Riviste Online SApienza - R.O.SA - 2 (Sapienza University of Rome)
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Debris flow mitigation and control in the Dolomites (north-eastern Italy)
Get PDFAn active debris flow seriously threatens the urbanized area of Fiames, near Cortina d’Ampezzo (Dolomites, Italy) and the National road. In September 1997, following a 25,000 m3 magnitude debris flow hat temporarily dammed the river, a retention basin with a storage capacity of about 15,000 m3, was built upstream the National road. In 2002 a warning system was installed, based on the early detecting of debris-flow-induced ground vibrations and the overcoming of a flow-stage threshold in the debris basin, linked to a traffic light in order to stop the traffic on the National road in the event of a debris flow. In the following years, after more accurated studies, more effective mitigation measures were designed. The most suitable action to reduce the risk is to control the debris deposition, because the geomorphology of the site does not allow risk mitigation measures along the flow paths. For the design of the mitigation works, the two-dimensional flow routing model FLO-2D has been used to get fundamental information such as possible runout distances, depth, velocities and impact force of the design debris flow. The magnitude of the design debris flow, based on geomorphological and historical data, has been estimated in 30,000 m3. A debris basin and debris flow barriers and breakers have been considered the most suitable mitigation measures to protect human settlements, infrastructure and supply lines from rain-induced disasters by dissipating the energy of debris flow (floods), filtering coarse solid components and deflecting the flows from the areas at risk
Future precipitation and temperature changes over the Taro, Parma and Enza River Basins in Northern Italy
Get PDFThis study analyzes the climate change effects on the future precipitation and temperature over the Taro, Parma and Enza River basins, in the Emilia Romagna region, northern Italy. An ensemble of 13 Regional Climate Models and two emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) were adopted. The results are reported in terms of precipitation and mean temperature anomalies between a reference period (RP, 1986-2005) and three future periods: short-term (ST) 2016-2035, medium-term (MT) 2046-2065 and long-term (LT) 2081-2100. With reference to the rainfall data, irregular and slight variations are expected at any season and period; on a yearly scale, changes from -5% to +6% are estimated. On the other hand, a gradual warming of the study domain in the future periods is unequivocal. At annual scale, increments up to +0.75°C at ST, +1.5°C at MT and +2°C at LT are expected under the RCP 4.5, and higher, up to +4°C at LT with the RCP 8.5. In addition, the trend evolution of the climate variables was analyzed using a thirty-year moving time window up to the end of the century. From the results, it is evident that the pattern of the trend gradients follows the pattern of the scenario radiative forcing
Reservoir-triggered seismicity: two case histories in Central and Southern Italy
Get PDFEarthquakes are generated by tectonic movements of the Earth’s crust. However, the fact that sometimes they occur with some man - related activities has suggested that their genesis may sometimes be affected by human action. On the basis of literature data, mainly from American studies, we report the cases of the 2012 earthquake crisis in Mormanno (Cosenza Province - Calabria Region) and that of 2016 in Amatrice (Central Italian Apennine), which can be considered, at least in part, as reservoir - related events. Both the basins fall in high tectonized areas with numerous faults which could condition water infiltration affecting interstitial pressures and earthquake development
Impact of objective function selection on optimal placement of sensors in water distribution networks
Get PDFThis paper investigates how the choice of the effectiveness-related objective function affects the results of the optimal placement of water quality sensors in water distribution networks (WDNs). The methodology adopted is based on bi-objective optimization, with the number of installed sensors as first objective function to be minimized. As for the choice of the second objective function, representative of the effectiveness of the monitoring system to react to a set of potential contamination events, two variants of optimization were considered: variant 1 - event detection likelihood to be maximized; variant 2 - average contaminated population to be minimized. The analysis of the results of the optimizations, which were re-evaluated in terms of four different system effectiveness indicators, proved that neither optimization variant is numerically superior. The choice of the objective function also impacts the physical placement of the sensors, with locations at maximum distance from the source(s) and more scattered over the layout for the two variants respectively
¿Cuándo fue que el FMI descubrió que estamos viviendo una crisis económica financiera internacional?
