Campagna di Misure Sismiche nella conca Subequana

A seguito del terremoto del 6 aprile 2009 che ha colpito la città de L’Aquila e la valle dell’Aterno, la Sezione di Milano-Pavia dell’Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV-MIPV) ha intrapreso una serie di attività strumentali che hanno riguardato l’installazione di stazioni sismiche temporanee e misure di noise sismico ambientale. INGV-MIPV è intervenuta sia durante le fasi di emergenza nei giorni seguenti il sisma, sia durante successive indagini utili a studi di microzonazione per la caratterizzazione sismica dei territori colpiti dal terremoto [Ameri et al., 2009]. Gli studi di effetti locali in alcuni paesi colpiti dal sisma e gli studi di sismotettonica in corso nell’area abruzzese hanno condotto alcune ricerche di INGV-MIPV a concentrarsi nella conca Subequana, bacino sedimentario a sud della media valle dell’Aterno. In tale area sono presenti piccoli centri urbani, dotati di centri storici antichi che hanno subito gravi danni all’edificato pur essendo già a notevole distanza dall’area epicentrale del sisma del 6 Aprile 2009 (circa 50 Km). Come indicato nel rapporto macrosismico redatto congiuntamente da INGV e il Dipartimento di Protezione Civile Nazionale [Galli e Camassi, 2009], i centri abitati della conca Subequana Castelvecchio Subequo, Goriano Sicoli e Castel di Ieri hanno subito un danno rispettivamente di grado 7.0, 7.0 e 6.5 della scala MCS. Castelvecchio Subequo è stato indicato nel rapporto macrosismico tra i paesi con possibili effetti di sito. Utilizzando strumentazione mobile è stata realizzata una campagna di misure di noise sismico ambientale che ha coperto l’area del bacino sedimentario della conca Subequana e l’abitato di Castelvecchio Subequo. Le misure effettuate sulla superficie del bacino sedimentario sono utili per indagare la risposta 1D del bacino, attraverso la tecnica di Nakamura [Nakamura, 1989] e per stimare la profondità del substrato roccioso. Inoltre, la serie di misure all’interno del centro storico di Castelvecchio Subequo può essere utilizzata per indagare alcuni aspetti della risposta sismica locale dovuti alla morfologia sulla quale è costruito il centro urbano. Una micro rete di monitoraggio di terremoti, composta da tre stazioni, è stata installata per ottenere ulteriori informazioni sulla risposta sismica locale del centro urbano, applicando le tecniche d’analisi con stazione di riferimento

Testing the improvement of ShakeMaps using f inite-f ault models and synthetic seismograms

ShakeMap package uses empirical ground motion prediction equations (GM PEs) to estimate the ground motion where recorded data are not available. Recorded and estimated values are then interpolated in order to produce a shaking map associated to the considered event. Anyway GMPEs account only for average characteristics of source and wave propagation processes. Within the framework of the DPC-INGV S3 project (2007-09), we evaluate whether the inclusion of directivity effects in GMPEs (companion paper Spagnuolo et al., 2010) or the use of synthetic seismograms from finite-fault rupture models may improve the ShakeMap evaluation. An advantage of using simulated motions from kinematic rupture models is that source effects, as rupture directivity, are directly included in the synthetics. This is particularly interesting in Italy where the regional GMPEs, based on a few number of near-source records for moderate-to-large earthquakes, are not reliable for estimating ground motion in the vicinity of the source. In this work we investigated how and if the synthetic seismograms generated with finite-fault models can be used in place of (or in addition to) GMPEs within the ShakeMap methodology. We assumed a description of the rupture model with gradually increasing details, from a simple point source to a kinematic rupture history obtained from inversion of strong-motion data. According to the available information synthetic seismograms are calculated with methods that account for the different degree of approximation in source properties. We chose the M w 6.9 2008 Iwate-M iyagi (Japan) earthquake as a case study. This earthquake has been recorded by a very large number of stations and the corresponding ShakeMap relies almost totally on the recorded ground motions. Starting from this ideal case, we removed a number of stations in order to evaluate the deviations from the reference map and the sensitivity of the map to the number of stations used. The removed data are then substituted with synthetic values calculated assuming different source approximations, and the resulting maps are compared to the original ones (containing observed data only). The use of synthetic seismograms computed for finite-fault rupture models produces, in general, an improvement of the calculated ShakeMaps, especially when synthetics are used to integrate real data. When real data are not available and ShakeMap is estimated using GMPEs only, the improvement adding simulated values depends on the considered strong-motion parameters

Clinical characteristics and prognostic impact of atrial fibrillation in patients with chronic heart failure

