Among nature-based solutions (NBSs), green walls represent a key technology in the urban context because of the low energy demand and of the many ecological and social outcomes. This work presents the results of the experimental study at laboratory scale of the treatment of greywater (e.g. domestic wastewater excluding toilet flushes) through a green wall. It is made of two modular panels (1-set up for...
Italian glaciers began to melt in the second half of the 19th century. The quantification of melting over time has been described in Glaciers Inventories. The present research aims to contribute to the understanding of the dynamics governing glacier melting as a function of different glacier types and geomorphological parameters analysed in GIS environment. The extent variation of 13 Italian glaciers...
The article examines the peculiarities of creation (updating) digital topographic maps of the scale 1:50 000 for the Main State Topographic Map of Ukraine for creation and maintaining the seamless topographic database for national needs, which is located on the Geoportal to ensure the development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) in Ukraine. Several special problems were identified along...
Electric vehicles (EVs) are breaking through, new incentives and new targets come to light to get the numbers that allow to reduce greenhouse gases over the next 30 years. On the current market, the automotive sector mainly makes use of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as energy storage systems. The paper examines the distribution of raw materials useful for the realization of LIBs. The availability of the...
When it comes to human health and safety, the extractive industry represents one of the most hazardous activities. When accidents occur in mines, quarries or processing plants, consequences are usually very serious. A description of Italy’s state of the art is made herein, with a special focus on occupational injuries occurred during the 2012-2019 period of time as well as fatal injuries of the last...
One of the major concern for the gas sequestration/storage feasibility in natural underground formations is the assessment of the sealing efficiency of the low-permeable sequences overlying potential storage formations. The sealing efficiency is quantified via the threshold pressure and/or residual pressure difference parameters; the experimental laboratory procedures for their evaluation have been widely...
The present research has been aimed at the analysis of contaminated areas in which it is difficult to reconstruct the contamination with the classical techniques of interpretation of the hydrochemical data in time, for example when, at irregular intervals, secondary pollutants are separated from the main contamination and attracted by local piezometric depressions. To address the problem, an area near...
Since the last decade, numerous free and open-source software (FOSS) has been developed: this new approach, thanks to its quick update and its affordability, has guaranteed the employment of FOSS both by public and private bodies. In the field of open tools, the development of geographic software (GFOSS) became particularly relevant, whose distribution increased enormously and whose innovations are constantly...
It is well known that climatic factors can influence the degradation of rocks in different geographic environments, thus affecting the durability of natural construction materials. Research has been carried out to assess the current state of natural degradation of an Oligocene-Miocene lithic greywacke occurring without appreciable lithological and mineralogical variations from, NW to SE in Tuscany (northern...
The fragmentation process of the falling blocks is a key aspect in the study and the simulation of rockfall phenomenon. The single blocs can generate fragments, deviating their trajectory, modifying their energy. The present research describes an application of a fractal fragmentation model on a real study case and identifies the main issues that can rise. A multi-objective procedure to define model parameters...
Mechanical behaviour of clastic formations at shallow – medium depths which bear hydrocarbon reservoirs could exhibit an important non-linear influence of the strain on the formation stiffness during depletion. Particularly in the early reservoir production stage, characterized by high uncertainty and little ground movement data for back-analysis, reliable determination of formation stiffness at...
Road tunnels are high-risk environments, especially in the event of a fire. These environments are at a high technological level, as they are equipped, as required by the regulations, with complex systems to prevent accidents and reduce the severity of the consequences. The safety of a tunnel depends on the reliability of equipments and their electrical supply circuits. Detection of faults in electrical...
The residual presence of critical components (e.g. Asbestos Containing Materials – ACMs) still represents one of the main criticalities for the Occupational Safety and Health – OS&H in many large public facilities. The very first step for an effective Risk Assessment and Management is obviously a clear definition of the different approaches, complying with the Italian general and special OS&H...
Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is related to human health and well-being since people spend most of their working and free time in interior spaces. As stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), once complying with normative Occupational Safety and Health (OS&H) limits, more elevated standards of air quality both in productive and non-industrial workplaces should be guaranteed. In this case study –...
