OPTIMIZATION OF TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS DURING URBAN FLOODING1

ABSTRACT: In this paper a numerical model for flood propagation in urban areas is proposed. It has been applied to evaluate flooding hydraulic characteristics in terms of potential flood elevations, depths, and inundated areas. Furthermore, the algorithm efficiency and the consequent reduced computation time allow the use of the hydraulic model as a part of a more complex system for civil protection actions, planning, and management. During flood events, the transportation network plays a main role both in rescuing people when they are more vulnerable and in moving people and materials from and toward affected areas. The reduced efficiency of this transportation network is evaluated based on a least‐flood‐risk path‐finding algorithm. The results of a case study concerning the northern part of the city of Rome, show that the numerical model for unsteady flow in open channel networks achieves the proposed aims. It has proven to be able to describe the flood hydraulic characteristics and to be suitable for real‐time flood emergency management in urban areas.     

Odorous emission reduction from a waste landfill with an optimal protection system based on fuzzy logic

Effective landfill management and operation require an accurate evaluation of the occurrence and extent of odour emission events, which are among the main causes of resident complaints and concerns, in particular in densely urbanised areas. This paper proposes a fuzzy optimal protection system (FOPS) based on fuzzy logic to manage odour production from a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill. The case study is a MSW landfill in an old quarry site located 6 km north-west of Naples city centre (Italy). The aim is to reduce the odour nuisance in the area surrounding the landfill where there are several sensitive receptors. FOPS is based on logical relationships between local atmospheric dynamics, number and intensity of odour pollution events detected by certain fixed receptors and odour emission rate via an optimal fuzzy approach. Such system allows to start, in real time, established mitigation actions required to further reduce the odorous emissions from the landfill itself (e.g. spraying of perfumed substances and activation of extraction wells), especially when weather conditions might not be favourable and cause by causing a higher odour perception. The fuzzy system was coupled with the air pollutant transport software CALPUFF to simulate the odour dispersion in the considered area taking into account both different odour emission rates and local weather conditions. FOPS results show that this approach can be very useful as, by measuring the odour concentrations, a significant reduction of the odour exceedances over the thresholds fixed, to minimise the olfactory harassment, was observed in the whole area studied.

     

Antecedents and consequences of collective psychological ownership: The validation of a conceptual model

We investigate team member feelings of collective psychological ownership (CPO) over teamwork products, the psychological paths that lead to it, and its impact on team workers' evaluations of team effectiveness, turnover intentions, and intentions to champion teamwork products. We focus on the teamwork product as an important target of ownership feelings, building on theories of self-extension, psychological ownership, and team emergent states. In Study 1, we validate measures for three ownership activating experiences (OAE) that have been proposed as paths to CPO (control over, intimate knowledge regarding, and investment in the teamwork product) using two samples of individual team workers (n = 210 and n = 140). In Study 2 (n = 183) and Study 3 (n = 200), we use surveys and a multiwave design to show that team workers' feelings of CPO mediate the relationship between investment in and intimate knowledge regarding the product and team effectiveness evaluations, team turnover intentions, and intentions to champion the work product. In Study 4 (n = 48 teams), CPO was predicted by the ownership activating experiences, at the team level. This research additionally highlights the benefits to organizations of creating conditions for the emergence of employee feelings of shared ownership over teamwork products.     

Microplastics in seawater: sampling strategies,laboratory methodologies,and identification techniques applied to port environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The European Interreg Italy–France 2014–2020 Maritime Project SPlasH! (Stop to Plastics in H2O!) focused on the study of microplastics...     

Multi-objective design optimization of sustainable commercial a-ircraft: performance and costs

The present work deals with a multi-objective optimisation approach to incorporate up-to-date financial models in the multidisciplinary conceptual design of a commercial aircraft. Design optimisations based on financial objective functions are compared to standard performance-based optimal solutions. The main novelty is in the extension of the financial models to the long-term investments of a wider group of stakeholders. The rationale underlying this research stems from two considerations: (i) the environmentally sustainable development of the air transportation system in the next 20 years is subordinate to breakthrough technologies, since the consolidated ones have reached their saturation point; (ii) the economic impacts of highly innovative concepts on the stakeholders chain is still uncertain. The problem is addressed at the conceptual design level and the analysis is performed within a comprehensive multidisciplinary framework, adopting all the technical constraints required in aeronautical design. The Pareto fronts obtained using performance and financial merit factors, reveal that the proposed financial model yields highly efficient, technically sound concepts. The design space point corresponding to the negative cash flows minimum turned out to be very close to the one corresponding to minimum acoustic emissions, confirming that the financial model drives the optimiser towards environment-friendly designs.     

