VVV DR1: The first data release of the Milky Way bulge and southern plane from the near-infrared ESO public survey VISTA variables in the Via Lactea

Context. The ESO public survey VISTA variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) started in 2010. VVV targets 562 sq. deg in the Galactic bulge and an adjacent plane region and is expected to run for about five years. Aims. We describe the progress of the survey observations in the first observing season, the observing strategy, and quality of the data obtained. Methods. The observations are carried out on the 4-m VISTA telescope in the ZYJHK(s) filters. In addition to the multi-band imaging the variability monitoring campaign in the K-s filter has started. Data reduction is carried out using the pipeline at the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit. The photometric and astrometric calibration is performed via the numerous 2MASS sources observed in each pointing. Results. The first data release contains the aperture photometry and astrometric catalogues for 348 individual pointings in the ZYJHK(s) filters taken in the 2010 observing season. The typical image quality is similar to 0 ''.9-1 ''.0. The stringent photometric and image quality requirements of the survey are satisfied in 100% of the JHK(s) images in the disk area and 90% of the JHK(s) images in the bulge area. The completeness in the Z and Y images is 84% in the disk, and 40% in the bulge. The first season catalogues contain 1.28 x 10(8) stellar sources in the bulge and 1.68 x 10(8) in the disk area detected in at least one of the photometric bands. The combined, multi-band catalogues contain more than 1.63 x 10(8) stellar sources. About 10% of these are double detections because of overlapping adjacent pointings. These overlapping multiple detections are used to characterise the quality of the data. The images in the JHK(s) bands extend typically similar to 4 mag deeper than 2MASS. The magnitude limit and photometric quality depend strongly on crowding in the inner Galactic regions. The astrometry for K-s = 15-18 mag has rms similar to 35-175 mas. Conclusions. The VVV Survey data products offer a unique dataset to map the stellar populations in the Galactic bulge and the adjacent plane and provide an exciting new tool for the study of the structure, content, and star-formation history of our Galaxy, as well as for investigations of the newly discovered star clusters, star-forming regions in the disk, high proper motion stars, asteroids, planetary nebulae, and other interesting objects.

Comparison of active and passive forces of the pelvic floor muscles in women with and without stress urinary incontinence

Background: The reduction of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) strength is a major cause of stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Objective: To compare active and passive forces, and vaginal cavity aperture in continent and stress urinary incontinent women. Method: The study included a total of thirty-two women, sixteen continent women (group 1 - G1) and sixteen women with SUI (group 2 - G2). To evaluate PFM passive and active forces in anteroposterior (sagittal plane) and left-right directions (frontal plane) a stainless steel specular dynamometer was used. Results: The anteroposterior active strength for the continent women (mean +/- standard deviation) (0.3 +/- 0.2 N) was greater compared to the values found in the evaluation of incontinent women (0.1 +/- 0.1 N). The left-right active strength (G1=0.43 +/- 0.1 N; G2=0.40 +/- 0.1 N), the passive force (G1=1.1 +/- 0.2 N; G2=1.1 +/- 0.3 N) and the vaginal cavity aperture (G1=21 +/- 3 mm; G2=24 +/- 4 mm) did not differ between groups 1 and 2. Conclusion: The function evaluation of PFM showed that women with SUI had a lower anteroposterior active strength compared to continent women.

Taxonomic study on the molluscs collected in Marion-Dufresne expedition (MD55) to SE Brazil: Xenophoridae, Cypraeoidea, mitriforms and Terebridae (Caenogastropoda)