The large use of nanomaterials in several industrial processes drove the attention toward the potential health issues associated to their diffusion in the environment. However, since nanomaterials are characterized by a polidisperse particle size distribution, the human health risk induced by a nanoparticle (NP) contamination cannot be assessed through the ASTM procedure commonly used for chemicals. Toxicity...
The building sector is considered strategic to reach new scenarios for a low-carbon society. Beside this awareness, in the current trend there is not a real change to achieve targets set in terms of emissions containment defined by international agreements. Through an econometric model based on Choice Experiments, the present study aims to understand the individuals’ perceptions towards energy retrofit...
In the future, we will experience a continuously increasing energy demand mostly due to the continuous growth of the world population. Today we use fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) in order to cover the society’s basic needs. This involves significant CO2 emissions that contribute to the climate change by contributing to the increase of the global temperature. A great number of countries through international...
The inflow into aquifers of transition metals leached from muck disposed in quarries is a process that requires a detailed analysis in the framework of the environmental impact studies of dump sites. It is important to thoroughly examine the risks of potential contamination of pre-existing groundwater wells and, more in general, to assess the risk of qualitative deterioration of nearby shallow aquifers....
The proposal of a simplified hybrid Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical model to investigate poroelastic and thermoelastic stresses induced due to water injection and the different parameters affecting their evolution is presented. The operating mode of the numerical model is starting with a set of implicit fractures, with different adjustable random orientations, then an elastic continuum medium is built, and shear...
Harmonic Pulse Testing was introduced in the early 1970’s as a special case of pulse testing. It is characterized by a periodic variation of production/injection rate. Subsequent developments proved that it could provide the same information as a conventional well test (permeability and skin, heterogeneity) in addition to those given by a pulse test (areal connectivity within the reservoir) if proper...
In 2017 the production of municipal solid waste in Europe-28 reached 2500 Mt, destined to recycling (48%-wt), incineration and thermal valorization (28%-wt) and landfilling (24%-wt). About 19 Mt per year of residual material, defined bottom ash, were produced by thermo-valorization plants in Europe. Physicochemical features of bottom ashes make possible their treatment through full-scale technologies....
Pulp and paper mills are characterized by emissions of malodorous gases that commonly create discomfort for people, also in little concentration in the air. This issue is crucial for enterprises that are not actually using the best available technology for reducing non-condensable gases. Thereby, for existing enterprises, it is very important to realize the proper suitable upgrading by choosing the best...
Aerogels are emerging as one of the most intriguing and promising groups of microporous materials, characterized by impressive properties such as low density, high surface area, high porosity and tunable surface chemistry. Fostering unique thermal and acoustic insulation features, for several decades they mainly received attention from the aerospace and building sectors. More recently, new great opportunities...
The paper presents the results of an experimental campaign carried out at the Sasso Poiano mine, close to Varese, northern Italy. The area is near a historic site, inhabited villages and a well-known lake, so that the use of explosive is subject to severe restrictions imposed by Italian standards. The exploitation is therefore carried out by blasting with low specific charge (PF=50 g/m3) in order to obtain...
The two-component backfilling system is the most frequently used method to fill the annular gap created during the shield machine advancement. This gap, due to the head overcut, the shield thickness and conicity and the tail brushes size should be filled continuously in order to avoid mainly surface displacement and linings movements. Nowadays this technology is the most chosen due to operative (both...
Territorial transformation projects are subject to specific evaluation procedures that address the question of whether the planned course of actions can achieve objectives in the presence of specific constraints. The uncertainty that characterizes the development process is of particular importance in investment decision-making, Indeed, the model’s input (for example, the costs of construction, the...
In mature oilfields, decommissioned oil and gas wells with depths reaching approximately 5000-6000 metres represent good candidate structures for geothermal heat exploitation, as they can provide useful access to subsurface geothermal energy resources. Comprehending the possibility to economically harness geothermal energy by means of coaxial WBHEs is bound to the main features of the physical model,...
Photogrammetric and remote sensing techniques are increasingly getting used in precision agriculture to improve monitoring and management of the crops and at the same time to increase the crop yield and reduce the environmental impacts derived from the treatments. The entire production sector can benefit from the advance in technologies and the development of lightweight sensors for UAV (uncrewed aerial...
