A intersemiose texto-história-cinema na minissérie ROMA da HBO

From August 2005 to March 2007, the two seasons (with 12 and 10 episodes respectively) of the award winning miniseries HBO‟s ROME were aired by the Home Box Office (HBO) channel. With screenplay signed by various writers and directors, the TV series was a coproduction of HBO (USA) and BBC (UK) with support from RAI (Italy), and the show was filmed in multiple locations, but mainly in Cinecittà Film Studios in Rome, very famous for having been headquarters also for Federico Fellini‟s movies. In the first season, the miniseries depicts the conquest of Gaul, made by the military genius of Gaius Julius Caesar, and the political trajectory that made him accumulate power to such an extent that this divided Roman citizens into two factions, one supporting and the other opposing him, the latter focused mainly on the historic figure of General Gnaeus Pompey Magnus. The second season shows the period of civil war following the assassination of Caesar, and the future rise to power of his nephew, adopted son and sole heir, Gaius Octavian Augustus, who was destined to overcome his rivals as well as their allies in the triumvirate that had been formed to pursue and punish Caesar‟s assassins. These facts are well known and usually crowd the mind and imagination of every minimally educated person. The HBO series broke new ground not only for the talent of its writers, directors and actors, not only for its visual effects and locations nor for the vibrancy and grandeur of historical scenes – after all, “historical movies” in general do the same – but it has done so also by the (re)construction of historical events from the perspective of a pair of protagonists of whom too little is known: the centurions Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus, who are the only low-rank soldiers mentioned by Caesar in his book Commentaries on the Gallic War (Commentarii de Bello Gallico V.44). Thus, the fictionalization of events also took into account several Roman civilization data which were scattered through historical sources and also those that belong to the modern knowledge of material culture, resulting in a TV series whose filmic aesthetics has rare beauty and creativity. From the survey of textual, historical and cultural data put together in this film, as well as the distance featuring the creative space in the dimension of the gap between them, this paper aims to highlight two pivotal moments of visual and narrative strategies of the show: the opening credits footage and the final scenes of the first season of HBO's Rome.

SEARCH FOR POINT-LIKE SOURCES OF ULTRA-HIGH ENERGY NEUTRINOS AT THE PIERRE AUGER OBSERVATORY AND IMPROVED LIMIT ON THE DIFFUSE FLUX OF TAU NEUTRINOS

The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory can detect neutrinos with energy E-nu between 10(17) eV and 10(20) eV from point-like sources across the sky south of +55 degrees and north of -65 degrees declinations. A search has been performed for highly inclined extensive air showers produced by the interaction of neutrinos of all flavors in the atmosphere (downward-going neutrinos), and by the decay of tau leptons originating from tau neutrino interactions in Earth's crust (Earth-skimming neutrinos). No candidate neutrinos have been found in data up to 2010 May 31. This corresponds to an equivalent exposure of similar to 3.5 years of a full surface detector array for the Earth-skimming channel and similar to 2 years for the downward-going channel. An improved upper limit on the diffuse flux of tau neutrinos has been derived. Upper limits on the neutrino flux from point-like sources have been derived as a function of the source declination. Assuming a differential neutrino flux k(PS) . E-nu(-2). from a point-like source, 90% confidence level upper limits for k(PS) at the level of approximate to 5x10(-7) and 2.5x10(-6) GeV cm(-2) s(-1) have been obtained over a broad range of declinations from the searches for Earth-skimming and downward-going neutrinos, respectively.

A search for point sources of EeV neutrons

A thorough search of the sky exposed at the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory reveals no statistically significant excess of events in any small solid angle that would be indicative of a flux of neutral particles from a discrete source. The search covers from -90 degrees to +15 degrees in declination using four different energy ranges above 1 EeV (10(18) eV). The method used in this search is more sensitive to neutrons than to photons. The upper limit on a neutron flux is derived for a dense grid of directions for each of the four energy ranges. These results constrain scenarios for the production of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays in the Galaxy.

