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The aim of the present work was to evaluate the selectivity of nicosulfuron, alone and in combinations, applied in post-emergence (V4) of glyphosate and sulfonylurea tolerant (RR/STS) soybean. The experiments were conducted in 2015/16 and 2016/17, in Piracicaba – state of São Paulo (SP). In 2016/17, the experiment was also conducted in Palotina – state of Paraná (PR). The experiment was a randomized block design, with four repetitions and 16 treatments, with combinations of nicosulfuron, glyphosate, chlorimuron, sulfometuron and cloransulam, applied alone or in tank mixture. Crop injury and variables related to agronomic performance were evaluated. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and treatment means were compared by the Tukey test. The results obtained are significant in the positioning of herbicides in RR/STS soybean, since in the five experiments, all the treatments were selective, except for glyphosate + sulfometuron which reduced the yield of a cultivar (CD 2630 RR/STS) in the 2015/16 season.

In the context of non-invasive documentation for the prevention of built heritage, digital surveying and the development of 3D models are widely applied. They have highlighted, with increasing reliability, the opportunities for knowledge and mapping on emerging damages related to safety and structural integrity. However, these processes can reach high-quality results on morphological structural detail, useful as source data for static analysis on the built structures. In this way, 3D models serve as source data for preliminary diagnostics on the causes of drift and deformation mechanisms.The research aims to validate the proposed strategy on the case study of a masonry historical building damaged by the 2016 earthquake in Central Italy, to configure the mesh modeling strategy as a scientific example capable of orienting 3D modeling practices for structural non-invasive diagnosis, also in emergency requirements of intervention. The analysis of the damage mechanisms was performed by exploiting the morphological detail of the virtual surfaces to operate a direct segmentation, automated through the recognition of Feature Regions entities. It was based on the collaboration among professionals and technicians of the Emergency Support Department of EUCENTRE and DAda-LAB researchers of University of Pavia, to evaluate appropriate procedures of digital documentation for on-site survey in sites affected by emergency conditions of post-earthquake damage.

Twenty-four individuals of Albunea carabus (Linnaeus, 1758), a species rarely reported in the Mediterranean Sea, have recently been collected in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy) in hydraulic dredge surveys carried out to assess local razor clam stocks. They were found in sandy bottoms at depths of 1–6 m in association with the commercial bivalves Ensis minor and Chamelea gallina and the decapods Diogenes pugilator, Portumnus latipes and Liocarcinus vernalis. The distribution of the species in the Italian seas is described based on a careful search of the available records. Notes on its reproductive biology and autoecology are also included.

Context.The identification of proton core, proton beam, and alpha particles in solar wind ion measurements is usually performed by applying specific fitting procedures to the particle energy spectra. In many cases, this turns out to be a challenging task due to the overlapping of the curves.Aims.We propose an alternative approach based on the statistical technique of clustering, a standard tool in many data-driven and machine learning applications.Methods.We developed a procedure that adapts clustering to the analysis of solar wind distribution functions. We first tested the method on a synthetic data set and then applied it to a time series of solar wind data.Results.The moments obtained for the different particle populations are in good agreement with the official data set and with the statistical studies available in the literature.Conclusions.Our method is shown to be a very promising technique that can be combined with the traditional fitting algorithms in working out difficult cases that involve the identification of particle species in solar wind measurements.

We study the radial evolution, from 0.1 AU to the Earth, of a homogeneous recurrent fast wind, coming from the same source on the Sun, by means of new measurements by both Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe. With respect to previous radial studies, we extend, for the first time, the analysis of a recurrent fast stream at distances never reached prior to the Parker Solar Probe mission. Confirming previous findings, the observations show: (i) a decrease in the radial trend of the proton density that is slower than the one expected for a radially expanding plasma, due to the possible presence of a secondary beam in the velocity distribution function; (ii) a deviation for the magnetic field from the Parker prediction, supported by the strong Alfvénicity of the stream at all distances; and (iii) a slower decrease in the proton temperature with respect to the adiabatic prediction, suggesting the local presence of external heating mechanisms. Focusing on the radial evolution of the turbulence, from the inertial to the kinetic range along the turbulent cascade, we find that the slopes, in both frequency ranges, strongly depend on the different turbulence observed by the two spacecraft, namely a mostly parallel turbulence in the Parker Solar Probe data and a mostly perpendicular turbulence in the Solar Orbiter intervals. Moreover, we observe a decrease in the level of intermittency for the magnetic field during the expansion of the stream. Furthermore, we perform, for the first time, a statistical analysis of coherent structures around proton scales at 0.1 AU and we study how some of their statistical properties change from the Sun to the Earth. As expected, we find a higher occurrence of events in the Parker Solar Probe measurements than in the Solar Orbiter data, considering the ratio between the intervals length and the proton characteristic scales at the two radial distances. Finally, we complement this statistical analysis with two case studies of current sheets and vortex-like structures detected at the two radial distances, and we find that structures that belong to the same family have similar characteristics at different radial distances. This work provides an insight into the radial evolution of the turbulent character of solar wind plasma coming from coronal holes.

Context. Solar Orbiter, the new-generation mission dedicated to solar and heliospheric exploration, was successfully launched on February 10, 2020, 04:03 UTC from Cape Canaveral. During its first perihelion passage in June 2020, two successive interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs), propagating along the heliospheric current sheet (HCS), impacted the spacecraft. Aims. This paper addresses the investigation of the ICMEs encountered by Solar Orbiter on June 7−8, 2020, from both an observational and a modeling perspective. The aim is to provide a full description of those events, their mutual interaction, and their coupling with the ambient solar wind and the HCS. Methods. Data acquired by the MAG magnetometer, the Energetic Particle Detector suite, and the Radio and Plasma Waves instrument are used to provide information on the ICMEs’ magnetic topology configuration, their magnetic connectivity to the Sun, and insights into the heliospheric plasma environment where they travel, respectively. On the modeling side, the Heliospheric Upwind eXtrapolation model, the 3D COronal Rope Ejection technique, and the EUropean Heliospheric FORecasting Information Asset (EUHFORIA) tool are used to complement Solar Orbiter observations of the ambient solar wind and ICMEs, and to simulate the evolution and interaction of the ejecta in the inner heliosphere, respectively. Results. Both data analysis and numerical simulations indicate that the passage of two distinct, dynamically and magnetically interacting (via magnetic reconnection processes) ICMEs at Solar Orbiter is a possible scenario, supported by the numerous similarities between EUHFORIA time series at Solar Orbiter and Solar Orbiter data. Conclusions. The combination of in situ measurements and numerical simulations (together with remote sensing observations of the corona and inner heliosphere) will significantly lead to a deeper understanding of the physical processes occurring during the CME-CME interaction.