This paper presents a quick and multiparametric method for shallow landslides susceptibility and hazard zoning, based on the principles of the Rock Engineering System (RES). The implementation of this methodology is achieved through the identification of the most sensitive triggering parameters and the study of their interrelationships. An interaction matrix is used to define a susceptibility index. The...
Rockfall net fences are multicomponent protection devices for mitigating rockfall hazard. As passive measures, they are used to intercept and stop rock blocks propagation after their detachment from a cliff or a slope. During their design working life, net fences subjected to ageing phenomena, corrosion and impact loads, causing their efficiency loss or even their effectiveness. A multi-matricial procedure...
This article aims to provide a glance about the current and future applications of Big Data Analytics (BDA) within the Oil&Gas industry, which is searching for an improvement in data managing equal to the improvement in techniques and technologies required by current and future hydrocarbon production. The connection and compatibility of BDA with the hydrocarbon sector is analyzed, highlighting its...
The rapid development of the mechanized tunneling in current decades has raised serious concerns about the environmental impact of large quantities of the muck. EPB-TBMs require the use of foaming agents for optimizing the soil conditioning. These agents could contain some chemicals (e.g., sodium lauryl ether sulfate – SLES) that are not included in the current legislation at the Italian or EU level....
This paper concerns the evolution of the quality of the groundwater bodies over space and time, with special focus on nitrate. This case study deals with the qualitative status in alluvial-pyroclastic groundwater bodies located near Naples (southern Italy). The study is based on a significant hydrochemical database, gathered through: (i) groundwater sampling and water level monitoring, (ii) chemical...
The Lombard territory (Italy), characterized by a historical process of industrialization, is affected by significant contamination both of the ground and of the groundwater. The continuous development of urban areas needs to face the problem linked to the growing presence of portions of the territory where there is the presence of contaminated groundwater (mainly chlorinated solvents and hydrocarbons),...
Deep aquifers represent a strategic resource because of their quality, generally better than rivers and shallow aquifers. More specifically, in Piedmont Region (Italy) they represent a key source of drinking water and therefore must be protected from qualitative and quantitative degradation.
In...
The groundwater overexplotation is a worldwide problem and it causes serious consequences such as land subsidence, saltwater intrusion, devastating effects on natural streamflow, groundwater fed wetlands and related ecosystems.
The Maggiore Valley (NW...
Extractive waste (EW) from abandoned mines can pose serious pressure to natural water systems. The harmful effects of EW such as deterioration of water sources by allowing leaching of potentially toxic elements (PTE) into groundwater make it necessary to carry out careful, scientific and comprehensive studies on this subject. The present research used risk analysis approach to study the effect of presence...
Geothermal Energy, being a clean and sustainable source of energy, is gaining importance worldwide due to various reasons. Geothermal power can be generated throughout the year on twenty four hour basis as it’s not much dependent on ambient temperature and weather conditions. Recently there is an increased interest in exploitation of low enthalpy geothermal resources for other applications such as geothermal space heating...
The residual presence of critical components (e.g. Asbestos Containing Materials – ACMs) still represents one of the main criticalities for the Occupational Safety and Health – OS&H in many large public facilities (Lee and Van Orden, 2007).
Since...
The main purpose of developing OSH Management System is to create a sustainable system that does not rely solely on a specific person with OSH expertise. This concept is the core of the International Organization for Standardization – ISO standards which promote the creation of a sustainable system based on the assumption that humans make mistakes. Then, it is argued that government regulations may...
The management of health and safety at work is represented by the set of preventive and protective measures to minimize the exposure of workers to risks that may cause the onset of diseases or increase the number of accidents.
Data on occupational accidents...
The rapid spread of the Industry 4.0 technologies is deeply changing workplaces. In order to achieve the so-called Forth Industrial Revolution, several open issues have to be faced, concerning technologies, enterprise organization and knowledge. Automation systems are already replacing men in manual, repetitive tasks: both shop-floor and office operations are experiencing this kind of transformation....
The paper offers a reflection on the evolution of Occupational Safety approaches through the ages until the Industry 4.0. A brief overview on the constant increase of the system complexity is discussed to introduce the problem. Later, the study shows how Safety can be approached in different ways discussing pros and cons. Then, the paper proposes two applications of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality...