AIMS: To assess the prevalence, clinical characteristics and independent prognostic impact of atrial fibrillation (AF) in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients, and the potential protective effect of disease-modifying medications, particularly beta-blockers (BB). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of patients referred to our center since January 2004, and collected all clinical information available at their first visit. We assessed mortality to the end of June 2015. We compared patients with and without AF, and assessed the association between AF and all-cause mortality by multivariate Cox regression and Kaplan-Meyer analysis, particularly accounting for ongoing treatment with BB. RESULTS: A total of 903 patients were evaluated (mean age 68\ub112 years, 73% male). Prevalence of AF was 19%, ranging from 10% to 28% in patients 6460 and 6577 years, respectively. Besides the older age, patients with AF had more symptoms (NYHA II-III 60 vs. 44%), lower prevalence of dyslipidemia (23 vs. 37%), coronary artery disease (28 vs. 52%) and left bundle branch block (9 vs. 16%). On the contrary, they more frequently presented with an idiopathic etiology (50 vs. 24%), a history of valve surgery (13 vs. 4%) and received overall more devices implantation (31% vs. 21%). The use of disease-modifying medications (i.e. BB and ACE inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers) was lower in patients with AF (72 vs. 80% e 71 vs. 79%, respectively), who on the contrary were more frequently treated with symptomatic and antiarrhythmic drugs including diuretics (87 vs. 69%) and digoxin (51 vs. 11%). At a mean follow-up of about 5 years, all-cause mortality was significantly higher in patients with AF as compared to those in sinus rhythm (45% vs. 34%, p value <0.05 for all previous comparisons). However, in a multivariate analysis including the main significant predictors of all-cause mortality, the univariate relationship between AF and death (HR 1.49, 95% CI 1.15-1.92) became not statistically significant (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.73-1.32). Nonetheless, patients with AF not receiving BB treatment were found to have the worst prognosis, followed by patients with sinus rhythm not receiving BB therapy and patients with AF receiving BB therapy, who both had similarly worse survival when compared to patients with sinus rhythm receiving BB therapy. CONCLUSIONS: AF was highly prevalent and associated with older age, worse clinical presentation and underutilization of disease-modifying medications such as BB in a population of elderly patients with CHF. AF had no independent impact on mortality, but the underutilization of BB in this group of patients was associated to a worse long-term prognosis

Right ventricular failure in left heart disease: from pathophysiology to clinical manifestations and prognosis

Right heart failure (RHF) is a clinical syndrome in which symptoms and signs are caused by dysfunction and/or overload of the right heart structures, predominantly the right ventricle (RV), resulting in systemic venous hypertension, peripheral oedema and finally, the impaired ability of the right heart to provide tissue perfusion. Pathogenesis of RHF includes the incompetence of the right heart to maintain systemic venous pressure sufficiently low to guarantee an optimal venous return and to preserve renal function. Virtually, all myocardial diseases involving the left heart may be responsible for RHF. This may result from coronary artery disease, hypertension, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathies and myocarditis. The most prominent clinical signs of RHF comprise swelling of the neck veins with an elevation of jugular venous pressure and ankle oedema. As the situation worsens, fluid accumulation becomes generalised with extensive oedema of the legs, congestive hepatomegaly and eventually ascites. Diagnosis of RHF requires the presence of signs of elevated right atrial and venous pressures, including dilation of neck veins, with at least one of the following criteria: (1) compromised RV function; (2) pulmonary hypertension; (3) peripheral oedema and congestive hepatomegaly. Early recognition of RHF and identifying the underlying aetiology as well as triggering factors are crucial to treating patients and possibly reversing the clinical manifestations effectively and improving prognosis

RESORCE (Reference database for seismic ground motion in Europe)

With the aim of improving seismic ground-motion models in Europe and reducing associated uncertainties, the compilation of a high-quality database of seismic-motion recordings and associated metadata is of primary importance. SIGMA research and development project, devoted to the improvement of seismic hazard estimates, methods and data for France and nearby regions, has been funding the implementation of RESORCE (Reference databaSe fOR seismiC ground-motion in Europe, Akkar et al., 2014)

Comparisons among the five ground-motion models developed using RESORCE for the prediction of response spectral accelerations due to earthquakes in Europe and the Middle East

This article presents comparisons among the five ground-motion models described in other articles within this special issue, in terms of data selection criteria, characteristics of the models and predicted peak ground and response spectral accelerations. Comparisons are also made with predictions from the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) models to which the models presented here have similarities (e.g. a common master database has been used) but also differences (e.g. some models in this issue are nonparametric). As a result of the differing data selection criteria and derivation techniques the predicted median ground motions show considerable differences (up to a factor of two for certain scenarios), particularly for magnitudes and distances close to or beyond the range of the available observations. The predicted influence of style-of-faulting shows much variation among models whereas site amplification factors are more similar, with peak amplification at around 1s. These differences are greater than those among predictions from the NGA models. The models for aleatory variability (sigma), however, are similar and suggest that ground-motion variability from this region is slightly higher than that predicted by the NGA models, based primarily on data from California and Taiwan

Cardiac magnetic resonance predictors of left ventricular remodelling following acute ST elevation myocardial infarction: The VavirimS study

Left ventricular (LV) remodelling (REM) ensuing after ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), has typically been studied by echocardiography, which has limitations, or cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in early phase that may overestimate infarct size (IS) due to tissue edema and stunning. This prospective, multicenter study investigated LV-REM performing CMR in the subacute phase, and 6 months after STEMI

Cardiovascular toxicities of immune therapies for cancer – a scientific statement of the Heart Failure Association (HFA) of the ESC and the ESC Council of Cardio‐Oncology

ABSTRACT: The advent of immunological therapies has revolutionized the treatment of solid and haematological cancers over the last decade. Licensed therapies which activate the immune system to target cancer cells can be broadly divided into two classes. The first class are antibodies that inhibit immune checkpoint signalling, known as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The second class are cell‐based immune therapies including chimeric antigen receptor T lymphocyte (CAR‐T) cell therapies, natural killer (NK) cell therapies, and tumour infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies. The clinical efficacy of all these treatments generally outweighs the risks, but there is a high rate of immune‐related adverse events (irAEs), which are often unpredictable in timing with clinical sequalae ranging from mild (e.g. rash) to severe or even fatal (e.g. myocarditis, cytokine release syndrome) and reversible to permanent (e.g. endocrinopathies).The mechanisms underpinning irAE pathology vary across different irAE complications and syndromes, reflecting the broad clinical phenotypes observed and the variability of different individual immune responses, and are poorly understood overall. Immune‐related cardiovascular toxicities have emerged, and our understanding has evolved from focussing initially on rare but fatal ICI‐related myocarditis with cardiogenic shock to more common complications including less severe ICI‐related myocarditis, pericarditis, arrhythmias, including conduction system disease and heart block, non‐inflammatory heart failure, takotsubo syndrome and coronary artery disease. In this scientific statement on the cardiovascular toxicities of immune therapies for cancer, we summarize the pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of ICI, CAR‐T, NK, and TIL therapies. We also highlight gaps in the literature and where future research should focus

Campagna di Misure Sismiche nella conca Subequana

A seguito del terremoto del 6 aprile 2009 che ha colpito la città de L’Aquila e la valle dell’Aterno, la Sezione di Milano-Pavia dell’Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV-MIPV) ha intrapreso una serie di attività strumentali che hanno riguardato l’installazione di stazioni sismiche temporanee e misure di noise sismico ambientale. INGV-MIPV è intervenuta sia durante le fasi di emergenza nei giorni seguenti il sisma, sia durante successive indagini utili a studi di microzonazione per la caratterizzazione sismica dei territori colpiti dal terremoto [Ameri et al., 2009]. Gli studi di effetti locali in alcuni paesi colpiti dal sisma e gli studi di sismotettonica in corso nell’area abruzzese hanno condotto alcune ricerche di INGV-MIPV a concentrarsi nella conca Subequana, bacino sedimentario a sud della media valle dell’Aterno. In tale area sono presenti piccoli centri urbani, dotati di centri storici antichi che hanno subito gravi danni all’edificato pur essendo già a notevole distanza dall’area epicentrale del sisma del 6 Aprile 2009 (circa 50 Km). Come indicato nel rapporto macrosismico redatto congiuntamente da INGV e il Dipartimento di Protezione Civile Nazionale [Galli e Camassi, 2009], i centri abitati della conca Subequana Castelvecchio Subequo, Goriano Sicoli e Castel di Ieri hanno subito un danno rispettivamente di grado 7.0, 7.0 e 6.5 della scala MCS. Castelvecchio Subequo è stato indicato nel rapporto macrosismico tra i paesi con possibili effetti di sito. Utilizzando strumentazione mobile è stata realizzata una campagna di misure di noise sismico ambientale che ha coperto l’area del bacino sedimentario della conca Subequana e l’abitato di Castelvecchio Subequo. Le misure effettuate sulla superficie del bacino sedimentario sono utili per indagare la risposta 1D del bacino, attraverso la tecnica di Nakamura [Nakamura, 1989] e per stimare la profondità del substrato roccioso. Inoltre, la serie di misure all’interno del centro storico di Castelvecchio Subequo può essere utilizzata per indagare alcuni aspetti della risposta sismica locale dovuti alla morfologia sulla quale è costruito il centro urbano. Una micro rete di monitoraggio di terremoti, composta da tre stazioni, è stata installata per ottenere ulteriori informazioni sulla risposta sismica locale del centro urbano, applicando le tecniche d’analisi con stazione di riferimento.Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e VulcanologiaPublished1.1. TTC - Monitoraggio sismico del territorio nazionaleope