Mural paintings which decorate the external façade and the internal apsidal wall of a chapel dedicated to St. Maxime and located at Challand St. Victor in the Aosta Valley (Italy) have been analysed ...with a combined approach involving high-resolution fibre-optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy. The paintings are attributed to Giacomino from Ivrea, a painter active around the mid-fifteenth century. In order to characterise the palette used by the painter and to yield information useful to restorers, the cited techniques were used either in situ with portable instruments and in laboratory, working on micro samples withdrawn from paintings. The global analytical approach, though not entirely non-invasive, can indeed be considered non-destructive as multiple analyses, including SEM-EDX, could be carried out on the micro samples, exploiting the features of each technique. On the basis of the information obtained, the palette was found to be composed of typical fresco pigments such as calcite, azurite, malachite, vermilion, red and yellow ochres. A particular situation was noted for black pigments since the presence of graphite, rather than wood or lamp carbon, was found, possibly related to the presence of graphite deposits in the Aosta Valley. Furthermore, the presence of smalt superimposed to azurite in areas showing evidence of repainting was detected, suggesting that paintings were subjected to retouching at a relatively early stage after the original execution. Finally, the presence of tin foils, used to decorate haloes of Evangelists, was ascertained.
Francoprovençal in contact with Walser German Dal Negro, Silvia; Angster, Marco
International journal of the sociology of language,
12/2017, Letnik:
2018, Številka:
249
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This article focuses on Francoprovençal (FP) from the perspective of language contact, specifically the reciprocal effects between FP and two dialects of German (Alemannic) spoken in the Aosta region ...and belonging to the severely endangered Walser minority group located in Northwestern Italy. On the basis of lexical evidence we describe a complex dynamics of language contact among communities embedded in one another. We found bidirectional exchanges between FP and one Walser variety, but much less so with the other. As a result, lexical distance revealed a pattern of contact, isolation and asymmetries that contrasts with geographical distance or more general relations of sociolinguistic dominance.
Three tunnels for hydraulic purposes were excavated by tunnel-boring machines (TBM) in mostly hard metamorphic rocks in Northern Italy. A total of 14
km of tunnel was surveyed almost continually, ...yielding over 700 sets of data featuring rock mass characteristics and TBM performance. The empirical relations between rock mass rating and penetration rate clearly show that TBM performance reaches a maximum in the rock mass rating (
RMR) range 40–70 while slower penetration is experienced in both too bad and too good rock masses. However, as different rocks gives different penetrations for the same
RMR, the use of Bieniawski's classification for predictive purpose is only possible provided one uses a normalized
RMR index with reference to the basic factors affecting TBM tunneling. Comparison of actual penetrations with those predicted by the Innaurato and Barton models shows poor agreement, thus highlighting the difficulties involved in TBM performance prediction.
Previous grazing experience on high alpine pastures may help cows to optimise feed selection and minimise impairments in milk production. Eight inexperienced and eight experienced Aosta Red Pied cows ...were compared (primiparous:multiparous = 1:1). Measurements were performed when cows grazed sites at 600, 1800 and 2100 m a.s.l. The statistical model included experience, parity and site as fixed effects. The longest ingestion time was recorded for primiparous inexperienced cows at 1800 m a.s.l. Milk yield remained unaffected by experience, but the main milking time was shorter in inexperienced cows in the lowlands. Milk of inexperienced cows had a higher urea content than experienced cows. Somatic cell score remained unaffected by experience, but inexperienced cows had more incidences of clinical mastitis on alpine pastures. Compared with experienced cows, proportions of the fatty acids ΣC16:1 and ΣC17:1 in milk fat of inexperienced cows were higher and proportions of C18:1 t9 and C18:1 t6-8 lower. Overall, alpine grazing had substantial effects on milk yield and composition coinciding with results from previous studies. There were interactions between experience and site in milking characteristics and milk composition, and for the latter also between experience and parity. In conclusion, experience had effects on several of the variables tested, effects which were sometimes exhibited already on lowland pasture. Still, the effects of experience were much lower than those of the transhumance system.
Highlights
The advantages of previous site-specific and age experience of cows were studied on alpine pasture.
Lack of experience had mostly minor effects on economically relevant traits.
Experience helped to maintain udder health in this alpine environment.