Gómez-Herrero, R., et al., Context. Solar Orbiter, launched in February 2020, started its cruise phase in June 2020, in coincidence with its first perihelion at 0.51 au from the Sun. The in situ instruments onboard, including the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD), operate continuously during the cruise phase enabling the observation of solar energetic particles. Aims. In situ measurements of the first near-relativistic solar electron events observed in July 2020 by EPD are analyzed and the solar origins and the conditions for the interplanetary transport of these particles investigated. Methods. Electron observations from keV energies to the near-relativistic range were combined with the detection of type III radio bursts and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations from multiple spacecraft in order to identify the solar origin of the electron events. Electron anisotropies and timing as well as the plasma and magnetic field environment were evaluated to characterize the interplanetary transport conditions. Results. All electron events were clearly associated with type III radio bursts. EUV jets were also found in association with all of them except one. A diversity of time profiles and pitch-angle distributions was observed. Different source locations and different magnetic connectivity and transport conditions were likely involved. The July 11 event was also detected by Wind, separated 107 degrees in longitude from Solar Orbiter. For the July 22 event, the Suprathermal Electron and Proton sensor of EPD allowed for us to not only resolve multiple electron injections at low energies, but it also provided an exceptionally high pitch-angle resolution of a very anisotropic beam. This, together with radio observations of local Langmuir waves suggest a very good magnetic connection during the July 22 event. This scenario is challenged by a high-frequency occultation of the type III radio burst and a nominally non-direct connection to the source; therefore, magnetic connectivity requires further investigation., The UAH team acknowledges the financial support by the Spanish MICIU under projects ESP2017-88436-R and PID2019-104863RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. The CAU Kiel team acknowledges support by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the German Space Agency (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., DLR) under grants 50OT0901, 50OT1202, 50OT1702, 50OT2002, and 50OC1702. A. Aran acknowledges the support by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) under grant PID2019-105510GB-C31 and through the “Center of Excellence María de Maeztu 2020-2023” award to the ICCUB (CEX2019-000918-M). The RPW team thanks the French space agency CNES, the Center National de Recherches Scientifiques, the Paris Observatory, the Swedish National Space agency, ESA-PRODEX and the Czech Science Foundation (17-08772S) for the funding provided. V. Krupar acknowledges the support by NASA under grants 18-2HSWO218_2-0010 and 19-HSR-19_2-0143. The Solar Orbiter magnetometer was funded by the UK Space Agency (grant ST/T001062/1).

Aran, A., et al., [Context] In mid-June 2020, the Solar Orbiter (SolO) mission reached its first perihelion at 0.51 au and started its cruise phase, with most of the in situ instruments operating continuously. [Aims] We present the in situ particle measurements of the first proton event observed after the first perihelion obtained by the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) suite on board SolO. The potential solar and interplanetary (IP) sources of these particles are investigated. Methods. Ion observations from ∼20 keV to ∼1 MeV are combined with available solar wind data from the Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument and magnetic field data from the magnetometer on board SolO to evaluate the energetic particle transport conditions and infer the possible acceleration mechanisms through which particles gain energy. We compare > 17-20 MeV ion count rate measurements for two solar rotations, along with the solar wind plasma data available from the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) and RPW instruments, in order to infer the origin of the observed galactic cosmic ray (GCR) depressions. [Results] The lack of an observed electron event and of velocity dispersion at various low-energy ion channels and the observed IP structure indicate a local IP source for the low-energy particles. From the analysis of the anisotropy of particle intensities, we conclude that the low-energy ions were most likely accelerated via a local second-order Fermi process. The observed GCR decrease on 19 June, together with the 51.8-1034.0 keV nuc-1 ion enhancement, was due to a solar wind stream interaction region (SIR). The observation of a similar GCR decrease in the next solar rotation favours this interpretation and constitutes the first observation of a recurrent GCR decrease by SolO. The analysis of the recurrence times of this SIR suggests that it is the same SIR responsible for the He events previously measured in April and May. Finally, we point out that an IP structure more complex than a common SIR cannot be discarded, mainly due to the lack of solar wind temperature measurements and the lack of a higher cadence of solar wind velocity observations., EPD was built with funding from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (Germany), and the European Space Agency (ESA); operations are funded by FEDER/MCI/AEI Projects ESP2017-88436-R and PID2019-104863RBI00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (Spain), 50OT 2002 (DLR, Germany), and NASA contract 80MSFC19F0002. The UB team acknowledges the support by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) under grant PID2019-105510GB-C31 and through the “Center of Excellence María de Maeztu 2020-2023” award to the ICCUB (CEX2019-000918-M). The CAU Kiel team acknowledges support by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the German Space Agency (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., DLR) under grants 50OT0901, 50OT1202, 50OT1702, 50OT2002, and 50OC1702. The Solar Orbiter magnetometer was funded by the UK Space Agency (grant ST/T001062/1). M.L. and S.B. acknowledge financial support by the Italian MIUR-PRIN grant 2017APKP7T on Circumterrestrial Environment: Impact of Sun-Earth Interaction. N.W. acknowledges funding from the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO – Vlaanderen, fellowship no. 1184319N). D.L. acknowledges the support from the NASA-HGI grant NNX16AF73G and the NASA Programs NNH17ZDA001N-LWS. I.G.R. and D.L. acknowledge support from NASA program NNH19ZDA001N-LWS. E.S. was supported by a PhD grant awarded by the Royal Observatory of Belgium. V.K. acknowledges the support by NASA under grants 18-2HSWO218_2-0010 and 19-HSR-19_2-0143. S.P. is supported by the projects C14/19/089 (C1 project Internal Funds KU Leuven), G.0D07.19N (FWO-Vlaanderen), SIDEX (ESA Prodex-12), and EUHFORIA 2.0 (funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870405). IRFU team acknowledges support from the Swedish National Space Agency grant 20/136. F.C. acknowledges the financial support by the Spanish MINECO-FPI-2016 predoctoral grant with FSE. The JHU/APL team is supported under NASA contract NNN06AA01C and thanks NASA headquarters and the NASA/GSFC Solar Orbiter project office for their continuing support. Solar Orbiter Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) data are derived from scientific sensors which have been designed and created, and are operated under funding provided in numerous contracts from the UK Space Agency (UKSA, most recently grant ST/T001356/1), the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES, France), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France), the Czech contribution to the ESA PRODEX programme and NASA.

