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Despite the institutionalization of the issue of inner areas with the National Strategy for Inner Areas (Strategia Nazionale per le Aree Interne, SNAI), a reflection on their spatial organisation is still missing. Our paper aims at filling this gap by providing a methodology for identifying the citizens' Daily Life Spaces (DLS) in the Italian Abruzzo region, which can be used as the spatial unit of analysis of cohesion policies. Their identification results from a multi-step algorithm based on an original definition of central places and on the notions of geographical and organised proximity which consider both citizens' isochrones and commuting flows. Our methodology is able to provide the internal spatial organisation of both Labour Market Areas and Project Areas and is consistent with a historical perspective. Finally, it questions the SNAI classification, calling for a revision of its methodology of identification. • EU Cohesion Policy must be based on appropriate target areas to improve its effectiveness. • This is particularly important for inner areas, suffering from a stigmatising spatial representation. • We provide a methodology able to describe how inner areas are spatially organised based on the notion of citizens' Daily Life Space. • Daily Life Spaces can be used as the territorial unit of analysis for planning local development and cohesion policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine brucellosis occurs in many countries where pigs are farmed, often representing an underrated problem. B. suis biovar 2 is the most common isolate in Europe, with high prevalence reported in wild boars in which it is generally isolated in the absence of gross lesions. In the last five years, we tested for Brucella spp. 389 lymph nodes of wild boars collected during hunting seasons or during necropsy procedures. In this paper, we describe the first case of isolation of B. suis biovar 2 from a wild boar aborted foetus, and we analyse the genomic relationships with B.suis biovar 2 strains isolated in the past five years in Abruzzi Region, Central Italy. The genetic fingerprint revealed that the isolates under study belong to the MLST ST16 and to the MLVA11 Gt 57, similar to the Central-Eastern European strains. Massive restocking (for hunting purpose) of wild boars from Eastern Europe have been done since 1950 in Italy contributing to the increasing of population size and distribution, as well as to the interbreeding between these foreign breeds and the local population. The contamination of pastures with infected material such as aborted wild boars foetuses can increase the risk of transmission of Brucella among wild and domestic animals. The contact of B. suis with domestic ruminants may also cause serological reactions to brucellosis serological testing, and even unapparent infection, thus hampering the efforts made in the brucellosis eradication campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues relating to the illumination of historical minor centers have taken on increasing significance in debates on urban rehabilitation. Interventions must ensure balance with the surrounding environment whilst implementing high-efficiency, energy-environment systems, and enhance architectural structures. The research presented in this paper aims to identify appropriate strategies and effective criteria for lighting design in historical centers. The methodology developed is based on transcalar analysis and has been applied to a village in the Abruzzo Region (Italy). The methodology involved surveys carried out in the urban context together with up-to-date and detailed analyses aimed at highlighting the criticalities and potentialities of the village in the case study. This allowed the elaboration of intervention strategies applied to two different areas: one within the historical nucleus of the village and the other in a peripheral area. This research has contributed to enriching the current debate on so-called “inland areas”, including developing new ways to benefit from the special characteristics of these areas and implementing more sustainable action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Empirical fragility curves for RC frame typological classes were calibrated for Abruzzo and Emilia Romagna regions. • A locality completeness ratio was introduced to quantify the amount of surveyed buildings over the total number of buildings in each locality. • The post-seismic damage database has been incremented by adding data related to unsurveyed buildings estimated from Census data. • The role of selected building damage indices on the fragility curves shapes was shown. The recent earthquakes occurred in the last years in Italy registered a great number of casualties and large economic losses. In this perspective, the effective seismic risk assessment has become crucial for the Government mitigation policies that have to allocate the limited economic sources for the risk reduction. In this paper, data collected after the 2012 Emilia and the 2009 L'Aquila, Italy, earthquakes were used to derive novel fragility curves for RC frame buildings classes. Compared to previous studies, different aspects affecting the fragility curves parameters were investigated. First of all, data are completed accounting for the presence of undamaged buildings that are generally uninspected after the seismic events, considering alternative criteria to complete the database. Then, the influence of the building damage index definition was considered by selecting four damage indices available in the literature that allow converting the damage data collected with the post-earthquake form into one of the five damage states, according to the European macroseismic scale. Separate sets of fragility curves, as a function of peak ground acceleration, were developed for the building stock of the two regions. The results reveal that the database correction with the uninspected buildings is relevant to avoid the overestimation of the exceedance probability, especially at lower peak ground acceleration values, resulting in less steep curves. Then, the building damage indices accounting for the damage of both structural and non-structural elements led to a higher exceedance