INTEGRATION AND COMPARISON OF CLOSE-RANGE SFM METHODOLOGIES FOR THE ANALYSIS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HISTORICAL CITY CENTER OF BETHLEHEM

Abstract. The present paper illustrates a part of the methodological process of image-based acquisition developed for the documentation of the historical city center of Bethlehem, in the Middle East territory. The first mission of research activities, developed inside the international cooperation project "Management and control of urban growth for the development of heritage and improvement of life in the city of Bethlehem" (2018–2021), coordinated by University of Pavia in collaboration with the Municipality of Pavia and financed with the contribution of AICS (Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development), has been carried on through combined application of digital instruments, TLS and UAV, with the aim of developing "smart", low-cost and rapid execution procedures for the production of a reliable three-dimensional model of the historic city center. The paper shows the application of different photogrammetric survey campaigns in a portion of the historical town, acquisition problems and tests of morphometrical reliability of each output, in order to develop a general SfM database consisting of different definition levels of the photogrammetric models of historical city center.</p

TECHNIQUES FOR MOSAICS DOCUMENTATION THROUGH PHOTOGRAMMETRY DATA ACQUISITION. THE BYZANTINE MOSAICS OF THE NATIVITY CHURCH

Abstract. This paper describes a sequence of actions developed to guarantee a reliable and suitable dataset for the creation of detailed ortho images of Nativity Church mosaics. During acquisition campaigns, different photogrammetric techniques were tested, and different survey instruments were compared to improve the quality of the data obtained. The different outputs allow the adjustment of the instrument parameters and the acquisition methods, to structure a methodological process aimed at obtaining an accurate level of detail to describe the individual mosaic tile.From the realization of a reliable photomosaics an automatic vectorization system has been developed. This process, aimed at digitizing the tiles of the Church walls and the pavement mosaics, responds to a documentation and management purpose and to an objective of structuring a data acquisition method and post-production that can be replicated on other mosaic contexts

Soil and forest regeneration after different extraction methods in coppice forests

Coppice is considered the oldest form of sustainable forest management in the Mediterranean area. Generally, it produces rapidly woody biomass and environmental benefits. This research was implemented through an experimental design based on two steps: analyzing the impact of silvicultural treatment (coppice with standards) and logging on forest soil and tree regeneration. It included the soil and regeneration recovery capacity of forests managed as coppice related to different logging systems and treatments applied over a six-year period. The findings demonstrated that tree species regeneration composition was not affected by silvicultural treatment and only slightly by harvesting system. Instead, the physical, chemical and biological soil features were only marginally affected by the silvicultural treatment applied, but strongly impacted by harvesting operations, with clear differences between the systems. The least damaging harvesting system was TLS (Tree Length System) followed by FTS (Full Tree System) and SWS (Short Wood System) that showed a more intense impact. This trend started only six months after harvesting and continued for more than 36 months post-harvesting in a lesser dynamic. The recovery of coppicing was almost complete 36 months after harvesting, without substantial differences between logging systems. Recovery from logging showed a clear positive trend, but 52 months after harvesting only the TLS area had completely recovered. For FTS and SWS, recovery occurred but was very weak

