University of Udine
Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università degli Studi di UdineNot a member yet
91472 research outputs found
Sort by
High Habitat Potential but Limited Connectivity for Brown Bears Throughout Europe
No full textAim: Large carnivores worldwide have experienced substantial range contractions due to human activities, though several species are recolonising parts of their historical range. We aimed to assess current and potential European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) habitat as well as habitat connectivity on a continental scale. Location: The extended biogeographical regions of Europe, spanning from Portugal to central Russia, longitudinally, and from Norway to Türkiye, latitudinally. Excluding inland seas; this area covers 11,151,636 km2. Methods: We assessed habitat suitability throughout the study area using an ensemble species distribution model with nine submodels, using data from 10 European bear populations and Türkiye. We used the resulting habitat suitability maps to conduct a least-cost path connectivity analysis and an omnidirectional circuit connectivity analysis. Main Conclusions: Habitat suitability was strongly associated with low percentages of agricultural cover, low percentages of human development, and proximity to forest. Of our entire study area, 37% (4.09 million km2) is occupied or potentially suitable for bears. Connectivity analyses identified corridors that could facilitate movement among southern European bear populations, though agricultural land and human development limit connectivity between northern and southern European bear populations. Previous research estimated bears occupied 0.5 million km2 across the European Union, while our results estimate 1.82 million km2 of this part of our study area is potentially suitable for bears, though connectivity is limited. Our results inform conservation strategies and policy development for the future of brown bears in Europe, emphasising the need for transboundary conservation efforts
Human Motion Tracking for Action Recognition Through Wearable Sensors: an IMU Based Approach
No full textThe development and effective implementation of Industrial Collaborative Robotic applications is one of the challenges in Industry 5.0. In this area, one of the key issues is related to the development or availability of reliable systems as well as open and light software packages for tracking human-motions and, possibly, infer intentions. In this work, an approach relying on data gathered from wearable inertial sensors is developed to track human upper body motions. After the definition of a dedicated sensor placement, a kinematic model of the human upper body with 13 joints has been developed. Forward and Inverse Kinematics problem solutions have been computed considering the right part of the human body. This model has been deployed exploiting 6 IMUs attached to the following human limbs: sacrum, chest, head, right arm, right wrist and right hand. This allowed to track the rotations of the joints: backbone, neck, right shoulder, right elbow and right wrist. A real-time data processing, exploiting the orientation data of the IMUs attached to the body, has been set-up. The whole approach has been validated through a dedicated procedure and the open-source OpenSim SW was employed for comparison with a known full-body musculoskeletal model
Free groups of ideals
No full textWe study the freeness of the group Inv(D) of invertible ideals of an integral domain D, and the freeness of some related groups of (fractional) ideals. We study the relation between Inv(D) and Inv(DP), in particular in the locally finite case, and we analyze in more detail the case where D is Noetherian (obtaining a characterization of when Inv(D) is free for one-dimensional analytically unramified Noetherian domains) and where D is Prüfer
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in Italia e i suoi paratesti
No full textThe history of the Italian retranslations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland spans
one hundred and fifty years, culminating in the polymorphic richness of the dozens of translations that exist today. This article seeks to retrace the tradition of Italian translations of Alice from the perspective of paratexts, shedding light on the relationship between the text and its audiences—adults and/or children—and its textual translators—from the preacher Pietrocòla-Rossetti to the experimental Milli Graffi, from the orthodox Masolino d’Amico to the subversive Aldo Busi—with some reference to its “visual translators”, the illustrators. Starting with the peritexts,
