A framework for probabilistic seismic risk assessment of NG distribution networks

Lifelines are essential infrastructures for human activities and the economic developm ent of a region. Lifelines vulnerability reduction is an actual question, particularly with reference to NaTech events, like earthquakes. In this regard, worldwide past seismic experiences revealed heavy damages to NG distribution networks. It is therefore essential to perform seismic risk assessment of NG buried pipelines systems with the aim to identify potential criticalities and avoid significant consequences. For such reasons, this work illustrates the proposal of a probabilistic framework for seismic risk assessment of NG lifelines. The proposed procedure is subsequently applied to a specific case study in Italy to highlight its feasibility

Social Commerce in the Wine Sector: An Exploratory Research Study of the Italian Market

The development of Web 2.0 technologies and social media, along with the emergence of wikis, blogs, online communities, and social networks, has rapidly transformed e-commerce. This phenomenon is commonly known as social commerce, an evolution of e-commerce characterized by a strong customer orientation. The aim of this paper is to understand the support of social commerce for e-commerce. We conducted an exploratory analysis of the Italian wine market via in-depth interviews with experts in the wine business: three wine producers and three companies running an online wine business. The interviews were recorded with the consent of the interviewees and transcribed, and their content was analyzed through content analysis. In particular, an analysis grid was created, following a closed procedure, with an ex-ante definition of the categories of analysis. Our results reveal that the COVID-19 outbreak has given a significant boost to digital transformation and online purchases in the wine sector. While some operators in the sector have merely undergone this change, others have been riding the wave, trying to benefit from it

A dose-ranging study in older adults to compare the safety and immunogenicity profiles of MF59®-adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted seasonal influenza vaccines following intradermal and intramuscular administration

Strategies to optimize responses to seasonal influenza vaccination in older adults include the use of adjuvants, higher antigen doses, and intradermal delivery. In this study adults aged >= 65 years (n = 450) received a single dose of 1 of 2 non-adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) formulations administered intradermally (ID), both containing 6 mu g of A/H1N1 and B, differing in A/H3N2 content (6 mu g or 12 mu g), or a single dose of 1 of 8 TIV formulations administered intramuscularly (IM) all containing 15 mu g of A/H1N1 and B, differing in A/H3N2 hemagglutinin (HA) content (15 mu g or 30 mu g) and/or in MF59 (R) adjuvant content (0%, 25%, 50%, or 100% of the standard dose). This paper focuses on the comparisons of low-dose non-adjuvanted ID, full-dose non-adjuvanted IM and full-dose MF59-adjuvanted IM formulations (n = 270). At day 22 post-vaccination, at least one European licensure immunogenicity criterion was met by all groups against all 3 strains; however, all three criteria were met against all 3 vaccine strains by the low-dose non-adjuvanted ID and the full-dose MF59-adjuvanted IM groups only. The full-dose MF59-adjuvanted IM group elicited significantly higher immune response vs. the low-dose non-adjuvanted ID formulations for most comparisons. The full-dose MF59 adjuvanted IM groups were associated with increased pain at the site of injection (P < 0.01) compared to the ID groups, and the low-dose non-adjuvanted ID groups were associated with increased erythema, induration, and swelling at the injection site (P < 0.0001) and unsolicited AEs compared with the IM groups. There were no differences between IM and ID groups in the frequencies of subjects experiencing solicited systemic reactions. Overall, while MF59 adjuvantation increased pain at the site of injection, and intradermal delivery increased unsolicited adverse events, erythema, induration, and swelling at the injection site, both strategies of vaccination strongly enhanced the immunogenicity of seasonal influenza vaccine in older adults compared with conventional non-adjuvanted intramuscular delivery

Monomeric &#223;-amyloid interacts with type-1 insulin-like growth factor receptors to provide energy supply to neurons