The deep-water molluscs collected during the expedition MD55 off SE Brazil have been gradually studied in some previous papers. The present one is focused on samples belonging to caenogastropod taxa Xenophoridae Troschel, 1852, Cypraeoidea Rafinesque, 1815, mitriforms and Terebridae Morch, 1852. Regarding the Xenophoridae, Onustus aquitanus n. sp. is a new species, collected off the littoral of Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 430-637 m depth (continental slope). The main characters of the species include the small size (c. 20 mm), the proportionally wide shell, the white colour, the short peripheral flange, the oblique riblets weakly developed and a brown multispiral protoconch. This appears to be the smallest living species of the family, resembling in this aspect fossil species. In respect to the Cypraeoidea, the following results were obtained: family Cypraeidae Rafinesque, 1815: Erosaria acicularis (Gmelin, 1791) and Luria cinerea (Gmelin, 1791) had the deepest record, respectively 607-620 m and 295-940 m, although the samples were all dead, eroded shells. Family Lamellariidae d'Orbigny, 1841: a total of three lots were collected, provisionally identified as Lamellaria spp. as the samples consist of only vestigial shells; possibly each lot represents a different species. Family Pediculariidae Gray, 1853: a sample of Pedicularia tibia Simone, 2005 was found, expanding the range c. 1000 km southwards, from Ceara to Espirito Santo. Family Ovulidae Fleming, 1822: Pseudosimnia lacrima n. sp., collected off Espirito Santo, 607-620 m depth, is described here and is mainly characterised by its strong biconic outline, small size (c. 7 mm), and a thick peripheral callus. Family Triviidae Troschel, 1863: Cleotrivia antillarum (Schilder, 1922) is recorded for the first time as deep as 620 m, and its distribution expanded from Rio Grande do Norte to Espirito Santo; Dolichupis akangus n. sp. with rounded outline and c. 15 transverse ribs; D. pingius n. sp. with the outer lip expanded posteriorly and c. 10 ribs. In respect to the mitriform neogastropods, the following species are emphasised: family Costellariidae MacDonald, 1860: Vexillum sp., 607-620 m depth; Turricostellaria amphissa n. sp., 295 m depth; T. jukyry n. sp.; T. apyrahi n. sp., both 790-1575 m depth; T. ovir n. sp., 1200 m depth; Nodicostellaria crassa (Simone, 1995), 240-600 m depth, with extension northwards of the range up to Espirito Santo; Austromitra decresca n. sp., 60-105 m depth. Family Mitridae Swainson, 1829: Subcancilla joapyra n. sp., 295 m depth; S. cf. straminea (Adams, 1853), 607-620 m depth. Family Volutomitridae Gray, 1854: Microvoluta corona n. sp., 1500-1575 m depth. Family Mitromorphidae Casey, 1904: Mitromorpha sama n. sp., 607-940 m depth; M. mirim n. sp., 60105 m depth. Regarding the conoidean Terebridae, this paper is a complement of a previous study. It deals with a new species Terebra assu Simone n. sp., from the Abrolhos Bank, 295 m depth, characterised by its narrow outline, yellowish colour, weak sculpture on the last whorls, and a proportionally broad, paucispiral protoconch. A second finding of Terebra alagoensis Lima, Tenorio & Barros, 2007 expands the geographic range from Alagoas to north Espirito Santo. A discussion on the systematics of the "complex Terebra doellojuradoi" in South American coast is also provided, highlighting the improbability of synonymy between T. leptapsis Simone, 1999 and T doellojuradoi Carcelles, 1953. Differences in size, sculpture, spire angulation, aperture, and mainly in protoconch, indicate specific separations. The presently studied terebrids belong to the "complex Terebra doellojuradoi", which encompasses closely related, deep-water, small species, possessing a relatively high degree of endemicity.

Validation and comparison of two soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer models for tropical Africa

This study aims to compare and validate two soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer (SVAT) schemes: TERRA-ML and the Community Land Model (CLM). Both SVAT schemes are run in standalone mode (decoupled from an atmospheric model) and forced with meteorological in-situ measurements obtained at several tropical African sites. Model performance is quantified by comparing simulated sensible and latent heat fluxes with eddy-covariance measurements. Our analysis indicates that the Community Land Model corresponds more closely to the micrometeorological observations, reflecting the advantages of the higher model complexity and physical realism. Deficiencies in TERRA-ML are addressed and its performance is improved: (1) adjusting input data (root depth) to region-specific values (tropical evergreen forest) resolves dry-season underestimation of evapotranspiration; (2) adjusting the leaf area index and albedo (depending on hard-coded model constants) resolves overestimations of both latent and sensible heat fluxes; and (3) an unrealistic flux partitioning caused by overestimated superficial water contents is reduced by adjusting the hydraulic conductivity parameterization. CLM is by default more versatile in its global application on different vegetation types and climates. On the other hand, with its lower degree of complexity, TERRA-ML is much less computationally demanding, which leads to faster calculation times in a coupled climate simulation.

