23 research outputs found
Investigation on Farmland Abandonment of Terraced Slopes Using Multitemporal Data Sources Comparison and Its Implication on Hydro-Geomorphological Processes
This paper presents a quantitative multi\u2010temporal analysis performed in a GIS environment and based on different spatial information sources. The research is aimed at investigating the land use transformations that occurred in a small coastal terraced basin of Eastern Liguria from the early 1950s to 2011. The degree of abandonment of cultivated terraced slopes together with its influence on the distribution, abundance, and magnitude of rainfall\u2010induced shallow landslides were accurately analysed. The analysis showed that a large portion of terraced area (77.4%) has been abandoned over approximately sixty years. This land use transformation has played a crucial role in influencing the hydro\u2010geomorphological processes triggered by a very intense rainstorm that occurred in 2011. The outcomes of the analysis revealed that terraces abandoned for a short time showed the highest landslide susceptibility and that slope failures affecting cultivated zones were characterized by a lower magnitude than those which occurred on abandoned terraced slopes. Furthermore, this study highlights the usefulness of cadastral data in understanding the impact of rainfall\u2010induced landslides due to both a high spatial and thematic accuracy. The obtained results represent a solid basis for the investigation of erosion and the shallow landslide susceptibility of terraced slopes by means of a simulation of land use change scenarios
Privacy and Transparency in Blockchain-based Smart Grid Operations
In the past few years, blockchain technology has emerged in numerous smart grid applications,
enabling the construction of systems without the need for a trusted third party. Blockchain
offers transparency, traceability, and accountability, which lets various energy management system
functionalities be executed through smart contracts, such as monitoring, consumption analysis,
and intelligent energy adaptation. Nevertheless, revealing sensitive energy consumption information
could render users vulnerable to digital and physical assaults. This paper presents a novel method
for achieving a dual balance between privacy and transparency, as well as accountability and
verifiability. This equilibrium requires the incorporation of cryptographic tools like Secure Mul-
tiparty Computation and Verifiable Secret Sharing within the distributed components of a multi-
channel blockchain and its associated smart contracts. We corroborate the suggested architecture
throughout the entire process of a Demand Response scenario, from the collection of energy data
to the ultimate reward. To address our proposalâs constraints, we present countermeasures against
accidental crashes and Byzantine behavior while ensuring that the solution remains appropriate
for low-performance IoT devices
Privacy-Aware Architectures for NFC and RFID Sensors in Healthcare Applications
World population and life expectancy have increased steadily in recent years, raising issues regarding access to medical treatments and related expenses. Through last-generation medical sensors, NFC (Near Field Communication) and radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies can enable healthcare internet of things (H-IoT) systems to improve the quality of care while reducing costs. Moreover, the adoption of point-of-care (PoC) testing, performed whenever care is needed to return prompt feedback to the patient, can generate great synergy with NFC/RFID H-IoT systems. However, medical data are extremely sensitive and require careful management and storage to protect patients from malicious actors, so secure system architectures must be conceived for real scenarios. Existing studies do not analyze the security of raw data from the radiofrequency link to cloud-based sharing. Therefore, two novel cloud-based system architectures for data collected from NFC/RFID medical sensors are proposed in this paper. Privacy during data collection is ensured using a set of classical countermeasures selected based on the scientific literature. Then, data can be shared with the medical team using one of two architectures: in the first one, the medical system manages all data accesses, whereas in the second one, the patient defines the access policies. Comprehensive analysis of the H-IoT system can be useful for fostering research on the security of wearable wireless sensors. Moreover, the proposed architectures can be implemented for deploying and testing NFC/RFID-based healthcare applications, such as, for instance, domestic PoCs
Extended Main-Sequence Turnoff and Red Clump in intermediate-age star clusters: A study of NGC 419
With the goal of untangling the origin of extended main-sequence turnoffs
(eMSTOs) and extended red clumps (eRCs) in star clusters, in this work we
present the study of the intermediate-age cluster NGC 419, situated along the
Bridge of the Small Magellanic Cloud. To this aim, we analyzed multi-epoch,
high angular resolution observations acquired with the Hubble Space Telescope
for this dynamically young cluster, which enabled the determination of precise
proper motions and therefore the assessment of the cluster membership for each
individual star in the field of view. With this unprecedented information at
hand, we first studied the radial distribution of kinematically selected member
stars in different eMSTO subregions. The absence of segregation supports the
rotation scenario as the cause for the turnoff color extension and disfavors
the presence of a prolonged period of star formation in the cluster. A similar
analysis on the eRC of NGC 419 confirms the absence of segregation, providing
further evidence against an age spread, which is at odds with previous
investigations. Even so, the currently available evolutionary models including
stellar rotation fail at reproducing the two photometric features
simultaneously. We argue that either shortcomings in these models or a
different origin for the red clump feature, such as a nonstandard differential
mass loss along the red giant branch phase, are the only way to reconcile our
observational findings with theoretical expectations.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication on A&
Blue Stragglers as tracers of the dynamical state of two clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud: NGC 339 and NGC 419
The level of central segregation of Blue Straggler stars proved to be an
excellent tracer of the dynamical evolution of old star clusters (the so-called
