Medium to Shallow Depth Stratigraphic Assessment Based on the Application of Geophysical Techniques

In this chapter, on the basis of several case studies, we shall try and illustrate in what way geophysical techniques can contribute to the stratigraphic assessment of a site providing high-level information and contributing at least to rationally planning, if not completing avoiding at, the drilling campaign. In all cases, the primary method of investigation has been that of reflection seismology employed at different scales. However, this method was prevalently preceded by a gravity survey, which is essential for the proper design of the acquisition parameters, and accompanied by other geophysical data and direct surveys, such as drillings and exploratory excavations

Application of Seismic Tomography and Geotechnical Modeling for the Solution of Two Complex Instability Cases

The geotechnical instability of sites and artificial structures is a widespread problem that particularly affects heavily anthropized areas and historical cities, and often this instability is linked to human activities and to interventions carried out without adequate preliminary geotechnical studies. The most common procedure for assessing unstable sites includes base studies such as drilling boreholes, shallow excavations, and engineering geology studies. However, more and more often, some geophysical techniques are associated to the above intervention, represent the first phase of assessment, and allow optimizing the possible campaign of excavations and boreholes. Compared to direct surveys, the geophysical ones provide extensive and continuous information, are moderately invasive, and have a remarkably advantageous information-to-cost ratio. In this chapter, we illustrate two examples of characterization of unstable sites. The first case concerns the ancient walls of an Italian city, and the second one deals with the instability of a road slope. In both cases, the geotechnical modeling is also based on the results of preliminary geophysical surveys

Riconoscimento e tutela di un complesso monumentale storico in ambiente urbano mediante l’integrazione di metodologie di rilevamento e di tecniche geofisiche non distruttive: l'area di Santa Croce nel quartiere Castello a Cagliari

Developing a protocol for the multidisciplinary investigation of historical monumental complexes in urban environments covers a paramount role in protecting the architectural and landscape heritage. To this purpose, integrating the investigation methodologies typical of architecture with the geophysical ones has proved useful in assessing the conditions of the places and of the works, so as to identify and represent their modifications. Comparing data from different disciplinary contributions (historical, archaeological and geophysical ones) has specifically allowed the organisation and assessment of an investigating protocol aiming to the representation, protection and valorisation of the bastion layout; in particular, it has contributed to define its stylistic architectural features, and improve knowledge of the military work operation and of its current layout, even in view of any further planning intervention in an area where, furthermore, the realisation of a parking lot buried at the basis of the 16th century bastion is being considered

Hydrogeological and geophysical investigations for groundwater in the Arumeru District (Northern Tanzania)

Due to water shortage, in the wards of Ngarenanyuki and Oldonyosambu (Arumeru District, Northern Tanzania), the per capita daily water consumption is 8 liters as.average, The avaleability goes down to 3-4 liters in the dry seasons when most of the population cannot resort to seasonal ponds or streams and so it is compelled to concentrate around the few perennial water points. This datum is quite far from the Millennium Goal objectives that foresee a quantity of at least 20 l/d/p (litres per day per person) for the Development Countries population, within 2015. Problems are also related to water quality, in particular, the high concentration of fluoride that characterises the waters in East Africa Rift System

Prospecting for safe (low fluoride) groundwater in the Eastern African Rift: the Arumeru District (Northern Tanzania)

A multidisciplinary research effort, including geological, hydrogeological, hydro-chemical, geophysical and hydrological investigations, was aimed at locating a source of safe groundwater for a district of northern Tanzania, within the western branch of the East Africa Rift Valley, where water shortage is common and much of the surface water carries unacceptable levels of dissolved fluoride. The 440 km2 study area lies in the northern part of Arumeru district and is dominated by Mt. Meru (4565m a.s.l.). The local climate is semi-arid, with distinct wet and dry seasons. Four hydrogeological complexes were identified, occurring within different volcanic formations, either alone or superimposed upon one another. The groundwater flow system was interpreted from the spatial distribution of the springs, combined with a lithology- and geometry-based reconstruction of the aquifers. The dominant pattern consists of a multi-directional flow from the higher elevations in the south towards the lower areas in the north, but this is complicated by structures such as grabens, faults, lava domes and tholoids. After the identification of the major fluoride source, an interference pattern between groundwater and high fluoride surface water was drawn. Finally, vertical electrical soundings were performed to define the location of aquifers in regions where release of fluoride was prevented. The methodological approach for the prospecting of safe water in a semi-arid, fluoride polluted region was validated by the drilling of a 60m deep well capable of supplying at least 3.8 l/s of low fluoride, drinkable water

miR-19a and miR-20a and tissue factor expression in activated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Background and Aims. To investigate the behaviour of miR-19a and miR-20a, two microRNAs involved in posttranscriptional modulation of TF expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) exposed to high glucose (HG) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and to evaluate the involvement of angiotensin II in that process. Methods. TF Procoagulant Activity (PCA, one-stage clotting assay), antigen (Ag, ELISA), and miR-19a and miR-20a levels (specific TaqMan® MicroRNA Assays) were evaluated in PBMCs exposed to high glucose (HG, 50 mM), LPS (100 ng/mL), and Olmesartan (OLM, 10−6 M), an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist. Results. HG increased TF expression and decreased both miRs as compared to control glucose conditions (11.1 mM). In HG-activated PBMCs, LPS stimulated TF expression and downregulated miR-20a, an effect reverted by OLM (10−6 M); miR-19a expression was unchanged by LPS in both CG and HG conditions. Conclusions. miR-19a and miR-20a are inhibited by inflammatory stimuli active on TF expression and their response differs by the stimulus under investigation; angiotensin II may participate in that mechanism

