Caratterizzazione dell’ambiente marino dei Campi Flegrei. Risultati preliminari della campagna oceanografica RICAMAR 2013

The caldera of the Phlegraean Fields (also known as Campi Flegrei) is one of the most dangerous and populated volcanic area in the world, covering an area that comprises the western part of Naples and the Gulf of Pozzuoli. The main peculiarity of current volcanic activity is the gradual and periodic lift (positive or negative) of part of the Earth\u27s surface (bradyseism) combined, only during the positive phase, with a strong sismicity and surficial hydrotermal activity. Deformative models, calibrated using land-based measurements, highlighted the Gulf of Pozzuoli as the area with the largest deformation. Although the network of monitoring sensors on land is well developed and structured, there is a lack of sensing systems for the marine deformation. The activities of RIlievi per la Caratterizzazione dell’Ambiente MARino nel Golfo di Pozzuoli 2013 (RICAMAR2013) project - sinergically conducted by the Italian Navy\u27s Survey Vessel Ammiraglio Magnaghi , the Italian Hydrographic Office (IIM) and the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)- were targeted to fulfill this gap. In fact, the creation of marine observatories about the caldera\u27s phenomena will be based on the data collected during these bathymetric, magnetometric, stratigrafic and hydrologic surveys

Shallow-water gaseohydrothermal plume studies after massive eruption at Panarea, Aeolian Islands, Italy

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier. NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work accepted for publication by Elsevier. Changes resulting from the publishing process, including peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting and other quality control mechanisms, may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Marine Systems, 2014, Vol.131, pp. 1-9 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmarsys.2013.10.001Marine water dynamics in the near field of a massive gas eruption near Panarea (Aeolian Islands volcanic arc, SE Tyrrhenian Sea) is described. ADCP current-meters were deployed during the paroxysmal phase in 2002 and 2003 a few meters from the degassing vent, recording day-long timeseries. Datasets were sorted to remove errors and select good quality ensembles over the entire water column. Standard deviation of error velocity was considered a proxy for inhomogeneous velocity fields over beams. Time series intervals had been selected when the basic ADCP assumptions were fulfilled and random errors minimized. Backscatter data were also processed to identify bubbles in the water column with the aim of locating bubble-free ensembles. Reliable timeseries are selected combining these data. Two possible scenarios have been described: firstly, a high dynamic situation with visible surface diverging rings of waves, entrainment on the lower part of the gas column, detrainment in the upper part and a stagnation line (SL) at mid depth where currents were close to zero and most of the gas bubbles spread laterally; secondly, a lower dynamic situation with water entraining into the gas plume at all depths and no surface rings of diverging waves. Reasons for these different dynamics may be ascribed to changes in gas fluxes (one order of magnitude higher in 2002). Description of SL is important to quantify its position in the water column and timing for entrainment-detrainment, and it can be measured by ADCP and calculated from models.Italian ISMAR-CNR, La Spezia. http://www.ismar.cnr.it/organization/geographic-units/ismar-la-spezi

Rapporto sulle attività geofisiche, oceanografiche e di campionamento durante la crociera PANSTR12 con Nave Aretusa: Isole Eolie (Stromboli, Panarea, Salina) (2012-06-30 - 2012-07-14)

All’interno della collaborazione Coordinamento Nazionale per la Geofisica Marina (CO.NA.GEM.), che riunisce i vari Istituti e organizzazioni tecnico-scientifiche italiani, si è svolta la campagna denominata PANSTR12, realizzata con Nave Aretusa della Marina Militare Italiana (MMI). PANSTR12 ha avuto come obbiettivi principali la caratterizzazione morfologica e geofisica della porzione sommersa della Sciara del Fuoco, Isola di Stromboli e la ripetizione di rilievi multibeam e magnetometrici dell’area degli isolotti di Panarea realizzati a partire dal 2002, nell’ottica di permettere analisi e valutazioni sul percorso evolutivo dei fenomeni legati all’eruzione gassosa, anche in relazione all’assetto tettonico e geodinamico dell’arco vulcanico delle Eolie. La campagna PANSTR12 è stata realizzata attraverso una proficua collaborazione tra l’Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), gli Istituti di Scienze Marine (ISMAR) di Bologna (ISMAR-BO) e di La Spezia (ISMAR-SP), entrambi del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), e l’Istituto Idrografico della Marina (IIM).Istituto Idrografico della Marina, Marina Militare ItalianaPublished2.6. TTC - Laboratorio di gravimetria, magnetismo ed elettromagnetismo in aree attiveope