Well-Being Gender Budgets: italian local governments cases

This paper implements the methodological tools developed at regional and local governments level on gender budgets, using Sen and Nussbaum capability approach to design Well-Being Gender Budgets (WBGB). Following the methods first discussed in Addabbo, Lanzi and Picchio “On Sustainable Human Development: Gender Auditing in a Capability Approach” (2004), the framework used in this paper is an extended reproductive well-being macro approach that includes unpaid work, focuses on gender inequalities in well-being, and uses an analytical perspective which places the process of social reproduction of the population among the structural processes of the economic system and as a fundamental condition of its sustainability.The paper is divided into four sections. After the Introduction, in the first section the perspective and method of WBGB are presented. In the second, the recent experiences of WBGB adopted in Italy at provincial district and regional level are introduced and the Italian local governments institutional context is presented. In the third, a list of capabilities, based on the administrative structure of the local governments adopting the gender budget, is proposed. In fact, the structure of the different Departments (Health, Education, Transports, etc.) is seen as the result of an historical assumption of public responsibility towards specific dimensions of residents’ well-being, such as: being healthy, educated, mobile in the territory, carer of others, etc.. The context analysis is then designed to provide empirical information on a set of effective functionings that areused to assess gender inequalities in a specific well-being domain.In the fourth section, new tools (capabilities matrices) are introduced, drawn to help public policy actors to become aware of the implications of their choices on the multidimensional well-being of the women and men living in their territory. Moreover, some examples of budgeting monetary resources, taking into account well-being policy objectives are illustrated, with particular reference to the Piedmont Region and the Rome Provincial District.The results of different Italian local-government experiments in WBGB are proposed to share a different way of approaching the assessment of the gender impact of public policies and to open a discussion on their pros and cons. We think that their tools could become a key to policy integration and a basis for social participation in a public reasoning process on well-being, but they need to be discussed in a wider forum, and the possibility of their application to other countries and at different government levels also needs to be discussed

Corsican pine (Pinus laricio Poiret) stand management: Medium and long lasting effects of thinning on biomass growth

With the aim of acquiring better comprehension of the ecological and productive aspects of the management of pine forests, we monitored logging damage and evaluated the effects of thinning on stand growth 20 years after the treatment in a Pinus laricio Poiret stand in central Italy. The objectives of the present study were to estimate the injury levels to the remaining trees after thinning; to assess logging damage in the long-term by monitoring residual trees at the end of thinning; to evaluate the effect of damage on the radial growth of trees; to assess the stand dynamics in relation to injury levels and the treatment applied in a twenty-year range; to understand a possible treatment return time; and to evaluate the existence of the "thinning shock". The results were that 20 years after treatment, the stand dynamics showed a complete recovery; logging damage did not affect the radial growth of P. laricio over time; a second treatment seem to be sustainable starting from the fifteenth year after the previous treatment; and the thinning shock can be clearly evaluated in the first six to seven years after the treatment

FROM REALITY-BASED MODEL TO GIS PLATFORM. MULTI-SCALAR MODELING FOR IRRIGATED LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT IN THE PAVIA PLAIN

This research aims to define a low-cost replicable methodology for obtaining fast multiscale information models. The experiments carried out were conducted by researchers from Dada LAB and PLAY experimental Laboratories of the University of Pavia, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, on the case study of the irrigated landscape of the Pavia plain. The entire work process was developed according to a low-cost purpose, starting from fast acquisition activities with UAV instruments, to the processing of photogrammetric data, urban and detailed scale modelling with open-source software, to the census, filing, and computerisation of the model. The resulting product is configured as a multiscale reality-based information system. A census card is associated with each constituent element of the model (crops, canals, valuable hydraulic artefacts). Connection to the GIS platform allows the user to query the model. The result is a digital system oriented to facilitate the management of the agricultural and irrigation landscape, and to digitally document and preserve the heritage of historical hydraulic existing artefacts. Two different GIS platforms for structuring the information system were tested. The first involved a high-budget solution using ESRI ArcGIS Pro/ArcSCENE software, and the second involved using QGIS software, an Open-Source Geographic Information System, to develop an accessible information system without license fees, to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of low-cost processes

