Rossella Brancaccio

Cremation is among the most destructive funerary practices. Over the past 30 years, radiographic imaging has increasingly been used to non-destructively extract information from cremation burials. Advances in scanners and imaging software have enhanced the quality of data retrievable through this method. However, scanning cremated remains, particularly when urned, presents challenges due to their fragility, size, material density overlaps, and the high cost of imaging equipment. These factors often result in low-quality images where distinguishing different materials becomes difficult and time-consuming. This exploratory research aims to provide and assess qualitative and quantitative information from tomographic images on burials’ taphonomy, biological profiles (sex and age at death), Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) and thermal alterations to the bones and to evaluate a relatively simple segmentation strategy to analyse the spatial distribution of the remains in the vessels. For this purpose, 10 non-micro-excavated urns from the Middle-Late Bronze Age necropolis of Vicofertile (Parma, Italy) were scanned using Computerised Tomography (CT), subsequently micro-excavated, and the remains analysed to compare the information obtained from the two approaches. When extracted, data about the age classes, burial taphonomy, and heat-induced changes to the bones (e.g., fractures) were confirmed by the physical analysis, while the MNI, hypothesised to be 10 from the scans, was increased by one. Sex estimation was not possible from the scans. The vertical and horizontal distribution of the remains was estimated for cranial, long, spongy bones, upper, lower limbs, and trunk elements, with the vertical cranial distribution being the most accurately predicted category. Overall, the physical analysis proved essential to refine the results of virtual analysis and deal with the drawbacks of low-quality images. Despite the limitations discussed here, this research presents the largest systematic comparison of tomographic imaging and physical analysis of urned cremations to date, highlighting both the potential and the current limitations of CT-based investigation.

Vibrations from experimental setups and the environment are a persistent source of noise for low-temperature calorimeters searching for rare events, including neutrinoless double beta (0 ν β β ) decay or dark matter interactions. Such noise can significantly limit experimental sensitivity to the physics case under investigation. Here, we report the detection of marine microseismic vibrations using mK-scale calorimeters. This study employs a multi-device analysis correlating data from CUORE, the leading experiment in the search for 0 ν β β decay with mK-scale calorimeters, and the Copernicus Earth Observation program, revealing the seasonal impact of Mediterranean Sea activity on CUORE’s energy thresholds, resolution, and sensitivity over four years. The detection of marine microseisms underscores the need to address faint environmental noise in ultra-sensitive experiments. Understanding how such noise couples to the detector and developing mitigation strategies is essential for next-generation experiments. We demonstrate one such strategy: a noise decorrelation algorithm implemented in CUORE using auxiliary sensors, which reduces vibrational noise and improves detector performance. Enhancing sensitivity to 0 ν β β decay and to rare events with low-energy signatures requires identifying unresolved noise sources, advancing noise reduction methods, and improving vibration suppression systems, all of which inform the design of next-generation rare event experiments.

The Jugular Venous Pulse (JVP) is considered a reliable parameter for the assessment of Central Venous Pressure (CVP). Here, the functionality of a cervical contact plethysmography system designed for non-invasive and operator-independent acquisition of the JVP signal, is shown. To validate the signal, it was recorded in supine and sitting positions, together with the reference Electrocardiography (ECG), on 26 healthy subjects. In the supine acquired signal, the characteristic JVP waves (a, c, v) and the negative deflections (x, y) are well recognizable. In the sitting recorded signal, the systolic peak b and the d incisura of the Common Carotid Artery (CCA) waveform are recognized. For each signal, we calculated the Fraction of the Cardiac Cycle (ccf) represented by the time intervals between the JVP peaks and the ECG peaks, in the form: ΔtaP, ΔtcR, ΔtxP, ΔtvT, Δtyv, Δtvx, and Δtxa. The same was done for the CCA waveform, in the form: ΔtbS, ΔtbT, Δtdb, ΔtdS, and ΔtdT. This system could mitigate risks and costs associated with central venous catheterization and its potential extends to applications in telemedicine, sports medicine, and space medicine.

The internal structures and the hygroscopicity of bio-based boards consisting of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) and hazelnut shells as bio-aggregates, and a sodium silicate solution as the adhesive, were investigated. The aim was to evaluate the influence of each material (the bio-aggregates and adhesive) and their distributions in the boards on the final performance. By carrying out X-ray computed tomography, the internal structures and the porosities of the boards were determined, allowing important considerations of their hygroscopicity. The voids’ percentages were between 26% and 36% of the total volume of the composites. Both the materials and the composites demonstrated high hygroscopicity. In particular, the mixtures of the bio-aggregates and the sodium silicate allowed reaching a moisture buffering value of 7.44 g/(m²%RH) for the A. donax-based composite, 3.86 g/(m²%RH) for the hazelnut-shell-based composite, and 4.65 g/(m²%RH) for the mixture-based composite. Besides the identification of the contributions of the materials, a detailed discussion of the assessed properties was carried out to use these bio-based boards in vernacular historic construction. The results show how the aggregate type and the adhesive content affected the final behavior, demonstrating the importance of a conscious material choice. Furthermore, helpful information for the future development of these types of bio-based boards and their possible optimization was provided.

X-ray Computed Tomography (CT), a commonly used technique in a wide variety of research fields, nowadays represents a unique and powerful procedure to discover, reveal and preserve a fundamental part of our patrimony: ancient handwritten documents. For modern and well-preserved ones, traditional document scanning systems are suitable for their correct digitization, and, consequently, for their preservation; however, the digitization of ancient, fragile and damaged manuscripts is still a formidable challenge for conservators. The X-ray tomographic approach has already proven its effectiveness in data acquisition, but the algorithmic steps from tomographic images to real page-by-page extraction and reading are still a difficult undertaking. In this work, we propose a new procedure for the segmentation of single pages from the 3D tomographic data of closed historical manuscripts, based on geometric features and flood fill methods. The achieved results prove the capability of the methodology in segmenting the different pages recorded starting from the whole CT acquired volume.