Cosmogenic neutrino fluxes under the effect of active-sterile secret interactions

Ultra High Energy cosmogenic neutrinos may represent a unique opportunity to unveil possible new physics interactions once restricted to the neutrino sector only. In the present paper we study the observable effects of a secret active-sterile interactions, mediated by a pseudoscalar, on the expected flux of cosmogenic neutrinos. The results show that for masses of sterile neutrinos and pseudoscalars of hundreds MeV, necessary to evade cosmological, astrophysical and elementary particle constraints, the presence of such new interactions can significantly change the energy spectrum of cosmogenic neutrinos at Earth in the energy range from PeV to ZeV. Interestingly, the distortion of the spectrum results to be detectable at GRAND apparatus if the scalar mediator mass is around 250 MeV and the UHECRs are dominated by the proton component. Larger mediator masses or a chemical composition of UHECRs dominated by heavier nuclei would require much larger cosmic rays apparatus which might be available in future.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Density and sustainability as a new paradigm for urban resilience. European programs for territorial adaptation projects

Risk management due to the unstoppable effects of climate change on the territory is an increasingly topical subject in the international scientific debate. The theme of changing cities involves different disciplinary sectors, so it would not be exhaustive to analyse it from a unilateral point of view. The contribution proposes a multidisciplinary and multi-scale analysis related to the adaptation measures of urban agglomerations through a socio-economic analysis aimed at achieving a high level of security, efficiency of ecosystems and social inclusion. Overcoming the sectorial and specialist approach of modernist urbanism is the basis for addressing what appears to be the "challenge" of the new millennium. It is authors' conviction that the physical transformations of space, in the presence of geomorphological alterations due to climate change, must be based on strategic policies in the medium and long term, shared and articulated at the different levels of government of the territory. In this frame of reference, the question of density merges with the concept of sustainability, overcoming it, becoming a new paradigm of urban resilience

Landscape policies, urban and territorial planning to support SNSVS and SNAC

The article is part of the broader debate concerning the processes of transposition, on a local scale, of the national strategies of socio-economic and environmental interest. Specifically, the focus will be on the integration of the objectives of two specific Strategies: National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (hereinafter SNAC) and National Strategy for Sustainable Development (hereinafter SNSVS), in territorial government policies, and among territorial planning tools. From a doctrinal point of view, these Strategies can be registered in the category of Soft Laws; this particular juridical “nature” involves some administrative weaknesses for which the SNAC and the SNSVS need tools and institutes dedicated to their transposition on a local scale. Landscape, urban and territorial planning represent the suitable tools through which to implement the aims of these Strategies while favouring, at the same time, greater participation of local institutions in decision-making processes, in compliance with the principles of multilevel governance desired by the European Landscape Convention

Classification of bearing faults through time-frequency analysis and image processing

The present work proposes a new technique for bearing fault classification that combines time-frequency analysis with image processing. This technique uses vibration signals from bearing housings to detect bearing conditions and classify the faults. By means of Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD), each vibration signal is decomposed into Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs). Principal Components Analysis (PCA) is then performed on the matrix of the decomposed IMFs and the important principal components are chosen. The spectrogram is obtained for each component by means of the Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) to obtain an image that represents the time-frequency relationship of the main components of the analyzed signal. Furthermore, Image Moments are extracted from the spectrogram images of principal components in order to obtain an array of features for each signal that can be handled by the classification algorithm. 8 images are selected for each signal and 17 moments for each image, so an array of 136 features is associated with every signal. Finally, the classification is performed using a standard machine learning technique, i.e. Support Vector Machine (SVM), in the proposed technique. The dataset used in this work include data collected for various rotating speeds and loads, in order to obtain a set of different operating conditions, by a Roller Bearing Faults Simulator. The results have shown that the developed technique provides classification effectively, with a single classifier, of bearing faults characterized by different rotating speeds and different loads

Exploiting heterogeneous data for the estimation of particles size distribution in industrial plants

