gis ila the gis for italian logistics in antarctica

A geographic information system (GIS) is a hardware/software tool which is very effective in collecting, storing, searching, handling, and visualizing geographic data together with their descriptive attributes. Such a tool is very helpful to approach a wide range of situations, including many logistic problems. ENEA, as the agency having the task of implementing the Italian Antarctic Program (PNRA), has decided to use a GIS, in order to increase the efficiency in managing the huge amount of data collected in the course of Italian activity in Antarctica, which counts fifteen expeditions up to now

Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy and rudist-bearing facies of the Simbruini Mts. (Central Apennines, Italy). New field data and a review

The rudist-bearing carbonate platform succession of Marsia, in the northern Simbruini Mts. (Central Apennines), is described for the first time through the analysis of two stratigraphic sections, and better characterized by the study of three single significant outcrops located outside the sections. The identification of the rudist assemblages, related facies and micropaleontological analyses of the collected samples allowed to determine the age of this Upper Cretaceous succession, and the definition of a biostratigraphic frame for the of the entire study area. The Marsia composite stratigraphic section encompasses the late Turonian-early/middle Campanian interval, and records the evolution from inner platform-low hydrodynamic setting in the late Turonian, to an open platform setting characterized by high hydrodynamism in the late Santonian-early/middle Campanian. This succession has been compared to the already described Trevi, Santa Maria dei Bisognosi and Subiaco carbonate platform successions, and to regional bioevent schemes, in order to constrain the evolution of these carbonate facies in a wider sedimentological and stratigraphic context. Since the late Turonian, a spreading of rudist facies occurred throughout the central-southern Apennines, representing the first Upper Cretaceous rudist bioevent. In the Simbruini area inner platform environments, characterized by soft fine-grained sediment, are widespread. The successions of Marsia and Trevi, which are marked by upper Turonian inner platform facies with a thriving oligospecific rradiolitid association characterized by semi-infaunal lifestyle, record this bioevent. During the Santonian and the early Campanian a gradual increase in hydrodynamic conditions is recorded by rudist assemblages with hippuritids and robust radiolitids, associated with rare corals and echinoids which mark the second and third Upper Cretaceous rudist bievent, recorded at Marsia, Trevi and Santa Maria dei Bisognosi. The middle Campanian-Maastrichtian bioevents are only represented at Santa Maria dei Bisognosi and Subiaco, where high energy bioclastic facies, dominated by the peculiar radiolitid Sabinia sp., occur

Ancient humans influenced the current spatial genetic structure of common walnut populations in Asia

Common walnut (Juglans regia L) is an economically important species cultivated worldwide for its wood and nuts. It is generally accepted that J. regia survived and grew spontaneously in almost completely isolated stands in its Asian native range after the Last Glacial Maximum. Despite its natural geographic isolation, J. regia evolved over many centuries under the influence of human management and exploitation. We evaluated the hypothesis that the current distribution of natural genetic resources of common walnut in Asia is, at least in part, the product of ancient anthropogenic dispersal, human cultural interactions, and afforestation. Genetic analysis combined with ethno-linguistic and historical data indicated that ancient trade routes such as the Persian Royal Road and Silk Road enabled long-distance dispersal of J. regia from Iran and Trans-Caucasus to Central Asia, and from Western to Eastern China. Ancient commerce also disrupted the local spatial genetic structure of autochthonous walnut populations between Tashkent and Samarkand (Central- Eastern Uzbekistan), where the northern and central routes of the Northern Silk Road converged. A significant association between ancient language phyla and the genetic structure of walnut populations is reported even after adjustment for geographic distances that could have affected both walnut gene flow and human commerce over the centuries. Beyond the economic importance of common walnut, our study delineates an alternative approach for understanding how the genetic resources of long-lived perennial tree species may be affected by the interaction of geography and human history

Radioactivity from 137Cs in plant drugs and their preparations after Chernobyl

The 137Cs content was determined in 406 plant drug samples harvested in 1986 and 1987 after the Chernobyl accident and in their preparations. Very high values were found in drugs produced in Eastern Europe and in Italy. The decoctions contain about 80% of 137Cs present in the drugs

Chaotic and linear statistics analysis in thermoacoustic instability detection

Recent experiments reveal that even simple thermoacoustic systems may exhibit nonlinear behavior, far more elaborate than period-1 limit cycle oscillations. Consequently, a new approach based on nonlinear dynamics is emerging besides conventional linear analysis to characterize unstable regimes in gas turbine combustors. This approach reducesor avoids the risk of misunderstanding the deterministic chaos, hidden in the measured signals also during stable combustion regimes, as stochastic noise. The gained information will be available to analytically formulate an index acting as the earliest warning signal of an impending oscillatory combustion instability. In light of this, we first apply the chaotic analisys to an unsteady thermoacoustic time series coming from a typical industrial combustor operated in a stability-to-humming/back-to-stability transition. Then, observing that the Rayleigh and extended Chu indices describe the instability as a linear-interaction-induced synchronization between heat release and flow disturbances, to account for nonlinear interactions, the chaotic synchronization theory is applied. In particular, the interdependence index E, a nonlinear causality detector, with no previous applications in combustion instability sensing, is proven to be more effective than linear analysis detectors, both in the early perception of self-sustained (chaotic or not) thermoacoustic oscillations and in gaining meaningful insight on unsteady combustor physics