Coarse woody debris variability due to human accessibility to forest

Originally published in Forests (MDPI): Behjou FK, Lo Monaco A*, Tavankar F, Venanzi R, Nikooy M, Picchio R (2018) Coarse woody debris variability as result of human accessibility to forest. Forests 9(9): article number 509 (open access) Corresponding author: Angela Lo Monaco, [email protected] DOI: 10.3390/f9090509 The article can be dowloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/9/509 Abstract: Coarse woody debris (CWD) plays an important role in supporting biodiversity and assisting ecological processes. Sometimes local people intervene modifying the expected distribution of CWD components, harvested as fuel wood. The effect of the human accessibility (HA) on the volume and characteristics of CWD (snag, downed log and stump) was investigated in the natural uneven-age mixed hardwood stands of the Hyrcanian forests of Iran to quantify the impact on CWD. The HA was classified into three classes (easy, medium and difficult) on the basis of slope class, slope direction to the nearest road and road type. As expected, a negative relationship between the degree of accessibility was found with respect to the main qualitative and quantitative indices referring to CWD. The results showed that the volume of CWD decreased with an increase in human accessibility class (HAC), thus the mean volume of CWD in the difficult, medium and easy accessibility classes were 14.87 m3 ha1, 8.84 m3 ha1 and 4.03 m3 ha1, respectively. The decrease in CWD volume was more associated with the decreasing volume of small diameter of low decayed downed logs. The ratio of snag volume to standing volume, the ratio of downed log volume to the volume of trees and the ratio of CWD volume to standing volume increased with a decrease in HAC, while the ratio of downed log volume to snag volume decreased with a decrease in HAC. No selective behaviour on the botanical species of CWD was recorded. For ecological forest management, the effect of HAC on CWD should be considered. A constant supply of snags and downed logs must be preserved to assure a high level of biodiversity. To balance social needs and biodiversity requirements, an increased level of CWD retention might be needed in areas with easy accessibility. The obtained results may be useful when ecological and socio-economical needs have to be taken into consideration in future policy-making decisions. Keywords: snag; downed log; stump; forest road; uneven-agemixed hardwood stands; Hyrcanian forest

A possible cause of misdiagnosis in tumors of the axilla: schwannoma of the brachial plexus

The Authors report a rare case of a 57 years old man affected by a left radial nerve schwannoma that occurred as an asymptomatic lesion of the axilla. At clinical examination the lump was undistinguishable from the most common axillary lymphadenopathy. A lymphoadenopathy was erroneously diagnosed with ultrasonography (US). This mistake was due to the low specificity of the instrumental methodology and to the rarity of an asymptomatic schwannoma of the infraclavicular brachial plexus. The neoplasia was excised without using the microscope. In the early post-operative follow up, a “falling” attitude of the wirst, the hand and the fingers appeared, peculiar for a lesion of the radial nerve. Furthermore a hypoaesthesia of the skin of first finger and of the first interosseus space was associated. The sensitive and motor electromyography showed a radial nerve suffering. The “stupor” of the nerve trunk was treated with steroid therapy for 7 days and the patient underwent to some series of neuro-rehabilitative physical therapy for 12 weeks. The postoperative total body CT, showed that the lesion was unique: therefore it was possible to exclude the diagnosis of neurofibromatosis. After 28 months electromyography and axillary US were performed showing the complete resolution of the motor and sensitive deficit and the absence of local recurrence

Imaging biomarkers in prostate cancer: role of PET/CT and MRI

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is currently the most widely used biomarker of prostate cancer (PCa). PSA suggests the presence of primary tumour and disease relapse after treatment, but it is not able to provide a clear distinction between locoregional and distant disease. Molecular and functional imaging, that are able to provide a detailed and comprehensive overview of PCa extension, are more reliable tools for primary tumour detection and disease extension assessment both in staging and restaging. In the present review we evaluate the role of PET/CT and MRI in the diagnosis, staging and restaging of PCa, and the use of these imaging modalities in prognosis, treatment planning and response assessment. Innovative imaging strategies including new radiotracers and hybrid scanners such as PET/MRI are also discussed

Evaluation of the oncogenic risk of diffuse gastric polyposis. A case report

Benign polyps of the stomach undergo malignant transformation at a rate correlating to the histological type and size of the proliferative lesion. We report a case of a 50-year-old Caucasian woman, affected by a diffuse gastric polyposis of both hyperplastic and adenomatous type. At endoscopy polyps were more than 1,000, scattered over the entire gastric cavity. The patient underwent total gastrectomy. The perilesional gastric mucosa was characterized by the presence of either atrophic or metaplastic areas and by a mild dysplasia. A single tubulo-villous adenomatous polyp was also present in the ascending tract of the colon. The absence of both high-grade dysplastic lesions and outbreaks of neoplastic transformation well correlated with the histochemical and molecular features, confirming the highly proliferative pattern of the polyps in the lack of signs of malignant progression