In industrial environments, it is often difficult and expensive to collect a good amount of data to adequately train expert systems for regression purposes. Therefore the usage of already available data, related to environments showing similar characteristics, could represent an effective approach to find a good balance between regression performance and the amount of data to gather for training. In this paper, the authors propose two alternative strategies for improving the regression performance by using heterogeneous data, i.e. data coming from diverse environments with respect to the one taken as reference for testing. These strategies are based on a standard machine learning algorithm, i.e. the Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The employed data came from measurements in industrial plants for energy production through the combustion of coal powder. The powder is transported in air within ducts and its size is detected by means of Acoustic Emissions (AE) produced by the impact of powder on the inner surface of the duct. The estimation of powder size distribution from AE signals is the task addressed in this work. Computer simulations show how the proposed strategies achieve a relevant improvement of regression performance with respect to the standard approach, using ANN directly on the dataset related to the reference plant

How the interpretation of drivers' behavior in virtual environment can become a road design tool: a case study

Driving is the result of a psychological process that translates data, signals and direct/indirect messages into behavior, which is continuously adapted to the exchange of varying stimuli between man, environment and vehicle. These stimuli are at times not perceived and at others perceived but not understood by the driver, even if they derive from tools (vertical signs, horizontal marking) specifically conceived for his safety. The result is unsafe behavior of vehicle drivers. For this reason, the road environment needs to be radically redesigned. The paper describes a research, based on real and virtual environment surveys, aimed to better understand drivers' action-reaction mechanisms inside different scenarios, in order to gain informations useful for a correct organization (design) of the road space. The driving simulator can help in developing, from road to laboratory, the study of new road design tools (geometrical, compositional, constructive ones, street furniture, etc.), because it can be used to evaluate solutions before their usefulness is proved on the road

Koncentracija in dinamika ogljikovega dioksida, radioaktivnosti in radona v dveh jamah italijanskega klasičnega krasa (občini Zagradec (Sagrado) in Sovodnje ob Soči (Savogna d’Isonzo)

A 13-month monitoring was carried out in two caves that open up in the north-western sector of the Classical Karst (Gorizia Karst): Antro Casali Neri and Grotta Due Piani. In both, ß + γ radioactivity, radon and CO2 have a seasonal pattern, with maximums in summer and minimums in winter, even if their trends are somewhat different, due to the different morphological and thermal conditions. The increases begin when the outside temperature becomes higher than that of the caves and vice versa, decrease is recorded when outside temperature is below the cave temperature. The more modest daily variations of radon, on the other hand, are evident when its concentration is low. Sometimes they are related to meteorological variations or day/night rhythms, but, in other cases, they have no clearly identifiable causes. In Casali Neri cave the maximum radon activity was 50161 Bq/m3, while the CO2 concentration went off the instrument's scale (> 9999 ppm) only in the first days of August 2021. The highest radioactivity value was also recorded in this cave with 0.85 μSv/h (average of 8 minutes of recording), with peaks up to 1.05 μSv/h. In Due Piani cave, on the other hand, the radon activity was lower, with a maximum of 22138 Bq/m3, however, the CO2 values went off the scale from July to the first days of October 2021. In both cases, in the warm months, radon and CO2 appear to come mainly from the fractured rock of epikarstic zone. Further accumulations can then form in points with poor ventilation. Furthermore, research has shown that high concentrations of these two gases are not only typical of large or deep caves, but also of modest and easily accessible caves.Izvedeno je bilo 13-mesečno spremljanje v dveh jamah, ki se odpirata v severozahodnem delu klasičnega krasa (Goriški Kras), in sicer Casali Neri in Due Piani. V obeh so radioaktivnost žarkov ß + γ, radon in CO2 sezonsko značilni, z najvišjimi vrednostmi poleti in najnižjimi vrednostmi pozimi, čeprav so njihovi trendi nekoliko drugačni zaradi različnih morfoloških in toplotnih razmer. Vrednosti se povečajo, kadar je zunanja temperatura višja od temperature v jamah, v obratnem primeru se vrednost znižajo. Ob tem so, kadar je njegova koncentracija nizka, opazna manjša dnevna nihanja vrednosti radona. Včasih so povezana z meteorološkimi spremembami ali izmenjavo dneva in noči, v drugih primerih pa nimajo jasno prepoznavnih vzrokov. V jami Casali Neri je bila največja aktivnost radona 50161 Bq/m3, koncentracija CO2 pa je z instrumentalne lestvice (> 9999 ppm) izginila šele v prvih dneh avgusta 2021. V tej jami je bila zaznana tudi največja vrednost radioaktivnosti, in sicer 0,85 μSv/h (povprečno 8 minut snemanja), najvišja vrednost je segala celo do 1,05 μSv/h. V jami Due Piani pa je bila aktivnost radona nižja, pri čemer je bila največja vrednost 22138 Bq/m3, vrednosti CO2 pa so z lestvice izginile od julija do prvih dni oktobra 2021. V obeh primerih se zdi, da v toplih mesecih radon in CO2 izhajata predvsem iz razpokane kamnine epikraškega območja. Nadaljnja kopičenja so možna na območjih, kjer je slaba prezračenost. Poleg tega so raziskave pokazale, da visoke koncentracije teh dveh plinov niso značilne le za velike ali globoke jame, temveč tudi za manjše in lahko dostopne jame

