project’s final prototype

Effects of acute NH3 air pollution on N-sensitive and N-tolerant lichen species

Lichens are sensitive to the presence of ammonia (NH3) in the environment. However, in order to use them as reliable indicators in biomonitoring studies, it is necessary to establish unequivocally the occurrence of certain symptoms following the exposure to NH3 in the environment. In this paper, we simulated an episode of acute air pollution due to the release of NH3. The biological effects of acute air pollution by atmospheric NH3 have been investigated using N-sensitive (Flavoparmelia caperata) and N-tolerant (Xanthoria parietina) species. Lichen samples were exposed to ecologically relevant NH3 concentrations for 8 weeks, simulating three areas of impact: a control area (2 μg/m(3)), an area of intermediate impact (2-35 μg/m(3)) and an area of high impact (10-315 μg/m(3)), with a peak of pollution reached between the fourth and fifth week. Ammonia affected both the photobiont and the mycobiont in F. caperata, while in X. parietina only the photosynthetic performance of the photobiont was altered after exposure to the highest concentration. In the photobiont of F. caperata we recorded chlorophyll degradation as indicated by OD435/415 ratio, decrease of the photosynthetic performance (as reflected by the maximum quantum yield of primary photochemistry FV/FM and the performance index PIABS); in the mycobiont, ergosterol reduction, membrane lipid peroxidation (as reflected by the increase of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances), alteration (decrease) of the secondary metabolite usnic acid. No effects were detected on caperatic acid and dehydrogenase activity. In X. parietina, the only signal determined by NH3 was the alteration of FV/FM and the performance index PIABS. The results suggest that physiological parameters in N-sensitive lichens well reflect the effects of NH3 exposure and can be applied as early indicators in monitoring studies

Imaging characteristics of pleural tumours

Malignant mesothelioma is doubtless the more known pleural tumour. However, according to the morphology code of the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICDO), there are several histological types of pleural neoplasms, divided into mesothelial, mesenchymal and lymphoproliferative tumours, that may be misdiagnosed. In this paper we summarise and illustrate the incidence aspects and the clinical, pathological and radiological features of these neoplasms

New trends in platinum and palladium complexes as antineoplastic agents

The discovery of cisplatin (cis-Pt(NH3)2Cl2) as an antineoplastic agent has focused attention on the rational design of metal complexes that can be potentially used in cancer chemotherapy. Today, the pharmaceutical industry invests more than $1 billion each year in the development of new metal-based drugs to improve biological activities, in terms of cellular selectivity, therapeutic efficiency and minimization of side effects. Chemotherapies based on transition metals play a key role in cancer treatment, and among them platinum and palladium are the most fruitful. This article reviews the main recent advances in the design and synthesis of platinum- and palladium-based drugs, their structural features and biological studies of them. The rationale for the choice of the ligand, related to leaving groups, the geometry of the complex and the oxidation state of the metal ion, is discussed. An overview of the main biological techniques and approaches for testing the interaction of these molecules with the biological environment, mainly DNA, to validate the effect is also provided

Estimating Environmental Contamination and Element Deposition at an Urban Area of Central Italy

Air quality monitoring in many urban areas is based on sophisticated and costly equipment to check for the respect of environmental quality standards, but capillary monitoring is often not feasible due to economic constraints. In such cases, the use of living organisms may be very useful to complement the sparse data obtained by physico-chemical measurements. In this study, the bioaccumulation of selected trace elements (Al, As, Cd, Ce, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, S, Sb, Zn) in lichen samples (Evernia prunastri) transplanted for three months at an urban area of Central Italy was investigated to assess the main environmental contaminants, their sources, and the fluxes of element depositions. The results pinpointed Cu and Sb as the main contaminants and suggested a common origin for these two elements from non-exhaust sources of vehicular traffic, such as brake abrasion. Most study sites were, however, found to be subjected to low or moderate environmental contamination, and the lowest contamination corresponded to the main green areas, confirming the important protective role of urban forests against air pollution. Ranges of estimated mean annual element deposition rates in the study area were similar or lower than those reported for other urban areas