From ”Sapienza” to “Sapienza, State Archives in Rome”. A looping effect bringing back to the original source communication and culture by innovative and low cost 3D surveying, imaging systems and GIS applications

Applicazione di tecnologie mensorie integrate Low Cost,web GIS,applicazione di tecniche di Computational photography per la comunicazione e condivisione dei dati, sistemi di Cloud computing.Archiviazione Grandi DatiHigh Quality survey models, realized by multiple Low Cost methods and technologies, as a container to sharing Cultural and Archival Heritage, this is the aim guiding our research, here described in its primary applications. The SAPIENZA building, a XVI century masterpiece that represented the first unified headquarters of University in Rome, plays since year 1936, when the University moved to its newly edified campus, the role of the main venue for the State Archives. By the collaboration of a group of students of the Architecture Faculty, some integrated survey methods were applied on the monument with success. The beginning was the topographic survey, creating a reference on ground and along the monument for the upcoming applications, a GNNS RTK survey followed georeferencing points on the internal courtyard. Dense stereo matching photogrammetry is nowadays an accepted method for generating 3D survey models, accurate and scalable; it often substitutes 3D laser scanning for its low cost, so that it became our choice. Some 360°shots were planned for creating panoramic views of the double portico from the courtyard, plus additional single shots of some lateral spans and of pillars facing the court, as a single operation with a double finality: to create linked panotours with hotspots to web-linked databases, and 3D textured and georeferenced surface models, allowing to study the harmonic proportions of the classical architectural order. The use of free web Gis platforms, to load the work in Google Earth and the realization of low cost 3D prototypes of some representative parts, has been even performed

Il mausoleo di Cecilia Metella tra documentazione grafica analogica e digitale: un approccio metodologico multidisciplinare

The paper presents the first results of the Cecilia Metella Project, at the Parco dell'Appia Antica. The prominent monument is dedicated to the noble Roman woman, whose life can only be deduced from what can be read from the epigraph carved in marble. Although the monument is probably the most famous and characteristic one of the regina viarum near the city, even today the knowledge of the mausoleum at least from the point of view of digital acquisition and analysis of the graphic documentation appears incomplete and therefore deserves to be deepening. The new technological frontiers and their integrated use in the field of cultural heritage allow scholars to have more accurate and complete tools at their disposal. These multidisciplinary applications make it possible to acquire, in a rapid and quick way, the physical and spatial dimension of very complex and stratified archaeological contexts such as the mausoleum of Cecilia Metella. In this context, the richness of the graphic evidence of the mausoleum allowed for in-depth comparative analyses regarding the iconographical documentation and its relationship with the physical monument acquired with modern survey techniques. This study therefore aims to update the state of the art of the tomb and to define a methodological protocol for the acquisition and critical analysis of the monument

Sulfide weathering processes mediated by microfungi

This study aimed to experimentally investigate the interactions, the bioalteration, and the biocorrosion of sulfides mediated by three microfungi (Trichoderma harzianum group, Penicillium glandicola, P. brevicompactum) isolated within the open-air waste-rock dumps from Libiola mine (Liguria, Italy). Unaltered samples of pyrite-mineralizations from the same waste-rock dumps were ground and sieved into size fraction of 150-63 \u3bc m which resulted composed by single crystals of pyrite (>80 wt%), with minor quartz and trace amount of chalcopyrite. The mineral bioalteration tests were carried out for six weeks using Czapek-Dox agar medium (CZA). In each plate, four pyrite crystals or crystal fragments were set into the solid medium. After one week, pyrite grains were almost completely covered by mycelia of the three different fungi. The samples were examined, before and after the experimental procedure, using plane-polarized optical microscopy (transmitted- and reflected-light) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM-EDS). The ESEM analyses were performed in low-vacuum mode for the micromorphological analyses to characterize the evolution of the mineralfungi interactions during the different experimental steps. After six weeks covered by mycelia, the pyrite grains were collected and analyzed revealing that the surface of pyrite crystals was strongly corroded in all experimental tests. ESEM images underlined how pyrite alteration was strictlty associated with biological patterns (curves, rounded cracks, and sinuous traces). Corrosion patterns and etching pits were not related to specific crystallographic planes or weakness, but were randomly distributed on the crystal surfaces, in particular in correspondence of the fungal hyphae attachment. Moreover, in the same temporal interval, the control experiment performed in abiotic conditions did not show any dissolution evidences thus suggesting that in absence of fungal interactions the pyrite weathering did not occur or was much slower. The experimental results evidenced the active role of fungi in the pyrite crystal weathering and suggested that sulfide alteration was not only the consequence of the interactions between metabolites secreted by fungi and minerals, but there was also a possible bio-mechanical role of hyphae in corrosion through penetration, boring, and burrowing along weak crystal planes or microfractures. Finally, the evidences of biocorrosion led to evaluate the important role of fungi in the iron and sulfur cycles in sulfide-bearing materials, since fungal alteration systematically triggers sulfide to sulfate oxidation, causing local gypsum and Fe-oxyhydroxides precipitation within mycelium structure

