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This paper focuses on the detection, from a stack of repeated-pass interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, of such changes causing a target to completely lose the correlation between one epoch and another. This can be the consequence of human activities, such as construction, destruction, and agricultural activities, and also be the consequence of hazards, such as earthquake, landslides, or flooding, to buildings or terrains. The millimetric sensitivity of SAR makes it valuable for detecting such changes. This paper approaches two coherent change detection methods: a space coherent, time incoherent one and a full space and time coherent one, both based on the generalized likelihood ratiob (LR) test. A preliminary validation of the method is provided by processing two Sentinel-1 data stacks of 2016 Central Italy earthquake and by comparing the results with the map of damaged buildings in Amatrice and Accumoli made by Copernicus Emergency Management Service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DC urban light railway systems are used for public transportation in many towns worldwide. In these systems, short-circuit currents are often similar, both in steady-state magnitude and in rate-of-rise, to normal operation currents. In order to properly set the protection relays, to obtain short-circuit discrimination and to avoid nuisance trippings, it is important to analyze short circuit and normal operation current patterns. It is also important to highlight that normal operation current patterns are not only those related to rolling stock acceleration, but also to zone commutation. This paper presents the results of several measurement campaigns, performed for this purpose, on the tram network of Turin, Italy. The measurements results are then used to propose optimized settings for the installed overcurrent protections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes a number of strategies that are devoted to improving the generalization capabilities of neural- network-based soft sensors when only small data sets are available. The aim of this paper is to search for a strategy that is able to cope with the problem of scarcity of experimental data, which often arises in industrial applications. The strategies that are considered are based on the manipulation of experimental training data sets to increase their diversity either by injecting noise into the available data or by using the bootstrap resampling approach. A new method, which is based on an aggregation of neural models, trained on different training data sets, which are obtained by noise injection and bootstrap resampling, is proposed in this paper. The methods considered were compared in an industrial case study regarding the design of a backup soft sensor for a thermal cracking unit, working in a refinery in Sicily, Italy. The results of the case study show that all the methods considered produced an improvement in the estimation capability of the models. The best performance was obtained by using the method proposed by the authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurement and Applications—MeMeA 2018, which took place in Rome, Italy, on June 11–13, 2018, was a real and concrete opportunity for presenting recent developments in measurement and instrumentation related to medicine. The 13th edition of the Symposium concretely promoted discussion on electrical, chemical, and physiological sensors and measurement systems, which delivers trustable measurement data for prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of different diseases. Other aspects related to the measurement sciences were also presented during the event, such as biosignal processing, quality control of medical devices, medical instrumentation uncertainty/calibration, e-health technologies, wearable devices, and biomechanics/rehabilitation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the results obtained by the application of an innovative environmental monitoring technique able to estimate rainfall intensity in real time by processing the attenuation of microwave satellite link signal measured by low cost sensors. The satellite that has been used during our work, Turksat 42° E, belongs to the plethora of satellites operating for television and radio channel broadcasting. Each sensor exploits off the shelf components, is equipped with a radio frequency power-measuring unit, and provides connectivity to the server over a wide area network. A validation of the approach with a field comparison experiment at the urban scale, comprising three measurement sites equipped with such sensors, was established since autumn 2016 in the municipality of Genoa, Italy. Point-scale rainfall intensity measurements made by two calibrated tipping-bucket rain gauges constitute the reference for the comparative analysis of the microwave sensors performance. The dynamic calibration of the rain gauges was carried out by using an automatic calibration rig and the measurements have been processed with advanced algorithms to reduce counting errors. The experimental setup allowed a full characterization of the microwave signal trends as a function of different precipitation. The results showed a strong correlation between the microwave signal attenuation and the reference rainfall observations and demonstrated the possibility to retrieve ten-minute rain accumulations from the microwave links by adopting a proper electromagnetic model. The comparison between the different measuring systems is performed by computing the time series statistics and the frequency of the rain conditions for each precipitation event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the International Conference on Software Maintenance held in Bari, Italy which was sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society Technical Council on Software Engineering in 1997. The program for this conference addressed important maintenance issues, such as the year 2000 problem and preparing for the transition to network computing through paper presentations, industry reports panel discussions, tools demonstration and keynote addresses. The first paper under the title "Identifying Modules via Concept Analysis," by Michael Siff and Thomas Reps, presents a technique that addresses an important problem in reengineering and restructuring legacy code that is identifying modules. The second paper under the title "Measuring and Evaluating Maintenance Process Using Reliability, Risk and Test Metrics," by Norman F. Schneidewind, presents a measurement model that addresses an important problem in software maintenance measurement, measuring the stability of the maintenance process.

