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On October 29, 2019, the Vaia storm hits the North-Eastern regions of Italy by wind gusts exceeding 200 km h-1. The forests in these regions have been seriously damaged. This contribution illustrates the methodology adopted in the emergency phase to estimate forest damages caused by Vaia storm, both in terms of damaged forest areas and growing stock volume of fallen trees. 494 Municipalities registered forest damages caused by Vaia, destroyed or intensely damaged forest stands amounted to about 42.500 ha, spread in Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and, only marginally, Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. The growing stock volume of fallen trees was about 8.5 millions m3.

Material transport vehicle is one of the most important equipment for maintaining of railway roadbed. However, due to manual observation and operation, coupled with a lack of automation, they are susceptible to external factors, including issues of partial load, underload or overload and safety hazards such as stone drop . This paper introduces an automatic control system for material transport vehicles, specifically designed to improve their working efficiency, ensure loading quality, and enhance work safety. Firstly, a stacking model was established according to material characteristics, enabling accurate prediction of material distribution to prevent partial loading. Secondly, the embedded technology and ultrasonic noncontact detection technology were employed to monitor the real-time material load, ensuring loading accuracy and preventing overload or underload.. The designed system facilitates real-time data transmission based on wireless communication technology, which makes monitoring more convenient. To enhance man-machine interaction, a mobile system based on LabVIEW was developed, enabling remote monitoring of material transport vehicles, which contributes to reducing workload and intensity for operators. Finally, the control system was reinforced using an improved proportional-integral-differential (PID) control algorithm to optimize the control performance. This algorithm not only ensures control stability and accuracy, but also reduces energy consumption and mechanical wear. The effectiveness of the proposed automatic control system was proved by field operations. The results show an efficiency increase by more than 50%, a reduction in loading errors, and a significant improvement in work safety.

On October 29, 2018, the Vaia storm hits the North-Eastern regions of Italy by wind gusts exceeding 200 km h-1. The forests in these regions have been seriously damaged. This contribution illustrates the methodology adopted in the emergency phase to estimate forest damages caused by Vaia storm, both in terms of damaged forest areas and growing stock volume of fallen trees. 494 Municipalities registered forest damages caused by Vaia, destroyed or intensely damaged forest stands amounted to about 42,500 ha, spread in Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and, only marginally, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta. The growing stock volume of fallen trees was about 8.5 millions m³. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coral-associated bacteria and Symbiodiniaceae are critical for maintaining the health of their coral hosts. Factors that are known to affect the coral microbiome include biogeography, seasonality, and environmental change, but longitudinal studies are sorely lacking. Many temporal studies rarely extend beyond a year, limiting the conclusions that can be drawn. In this study, we characterised both the bacterial and Symbiodiniaceae communities in three species of corals—Merulina ampliata, Pachyseris speciosa, and Porites lutea—found in an equatorial reef over a two-year period. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of monsoon seasons on the pattern of bacterial and Symbiodiniaceae communities using metabarcoding methods. We found significant differences in bacterial communities through time and space, but no consistent patterns of diversity between seasons and environmental conditions (temperature and rainfall) were observed. Conversely, Symbiodiniaceae communities did not differ over time and space. Taken together, our results suggest that bacterial communities, even within a stable climate regime, were highly dynamic through time, but were not affected by monsoonal variations. Finally, network analyses of bacteria and Symbiodiniaceae revealed multiple potential biogeochemical processes that worked in tandem between the members of the coral holobiont to support holobiont functioning. Longitudinal studies on host-associated microbial diversity are critical for drawing relevant conclusions about the long-term effects of environmental change on the coral holobiont, and for directing conservation efforts.