In this paper we propose a new method for the automatic design of classification systems for the visual inspection of metallic surfaces. Feature selection and selection of a suitable classifier as well as its optimization are done fully automatically on the base of a set of representative images for all quality respective defective classes to distinguish. Texture and colour features, which are most suitable for discrimination between different quality classes, are also explained. Furthermore, we present a flexible software architecture based on Windows Workflow Foundation and Windows Communication Foundation for the separation of image acquisition and classification. With this scheme a process architecture with many thin clients for image acquisition and one high-capacity evaluation system can be built up.

The present paper proposes to investigate the effect of pulsed Program/Erase cycling on Flash memory devices. Usually, electrical operations related to said devices involve the application of single long pulses to various terminals of the memory transistor to induce various tunneling effects allowing the variation of the floating gate charge. According to the literature, the oxide degradation occuring in such cases can be reduced by replacing DC stress by AC stress of the MOS-based devices. After a brief presentation of the functioning of the Flash memory transistors tested in this work, the experimental setup used to replace standard electric signals with short pulses will be described. Electrical results showing the benefits of programming and erasing non-volatile memories with short pulses will then be presented.

The article is devoted to the measurement challenge associated with thermal monitoring that occurs during the heat treatment of products. We propose a method for calculating temperature values at internal points of a cylindrical body based on measuring the temperature functions on the surface of the body. The method for calculating temperature values involves the solving an inverse problem for a nonlinear parabolic equation with unknown initial conditions. The computational scheme is based on the use of finite-difference equations and a regularization technique. The reliability and efficiency of the method was confirmed by computational results. The experimental results are also presented in this paper.

Monitoring the displacements of the buildings during the execution of underground works is a very demanding activity in large urban areas contexts, due to the number of structures involved and to the duration of the measurements throughout the realization time. Therefore, the surface deformation detection cannot be based on direct measurements using ground-based sensors, only, and should include technologies that allow a systematic and comprehensive monitoring. The satellite DInSAR technique (Differential Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar) provides displacement time series of a large number of measuring points, which can be associated with different portions of a building and are able to reveal differential settlements. Furthermore, the availability of SAR data archived since 1992 allows performing back analyses to evaluate also long-term settlement processes not directly linked to the tunneling works. More recently, the COSMO-SkyMed constellation, developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), has provided data at higher space/time resolution, which have been profitably used to detect and follow the evolution of the settlements caused by tunneling excavation works, as in the case of the new metro line in Rome. By applying the advanced DInSAR methodology, we have estimated average rates of displacement for a number of buildings over the Metro C track interested by the subsidence, very likely triggered by tunneling. A classification-based approach was applied by taking into account the displacement rates and the associated statistical error parameters. This provided a tool for the direct identification of the most critical buildings that need further investigations.

An integrated marine geophysics and satellite remote sensing study of Naples Bay (Italy) has been carried out to evaluate the presence, magnitude, areal extent and activity of the Naples Active Deformation Line (NADEL), a structural bend affecting the post Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) sedimentary sequences. Sparker high-resolution mono-channel profiles and multibeam swath bathymetric data were acquired during the SAFE_2014 research cruise, carried out on board of the Urania R/V of CNR on August 2014. The marine geophysical study was integrated with the ground deformation field of the emerged sectors of the study area (Sorrento Peninsula and Campi Flegrei), derived by Synthetic Aperture Radar interferometry (InSAR) data, referred to the 1993-2000 and 2003-2010 time periods. The InSAR data obtained from the ERS, RADARSAT and ENVISAT images were processed with the method of Permanent Scatterers (PS). Marine geophysical data provide evidence of morphological and stratigraphic features extending for about 18 km along a N130E strike. The NADEL deformation bend divides a NE offshore area, characterized by a flat morphology (slope< 1°, on average) from a SW sector, where the slope at >180 m below the sea level is, on average, 1.5°) morphologically characterized by the presence of the uppermost active branches of the Magnaghi canyon, which are bounded upward by the presence of the NADEL pattern. Thus, we suppose that the emplacement of the Magnaghi branches and NADEL are linked. InSAR data show that a similar deformation pattern can be detected also inland, in the distal sectors located NW and SE from the NADEL edges. The NADEL segments also affect the distal SW sector of the Campi Flegrei active caldera and the carbonate units cropping out in the Sorrento Peninsula, thus extending in length for more than 40 km.