Analyzing and Comparing On-Line News Sources via (Two-Layer) Incremental Clustering

In this paper, we analyse the contents of the web site of two Italian press agencies and of four of the most popular Italian newspapers, in order to answer questions such as what are the most relevant news, what is the average life of news, and how much different are different sites. To this aim, we have developed a web-based application which hourly collects the articles in the main column of the six web sites, implements an incremental clustering algorithm for grouping the articles into news, and finally allows the user to see the answer to the above questions. We have also designed and implemented a two-layer modification of the incremental clustering algorithm and executed some preliminary experimental evaluation of this modification: it turns out that the two-layer clustering is extremely efficient in terms of time performances, and it has quite good performances in terms of precision and recall

Effects of Forwarder Operation on Soil Physical Characteristics: a Case Study in the Italian Alps

One of the most important issues in ground based wood extraction in forestry is to minimize the soil damage caused by heavy forestry machines. Generally, harvesting effects include changes in vegetation nutrient availability, soil microclimate/structure and litter quantity/ quality. Several studies were carried out on the impacts of heavy machines on the soil. However, only few studies took into consideration the effect of bogie tracks on the soil. The research focuses on the influence of forwarder machines equipped with bogie tracks on the soil compaction through changes of physical soil parameters and precisely bulk density, porosity, shear and penetration resistance. The study was carried out in a conifer stand of Larix decidua Mill. and Picea abies L. in a forest of North-eastern Italy during logging with forwarder. In this site, 3 tracks were identified, 2 concerned loaded forwarder passages and 1 control (no passages). The tracks were: (i) track A with a slope of 31% with 2 passages and track B with a slope of 3% having 10 passages. Soil samples were collected on all tracks in order to determine the influence of forwarder passes on soil physical properties. The results showed a different impact of logging operations on the soil of different tracks. \ua9 2016, University of Zagreb. All rights reserved

Forest Road Planning, Construction and Maintenance to Improve Forest Fire Fighting: a Review

Forest roads play a key-role in fire fighting activities. In fact, all ground-based activities are strictly related to the presence of forest roads as access to fire edge. In spite of this important role, forest roads are often planned and built without considering their use in fire fighting, and this also occurs in literature, where few studies are dedicated to the importance of forest roads in fire fighting. A well-developed and well-maintained forest road network is the answer to different needs in fire management. The objective of this review is to clarify basic principles for obtaining efficient road network also for fire fighting, collecting, defining and resuming the main roles, the most important aspects and the reported experiences to be taken into account in forest road network planning and maintenance in fire-prone areas. The most important themes treated are related to: i) the analysis of the functions of forest roads in fire prevention and suppression; ii) the importance of forest road planning and building also considering their importance for protecting forests against fires: iii) the construction and maintenance characteristics to be considered for building and maintaining an efficient forest road network against fires; iv) the importance of fire prevention and the related role of forest roads. Special attention has been dedicated to maintenance activities, because a not well-maintained forest road is a not efficient forest road, and it represents a useless economic and environmental cost

Effects of a Mask on Breathing Impairment During a Fencing Assault: A Case Series Study

Background: Fencers often complain of progressive difficulty in breathing during matches, which is generally attributed to restricted air, light and heat circulation from wearing a mask. Physiologically, the nasal structure generates airflow resistance that can reach -50% of the total respiratory resistance. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the presence of nasal obstruction in fencers and the relationship with the use of mask. Materials and Methods: An observational study on 40 fencers (18 males, 22 females) was conducted. Fencers perform a usual assault, wearing the mask and standardized physical exercises (running, sprints and obstacles) without the mask. ENT examination with a nasal flexible fiberscope, Anterior Active Rhinomanometry (AAR) and Peak Nasal Inspiratory Flow (PNIF) measurement before and after physical activity with or without the mask was recorded. Results: Before physical exercise, the total nasal airway resistance mean value for AAR was 0.33 ± 0.17 Pa/cm3/s at 150 Pa. After a match with the mask, the mean value was 0.28 ± 0.16 Pa/cm3/s. After normal physical exercises without mask, the mean value was 0.24 ± 0.15 Pa/cm3/s. Using t tests, statistically significant difference between nasal resistance before and after physical activity (P < 0.05) was observed, but no significant difference in nasal resistance between the basal value and that taken after a match wearing the masks (P = 0.1265). PNIF values significantly increase with exercise (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our study shows that wearing the mask causes increased breathing impairment in fencers, when compared with similar physical activity without the mask

Forest Road Planning, Construction and Maintenance to Improve Forest Fire Fighting: a Review

Forest roads play a key-role in fire fighting activities. In fact, all ground-based activities are strictly related to the presence of forest roads as access to fire edge. In spite of this important role, forest roads are often planned and built without considering their use in fire fighting, and this also occurs in literature, where few studies are dedicated to the importance of forest roads in fire fighting. A well-developed and well-maintained forest road network is the answer to different needs in fire management. The objective of this review is to clarify basic principles for obtaining efficient road network also for fire fighting, collecting, defining and resuming the main roles, the most important aspects and the reported experiences to be taken into account in forest road network planning and maintenance in fire-prone areas. The most important themes treated are related to: i) the analysis of the functions of forest roads in fire prevention and suppression; ii) the importance of forest road planning and building also considering their importance for protecting forests against fires: iii) the construction and maintenance characteristics to be considered for building and maintaining an efficient forest road network against fires; iv) the importance of fire prevention and the related role of forest roads. Special attention has been dedicated to maintenance activities, because a not well-maintained forest road is a not efficient forest road, and it represents a useless economic and environmental cost

Discharge variations of springs induced by strong earthquakes: the case of the mw 6.5 Norcia event (Italy, October 30 th 2016)

Earthquakes, dynamic strain, groundwater circulation, structural permeability