The effect of high glucose on the inhibitory action of C21, a selective AT2R agonist, of LPS-stimulated tissue factor expression in human mononuclear cells

Background: Intimate links connect tissue factor (TF), the principal initiator of the clotting cascade, to inflammation, a cross-talk amplified by locally generated Angiotensin (AT) II, the effector arm of the Renin Angiotensin System (RAS). C21, a selective AT2R agonist, downregulates the transcriptional expression of TF in LPS-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cell(PBMC)s implying the existence of ATII type 2 receptor (AT2R)s whose stimulation attenuates inflammation-mediated procoagulant responses. High glucose, by activating key signalling pathways and increasing the cellular content of RAS components, augments TF expression and potentiates the inhibitory effect of AT1R antagonists. It is unknown, however, the impact of that stimulus on AT2R-mediated TF inhibition, an information useful to understand more precisely the role of that signal transduction pathway in the inflammation-mediated coagulation process. TF antigen (ELISA), procoagulant activity (PCA, 1-stage clotting assay) and TF-mRNA (real-time polymerase chain reaction) were assessed in PBMCs activated by LPS, a pro-inflammatory and procoagulant stimulus, exposed to either normal (N) or HG concentrations (5.5 and 50 mM respectively). Results: HG upregulated TF expression, an effect abolished by BAY 11-7082, a NFκB inhibitor. C21 inhibited LPS-stimulated PCA, TFAg and mRNA to an extent independent of glucose concentration but the response to Olmesartan, an AT1R antagonist, was quite evidently potentiated by HG. Conclusions: HG stimulates LPS-induced TF expression through mechanisms completely dependent upon NFkB activation. Both AT2R-stimulation and AT1R-blockade downregulate inflammation-mediated procoagulant response in PBMCs but HG impacts differently on the two different signal transduction pathway

Non enzymatic upregulation of tissue factor expression by gamma-glutamyl transferase in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Background Besides maintaining intracellular glutathione stores, gamma-glutamyltransferase(GGT) generates reactive oxygen species and activates NFkB, a redox-sensitive transcription factor key in the induction of Tissue Factor (TF) gene expression, the principal initiator of the clotting cascade. Thus, GGT might be involved in TF-mediated coagulation processes, an assumption untested insofar. Methods Experiments were run with either equine, enzymatically active GGT or human recombinant (hr) GGT, a wheat germ-derived protein enzymatically inert because of missing post-translational glycosylation. TF Procoagulant Activity (PCA, one-stage clotting assay), TF antigen(ELISA) and TFmRNA(real-time PCR) were assessed in unpooled human peripheral blood mononuclear cell(PBMC) suspensions obtained from healthy donors through discontinuous Ficoll/Hystopaque density gradient. Results Equine GGT increased PCA, an effect insensitive to GGT inhibition by acivicin suggesting mechanisms independent of its enzymatic activity, a possibility confirmed by the maintained stimulation in response to hrGGT, an enzymatically inactive molecule. Endotoxin(LPS) contamination of GGT preparations was excluded by heat inactivation studies and direct determination(LAL method) of LPS concentrations <0.1 ng/mL practically devoid of procoagulant effect. Inhibition by anti-GGT antibodies corroborated that conclusion. Upregulation by hrGGT of TF antigen and mRNA and its downregulation by BAY-11-7082, a NFkB inhibitor, and N-acetyl-L-cysteine, an antioxidant, was consistent with a NFkB-driven, redox-sensitive transcriptional site of action. Conclusions GGT upregulates TF expression independent of its enzymatic activity, a cytokine-like behaviour mediated by NFκB activation, a mechanism contributing to promote acute thrombotic events, a possibility in need, however, of further evaluation

Particulate matter induces prothrombotic microparticle shedding by human mononuclear and endothelial cells

Particulate airborne pollution is associated with increased cardiopulmonary morbidity. Microparticles are extracellular vesicles shed by cells upon activation or apoptosis involved in physiological processes such as coagulation and inflammation, including airway inflammation. We investigated the hypothesis that particulate matter causes the shedding of microparticles by human mononuclear and endothelial cells.Cells, isolated from the blood and the umbilical cords of normal donors, were cultured in the presence of particulate from a standard reference. Microparticles were assessed in the supernatant as phosphatidylserine concentration. Microparticle-associated tissue factor was assessed by an one-stage clotting assay. Nanosight technology was used to evaluate microparticle size distribution.Particulate matter induces a dose- and time- dependent, rapid (1 h) increase in microparticle generation in both cells. These microparticles express functional tissue factor. Particulate matter increases intracellular calcium concentration and phospholipase C inhibition reduces microparticle generation. Nanosight analysis confirmed that upon exposure to particulate matter both cells express particles with a size range consistent with the definition of microparticles (50-1000 nm).Exposure of mononuclear and endothelial cells to particulate matter upregulates the generation of microparticles at least partially mediated by calcium mobilization. This observation might provide a further link between airborne pollution and cardiopulmonary morbidity

The old municipal and industrial waste landfills: possible contribution of geophysical survey techniques for thir assessment before reclamation

SUMMARY: In addition to the implicit environmental risk, the old abandoned waste landfills, both municipal and industrial, very often represent a serious problem since adequate information on their depth and lateral extension is very limited, when not lacking at all. Moreover the knowledge of waste consistence, presence and quality of saturating fluids, metals and so on, represents an information that cannot be neglected when designing the reclamation procedures. With the purpose of overcoming -at least partially- the above said lack of information, the possible role of geophysical methods such as the gravity, electrical and seismic ones, and their convenience, are proposed through some examples