All authors: Zouganelis, I.; De Groof, A.; Walsh, A. P.; Williams, D. R.; Müller, D.; St Cyr, O. C.; Auchère, F.; Berghmans, D.; Fludra, A.; Horbury, T. S.; Howard, R. A.; Krucker, S.; Maksimovic, M.; Owen, C. J.; Rodríguez-Pacheco, J.; Romoli, M.; Solanki, S. K.; Watson, C.; Sanchez, L.; Lefort, J.; Osuna, P.; Gilbert, H. R.; Nieves-Chinchilla, T.; Abbo, L.; Alexandrova, O.; Anastasiadis, A.; Andretta, V.; Antonucci, E.; Appourchaux, T.; Aran, A.; Arge, C. N.; Aulanier, G.; Baker, D.; Bale, S. D.; Battaglia, M.; Bellot Rubio, L.; Bemporad, A.; Berthomier, M.; Bocchialini, K.; Bonnin, X.; Brun, A. S.; Bruno, R.; Buchlin, E.; Büchner, J.; Bucik, R.; Carcaboso, F.; Carr, R.; Carrasco-Blázquez, I.; Cecconi, B.; Cernuda Cangas, I.; Chen, C. H. K.; Chitta, L. P.; Chust, T.; Dalmasse, K.; D'Amicis, R.; Da Deppo, V.; De Marco, R.; Dolei, S.; Dolla, L.; Dudok de Wit, T.; van Driel-Gesztelyi, L.; Eastwood, J. P.; Espinosa Lara, F.; Etesi, L.; Fedorov, A.; Félix-Redondo, F.; Fineschi, S.; Fleck, B.; Fontaine, D.; Fox, N. J.; Gandorfer, A.; Génot, V.; Georgoulis, M. K.; Gissot, S.; Giunta, A.; Gizon, L.; Gómez-Herrero, R.; Gontikakis, C.; Graham, G.; Green, L.; Grundy, T.; Haberreiter, M.; Harra, L. K.; Hassler, D. M.; Hirzberger, J.; Ho, G. C.; Hurford, G.; Innes, D.; Issautier, K.; James, A. W.; Janitzek, N.; Janvier, M.; Jeffrey, N.; Jenkins, J.; Khotyaintsev, Y.; Klein, K. -L.; Kontar, E. P.; Kontogiannis, I.; Krafft, C.; Krasnoselskikh, V.; Kretzschmar, M.; Labrosse, N.; Lagg, A.; Landini, F.; Lavraud, B.; Leon, I.; Lepri, S. T.; Lewis, G. R.; Liewer, P.; Linker, J.; Livi, S.; Long, D. M.; Louarn, P.; Malandraki, O.; Maloney, S.; Martinez-Pillet, V.; Martinovic, M.; Masson, A.; Matthews, S.; Matteini, L.; Meyer-Vernet, N.; Moraitis, K.; Morton, R. J.; Musset, S.; Nicolaou, G.; Nindos, A.; O'Brien, H.; Orozco Suarez, D.; Owens, M.; Pancrazzi, M.; Papaioannou, A.; Parenti, S.; Pariat, E.; Patsourakos, S.; Perrone, D.; Peter, H.; Pinto, R. F.; Plainaki, C.; Plettemeier, D.; Plunkett, S. P.; Raines, J. M.; Raouafi, N.; Reid, H.; Retino, A.; Rezeau, L.; Rochus, P.; Rodriguez, L.; Rodriguez-Garcia, L.; Roth, M.; Rouillard, A. P.; Sahraoui, F.; Sasso, C.; Schou, J.; Schühle, U.; Sorriso-Valvo, L.; Soucek, J.; Spadaro, D.; Stangalini, M.; Stansby, D.; Steller, M.; Strugarek, A.; Štverák, Š.; Susino, R.; Telloni, D.; Terasa, C.; Teriaca, L.; Toledo-Redondo, S.; del Toro Iniesta, J. C.; Tsiropoula, G.; Tsounis, A.; Tziotziou, K.; Valentini, F.; Vaivads, A.; Vecchio, A.; Velli, M.; Verbeeck, C.; Verdini, A.; Verscharen, D.; Vilmer, N.; Vourlidas, A.; Wicks, R.; Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F.; Wiegelmann, T.; Young, P. R.; Zhukov, A. N., Solar Orbiter is the first space mission observing the solar plasma both in situ and remotely, from a close distance, in and out of the ecliptic. The ultimate goal is to understand how the Sun produces and controls the heliosphere, filling the Solar System and driving the planetary environments. With six remote-sensing and four in-situ instrument suites, the coordination and planning of the operations are essential to address the following four top-level science questions: (1) What drives the solar wind and where does the coronal magnetic field originate?; (2) How do solar transients drive heliospheric variability?; (3) How do solar eruptions produce energetic particle radiation that fills the heliosphere?; (4) How does the solar dynamo work and drive connections between the Sun and the heliosphere? Maximising the mission's science return requires considering the characteristics of each orbit, including the relative position of the spacecraft to Earth (affecting downlink rates), trajectory events (such as gravitational assist manoeuvres), and the phase of the solar activity cycle. Furthermore, since each orbit's science telemetry will be downloaded over the course of the following orbit, science operations must be planned at mission level, rather than at the level of individual orbits. It is important to explore the way in which those science questions are translated into an actual plan of observations that fits into the mission, thus ensuring that no opportunities are missed. First, the overarching goals are broken down into specific, answerable questions along with the required observations and the so-called Science Activity Plan (SAP) is developed to achieve this. The SAP groups objectives that require similar observations into Solar Orbiter Observing Plans, resulting in a strategic, top-level view of the optimal opportunities for science observations during the mission lifetime. This allows for all four mission goals to be addressed. In this paper, we introduce Solar Orbiter's SAP through a series of examples and the strategy being followed. © 2020 ESO., Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA with contributions from national agencies of ESA member states. The spacecraft has been developed by Airbus and is being operated by ESA from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. Science operations are carried out at ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villafranca del Castillo, Spain. SWA is an international collaboration which has been funded by the UKSA, CNES, ASI, NASA and the Czech contribution to the ESA PRODEX programme. UAH authors want to thanks the Spanish MINECO-FPI-2016 predoctoral grant with FSE, and its project FEDER/MCIU-AEEI/Proyecto ESP2017-88436-R. The Spanish contribution to SO/PHI has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through several projects, the last one being RTI2018-096886-B-C5, and by "Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa" programme under grant SEV-2017-0709. RAH, RCC, DMM, SPP, and AV acknowledge the support of the NASA Heliophysics Division, Solar Orbiter Collaboration Office under IAT NNG09EK11I. JEP acknowledges grant UKRI/STFC ST/N000692/1. All French involvements are supported by CNES and CNRS. DV is supported by the STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship ST/P003826/1 and STFC Consolidated Grant ST/S000240/1. The authors thank the referee for her constructive comments and suggestions, which led to the substantial improvement of this paper.

