1,261 research outputs found
Il Quaternario della Toscana costiera
No full textAnalisi esaustiva dei depositi quaternari costieri marini e continentali del litorale toscano, con riferimenti all'antico popolamento umano dell'area
Experimental Investigation for the Noise Reduction of Small Diesel Engine
No full textSAE paper n. 951757 presented at the Small Engine Technology Conference, MECCA, Milwaukee, WI, USA, 13-15 September 1995
Notizie preliminari sul Pliocene del Bacino del medio Ombrone e della zona di Roccastrada
No full textPreliminary results of interdisciplinary researches on the Pliocene
sequences of the middle Ombrone Basin and the Roccastrada area are presented.
The most interesting acquisition is that the sedimentary and palaeogeographic
evolution of the two areas has developed through two sedimentary cycles. The first
is represented by a sequence of marine clays of Early Pliocene age, transgressing on
Miocene and pre-Neogene formations; it extends from the Sphaeroidinellopsis seminulina
s.l. Zone to the lower part of the Globorotalia puncticulata Zone. The second
cycle is represented by marine sediments, of small thickness, mainly consisting of
fossiliferous sands and detritic-organogenic limestones, which have been referred to
Middle Pliocene (Globorotalia aemiliana Zone). These sediments are transgressive on
different Lower Pliocene biostratigraphic units or on Miocene and pre-Neogene formations.
A lacustrine episode, represented by marly clays, marls, calcareous sands,
peaty c1ays and coarse sands, comes after this marine event; it is not clear if the
lacus trine sedimentation follows the marine one in continuity or is separated by a
gap. On account of their contents in land vertebrates, the limnic sediments can be
attributed to the Lower Villafranchian interval corresponding lo Middle Pliocene
On the Use of Voice Signals for Studying Sclerosis Disease
No full textMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system. One of its manifestations concerns impaired speech, also known as dysarthria. In many cases, a proper speech evaluation can play an important role in the diagnosis of MS. The identification of abnormal voice patterns can provide valid support for a physician in the diagnosing and monitoring of this neurological disease. In this paper, we present a method for vocal signal analysis in patients affected by MS. The goal is to identify the dysarthria in MS patients to perform an early diagnosis of the disease and to monitor its progress. The proposed method provides the acquisition and analysis of vocal signals, aiming to perform feature extraction and to identify relevant patterns useful to impaired speech associated with MS. This method integrates two well-known methodologies, acoustic analysis and vowel metric methodology, to better define pathological compared to healthy voices. As a result, this method provides patterns that could be useful indicators for physicians in identifying patients affected by MS. Moreover, the proposed procedure could be a valid support in early diagnosis as well as in monitoring treatment success, thus improving a patient’s life quality
The Miocene of Pianosa Island: key to understanding the opening of the Northern Tyrrhenian back-arc basin (Central Mediterranean)
No full textThe only place where Neogene–Quaternary rocks crop out for the entire Tuscan Archipelago in the
Northern Tyrrhenian Sea is the island of Pianosa. In particular, the Miocene deposits record the depositional
and tectonic evolution of the Northern Tyrrhenian region during this time period. These deposits are subdivided
into two successions separated by a low-angle unconformity. The older, middle Burdigalian succession
represents a calciturbidite shallow marine system, whereas the younger late Tortonian–early Messinian
succession comprises a continental alluvial system that evolves upwards into a lagoonal–marginal marine
environment. Here we present sedimentological, palaeontological and petrographical data that support a new
stratigraphic and palaeogeographical framework for reconstructing the opening of the Northern Tyrrhenian
back-arc basin. The early Miocene succession records a pre-rift marine depositional phase followed by a late
Burdigalian–Langhian erosional phase. This was followed by a period of synrift continental-marginal deposition,
as recorded by the late Miocene succession, terminated by an important phase of uplift, probably induced
by the start of magmatic activity in the Tuscan Archipelago area
Note preliminari sul Neoautoctono dell'Area di Sassa (settore SW del Bacino di Volterra) Provincie di Pisa e Livorno
No full textPreliminary results of multidisciplinary research (geological mapping, paleoecological and biostratigraphical analyses) on The neoautoctonous sediments exposed in the Sassa area (Tuscany, Italy) are presented. Some sedimentary cycles are evident throughout the stratigraphic succession, which ranges from Upper Miocene to Lower Pleistocene. During the Late Tortonian the northern sector of the area (Settore A) formed part of a subsiding continental basin characterized by interfingering fuvio-Iacustrine sands and conglomerates (and locally by lignitie). This fluvio-lacustrine succcssion (the so-called "serie Iignitifera") is absent from the southern part of the area (Settore B) either because no or negligible subsidence occurred, or because Settore B was a paleo-high. Conformably overlying the continental deposits is a predominantly argillaccous succession with paralic and marine microfauna respectively in the lawer and upper part. Biostratigraphical analyses enable correlation of the marine portion with the lower part of the Non-distinctive Zone (foraminiferal zonation), and with the uppermost part of the Amaurolithus primus / A. amplificus Zone (calcareous nannofossil zonation). This brief marine episode was terminated by an evaporitic event (ev), coeval with the beginning of the Mediterranean "salinity crisis", and leading to the deposition of primary gypsum. The evaporitic drawdown rejuvenated the basin's morphology, bringing fresh water, clastic material (clay, sand grave l and reworked gypsum) in the deepest parts of the basin. The so-called "lago-mare" environment was then established in the area. In Settore A the subsidence allowed appreciable sedimentation; in Settare B the "lago-mare" sediments are lacking, either because of non-deposition or subsequent erosion due to tectonic uplift; an angular unconformity between Messinian and Lower Pliocene deposits testify to the latter hypothesis. During the Early Pliocene a diachronous transgression restored the marine domain to the Sassa area, starting from Settore A and migrating southward in Settore B. In Settore A, mostly clayey sediments conformably overlie the uppermost Messinian " lago-mare" sediments and range from the Sphaeroidinellopsis seminulina s.1. Zone lo the Globorotalia puncticulata Zone (foraminiferal zonalion), and from the Discoaster variabilis s.1. Zone of the D. tamalis Zone, Reticulofenestra spp. Subzone (calcareous nannofossil zonation). The Lower Pliocene sediments are unconformably overlain by a Middle Pliocene calcarenitic argillaceous succession (G. aemiliana Zone, upper part of the Reticulofenestra spp. Subzone and Coccolithus pelagicus Subzone, D. tamalis Zone) and are transgressive over the praeneogene. In Settore B the succession is continuous from Lower to Middle Pliocene, reaching the lower part of G. aemiliana Zone (D. tamalis Zone, Reticulofenestra spp. Subzone) and rests unconformably on Messinian sediments and praeneogene units. During the early Pleistocene a new subsidence episode occurred, which determined the deposition of both conglomerates and sands; these deposits, unconformably overlying the Miocene and Pliocene sediments, only outcrop in the western and northern sides of the investigated area
- …
