Mapping the avalanche risk: from survey to cartographic production. The avalanche bulletin of the Meteomont Service of the Alpine Troops Command

During the last decades, the process of explaining life-threatening natural hazards to the public has become a major public issue from the point of view of effective prevention policies. The avalanche risk and the communication methods aimed at its forecasting and prevention constitute the focus of this paper. Among the strategies for an effective communication of environmental risks, cartography plays a pivotal role. It has proved to be essential not only for communication purposes, but also for the planning of prompt and efficient preventive interventions; in so doing, it contributes to the reduction of avalanche-caused damages and deaths. The paper investigates prevention and forecasting activities of the Meteomont Service of the Alpine Troops Command (COMTA) of Bolzano (capital city of the province of South Tyrol - North Italy), resulting in the daily publication of avalanche bulletins (Bollettini valanghe), which also include hazard maps. Specifically, the phases that contribute to the production of the avalanche bulletin and the embedded avalanche risk maps will be firstly examined; secondly, such maps will be analysed in order to assess their communicative potential for the purpose of a correct interpretation aimed at the effective prevention of snow-related risks in mountain areas. Possible improvement will be proposed on the basis of the experience of several avalanche warning services worldwide

Correlation of the risk of breast cancer and disruption of the circadian rhythm (Review)

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few body reactions investigated with the trojan horse method

The Trojan Horse Method is an indirect method to measure reaction cross sections at energies of interest for nuclear astrophysics, exploiting the nuclei clustering properties. Here it is presented with its general features and detailed for the case of the ^22H(d,p)^33H and ^22H(d,n)^33He measurements, where interesting results for astrophysics and energy fusion power plants have been obtained

Trojan Horse Investigation for AGB Stellar Nucleosynthesis

Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars are among the most important astrophysical sites influencing the nucleosynthesis and the chemical abundances in the Universe. From a pure nuclear point of view, several processes take part during this peculiar stage of stellar evolution thus requiring detailed experimental cross section measurements. Here, we report on the most recent results achieved via the application of the Trojan Horse Method (THM) and Asymptotic Normalization Coefficient (ANC) indirect techniques, discussing the details of the experimental procedure and the deduced reaction rates. In addition, we report also on the on going studies of interest for AGB nucleosynthesis

The 10B(p,α)7Be S(E)-factor from 5 keV to 1.5 MeV using the Trojan Horse Method

The 10 B(p, α ) 7 Be reaction is the main responsible for the 10 B destruction in stellar interior [1]. In such environments this p-capture process occurs at a Gamow energy of 10 keV and takes places mainly through a resonant state (Ex = 8.701 MeV) of the compound 11 C nucleus. Thus a resonance right in the region of the Gamow peak is expected to significantly influence the behavior of the astrophysical S(E)-factor. The 10 B(p, α ) 7 Be reaction was studied via the Trojan Horse Method (THM) applied to the 2 H( 10 B, α 7 Be)n in order to extract the astrophysical S(E)-factor in a wide energy range from 5 keV to 1.5 MeV

A NOVEL APPROACH TO MEASURE THE CROSS SECTION OF THE 18O(p, α)15N RESONANT REACTION IN THE 0-200 keV ENERGY RANGE

The 18O(p, α)15N reaction is of primary importance to pin down the uncertainties, due to nuclear physics input, affecting present-day models of asymptotic giant branch stars. Its reaction rate can modify both fluorine nucleosynthesis inside such stars and oxygen and nitrogen isotopic ratios, which allow one to constrain the proposed astrophysical scenarios. Thus, an indirect measurement of the low-energy region of the 18O(p, α)15N reaction has been performed to access, for the first time, the range of relevance for astrophysical application. In particular, a full, high-accuracy spectroscopic study of the 20 and 90 keV resonances has been performed and the strengths deduced to evaluate the reaction rate and the consequences for astrophysics

From Resource to Marginal Element: The Hydro-Geography of Urban Canals in Rovereto between the 19th and 20th Centuries

Il contributo intende esplorare le potenzialità delle fonti geostoriche – cartografiche, fotografiche e documentarie – per ricostruire e analizzare la stratigrafia delle trasformazioni materiali del paesaggio delle rogge urbane di Rovereto, ad oggi pressoché rimosse dalla memoria collettiva ma fondamentali per lo sviluppo del fiorente sistema economico protoindustriale di Rovereto tra Otto e Novecento. Attraverso la dovuta contestualizzazione delle diverse fonti analizzate – cartografie prodotte tra la metà del XIX e del XX secolo, una ortofoto attuale, fotografie storiche e documenti di archivio – la ricerca mette in atto una correlazione tra il progressivo smantellamento dei canali urbani, evidenziato attraverso la georeferenziazione dei tratti di roggia visibili in ciascuna delle cartografie considerate, e il parallelo declino del settore serico, iniziato sul finire del XIX secolo. Il lavoro propone dunque una metodologia analitica per la ricostruzione di passati processi di territorializzazione, applicabile a diversi contesti urbani e aperta ad interessanti prospettive di approfondimento.The paper aims to investigate the potential of geo-historical sources – cartography, photography and archival documents – for retracing and analysing the material transformations of the urban canals of Rovereto, in the Trentino region. Mostly forgotten by the population, they were once pivotal to the development of the town’s thriving economic protoindustrial system between the 19th and the 20th centuries. The different sources being analysed – mid-19th- to mid- 20th-century maps, a current ortophotograph, historical photos and documents – were contextualised. This enabled to link the gradual culverting of the canals, which was highlighted by their georeferencing in each map, to the parallel decline of the silk sector, which started in the 20th century. Hence, the research provides analytical method- odology for retracing past territorialisation processes, which can be applied to different urban contexts and offers interesting perspectives for future researc

Reading and communicating emergencies through cartography: an analysis of the transmission of epidemiological data during the COVID-19 pandemic

Il contributo propone una analisi delle strategie di comunicazione e di rappresentazione grafica e cartografica dei dati epidemiologici messe in atto in Italia a scala regionale durante le prime fasi dell’emergenza Covid-19, con l’obiettivo di appurare l’esistenza di una correlazione tra rappresentazioni chiare e comprensibili, in linea con il concetto di legibility di James C. Scott, e interventi efficienti ed efficaci per il contrasto della diffusione del virus. La ricerca, incentrata sui siti istituzionali delle Regioni, delle Aziende Sanitarie Locali e delle Protezioni Civili italiane, mette in luce il ruolo delle cartografie quali strumento euristico fondamentale, dimostrandone, al contempo, il potenziale comunicativo.The paper provides an analysis of the different strategies adopted by the Italian regions to communicate and visually represent epidemiological data concerning the Covid-19 health crisis, highlighting the use of cartographies. The aim is to prove the existence of a link between clear and comprehensible representations, in line with James C. Scott’s concept of legibility, and efficient and effective interventions to counter the spread of the virus. The research, which focuses on the websites of the Regions, of the Local Health Authorities and of the Civil Protection, underlines the role of cartography as an important analytical and communicative tool

Almond [<i>Prunus dulcis</i> (Mill.) DA Webb] Processing Residual Hull as a New Source of Bioactive Compounds: Phytochemical Composition, Radical Scavenging and Antimicrobial Activities of Extracts from Italian Cultivars (‘Tuono’, ‘Pizzuta’, ‘Romana’)

In this study we developed a new extract, by the use of conventional solid-solvent extraction and a food-grade hydroalcoholic solvent, rich in phenolic and triterpenoid components from almon hull to be employed as functional ingredient in food, pharma and cosmetic sectors. Two autochthonous Sicilian cultivars (‘Pizzuta’ and ‘Romana’) and an Apulian modern cultivar (‘Tuono’) have been tested for the production of the extract. Results showed that the two Sicilian varieties, and in particular the ‘Romana’ one, present the best characteristics to obtain extracts rich in triterpenoids and hydroxycinnamic acids, useful for the production of nutraceutical supplements. About triterpenoids, the performance of the hydroalcoholic extraction process allowed to never go below 46% of recovery for ‘Pizzuta’ samples, with significantly higher percentages of recovery for ‘Tuono’ and ‘Romana’ extracts (62.61% and 73.13%, respectively) while hydroxycinnamic acids were recovered at higher recovery rate (84%, 89% and 88% for ‘Pizzuta’, ‘Romana’ and ‘Tuono’ extracts, respectively). Invitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities exerted by the extracts showed promising results with P. aeruginosa being the most affected strain, inhibited up to the 1/8 dilution with ‘Romana’ extract. All the three tested extracts exerted an antimicrobial action up to 1/4 dilutions but ‘Romana’ and ‘Pizzuta’ extracts always showed the greatest efficacy