Although the European panorama is experiencing a profound change in advance to the Industry 4.0, revolutionizing the world of work with technical, technological and information innovations, in Italy even today we have to deal with the “old” problem of work related injuries and fatalities. In particular, the accident indices of the last few years do not seem to differ much from those typical of the...
The role of working spaces in workers’ safety is often neglected and reduced to the building final inspection report. Nevertheless plenty of dangers are originated by the building environment surrounding the working activity: wear and obsolescence of building elements, failure mends and vandalism make the original compliancy fade away. The investigation on the real condition of the rooms where work...
Authors propose a critical overview of the current issues related to the evolution of the role of supervision and of Justice in the OS&H field.
Technological innovations and new risks are affecting the occupational health and safety of workplaces.
In Italy, employers protect themselves with two main insurance coverages: the compulsory Inail (Istituto nazionale per l’assicurazione contro gli...
Accidents and fatalities at work have always had a huge social and economic impact. In recent years the phenomenon in Italy does not seem to regress, indeed, the official data of fatality at work report a significant increase; this notwithstanding the widespread legislative activity both at European and national level.
An...
When major accident scenarios are considered, the effects of major events which give rise to a serious, immediate or deferred danger to human health or the environment, inside or outside the production or storage area due to the presence in high quantities of one or more dangerous substances are being considered. Events of this type, except in exceptional cases, have always had important consequences...
With the beginning of the so called fourth industrial revolution and thanks to the diffusion of new technologies (digital and non-digital), industry is experiencing a deep transformation of those mechanisms through which value, innovation and wealth were historically created. The fourth industrial revolution, which was made possible by the availability of low cost sensors and connections, goes together...
The availability and accessibility of new technologies is also transforming the world of underground construction sites, where applications developed in the mining industry are rapidly spreading.
Many of these have positive repercussions for safety and...
TELT is the public sponsor of one of the world’s most important projects, the cross-border section of the new Turin-Lyon line. In 2015 the company became a member of the United Nations Global Compact, adhering to the ten principles in terms of human rights, the environment, the fight against corruption and compliance with international labour standards. This commitment led to the undertaking to constantly...
The recent directive on the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to carcinogens and mutagens addresses the problem of exposure to crystalline silica.
In view of current scientific knowledge, the directive assigns the role of carcinogen...
Innovative tools are necessary to obtain the optimal operating conditions of the ventilation systems in a reasonable lapse of time and accurately. This can be achieved both with appropriate numerical approaches to the full domain as the model order reduction techniques and with the domain decompositions methods as the multi-scale physical decomposition technique. The reduced order mode techniques such...
A global overview of the technologies that can be applied for modern tunnelling construction taking into account the OS&H aspects is shortly presented in the paper.
The author describes the decision-making processes that led to the adoption of the pedestrian detection system, from the risk analysis phase in the specific site to the management one, through the implementation of the Z-safe project. The completion of the system was possible thanks to the different tests conducted on in situ devices.
Nowadays, occupational exposure to airborne dust is still one of the most concerning problems our society should face, since both airborne dust is a common pollutant in almost all the NACE sectors activities, and the occupational exposure quantification is critical. One of the possible causes can be identified in determining the real conditions of dust pollution in the workplaces, attributable to the...
Description of the material. In this paper a novel methodology for the estimation of the formation permeability, based on the integration of resistivity modeling and near wellbore modeling, is presented. Results obtained from the application to a real case is shown and discussed. The well log interpretation process provides a reliable estimation of the main petrophysical parameters such as porosity, fluid...
The network monitoring system, which has been in operation on the Idro landslide, for several years, shows an average movement of 3 cm to 6 cm a year and defines a displacement area of approximately 270.000 m2. The volume estimation of the landslide is about 5 million cubic meters. The acceleration of the landslide movement is related to the raising of the water table which is linked to increased rainfall....
The original implant map (OI) of Italian Cadaster was first made out of topographical measurements. These maps have never been used for public consultation, but they are the most accurate ones. The publicly accessible maps are named “visure maps” (VM) and were obtained from the original implant maps and consistently updated. However, these maps have suffered many deformations due to continuous...
