Using GB-SAR technique to monitor slow moving landslide

A Ground-Based SAR (GB-SAR) interferometer was employed to measure the surface displacements of a landslide occurring in the Carnian Alps, north-eastern Italy, which has affected a national road and seriously damaged a road tunnel still under construction. Moreover, since the landslide is located on the left bank of the Tagliamento River Valley, it is feared that this mass movement might dam the river, creating a basin that would increase natural hazard for the valley inhabitants. The data collected from December 2002 to July 2005 by a conventional monitoring system, consisting of a GPS network and boreholes equipped with inclinometric tubes, showed that the landslide was moving at a quasi-constant rate of about 3 cm per year. Due to the slow deformation rate of the landslide, a recently developed GB-SAR technique based on the analysis of a restricted ensemble of coherent points was used. Two surveys, each lasting two days, were planned in December 2004 and July 2005, in order to map and measure the surface displacements that occurred over time. The results from the radar were compared with the ones derived from the GPS monitoring network. An agreement was achieved among the data collected, showing the capability of the GB-SAR technique to measure displacements even within a time span of several months between the surveys.     

Hard X-Ray Emission from the Galaxy Cluster A2256

After the positive detection by BeppoSAX of hard X-ray radiation up to approximately 80 keV in the Coma Cluster spectrum, we present evidence for nonthermal emission from A2256 in excess of thermal emission at a 4.6 sigma confidence level. In addition to this power-law component, a second nonthermal component already detected by ASCA could be present in the X-ray spectrum of the cluster, which is not surprising given the complex radio morphology of the cluster central region. The spectral index of the hard tail detected by the Phoswich Detection System on board BeppoSAX is marginally consistent with that expected for the inverse Compton model. A value of approximately 0.05 μG is derived for the intracluster magnetic field of the extended radio emission in the northern regions of the cluster, while a higher value of approximately 0.5 μG could be present in the central radio halo, which is likely related to the hard tail detected by ASCA.     

Soft proton flux on <Emphasis Type="Italic">ATHENA</Emphasis> focal plane and its impact on the magnetic diverter design

The experience gained with the current generation of X-ray telescopes like Chandra and XMM-Newton has shown that low energy “soft” protons can pose a severe threat to the possibility to exploit scientific data, reducing the available exposure times by up to 50% and introducing a poorly reproducible background component. These soft protons are present in orbits outside the radiation belts and enter the mirrors, being concentrated towards the focal plane instruments, losing energy along their path and finally depositing their remaining energy in the detectors. Their contribution to the residual background will be even higher for ATHENA with respect to previous missions, given the much higher collecting area of the mirrors, even if the instruments will likely suffer no significant radiation damage from this particles flux. As a consequence this soft proton flux shall be damped with the use of a magnetic diverter to avoid excess background loading on the WFI or X-IFU instruments. We present here a first complete evaluation of this background component for the two focal plane instruments of the ATHENA mission in absence of a magnetic diverter, and derive the requirements for such device to reduce the soft protons induced background below the level required to enable the mission science. We estimate the soft proton flux expected in L2 for the interplanetary component and for the component generated locally by acceleration processes in the magnetotail. We produce a proton response matrix for each of the two instruments of ATHENA focal plane, exploiting two independent Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the optics concentration efficiency, and Geant4 simulations to evaluate the energy loss inside the radiation filters and deposited in the detector. With this modular approach we derive the expected fluxes and spectra for the soft protons component of the background. Finally, we calculate the specifics of a magnetic diverter able to reduce such flux below the required level for both X-IFU and WFI.     

