Suitability of CASI and ATM airborne remote sensing data for archaeological subsurface structure detection under different land cover: the Arpi case study (Italy)

In this paper multi-sensor airborne remote sensing has been applied to the Arpi archaeological area of southern Italy to assess its suitability for detecting and locating subsurface archaeological structures and to delineate subsurface remains beyond the current limits of ground geophysical data. To this aim, the capability of CASI and ATM reflectances in the VIS-NIR spectral range and the ATM apparent thermal inertia for subsurface archaeological prospection have been assessed at different sites of the Arpi archaeological area. First, linear spectral mixture analysis has been applied to CASI and ATM images to retrieve the dominant land cover for the selected subsurface structures, and then, the spectral bands most effective for the archaeological buried structure detection as a function of the land cover characteristics have been evaluated. The results reveal that multi/hyperspectral airborne remote sensing data can represent an effective and rapid tool to detect subsurface structures within different land cover contexts. Therefore, the proposed methodology can be used to perform a preliminary analysis of those areas where large cultural heritage assets occur by prioritizing and localizing the sites where to apply archaeological prospection

Relations between morphological settings and vegetation covers in a medium relief landscape of Central Italy

Morphometric units and vegetation classes were determined by applying two classification methods to the Soratte Mount area, a medium relief structure within the Italian Latium region. The study aims at defining the relationships between vegetation and landform types and highlighting the main morphological characteristics within examined land cover classes. These were the result of the application of a supervised classification method to the first 28 (VIS-NIR) bands of the airborne MIVIS data collected within an extensive survey campaign over Rome Province. The analysis was supported by photo-interpretation of peculiar MIVIS band combinations and by data acquired during field surveys and from a pre-existing vegetation map. The morphometric data were obtained by processing a raster DEM created from topographic maps. These data were processed by means of a new morphometric classification method based on the statistical multivariate investigation of local topographic gradients, calculated along the 8 azimuth directions of each pixel neighbourhood. Such approach quickly estimates the spatial distribution of different types of homogeneous terrain units, emphasizing the impact of erosional and tectonic processes on the overall relief. Mutual relations between morphometric units and vegetation types were assessed by performing a correspondence analysis between the results of the two classifications

A new joint application of non-invasive remote sensing techniques for structural health monitoring

This paper aims at analysing the potentialities of a new technological approach for the dynamic monitoring of civil infrastructures. The proposed approach is based on the joint use of a high-frequency thermal camera and a microwave radar interferometer to measure the oscillations due to traffic excitations of the Sihlhochstrasse Bridge, Switzerland, which was selected as test bed site in the ISTIMES project (EU - Seventh Framework Programme). The good quality of the results encourages the use of the proposed approach for the static and dynamic investigation of structures and infrastructures. Moreover, the remote sensing character of the two applied techniques makes them particularly suitable to study structures located in areas affected by natural hazard phenomena, and also to monitor cultural heritage buildings for which some conventional techniques are considered invasive. Obviously, their reliability needs further experiments and comparisons with standard contact sensors

Optimal Spectral Domain Selection for Maximizing Archaeological Signatures: Italy Case Studies

Different landscape elements, including archaeological remains, can be automatically classified when their spectral characteristics are different, but major difficulties occur when extracting and classifying archaeological spectral features, as archaeological remains do not have unique shape or spectral characteristics. The spectral anomaly characteristics due to buried remains depend strongly on vegetation cover and/or soil types, which can make feature extraction more complicated. For crop areas, such as the test sites selected for this study, soil and moisture changes within near-surface archaeological deposits can influence surface vegetation patterns creating spectral anomalies of various kinds. In this context, this paper analyzes the usefulness of hyperspectral imagery, in the 0.4 to 12.8 μm spectral region, to identify the optimal spectral range for archaeological prospection as a function of the dominant land cover. MIVIS airborne hyperspectral imagery acquired in five different archaeological areas located in Italy has been used. Within these archaeological areas, 97 test sites with homogenous land cover and characterized by a statistically significant number of pixels related to the buried remains have been selected. The archaeological detection potential for all MIVIS bands has been assessed by applying a Separability Index on each spectral anomaly-background system of the test sites. A scatterplot analysis of the SI values vs. the dominant land cover fractional abundances, as retrieved by spectral mixture analysis, was performed to derive the optimal spectral ranges maximizing the archaeological detection. This work demonstrates that whenever we know the dominant land cover fractional abundances in archaeological sites, we can a priori select the optimal spectral range to improve the efficiency of archaeological observations performed by remote sensing data

Indagini preliminari su ripartizione e morfologia della prateria a <i>Posidonia oceanica</i> nella rada di Alghero = Preliminary investigations on distribution and morphology of a <i>Posidonia oceanica</i> meadow in the bay of Alghero

An extensive side scan sonar survey has been conducted in the gulf of Alghero (N Sardinia, Italy) in order to map the main morphological and habitat features of the seafloor. The local Posidonia oceanica meadow covers a total area of 13 km2, extending from 2.5 to 35 meters depth and is medially divided by an ancient river channel developed during the last glacial stage

