Re-Inhabiting Inner Areas Triggering New Regeneration Trajectories: The Case Study of Sicani in Sicily

The Italian debate on the so-called ‘inner areas’ has received a much-needed boost, following the COVID-19 pandemic, which has further highlighted the differences between metropolitan and inner areas. While the progressive depopulation of inner areas is a worrying phenomenon, the limits of incessant urbanisation and the concentration of settlement and infrastructure policies in large conurbations have become evident. Departing from the framework of the B4R-Branding4Resilience research project of national interest and, by continuing in the furrow initiated by the SNAI, but also surpassing it, the aim of the University of Palermo’s research is to define the requirement for a more inclusive settlement model in the Sicani area in Sicily (Italy) to re-balance existing asymmetries by recharging peripheral areas with new centrality. The aims of the research are to demonstrate that inner areas could be an engine for innovation, thereby outlining a roadmap through which to encourage the resilience of new sustainable lifestyles. These aims would be achieved by working on new perspectives and projects, which are capable of radically modifying production, consumption, and tourism dynamics and work/life models, and which are gleaned from a study regarding the Sicani area in Sicily. The paper discusses case study quantitative and qualitative analyses and first results.

Sustainability and Agricultural Regeneration in Hungarian Agriculture

Generational renewal is a core issue in European agriculture. Despite the continuous efforts of governments and the EU Council, the ageing of farmers seems an unstoppable process, accompanied by land concentration, the decrease in agricultural activity and the transformation of the European countryside. Consequently, there is a very rich scientific literature analysing the problem; a great part of it argues that the young farmer problem consists, in fact, in a number of different problems, with these problems showing huge regional differences. Hungary, as a new member state, with a heterogeneous (both fragmented and concentrated) land-use structure offers a good field to analyse generational renewal. Our paper is based on the first results of an ongoing Horizon 2020 project analysing rural regeneration. As a part of the research study, 48 semi-structured interviews were conducted with young farmers, successors of farmers and new entrants into farming. In our paper, we explore how education, access to land and family traditions influenced generational renewal and how it impacts sustainability practices.

LTCC Strip Electrode Arrays for Gas Electron Multiplier Detectors

The Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) technology has proven to be highly suitable for 3D microstructures manufacturing in electronic devices due to its excellent electrical and mechanical properties. In this paper, a novel idea of implementing the LTCC structures into high-energy particle detectors technology is proposed. It can be applied in High Energy Physics (HEP) laboratories, where such sophisticated sensors are constantly exposed to particles of the TeV energy range for many years. The most advanced applications of the concept are based on dedicated gas amplifier systems coupled with readout microstructures. Typically, the readout microstructures are made in the Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) technology and processed in a sophisticated and patent-protected way. This article presents the manufacturing process and parameters of the novel microstructures made in the LTCC technology. The structures were implemented into the high-energy particle detector, and the first results are presented.

Diffraction grating parameter retrieval using non-paraxial structured beams in coherent Fourier scatterometry

In recent years, a lot of works have been published that use parameter retrieval using Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) beams. Most make use of the OAM of different Laguerre-Gauss modes. However, those specific optical beams are paraxial beams and this limits the regime in which they can be used. In this paper, we report on the first results on retrieving the geometric parameters of a diffraction grating by analysing the corresponding complex-valued (i.e., amplitude and phase) Helmholtz Natural Modes (HNM) spectra containing both the azimuthal (i.e., n) and radial (i.e., m) indices. HNMs are a set of orthogonal, non-paraxial beams with finite energy carrying OAM. We use the coherent Fourier scatterometry (CFS) setup to calculate the field scattered from the diffraction grating. The amplitude and phase contributions of each HNM are then obtained by numerically calculating the overlap integral of the scattered field with the different modes. We show results on the sensitivity of the HNMs to several grating parameters.