Context.Turbulence dominated by large-amplitude, nonlinear Alfvén-like fluctuations mainly propagating away from the Sun is ubiquitous in high-speed solar wind streams. Recent studies have demontrated that slow wind streams may also show strong Alfvénic signatures, especially in the inner heliosphere.Aims.The present study focuses on the characterisation of an Alfvénic slow solar wind interval observed by Solar Orbiter between 14 and 18 July 2020 at a heliocentric distance of 0.64 AU.Methods.Our analysis is based on plasma moments and magnetic field measurements from the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) and Magnetometer (MAG) instruments, respectively. We compared the behaviour of different parameters to characterise the stream in terms of the Alfvénic content and magnetic properties. We also performed a spectral analysis to highlight spectral features and waves signature using power spectral density and magnetic helicity spectrograms, respectively. Moreover, we reconstruct the Solar Orbiter magnetic connectivity to the solar sources both via a ballistic and a potential field source surface (PFSS) model.Results.The Alfvénic slow wind stream described in this paper resembles, in many respects, a fast wind stream. Indeed, at large scales, the time series of the speed profile shows a compression region, a main portion of the stream, and a rarefaction region, characterised by different features. Moreover, before the rarefaction region, we pinpoint several structures at different scales recalling the spaghetti-like flux-tube texture of the interplanetary magnetic field. Finally, we identify the connections between Solar Orbiter in situ measurements, tracing them down to coronal streamer and pseudostreamer configurations.Conclusions.The characterisation of the Alfvénic slow wind stream observed by Solar Orbiter and the identification of its solar source are extremely important aspects for improving the understanding of future observations of the same solar wind regime, especially as solar activity is increasing toward a maximum, where a higher incidence of this solar wind regime is expected.

The corrosion behavior of high strength low alloy AISI 4135 steel was studied following extended exposure to a Qingdao field environment. When electrochemically active γ-FeOOH was formed in conjunction with easily reducible β-FeOOH, these corrosion products acted to accelerate corrosion attack in the marine splash zone (i.e., steel structure above the water line that is splashed by sea spray). It had also been observed that the pH beneath the rust layer exhibited a minimum during the non-splash part of wet and non-splash corrosion cycling. These acidic conditions contributed significantly to an increase in the rate of localized corrosion, both beneath the rust deposits and within rust cracks and voids within pockets of rust deposits over the steel surface.

In this contribution, we present the implementation of a resource-saving, 24-channels, high-performance, Tapped Delay-Line (TDL) based, Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) implemented in a Xilinx 20-nm Kintex UltraScale (XCKU040-2FFVA1156E) Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device hosted in a general purpose evaluation board (EVB) KCU105.The term high-performance is not only referred to high-resolution, which is equal to 305 fs over full-scale range of 10.24 μs and single-shot precision below 8.5 ps r.m.s. with maximum operative rate up to 50 MHz per channel, but high-performance also means design flexibility, modularity and, last but not least, low time-to-market and implementation costs.High-resolution over a so wide dynamic-range is provided by Nutt-interpolation. In this way, each one of the 24-channels produces a 25-bit wide timestamp, with LSB of 305 fs, obtained merging a coarse and a fine measure. The coarse contribution is obtained by sampling a 12-bit counter clocked at 400 MHz, whereas the fine part of the measure is returned by the sub-interpolation of eight 512 taps long TDLs by means of a Super Wave Union (SuperWU) algorithm. This choice allows to achieve resolution, in average, sixteen times better than the propagation delay characteristic of the technology in use.The TDLs are implemented with the carry-chains, i.e. the CARRY8 primitive, available into the fabric of the XCKU040 device. Moreover, each channel is equipped with a decoder and a "bin-by-bin" dynamic calibrator able to compensate at best the non-linearity due to the difference among propagation delays of the CARRY8 blocks and the relative temperature drifts.Thanks to the configurability and the modularity provided by the FPGA structure, the presented architecture can be easily migrated on different families of Xilinx UltraScale and UltraScale+ FPGAs and System-on-Chips (SoCs).The read-out is performed via USB 3.0.

