Wiggly Strings in Linearized Brans-Dicke Gravity

The metric around a wiggly cosmic string is calculated in the linear approximation of Brans-Dicke theory of gravitation. The equations of motion for relativistic and non-relativistic particles in this metric are obtained. Light propagation is also studied and it is shown that photon trajectories can be bounded.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX, added reference

Gauge invariance of parametrized systems and path integral quantization

Gauge invariance of systems whose Hamilton-Jacobi equation is separable is improved by adding surface terms to the action fuctional. The general form of these terms is given for some complete solutions of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation. The procedure is applied to the relativistic particle and toy universes, which are quantized by imposing canonical gauge conditions in the path integral; in the case of empty models, we first quantize the parametrized system called ``ideal clock'', and then we examine the possibility of obtaining the amplitude for the minisuperspaces by matching them with the ideal clock. The relation existing between the geometrical properties of the constraint surface and the variables identifying the quantum states in the path integral is discussed.Comment: 23 page

Clarifying the smokescreen of Russian protected areas

Although in strictly protected areas no forest management and logging activities should be evident, a preliminary study detected that, even in the 200 areas with the highest protection of Russia, more than 2 Mha of trees have been lost between 2001 and 2018. Nonetheless, a relevant percentage of the actual drivers of tree loss in Russian strictly protected areas was surrounded by uncertainties due to several factors. Here, in an attempt to “clarify the smokescreen of Russian protected areas”, by validating previous remotely sensed data with new high-resolution satellite imagery and aerial images of land-use change, we shed more light on what has happened during the last 20 years. We used the same layer of tree loss from 2001 to 2020 but, instead of intersecting it with the MODIS data that could have been a source of underestimation of burned surfaces, we overlapped it to the layer of tree cover loss by dominant driver. We analysed the main drivers of tree loss in almost 200 strictly protected areas of Russia. We found that although fire is responsible for 75% of the loss in all strictly protected areas, forestry activities still account for 16%, and 9% is due to undefined causes. Therefore, uncontrolled wildfires (including those started before or after logging) and forestry activities are the main causes of 91% of the total tree loss. The combination of wildfires (often started intentionally) and forestry activities (illegally or barely legally put in place) caused a loss of an astonishing 3 million hectares. The fact that ≈10% of Russian tree cover was lost in two decades since 2001 only in strictly protected areas requires high attention by policymakers and important conservation actions to avoid losing other fundamental habitats and species during the next years when climate change and population growth can represent an additional trigger of an already dramatic situation. We call for an urgent response by national and local authorities that should start actively fighting wildfires, arsonists, and loggers even in inhabited remote areas and particularly in those included in strictly protected areas

Global phase time and path integral for string cosmological models

A global phase time is identified for homogeneous and isotropic cosmological models yielding from the low energy effective action of closed bosonic string theory. When the Hamiltonian constraint allows for the existence of an intrinsic time, the quantum transition amplitude is obtained by means of the usual path integral procedure for gauge systems.Comment: 12 pages, added reference

Cloud-based platform for intelligent healthcare monitoring and risk prevention in hazardous manufacturing contexts

This paper presents an intelligent cloud-based platform for workers healthcare monitoring and risk prevention in potentially hazardous manufacturing contexts. The platform is structured according to sequential modules dedicated to data acquisition, processing and decision-making support. Several sensors and data sources, including smart wearables, machine tool embedded sensors and environmental sensors, are employed for data collection, comprising information on offline clinical background, operational and environmental data. The cloud data processing module is responsible for extracting relevant features from the acquired data in order to feed a machine learning-based decision-making support system. The latter provides a classification of workers’ health status so that a prompt intervention can be performed in particularly challenging scenarios

La mutualità nel caregiving: una revisione della letteratura

Mutuality, considered the feeling of intimacy and the positive relationship between a caregiver and a arereceiver, is gaining an increasing interest in the international research arena, on the light of the socio-demographic changes and the increase in chronic degenerative diseases. The purpose of this article is to make a critical analysis of the literature on mutuality in order to identify its predictors and outcomes. A literature review was performed with the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, PsycInfo, ASSIA and Pciological Abstract. Twenty articles were selected. From the critical analysis of the literature mutuality emerges as key variable in the process of caregiving and in the mental and physical health of the caregiver and carereceiver. In caregivers, high levels of mutuality are associated with less stress, depression and burden and a better quality of life and perceived health; in patients, high mutuality improves the recovery process from an illness, reduces anxiety and depression and improves the quality of life. Future studies aimed at the study of this variable also in the Italian population could support the development of programs to improve the quality of life of caregivers and carereceiver