Primary dolomite in the Late Triassic Travenanzes Formation,Dolomites, Northern Italy: Facies control and possible bacterial influence

In the late Carnian (Late Triassic), a carbonate‐clastic depositional system including a distal alluvial plain, flood basin and sabkha, tidal flat and shallow carbonate lagoon was established in the Dolomites (Northern Italy). The flood basin was a muddy supratidal environment where marine carbonates and continental siliciclastics interfingered. A dolomite phase made of sub‐micrometre euhedral crystals with a mosaic microstructure of nanometre‐scale domains was identified in stromatolitic laminae of the flood basin embedded in clay. This dolomite is interpreted here as primary and has a nearly stoichiometric composition, as opposed to younger early diagenetic (not primary) dolomite phases, which are commonly calcian. This primary dolomite was shielded from later diagenetic transformation by the clay. The stable isotopic composition of dolomite was analyzed along a depositional transect. The δ¹³C values range between ca ?6‰ and +4‰, with the most ¹³C‐depleted values in dolomites of the distal alluvial plain and flood basin, and the most ¹³C‐enriched in dolomites of the tidal flat and lagoon. Uniform δ¹⁸O values ranging between 0‰ and +3‰ were found in all sedimentary facies. It is hypothesized that the primary dolomite with mosaic microstructure nucleated on extracellular polymeric substances secreted by sulphate reducing bacteria. A multi‐step process involving sabkha and reflux dolomitization led to partial replacement and overgrowth of the primary dolomite, but replacement and overgrowth were facies‐dependent. Dolomites of the landward, clay‐rich portion of the sedimentary system were only moderately overgrown during late dolomitization steps, and partly retain an isotopic signature consistent with bacterial sulphate reduction with δ¹³C as low as ?6‰. In contrast, dolomites of the marine, clay‐free part of the system were probably transformed through sabkha and reflux diagenetic processes into calcian varieties, and exhibit δ¹³C values of ca +3‰. Major shifts of δ¹³C values strictly follow the lateral migration of facies and thus mark transgressions and regressions.     

Modeling concrete exposed to high temperature: Impact of dehydration and retention curves on moisture migration

High‐performance concrete is a widely used building material for tunnels, high‐rise buildings, nuclear plants etc. When these structures are exposed to fire, high‐performance concrete is prone to spalling. Moisture migration is believed to be one of the processes directly related to this phenomenon. In this paper, moisture profiles measured experimentally from neutron radiography on heated concrete are compared with results from a numerical model implemented in the finite element code Cast3M. The water loss measured experimentally, and the numerical results suggest that the commonly used constitutive laws for dehydration and water retention curves need to be reconsidered. The influence of these constitutive laws on the moisture migration is investigated. The dehydration constitutive law plays an important role on the dehydration front but has negligible effect on the moisture accumulation behind this front. By contrast, the water retention curves do not influence the dehydration front but affect the quantity and location of water condensation. The role of the permeability is also discussed.     

Hydrodynamics of hypersonic jets: experiments and numerical simulations

Stars form in regions of the galaxy that are denser and cooler than the mean interstellar medium. These regions are called Giant Molecular Clouds. At the beginning of their life, up to 10⁵–10⁶ years, stars accrete matter from their rich surrounding environment and are origin of a peculiar phenomenon that is the jet emission. Jets from Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) are intensively studied by the astrophysical community by observations at different wavelengths, analytical and numerical modeling and laboratory experiments. Indications about the jet propagation and its resulting morphologies are here obtained by means of a combined study of hypersonic jets carried out both in the laboratory and by numerical simulations.     

Role of wall panel connections on the seismic performance of precast structures

Past seismic events, including the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake and the 2012 Emilia earthquake, clearly demonstrated the inadequacy of the current design approach for the connection system of the cladding wall panels of precast buildings. To clarify this problem the present paper investigates the seismic behaviour of a traditional precast structural frame for industrial buildings with a new type of connection system of cladding panels. This system consists of a statically determined pendulum arrangement of panels, each supported with two hinges to the structure, one at the top and one at the bottom, so to have under seismic action a pure frame behaviour where the wall panels are masses without stiffness. Adding mutual connections between the panels, the wall cladding panels become part of the resisting structure, leading to a dual frame/wall system or to a wall system depending on the stiffness of the connections. The seismic behaviour of this structural assembly is investigated for different degrees of interaction between frame and panels, as well as for an enhanced solution with dissipative connections. The results of nonlinear static (pushover) analyses and nonlinear dynamic analyses under recorded and artificial earthquakes highlight the role of the wall panel connections on the seismic behaviour of the structural assembly and show the effectiveness of the dual frame/wall system with dissipative connections between panels.