The present paper illustrates the documentation activities developed since 2013 on Upper Kama territories, preliminary to an extensive and joint research action within the European project “PROMETHEUS” (2019–2021), which aims to produce digitized databases and models for the management of the main religious monuments present on this Russian area, nowadays endangered by risk of conservation. The project is funded by the EU program Horizon 2020 – R&I – RISE – Research & Innovation Staff Exchange Marie Skłodowska-Curie, and it is aimed at the definition of inter-sectoral collaboration protocols for the development and promotion of a new methodology for the development of reliable 3D databases and models of monumental complexes in Upper Kama region. The project, that involves the collaboration between three Universities (University of Pavia, Italy, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain, Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Russia) and two enterprises (EBIME, Spain, SISMA, Italy), aims to promote actions to develop interdisciplinary activities for the documentation, management and production of collaborative H-BIM models, for the start-up of monitoring and development activities on this specific Cultural Heritage. Researches and initiatives conducted in the previous years on Upper Kama territory highlight potentialities and opportunities of digital survey to define a basis of knowledge that is both scientific and technical, for future interventions on endangered architectural heritage, where academies, companies and administrations promote actions to develop interdisciplinary documentation activities through collaborative management H-BIM models and an intervention protocol on Cultural Heritage.

Fluctuations of solar wind magnetic field and plasma parameters exhibit a typical turbulence power spectrum with a spectral index ranging between ∼5/3 and ∼3/2. In particular, at 1 AU, the magnetic field spectrum, observed within fast corotating streams, also shows a clear steepening for frequencies higher than the typical proton scales, of the order of ∼3 × 10−1 Hz, and a flattening towards 1/f at frequencies lower than ∼10−3 Hz. However, the current literature reports observations of the low-frequency break only for fast streams. Slow streams, as observed to date, have not shown a clear break, and this has commonly been attributed to slow wind intervals not being long enough. Actually, because of the longer transit time from the Sun, slow wind turbulence would be older and the frequency break would be shifted to lower frequencies with respect to fast wind. Based on this hypothesis, we performed a careful search for long-lasting slow wind intervals throughout 12 years of Wind satellite measurements. Our search, based on stringent requirements not only on wind speed but also on the level of magnetic compressibility and Alfvénicity of the turbulent fluctuations, yielded 48 slow wind streams lasting longer than 7 days. This result allowed us to extend our study to frequencies sufficiently low and, for the first time in the literature, we are able to show that the 1/f magnetic spectral scaling is also present in the slow solar wind, provided the interval is long enough. However, this is not the case for the slow wind velocity spectrum, which keeps the typical Kolmogorov scaling throughout the analysed frequency range. After ruling out the possible role of compressibility and Alfvénicity for the 1/f scaling, a possible explanation in terms of magnetic amplitude saturation, as recently proposed in the literature, is suggested.

Solar wind fluctuations are a mixture of propagating disturbances and advected structures that transfer into the interplanetary space the complicated magnetic topology present at the basis of the corona. The large-scale interplanetary magnetic field introduces a preferential direction in the solar wind, which is particularly relevant for both the propagation of the fluctuations and their anisotropy and for the topology of the structures advected by the wind. This paper focusses on a particular link observed between angular displacements of the local magnetic field orientation from the radial direction and values of the proton temperature. In particular, we find that observations byHeliosandWindshow a positive correlation between proton temperature and magnetic field orientation. This is especially true within Alfvénic wind characterized by large-amplitude fluctuations of the background field orientation. Moreover, in the case ofWind, we found a robust dependence of the perpendicular component of the proton temperature on the magnetic field angular displacement. We interpret this signature as possibly due to a physical mechanism related to the proton cyclotron resonance. Finally, by simulating the sampling procedure of the proton velocity distribution function (VDF) of an electrostatic analyzer, we show that the observed temperature anisotropy is not due to instrumental effects.

Effect of heat treatment on the hydrogen permeation behaviour of AISI 4135 steel was studied by electrochemical method under simulated splash zone conditions. The hydrogen permeation current reached maximum at dry stage and the amount of hydrogen permeated showing a maximum in sixth cycle. Moreover, it was found that the amount of hydrogen permeated through specimen with bainitic microstructure was lower than that in other specimens. The average value of charge transfer resistances for heat treated specimens A, B, C and D exhibit no significant differences under nature sea water film. Moreover, the heat treatments have no prominent impact on corrosion products from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and SEM analysis. Therefore, the differences in hydrogen permeation behaviours were mainly attributed to the microstructures of specimens other than the differences in corrosion behaviour.

In this contribution we discuss implementation issues of a resource-saving, multi-channel, high-performance, Time-to-Digital Converter (TDC) based on Tapped Delay-Line (TDL) designed for implementation in Xilinx 20-nm UltraScale Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices.Principal features of the system are to be multi-channel, resolution (LSB) of 100 fs, and full-scale range of 419 μs.Each channel measures 32-bit timestamps by means of the Nutt-interpolation, i.e. merging a coarse with a fine part of the measure. For each channel, the coarse contribution is obtained by sampling an 18-bit counter clocked at 625 MHz, whereas the fine one is returned by the interpolation of 16 TDLs.