Structural aspects of polyanion and hydrophobically modified polycation multilayers on hydrophilic or hydrophobic surfaces

Multilayer films of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), a polyanion, and bromide salts of poly(4-vinylpyridine) quaternized with linear aliphatic chains of 2 (ethyl) and 5 (pentyl) carbon atoms, coded as QPVP-C2 and QPVP-C5, respectively, were fabricated by layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly onto Si/SiO2 wafers (hydrophilic substrate) or polystyrene, PS, films (hydrophobic substrate). The films were characterized by means of ex situ and in situ ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), contact angle measurements and sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy (SFG). Antimicrobial tests were used to assess the exposure of pyridinium moieties to the aqueous medium. In situ ellipsometry indicated that for Si/SiO2 the chains were more expanded than the PS films and both substrates systems composed of QPVP-C5 were thicker than those with QPVP-C2. For dried layers, the alkyl side group size had a small effect on the thickness evolution, regardless of the substrate. At pH 2 the multilayers showed high resistance, evidencing that the build-up is driven not only by cooperative polymer-polymer ion pairing, but also by hydrophobic interactions between the alkyl side chains. The LbL films became irregular as the number of depositions increased. After the last deposition, the wettability of QPVP-C2 or QPVP-C5 terminated systems on the Si/SiO2 wafers and PS films were similar, except for QPVP-C2 on Si/SiO2 wafers. Unlike the morphology observed for LbL films on Si/SiO2 wafers, PS induced the formation of porous structures. SFG showed that in air the molecular orientation of pyridinium groups in multilayers with QPVP-C5 was stronger than in those containing QPVP-C2. The exposure of pyridinium moieties to the aqueous medium was more pronounced when the LbL were assembled on Si/SiO2 wafers.

Challenges for nursing education in Angola: the perception of nurse leaders affiliated with professional education institutions

Background: Angola is one of the African countries with the highest morbidity and mortality rates and a devastating lack of human resources for health, including nursing. The World Health Organization stimulates and takes technical cooperation initiatives for human resource education and training in health and education, with a view to the development of countries in the region. The aim in this study was to identify how nurses affiliated with nursing education institutions perceive the challenges nursing education is facing in Angola. Methods: After consulting the National Directory of Human Resources in Angola, the nurse leaders affiliated with professional nursing education institutions in Angola were invited to participate in the study by email. Data were collected in February 2009 through the focus group technique. The group of participants was focused on the central question: what are the challenges faced for nursing education in your country? To register and understand the information, besides the use of a recorder, the reporters elaborated an interpretative report. Data were coded using content analysis. Results: Fourteen nurses participated in the meeting, most of whom were affiliated with technical nursing education institutions. It was verified that the nurse leaders at technical and higher nursing education institutions in Angola face many challenges, mainly related to the lack of infrastructure, absence of trained human resources, bureaucratic problems to regularize the schools and lack of material resources. On the opposite, the solutions they present are predominantly centered on the valuation of nursing professionals, which implies cultural and attitude changes. Conclusions: Public health education policies need to be established in Angola, including action guidelines that permit effective nursing activities. Professional education institutions need further regularizations and nurses need to be acknowledged as key elements for the qualitative enhancement of health services in the country.