Evaluating radon loss from water during storage in standard PET, bio-based PET, and PLA bottles

h i g h l i g h t s Radon loss from water during storage in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polylactic acid (PLA) bottles was evaluated. Surface/volume ratio and thickness of plastic materials were studied. A correction for dissolved radium concentration was applied to estimate gas loss. Proper corrections for degassing efficiency of aerators were developed. The interference of H 2 O on radon daughter electrostatic collection was quantified. a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polylactic acid (PLA) bottles were tested to evaluate radon loss from water during 15 days of storage. PET bottles (lower surface/volume-ratio vials) lost 0.4e7.1% of initial radon, whereas PLA bottles lost 3.7% of it. PET bottles with volume of 0.5 L, lower surface/weight ratio, and hence higher thickness display proportionally reduced radon loss. Corrections for dissolved radium are needed during analyses. Formulas for calculating degassing efficiency and water interference on electrostatic collections are developed

Shedding of Syncytiotrophoblast-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Is Increased in Placenta Previa and Accreta Spectrum

Placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) refers to excessive placental invasion into the maternal uterus and it is associated with high risk of obstetric haemorrhage and adverse maternal-neonatal outcomes. Currently, no specific circulating biomarkers of PAS have been identified. Given that in PAS disorders, the depth and the extension of placental invasion into the uterus are expected to be increased, in this study, we analysed plasma levels of syncytiotrophoblast-derived extracellular vesicles (STBEVs) in women with placenta previa (PP), at a high risk of PAS disorders, and pregnant women with normal placentation. Venous blood samples were collected from 35 women with ultrasonographic diagnosis of PP and 35 women with normal placentation, matched for gestational age. Plasma samples were ultracentrifuged at 120.000 g to collect extracellular vesicles (EVs). To identify and quantify plasma placenta–derived EVs (or STBEVs), EVs were analysed by flow cytometry using a monoclonal antibody against placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP). Plasma levels of STBEVs were significantly higher in PP patients compared to controls. Plasma levels of STBEVs in women with PP and PAS showed a trend to a higher concentration compared to women with PP without PAS, although not reaching a statistical significance. Circulating STBEVs are potential candidates as biological markers to be integrated to ultrasonography in the antenatal screening programme for PAS. More studies are needed to confirm our observation in a larger cohort of patients and to analyse a possible association between high circulating levels of STBEVs and PAS

CIRCULATING PLACENTAL VESCICLES CARRY HLA-DR IN PRE - ECLAMPSIA : A NEW POTENTIAL MARKER OF THE SYNDROME

Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a common disorder of pregnancy that usually presents with hypertension and proteinuria. The clinical presentation arises from soluble factors released into the maternal circulation from the placenta owing to the stress of syncytiotrophoblast, consequence of defective placentation occurring in the first half of pregnancy. Reduced tolerance of the semiallogeneic fetus by the maternal immune system has been proposed as first trigger leading to poor placentation. We previously observed aberrant expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR molecules in the syncytiotrophoblast of a subset of women with PE. Aim of this study was to investigate abnormal expression of circulating HLA-DR in syncytiotrophoblast-derived extracellular vesicles (STBEVs) in women with PE compared to normal pregnant women

The SSDC Role in the LICIACube Mission: Data Management and the MATISSE Tool

Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube) is an Italian mission managed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and part of the NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) planetary defense mission. Its main goals are to document the effects of the DART impact on Dimorphos, the secondary member of the (65803) Didymos binary asteroid system, characterizing the shape of the target body and performing dedicated scientific investigations on it. Within this framework, the mission Science Operations Center will be managed by the Space Science Data Center (ASI-SSDC), which will have the responsibility of processing, archiving, and disseminating the data acquired by the two LICIACube onboard cameras. In order to better accomplish this task, SSDC also plans to use and modify its scientific webtool Multi-purpose Advanced Tool for Instruments for the solar system Exploration (MATISSE), making it the primary tool for the LICIACube data analysis, thanks to its advanced capabilities for searching and visualizing data, particularly useful for the irregular shapes common to several small bodies

