Ten years of volcanic activity at Mt Etna: High-resolution mapping and accurate quantification of the morphological changes by Pleiades and Lidar data

Abstract The topography of Mt. Etna, Italy, is subjected to continuous modifications depending on intensity and magnitude of eruptions that frequently occur at the volcano summit and flanks. In order to make high-resolution maps of morphological changes and accurately calculate the overall volume of the erupted products (e.g., lava flows, tephra fall out, scoriae cones) in ten years, we have compared the altimetry models of Mt. Etna derived from 2005 Airborne Laser Scanning data and 2015 Pleiades stereo satellite imagery. Both models cover a common area of 400 km2 with spatial resolution of 2 m and comparable vertical accuracy (RMS

Contribution of the EVER-EST project to the community of the Geohazard Supersites initiative

The EVER-EST project (European Virtual Environment for Research - Earth Science Themes: a solution) is a H2020 project (2015-2018) aimed at the creation of a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) focused on the requirements of the Earth Science community. The VRE is intended to enhance the ability to collaborate, interoperate and share knowledge and experience between all relevant stakeholders, including researchers, monitoring teams and civil protection agencies. Among the innovations of the project is the exploitation of the “Research Object” concept.PublishedVIenna,Austria1VV. Altr

Nonlinear operators on graphs via stacks

International audienceWe consider a framework for nonlinear operators on functions evaluated on graphs via stacks of level sets. We investigate a family of transformations on functions evaluated on graph which includes adaptive flat and non-flat erosions and dilations in the sense of mathematical morphology. Additionally, the connection to mean motion curvature on graphs is noted. Proposed operators are illustrated in the cases of functions on graphs, textured meshes and graphs of images

Impact of sex and gender on post-COVID-19 syndrome, Switzerland, 2020

Background: Women are overrepresented among individuals with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). Biological (sex) as well as sociocultural (gender) differences between women and men might account for this imbalance, yet their impact on PASC is unknown. Aim: We assessed the impact of sex and gender on PASC in a Swiss population. Method: Our multicentre prospective cohort study included 2,856 (46% women, mean age 44.2 ± 16.8 years) outpatients and hospitalised patients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.ResultsAmong those who remained outpatients during their first infection, women reported persisting symptoms more often than men (40.5% vs 25.5% of men; p < 0.001). This sex difference was absent in hospitalised patients. In a crude analysis, both female biological sex (RR = 1.59; 95% CI: 1.41-1.79; p < 0.001) and a score summarising gendered sociocultural variables (RR = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.03-1.07; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with PASC. Following multivariable adjustment, biological female sex (RR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.74-1.25; p = 0.763) was outperformed by feminine gender-related factors such as a higher stress level (RR = 1.04; 95% CI: 1.01-1.06; p = 0.003), lower education (RR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.03-1.30; p = 0.011), being female and living alone (RR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.29-2.83; p = 0.001) or being male and earning the highest income in the household (RR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.60-0.97; p = 0.030). Conclusion: Specific sociocultural parameters that differ in prevalence between women and men, or imply a unique risk for women, are predictors of PASC and may explain, at least in part, the higher incidence of PASC in women. Once patients are hospitalised during acute infection, sex differences in PASC are no longer evident

The longevity-associated BPIFB4 gene supports cardiac function and vascularization in ageing cardiomyopathy

Aims The ageing heart naturally incurs a progressive decline in function and perfusion that available treatments cannot halt. However, some exceptional individuals maintain good health until the very late stage of their life due to favourable gene–environment interaction. We have previously shown that carriers of a longevity-associated variant (LAV) of the BPIFB4 gene enjoy prolonged health spans and lesser cardiovascular complications. Moreover, supplementation of LAV-BPIFB4 via an adeno-associated viral vector improves cardiovascular performance in limb ischaemia, atherosclerosis, and diabetes models. Here, we asked whether the LAV-BPIFB4 gene could address the unmet therapeutic need to delay the heart’s spontaneous ageing. Methods and results Immunohistological studies showed a remarkable reduction in vessel coverage by pericytes in failing hearts explanted from elderly patients. This defect was attenuated in patients carrying the homozygous LAV-BPIFB4 genotype. Moreover, pericytes isolated from older hearts showed low levels of BPIFB4, depressed pro-angiogenic activity, and loss of ribosome biogenesis. LAV-BPIFB4 supplementation restored pericyte function and pericyte-endothelial cell interactions through a mechanism involving the nucleolar protein nucleolin. Conversely, BPIFB4 silencing in normal pericytes mimed the heart failure pericytes. Finally, gene therapy with LAV-BPIFB4 prevented cardiac deterioration in middle-aged mice and rescued cardiac function and myocardial perfusion in older mice by improving microvasculature density and pericyte coverage. Conclusions We report the success of the LAV-BPIFB4 gene/protein in improving homeostatic processes in the heart’s ageing. These findings open to using LAV-BPIFB4 to reverse the decline of heart performance in older people

Volcaniclastic flow hazard zonation in the Sub-apennine vesuvian area using gis and remote sensing

Steep slopes mantled by pyroclastic deposits are favorable areas prone to generate hazardous volcaniclastic flows. In Italy, such a setting is well represented in the Campania Region, where pyroclastic deposits from the explosive activity of the Neapolitan volcanoes (Ischia, Campi Flegrei, and Somma-Vesuvius) cover the Apennine range bordering the Campanian Plain. In order to provide a useful contribution to the mitigation and prevention of these calamitous natural events, this work presents a multidisciplinary approach to improve the understanding of the volcaniclastic flow hazard zonation in an Apennine area of 340 km2 surrounding the Somma-Vesuvius volcano. The disruption proneness index (DPI) was calculated in order to identify the drainage basins potentially prone to generate volcaniclastic flows. This index is obtained by combining satellite and morphometric data in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. It is calculated for 1100 drainage basins, considering the main parameters influencing the slope stability (slope angle, basin shape factor, curvature, relative relief, aspect, and land cover). The land cover mapping is obtained from Landsat data and airborne high-resolution images, while the morphometric parameters are derived from a digital elevation model (DEM) with a cell size of 10 m. The result is a zonation map that classifies the drainage basins according to different degrees of proneness to generate volcaniclastic flows (low, moderate, high, and very high). The drainage basins falling within high and very high classes are 66%, while 28% fall in the moderate class, and the remaining 6% fall in the low proneness class

Dallo spazio al territorio: Un sistema per l'Osservazione della Terra in tempo reale

From space to land: a real time Earth Observation system from INGV Since many years INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) in collaboration with several national and international research institutes, contributes to develop new spatial technologies dedicated to volcano, earthquake and environmental monitoring according to GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) guide lines in a national and European context. In order to maintain and increase such volcano survey, already operative since several years, a technological investment has been allocated in the context of the convention with the Italian Civil Protection (2007-2009). The new system allows to improve the real time acquisition of remote sensing data for different geophysical applications in the Mediterranean basin and in Central Europe

Near real-time routine for volcano monitoring using infrared satellite data

An Advanced Very-High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) routine for hot-spot detection and effusion rate estimation (AVHotRR) using AVHRR infrared space-borne images is presented here for the monitoring of active lava flow. AVHotRR uses directly broadcast National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-AVHRR remotely sensed data. The 2006 summit eruption of Mount Etna provided the opportunity to test the products generated by AVHotRR for monitoring purposes. Low spatial and high temporal resolution products can also be used as inputs of flow models to drive numerical simulations of lava-flow paths and thus to provide quantitative hazard assessment and volcanic risk mitigation