Background Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPs) have been reported with dolutegravir use. We hypothesized that increasing dolutegravir trough concentrations (Ctrough) and/or polymorphism in the SLC22A2 gene, encoding the organic cation transporter-2 (OCT2), which is involved in monoamine clearance in the CNS and is inhibited by dolutegravir, might be associated with NPs. Methods A cross-sectional cohort of HIV-positive patients treated with a dolutegravir-containing regimen underwent determination of allelic discrimination for SLC22A2 808 C → A polymorphism and dolutegravir Ctrough. The Symptom Checklist-90-R [investigating 10 psychiatric dimensions and reporting a general severity index (GSI)], a self-reported questionnaire and the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview were offered to investigate current NPs. The effects of dolutegravir Ctrough and the SLC22A2 gene variant on NPs were explored by multivariable logistic regression. Results A cohort of 203 patients was analysed: 71.4% were male, with median age 51 years and 11 years of ART exposure. Median time on dolutegravir was 18 months. Dolutegravir was associated with different antiretroviral combinations (mainly lamivudine, 38.9%, and abacavir/lamivudine, 35.5%). SLC22A2 CA genotype was independently associated with an abnormal GSI [adjusted OR (aOR) 2.43; P = 0.072], anxiety (aOR 2.61; P = 0.044), hostility (aOR 3.76; P = 0.012) and with moderate to severe headache (aOR 5.55; P = 0.037), and dolutegravir Ctrough was associated with hostility (fourth versus first quartile aOR 6.70; P = 0.007) and psychoticism (fourth versus first quartile aOR 19.01; P = 0.008). Other NPs were not associated with SLC22A2 polymorphism or dolutegravir Ctrough. Conclusions A variant of the OCT2-encoding gene, in addition to or in synergy with higher dolutegravir Ctrough, is associated with a set of NPs observed during dolutegravir therapy.

Table S1. ICD-9 CM, ATC and exemption codes used in the reference algorithm and comparison algorithms applied to capture COPD and asthma cases among the beneficiaries of the Regional Health Service. Lombardy, Italy. (DOCX 15 kb)

Background Studies on the prevalence of eczema and atopic dermatitis (AD), and on the factors associated with these diseases, have been mostly performed in children, whereas studies on adult populations are lacking. Objectives To determine the prevalence of eczema and AD in the Italian adult population, and to investigate risk factors associated with the disease. Methods A postal screening questionnaire was administered to 18 357 randomly selected subjects aged 20–44 years in the Gene–Environment Interaction in Respiratory Diseases study, which involved seven centres distributed across northern, central and southern Italy. The questionnaire included items on the occurrence of doctor-diagnosed eczema, asthma and hay fever, socio-demographic characteristics and environmental exposures. Results In all, 10 464 (57.0%) subjects responded to the questionnaire. The prevalence of current eczema was 8.1% (95% CI: 7.6–8.7%), while the prevalence of eczema with asthma and/or hay fever (EAH), which was adopted as proxy of AD, was 3.4% (95% CI: 3.1–3.8%). About 60% of the subjects with current eczema reported the onset of the disease in adulthood. In multi-variable models, the prevalence of eczema was significantly associated with female sex, older age, living close to industrial plants, high levels of heavy traffic near home and living in central-southern Italy. Conclusions Eczema and EAH are highly prevalent in Italian young adults, especially in women. Our results suggest that adult onset is not unusual, and that environmental factors may influence the occurrence of eczema and EAH.

Background Chronic inflammatory airway disorders have been reported to be associated with vascular diseases of the heart and central nervous system, but their association with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a high-prevalence vascular illness, has not been investigated. Objective To evaluate the association of asthma and rhinitis with intermittent claudication, which is a typical symptom of PAD. Methods The data were collected in the gene–environment interaction in respiratory disease survey, a population-based, multicase–control study. Participants underwent a standardized interview, skin prick tests and pulmonary function tests. The associations between respiratory diseases and intermittent claudication (i.e. pain in the leg during walking that disappears within 10 min when standing still) were estimated through relative risk ratios (RRR) by multinomial logistic regression models. Results 1174 subjects (aged 20–64 years, of which 52% were females) underwent clinical examinations and were classified into four groups: asthma only (n = 81), asthma–rhinitis overlap (n = 292), rhinitis only (n = 299) and controls (n = 345). The prevalence of intermittent claudication in these groups was, respectively, 2.5%, 3.4%, 6.4% and 2.3%. After adjusting for smoking habits and a wide range of established and potential vascular risk factors, rhinitis without asthma was associated with intermittent claudication (RRR:4.63, 95% CI:1.72–12.5), whereas no significant association was found with asthma alone (RRR:1.45, 95% CI:0.27–7.76) or asthma–rhinitis overlap (RRR:2.89, 95% CI:0.91–9.18). Atopy did not modify the observed association between intermittent claudication and rhinitis. Conclusions Our findings suggest that rhinitis is associated with PAD, a predictor of future cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events, independently of the presence of atopy.

The Earth's magnetosphere exhibits a complex behavior in response to the solar wind conditions. This behavior, which is described in terms of mutifractional Brownian motions, could be the consequence of the occurrence of dynamical phase transitions. On the other hand, it has been shown that the dynamics of the geomagnetic signals is also characterized by intermittency at the smallest temporal scales. Here, we focus on the existence of a possible relationship in the geomagnetic time series between the multifractional Brownian motion character and the occurrence of intermittency. In detail, we investigate the multifractional nature of two long time series of the horizontal intensity of the Earth's magnetic field as measured at L'Aquila Geomagnetic Observatory during two years (2001 and 2008), which correspond to different conditions of solar activity. We propose a possible double origin of the intermittent character of the small-scale magnetic field fluctuations, which is related to both the multifractional nature of the geomagnetic field and the intermittent character of the disturbance level. Our results suggest a more complex nature of the geomagnetic response to solar wind changes than previously thought.