Neurovascular anatomical variations in the anterior palate observed on CBCT images

Objective: This study aimed to assess the presence of additional foramina and canals in the anterior palate region, through cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images, describing their location, direction, and diameter. Materials & Methods: CBCT exams of 178 subjects displaying the anterior maxilla were included and the following parameters were registered: gender; age group; presence of additional foramina in the anterior palate (AFP) with at least 1 mm in diameter; location and diameter of AFP; and direction of bony canals associated with AFP. Results: Twenty-eight patients (15.7%) presented AFP and in total 34 additional foramina were registered. No statistical differences between patients with or without AFP were found for gender or age. The average diameter of AFP was 1.4 mm (range from 1 to 1.9 mm). Their location was variable, with most of the cases occurring in the alveolar process near the incisors or canines (n = 27). In 18 cases, AFP was associated with bony canals with upward or oblique direction toward the anterior nasal cavity floor. In 14 cases, the canal presented as a direct extension of the canalis sinuosus, in an upward direction laterally to the nasal cavity aperture. In two cases, the canal was observed adjacent to the incisive and joined the nasopalatine canal superiorly. Discussion: CBCT images have a crucial role in the recognition of anatomical variations by allowing detailed tridimensional evaluations. Additional foramina and canals in the anterior region of the upper jaw are relatively frequent. Practitioners should be aware and trained to identify these variations. Conclusions: Over 15% of the population studied had additional foramina in the anterior palate, between 1 mm and 1.9 mm wide, with variable locations. In most cases the canals associated with these foramina either presented as a direct extension of the canalis sinuosus, or coursed towards the nasal cavity floor.

Taxonomical study on a sample of pulmonates from Santa Maria da Vitória, Bahia, Brazil, with description of a new genus and four new species (Mollusca: Orthalicidae and Megalobulimidae)

A sample of Pulmonata collected in Santa Maria da Vitória, interior of Bahia, Brazil, in Caatinga semi-arid environment, is studied taxonomically. From the five species, four are revealed as new, including a new genus. The new taxa are the Bulimulidae (1) Kora corallina gen. et sp. n. characterized by the elongated shell with aperture somewhat dislocated from the shell axis, and an oblique tooth in middle level of inner lip; (2) Spixia coltrorum, mainly characterized by an uneven spire, delicate sculpture and peristome with 4 equidistant teeth; (3) Anostoma tessa, mainly characterized by a broad spire and well-developed anal canal; and the Megalobulimidae (4) Megalobulimus amandus, mainly characterized by pointed protoconch sculptured by dense quantity of axial cords. Rhinus suturalis is the only previously known species, but its geographic distribution is expanded southwards to Bahia state. A discussion with respect to necessity for improving the study on the malacofauna from the interior region of the Brazilian Northeast and the importance for preservation of the Caatinga biome is also provided.

Results from the HST/COS FUV detector "lifetime move"

We describe the planning, implementation, and initial results of the first planned move of the default position of spectra on the Hubble Space Telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) Far Ultraviolet (FUV) cross-delay line detector. This was motivated by the limited amount of charge that can be extracted from the microchannel plate due to gain sag at any one position. Operations at a new location began on July 23, 2012, with a shift of the spectrum by +3.5"(corresponding to ~ 41 pixels or ~ 1 mm) in a direction orthogonal to the spectral dispersion. Operation at this second "lifetime position" allows for spectra to be collected which are not affected by detector artifacts and loss of sensitivity due to gain sag. We discuss programs designed to enable operations at the new lifetime position; these include determinations of operational high voltage, measuring walk corrections and focus, confirming spectrum placement and aperture centering, and target acquisition performance. We also present results related to calibration of the new lifetime position, including measurements of spectral resolution and wavelength calibration, flux and flat field calibration, carryover of time-dependent sensitivity monitoring, and operations with the Bright Object Aperture (BOA).

Low-level laser therapy in pediatric Bell's palsy: case report in a three-year-old child