The 32nd annual IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference ( \textI^2 MTC) was held in historic and beautiful Pisa, Italy. The theme of the conference was “The Measurable of Tomorrow: Providing a Better Perspective on Complex Systems.” The first part of the title embraced the challenge of Galileo Galilei, “Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so,” while the second part called for the instrumentation and measurement (I&M) community to face the increasing complexity of systems resulting from the continuous development of new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deepening penetration of distributed energy resources into distribution networks (DNs) is causing relevant issues to be addressed by distribution system operators (DSOs), such as quality of service, security and safety, both at medium-voltage and low-voltage distribution levels. This paper presents how Unareti SpA, an Italian DSO, has addressed those challenges launching a set of research activities in different areas of distribution automation. Results collected during field experiences have been used to design the reference model of the next generation of DN secondary substations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Education in the field of distributed process control and intelligent actuation and measurement (IAM) systems can be greatly enhanced through the use of tools that simulate the behavior of real systems, thus allowing students to test and compare different configurations. In this paper, we present an educational virtual laboratory, called the IAM-Pilot Virtual Laboratory (IPVL), which simulates a physical process consisting of a closed circuit of treated water implementing four regulation loops for pressure, level, flow, and temperature, respectively. This tool is the virtual implementation of a real research laboratory (IAM-Pilot), which was developed a few years ago in the framework of several projects funded by the European Commission, in order to test concepts regarding distributed systems, technologies, and components. The tool allows students to set several different system configurations, both in the control and communication parts, and then assess the resulting behavior. They can also install on the plant different virtual devices, with different features, and monitor their effect on the system. The tool produces graphs that allow students to evaluate the performance offered by the control system. This paper describes the architecture and implementation of the IPVL and reports on its usage in the context of the distributed process control network course at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Catania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the highlights of the 10th Specialist Meeting on Microwave Radiometry and Remote Sensing of the Environment (MicroRad'08) held in Florence, Italy from March 11 to 14, 2008. The opening speech by organizer Paolo Pampaloni was dedicated in memory of Professor Giovanni d'Auria of the University of Rome in Italy. A session on the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) for Earth Observing System (EOS) was conducted. The meeting ended with a wine and cheese reception.

This paper presents the problem of power penetration of photovoltaic (PV) systems in urban networks. After a qualitative problem description, two different environments for PV systems have been analyzed: rural and urban networks. Concerning the rural network, a single line has been simulated in order to evaluate the relation between the number of PV systems installed along the line and the maximum PV power installable. In the second part of this paper, possible problems due to power penetration have been examined concerning a clustered PV system that will be installed in the city of Torino (Italy) within the ambit of the EU project called POLYCITY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with power system restoration and discusses the connection of pumped storage loads to restoration paths. This new strategy allows avoiding any disturbance to customers during field tests of restoration paths and improves as well the reliability of restoration plans. The first application of the new strategy concerned the field test of a new path in central Italy. This paper reports the test and analyzes the main novel features of the considered path: complete separation from subtransmission and distribution networks and use of pumped storage loads during its energization. These aspects and their consequences are discussed with reference to both field testing of restoration paths and effectiveness of system restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the possibility of installing a double-circuit gas insulated transmission line (GIL) in the pilot tunnel of the planned new railway galleries Bolzano (Italy)- Innsbruck (Austria). This EHV transmission line could represent a new fundamental step in reconstructing the transnational networks. The high GIL power ratings together with very low power losses would be a strong and highly efficient transmission tie between Italy and Austria particularly useful for the future European Market. The steady-state regime of the line and the electro-magnetic field impact are analyzed. Moreover, the paper discusses the necessary studies to be carried out and the problems that have to be faced. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Real laboratory experiments can help students to gain a better understanding of theoretical problems. Great efforts are needed, however, to improve the quality of laboratory sessions, and a large number of tutors are usually required. Moreover, students may lose time because of hardware failure or an inefficient experimental setup. Several educational tools (based on virtual instruments) have been developed allowing for optimized time scheduling and remote access to laboratory sessions. Drawbacks related to hardware failure have not, however, been seriously addressed. This paper proposes an educational tool made up of a user-friendly interface controlling experimental boards. It basically consists of an array of optical sensing devices connected to suitable conditioning circuits, which are interfaced to a virtual instrument by means of a data acquisition system. To solve the previously mentioned drawbacks, a solution based on both pre-cabled hardware and PC-based measurement stations has been adopted. Moreover, the ability to configure self-educational tasks optimizes time scheduling for students during laboratory activities. The proposed system allows students to improve their knowledge in the field of optical sensing devices, virtual instrumentation, data acquisition systems, and signal processing. The paper describes an application of the tool as a simple system for surface recognition. This application is one of the laboratory tasks performed in measurement classes during this engineering course at the University of Catania, Catania, Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As dynamic inductive power transfer for electric vehicles is growing in relevance, it is important to analyze solutions towards its deployment and integration in the cloud-based services for electric mobility. In this paper we present an Internet-enabling platform for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, which features a high-level Charging Station Control Unit and a Power Electronics Controller. The platform is a middleware that controls the charging process taking into account outside world information. Tests were performed in a safe driving track, in Italy, to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the installation, for one year, for a total of 120 drive hours, under various weather conditions. Tests showed the suitability of the platform in terms of ability to authenticate and authorize a vehicle even through a remote service, sequentially control each coil in a lane, monitor the charging process, assist the driver in keeping the vehicle aligned so as to maximize the energy exchange and deliver charging session information to the cloud (e.g. for billing). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a high-frequency (HF) coastal radar network is described, which is established and maintained by the Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) for the measurement of surface current velocities in the Gulf of Manfredonia, located in the semienclosed Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea), during 2013–2015. The network consisted of four HF radars (HFRs) that provided hourly sea surface velocity data in real-time mode in a netCDF format compliant to the Climate and Forecast Metadata Conventions CF-1.6 and the INSPIRE directive. The hourly netCDF files are disseminated via a Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services catalog supporting OGC compliant distributions and protocols for data visualization, metadata interrogation, and data download. HFR velocity data were compared with in situ velocity measurements by Global Positioning System tracked surface drifters deployed within the radar footprint. The results show a good agreement, with the root mean square (rms) of the difference between radial velocities from HFR and drifters ranging between $20\%$ and $50\%$ of the drifter velocity rms. The HFR data have also been compared with subsurface velocity profiles from an upward looking acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) during winter 2015, to gain information on the correlation between surface and water column velocities. This information is especially relevant for fishery and coastal management applications, where transport of larvae, sediments, and pollutants in the water column are considered. Results show that, at least in the considered period, the velocity in the water column is well correlated, and there is a good agreement between surface HFR and ADCP data (correlations between 0.95 and 0.75). The Gulf of Manfredonia network has been instrumental to the set up of a core of quality control practices and interoperable data and metadata formats that have been subsequently adopted within the Italian RITMARE network and that are presently discussed and refined at the European level through the projects Jerico-NEXT and INCREASE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching computer graphics in an effective way is a challenging task. Different approaches are proposed in the literature, some focusing on traditional teacher-led lectures, others on interactive teaching methods. This paper describes an experiential learning approach applied in a university-level course in computer engineering. Students were involved in the realization of a digital humanities project, the 3-D modeling of the city of Pavia, Italy, as it was in the 16th century. Traditional lectures introduced key theoretical elements, but students were subsequently given specific assignments and retrieved additional content when completing the tasks assigned to them under the overall guidance of their supervisors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-year research project, called DRYSMES 4GRID, was recently funded by the Italian Minister of Economic Development, Italy. The project, which involves five Italian partners (companies, universities, and research institutes), is aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of cost-competitive SMES based on magnesium diboride (MgB2 ) with a cryogen-free cooling bymeans of the manufacturing and the testing of a demonstrator with an objective rating of 500 kJ/200 kW. This rating is deemed suitable for disclosing the critical technological aspects of all components in view of practical applications. A further goal of the project is the assessment of the technical and economic benefits that the SMES can bring to real-world electric grids. The general outline and technical objectives of the project are presented in this paper. Preliminary design assumptions and results concerning the MgB2 coil and the power condition system are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]