Spring Deposits and Lakeshore Layered Sediments Inside the Vernal Crater (SW Arabia Terra): A Resource-Rich and Engineering Safe Mars Human Landing Site

We here present the scientific rationale, the resource analysis and the engineering requirements evaluation performed on the Vernal crater and its closest surroundings in SW Arabia Terra, Mars, as a possible future human landing site

VADER: Probing the Dark Side of Dimorphos with LICIACube LUKE

The ASI cubesat LICIACube has been part of the first planetary defense mission DART, having among its scopes to complement the DRACO images to better constrain the Dimorphos shape. LICIACube had two different cameras, LEIA and LUKE, and to accomplish its goal, it exploited the unique possibility of acquiring images of the Dimorphos hemisphere not seen by DART from a vantage point of view, in both time and space. This work is indeed aimed at constraining the tridimensional shape of Dimorphos, starting from both LUKE images of the nonimpacted hemisphere of Dimorphos and the results obtained by DART looking at the impacted hemisphere. To this aim, we developed a semiautomatic Computer Vision algorithm, named VADER, able to identify objects of interest on the basis of physical characteristics, subsequently used as input to retrieve the shape of the ellipse projected in the LUKE images analyzed. Thanks to this shape, we then extracted information about the Dimorphos ellipsoid by applying a series of quantitative geometric considerations. Although the solution space coming from this analysis includes the triaxial ellipsoid found by using DART images, we cannot discard the possibility that Dimorphos has a more elongated shape, more similar to what is expected from previous theories and observations. The result of our work seems therefore to emphasize the unique value of the LICIACube mission and its images, making even clearer the need of having different points of view to accurately define the shape of an asteroid.This work was supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) within the LICIACube project (ASI-INAF agreement AC No. 2019-31-HH.0) and by the DART mission, NASA contract 80MSFC20D0004

The Dimorphos ejecta plume properties revealed by LICIACube

The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) had an impact with Dimorphos (a satellite of the asteroid Didymos) on 26 September 20221. Ground-based observations showed that the Didymos system brightened by a factor of 8.3 after the impact because of ejecta, returning to the pre-impact brightness 23.7 days afterwards2. Hubble Space Telescope observations made from 15 minutes after impact to 18.5 days after, with a spatial resolution of 2.1 kilometres per pixel, showed a complex evolution of the ejecta3, consistent with other asteroid impact events. The momentum enhancement factor, determined using the measured binary period change4, ranges between 2.2 and 4.9, depending on the assumptions about the mass and density of Dimorphos5. Here we report observations from the LUKE and LEIA instruments on the LICIACube cube satellite, which was deployed 15 days in advance of the impact of DART. Data were taken from 71 seconds before the impact until 320 seconds afterwards. The ejecta plume was a cone with an aperture angle of 140 ± 4 degrees. The inner region of the plume was blue, becoming redder with increasing distance from Dimorphos. The ejecta plume exhibited a complex and inhomogeneous structure, characterized by filaments, dust grains and single or clustered boulders. The ejecta velocities ranged from a few tens of metres per second to about 500 metres per second.This work was supported by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in the LICIACube project (ASI-INAF agreement AC no. 2019-31-HH.0) and by the DART mission, NASA contract 80MSFC20D0004. M.Z. acknowledges Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for granting the University of Bologna a licence to an executable version of MONTE Project Edition software. M.Z. is grateful to D. Lubey, M. Smith, D. Mages, C. Hollenberg and S. Bhaskaran of NASA/JPL for the discussions and suggestions regarding the operational navigation of LICIACube. G.P. acknowledges financial support from the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES, France). A.C.B. acknowledges funding by the NEO-MAPP project (grant agreement 870377, EC H2020-SPACE-2019) and by the Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación (PGC 2018) RTI2018-099464-B-I00. F.F. acknowledges funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Ambizione (grant no. 193346). J.-Y.L. acknowledges the support from the NASA DART Participating Scientist Program (grant no. 80NSSC21K1131). S.D.R. and M.J. acknowledge support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (project no. 200021_207359)