Treadmill locomotion is different with respect to overground walking and may require an adapted control mode. The relevant neural computational effort may produce lasting effects encroaching upon the performance of a subsequent postural task. The hypothesis of the present study was that, contrary to overground walking, treadmill walking has effects on quiet stance variables, in the assumption that the imposed locomotor activity is more critical to stance control than natural walking. Nine young subjects performed three different walking sessions: treadmill with eyes closed, treadmill with eyes open, overground walking with eyes open. Body sway area and sway path and the position of the centre of foot pressure during stance were recorded by a dynamometric platform under control, post-walking and post-recovery conditions, alternatively with eyes closed and eyes open. At variance with overground walking, treadmill locomotion produced an effect on body orientation in space during the subsequent stance trials. This consisted in a forward inclination of the body, not accompanied by increased body sway, lasting for a few minutes. Presence or absence of vision during treadmill locomotion did not induce differences in the amplitude or time-course of the post-effect. We argue that body inclination would be the consequence of a change in the postural reference produced by a message arising from treadmill locomotion itself, possibly connected to particularities in the control mode of this type of walking.

Neural circuits responsible for stance control serve other motor tasks as well. We investigated the effect of prior locomotor tasks on stance, hypothesizing that postural post-effects of walking are dependent on walking direction. Subjects walked forward (WF) and backward (WB) on a treadmill. Prior to and after walking they maintained quiet stance. Ground reaction forces and centre of foot pressure (CoP), ankle and hip angles, and trunk inclination were measured during locomotion and stance. In WF compared to WB, joint angle changes were reversed, trunk was more flexed, and movement of CoP along the foot sole during the support phase of walking was opposite. During subsequent standing tasks, WB induced ankle extension, hip flexion, trunk backward leaning; WF induced ankle flexion and hip extension. The body CoP was displaced backward post-WB and forward post-WF. The post-effects are walking-direction dependent, and possibly related to foot-sole stimulation pattern and trunk inclination during walking.

Abstract. Impacts of climate change and air pollutants are a growing concern. Reliable and accessible monitoring systems to assess air quality and climate extremes are essential to inform decision-makers and increase awareness of citizens. Approaches from Volunteered Geography play a pivotal role both in research and empowerment by new low-cost technologies. Recently, the spread of GeoICT and micro-sensors are offering opportunities for mobile environmental mapping. In general, official stations acquire data with high accuracy and reliability; in contrast low-cost mobile devices increase the spatio-temporal resolution of air sampling but with lower accuracy. Aims of study are i) assessing accuracy of temperature values from Sodaq Air and MeteoTracker devices; ii) assessing accuracy on PM 2.5 acquisition for Sodaq Air; iii) geovisualizing three months of environmental monitoring in the city of Padua. Accuracy assessment for air temperature was performed by using a calibrated thermometer; PM 2.5 from Sodaq Air were compared with an official air quality station. Preliminary results on dynamic mobile mapping indicate that temperature values from MeteoTracker present good accuracy, while those from Sodaq Air showed bias of approximately +2.5 °C. Air quality data from the latter seems to present, in this phase of development, some limitations, since comparative analysis with official air quality station indicates 93% of overestimation, on average. On the other hand, the environmental campaign with mobile mapping devices at urban scale highlights the capability of geovisualizing hotspots and densifying georeferenced data acquisition over space and time. Further software/hardware implementation and applied research are required with various devices in different environmental conditions to improve data quality and reliability.

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The mitigation of urban heat islands (UHIs) is crucial for promoting the sustainable development of urban areas. Geographic information systems (GISs) together with satellite-derived data are powerful tools for investigating the spatiotemporal distribution of UHIs. Depending on the availability of data and the geographic scale of the analysis, different methodologies can be adopted. Here, we show a complete open source GIS-based methodology based on satellite-driven data for investigating and mapping the impact of the UHI on the heat-related elderly risk (HERI) in the Functional Urban Area of Padua. Thermal anomalies in the territory were mapped by modelling satellite data from Sentinel-3. After a socio-demographic analysis, the HERI was mapped according to five levels of risk. The highest vulnerability levels were localised within the urban area and in three municipalities near Padua, which represent about 20% of the entire territory investigated. In these municipalities, a percentage of elderly people over 20%, a thermal anomaly over 2.4 °C, and a HERI over 0.65 were found. Based on these outputs, it is possible to define nature-based solutions for reducing the UHI phenomenon and promote a sustainable development of cities. Stakeholders can use the results of these investigations to define climate and environmental policies.