Effect of multiple sources of disturbance on rocky benthic assemblages in some localities of Salento, Apulia

The first part of my work consisted in samplings conduced in nine different localities of the salento peninsula and Apulia (Italy): Costa Merlata (BR), Punta Penne (BR), Santa Cesarea terme (LE), Santa Caterina (LE), Torre Inserraglio (LE), Torre Guaceto (BR), Porto Cesareo (LE), Otranto (LE), Isole Tremiti (FG). I collected data of species percentage covering from the infralittoral rocky zone, using squares of 50x50 cm. We considered 3 sites for location and 10 replicates for each site, which has been taken randomly. Then I took other data about the same places, collected in some years, and I combined them together, to do a spatial analysis. So I started from a data set of 1896 samples but I decided not to consider time as a factor because I have reason to think that in this period of time anthropogenic stressors and their effects (if present), didn’t change considerably. The response variable I’ve analysed is the covering percentage of an amount of 243 species (subsequently merged into 32 functional groups), including seaweeds, invertebrates, sediment and rock. 2 After the sampling, I have been spent a period of two months at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, in Monterey (California,USA), at Fiorenza Micheli's laboratory. I've been carried out statistical analysis on my data set, using the software PRIMER 6. My explorative analysis starts with a nMDS in PRIMER 6, considering the original data matrix without, for the moment, the effect of stressors. What comes out is a good separation between localities and it confirms the result of ANOSIM analysis conduced on the original data matrix. What is possible to ensure is that there is not a separation led by a geographic pattern, but there should be something else that leads the differences. Is clear the presence of at least three groups: one composed by Porto cesareo, Torre Guaceto and Isole tremiti (the only marine protected areas considered in this work); another one by Otranto, and the last one by the rest of little, impacted localities. Inside the localities that include MPA(Marine Protected Areas), is also possible to observe a sort of grouping between protected and controlled areas. What comes out from SIMPER analysis is that the most of the species involved in leading differences between populations are not rare species, like: Cystoseira spp., Mytilus sp. and ECR. Moreover I assigned discrete values (0,1,2) of each stressor to all the sites I considered, in relation to the intensity with which the anthropogenic factor affect the localities. 3 Then I tried to estabilish if there were some significant interactions between stressors: by using Spearman rank correlation and Spearman tables of significance, and taking into account 17 grades of freedom, the outcome shows some significant stressors interactions. Then I built a nMDS considering the stressors as response variable. The result was positive: localities are well separeted by stressors. Consequently I related the matrix with 'localities and species' with the 'localities and stressors' one. Stressors combination explains with a good significance level the variability inside my populations. I tried with all the possible data transformations (none, square root, fourth root, log (X+1), P/A), but the fourth root seemed to be the best one, with the highest level of significativity, meaning that also rare species can influence the result. The challenge will be to characterize better which kind of stressors (including also natural ones), act on the ecosystem; and give them a quantitative and more accurate values, trying to understand how they interact (in an additive or non-additive way).

Very Long Baseline Interferometry in Italy Wide-field VLBI imaging and astrometry and prospects for an Italian VLBI network including the Sardinia Radio Telescope

In this thesis the use of widefield imaging techniques and VLBI observations with a limited number of antennas are explored. I present techniques to efficiently and accurately image extremely large UV datasets. Very large VLBI datasets must be reduced into multiple, smaller datasets if today’s imaging algorithms are to be used to image them. I present a procedure for accurately shifting the phase centre of a visibility dataset. This procedure has been thoroughly tested and found to be almost two orders of magnitude more accurate than existing techniques. Errors have been found at the level of one part in 1.1 million. These are unlikely to be measurable except in the very largest UV datasets. Results of a four-station VLBI observation of a field containing multiple sources are presented. A 13 gigapixel image was constructed to search for sources across the entire primary beam of the array by generating over 700 smaller UV datasets. The source 1320+299A was detected and its astrometric position with respect to the calibrator J1329+3154 is presented. Various techniques for phase calibration and imaging across this field are explored including using the detected source as an in-beam calibrator and peeling of distant confusing sources from VLBI visibility datasets. A range of issues pertaining to wide-field VLBI have been explored including; parameterising the wide-field performance of VLBI arrays; estimating the sensitivity across the primary beam both for homogeneous and heterogeneous arrays; applying techniques such as mosaicing and primary beam correction to VLBI observations; quantifying the effects of time-average and bandwidth smearing; and calibration and imaging of wide-field VLBI datasets. The performance of a computer cluster at the Istituto di Radioastronomia in Bologna has been characterised with regard to its ability to correlate using the DiFX software correlator. Using existing software it was possible to characterise the network speed particularly for MPI applications. The capabilities of the DiFX software correlator, running on this cluster, were measured for a range of observation parameters and were shown to be commensurate with the generic performance parameters measured. The feasibility of an Italian VLBI array has been explored, with discussion of the infrastructure required, the performance of such an array, possible collaborations, and science which could be achieved. Results from a 22 GHz calibrator survey are also presented. 21 out of 33 sources were detected on a single baseline between two Italian antennas (Medicina to Noto). The results and discussions presented in this thesis suggest that wide-field VLBI is a technique whose time has finally come. Prospects for exciting new science are discussed in the final chapter.