the focus will be on the different levels of interpretation or manipulation (whether psychoanalytic, stylistic, cultural, literary, historical or philological) of Carroll’s novel, in order to make sense of a translational trajectory marked by excess
Development and validation of the NEOS2 score for prediction of long-term outcomes and improvement after first-line immunotherapy in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis: an international cohort study
No full textBackground: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is a severe disease that primarily affects young people and can improve with adequate treatment. We aimed to refine the anti-NMDAR Encephalitis One-year functional Status (NEOS) score by developing NEOS2, an updated model using readily available data at the time of diagnosis. We assessed the predictive value of the NEOS2-score for (1) improvement following first-line treatment, (2) functional outcome at one-year follow-up, and (3) resumption of school or work within three years. Methods: In this international (France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Spain) cohort study in patients with a definite anti-NMDAR encephalitis diagnosis (according to the clinical criteria plus antibody testing in CSF), we performed logistic regression analyses to develop and validate multivariable models to predict -based upon variables available at diagnosis- short (ΔmRS two weeks after first-line treatment), middle (modified Rankin Scale [mRS] at one year), and long-term (return to school or work within three years) outcomes. We included clinical variables and biomarkers available at diagnosis. Findings: We included 702 patients (mean age 23 years, 95%-CI 2–69; 79% female, 21% male) diagnosed between the discovery of the disease in 2007 and 2022. Most patients (96%; 672/702) had received first-line immunotherapy, and 38% (233/615) showed improvement within two weeks. One year after diagnosis, 80% (517/644) had a favourable functional outcome (mRS≤2). At three years, 73% (203/278) had resumed work/school. In multivariable analysis, higher age (odds ratio [OR] 0·35, 95%-CI 0·29–0·43, p < 0·0001), treatment delay (OR 0·49, 95%-CI 0·41–0·58, p < 0·0001), movement disorders (OR 0·32, 95%-CI 0·24–0·41, p < 0·0001), ICU-requirement (OR 0·34, 95%-CI 0·26–0·44, p < 0·0001) and increased CSF leucocyte count (OR 0·65, 95%-CI 0·60–0·71, p < 0·0001) independently predicted poorer outcomes (NEOS2, accuracy AUC 80%, 95%-CI 75–86%). The same variables, excluding age, were relevant in predicting improvement following first-line immunotherapy (NEOS2-T AUC 81–84%, 95%-CI 77–86%). Return-to-work or -school served as a useful measure of longer-term outcomes, predicted with equal accuracy as one-year functional outcome (NEOS2-W AUC 80%, 95%-CI 75–85%). The NEOS2-score, applied as an ordinal measure, enabled nuanced predictions of outcome probabilities across the score spectrum, ranging from a high (80%; n = 20/25) likelihood of improving after first-line immunotherapy and achieving a good outcome (100%; n = 32/32) to a high risk of first-line treatment failure (97%; n = 77/79) and no return to school/work (94%; n = 15/16). Interpretation: The NEOS2-score, readily available at diagnosis and easy to apply, can identify patients with either a favourable or poor prognosis, and those who may benefit from early intensified treatment. The value of the NEOS2-score for guiding treatment decisions and as a stratification tool in studies on optimal treatment regimens, should be confirmed in further prospective studies. Funding: This study was funded by Dioraphte (charity; project 2001 0403)
Segmenting Anything in Architecture: A Tailored Approach to Segmenting Floor Plan Documents
No full textRoom segmentation in architectural floor plan documents is crucial for tasks such as property valuation, space optimization, and automated design analysis. Unlike natural images, floor plans consist of abstract and sparse visual elements that pose unique challenges for segmentation models. In this work, we investigate the applicability of the Segment Anything Model (SAM), a general-purpose foundation model, to room-level segmentation in floor plans. We evaluate SAM on two heterogeneous datasets: a private collection and the public R3D dataset. Our results demonstrate that SAM consistently outperforms other semantic segmentation state-of-the-art approaches, enabling accurate surface area computation with minimal user input. We further analyze the impact of prompt quantity and training source variability, confirming SAM’s robustness and practical utility for real-world applications in architectural analysis
Performance mapping of the thermoelectric subcooler devoted to domestic heat pump applications
No full textsustainable development goals because of their low global warming potential index. For this reason, novel