Anlisis Technology Acceptance Model Pada Industri Perbankan

The first aim of this study was to determine the influence perception of the perceived benefits (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) of the attitude (ATU) in receiving information technology (ATI). This research is an explanatory research. Respondents are bank employees as much as 118 peoples. To test the effect of each variable used structural equation modeling analysis techniques (SEM). The results showed a variable perception ease of use (PEU) positive and significant impact on the attitude of using IT (ATU). Variable perception perceived benefits (PU) is positive but not significant effect on attitudes using IT (ATU). Variable perception easy to use (PEU) positive and significant impact on the perceived benefits perception variables (PU). Variable attitude of using IT (ATU) positive and significant impact on the acceptance of IT (ATI). There are research findings that do not support the results of previous studies, namely, perception perceived benefits (PU) but not significant positive effect on the attitude of using IT (ATU). This shows the attitude of the management agreed that the use of information technology is an important banking and its presence is felt very beneficial to the organization and operational staff, but not the key element in determining the attitude to use IT. The management should be able to realize the quality of skilled workers and professional service. The banking industry can standardize that can be used as a reference for the development of IT. IT use also should be able to grow the level of trust and a culture conducive to the customer as a party that directly or indirectly affect the use of IT

Human mesenchymal stromal cells inhibit tumor growth in orthotopic glioblastoma xenografts

Background: Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) represent an attractive tool for cell-based cancer therapy mainly because of their ability to migrate to tumors and to release bioactive molecules. However, the impact of MSCs on tumor growth has not been fully established. We previously demonstrated that murine MSCs show a strong tropism towards glioblastoma (GBM) brain xenografts and that these cells are able to uptake and release the chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel (PTX), maintaining their tropism towards the tumor. Here, we address the therapy-relevant issue of using MSCs from human donors (hMSCs) for local or systemic administration in orthotopic GBM models, including xenografts of patient-derived glioma stem cells (GSCs). Methods: U87MG or GSC1 cells expressing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) were grafted onto the striatum of immunosuppressed rats. Adipose hMSCs (Ad-hMSCs), fluorescently labeled with the mCherry protein, were inoculated adjacent to or into the tumor. In rats bearing U87MG xenografts, systemic injections of Ad-hMSCs or bone marrow (BM)-hMSCs were done via the femoral vein or carotid artery. In each experiment, either PTX-loaded or unloaded hMSCs were used. To characterize the effects of hMSCs on tumor growth, we analyzed survival, tumor volume, tumor cell proliferation, and microvascular density. Results: Overall, the AD-hMSCs showed remarkable tropism towards the tumor. Intracerebral injection of Ad-hMSCs significantly improved the survival of rats with U87MG xenografts. This effect was associated with a reduction in tumor growth, tumor cell proliferation, and microvascular density. In GSC1 xenografts, intratumoral injection of Ad-hMSCs depleted the tumor cell population and induced migration of resident microglial cells. Overall, PTX loading did not significantly enhance the antitumor potential of hMSCs. Systemically injected Ad- and BM-hMSCs homed to tumor xenografts. The efficiency of hMSC homing ranged between 0.02 and 0.5% of the injected cells, depending both on the route of cell injection and on the source from which the hMSCs were derived. Importantly, systemically injected PTX-loaded hMSCs that homed to the xenograft induced cytotoxic damage to the surrounding tumor cells. Conclusions: hMSCs have a therapeutic potential in GBM brain xenografts which is also expressed against the GSC population. In this context, PTX loading of hMSCs seems to play a minor role

Characterization of extracellular vesicles in osteoporotic patients compared to osteopenic and healthy controls

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are mediators of a range of pathological conditions. However, their role in bone loss disease has not been well understood. In this study we characterized plasma EVs of 54 osteoporotic (OP) postmenopausal women compared to 48 osteopenic (OPN) and 44 healthy controls (CN), and we investigated their effects on osteoclasts and osteoblasts. We found no differences between the three groups in terms of anthropometric measurements and biochemical evaluation of serum calcium, phosphate, creatinine, PTH, 25-hydroxy vitamin D and bone biomarkers, except for an increase of CTX level in OP group. FACS analysis revealed that OP patients presented a significantly increased number of EVs and RANKL(+) EVs compared with both CN and OPN subjects. Total EVs are negatively associated with the lumbar spine T-score and femoral neck T-score. Only in the OPN patients we observed a positive association between the total number of EVs and RANKL(+) EVs with the serum RANKL. In vitro studies revealed that OP EVs supported osteoclastogenesis of healthy donor peripheral blood mononuclear cells at the same level observed following RANKL and M-CSF treatment, reduced the ability of mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into osteoblasts, while inducing an increase of OSTERIX and RANKL expression in mature osteoblasts. The analysis of miRNome revealed that miR-1246 and miR-1224-5p were the most upregulated and downregulated in OP EVs; the modulated EV-miRNAs in OP and OPN compared to CN are related to osteoclast differentiation, interleukin-13 production and regulation of canonical WNT pathway. A proteomic comparison between OPN and CN EVs evidenced a decrease in fibrinogen, vitronectin, and clusterin and an increase in coagulation factors and apolipoprotein, which was also upregulated in OP EVs. Interestingly, an increase in RANKL(+) EVs and exosomal miR-1246 was also observed in samples from patients affected by Gorham-Stout disease, suggesting that EVs could be good candidate as bone loss disease biomarkers. (c) 2022 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR)