A Usable and People-Friendly Cultural Heritage: MAGNA Project, on the Route from Greece to Magna Graecia

The Western civilization is deeply rooted in the Ancient Greece culture; political, scientific, technological and philosophic knowledge were born in this epoch. Their diffusion was improved upon by the Greek expansionist policy in colonies of Magna Graecia in Mediterranean Basin, leaving important archaeological traces for the community. In this context, the European project “MAGNA, on the route from Greece to Magna Graecia” seeks to develop a transnational thematic touristic route between Greece and the Ionian coast of Calabria (Southern Italy), an ancient Magna Graecia colony, on the basis of cultural and historical connections between these two Mediterranean areas. The project aims to promote the touristic development of the Greek and Calabrian archaeological sites through dissemination activities. These will concern scientific subjects regarding the conservation of cultural heritage, both in sub-aerial and underwater environments; and study of the sea floor, and pollution of seawater by microplastics. This touristic product consists of cruises on a ship equipped with scientific instruments that offer unique cultural experiences, accompanied by multimedia supports. Experts drive people in the proposed activities, creating more awareness of sustainable and responsible tourism

Lab4Dive Mobile Smart Lab for Augmented Archaeological Dives

Lab4Dive project aims to design, develop, and validate an innovative, marketable and competitive product for supporting underwater archaeologists in surveying, documenting and preserving the underwater cultural heritage. These activities could be improved considerably with the introduction of new technological devices and tools, helping underwater archaeologists to collect data from the marine environment. The project will provide a solution by equipping divers with portable, low cost and relatively small sized data-gathering systems (i.e. environmental sensors, acoustic localization system, HD cameras, etc.), so they can significantly improve both the amount of data collected in a single mission and the management of time and human resources at disposal. In this paper, the preliminary developments and the tests of the Lab4Dive system will be presented, which is mainly based on two modules: Cloud Server Module and the Underwater Module. The latter is based on two systems: an underwater tablet, that supports the diver during the immersion providing an augmented navigation interface that guides the diver along the selected targets; and a Docking Station, to acquire and exchange data coming from different environmental sensors, a high-resolution camera and an acoustic localization system, physically connected to it

The Lab4Dive project: A mobile smart lab for augmented archaeological dives - Overview and first results

Marine archaeologists study a large number of submerged sites of interest around the world, which require continue diving explorations and monitoring. Although technology has improved a lot the research in the underwater environment, human intervention is preferred whenever depth makes the sites accessible by divers. This paper presents the concept, the first steps and the preliminary results of the Lab4Dive project, which is co-funded by the EMFF programme of EU, that aims to design, develop, and validate an innovative, marketable and competitive product for surveying, documenting and preserving Underwater Cultural Heritage. The archaeologist will be provided with an underwater tablet equipped with environmental sensors, where a properly designed data gathering system will be accessible through a dedicated application. Lab4Dive aims also to train young researchers and to encourage multi-disciplinary cooperation through the concept of a “Blue Lab”

Next generation millimeter wave backhaul radio: Overall system design for GbE 60GHz PtP wireless radio of high CMOS integration

Rhyzopertha dominica is a key pest of stored grain. Understanding the movement of this beetle on broad geographic scales is crucial, particularly when developing strategies to prevent the spread of phosphine resistance. We assessed population genetic structuring in this pest across Turkey, using a combination of mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase I) and microsatellite markers. In addition, we screened samples for Wolbachia, as this endosymbiont has previously been suggested to be associated with low mitochondrial genetic diversity in this beetle. Mitochondrial genetic diversity was low, with only six haplotypes identified. The genetic diversity was, however, substantially higher than that previously found in Australia or India, suggesting that R. dominica may have originated in the Middle East. Wolbachia were detected only at a single site, indicating they are not impacting the mitochondrial genetic diversity of R. dominica across Turkey. Microsatellite markers indicated there is significant geographic genetic structuring across Turkey, even among sites less than 100 km apart, suggesting there is little movement of beetles across regions within the country. This contrasts with the significantly higher levels of gene-flow found in Australia and the United States. We suggest that the limited movement of beetles across Turkey may be due to a combination of the historically localised agricultural practices (which limits anthropogenic movement among regions), and the mountainous landscape (which limits active flight among regions). Our results demonstrate that the movement of stored product pests may differ significantly across studies conducted in different countries. As a consequence, phosphine resistance management strategies must incorporate region specific information on the extent of beetle movement