Indoor and Outdoor Natural Radioactivity in the Vulsini Volcanic District (Central Italy): Estimation of Doses and Radiological Risks

Terrestrial radioactivity for most individual is the major contributor to the total dose and is mostly provided by 238U, 232Th and 40K radionuclides. In particular indoor radioactivity is principally due to 222Rn, a radioactive noble gas descendent of 238U, second cause of lung cancer after cigarettes smoking. Vulsini Volcanic District is a well known quaternary volcanic area located between the northern Latium and southern Tuscany (Central Italy). It is characterized by an high natural radiation background resulting from the high concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K in the volcanic products. In this context, subduction-related metasomatic enrichment of incompatible elements in the mantle source coupled with magma differentiation within the upper crust has given rise to U, Th and K enriched melts. Almost every ancient village and town located in this part of Italy has been built with volcanic rocks pertaining to the Vulsini Volcanic District. The radiological risk of living in this area has been estimated considering separately: a. the risk associated with buildings made of volcanic products and built on volcanic rock substrates b. the risk associated to soil characteristics. The former has been evaluated both using direct 222Rn indoor measurements and simulations of “standard rooms” built with the tuffs and lavas from the Vulsini Volcanic District investigated in this work. The latter has been carried out by using in situ measurements of 222Rn activity in the soil gases. A radon risk map for the Bolsena village has been developed using soil radon measurements integrating geological information. Data of airborne radioactivity in ambient aerosol at two elevated stations in Emilia Romagna (North Italy) under the influence of Fukushima plume have been collected, effective doses have been calculated and an extensive comparison between doses associated with artificial and natural sources in different area have been described and discussed.

Locating the source of volcanic tremor at stromboli volcano, italy

We have developed a method for locating sources of volcanic tremor and applied it to a dataset recorded on Stromboli volcano before and after the onset of the February 27th 2007 effusive eruption. Volcanic tremor has attracted considerable attention by seismologists because of its potential value as a tool for forecasting eruptions and for better understanding the physical processes that occur inside active volcanoes. Commonly used methods to locate volcanic tremor sources are: 1) array techniques, 2) semblance based methods, 3) calculation of wave field amplitude. We have choosen the third approach, using a quantitative modeling of the seismic wavefield. For this purpose, we have calculated the Green Functions (GF) in the frequency domain with the Finite Element Method (FEM). We have used this method because it is well suited to solve elliptic problems, as the elastodynamics in the Fourier domain. The volcanic tremor source is located by determining the source function over a regular grid of points. The best fit point is choosen as the tremor source location. The source inversion is performed in the frequency domain, using only the wavefield amplitudes. We illustrate the method and its validation over a synthetic dataset. We show some preliminary results on the Stromboli dataset, evidencing temporal variations of the volcanic tremor sources.