methods must be developed to integrate natural refrigerants such as hydrocarbons and meet the requirements
of the F-Gas Regulation. The thermoelectric subcooling method is one of the state-of-the-art methods for
improving the coefficient of performance (COP) of vapour compression systems. Thus, the main aim of this
paper is to investigate the proposed thermoelectric subcooler (TESC) design performance and create a map to
find key takeaways for further studies. Research has been carried out on two different TESC designs (TESCconv,
TESC3D), zig-zag and pin-shaped, made of two different materials, copper and AlSi10Mg, with two different
manufacturing methods, conventional drilling and welding and 3D-printing, respectively. The TESCs were
integrated downstream of the condenser in an 8.0 kW propane (R290) heat pump and experiments were
performed for operating conditions where the propane temperature ranged from 40 ◦C to 50 ◦C, the auxiliary
water stream temperature ranged from 30 ◦C to 60 ◦C and the voltage ranged from 1.0 to 8.0 V DC. The
results showed that TESC3D is superior to TESCconv in terms of the cooling and heating capacity and that the
coefficient of performance is between 1% and 17%. TESC systems can be useful for small-scale applications
and can provide up to 270 W of additional cooling capacity with a cooling coefficient of performance of 1.22
and up to 490 W of additional heating with a heating coefficient of performance of 2.22. Furthermore, the
best heating and cooling coefficient of performance was obtained in the TESC3D design at 1.0 V DC with a
115 W cooling capacity and 123 W heating capacity when the R290 temperature was 50 ◦C and the auxiliary
water flow temperature was 40 ◦C
Imaging in Plasma-Cell Neoplasms: Italian Experts’ Recommendations
No full textObjectives: Using suboptimal imaging modalities on the detection of bone and extra-bone myeloma lesions affects disease status recognition and early treatment decisions. Moreover, a systematic search of the evidence was not provided alongside the recommendations. The objective of this study was to assess the current real world imaging practices in Italy, influencing factors, and barriers to adopting international imaging guidelines for MGUS and MM (reported as plasma cell disorders, PCD) and to develop evidence-based, country-specific recommendations for imaging assessment of PCD patients. Methods: A national project was launched in 2024, involving experts from 32 hematology centers and 5 radiology services. A survey was conducted and a Delphi panel comprising 23 experts was used to reach a consensus on the developed recommendations. A total of 25 recommendations were finally formulated. Results: The survey revealed that suboptimal imaging modalities were significantly contributing to the under-recognition of bone and extra-bone lesions in myeloma, leading to suboptimal disease status assessment and treatment decisions. Conclusions: The study emphasizes the importance of adopting effective imaging modalities to improve disease detection and guide treatment decisions in PCD patients. A country-specific, evidence-based set of imaging recommendations has been developed to address existing challenges in the adoption of international imaging guidelines
Evaluation of the efficacy of curettage and over-grafting in the control of esca disease complex
No full textThe domestication and cultivation of the vine required pruning techniques that expose the vines to trunk pathogens, thereby facilitating the spread of Grapevine Trunk Diseases (GTDs). Among these, the Esca Disease Complex (EDC), primarily caused by Phaeomoniella chlamydospora, Phaeoacremonium minimum, and Fomitiporia mediterranea, brings significant challenges to European viticulture. This study examines the effects of curettage and over-grafting as potential methods for containing the expression of the disease in three vineyards located in Tuscany and Veneto (Italy). For several years, symptomatic vines were treated with curettage (removal of necrotic wood) or over-grafting, and the manifestation of symptoms, recurrence, and mortality rates were compared with those of untreated controls. The results revealed that both techniques reduced the incidence of foliar symptoms and mortality from Grapevine Leaf Stripe Disease (GLSD), one of the diseases in the EDC, which was previously simply referred to as "esca". In the long term, treated vines had a significantly lower probability of resuming symptoms or dying compared to the untreated ones. The effectiveness of over-grafting varied depending on the health status of the rootstock. Overall, both methods offer promising, yet context-dependent, strategies for managing GTDs, highlighting the importance of integrated and site-specific approaches in vineyard disease control