33145 research outputs found
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An Alternative Nonlinear Diffusion Algorithm for Image Denoising and Deblurring
No full textWe discuss some applications in image restoration and enhancement, such as denoising and deblurring. The treatment involves a processing algorithm where an image is represented in a continuous frame and is manipulated through suitable time-dependent nonlinear Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). For this purpose, an ad-hoc space discretization scheme is implemented. As in the classic PDE-based image processing methods, the idea is to smooth out the regions of almost uniform shade and emphasize the discontinuities. The proposed methodology is quite efficient as satisfactory results are obtained after only one step. We present some numerical results by examining examples corrupted by average blur and/or salt and pepper noise
IoT and Digital Twin for Monitoring and Simulating Living Spaces Scenarios
No full textThe Internet of Things (IoT) and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are being integrated into living spaces to collect data and to perform monitoring and control operations which are supposed to make environments more efficient, secure, and comfortable for their inhabitants. Recently, the Digital Twin concept has attracted considerable attention from industry and academia. Digital Twins build upon CPS and are empowered by IoT data to achieve a dynamic and interactive representation of physical systems. Digital Twins of living spaces promise to support the monitoring, simulation and prediction of scenarios occurring in such environments, which could guide decision-making that impact both the environments and their inhabitants. This chapter reports on the combination of IoT and the Digital Twin for monitoring and simulation of living spaces to enhance the well-being and safety of inhabitants. It focuses on illustrating the hardware and software characteristics of IoT devices deployed in a living space, together with a Digital Twin platform used to monitor living spaces, and to design and simulate life scenarios. An application of such IoT devices and Digital Twin platform is also presented in a use case targeting a public university to simulate IoT system and people behaviors in case of an earthquake scenario
Heavy Metals Affect the Antioxidant Defences in the Soil Ciliate Rigidohymena tetracirrata
No full textIn this study, we evaluated the cytotoxicity and antioxidant activity of the soil ciliate Rigidohymena tetracirrata (Gellért, 1942) Berger 2011, exposed to single and bimetallic mixtures of heavy metals (HMs) for 24 h. Ecotoxicological tests showed LC20 values of 0.16, 19.86 and 0.68 mg L−1 to Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), and Cadmium (Cd), respectively, and LC50 values of 0.25, 44.12 and 1.12 mg L−1, respectively. Furthermore, it was observed that the mixture of Cd and Zn exhibited antagonism in comparison to other mixtures, (Cd + Cu and Cu + Zn). In the total phenolic content (TPC) assay, a higher phenolic content was observed for the LC20 of extracellular Cu (p ≤ 0.01) and the LC20 of intracellular Cd (p ≤ 0.001). The LC50 values for Cd and Zn in both extracellular and intracellular contents demonstrated increased α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity with significant values of p ≤ 0.05, respectively. Regarding hydroxyl scavenging activity (HRSA), the LC50 of extracellular Cd (p ≤ 0.001) and LC50 of intracellular Cu (p ≤ 0.001) exhibited higher antioxidant activity. Therefore, the present study suggests that R. tetracirrata holds considerable potential as bioindicators and could be used as a model organism in ecotoxicological studies of soil polluted by HMs
Associate Editor, Frontiers in Built Environment, section Earthquake Engineering
No full texthttps://www.frontiersin.org/journals/built-environment/sections/earthquake-engineering/editor
Riforma del mercato elettrico e autonomia privata
No full textLa riforma del mercato elettrico e autonomia privat
Rassegna a: J. KULAWIAK-CYRANKOWSKA, Utilitas in Roman Jurists’ Legal Interpretation, «Potsdamer Altertumswissenschaftliche Beiträge, 88» (Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2025) p. 262
No full textSome observations from the first application of a computer vision monitoring of displacements in multi-story buildings during shake-table tests
No full textThis paper presents an effective computer vision methodology for monitoring displacements in multi-story buildings during
shake-table testing, as a convenient alternative to conventional contact sensors. The proposed system, in its simplest
configuration, uses only two video cameras: one installed on the roof pointing downward to simultaneously measure absolute and
relative horizontal displacements of targets at different floor levels, and one at ground level as a stationary reference to acquire
the roof displacement by tracking a target near the internal camera. This setup provides i) redundant roof displacement
measurements and ii) compensation for possible noise affecting the internal camera during shaking. The methodology was first
applied during the shake-table testing of a full-scale, six-story mass timber building on the 6-DOF outdoor shake-table
(LHPOST6) at the University of California San Diego. Based on the results, a critical discussion of the methodology’s
performance is presented