We conducted a retrospective survey in pediatric centers belonging to the Italian Society for Pediatric Diabetology and Endocrinology. The following data were collected for all new-onset diabetes patients aged 0–18 years: DKA (pH < 7.30), severe DKA (pH < 7.1), DKA in preschool children, DKA treatment according to ISPAD protocol, type of rehydrating solution used, bicarbonates use, and amount of insulin infused. Records(n=2453)of children with newly diagnosed diabetes were collected from 68/77 centers (87%), 39 of which are tertiary referral centers, the majority of whom (n=1536, 89.4%) were diagnosed in the tertiary referral centers. DKA was observed in 38.5% and severe DKA in 10.3%. Considering preschool children, DKA was observed in 72%, and severe DKA in 16.7%. Cerebral edema following DKA treatment was observed in 5 (0.5%). DKA treatment according to ISPAD guidelines was adopted in 68% of the centers. In the first 2 hours, rehydration was started with normal saline in all centers, but with different amount. Bicarbonate was quite never been used. Insulin was infused starting from third hour at the rate of 0.05–0.1 U/kg/h in 72% of centers. Despite prevention campaign, DKA is still observed in Italian children at onset, with significant variability in DKA treatment, underlying the need to share guidelines among centers.

Background Several studies highlighted a great variability, both between and within countries, in the prevalence of asthma and chronic airways diseases. Aim To evaluate if geo-climatic variations can explain the heterogeneity in the prevalence of asthma and respiratory diseases in Italy. Methods Between 2006 and 2010, a postal screening questionnaire on respiratory health was administered to 18,357 randomly selected subjects, aged 20–44, living in 7 centers in northern, central, and southern Italy. A random-effects meta-analysis was fitted to evaluate the between-centers heterogeneity in the prevalence of asthma, asthma-like symptoms, allergic rhinitis, and chronic bronchitis (CB). A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to synthetize the geo-climatic information (annual mean temperature, range of temperature, annual rainfalls, global solar radiations, altitude, distance from the sea) of all the 110 Italian province capital towns. The associations between these geo-climatic components obtained with PCA and the prevalence of respiratory diseases were analyzed through meta-regression models. Results 10,464 (57%) subjects responded to the questionnaire. There was a significant between-centers heterogeneity in the prevalence of asthma (I 2 = 59.5%, p = 0.022) and CB (I 2 = 60.5%, p = 0.019), but not in that of asthma-like symptoms or allergic rhinitis. Two independent geo-climatic components explaining together about 80% of the overall geo-climatic variability were identified: the first principally summarized the climatic variables; the second the topographic ones. Variations in the prevalence of asthma across centers were significantly associated with differences in the climatic component (p = 0.017), but not with differences in the topographic one. Conclusions Our findings suggest that climate play a role in determining the between-center heterogeneity in the prevalence of asthma in Italy, with higher prevalence in dry-hot Mediterranean climates, and lower in rainy-cold northern climates.

We use a numerical code which reproduces the angular/energy response of a typical top-hat electrostatic analyser starting from solar wind proton velocity distribution functions (VDFs) generated by numerical simulations. The simulations are based on the Hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell numerical algorithm which integrates the Vlasov equation for the ion distribution function, while the electrons are treated as a fluid. A virtual satellite launched through the simulation box measures the particle VDFs. Such VDFs are moved from the simulation Cartesian grid to energy-angular coordinates to mimic the response of a real sensor in the solar wind. Different energy-angular resolutions of the analyser are investigated in order to understand the influence of the phase-space resolution in existing and upcoming space missions, with regards to determining the key parameters of plasma dynamics.

International audience; The solar wind plasma is a fully ionized and turbulent gas ejected by the outer layers of the solar corona at very high speed, mainly composed by protons and electrons, with a small percentage of helium nuclei and a significantly lower abundance of heavier ions. Since particle collisions are practically negligible, the solar wind is typically not in a state of thermodynamic equilibrium. Such a complex system must be described through self-consistent and fully nonlinear models, taking into account its multi-species composition and turbulence. We use a kinetic hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell numerical code to reproduce the turbulent energy cascade down to ion kinetic scales, in typical conditions of the uncontaminated solar wind plasma, with the aim of exploring the differential kinetic dynamics of the dominant ion species, namely protons and alpha particles. We show that the response of different species to the fluctuating electromagnetic fields is different. In particular, a significant differential heating of alphas with respect to protons is observed. Interestingly, the preferential heating process occurs in spatial regions nearby the peaks of ion vorticity and where strong deviations from thermodynamic equilibrium are recovered. Moreover, by feeding a simulator of a top-hat ion spectrometer with the output of the kinetic simulations, we show that measurements by such spectrometer planned on board the Turbulence Heating ObserveR (THOR mission), a candidate for the next M4 space mission of the European Space Agency, can provide detailed three-dimensional ion velocity distributions, highlighting important non-Maxwellian features. These results support the idea that future space missions will allow a deeper understanding of the physics of the interplanetary medium.

Blood coagulation is an important process in haemostasis, and disorders of blood coagulation can lead to an increased risk of haemorrhage and thrombosis. Coagulation is highly conserved in mammals and has been comprehensively studied in humans in the investigation of bleeding or thrombotic diseases. Some substances can act as inhibitors of blood coagulation and may affect one or multiple enzymes throughout the process. A specific thrombin inhibitor called infestin has been isolated from the midgut of the haematophagous insect Triatoma infestans. Infestin is a member of the nonclassical Kazal-type serine protease inhibitors and is composed of four domains, all of which have a short central α-helix and a small antiparallel β-­sheet. Domains 1 and 4 of infestin (infestins 1 and 4) possess specific inhibitory activities. Infestin 1 inhibits thrombin, while infestin 4 is an inhibitor of factor XIIa, plasmin and factor Xa. Here, the structure determination and structural analysis of infestin 1 complexed with trypsin and of infestin 4 alone are reported. Through molecular modelling and docking, it is suggested that the protein–protein binding site is conserved in the infestin 1–thrombin complex compared with other Kazal-type inhibitors. Infestin 4 is able to bind factor XIIa, and the F9N and N11R mutants selected by phage display were shown to be more selective for factor XIIa in comparison to the wild type.

