Geomorphological and geochemical characterization of the 11 August 2008 mud volcano eruption at S. Barbara village (Sicily, Italy) and its possible relationship with seismic activity

On 11 August 2008 a paroxysmal eruption occurred at Santa Barbara mud volcano (MV), located close to Caltanissetta, one of the most densely populated cities of Sicily (Italy). An associated minor event took place on August 2009. Both the events caused severe damage to civil infrastructures located within a range of about 2 km from the eruptive vent. Geomorphological, geochemical, and seismological investigations were carried out for framing the events in the appropriate geodynamic context. Geomorphological surveys recognized, in the immediate surrounding of the main emission point, two different families of processes and landforms: (i) ground deformations and (ii) changes in morphology and number of the fluid emitting vents. These processes were associated to a wider network of fractures, seemingly generated by the shock wave produced by the gas blast that occurred at the main paroxysm. Geochemical characterization allowed an estimation of the source of the fluids, or at least their last standing, at about 3 km depth. Finally, the close time relationships observed between anomalous increments of seismic activity and the two main paroxysmal events accounted for a possible common trigger for both the phenomena, even with different timing due to the very different initial conditions and characteristics of the two processes, i.e. seismogenesis and gas overloading

Central extensions, classical non-equivariant maps and residual symmetries

The arising of central extensions is discussed in two contexts. At first classical counterparts of quantum anomalies (deserving being named as "classical anomalies") are associated with a peculiar subclass of the non-equivariant maps. Further, the notion of "residual symmetry" for theories formulated in given non-vanishing EM backgrounds is introduced. It is pointed out that this is a Lie-algebraic, model-independent, concept.Comment: 8 pages, LaTex. Talk given at the International Conference "Renormalization Group and Anomalies in Gravitation and Cosmology", Ouro Preto, Brazil, March 2003. To appear in the Proceeding

The use of non-invasive field techniques in the study of small topographically closed lakes: two case studies in Sicily (Italy)

Small endhoreic (topografically closed) lakes represent a little percentage of continental waters but, in arid or sub-arid regions, they develop special ecosystems potentially prone to ecological involution due to climatic changes. The mandatory use of light, non-invasive field techniques is often required, especially in protected areas. In the present work the use of non-invasive techniques like GPS−based bathymetric and photographic surveys have been applied to the study of two lakes, Specchio di Venere and Sfondato (Sicily, southern Italy), both natural reserves. The comparison between historical surveys and modern GPS−based bathymetries highlighted the difficulty of using the former for the reconstruction of climatic-induced variations due to the low number of measurements (spatial aliasing). In particular, at the intracaldera Lake Specchio di Venere, a high resolution survey gave new insights into a peculiar geo-ecosystem whose evolution is driven by both volcanic phenomena and biomineralization processes. On the contrary, the morphology of Lake Sfondato floor is much more simple and driven only by the superimposition of a detrital sedimentation on the initial collapse that generated the lake. The comparison betweem direct measurements and estimated changes of lake level, carried out between February 2008 and October 2009 variations, allowed us to test different hypotheses of hydrological balances, leading to opposite conclusions with respect to previous studies and remarking the fundamental importance of direct measurements in the validation of theoretical hydrological models

Geomorphological and geochemical characterization of the August 11, 2008 mud volcano eruption at S. Barbara village (Sicily, Italy) and its possible relationship with seismic activity

On August 11, 2008 a paroxysmal eruption occurred at Santa Barbara mud volcano (MV), located close to Caltanissetta, one of the most densely populated cities of Sicily (Italy). An associated minor event took place on August, 2009. Both the events caused severe damages to civil infrastructures located within a range of about 2 km from the eruptive vent. Geomorphological, geochemical and seismological investigations were carried out for framing the events in the appropriate geodynamic context. Geomorphological surveys recognized, in the immediate surrounding of the main emission point, two different families of processes and landforms: ground deformations and changes in morphology and number of the fluid emitting vents. These processes were associated to a wider network of fractures, seemingly generated by the shock wave produced by the gas blast occurred at the main paroxysm. Geochemical characterization allowed to estimate the source of the fluids, or at least their last standing, at about 3 km depth. Finally, the close time relationships observed between anomalous increments of seismic activity and the two main paroxysmal events, accounted for a common possible trigger for both the phenomena, even if with a different timing due to the very different initial conditions and characteristics of the two processes, i.e. seismogenesis and gas overloading

Non Abelian BF theories with sources and 2-D gravity

We study the interaction of non-Abelian topological $BF$ theories defined on two dimensional manifolds with point sources carrying non-Abelian charges. We identify the most general solution for the field equations on simply and multiply connected two-manifolds. Taking the particular choice of the so-called extended Poincar\'e group as the gauge group we discuss how recent discussions of two dimensional gravity models do fit in this formalism.Comment: 20 pages, Latex, To appear in Phys Rev D5

Scattering of Plane Waves in Self-Dual Yang-Mills Theory

We consider the classical self-dual Yang-Mills equation in 3+1-dimensional Minkowski space. We have found an exact solution, which describes scattering of $n$ plane waves. In order to write the solution in a compact form, it is convenient to introduce a scattering operator $\hat{T}$. It acts in the direct product of three linear spaces: 1) universal enveloping of $su(N)$ Lie algebra, 2) $n$-dimensional vector space and 3) space of functions defined on the unit interval.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX fil