Objectives: The objective of this study was to apply low-level laser therapy (LLLT) to accelerate the recovery process of a child patient with Bell's palsy (BP). Design: This was a prospective study. Subject: The subject was a three-year-old boy with a sudden onset of facial asymmetry due to an unknown cause. Materials and methods: The low-level laser source used was a gallium aluminum arsenide semiconductor diode laser device (660nm and 780 nm). No steroids or other medications were given to the child. The laser beam with a 0.04-cm2 spot area, and an aperture with approximately 1-mm diameter, was applied in a continuous emission mode in direct contact with the facial area. The duration of a laser session was between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the chosen points and the area being treated. Light was applied 10 seconds per point on a maximum number of 80 points, when the entire affected (right) side of the face was irradiated, based on the small laser beam spot size. According to the acupuncture literature, this treatment could also be carried out using 10-20 Chinese acupuncture points, located unilaterally on the face. In this case study, more points were used because the entire affected side of the face (a large area) was irradiated instead of using acupuncture points. Outcome measures: The House-Brackmann grading system was used to monitor the evolution of facial nerve motor function. Photographs were taken after every session, always using the same camera and the same magnitude. The three-year-old boy recovered completely from BP after 11 sessions of LLLT. There were 4 sessions a week for the first 2 weeks, and the total treatment time was 3 weeks. Results: The result of this study was the improvement of facial movement and facial symmetry, with complete reestablishment to normality. Conclusions: LLLT may be an alternative to speed up facial normality in pediatric BP.

Sistema de observação proxémica do instrutor de fitness (soprox-fitness): desenvolvimento, validação e estudio piloto

[ES] The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Observational System for the Proxemic Communication of the Fitness Instructor, as well as conduct a pilot application of the same. During the development and validation process of the new observation system it was employed five sequential phases. At the end of this process, it was established the validity and reliability of 5 coding dimensions and 23 categories of instructor proxemics behavior to create the final version of the observational system. This version of the observational system was applied in a pilot study conducted in a sample of 12 fitness instructors from four different group-exercise classes. The results indicated that instructor proxemics behaviour could be feasibly coded with the Observational System for the Proxemic Communication of the Fitness Instructor, having been held a comparative analysis about its intervention in the various activities, albeit with a small sample size.

Análisis de la calidad del dato de un instrumento para la observación del ataque en balonmano playa

[ES] Se presenta el análisis de Calidad del Dato utilizado en la construcción de una herramienta de observación diseñada ad hoc. Se trata de un sistema mixto de formatos de campo y sistemas de categorías exhaustivas y mutuamente excluyentes (E/ME) que tiene como objetivo codificar la fase de ataque del balonmano playa. Se utilizan como criterios: minuto, marcador, zona de finalización y jugador que finaliza. Se han codificado 12 observaciones de selecciones nacionales absolutas masculinas. El análisis se ha realizado utilizando la concordancia consensuada (aproximación cualitativa de la calidad del dato), elaborando un archivo de detección de errores, calculando el índice Kappa de Cohen, los índices de correlación Tau-B de Kendall, Pearson y Spearman; y un análisis de Generalizabilidad. Los resultados de los coeficientes de correlación muestran un índice mínimo de .993, los índices Kappa de Cohen se sitúan en .917 y los índices de generalizabilidad son óptimos. Estos resultados aseguran que la herramienta de observación, además de tener un buen ajuste, permite registrar con fiabilidad y precisión.