La città in campagna e la campagna in città. Architettura e natura. Atti del IV Convegno diffuso internazionale San Venanzo, Terni, 13-17 settembre 2016

The volume collects the proceedings of the IV international widespread convention held in September 2016 in San Venanzo (Italy) within the event "Architecture and Nature - Simonetta Bastelli Award". It is divided into as many sections as were the days and the different topics addressed: "The network/The systems", "City in the Countryside", "Countryside in the City", in addition to the lectio magistralis of the Portuguese landscape designer João Ferreira Nunes and the conference of Perry Maas of the Rotterdam WEST 8 design team - Urban Design & Landscape Architecture. The intent of the publication, as well as of the convention, is to understand the relationships and interdependencies existing between the city and the countryside in intlight of a new model of sustainable development

La città in campagna e la campagna in città. Architettura e natura. Atti del IV Convegno diffuso internazionale San Venanzo, Terni, 13-17 settembre 2016

The volume collects the proceedings of the IV international widespread convention held in September 2016 in San Venanzo (Italy) within the event "Architecture and Nature - Simonetta Bastelli Award". It is divided into as many sections as were the days and the different topics addressed: "The network/The systems", "City in the Countryside", "Countryside in the City", in addition to the lectio magistralis of the Portuguese landscape designer João Ferreira Nunes and the conference of Perry Maas of the Rotterdam WEST 8 design team - Urban Design & Landscape Architecture. The intent of the publication, as well as of the convention, is to understand the relationships and interdependencies existing between the city and the countryside in intlight of a new model of sustainable development

Squamous cell carcinoma of the middle rectum: Report of a case and literature overview

AbstractINTRODUCTIONSquamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) of the middle rectum is a rare disease with an estimated incidence of 0.1–0.25/1000 colorectal neoplasms. Literature is represented essentially by case report and short series, and only seventy-six cases of colorectal squamous carcinoma have been documented in literature.PRESENTATION OF CASEWe report the case of a SCC of the middle rectum, associated to an ureteral inverted papilloma, occurred in a patient with a past history of prostate cancer treated with prostatectomy and radiotherapy.DISCUSSIONColorectal squamous-cell carcinoma is a rare disease. This localization is more frequent than the right colon, but no more epidemiological informations are actually available apart from a slight predominance of the female sex. Risk factors for SCC of the rectum are unknown and many hypotheses have been evocated. Because of its rarity, the interpretation of available information is clouded by a lack of uniformity in diagnosis and treatment.CONCLUSIONTreatment of SCC remains very challenging, and the acquisition of more consistent data is needed