No full textMuch has been discussed about the foresight of the 2008 crisis and the position of the International Monetary Fund regarding its consequences. The denial of the crisis, only recognized in 2010, is consistent with the IMF’s perceived mission lecturing on how governments should correct their economies (Weisbrot et al., 2009). All this ignoring that their prescriptions failed as did their structural adjustment policies, which benefited only those who had more resources, whilst producing hunger, more misery and frustration for the poor who became poorer (Stiglitz, 2002). This paper analyzes the annual reports of the International Monetary Fund issued annually under the name World Economic Outlook from the years 2005 to 2012, applying techniques from the Statistical Analysis of Textual Data. In particular what is analyzed from the processing of textual corpus using Taltac2 software, developed by Prof. Sergio Bolasco at the University di Roma Sapienza, are the concepts and language contributing to the debate on the variety of exclusions which encompass the present-day political, economic and social climate (Sen and Kliksberg, 2007). On the whole the analysis considers how World Economic Outlook reports may be useful for understanding the behavior of the IMF in the context of the financial crisis
Upgrade of the cedit database of earthquake-induced ground effects in Italy
Get PDFThe database related to the Italian Catalogue of Earthquake- Induced Ground Failures (CEDIT), was recently upgraded and updated to 2017 in the frame of a work-in-progress focused on the following issues: i) reorganization of the geo-database architecture; ii) revision of the earthquake parameters from the CFTI5 e CPTI15 catalogues by INGV; ii) addition of new data on effects induced by earthquakes occurred from 2009 to 2017; iv) attribution of macroseismic intensity value to each effect site, according to the CFTI5 e CPTI15 catalogues by INGV. The revised CEDIT database aims at achieving: i) the optimization of the CEDIT catalogue in order to increase its usefulness for both Public Institutions and individual users; ii) a new architecture of the geo-database in view of a future implementation of the online catalogue which implies its usability via web-app also to support post-event detection and surveying activities. Here we illustrate the new geo-database design and discuss the statistics that can be derived from the updated database. Statistical analysis was carried out on the data recorded in the last update of CEDIT to 2017 and compared with the analysis of the previous update outline that: - the most represented ground effects are the landslides with a percentage of 55% followed by ground cracks with a percentage of 23%; - the MCS intensity (IMCS) distribution of the effect sites shows a maximum in correspondence of the IMCS class 8 even if a second frequency peak appears in the IMCS class 7 only for surface faulting effects; - the distribution of the effects according to the epicentral distance shows a decrease for all the typologies of induced ground effects with increasing epicentral distance
Review of the distribution of Sapygidae in Italy and new records (Hymenoptera: Vespoidea)
Get PDFThe distribution of the Italian species of Sapygidae is reviewed and new occurrence records for some species are given. Monosapyga clavicornis (Linnaeus, 1758) is recorded for the first time in Lazio and Abruzzo, Polochrum repandum Spinola, 1806 in Abruzzo, and Sapygina decemguttata (Jurine, 1807) in Veneto. Due to insufficient sampling efforts in Italy, all the Italian species of Sapygidae should be currently considered as Data Deficient (DD) according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria
Lab observations on prolonged chrysalis diapause of Brahmaea (Acanthobrahmaea) europaea Hartig (Lepidoptera: Brahmaeidae)
Get PDFBrahmaea (Acanthobrahmaea) europaea Hartig, 1963, is an Italian endemic species exhibiting a very restricted geographic distribution (Basilicata and Campania regions, Grotticelle di Monticchio Nature Reserve and neighbouring areas), and developing as larvae on a few Oleaceae (Fraxinus angustifolia subsp. oxycarpa, Ligustrum vulgare and Phyllirea latifolia). From spring 2015 to spring 2017 a series of bioethological observations on the moth were conducted, as well as surveys aimed to study the distribution of its host plants in the habitats of SAC “Grotticelle di Monticchio”. In this short communication a prolonged diapause of B. europaea chrysalis kept in the laboratory is documented. In spring 2018, four successfully adult eclosions occurred from two years old pupae, a case never previously reported in literature records for this rare and threatened taxon
Notes on genus Epitrichius Tagawa, 1941 in Vietnam, with description of a new species and a new synonym (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae)
Get PDFThe study of several specimens of Epitrichius recently caught in central and southern Vietnam allowed to put in synonymy one species and to describe a new one, which extends considerably southwards the distribution area of the genus
Rediscovery of Hoplia walterrossii: new localities, first ecological notes, description of the female and conservation issues (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
Get PDFHoplia walterrossii is a species endemic to Molise, Southern Italy, with completely unknown ecology and virtually known only on the holotype, few additional specimens having been merely listed in a recent paper. Following the discovery of various new populations in the field and of old unpublished samples, we provide new information on ecology, phenology, distribution, and morphology, including the description of the female, so far unknown. H. walterrossii is associated to alluvial soils near the coast, and to lowland floodplains, with apparent tolerance for temporarily flooded areas. Adults are active for about one month, from early May to early June, and have been observed mostly on leaves of canes and on young poplars, never on flowers. An attempt of formal IUCN status assignment is provided, giving the species the “Endagered” status. Suitable habitats for H. walterrossii are small residual meadows and, in particular, wetlands which have been subjected to a recent strong reduction due to human activity. This process, that started centuries ago, is still in progress, in spite of the formal identification of these areas as sites of conservation concern