Long-term trend of the waterbird community breeding in a heavily man-modified coastal lagoon: the case of the important bird area “Lagoon of Venice”

The aim of the paper is to examine the temporal and spatial changes observed over a 25-year period in the waterbird community nesting in the largest coastal lagoon around the Mediterranean; to examine driving factors for the observed changes; to address the most urgent conservation actions. Published sources and field surveys made between March and July were used to assess number of breeding pairs of the commonest waterbirds in 1990–1992, 2000–02 and 2012–14. The breeding waterbird community exhibited several changes in its structure, with an overall positive trend; the number of species increased from 14 to 25 and the mean yearly abundance increased from 6155 to 14,008 pairs. The diversity (H′) increased slightly, whereas similarity indices and nMDS ordination both highlighted clear differences between 1990 and 1992 and 2012–2014 communities. The increase in richness and abundance were mostly due to the immigration of birds from nearby wetlands, to the partial recovery of lagoon ecological conditions since the end of the 1980s and to the occurrence of suitable man-made habitats, such as fish farms, dredge islands and a constructed wetland. The fraction of the population nesting at artificial sites and fish farms increased from 50% in 1990–1992 till 80% in 2012–2014, highlighting the importance of artificial breeding sites in costal lagoons. At the opposite natural nesting habitats, such as saltmarshes and beaches are losing importance for breeding waterbirds, thus requiring urgent conservation measures.     

Patterns of biodiversity and habitat sensitivity in agricultural landscapes

Design of landscape is the process of the arrangement of spatial features with the objective of sustaining ecosystem services, and maintaining ecological functionality to meet societal needs. Along a gradient of cultivation intensity, the functional quality of agricultural landscape was explored and the relationships between landscape metrics and functional quality were analyzed, in order to make effective recommendations for landscape design aimed at sustainable land use schemes. The functional quality of landscape was calculated using the InVest model for 20 farm landscapes (North-Eastern Italy) where biodiversity (plant taxa) and sensitivity to disturbance (hemeroby) were used as model inputs. Results highlighted the importance of specific habitat types such as meadows and woodlands rather than other habitats for improving the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes. A high proportion of these habitats enhanced the functional quality of the landscape when the habitats were organized in large and not isolated patches in heterogeneous landscapes.     

Biomonitoring of arsenic through mangrove oyster (Crassostrea corteziensis Hertlein, 1951) from coastal lagoons (SE Gulf of California): occurrence of arsenobetaine and other arseno-compounds

In this study, we examined the bioavailability of arsenic through the mangrove oyster Crassostrea corteziensis sampled from seven coastal lagoons in SE Gulf of California during the rainy and dry seasons. As concentrations in soft tissue of oysters C. corteziensis fluctuated between 5.2 and 11.6 μg/g on dry weight; organisms from the control site presented the lowest As concentrations in the two sampling seasons. As speciation was evaluated in selected samples and indicated that arsenobetaine was the major arseno-compound accounting for 53.5–74.7 % of total As. Lower percentage contributions were obtained for nonextractable As (9.7–25.5 %) and other molecules such as arsenocholine and methyl-arsonate (<5 %). Inorganic As was detectable in only two samples, at concentrations lower than 0.1 μg/g. These As data are the first generated in NW Mexico and indicate that C. corteziensis is safe for human consumption in terms of arseno-compounds. It is evident that As bioavailability in these lagoons is low.     

Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Coatings for the Modification of Barrier Properties of Poly(lactic acid) Films for Food Packaging Applications

Organic–inorganic hybrid coatings based on poly(ε-caprolactone), poly(ethylene oxide) or poly(lactic acid) as organic phase and silica from tetraethoxysilane as inorganic phase were prepared by the sol–gel approach. Coatings were applied onto poly(lactic acid) films for food packaging in order to improve its barrier properties towards oxygen and water vapour. All the prepared coatings were dense, homogeneous layers characterized by a good adhesion to the substrate. The permeance of the coating layers resulted one order of magnitude lower than that of the uncoated poly(lactic acid) (PLA) film. The hydrophilic character of the coating did not permit to gain a significant decrease in the water vapour permeance. The perfect visual transparency of the coatings allows their application without worsening of the esthetical properties of the substrate PLA film.     

Environmental ozone exposure and oxidative DNA damage in adult residents of Florence, Italy

In 71 adults residing in Florence, Italy, enrolled in a prospective study, we investigated the correlation between individual levels of oxidative DNA damage detected by the Comet assay in circulating lymphocytes, and a specific ozone exposure score calculated in 10 different time-windows (0-5 to 0-90 days) before blood drawing, based on daily measurements provided by the local environmental monitoring system.Overall, statistically significant positive correlations between average ozone concentrations and DNA damage emerged in almost all time-windows considered; correlations were more evident among males, non-smokers, and traffic-exposed workers. Multivariate regression analyses taking into account selected individual characteristics, showed an independent effect on DNA damage of average ozone concentrations in the last 60-90 days before blood drawing. Local residents showed a divergent pattern with correlations restricted to shorter time-windows.Our results suggest that ozone concentrations at ground levels modulate oxidative DNA damage in circulating lymphocytes of residents of polluted areas.