Food safety and zoonotic enteric pathogens: sources, risk factors and transmission routes of human salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis

Salmonella and Campylobacter are common causes of human gastroenteritis. Their epidemiology is complex and a multi-tiered approach to control is needed, taking into account the different reservoirs, pathways and risk factors. In this thesis, trends in human gastroenteritis and food-borne outbreak notifications in Italy were explored. Moreover, the improved sensitivity of two recently-implemented regional surveillance systems in Lombardy and Piedmont was evidenced, providing a basis for improving notification at the national level. Trends in human Salmonella serovars were explored: serovars Enteritidis and Infantis decreased, Typhimurium remained stable and 4,[5],12:i:-, Derby and Napoli increased, suggesting that sources of infection have changed over time. Attribution analysis identified pigs as the main source of human salmonellosis in Italy, accounting for 43–60% of infections, followed by Gallus gallus (18–34%). Attributions to pigs and Gallus gallus showed increasing and decreasing trends, respectively. Potential bias and sampling issues related to the use of non-local/non-recent multilocus sequence typing (MLST) data in Campylobacter jejuni/coli source attribution using the Asymmetric Island (AI) model were investigated. As MLST data become increasingly dissimilar with increasing geographical/temporal distance, attributions to sources not sampled close to human cases can be underestimated. A combined case-control and source attribution analysis was developed to investigate risk factors for human Campylobacter jejuni/coli infection of chicken, ruminant, environmental, pet and exotic origin in The Netherlands. Most infections (~87%) were attributed to chicken and cattle. Individuals infected from different reservoirs had different associated risk factors: chicken consumption increased the risk for chicken-attributed infections; animal contact, barbecuing, tripe consumption, and never/seldom chicken consumption increased that for ruminant-attributed infections; game consumption and attending swimming pools increased that for environment-attributed infections; and dog ownership increased that for environment- and pet-attributed infections. Person-to-person contacts around holiday periods were risk factors for infections with exotic strains, putatively introduced by returning travellers.

Secondary Microseisms Characterization and Green’s Function Extraction at the Larderello-Travale Geothermal Field (Italy)

Over the past ten years, the cross-correlation of long-time series of ambient seismic noise (ASN) has been widely adopted to extract the surface-wave part of the Green’s Functions (GF). This stochastic procedure relies on the assumption that ASN wave-field is diffuse and stationary. At frequencies <1Hz, the ASN is mainly composed by surface-waves, whose origin is attributed to the sea-wave climate. Consequently, marked directional properties may be observed, which call for accurate investigation about location and temporal evolution of the ASN-sources before attempting any GF retrieval. Within this general context, this thesis is aimed at a thorough investigation about feasibility and robustness of the noise-based methods toward the imaging of complex geological structures at the local (∼10-50km) scale. The study focused on the analysis of an extended (11 months) seismological data set collected at the Larderello-Travale geothermal field (Italy), an area for which the underground geological structures are well-constrained thanks to decades of geothermal exploration. Focusing on the secondary microseism band (SM;f>0.1Hz), I first investigate the spectral features and the kinematic properties of the noise wavefield using beamforming analysis, highlighting a marked variability with time and frequency. For the 0.1-0.3Hz frequency band and during Spring- Summer-time, the SMs waves propagate with high apparent velocities and from well-defined directions, likely associated with ocean-storms in the south- ern hemisphere. Conversely, at frequencies >0.3Hz the distribution of back- azimuths is more scattered, thus indicating that this frequency-band is the most appropriate for the application of stochastic techniques. For this latter frequency interval, I tested two correlation-based methods, acting in the time (NCF) and frequency (modified-SPAC) domains, respectively yielding esti- mates of the group- and phase-velocity dispersions. Velocity data provided by the two methods are markedly discordant; comparison with independent geological and geophysical constraints suggests that NCF results are more robust and reliable.

Comparing satellite and ground-based observations of paroxysmal degassing events at Etna volcano, Italy

Mount Etna, Italy, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, and is also regarded as one of the strongest volcanic sources of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions to the atmosphere. Since October 2004, an automated ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer network (FLAME) has provided ground-based SO2 measurements with high temporal resolution, providing an opportunity to validate satellite SO2 measurements at Etna. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the NASA Aura satellite, which makes global daily measurements of trace gases in the atmosphere, was used to compare SO2 amount released by the volcano during paroxysmal lava-fountaining events from 2004 to present. We present the first comparison between SO2 emission rates and SO2 burdens obtained by the OMI transect technique and OMI Normalized Cloud-Mass (NCM) technique and the ground-based FLAME Mini-DOAS measurements. In spite of a good data set from the FLAME network, finding coincident OMI and FLAME measurements proved challenging and only one paroxysmal event provided a good validation for OMI. Another goal of this work was to assess the efficacy of the FLAME network in capturing paroxysmal SO2 emissions from Etna, given that the FLAME network is only operational during daylight hours and some paroxysms occur at night. OMI measurements are advantageous since SO2 emissions from nighttime paroxysms can often be quantified on the following day, providing improved constraints on Etna’s SO2 budget.