MCAO for Extremely Large Telescopes: the cases of LBT and E-ELT

Several MCAO systems are under study to improve the angular resolution of the current and of the future generation large ground-based telescopes (diameters in the 8-40 m range). The subject of this PhD Thesis is embedded in this context. Two MCAO systems, in dierent realization phases, are addressed in this Thesis: NIRVANA, the 'double' MCAO system designed for one of the interferometric instruments of LBT, is in the integration and testing phase; MAORY, the future E-ELT MCAO module, is under preliminary study. These two systems takle the sky coverage problem in two dierent ways. The layer oriented approach of NIRVANA, coupled with multi-pyramids wavefront sensors, takes advantage of the optical co-addition of the signal coming from up to 12 NGS in a annular 2' to 6' technical FoV and up to 8 in the central 2' FoV. Summing the light coming from many natural sources permits to increase the limiting magnitude of the single NGS and to improve considerably the sky coverage. One of the two Wavefront Sensors for the mid- high altitude atmosphere analysis has been integrated and tested as a stand- alone unit in the laboratory at INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna and afterwards delivered to the MPIA laboratories in Heidelberg, where was integrated and aligned to the post-focal optical relay of one LINC-NIRVANA arm. A number of tests were performed in order to characterize and optimize the system functionalities and performance. A report about this work is presented in Chapter 2. In the MAORY case, to ensure correction uniformity and sky coverage, the LGS-based approach is the current baseline. However, since the Sodium layer is approximately 10 km thick, the articial reference source looks elongated, especially when observed from the edge of a large aperture. On a 30-40 m class telescope, for instance, the maximum elongation varies between few arcsec and 10 arcsec, depending on the actual telescope diameter, on the Sodium layer properties and on the laser launcher position. The centroiding error in a Shack-Hartmann WFS increases proportionally to the elongation (in a photon noise dominated regime), strongly limiting the performance. To compensate for this effect a straightforward solution is to increase the laser power, i.e. to increase the number of detected photons per subaperture. The scope of Chapter 3 is twofold: an analysis of the performance of three dierent algorithms (Weighted Center of Gravity, Correlation and Quad-cell) for the instantaneous LGS image position measurement in presence of elongated spots and the determination of the required number of photons to achieve a certain average wavefront error over the telescope aperture. An alternative optical solution to the spot elongation problem is proposed in Section 3.4. Starting from the considerations presented in Chapter 3, a first order analysis of the LGS WFS for MAORY (number of subapertures, number of detected photons per subaperture, RON, focal plane sampling, subaperture FoV) is the subject of Chapter 4. An LGS WFS laboratory prototype was designed to reproduce the relevant aspects of an LGS SH WFS for the E-ELT and to evaluate the performance of different centroid algorithms in presence of elongated spots as investigated numerically and analytically in Chapter 3. This prototype permits to simulate realistic Sodium proles. A full testing plan for the prototype is set in Chapter 4.

Applicazione della tecnica PsinSAR™ allo studio di fenomeni franosi lenti: casi di studio in Emilia-Romagna

