Random Forest and Feature Importance Measures for Discriminating the Most Influential Environmental Factors in Predicting Cardiovascular and Respiratory Diseases.

Background: Several studies suggest that environmental and climatic factors are linked to the risk of mortality due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; however, it is still unclear which are the most influential ones. This study sheds light on the potentiality of a data-driven statistical approach by providing a case study analysis.

Methods: Daily admissions to the emergency room for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are jointly analyzed with daily environmental and climatic parameter values (temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide).

Blue-green roofs as nature-based solutions for urban areas: hydrological performance and climatic index analyses.

The water-regulating capacity of nature-based solutions (NBSs) plays a crucial role in providing a full range of ecosystem services and enhancing the resilience of urban systems. This work focuses on the hydrological performance of a particular NBS, the so-called blue-green roof (BGR). The BGR is designed to collect infiltrated rainfall in a water storage layer beneath the soil to support vegetation maintenance, enhance evapotranspiration and cooling, and minimize runoff and drainage system load.

Integrating spatially-and temporally-heterogeneous data on river network dynamics using graph theory.

The study of non-perennial streams requires extensive experimental data on the temporal evolution of surface flow presence across different nodes of channel networks. However, the consistency and homogeneity of available datasets is threatened by the empirical burden required to map stream network expansions and contractions. Here, we developed a data-driven, graph-theory framework aimed at representing the hierarchical structuring of channel network dynamics (i.

Global-scale massive feature extraction from monthly hydroclimatic time series: Statistical characterizations, spatial patterns and hydrological similarity.

Hydroclimatic time series analysis focuses on a few feature types (e.g., autocorrelations, trends, extremes), which describe a small portion of the entire information content of the observations.

Investigating runoff formation dynamics: field observations at Cape Fear experimental plot.

In this paper, we explore the dynamics of surface runoff formation in an outdoor experimental plot, Cape Fear, by reporting the relationships among rainfall, runoff, and soil moisture for 101 rainfall-runoff events observed in the time span of more than five years (January 2014-March 2019). Cape Fear is a recently developed 7 × 7 m experimental plot that combines features from both small scale facilities and catchment-scale experimental hillslopes, thus leveraging observation of major hydrological variables at high temporal and spatial resolution. Despite the small dimension and simplicity of the plot, the relations among hydrological variables are unexpectedly quite spread.

Unraveling flow patterns through nonlinear manifold learning.

From climatology to biofluidics, the characterization of complex flows relies on computationally expensive kinematic and kinetic measurements. In addition, such big data are difficult to handle in real time, thereby hampering advancements in the area of flow control and distributed sensing. Here, we propose a novel framework for unsupervised characterization of flow patterns through nonlinear manifold learning.

Cardiac complications and diabetes in thalassaemia major: a large historical multicentre study.

The relationship between diabetes mellitus (DM) and cardiac complications has never been systematically studied in thalassaemia major (TM). We evaluated a large retrospective historical cohort of TM to determine whether DM is associated with a higher risk of heart complications. We compared 86 TM patients affected by DM with 709 TM patients without DM consecutively included in the Myocardial Iron Overload in Thalassaemia database where clinical/instrumental data are recorded from birth to the first cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) exam.

Assessment of fluorescent particles for surface flow analysis.

In this paper, a systematic performance assessment of the measurement system for surface flow analysis developed by our group in (Tauro et al., Sensors, 2010) is presented. The system is based on the detection of buoyant fluorescent microspheres through a low-cost apparatus, which incorporates light sources to elicit fluorescence response and a digital camera to identify the particles' transit.

A new anatomic approach for robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: a feasibility study for completely intrafascial surgery.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) has been disseminated widely, changing the knowledge of surgical anatomy of the prostate. The aim of our study is to demonstrate the feasibility of a new, purely intrafascial approach. The Bocciardi approach for RALP passes through the Douglas space, following a completely intrafascial plane without any dissection of the anterior compartment, which contains neurovascular bundles, Aphrodite's veil, endopelvic fascia, the Santorini plexus, pubourethral ligaments, and all of the structures thought to play a role in maintenance of continence and potency.

Characterization of buoyant fluorescent particles for field observations of water flows.

In this paper, the feasibility of off-the-shelf buoyant fluorescent microspheres as particle tracers in turbid water flows is investigated. Microspheres' fluorescence intensity is experimentally measured and detected in placid aqueous suspensions of increasing concentrations of clay to simulate typical conditions occurring in natural drainage networks. Experiments are conducted in a broad range of clay concentrations and particle immersion depths by using photoconductive cells and image-based sensing technologies.