"dynamical clock"), both in the Milky Way and in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
The parameter, used to measure the Blue Stragglers degree of
segregation, has in fact been found to strongly correlate with the parent
cluster central relaxation time. Here we studied the Blue-Straggler population
of two young stellar systems in the Small Magellanic Cloud, namely NGC 339
(which is 6 Gyr old) and NGC 419 (with an age of only 1.5 Gyr), in order to
study their dynamical state. Thanks to multi-epoch, high angular resolution
Hubble Space Telescope observations available for both clusters, we took
advantage of the stellar proper motions measured in the regions of the two
systems and we selected a population of likely cluster members, removing the
strong contamination from Small Magellanic Cloud stars. This enabled us to
study, with unprecedented accuracy, the radial distribution of Blue Stragglers
in these two extragalactic clusters and to measure their dynamical age. As
expected for such young clusters, we found that both systems are poorly evolved
from the dynamical point of view, also fully confirming that the
parameter is a sensitive "clock hand" even in the dynamically-young regime.Comment: 12 pages,11 figures, Accepted for publication by Ap
A new procedure for an effective management of geo-hydrological risks across the "Sentiero Verde-Azzurro" trail, Cinque Terre National Park, Liguria (North-Western Italy)
In recent years, Cinque Terre National Park, one of the most famous UNESCO sites in Italy, experienced a significant increase in tourist visits. This unique landscape is the result of the rough morphology of a small coastal basin with a very steep slope and a long-term human impact, mainly represented by anthropic terraces. This setting promotes the activation of numerous geo-hydrological instabilities, primarily related to heavy rainfall events that often affect this area. Currently, the main challenge for the administrators of Cinque Terre National Park is the correct maintenance of this environment along with the functional management of the hiking trail to ensure the safety of tourists. The definition of a methodology for effective management is mandatory for the sustainable administration of this unique site. We implement a new codified procedure based on the combined use of the Operative Monography and the Survey Form, focusing on the "Sentiero Verde-Azzurro" trail, for a proper description of the known landslides affecting the trail and the identification of damage and/or landslides activated by critical meteorological events. This guarantees effective geo-hydrological risk management, which is also applicable to other similar sites in a unique environmental and cultural heritage site such as Cinque Terre Park
Discovery of a double Blue Straggler sequence in M15: new insight into the core-collapse process
In this paper we report on the discovery of a double blue straggler star
(BSS) sequence in the core of the core-collapsed cluster M15 (NGC 7078). We
performed a detailed photometric analysis of the extremely dense core of the
cluster using a set of images secured with the Advanced Camera for Survey in
the High Resolution Channel mode on-board the Hubble Space Telescope. The
proper combination of the large number of single frames in the near-UV (F220W),
and blue (F435W) filters allowed us to perform a superb modeling of the Point
Spread Function and an accurate deblending procedure. The Color-Magnitude
diagram revealed the presence of two distinct parallel sequences of blue
stragglers. In particular, the blue BSS sequence is characterized by the
intriguing presence of two different branches. The first branch appears
extremely narrow, it extends up to 2.5 magnitudes brighter than the cluster
main-sequence turnoff (MS-TO) point, and it is nicely reproduced by a 2 Gyr-old
collisional isochrone. The second branch extends up to 1.5 magnitudes from the
MS-TO and it is reproduced by a 5.5 Gyr-old collisional isochrone. Our
observations suggest that each of these branches is mainly constituted by a
population of nearly coeval collisional BSS of different masses generated
during two episodes of high collisional activity. We discuss the possibility
that the oldest episode corresponds to the core-collapse event (occurred about
5.5 Gyr ago), while the most recent one (occurred about 2 Gyr ago) is
associated with a core oscillation in the post-core collapse evolution. The
discovery of these features provides further strong evidence in support of the
connection between the BSS properties and GC dynamical evolution, and it opens
new perspectives on the study of core-collapse and post core-collapse
evolution.Comment: Accepted for publication on Ap
Spontaneous compartment syndrome in a patient with diabetes and statin administration: a case report
Compartment syndrome is a condition characterized by pressure increasing in the inextensible muscular compartments that leads to a decrease of capillary perfusion with consequent ischemic lesions of the logia elements. The authors report a case of an unusual compartment syndrome with spontaneous onset in a patient with type II diabetes and chronic therapy with statins (Atorvastatin). The condition was successfully treated by a fasciotomy and medical support. The importance of a correct anamnesis and a high level of suspicion is emphasized
Rockfall Risk Assessment and Management Along the \u201cVia dell\u2019Amore\u201d (Lovers\u2019 Lane) in the Cinque Terre National Park (Italy)
The Via dell\u2019Amore (Lovers\u2019 Lane) is a 1 km long coastal path linking Manarola with
Riomaggiore, the two eastern villages at the \u201cCinque Terre\u201d. Realized at the start of the
nineteenth century as a service road for the modernization of the railway, it\u2019s now considered
as one of the highlights of the Cinque Terre National Park. The trail has been historically
affected by rockfall phenomena: the bedrock is made up of heterogeneous rock masses; blocks
diameter ranges from 0.5 to 2 m, determining high speed values during their fall. The
probability of a fatal event to occur is high, as recently proved by the four Australian women
injured in September 2012: this occurrence caused the closure of the trail up to the present.
The actual risk level is not acceptable, taking in consideration also the elevated vulnerability
values. The main goal is to decrease both rockfall hazard and vulnerability: in the first place,
through passive slope protection methods such as rockfall shelters and protecting wire meshes;
in the second instance, through an early warning system connected to the civil protection corp
and an environmental education program involving tourists and inhabitants