La mia tesi dal titolo ”Applicazione della tecnica PSinSAR™ allo studio di fenomeni franosi lenti: casi di studio in Emilia-Romagna” ha avuto come obiettivo quello di mostrare le potenzialità e i limiti della tecnica PSinSAR nel monitoraggio di fenomeni franosi localizzati in Val Marecchia. Ho svolto, nel capitolo due, un’analisi preliminare dell’area di studio andando a evidenziare prima le caratteristiche climatiche, piogge medie annue e le temperature minime e massime, e a seguire sono passato a descrivere l’inquadramento geologico e geomorfologico. L’area della Val Marecchia è, da questo punto di vista, molto particolare poggiando su quella che è definita dagli autori “coltre della Val Marecchia”; essa è un complesso alloctono sovrascorso ai terreni autoctoni della successione Umbro – Romagnola - Marchigiana. La traslazione verso Est della coltre avvenne per "scatti", in funzione delle principali fasi tettoniche appenniniche, separati da momenti di pausa in cui sedimentarono le formazioni più recenti le quali poi si spostarono in modo solidale con la coltre. La coltre, infatti, è costituita da un insieme di formazioni di età diverse e in particolare ritroviamo, partendo da quella più antica l’unità ligure, l’unità subligure e infine l’unità epiligure. La presenza di formazioni più recenti sopra ad altre più antiche rende unica la morfologia della vallata con enormi blocchi rocciosi poggianti su un substrato in genere argilloso come nell’esempio più famoso della rupe di San Leo. Da queste analisi è emersa un’altra caratteristica peculiare della valle cioè la forte tendenza a essere interessata da dissesti di varie tipologie. Gli indici di franosità mostrano che nella zona alta della vallata circa il 50% del territorio è interessato da dissesti, valore che decresce leggermente nella parte media e bassa della valle. Il motivo di tale instabilità è da imputare in parte alla forte erosione che avviene sulle placche epiliguri e in parte alle caratteristiche scadenti del substrato che è per lo più composto di argille e arenarie. Per quanto riguarda le tipologie di frane in Val Marecchia la situazione è molto eterogenea; in particolari le tre tipologie più frequenti sono il colamento lento, lo scivolamento rotazionale/traslativo e le frane di tipo complesso. Nel terzo capitolo ho descritto la tecnica PSinSAR; essa si basa sull’elaborazione di scene riprese da satellite per giungere alla formazione di una rete di punti, i PS, di cui conosciamo i movimenti nel tempo. I Permanent Scatterer (PS) sono dei bersagli radar individuati sulla superficie terrestre dal sensori satellitari caratterizzati per il fatto di possedere un’elevata stabilità nel tempo alla risposta elettromagnetica. I PS nella maggior parte dei casi corrispondono a manufatti presenti sulla superficie quali edifici, monumenti, strade, antenne e tralicci oppure ad elementi naturali come per esempio rocce esposte o accumuli di detrito. Lo spostamento viene calcolato lungo la linea di vista del satellite, per cui il dato in uscita non mostra lo spostamento effettivo del terreno, ma l'allontanamento o l'avvicinamento del punto rispetto al satellite. La misure sono sempre differenziali, ovvero sono riferite spazialmente a un punto noto a terra chiamato reference point, mentre temporalmente alla data di acquisizione della prima immagine. La tecnica PSinSAR proprio per la sua natura è "cieca" rispetto ai movimenti in direzione Nord-Sud. Le scene utilizzate per la creazione dei dataset di PS derivano quasi interamente dai satelliti ERS e ENVISAT. Tuttora sono disponibili anche le scene dei satelliti TerraSAR-X, RADARSAT e Cosmo Skymed. I sensori utilizzati in questo ambito sono i SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) che sono sensori attivi, cioè emettono loro stessi l'energia necessaria per investigare la superficie terrestre al contrario dei sensori ottici. Questo permette di poter acquisire scene anche di notte e in condizioni di cielo nuvoloso. La tecnica PSinSAR presenta molti vantaggi rispetto alle tecniche interferometriche tradizionali essa, infatti, è immune agli errori di decorrelamento temporale e spaziale oltre agli errori atmosferici, che portavano ad avere precisioni non inferiori a qualche cm, mentre ora l’errore di misura sulla velocità media di spostamento si attesta in genere sui 2 mm. La precisione che si ha nella georeferenziazione dei punti è in genere di circa 4-7 m lungo la direzione Est e circa 1-2 m in quella Nord. L’evoluzione di PSinSAR, SqueeSAR, permette un numero maggiore di punti poiché oltre ai Permanent Scatterers PS, tramite un apposito algoritmo, calcola anche i Distribuited Scatterer DS. I dataset di dati PS che ho utilizzato nel mio lavoro di tesi (PSinSAR) derivano, come detto in precedenza, sia da scene riprese dal satellite ERS che da ENVISAT nelle due modalità ascendenti e discendenti; nel primo caso si hanno informazioni sui movimenti avvenuti tra il 1992 e il 2000 mentre per l’ENVISAT tra il 2002 e il 2008. La presenza di dati PS nelle due modalità di ripresa sulla stessa zona permette tramite alcuni calcoli di ricavare la direzione effettiva di spostamento. È importante però sottolineare che, a seconda della modalità di ripresa, alcune aree possono risultare in ombra, per questo nell’analisi dei vari casi di studio non sempre sono stati utilizzabili tutti i dataset. Per l'analisi dei vari casi di studio, presentati nel capitolo 4, ho utilizzato diverso materiale cartografico. In particolare mi sono servito delle Carte Tecniche Regionali (CTR) a scala 1:10000 e 1:5000, in formato digitale, come base cartografica. Sempre in formato digitale ho utilizzato anche le carte geologiche e geomorfologiche dell'area della Val Marecchia (fogli 266, 267, 278) oltre, per finire, agli shapefile presi dal database online del Piano stralcio dell’Assetto Idrogeologico PAI. Il software usato per la realizzazione del lavoro di tesi è stato ArcGIS di proprietà di ESRI. Per ogni caso di studio ho per prima cosa effettuato un'analisi dal punto di vista geologico e geomorfologico, in modo da fare un quadro delle formazioni presenti oltre ad eventuali fenomeni franosi mostrati dalle carte. A seguire ho svolto un confronto fra il dato PS, e quindi i valori di spostamento, e la perimetrazione mostrata nel PAI. Per alcuni casi di studio il dato PS ha mostrato movimenti in aree già perimetrate nel PAI come "in dissesto", mentre in altri il dato satellitare ha permesso di venire a conoscenza di fenomeni non conosciuti (come ad esempio nel caso di Monte Gregorio). Per ogni caso di studio ho inoltre scelto alcuni PS caratteristici (solitamente quelli a coerenza maggiore) e ho ricavato la relativa serie storica. In questo modo è stato possibile verificare lo spostamento durante tutti gli anni in cui sono state prese le scene (dal 1992 al 2000 per dati ERS, dal 2002 al 2008 per dati ENVISAT) potendo quindi mettere in luce accelerazioni o assestamenti dei fenomeni nel tempo, oltre a escludere la presenza di trend di spostamento anomali imputabili nella maggior parte dei casi a errori nel dato. L’obiettivo della tesi è stato da una parte di verificare la bontà del dato PS nell’interpretazione dei movimenti dovuti a dissesti franosi e dall’altra di fare un confronto tra il dato di spostamento ricavato dai PS e i vari inventari o carte di piano. Da questo confronto sono emerse informazioni molti interessanti perché è stato possibile avere conferme di movimento su dissesti già conosciuti (Sant’Agata Feltria, San Leo e altri) ma anche di venire a conoscenza di fenomeni non conosciuti (Monte Gregorio). In conclusione è emerso dal mio lavoro che il monitoraggio tramite tecnica PSinSAR necessita di essere integrato con le tecniche tradizionali poiché presenta alcune limitazioni importanti come l’impossibilità di "vedere" movimenti veloci o lungo la direzione Nord-Sud, oltre ad avere dati in aree vegetate o scarsamente abitate. I vantaggi sono però notevoli potendo monitorare con un’unica ripresa vaste porzioni di territorio oltre ad avere serie storiche consistenti, in grado di evidenziare i movimenti avvenuti nel passato. Tale tecnica quindi, secondo il mio parere, può essere utilizzata come supporto alla stesura di cartografia di fenomeni franosi fornendo informazioni aggiuntive rispetto alle varie tecniche tradizionali come il GPS, sondaggi geotecnici e sondaggi inclinometrici.