Platelet isoprostane overproduction in diabetic patients treated with aspirin

Aspirin modestly influences cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but the reason is unclear. The aim of the study was to determine whether in T2DM patients aspirin enhances platelet isoprostanes, which are eicosanoids with proaggregating properties derived from arachidonic acid oxidation by platelet NOX2, the catalytic subunit of reduced NAD phosphate oxidase. A cross-sectional study was performed comparing T2DM patients, treated (n = 50) or not treated (n = 50) with 100 mg/day aspirin, with 100 nondiabetic patients, matched for age, sex, atherosclerosis risk factors, and aspirin treatment. A short-term (7 days) treatment with 100 mg/day aspirin also was performed in 36 aspirin-free diabetic and nondiabetic patients. Higher platelet recruitment, platelet isoprostane, and NOX2 activation was found in diabetic versus nondiabetic patients and in aspirin-treated diabetic patients versus nontreated patients (P < 0.001). Platelet thromboxane (Tx) A(2) (P < 0.001) was inhibited in all aspirin-treated patients. In the interventional study, aspirin similarly inhibited platelet TxA(2) in diabetic and nondiabetic patients (P < 0.001). Platelet recruitment, isoprostane levels, and NOX2 activation showed a parallel increase in diabetic patients (P < 0.001) and no changes in nondiabetic patients. These findings suggest that in aspirin-treated diabetic patients, oxidative stress-mediated platelet isoprostane overproduction is associated with enhanced platelet recruitment, an effect that mitigates aspirin-mediated TxA(2) inhibition

Speech Prosody as a Bridge Between Psychopathology and Linguistics: The Case of the Schizophrenia Spectrum

Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders experience severe difficulties in interpersonal communication, as described by traditional psychopathology and current research on social cognition. From a linguistic perspective, pragmatic abilities are crucial for successful communication. Empirical studies have shown that these abilities are significantly impaired in this group of patients. Prosody, the tone of voice with which words and sentences are pronounced, is one of the most important carriers of pragmatic meaning and can serve a range of functions from linguistic to emotional ones. Most of the existing literature on prosody of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders focuses on the expression of emotion, generally showing significant impairments. By contrast, the use of non-emotional prosody in these patients is scarcely investigated. In this paper, we first present a linguistic model to classify prosodic functions. Second, we discuss existing studies on the use of non-emotional prosody in these patients, providing an overview of the state of the art. Third, we delineate possible future lines of research in this field, also taking into account some classical psychopathological assumptions, for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes

A solution to the zero-hamiltonian problem in 2-D gravity

The zero-hamiltonian problem, present in reparametrization invariant systems, is solved for the 2-D induced gravity model. Working with methods developed by Henneaux et al. we find systematically the reduced phase-space physics, generated by an {\it effective} hamiltonian obtained after complete gauge fixing.Comment: 5 pages, revte

The activity of intravesical hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate administration on urothelial gene expression. Preliminary results on the epidermal growth factor receptor and fibronectin gene expression evaluated in bladder washings of patients affected by non muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Introduction & Objectives Hyaluronic acid (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) are two major constituents of the bladder glycosaminoglycan layer. Recent data show that Fibronectin (FN) and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) gene expression can be measured in bladder washings and could represent potential biomarkers of urothelial damage and tumor aggressiveness, respectively (1,2). The aim of our study was to investigate the interference of a single intravesical instillation of HA-CS solution on the expression of FN and EGFR genes in patients affected by non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Material & Methods A prospective double-blinded study included patients undergoing adjuvant intravesical therapy for NMIBC and age matched healthy controls. For EGFR evaluation, a single HA-CS solution was administered intravesically 14 days after transurethral resection of high risk NMIBC, before the start of the adjuvant therapy. For FN evaluation, a single HA-CS instillation was administered to patients showing local toxicity secondary to intravesical adjuvant therapy. Samples of bladder washings were collected before and one week after the HA-CS instillation, obtaining a cellular pellet stored at -80 °C. Cellular RNA was isolated by a miRNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen®) and cDNA, obtained using a “High Capacity cDNA Reverse Transcription Kit” (Life Technologies®) was used to perform a gene expression analysis by a Real Time PCR. EGFR and FN gene expression values were expressed in FOLDs of change compared to healthy controls (FN and EGFR=1). Results Thirty-eight patients and 5 controls entered the study. Seventeen and 21 patients were evaluated for FN and EGFR respectively. In 21 patients with high risk NMIBC, the median EGFR expression decreased from 2.4 folds (range: 0.1-39.0) to 1.0 fold (range: 0.05-36.8) showing a statistically significant decrease of 58.3% (p<0.02). In patients showing clinically relevant toxicity secondary to intravesical adjuvant therapy (BCG in 9 and Epirubicin in 8 patients) the median FN expression value dropped from 1.8 folds (range: 0.07-8.1) to 0.9 fold (range: 0.1-7.5) after HA-CS administration with a statistically significant decrease of 50% (p<0.05). Conclusions FN gene expression in bladder washings appears related to the intensity of the urothelial damage, reaching higher expression levels in case of severe toxicity induced by intravesical adjuvant therapy (2). In our experience the FN gene expression significantly decreases a week after the administration of HA-CS solution with contemporary symptomatic relief. Moreover the urothelial EGFR gene expression resulted significantly lowered one week after the HA-CS intravesical administration. The reduced availability of its receptor could limit the proliferative activity of EGF on the urothelium promoting recurrence and progression. Acknowledgements: GSTU Foundation References: 1. Serretta V, et al. Feasibility of EGFR evaluation in bladder washings of patients affected by non muscle-invasive bladder cancer. J Urol, 2016. 195 (4S): e327. 2. Alonge V, et al. Correlation between Fibronectin gene expression and local toxicity induced by adjuvant intravesical therapy. J Urol, 2015. 193 (4S): e53