Arg/Arg homozygotes for the Gly16Arg polymorphism in the β₂-adrenoreceptor gene (ADRB2) have a reduced response to short-acting β₂-agonists but no effect has been associated with long-acting β₂-agonists (LABAs). We selected 604 subjects with current asthma from the European Community Respiratory Health Study to evaluate whether asthma control and lung function decline were associated with Gly16Arg polymorphism, and to test whether LABA or inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use modified these effects. There was an increased risk of noncontrolled asthma (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.01-1.75; p = 0.046) for each Arg allele. Among nonusers of ICS, the odds ratio of noncontrolled asthma among Arg/Arg versus Gly/Gly subjects was 2.73 (95% CI 1.28-5.82; p = 0.009). No increased risk of noncontrolled asthma associated with the Arg allele was observed among ICS and/or LABA users. For each Arg allele, a mean ± se decrease in decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 s of 7.7 ± 2.5 mL·yr⁻¹ was found (p-value for trend 0.003), irrespective of ICS or LABA use. Arg/Arg subjects had an increased risk of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) versus Gly/Gly subjects, with an odds ratio of 2.51 (95% CI 1.12-5.63; p = 0.025) if they did not use ICS. The Arg allele was associated with poorer asthma control, a steeper lung function decline and BHR. Absence of genotypic effects on asthma control among ICS users may be due to reversed β₂-adrenoreceptor desensitisation.

To cite this article: Anto JM, Sunyer J, Basagana X, Garcia-Esteban R, Cerveri I, de Marco R, Heinrich J, Janson C, Jarvis D, Kogevinas M, Kuenzli N, Leynaert B, Svanes C, Wjst M, Gislason T, Burney P. Risk factors of new-onset asthma in adults: a population-based international cohort study. Allergy 2010; 65: 1021-1030 Abstract Background: The occurrence of new-onset asthma during adulthood is common, but there is insufficient understanding of its determinants including the role of atopy. Objective: To assess the risk factors for the development of new-onset asthma in middle-aged adults and to compare them according to atopy. Methods: A longitudinal analysis of 9175 young adults who participated in two surveys of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) conducted 9 years apart. Findings: We observed 179 cases of new-onset asthma among 4588 participants who were free of asthma and reported at the beginning of the follow-up that they had never had asthma (4.5 per 1000 person-years). In a logistic regression, the following risk factors were found to increase the risk of new-onset asthma: female gender (OR: 1.97; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.38,2.81), bronchial hyperresponsiveness (3.25; 2.19,4.83), atopy (1.55;1.08,2.21), FEV(1) > 100 % predicted (1.87;1.34,2.62), nasal allergy (1.98;1.39,2.84) and maternal asthma (1.91;1.13;3.21). Obesity, respiratory infections in early life and high-risk occupations increased the risk of new-onset asthma although we had limited power to confirm their role. Among the atopics, total IgE and sensitization to cat were independently related to the risk of new-onset asthma. The proportion of new-onset asthma attributable to atopy varied from 12% to 21%. Conclusion: Adults reporting that they had never had asthma were at a substantial risk of new-onset asthma as a result of multiple independent risk factors including lung function. Atopy explains a small proportion of new-onset adult asthma

The jet impingement technique is a valuable methodology for the evaluation of carbon dioxide (CO2) corrosion and inhibition under high flow velocities. This technique commonly uses short e...

The aim of our analysis was to study the association between air pollution and asthma among adults. For this goal, a previously developed "asthma score" was used. Persons aged 25-44 yrs were randomly selected (1991-1993) and followed up (2000-2002) within the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS I and II, respectively). The asthma score was defined from 0 to 5, based on the positive answers to the following symptoms reported for the last 12 months: wheeze/breathlessness, chest tightness, dyspnoea at rest, dyspnoea after exercise and woken by dyspnoea. Participants' home addresses were linked to outdoor modelled NO2 estimates for 2001. Negative binomial regression was used to model the asthma score. The score from ECRHS II was positively associated with NO2 (ratio of the mean asthma score (RMS) 1.23, 95% CI 1.09-1.38, for an increase of 10 microg x m(-3)). After excluding participants with asthma and symptoms at baseline, the association remained (RMS 1.25, 95% CI 1.05-1.51), and was particularly high among those reporting a high score in ECRHS II. The latter probably reflects incident cases of asthma. Our results suggest that traffic-related pollution causes asthma symptoms and possibly asthma incidence in adults. The asthma score offers an alternative with which to investigate the course and aetiology of asthma in adults.

Early detection of airflow obstruction is particularly important among young adults because they are more likely to benefit from intervention. Using the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) to forced vital capacity (FVC) (FEV(1)/FVC)70% fixed ratio, airflow obstruction may be underdiagnosed. The lower limit of normal (LLN), which is statistically defined by the lower fifth percentile of a reference population, is physiologically appropriate but it still needs a clinical validation.To evaluate the characteristics and longitudinal outcomes of subjects misidentified as normal by the fixed ratio with respect to the LLN, 6249 participants (aged 20-44 years) in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey were examined and divided into three groups (absence of airflow obstruction by the LLN and the fixed ratio; presence of airflow obstruction only by the LLN; presence of airflow obstruction by the two criteria) for 1991-1993. LLN equations were obtained from normal non-smoking participants. A set of clinical and functional outcomes was evaluated in 1999-2002.The misidentified subjects were 318 (5.1%); only 45.6% of the subjects with airflow obstruction by the LLN were also identified by the fixed cut-off. At baseline, FEV(1) (107%, 97%, 85%) progressively decreased and bronchial hyperresponsiveness (slope 7.84, 6.32, 5.57) progressively increased across the three groups. During follow-up, misidentified subjects had a significantly higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a significantly higher use of health resources (medicines, emergency department visits/hospital admissions) because of breathing problems than subjects without airflow obstruction (p0.001).Our findings show the importance of using statistically derived spirometric criteria to identify airflow obstruction.