Astronomical site testing in the era of the extremely large telescopes

The quality of astronomical sites is the first step to be considered to have the best performances from the telescopes. In particular, the efficiency of large telescopes in UV, IR, radio etc. is critically dependent on atmospheric transparency. It is well known that the random optical effects induced on the light propagation by turbulent atmosphere also limit telescope’s performances. Nowadays, clear appears the importance to correlate the main atmospheric physical parameters with the optical quality reachable by large aperture telescopes. The sky quality evaluation improved with the introduction of new techniques, new instrumentations and with the understanding of the link between the meteorological (or synoptical parameters and the observational conditions thanks to the application of the theories of electromagnetic waves propagation in turbulent medias: what we actually call astroclimatology. At the present the site campaigns are evolved and are performed using the classical scheme of optical seeing properties, meteorological parameters, sky transparency, sky darkness and cloudiness. New concept are added and are related to the geophysical properties such as seismicity, microseismicity, local variability of the climate, atmospheric conditions related to the ground optical turbulence and ground wind regimes, aerosol presence, use of satellite data. The purpose of this project is to provide reliable methods to analyze the atmospheric properties that affect ground-based optical astronomical observations and to correlate them with the main atmospheric parameters generating turbulence and affecting the photometric accuracy. The first part of the research concerns the analysis and interpretation of longand short-time scale meteorological data at two of the most important astronomical sites located in very different environments: the Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert (Chile), and the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos(ORM) located in La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain). The optical properties of airborne dust at ORM have been investigated collecting outdoor data using a ground-based dust monitor. Because of its dryness, Paranal is a suitable observatory for near-IR observations, thus the extinction properties in the spectral range 1.00-2.30 um have been investigated using an empirical method. Furthermore, this PhD research has been developed using several turbulence profilers in the selection of the site for the European Extremely Large Telescope(E-ELT). During the campaigns the properties of the turbulence at different heights at Paranal and in the sites located in northern Chile and Argentina have been studied. This given the possibility to characterize the surface layer turbulence at Paranal and its connection with local meteorological conditions.