The RADARSAT Constellation Mission Core Applications: First Results

The Canadian RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) has passed its early operation phase with the performance evaluation being currently active. This evaluation aims to confirm that the innovative design of the mission’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) meets the expectations of intended users. In this study, we provide an overview of initial results obtained for three high-priority applications; flood mapping, sea ice analysis, and wetland classification. In our study, the focus is on results obtained using not only linear polarization, but also the adopted Compact Polarimetric (CP) architecture in RCM. Our study shows a promising level of agreement between RCM and RADARSAT-2 performance in flood mapping using dual-polarized HH-HV SAR data over Red River, Manitoba, suggesting smooth continuity between the two satellite missions for operational flood mapping. Visual analysis of coincident RCM CP and RADARSAT-2 dual-polarized HH-HV SAR imagery over the Resolute Passage, Canadian Central Arctic, highlighted an improved contrast between sea ice classes in dry ice winter conditions. A statistical analysis using selected sea ice samples confirmed the increased contrast between thin and both rough and deformed ice in CP SAR. This finding is expected to enhance Canadian Ice Service’s (CIS) operational visual analysis of sea ice in RCM SAR imagery for ice chart production. Object-oriented classification of a wetland area in Newfoundland and Labrador by fusion of RCM dual-polarized VV-VH data and Sentinel-2 optical imagery revealed promising classification results, with an overall accuracy of 91.1% and a kappa coefficient of 0.87. Marsh presented the highest user’s and producer’s accuracies (87.77% and 82.08%, respectively) compared to fog, fen, and swamp.

The Microvertebrates of Shanidar Cave: Preliminary Taphonomic Findings

Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan, is one of the most important Palaeolithic sites in Southwest Asia. This is due to the long sequence of hominin occupation of the cave and the discovery of multiple Neanderthal individuals from the original Solecki excavations (1951–1960) and recent excavations (2014 to present). Preliminary taphonomic analyses of the microvertebrate assemblage were undertaken to understand the factors affecting assemblage formation and accumulation, and this paper presents the first results of these analyses. All contexts display a high proportion of fragmentation, with a slight decrease in breakage towards the base of the sequence. Black staining and root etching were observed in a similar pattern, present in most contexts but with an increase in the lower levels. A significant proportion of the microvertebrate remains examined displayed light traces of digestion, indicating some contribution to the assemblage by predators. The results are consistent with wider palaeoecological records that indicate relatively warm, wet conditions at the base of the sequence and cooler, drier conditions at the top.

The first results of PandaX-4T

Dark matter, an invisible substance which constitutes 85% of the matter in the observable universe, is one of the greatest puzzles in physics and astronomy today. Dark matter can be made of a new type of fundamental particle, not yet observed due to its feeble interactions with visible matter. In this talk, we present the first results of PandaX-4T, a 4-ton-scale liquid xenon dark matter observatory, searching for these dark matter particles from deep underground. We will briefly summarize the performance of PandaX-4T, introduces details in the data analysis, and present the latest search results on dark matter-nucleon interactions.

Dimensioning of a permanent magnet synchronous machine for electric vehicles according to performance and integration requirements

Finding the optimum design of electrical machines for a certain purpose is a time-consuming task. First results can be achieved, however, with scaling known machine designs in length and turns per coil by means of analytical equations, while scaling in diameter requires finite element analysis (FEA), since electromagnetic properties change significantly. In this paper, the influence of diameter, length and turns per coil on the torque, power and efficiency of a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) are investigated in a sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, their impact on energy consumption in different drive cycles and different vehicle types is outlined. A highway car and a city car are compared in a highway cycle, a city cycle and the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle test Cycle. The results describe significant differences in energy consumption for different machine designs in one application but also between different applications. This highlights the necessity to decide whether or not the powertrain should be optimized for a single purpose or for universal use.

A Mobile Robot-Based System for Automatic Inspection of Belt Conveyors in Mining Industry

Mechanical systems (as belt conveyors) used in the mining industry, especially in deep underground mines, must be supervised on a regular basis. Unfortunately, they require high power and are spatially distributed over a large area. Till now, some elements of the conveyor (drive units) have been monitored 24 h/day using SCADA systems. The rest of the conveyor is inspected by maintenance staff. To minimize the presence of humans in harsh environments, we propose a mobile inspection platform based on autonomous UGV. It is equipped with various sensors, and in practice it is capable of collecting almost the same information as maintenance inspectors (RGB image, sound, gas sensor, etc.). Till now such experiments have been performed in the lab or in the mine, but the robot was controlled by the operator. In such a scenario the robot is able to record data, process them and detect, for example, an overheated idler. In this paper we will introduce the general concept of an automatic robot-based inspection for underground mining applications. A framework of how to deploy the inspection robot for automatic inspection (3D model of the tunnel, path planing, etc.) are defined and some first results from automatic inspection tested in lab conditions are presented. Differences between the planned and actual path are evaluated. We also point out some challenges for further research.