Oxygen isotope record of oceanic and high-pressure metasomatism: a P-T-time-fluid path for the Monviso eclogites (Italy)

Fluids are considered a fundamental agent for chemical exchanges between different rock types in the subduction system. Constraints on the sources and pathways of subduction fluids thus provide crucial information to reconstruct subduction processes. The Monviso ophiolitic sequence is composed of mafic, ultramafic and minor sediments that have been subducted to ~80 km depth. In this sequence, both localized fluid flow and channelized fluids along major shear zones have been documented. We investigate the timing and source of the fluids that affected the dominant mafic rocks using microscale U-Pb dating of zircon and oxygen isotope analysis of mineral zones (garnet, zircon and antigorite) in high pressure rocks with variable degree of metasomatic modification. In mafic eclogites, Jurassic zircon cores are the only mineralogical relicts of the protolith gabbros and retain δ18O values of 4.5–6 ‰, typical of mantle melts. Garnet and metamorphic zircon that grew during prograde to peak metamorphism display low δ18O values between 0.2 and 3.8 ‰, which are likely inherited from high-temperature alteration of the protolith on the sea floor. This is corroborated by δ18O values of 3.0 and 3.6 ‰ in antigorite from surrounding serpentinites. In metasomatised eclogites within the Lower Shear Zone, garnet rim formed at the metamorphic peak shows a shift to higher δ18O up to 6‰. The age of zircons in high-pressure veins and metasomatised eclogites constrains the timing of fluid flow at high pressure at around 45–46 Ma. Although the oxygen data do not contradict previous reports of interaction with serpentinite-derived fluids, the shift to isotopically heavier oxygen compositions requires contribution from sediment-derived fluids. The scarcity of metasediments in the Monviso sequence suggests that such fluids were concentrated and fluxed along the Lower Shear Zone in a sufficient amount to modify the oxygen composition of the eclogitic minerals.

Florence, Italy, ca. 1690 (Image 1 of 9) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Nova pvlcherrimaae civitatis Florentiaae topographia accuratissime delineata. It was published by Gio. Iacomo de Rossi ca. 1690. Scale ca. 1:24,000. This layer is image 1 of 9 total images of the nine sheet source map, representing the northeast portion of the map. Map in Latin.The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the European Datum 1950, Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 32N projected coordinate system. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, drainage, built-up areas and selected buildings, fortifications, ground cover, and more. Relief and selected features shown pictorially.This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of originators, ground condition dates, scales, and map purposes.

Florence, Italy, ca. 1690 (Image 2 of 9) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Nova pvlcherrimaae civitatis Florentiaae topographia accuratissime delineata. It was published by Gio. Iacomo de Rossi ca. 1690. Scale ca. 1:24,000. This layer is image 2 of 9 total images of the nine sheet source map, representing the central east portion of the map. Map in Latin.The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the European Datum 1950, Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 32N projected coordinate system. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, drainage, built-up areas and selected buildings, fortifications, ground cover, and more. Relief and selected features shown pictorially.This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of originators, ground condition dates, scales, and map purposes.

Florence, Italy, ca. 1690 (Image 3 of 9) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Nova pvlcherrimaae civitatis Florentiaae topographia accuratissime delineata. It was published by Gio. Iacomo de Rossi ca. 1690. Scale ca. 1:24,000. This layer is image 3 of 9 total images of the nine sheet source map, representing the southeast portion of the map. Map in Latin.The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the European Datum 1950, Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 32N projected coordinate system. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, drainage, built-up areas and selected buildings, fortifications, ground cover, and more. Relief and selected features shown pictorially.This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of originators, ground condition dates, scales, and map purposes.