The study is developed through scientific cooperation between the University of Milano-Bicocca and the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA) of the Valle d’Aosta Region. Its aim is to ...produce a decision-support tool to help the Public Administration’manage groundwater and public water supply. The study area is the plain of Aosta, between the cities of Aymavilles and Brissogne; in this area groundwater represents the main source of public water supply. The valley is oriented east-west, along the Baltea for a length of 13.1 km and a width of 4.6 km. The textural and hydrogeological properties of the deposits are strictly connected to glacial deposition and to the subsequent sedimentary processes which took place in glacial, lacustrine and fluvial systems. The study is based on available well information in the Aosta plain - including water wells (133) and piezometers (121) - which have been coded and stored in the well database TANGRAM,. The database facilitates interpretation of the well data, and it allows three-dimensional mapping of subsurface hydrogeological characteristics through database codification and ordinary kriging interpolation. The study is designed to achieve two objectives. The first is to provide the Aosta Public Authorities with a well database in order to simplify groundwater management. The second is to provide Public Authorities with a groundwater flow model of the local aquifer. The model integrates surface and subsurface flows in order to fully account for all important stresses, both natural and anthropogenic, on the groundwater system. It provides a tool for testing hypotheses (such as the impact of new wells) and thereby allows science-based management of the aquifer resource.
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact of global warming and climate change on skiing by assessing the costs that ski resorts would have to bear to address the lack of snow. In this way, new ...development models can be hypothesized for the regional economy in the Aosta Valley, territory located in the West Alps, whose economy is largely based on winter tourism.
Design/methodology/approach
Starting with a literature review regarding global warming and its effects on the Alps, a methodology of analysis has been implemented to assess the relative weaknesses of ski resorts. Additional costs in adaptation strategies have been considered in the light of a major choice ski resorts must face: investing or not. For this analysis, four scenarios of global warming have been taken into consideration.
Findings
The lack of snow due to a rise in temperatures will have a big impact on regional ski resorts and will seriously threaten the economy of small lateral valleys. In this scenario, it is important to think about reorganizing the regional ski supply by focusing on stations with better economic results and those strategically well located. In this way, we can safeguard winter tourism in the region and preserve skiing by concentrating costs only in those resorts that are also able to bear new cost adaptation strategies.
Originality/value
The value of this paper is its estimation of the future impact of a rise in the average temperature in regional ski resorts. This impact is assessed in relation to concerns about the reduction of the skiing area and the new costs that ski companies will need to bear. The paper also proposes a new model for the reorganization of the ski supply in the Aosta Valley.
La confraternita della Porta Sant’Orso di Aosta è qui studiata a partire dalla documentazione contenuta nel cartolario quattrocentesco conservato nell’archivio della collegiata di Sant’Orso. Seppure ...con evidenti limiti, esso fornisce un interessante punto di osservazione per la ricostruzione delle vicende di un ente confraternale poco noto, relativamente al periodo compreso tra la fine del secolo XII e la metà del XIV. Dedicata allo Spirito Santo, questa confraternita appare profondamente radicata nel tessuto urbano e sociale dell’omonimo borgo: il legame con i burgenses e con le istituzioni locali contribuì a renderla uno dei principali attori socio-politici del terziere.
Detailed analysis of Digital Terrain Models (DTMs), digital imagery, and a discussion of their various applications and derived geothematic products are presented for study areas in two different ...geological and geomorphological contexts of North West (NW) of Italy. In both cases it has been proposed an integrated approach for geomorphological analysis that put in evidence many advantages of using these new geomatics tools.
In the first context, digital geomorphological mapping of high altitude areas of the Aosta Valley (Gran Paradiso and Gran San Bernardo) have been carried out by using photogrammetry and remote sensing on airborne laser scanner data (LiDAR derived DTM) and orthophotos. Suitable results have been obtained for areas of difficult accessibility, with reduced costs and work time compared to traditional field techniques.
In the second geomorphological context, high-resolution images of the present topography of the high Piedmont plain (Turin, Asti and Cuneo Provinces) have been used to perform GIS mapping and analysis. Evidences of Quaternary modifications in the hydrographic network have been enhanced, suggesting new geomorphological elements for the reconstruction of the recent geodynamic history of the area.
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