Integrated chemical and biological analysis of Astragalus aintabicus Boiss extracts using chromatographic profiling, in vitro assays, and in silico modeling
No full textAstragalus aintabicus Boiss, an endemic and little-studied species native to Turkey, has been extensively studied for its phytochemical composition and biological activities. Various plant parts (flowers, roots and aerial parts) were subjected to sequential extraction with solvents of increasing polarity (ethyl acetate, ethanol, ethanol/water and water). Phytochemical profiling by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionisation quadrupole time-of-flight
mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS) revealed that the aerial parts, especially those extracted with ethanol and ethanol/water, were rich in phenolic compounds and flavonoids, with vanillic acid and hyperoside identified as predominant
constituents. In contrast, the flower and root extracts had a lower content of phytochemicals, with 4-hydroxybenzoic acid being the most important compound. The antioxidant potential of the extracts was evaluated using various free
radical scavenging and reduction assays, with the aerial leaf extracts showing the strongest activity. Enzyme inhibition assays showed that the extracts from the aerial leaves had the strongest inhibitory effects against acetylcholinesterase
(AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and α-amylase, while the flower extracts were more effective inhibitors of tyrosinase and α-glucosidase. Cytotoxicity tests showed a moderate anticancer potential of the extracts with IC50 value between
13.01 and 141.20 μg/ml, but with limited selectivity against cancer cells (HEK-293, A549, DU-145, HELA). In silico molecular docking studies, supported by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and MM/PBSA (molecular mechanics-
Poisson–Boltzmann surface area) free energy calculations, revealed a strong binding affinity of key phytoconstituents, rutin, isoquercitrin, hyperoside and kaempferol to important therapeutic protein targets. Overall, the results suggest that A.
aintabicus, especially its aerial parts, is a promising source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant, enzyme inhibitory and moderate cytotoxic properties, warranting further investigation for its potential applications in the pharmaceutical and
nutraceutical sectors
LA STRADA COME LUOGO URBANO. Declinazioni, limiti e prospettive del progetto di mobilità nei PUMS
No full textThe research focuses on sustainable mobility and the role it can play in the transformation of the
current urban model, in the technical tools used to promote and manage it at the urban scale, and in
the relationships (or rather the lack of relationships) with traditional urban planning instruments.
The field of study is therefore the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), which currently
serve as the main tools for designing and regulating urban mobility from a sustainability
perspective.
Through an approach that is closely linked to the disciplines of architecture and urban planning, the
focus is above all on the physical, formal and spatial impact that these instruments produce within
urban areas, since the new mobility does not only concern the fields of technological innovation,
whether in vehicle engineering, data collection on citizens' movements or the comfort of urban
environments, but in fact generates real changes in lifestyles and urban practices, in the means of
transport used and in the services demanded within the urban space, and therefore in the layout of
the service infrastructures associated with and linked to mobility. Just as the automobile shaped the
twentieth century city with all its distortions, the new mobility systems of the third millennium are
redefining the use of urban space with a more balanced imprint. Consequently, the research aims to
investigate the urban forms generated by these new mobility models and the ways in which
governance, planning and urban design act and react to such transformations.
The aim of the research is to provide directions for overcoming the sectoral logic and the long-
standing gap between mobility policies and urban planning, by identifying the main theoretical and
methodological references in the legislative production and experimental practice for integrated and
interscalar planning of sustainable mobility. As the design of mobility and its spaces must now be
approached in a comprehensive and contextualized manner, it must address not only transportation
issues but also land use, property management, environmental protection, social policies, public
health, safety, and economic growth. It is this multiplicity of interactions that the research seeks to
explore and reflect upon.
The study aims to make an innovative contribution in the context of strategies for integrating the
sustainable mobility model into the development of new urban planning instruments, specifically
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). This involves defining a methodology that starts from
the intersections at the strategic and formal level between different sectoral instruments (mobility,
transport, environment, sustainability, etc.) and territorial and urban ones. Through the
identification of key theoretical and methodological references in both legislative frameworks and
experimental practices, this research offers reflections aimed at promoting an integrated planning of
sustainable mobility that is truly capable of responding to the needs of contemporary urban life