probability with respect to damage indices based on damage of only structural elements, especially for the lower damage states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of “small hydro” power generation in Europe is still largely unexploited because of strict environmental requirements and legal rights for water use. Among the EU-27 member states, Italy is recognised as one of the most promising countries for the further exploitation of small hydro power. This paper presents a methodology for assessing the technical and economic potential of small hydro on a regional scale. The methodology is applied to the Abruzzo region in Italy. The investigation covers approximately 90 river branches belonging to the major regional basins. The methodology characterises the flow duration curves of suitable stretches of river using a regional analysis based on a graphical approach. An energy model evaluates the rated power and the annual electricity production of installable small-hydro power plants based on the flow duration curve and the type of hydraulic turbine. The economic analysis estimates the unit cost of electricity produced and the profitability of the initial investment assuming two scenarios based on different fixed- and variable-cost models. The net potential obtained from the energy analysis is adjusted to give the economically feasible potential at different levels of economic competitiveness for the regional basins investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Earthquake–Induced Landslides in the Abruzzo region combining several factors. • Methodological tool for land planning and loss-reduction measures. • Catalogue–independent method for landslide susceptibility. • Object–image based and cluster analyses. • Statistical evaluation for a repeatable methodology and comparable results. Landslides are widespread natural phenomena that play an important role in landscape evolution and are responsible for several casualties and damages. Slope instability is linked to the combination of geological, geomorphological, and climatic factors with various triggering mechanisms; among these, seismic shaking can induce relevant changes in the landscape, leading to coseismic and post-seismic phenomena such as landslide events. The Abruzzo Region (Central Italy) is severely affected by Earthquake-Induced Landslides (EILs), linked to the geomorphological dynamics and the severe seismicity of the area. The distribution, mechanisms, and typology of landslides are strictly related to the different physiographic and geological-structural settings. This paper focuses on the realisation of an EILs susceptibility map, following a heuristic approach combined with a statistical analysis, integrated using GIS technology. This approach led to the identification of nine instability factors. These factors were analysed for the construction of thematic maps. Hence, each factor was assigned proper expert-based ranks and weights based on the critical evaluation of literature data as well as on available landslide inventories and combined in a preliminary map wherein high/low numerical values correspond to a high/low propensity of the slope to fail; furthermore, a statistical analysis of these values was performed to derive suitable susceptibility classes. Results presented herein highlight the robustness of the approach; remarkably, the applied methodology is suitable even in areas where a detailed landslide catalogue is lacking, when the same classification and weighting of available parameters is performed. The statistical analyses and the adoption of an absolute scale ranging from minimum to maximum potential values, finally, ensures the comparability of results among different study areas. Finally, this work represents a scientific and multidisciplinary tool for better defining situations that could lead to hazards (such as landslides) following an earthquake to develop sustainable territorial planning, emergency management, and loss-reduction measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The great influence of site effects on damage patterns produced by seismic events of the past, stresses out the need to find proper relationships between the site local conditions and the potential damage that existing buildings may experience under earthquakes of different intensity. This issue proved to be relevant, especially for those masonry buildings in small historic centers, such as the ones belonging to the Apennine areas of Italy that suffered serious damage after the 2009 L'Aquila and the 2016–2017 Central Italy seismic sequences. Some of these centers showed a not regular damage distribution, suggesting that site effects influenced the seismic response of their buildings. In this perspective, this paper provides an attempt to correlate earthquake damage to site effects, focusing the attention on two historic centers of the Abruzzi region, Campotosto and Cortino, which were damaged by the 2016–2017 Central Italy seismic sequences and for which the amplification factors of the subsoil were carefully identified, resulting more influencing were higher damage was observed. First, the damage patterns observed after the 18 January 2017 seismic shock are represented in terms of Damage Probability Matrices and maps developed in GIS environment. Moreover, the data collected in terms of stats are interpreted through the application of the binomial probability distribution, in order to check its reliability in reproducing the gathered frequencies. Finally, in order to justify the damage of some specific buildings, the results of site response analyses are compared with the damage observed punctually on three damaged masonry buildings. • Damage Scenarios observed after the 2016 Central Italy Earthquakes on a Italian minor historic center have been put in relation with the results of a 3rd level Micro zonation study. • The binomial distribution proved to work well when buildings affected by site amplification effects are not included in the scenario; • The different damage levels observed after the earthquake have been justified according to the analysis of the average spectral acceleration measured for their esteemed frequencies and accounting for site amplification effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]