The wide spreading of vertical greening systems brought to the development of new systems and technologies able to improve urban areas quality. Several benefits derive from the installation of these systems: energy savings for air conditioning during summer, thermal comfort improvement indoor and outdoor, urban heat island mitigation, biodiversity increase, protection of building façades with consequent...
Zandobbio Marble is a crystalline dolomite produced in an open pit quarry near Bergamo, Nord Italy. This ornamental stone was already used during the Roman age. For many years the quarry was inactive, until 2006 when it was re-opened. Local law on quarries requires the elaboration of an exploitation plan: its objective, and in general the objective of the environmental assessment, is to identify areas...
The tunnel Piscopio I is a twin-tube tunnel, 750 m long, included in the works of the Maxilotto 2 DG21/04 of the new highway SS 106 Jonica (Calabria, Southern Italy). During the excavation of the Piscopio I tunnel, several lacks in the Geological Model of Reference emerged. Above all, the discovery of a complex landslide along the left hydrographic side of the Alessi River, which interfered with the tunnel...
The University of Cagliari (Italy) has carried out extensive research on the use and application consultant, La Loggia (TO), Italy of diamond wire in basalt quarries, with the objective of assessing the effectiveness of sawing. The focus of the research has been on time-measurements, in order to produce better data about sawing speed rather than what has already been highly documented by diamond wire...
The complex system of road infrastructures of a country plays a fundamental role both on the economy and on the development of the territory and on the management of accident scenarios that occur as a result of natural disasters. It is therefore essential to assess the vulnerability of the infrastructural network to natural and man-made risk factors in order to identify any critical issues and plan improvements...
The interaction between tunnels and underground water is a complex topic and it is of great relevance taking into account the environment, the protection of drinkable water and the interference with tunnel construction method. Due to the great importance of the topic, in the following are presented and discussed the most relevant technologies for water management in tunnelling with a specific attention...
The aim of this study is to investigate the possible correlation between the value of occupational risk from whole body vibrations and the main anthropometric characteristics of the subjects exposed to such vibrations. Directive 2002/44/EC, which defines the minimum requirements in order to guarantee the health and safety of workers exposed to such a risk, states that Risk Assessment may be conducted...
Stone weathering is strongly controlled by the intrinsic properties of the stone and by its use. Previous studies demonstrate that the response to natural or artificial ageing processes of the rocks seems to be strongly influenced by the pore structure of the stone. A better understanding of this phenomenon is provided by the study and characterization of porosity and of the pore structure at different...
Transport systems are one of the cornerstones of any environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive modern society. It is therefore of critical importance to improve their performances under both these viewpoints. This contribution is presenting a selection of recent research activities carried out by the Transport research group at the Politecnico di Torino – Dept. DIATI that touch at some of these...
Caves are one of the most important and well-known geological features in the world, an environmental and cultural heritage, as well as an important economic resource for many countries. Their scientific and aesthetic value is often threatened by tourism, which unfortunately exposes them to a series of risks of degradation and, sometimes, irreparably changes. Therefore, the study of underground environment...
The adoption of reinforced embankments for rockfall and landslide protection purposes is an effective intervention for the reduction of risk and damages to civil facilities. These earth structures are manufactured with layers of compacted soil alternated with geosynthetics (e.g. geogrids and geotextiles) that are anchored to the outer quarterdeck frame or wrapped around it. This paper discusses the results...
Current population growth, climate change and the increase in derived pollution represent a significant threat to the delicate balance that governs the exploitation of resources on Earth. In recent decades, this balance has been undermined, coming to an over-exploitation condition, or a growing demand for natural raw materials that the planet is no longer able to satisfy, with impacting consequences on...
The majority of rural areas in developing countries live in a state of chronic emergency, due for the most part to the lack of sanitary assistance and food. Covid-19 aggravates this situation, complicating the action of International Cooperation in these countries. To this extent, the case study of the Nosy Mitsio island (Madagascar) is presented. The partnership between H4O, Kukula and Politecnico di...
The paper provides an overview of the several scientific and technical issues and challenges to be addressed for underground storage of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas. The experience gained on underground energy systems and materials is complemented by new competences to adequately respond to the new needs raised by transition from fossil fuels to renewables. The experimental...
