DIAD (Italy)

The inputs to which contemporary society is subjected produce increasing levels of psychological stress and consequently profound transformations in identity and group membership [1,2]. These dynamics have significant implications for clinical psychology, particularly in understanding the various emerging forms of psychological distress [3]. We sought to conduct a conceptual review from a clinical psychology perspective, analyzing social relationships and their correlation with stress, identity construction, and the dynamics that occur within groups [4,5]. The article uses psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and systemic approaches, highlighting how chronic stress and the disruption of group membership can contribute to identity fragmentation and the resulting psychological distress [6-9]. This paper examines the clinical relevance of these processes and outlines the implications of assessment and intervention, without underestimating the importance of the elements present in the context of belonging and in the relationship [10,11]. The final section of this article addresses the current limitations of scientific research and outlines future directions. The suggestion is to fill the existing gaps in clinical psychology and related neuroscientific perspectives through integrative models [12,13].

Abstract In this work we present an overview of ground-based radar interferometry applications, using both real and synthetic aperture configurations, to measure deformations and vibration frequencies of infrastructures and terrain displacement due to geological phenomena. A short introduction to the basic principles of ground-based radar interferometry and the concept of interferometric coherence is provided. The interferometric processing of radar data provides the measurement of the Line-of-Sight (LoS) displacement with a sub-millimeter precision. In this paper we show results obtained in the monitoring of landslides, piers, dams, towers and bridges. Results have been obtained by means of a ground-based radar sensor working in the Ku-band with a range resolution of 0.75 m. Furthermore, we provide a review of literature on ground-based radar applications to volcano and glacier monitoring and measurement of vibration frequencies telecommunication and wind towers. The issues of measurement precision and artifacts due to propagation in the atmosphere are also discussed.KeywordsGround-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GBSAR)SAR interferometryDisplacementVibration frequencyLandslidesBridgesDams

The motivation to perform physical activity is a crucial factor in achieving a persistent active lifestyle. However, motivation decreases with increasing age from childhood to adolescence. The promotion of physical activity in educational settings might be an important tool to increase motivation and, consequently, to decrease sedentary behavior. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of a 4-month school-based walking intervention on motivation to participate in physical activity among Italian middle-school students. This study included 276 students (mean age 13 ± 1 years, 41.3% female). A total of 138 students (intervention group) participated in a brief walking intervention that was added to their routine daily school activity, while a convenience sample of 138 students performed the routine daily school activity. The activity consisted of walking one kilometer outside of school buildings during the morning break. Motivation data were collected before and after the walking breaks using the Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ). Controlling for age, significant interactions between group and time were observed in the “Social Status” [F(1,273) = 4.851; p = 0.028], “Team” [F(1,273) = 6.015; p = 0.015] and “Energy Release” components [F(1,273) = 8.527; p = 0.038]. Specifically, a significant decrease in the “Social Status” components of the PMQ and an increase in the “Team” and “Energy Release” components were observed in the intervention group. On the contrary. control group showed an increase in “Social Status” and a decrease in the “Team” and “Energy Release” components. Within this developmental context, incorporation of the walking activity helped to modify the motivational orientation towards physical activity to include more intrinsic factors, which were related to the possibility of remaining with classmates and peer groups and releasing a surplus of energy.

The aim of this paper is to describe how ground-based radar interferometry can provide displacement measurements of earth dam surfaces and of vibration frequencies of its main concrete infrastructures. In many cases, dams were built many decades ago and, at that time, were not equipped with in situ sensors embedded in the structure when they were built. Earth dams have scattering properties similar to landslides for which the Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GBSAR) technique has been so far extensively applied to study ground displacements. In this work, SAR and Real Aperture Radar (RAR) configurations are used for the measurement of earth dam surface displacements and vibration frequencies of concrete structures, respectively. A methodology for the acquisition of SAR data and the rendering of results is described. The geometrical correction factor, needed to transform the Line-of-Sight (LoS) displacement measurements of GBSAR into an estimate of the horizontal displacement vector of the dam surface, is derived. Furthermore, a methodology for the acquisition of RAR data and the representation of displacement temporal profiles and vibration frequency spectra of dam concrete structures is presented. For this study a Ku-band ground-based radar, equipped with horn antennas having different radiation patterns, has been used. Four case studies, using different radar acquisition strategies specifically developed for the monitoring of earth dams, are examined. The results of this work show the information that a Ku-band ground-based radar can provide to structural engineers for a non-destructive seismic assessment of earth dams.

A Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GB-SAR) is nowadays employed in several applications. The processing of ground-based, space and airborne SAR data relies on the same physical principles. Nevertheless specific algorithms for the focusing of data acquired by GB-SAR system have been proposed in literature. In this work the impact of the main focusing methods on the interferometric phase dispersion and on the coherence has been studied by employing a real dataset obtained by carrying out an experiment. Several acquisitions of a scene with a corner reflector mounted on a micrometric screw have been made; before some acquisitions the micrometric screw has been displaced of few millimetres in the Line-of-Sight direction. The images have been first focused by using two different algorithms and correspondently, two different sets of interferograms have been generated. The mean and standard deviation of the phase values in correspondence of the corner reflector have been compared to those obtained by knowing the real displacement of the micrometric screw. The mean phase and its dispersion and the coherence values for each focusing algorithm have been quantified and both the precision and the accuracy of the interferometic phase measurements obtained by using the two different focusing methods have been assessed.

In the classic urea kinetic model (UkM), the measurement of clearance (K) as a model input is onerous, and its result is higher than actual body clearance because of urea disequilibrium. Urea kinetics performed by direct dialysis quantification (DDQ), with an equilibrated post rebound sample, gives reliable results but is routinely impractical. The modified UKM (mUKM) method is based on the input of urea distribution volume (V), easily obtainable by several methods and more stable than clearance, and uses simple formulae derived from urea mass balance, avoiding iterative computation. Compared with DDQ, mUKM results are identical, provided that the V value obtained by DDQ is used as input. Compared with UKM, mUKM urea clearances are significantly lower (158.1 +/- 20.5 versus 180.7 +/- 26.8 ml/min), as are urea nitrogen generation rates (5.85 +/- 2.0 versus 6.41 +/- 2.14 mg/min), whereas V results are close (32,444 +/- 6301 versus 32,141 +/- 5293 ml): consequently, mUKM Kt/V is significantly lower than UKM Kt/V (1.07 +/- 0.17 versus 1.22 +/- 0.18). This is because both mUKM and DDQ take account of post dialysis urea rebound. Therefore, if UKM formulae are used with the DDQ body clearance and the equilibrated post rebound blood urea nitrogen value as input data, their results strictly approximate the reference DDQ (V = 32,457 +/- 6274; Kt/V = 1.07 +/- 0.17; G = 5.85 +/- 2.0), demonstrating the common mathematical basis of DDQ and UKM. Therefore, reliable results may be obtained by DDQ, by mUKM, and by "equilibrated" UKM; we suggest that the mUKM model, less cumbersome than DDQ, and more reliable than UKM because it avoids the clearance measurement and the need for iterative computation, could be useful for routine kinetics.