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In questo lavoro presentiamo i risultati di due indagini microgravimetriche condotte per l’individuazione di cavità sepolte nelle aree urbane di Cardito (NA) e di Lesina Marina (FG). Descriviamo le modalità di acquisizione, le operazioni di residuazione del segnale e le tecniche di analisi ed interpretazione dei dati. Nel caso di Cardito l'indagine, svolta al di sopra di una cavità nota, ha avuto lo scopo di testare l’efficacia delle procedure utilizzate per la residuazione del segnale gravimetrico misurato, verificandone l’efficienza tramite l’interpretazione dei dati con tecniche multiscala. Nel caso di Lesina Marina l’esplorazione è stata eseguita per individuare presunte cavità non note nella formazione gessosa e nella copertura sabbiosa del sottosuolo in prossimità del Canale di Acquarotta, dove fenomeni di erosione carsica potrebbero implicare problemi di stabilità per strutture sportive e palazzi ad uso civile. Per entrambe le indagini sono state utilizzate le stesse procedure di acquisizione e le stesse strumentazioni: l’autogravimetro Scintrex CG5 ed il livello autolivellante Wild Na2, corredato di micrometro a lamina piano-parallela. Per il calcolo dell’anomalia di Bouguer è stata posta particolare cura nella rimozione dell’effetto gravimetrico di numerosi edifici disposti nell’intorno dei luoghi esplorati. Questi effetti sono stati calcolati approssimando l'intero volume dei manufatti più lontani con prismi aventi densità pari al valore della media pesata tra i corpi murari e i vuoti. Gli edifici più vicini sono stati, invece, modellizzati in maggior dettaglio con modelli prismatici rappresentativi delle principali strutture murarie che li costituiscono. Al segnale residuato sono state applicate tecniche di analisi ed interpretazione dei dati basate sullo studio multiscala del campo gravitazionale. Sono state, quindi, studiate sezioni verticali del campo, generate mediante continuazione verso l’alto dei dati, ottenendo informazioni sulla posizione e il tipo di sorgente di anomalia presente in profondità. In entrambi i casi le stime di profondità ed indice strutturale sono in ottimo accordo con la reale ubicazione e forma delle sorgenti di anomalia.

Microgravity surveys in urban areas require very careful data acquisition and processing. Being typical anomalies of low amplitude, enhanced and stable methods of filtering and interpretation are needed to preserve the source-related information content. A microgravity survey was carried out in the town of Cardito, Italy, along a profile crossing a known cavity. On these data we tested the procedures of local filtering, based on the wavelet transform, and of stable interpretation, based on multiscale methods. To compute the Bouguer anomaly we had particular care in the removal of gravity effects of the buildings close to the measurement stations. The buildings were modelled in detail by using prismatic models. A local filtering based on the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) was used to denoise the data near the cavity and proved to be more effective than classic wavenumber filtering in the Fourier domain, not altering significantly the gradients of the anomaly. Multiscale methods conjugate stability and resolution in an optimal way. High resolution methods, such as the Multiridge Euler Deconvolution and the Depth from Extreme Points (DEXP) yield consistent results about the depth and the shape of the source, in good agreement with the actual location and shape of the cavity.

SummaryAims – To explore: a) the burden of care, and the professional and social support in relatives of patients with bipolar disorders; b) the psychosocial interventions provided to patients and their families by Italian mental health centres. Methods – 342 outpatients with a bipolar disorder and their key-relatives were randomly recruited in 26 Italian mental health centres, randomly selected and stratified by geographical area and population density. Family burden was explored in relation to: a) patient's clinical status and disability; b) relatives’ social and professional support; c) interventions received by patients and their families; d) geographical area. Results – In the previous two months, global functioning was moderately impaired in 36% of the patients, and severely impaired in 34% of them. Twenty-one percent of patients attended a rehabilitative programme, and 3% of their families received a psychoeducational intervention. Burden was higher when patient's symptoms and disability were more severe, the relatives had poorer psychological support and help in emergencies by the social network, and the family lived in Southern Italy. Differences in family burden in relation to geographical area disappeared when psychosocial interventions were provided. Conclusion – This study highlights the need to increase the availability of rehabilitative interventions for patients with bipolar disorders and of psychological support for their families, especially in Southern Italy.

AIMS: Description of students' opinions about schizophrenia and depression. METHODS: The study was carried out on a sample of 445 secondary school students, randomly allocated to a "schizophrenia" or a "depression" group (N = 221 and N = 224, respectively). Each respondent was asked to read a case-vignette describing a case of schizophrenia or depression, and then to fill the Questionnaire on the Opinions about Mental Illness--General Population's version (QO-GP). RESULTS: 35% of students in "schizophrenia" group vs. 85% in "depression" group attributed a correct diagnosis to case-vignette. 19% of students in the "schizophrenia" group vs. 39% in the "depression" group believed that these mental disorders can recover. Affective and civil rights were more frequently acknowledged to patients with depression than to those with schizophrenia. In both groups, the majority of students stated that mentally ill patients were unpredictable and socially dangerous. Students who reported TV stories on people with mentally ill were more frequently convinced on their unpredictability and social dangerousness. CONCLUSIONS: These results outline the need to: a) plan educational campaigns for students on mental disorders; b) alert media professionals on the impact that the way they present crimes committed by mentally ill patients may have on general population.

Il colore è un attributo importante per la caratterizzazione dei suoli. Misure accurate del colore Munsell possono essere zate in campo e/o in laboratorio attraverso la trasformazione degli spettri di riflettanza dei suoli nella regione spettrale del visibile. Per gli pi del presente studio, sono state fatte misure del colore Munsell, in condizioni di laboratorio, di campioni di suolo degli orizzonti pe

Il colore è un attributo importante per la caratterizzazione dei suoli. Misure accurate del colore Munsell possono essere zate in campo e/o in laboratorio attraverso la trasformazione degli spettri di riflettanza dei suoli nella regione spettrale del visibile. Per gli pi del presente studio, sono state fatte misure del colore Munsell, in condizioni di laboratorio, di campioni di suolo degli orizzonti pe

The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) is a 2.6m aperture, wide field, UV to I facility, to be installed at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) on the Cerro Paranal Chile. VST was primarily intended to complement the observing capabilities of VLT with wide-angle imaging for detecting and pre-characterising sources for further observations with the VLT., 2 pages, 2 figures, conference

Background: Auxiliary power sources (LED and laser) are used in in-office teeth bleaching techniques to accelerate the redox reaction of the whitening gel to increase ease of use, to improve comfort and safety, and to decrease the procedure time. Objective: The aim this study is to evaluate the efficiency of the teeth whitening procedures performed with hydrogen peroxide and carbamide peroxide, LED or Laser activated. Method: 18 patients, affected by exogenous dyschromia, were treated with a bleaching agent composed by 35% hydrogen peroxide and 10% carbamide peroxide. They were divided into two groups: in the first group the bleaching agent was activated by a LED lamp; in the second group it was activated by a Laser diode lamp. Both groups were subjected to 3 bleaching cycle of 15’ each. The chromatic evaluations were performed before and after one week from the treatment, using a chromatic scale and a spectrophotometer. The mean value of pre, post bleaching and follow-up were analyzed using a T-test, with results statistically significant for P Results: Results showed that the variations in brightness, chroma and hue are significantly influenced by the interaction between the whitening agent and the original colour of the teeth. Laser-activation has marginally improved the bleaching effectiveness. All patients treated with laser activation complained an increase in dental sensitivity. Conclusion: The use of laser-activating systems did not improve the efficacy of bleaching.