Discovering the landscape by cycling: A geo-touristic experience through italian badlands

Today, more than ever, it is necessary to adopt an innovative approach to studying and educating the public about territorial sciences. The complex link connecting Earth and society has to be rediscovered, by raising awareness about environmental balances, resources, and risks. The best way, scientifically and culturally, to tackle the problem of sustainable development, is to adopt a methodological approach that includes the fundamental elements of communication, public education and training. Geotourism is a modern and powerful way of informing the general public about geological sciences. Landscape ecology offers new approaches in the field of scientific research, while on the socio-political front, the European Landscape Convention ratifies its essential functions on the cultural, ecological, environmental and social levels. Geographical information system (GIS) technology provides us with powerful communicative tools, suitable for creative and flexible use. We will examine the geo-touristic potential of the “Calanchi” (Badlands) areas in Basilicata region, particularly significant since it is representative of the socio-environmental balance of the territory. An original integration between the landscape, cycling and tourism offers new perspectives on the local economy

A database of the coseismic effects following the 30 October 2016 Norcia earthquake in Central Italy

We provide a database of the coseismic geological surface effects following the Mw 6.5 Norcia earthquake that hit central Italy on 30 October 2016. This was one of the strongest seismic events to occur in Europe in the past thirty years, causing complex surface ruptures over an area of >400 km 2. The database originated from the collaboration of several European teams (Open EMERGEO Working Group; about 130 researchers) coordinated by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia. The observations were collected by performing detailed field surveys in the epicentral region in order to describe the geometry and kinematics of surface faulting, and subsequently of landslides and other secondary coseismic effects. The resulting database consists of homogeneous georeferenced records identifying 7323 observation points, each of which contains 18 numeric and string fields of relevant information. This database will impact future earthquake studies focused on modelling of the seismic processes in active extensional settings, updating probabilistic estimates of slip distribution, and assessing the hazard of surface faulting

Gestational Exposure to Low Dose Bisphenol A Alters Social Behavior in Juvenile Mice

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a man-made compound used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins; public health concerns have been fueled by findings that BPA exposure can reduce sex differences in brain and some behaviors. We asked if a low BPA dose, within the range measured in humans, ingested during pregnancy, would affect social behaviors in prepubertal mice. We noted sex differences in social interactions whereby females spent more time sitting side-by-side, while males engaged in more exploring and sitting alone. In addition BPA increased display of nose-to-nose contacts, play solicitations and approaches in both sexes. Interactions between sex and diet were found for self grooming, social interactions while sitting side-by-side and following the other mouse. In all these cases interactions were produced by differences between control and BPA females. We examined brains from embryos during late gestation to determine if gene expression differences might be correlated with some of the sexually dimorphic or BPA affected behaviors we observed. Because BPA treatments ended at birth we took the brains during embryogenesis to increase the probability of discovering BPA mediated effects. We also selected this embryonic age (E18.5) because it coincides with the onset of sexual differentiation of the brain. Interestingly, mRNA for the glutamate transporter, Slc1a1, was enhanced by exposure to BPA in female brains. Also we noted that BPA changed the expression of two of the three DNA methyltransferase genes, Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a. We propose that BPA affects DNA methylation of Sc1a1 during neural development. Sex differences in juvenile social interactions are affected by BPA and in particular this compound modifies behavior in females

Landscape, Settlement and Roman cadastres in the Lower Sangro valley (Italy)

The paper concerns the results of a research carried out since 1995 in the Lower Sangro Valley Survey, in the Abruzzo Region. The research, aimed to study landscape and settlement evolution within almost unknown area, includes field-walking techniques, geomorphological survey, archaeological excavation, aerial photographs, archives and G.I.S. analysis

Geomorphological evidence of debris flows and landslides in the Pescara del Tronto area (Sibillini Mts, Marche Region, Central Italy)

In this paper, a geomorphological map of Pescara del Tronto area (Sibillini Mts, Marche Region) is presented. The work focuses on the geomorphological analysis performed in a zone strongly struck by the 2016–2017 seismic sequence of Central Apennines. The geomorphological map (1:7,500 scale) was obtained through an integrated approach that incorporates geological-geomorphological field mapping and geomorphological profile drawing, supported by air-photo interpretation and GIS analysis. The main purpose of the work is to describe a geomorphological approach for representing and mapping the evidence of several debris flows and landslides recognized in the framework of seismic microzonation (SM) activities. Finally, in order to elevate geomorphological maps into effective tools for land management and risk reduction, it could provide a scientific and methodological basis to demonstrate that accurate mapping provides important information, readily available for local administrations and decision-makers, for the implementation of sustainable territorial planning and loss-reduction measures