BIM And GIS Data Integration: A Novel Approach Of Technical/Environmental Decision-Making Process In Transport Infrastructure Design

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Can a fully integrated approach enclose the drainage system design and the flood risk analysis?

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Aseismic transient driving the swarm-like seismic sequence in the Pollino range, Southern Italy

Tectonic earthquake swarms challenge our understanding of earthquake processes since it is difficult to link observations to the underlying physical mechanisms and to assess the hazard they pose. Transient forcing is thought to initiate and drive the spatio-temporal release of energy during swarms. The nature of the transient forcing may vary across sequences and range from aseismic creeping or transient slip to diffusion of pore pressure pulses to fluid redistribution and migration within the seismogenic crust. Distinguishing between such forcing mechanisms may be critical to reduce epistemic uncertainties in the assessment of hazard due to seismic swarms, because it can provide information on the frequency–magnitude distribution of the earthquakes (often deviating from the assumed Gutenberg–Richter relation) and on the expected source parameters influencing the ground motion (for example the stress drop). Here we study the ongoing Pollino range (Southern Italy) seismic swarm, a long-lasting seismic sequence with more than five thousand events recorded and located since October 2010. The two largest shocks (magnitude Mw = 4.2 and Mw = 5.1) are among the largest earthquakes ever recorded in an area which represents a seismic gap in the Italian historical earthquake catalogue. We investigate the geometrical, mechanical and statistical characteristics of the largest earthquakes and of the entire swarm. We calculate the focal mechanisms of the Ml > 3 events in the sequence and the transfer of Coulomb stress on nearby known faults and analyse the statistics of the earthquake catalogue. We find that only 25 per cent of the earthquakes in the sequence can be explained as aftershocks, and the remaining 75 per cent may be attributed to a transient forcing. The b-values change in time throughout the sequence, with low b-values correlated with the period of highest rate of activity and with the occurrence of the largest shock. In the light of recent studies on the palaeoseismic and historical activity in the Pollino area, we identify two scenarios consistent with the observations and our analysis: This and past seismic swarms may have been ‘passive’ features, with small fault patches failing on largely locked faults, or may have been accompanied by an ‘active’, largely aseismic, release of a large portion of the accumulated tectonic strain. Those scenarios have very different implications for the seismic hazard of the area

Risk factors associated with adverse fetal outcomes in pregnancies affected by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a secondary analysis of the WAPM study on COVID-19.

Objectives To evaluate the strength of association between maternal and pregnancy characteristics and the risk of adverse perinatal outcomes in pregnancies with laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Methods Secondary analysis of a multinational, cohort study on all consecutive pregnant women with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from February 1, 2020 to April 30, 2020 from 73 centers from 22 different countries. A confirmed case of COVID-19 was defined as a positive result on real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay of nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens. The primary outcome was a composite adverse fetal outcome, defined as the presence of either abortion (pregnancy loss before 22 weeks of gestations), stillbirth (intrauterine fetal death after 22 weeks of gestation), neonatal death (death of a live-born infant within the first 28 days of life), and perinatal death (either stillbirth or neonatal death). Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate parameters independently associated with the primary outcome. Logistic regression was reported as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 30.6+/-9.5 weeks, with 8.0% of women being diagnosed in the first, 22.2% in the second and 69.8% in the third trimester of pregnancy. There were six miscarriage (2.3%), six intrauterine device (IUD) (2.3) and 5 (2.0%) neonatal deaths, with an overall rate of perinatal death of 4.2% (11/265), thus resulting into 17 cases experiencing and 226 not experiencing composite adverse fetal outcome. Neither stillbirths nor neonatal deaths had congenital anomalies found at antenatal or postnatal evaluation. Furthermore, none of the cases experiencing IUD had signs of impending demise at arterial or venous Doppler. Neonatal deaths were all considered as prematurity-related adverse events. Of the 250 live-born neonates, one (0.4%) was found positive at RT-PCR pharyngeal swabs performed after delivery. The mother was tested positive during the third trimester of pregnancy. The newborn was asymptomatic and had negative RT-PCR test after 14 days of life. At logistic regression analysis, gestational age at diagnosis (OR: 0.85, 95% CI 0.8-0.9 per week increase; pPeer reviewe

Maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnancies affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection. METHODS: This was a multinational retrospective cohort study including women with a singleton pregnancy and laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, conducted in 72 centers in 22 different countries in Europe, the USA, South America, Asia and Australia, between 1 February 2020 and 30 April 2020. Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection was defined as a positive result on real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay of nasopharyngeal swab specimens. The primary outcome was a composite measure of maternal mortality and morbidity, including admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), use of mechanical ventilation and death. RESULTS: In total, 388 women with a singleton pregnancy tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR of a nasopharyngeal swab and were included in the study. Composite adverse maternal outcome was observed in 47/388 (12.1%) women; 43 (11.1%) women were admitted to the ICU, 36 (9.3%) required mechanical ventilation and three (0.8%) died. Of the 388 women included in the study, 122 (31.4%) were still pregnant at the time of data analysis. Among the other 266 women, six (19.4% of the 31 women with first-trimester infection) had miscarriage, three (1.1%) had termination of pregnancy, six (2.3%) had stillbirth and 251 (94.4%) delivered a liveborn infant. The rate of preterm birth before 37 weeks' gestation was 26.3% (70/266). Of the 251 liveborn infants, 69/251 (27.5%) were admitted to the neonatal ICU, and there were five (2.0%) neonatal deaths. The overall rate of perinatal death was 4.1% (11/266). Only one (1/251, 0.4%) infant, born to a mother who tested positive during the third trimester, was found to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR. CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant women is associated with a 0.8% rate of maternal mortality, but an 11.1% rate of admission to the ICU. The risk of vertical transmission seems to be negligible. © 2020 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

On the semiclassical and quantum picture of the Bianchi I polymer dynamics

We analyze the Bianchi I cosmology in the presence of a massless scalar field and describe its dynamics via a semiclassical and quantum polymer approach. We investigate the morphology of the emerging Big Bounce by adopting three different sets of configurational variables: the natural Ashtekar connections, the Universe volume plus two anisotropy coordinates and a set of anisotropic volume-like coordinates (the latter two sets of variables would coincide in the case of an isotropic Universe). In the semiclassical analysis we demonstrate that the Big Bounce emerges in the dynamics for all the three sets of variables. Moreover, when the Universe volume itself is considered as a configurational variable, we have derived the polymer-modified Friedmann equation and demonstrated that the Big Bounce has a universal nature, i.e. the total critical energy density has a maximum value fixed by fundamental constants and the Immirzi parameter only. From a pure quantum point of view, we investigate the Bianchi I dynamics only in terms of the Ashtekar connections. In particular, we apply the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner (ADM) reduction of the variational principle and then we quantize the system. We study the resulting Schr"{o}dinger dynamics, stressing that the wave packet peak behavior over time singles out common features with the semiclassical trajectories

Effect of a recombinant manganese superoxide dismutase on prevention of contrast-induced acute kidney injury

Contrast media (CM)-induced nephropathy (CIN) is an acute deterioration of renal function following administration of CM mediated to a large extent by the increased production of ROS within the kidney. Aim of this study was to evaluate whether a novel isoform of a recombinant Manganese SOD (rMnSOD) could provide an effective protection against CIN; this molecule shares the same ability of physiological SODs in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) but, due to its peculiar properties, enters inside the cells after its administration. We studied the effects rMnSOD on oxidative damage in a rat model of CIN in uninephrectomized rats, that were randomly assigned to 3 experimental Groups: Group CON, control rats treated with the vehicle of CM, Group HCM, rats treated with CM and Group SOD, rats treated with CM and rMnSOD. In normal rats, pretreatment with rMnSOD, reduced renal superoxide anion production, induced by the activation of NAPDH oxidase, by 84 % (p < 0.001). In rats of Group HCM, ROS production was almost doubled compared to rat of Group CON (p < 0.01) but returned to normal values in rats of Group SOD, where a significant increase of SOD activity was detected (+16 % vs HCM, p < 0.05). Administration of CM determined a striking fall of GFR in rats of Group HCM (-70 %, p < 0.001 vs CON), greatly blunted in Group SOD (-28 % vs CON, p < 0.01); this was associated with a lower presence of both tubular necrosis and intratubular casts in SOD-treated rats (both p < 0.01 vs Group HCM). Our data indicate that rMnSOD is able to reduce renal oxidative stress, thus preventing the reduction of GFR and the renal histologic damage that follows CM administration

Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes of Pregnant Women with SARS-COV-2 infection

To evaluate maternal and perinatal outcomes of pregnant women affected by SARS-COV-2