Search results for " Isolation"

Seagrass meadows at the extreme of environmental tolerance: the case ofPosidonia oceanicain a semi-enclosed coastal lagoon

2009

Atoll-like structures of the endemic Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica were encountered in the innermost area of the Stagnone di Marsala, a semi-enclosed coastal lagoon along the western coasts of Sicily. The area is characterized by limited water exchange with the open sea and by a marked seasonal variation of water salinity and temperature, reaching beyond the theoretical tolerance limits of the species. In the present study we determined the genetic composition of the atoll-like structures, as well as the growth performance and flowering rate of these stands. We also assessed whether and to what extent the atoll-like structures are genetically isolated from plants growing in mead…

Isolation and phenotypical characterization of mesenchymal stem cells from the Wharton's jelly of pre-term human umbilical cord

2014

Hardening structures isolated by double sliding devices: Seismic reliability-based design approach

2019

This study deals with seismic reliability-based design (SRBD) relationships in terms of behavior factors and displacement demands for hardening structures equipped with double friction pendu-lum system (DFPS) bearings. An equivalent 3dof system having a hardening post-yield slope is adopted to describe the superstructure behavior, whereas velocity-dependent laws are assumed to model the responses of the two surfaces of the DFPS. The yielding characteristics of the super-structures are defined for increasing behavior factors in compliance with the seismic hazard of L’Aquila site (Italy) and with NTC18 assuming a lifetime of 50 years. Considering several natural seismic records and building p…

Full scale tests of the base-isolation system for an emergency hospital

2019

The paper presents the results of some full-scale tests regarding the base-isolation system of the emergency room building of the polyclinic hospital in Palermo (Italy). This building has been recently realized and its base isolation system is characterized by double friction pendulum isolators. Static lateral pushing tests were aimed at identifying fundamental mechanical properties of the whole isolation level (e.g. friction forces and stiffness) in order to verify the agreement with the design hypotheses. Further dynamic tests provided different displacements of the isolated base followed by the instantaneous release (snap-back tests), in order to verify the effectiveness, the mechanical …

A distributed Bayesian approach to fault detection in sensor networks

2012

Sensor networks are widely used in industrial and academic applications as the pervasive sensing module of an intelligent system. Sensor nodes may occasionally produce incorrect measurements due to battery depletion, dust on the sensor, manumissions and other causes. The aim of this paper is to develop a distributed Bayesian fault detection algorithm that classifies measurements coming from the network as corrupted or not. The computational complexity is polynomial so the algorithm scales well with the size of the network. We tested the approach on a synthetic dataset and obtained significant results in terms of correctly labeled measurements.

QoS-Aware Fault Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks

2013

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are a fundamental building block of many pervasive applications. Nevertheless the use of such technology raises new challenges regarding the development of reliable and fault-tolerant systems. One of the most critical issues is the detection of corrupted readings amidst the huge amount of gathered sensory data. Indeed, such readings could significantly affect the quality of service (QoS) of the WSN, and thus it is highly desirable to automatically discard them. This issue is usually addressed through “fault detection” algorithms that classify readings by exploiting temporal and spatial correlations. Generally, these algorithms do not take into account QoS re…

A SOCIAL EXPERIMENT TO OVERTURN PREJUDICES ON ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE IN NURSING HOMES USING ARTISTIC PHOTOGRAPHY

2016

It is widely known that Alzheimer’s disease is burdened with strong prejudices with negative connotations. This may contribute to increase patient’s isolation and marginalization, and to render Nursing Homes places of confinement and seclusion. Residents with dementia have trouble in relating with the outside world and in expressing themselves about their own disease, due to their cognitive decline, but also because of marginalization. We used artistic photography as an accessible and effective tool to bring down barriers and encourage residents’ communication. Artistic photography is the most immediate and accessible form of art for all people. The aim of our social experiment was to help …

Accounting for Interdependent Risks in Vulnerability Assessment of Refugees

2020

The United Nations’ Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF) of refugees encompasses a set of indicators of the living conditions in refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan; it assumes the independence among its components. In this paper we maintain the importance to account for existing interdependencies, and provide a definition of vulnerability for high income countries. The proposed “vulnerability scale”, based on the estimated joint risk of social isolation, economic deprivation and bad health, is a useful tool to address interventions toward selected groups of more vulnerable refugees. Analyses are based upon the survey of refugees carried on in Germany in 2016. Germany is the first count…

Media use during adolescence: the recommendations of the Italian Pediatric Society

2019

Abstract Background The use of media device, such as smartphone and tablet, is currently increasing, especially among the youngest. Adolescents spend more and more time with their smartphones consulting social media, mainly Facebook, Instagram and Twitter because. Adolescents often feel the necessity to use a media device as a means to construct a social identity and express themselves. For some children, smartphone ownership starts even sooner as young as 7 yrs, according to internet safety experts. Material and methods We analyzed the evidence on media use and its consequences in adolescence. Results In literature, smartphones and tablets use may negatively influences the psychophysical d…

Covariates of Subjective well-being among Latin American immigrants in Spain: the role of social integration in the community

2011

The aim of this study is to test the influence that social integration in the community might have on subjective well-being (SWB) beyond the influence of sociodemographic characteristics, self-esteem, stressful life events, and social support from intimate and confidant relationships. We explore this set of relationships among Latin American immigrants in Spain, a group at risk of social exclusion. Results show a positive and statistically significant relationship between social integration and SWB, after controlling for the statistical effects of the other variables. Promoting social integration in the community among immigrant population might grant them access to wider community resource…