Rapporto sull’attività 13 – 31 maggio 2013

La caldera risorgente dei Campi Flegrei è, insieme ai vulcani Somma-Vesuvio, Ischia e Procida, uno degli elementi dominanti dell’assetto geologico e morfologico dell’area napoletana. Si tratta di un sistema vulcanico ancora attivo la cui persistente attività è testimoniata dall’ultima eruzione, avvenuta nel 1538, dall’intensa attività fumarolica e idrotermale che perdura da millenni e dai frequenti eventi bradisismici, con deformazione del suolo accompagnata da sismicità e variazioni delle caratteristiche chimico-fisiche dei fluidi emessi dalle fumarole. La caldera comprende la parte occidentale della città di Napoli e si estende nel Golfo di Pozzuoli. La caratteristica principale dell’attuale attività vulcanica della caldera è il movimento lento del suolo a carattere episodico e di grande ampiezza (bradisismo), accompagnato da un’intensa e superficiale attività sismica che si verifica in generale durante la fase di sollevamento......Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Marina Militare ItalianaPublished6A. Monitoraggio ambientale, sicurezza e territorioope

Effects of the consumption of fish meals on the carotid IntimaMedia thickness in patients with hypertension: a prospective study

Aim: The composition of dietary fat affects various modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular outcomes in the general population. We investigated the effects of the regular consumption of fish meals on the fatty acid composition of red blood cell (RBC) membranes and the relationship of this parameter with the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), an early marker of atherosclerosis. Methods: In 56 hypertensive patients, we measured the carotid IMT using ultrasound imaging and the RBC membrane fatty acid composition using gas-chromatography and calculated the polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid (PUFA/SFA) ratio. The patients received intensive nutritional counseling and three weekly meals of fish containing elevated amounts of PUFA, in order to increase the membrane PUFA content. The RBC membrane fatty acid composition and IMT were reassessed after one year. Results: At baseline, the membrane PUFA/SFA ratio was inversely related to the carotid IMT, and the relationship was independent of all major cardiovascular risk factors. At follow-up, the PUFA/SFA ratio increased in the RBC membranes of 25 (45%) of 56 patients. The regular consumption of fish meals resulted in a decreased carotid IMT only in the patients with an increased membrane PUFA/SFA ratio. Changes in the PUFA/SFA ratio induced by the dietary intervention were inversely related to the changes in the IMT, independent of variations in body mass, blood pressure and plasma lipids. Conclusions: In hypertensive patients, a low RBC membrane PUFA/SFA ratio is associated with more prominent vascular damage, and the regular consumption of fish reduces the carotid IMT in patients in whom dietary intervention affects the membrane fatty acid composition

The vascular response to vasodilators is related to the membrane content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in hypertensive patients

Objective: Abnormal vascular reactivity contributes to the pathophysiology of hypertension and hypertension-related organ damage. As the dietary content of fatty acids may affect the vascular responses, we investigated the relationship of endothelium-independent and endothelium-dependent vasodilation with the fatty acid composition of red blood cell (RBC) membranes in hypertension. Methods: In 45 uncomplicated hypertensive patients, we measured the content of fatty acids in RBC membrane as a marker of dietary intake of fatty acids, and the vasodilatory response of the brachial artery to both nitratedonor compound (nitrate-mediated vasodilation, NMD) and postischemic reactive hyperemia (flow-mediated vasodilation, FMD). Results: Baseline diameter of the brachial artery was significantly lower and vasodilatory response to NMD was significantly greater in patients with RBC membrane polyunsaturated-to-saturated fatty acid (PUFA/SFA) ratio above the median of the distribution than in patients with PUFA/SFA ratio below the median, whereas no difference was observed in FMD. n-3 PUFA and n-6 PUFA content, and the PUFA/SFA ratio of RBC membranes were related inversely with brachial artery diameter and directly with maximal NMD, whereas no relationship of fatty acid components of RBC membrane with FMD was observed. Multivariate analysis that included demographic, anthropometric, clinical, and biochemical variables indicated that the RBC membrane PUFA/SFA ratio was an independent determinant of brachial artery diameter and NMD response. Conclusion: The endothelium-independent brachial artery vasodilation is independently related to the PUFA content of RBC membranes in patients with hypertension. This suggests the possible benefits of PUFA-enriched diets on the regulation of vascular tone and blood pressure in these patient