In residential buildings, drinking water is often used for tasks that do not necessarily require high quality water, such as home-garden irrigation. Our research focuses on the idea of harvesting rainwater to promote sustainable management of low-quality water resources on a building scale for irrigation purposes. The effectiveness of a collection system depends on the weather conditions, which determine...
The Engineering Geology area studies the physical geography and geomorphology of the “Environment system”. In particular, Engineering Geology deals with the defense of the soil, territory and civil protection, with attention to landslides, hydrogeology, the study of underground water circulation, the geological-technical survey, geological exploration of the subsoil and thematic cartography, geological...
Debris flow events are known today as one of the most dangerous natural hazard events due to the elevated impact pressures they can reach. Depending on its intensity, a debris flow has the capacity to flatten forests and carry along the tree trunks, to completely demolish buildings and consequently to create a great risk to human life.
However,...
Debris flow events are responsible for a fair amount of disasters worldwide that have caused a great deal of damages in the built environment. All the same, this phenomenon has caused many casualties. It is therefore, amongst the most dangerous natural hazards due to the elevated impact pressures it can reach.
Debris...
Avalanches are natural events that can have consequences such as silvicultural losses, infrastructural damages, fatalities. In this paper, the attention is given to glide avalanches starting by a glide crack, a tensile crack that propagates at the crown – the upper release limit – due to the internal stress variation. However, the presence of a glide crack does not always give rise to a glide avalanche....
The aim of this paper is to analyze the factors affecting hydrogen as well as Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies (“CCS”) policies with refer to countries’ upstream capacity of hydrocarbon activities. By using a panel data of 79 countries in 20 years, the interactive model will take into consideration Oil Reserves in relationship with Fossil Fuel Consumption, Blue or Green hydrogen...
The storage of natural gas in underground geological formations (UGS) has been widely adopted to guarantee a real-time response to the market requests as well as to ensure National “strategic” reserves. In the recent past, the UGS and related technologies have been approached with increasing interest also in terms of CO2 sequestration and of large-scale storage of chemical energy, with the...
Rockfall protection embankments are compelling mitigation measures for those situations involving very high kinetic energy or large blocks and where the slope toe is almost flat. Several systems have been developed, and, among them, reinforced earth embankments allow considerable heights and inclination of the faces up to 70°. Nevertheless, a common procedure for including the dynamic condition, i.e....
A quantitative assessment of the risk of rockfall on a local scale is a complex and challenging task since both the randomness of the natural event and the unpredictability of the behaviour of the elements at risk must be considered. From a technical standpoint, the impact of a block against a building is a phenomenon with a lot of variability, because the location of the impact point on the building...
The Petra Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985, is characterized by a spectacular landscape but also by a great fragility fragile being prone to a diversity of natural risks (e.g. landslides, flash-floods, earthquakes) which can cause a potential danger to cultural heritage and visitors. The ‘Siq’, a natural canyon which constitutes the main entrance to the archaeological...
The National Repository of hydrogeological risk mitigation measures (ReNDiS) is the platform for monitoring measures funded by MiTE from 1999 onwards which aims to managing the evaluation of funding requests coming from Regions. The platform currently contains 6,402 measures for € 6.962 billion and 9,249 project proposals corresponding to € 29.141 billion. In the consistent case history of measures...
Rockfall net fence are a widely adopted rockfall risk mitigation measures, suitable for the great majority of the cases. Nevertheless, in particular complex morphologies, the trajectories of the possible detached blocks can be anomalous, with very high values of both the kinematic parameters of passing height and kinetic energy. In this case, a double line of net fence can be a convenient solution. In...
Rockfall net fences and drapery meshes constitute two of the most adopted protective structural works against rockfall hazard. During their life, they are subject to ageing, corrosion, and impact loads, with a consequent loss of efficiency or even effectiveness. Due to the variability of the environment and, more in general, to external conditions, a definition of a service life, although not unique but...
A proposal for the management of rockfall protection works on complex infrastructure networks such as that of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano through planned inspections. A conscious management requires an adequate planning of inspections and the determination of economically sustainable ‘thresholds’ of intervention. Since it is not possible to predict the frequency of detachments that...
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Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP): 0.381
SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): 0.163
