Search results for " monitoring"
showing 10 items of 3129 documents
Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations in Caves Protected as Nature Reserves and Related Gas Hazard
2022
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations can reach high levels inside natural caves, representing a hazardous condition for both humans frequenting the underground environment and its safeguard due to the corrosion of speleothems induced by the acidification of atmospheric moisture. These issues are particularly critical for the eco-sustainable management of caves protected as nature reserves and undergoing touristic exploitation. In this paper we present the results of the C6 project, which was activated in 1999 for the monitoring of air quality inside three caves protected as nature reserves in Sicily (Italy). Near-real-time and spot measurements of air temperature and CO2 concentration have been c…
Current trends in scientific research on global warming: A bibliometric analysis
2019
[EN] The objective of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the scientific knowledge in global warming, as well as to investigate the evolution of the research knowledge through the published papers included in Web of Science database. A bibliometric and social network analyses was performed to obtain indicators of scientific productivity, impact and collaboration between researchers, institutions and countries. A subject analysis was also carried out taking into account the key words assigned to papers and subject areas of journals. A number of 1,672 articles were analysed since 2005 until 2014. The most productive journals were Journal of Climate (n = 95) and the most f…
Analysing time-varying trends in stratospheric ozone time series using the state space approach
2014
Abstract. We describe a hierarchical statistical state space model for ozone profile time series. The time series are from satellite measurements by the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II and the Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS) instruments spanning the years 1984–2011. Vertical ozone profiles were linearly interpolated on an altitude grid with 1 km resolution covering 20–60 km. Monthly averages were calculated for each altitude level and 10° wide latitude bins between 60° S and 60° N. In the analysis, mean densities are studied separately for the 25–35, 35–45, and 45–55 km layers. Model variables include the ozone mean level, local trend, seasonal osc…
RADIONUCLIDE CONCENTRATIONS IN AIR PARTICULATE AT PALERMO (ITALY) FOLLOWING FUKUSHIMA ACCIDENT
2012
Following the Fukushima accident, a series of samplings were carried out with a daily frequency to detect the arrival of radioactive contamination in air at Palermo (Italy) and to follow its evolution during the time. Air particulate collection was performed by suction of atmospheric air through cellulose filter paper by means of a high-volume air sampler (∼15 000 m(3) d(-1)). Spectrometric analysis of the filters highlights the presence of (131)I, (134)Cs, (137)Cs and, only for a few samples, traces of (132)Te-(132)I and (136)Cs. Maximum airborne concentrations were 883 μBq m(-3) for (131)I (only particulate), 81 μBq m(-3) for (137)Cs and 70 μBq m(-3) for (134)Cs. From a dose to population…
The Sustainability of Cruise Tourism Onshore: The Impact of Crowding on Visitors’ Satisfaction
2019
The sustainability of cruise tourism has been questioned in relation to its negative effects on ports of call, among which crowding has recently become more pronounced. However, an understanding of how crowdedness influences cruise tourists&rsquo
Low cost three-dimensional virtual model construction for remanufacturing industry
2018
Remanufactured products can save up to 80% of production and energy costs whilst generating lower CO2 emissions. The key success factors for remanufacturing are quality, lead-time and cost. Extensive work within the industry and the detailed analysis of the remanufacturing process has shown that component inspection has significant bearing on overall productivity. Remanufacturing lacks automation because activities are predominantly manual. Automation of remanufacturing process will not only decrease the number of non-remanufacturable components, through decreasing cost and increasing consistency in quality, but also attract industries to design for remanufacture. A digital model of the com…
Segmentation of low-cost flights users at secondary airports
2010
Abstract Low-cost carrier services are important for many tourist destinations. However, there is little information about the characteristics of travellers using low-cost airlines, and their flight preferences. The typical segmentation of air travellers is business versus leisure travellers; and business versus tourist fares. We use segmentation analysis focusing on low-cost travellers’ valuations of various flight attributes and trip-related characteristics, most notably those related to destinations, based on a sample of foreign travellers who used Girona Airport, Spain.
The sanitation service of seagrasses – Dependencies and implications for the estimation of avoided costs
2022
Seagrasses are capable of sanitizing coastal seawaters polluted by fecal bacteria. In this work, the reduction of Enterococci concentration in the presence of a seagrasses’ assemblage (Pacific Ocean) was related to the decrease in the probability of gastroenteritis. A linear model fitted to data extracted from the literature showed a 20% reduction of this probability in the presence of these plants. Seagrass sanitation effect was estimated to allow avoiding ca. 24 million gastroenteritis cases/year, globally. Considering a global cost of gastroenteritis of ca. US$ 372 million/year, the global avoided cost, assuming that the sanitation service was always effective, was estimated to be ca. US…
Choosing the Right Antifungal Agent in ICU Patients
2019
Fungi are responsible for around 20% of microbiologically documented infections in intensive care units (ICU). In the last decade, the incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFI), including candidemia, has increased steadily because of increased numbers of both immunocompromised and ICU patients. To improve the outcomes of patients with IFI, intensivists need to be aware of the inherent challenges. This narrative review summarizes the features of routinely used treatments directed against IFI in non-neutropenic ICU patients, which include three classes of antifungals: polyenes, azoles, and echinocandins. ICU patients' pathophysiological changes are responsible for deep changes in the phar…
Passive RFID Strain-Sensor Based on Meander-Line Antennas
2011
The processing of backscattered signals coming from RFID tags is potentially useful to detect the physical state of the tagged object. It is here shown how to design a completely passive UHF RFID sensor for strain monitoring starting from a flexible meander-line dipole whose shape factor and feed section are engineered to achieve the desired sensing resolution and dynamic range. This class of devices is low-cost, promises sub-millimeter resolution and may found interesting applications in the Structural Health Monitoring of damaged structures and vehicles as well as during extreme and adverse events.