ß-amyloid (Aß1-42) is produced by proteolytic cleavage of the transmembrane type-1 protein, amyloid precursor protein. Under pathological conditions, Aß1-42 self-aggregates into oligomers, which cause synaptic dysfunction and neuronal loss, and are considered the culprit of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, Aß1-42 is mainly monomeric at physiological concentrations, and the precise role of monomeric Aß1-42 in neuronal function is largely unknown. We report that the monomer of Aß1-42 activates type-1 insulin-like growth factor receptors and enhances glucose uptake in neurons and peripheral cells by promoting the translocation of the Glut3 glucose transporter from the cytosol to the plasma membrane. In neurons, activity-dependent glucose uptake was blunted after blocking endogenous Aß production, and re-established in the presence of cerebrospinal fluid Aß. APP-null neurons failed to enhance depolarization-stimulated glucose uptake unless exogenous monomeric Aß1-42 was added. These data suggest that Aß1-42 monomers were critical for maintaining neuronal glucose homeostasis. Accordingly, exogenous Aß1-42 monomers were able to rescue the low levels of glucose consumption observed in brain slices from AD mutant mice

Geophysical monitoring of Stromboli volcano: insight into recent volcanic activity

Stromboli is an open conduit strato-volcano of the Aeolian archipelago (Italy), characterized by typical Strom-bolian explosive activity, lasting for several centuries, and by the emission of huge amounts of gas. The normalactivity of Stromboli is characterized by some hundreds of moderate explosions per day. Major explosions, whichlaunch scoria up to hundreds of meters from the craters, lava flows and paroxysmal explosions, which producelarge ballistic blocks, sometimes take place. During the effusive eruption in 2002 - 2003, which caused a tsunamiwith waves of about 10 meters high along the coasts of the Island, the monitoring system was enhanced. In 2006INGV has added two Sacks-Evertson borehole volumetric dilatometers to the surveillance system, in order to mon-itor changes in the local strain field by measuring areal strain. Today we have a large amount of geophysical dataand observations that allow us to better understand how this volcano works. After a period of low explosive activitystarted in mid-2014, Stromboli has shown a more intense explosive activity in the last few months. During the re-cent phase of increased activity, the geophysical monitoring system detected four major explosions occurred on 26July, 23 October, 1 November and 1 December 2017, respectively. The current phase of reawakening of Strombolivolcano has led the Italian civil protection authorities to decree the "attention" alert level (yellow) on the Island.PublishedVienna, Austria1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianz

Reduced Vagal Tone in Women With The Premutation Is Associated With MRNA but Not Depression or Anxiety

BACKGROUND: Autonomic dysfunction is implicated in a range of psychological conditions, including depression and anxiety. The () premutation is a common genetic mutation that affects ~1:150 women and is associated with psychological vulnerability. This study examined cardiac indicators of autonomic function among women with the premutation and control women as potential biomarkers for psychological risk that may be linked to . METHODS: Baseline inter-beat interval and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (a measure of parasympathetic vagal tone) were measured in 35 women with the premutation and 28 controls. The women completed anxiety and depression questionnaires. genetic indices (i.e., CGG repeat, quantitative FMRP, mRNA, activation ratio) were obtained for the premutation group. RESULTS: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia was reduced in the premutation group relative to controls. While depression symptoms were associated with reduced respiratory sinus arrhythmia among control women, these variables were unrelated in the premutation. Elevated mRNA was associated with higher respiratory sinus arrhythmia. CONCLUSIONS: Women with the premutation demonstrated autonomic dysregulation characterized by reduced vagal tone. Unlike patterns observed in the general population and in study controls, vagal activity and depression symptoms were decoupled in women with the premutation, suggesting independence between autonomic regulation and psychopathological symptoms that is atypical and potentially specific to the premutation. The association between vagal tone and mRNA suggests that molecular variation associated with plays a role in autonomic regulation

The MURAVES muon telescope: technology and expected performances

The MURAVES project aims to study the inner structure of the upper part of the Mt. Vesuvius volcano by muon radiography (muography) technique. Very high energy muons, produced by cosmic rays in the at- mosphere, can penetrate large thickness of rocks. By measuring the at- tenuation of the muons flux trough the volcano cone is possible to obtain a 2D image of the density structure. Internal discontinuities, with a spa- tial resolution of about 10 m, can be, in principle, resolved. An absolute average density measurement can be provided too. The project, funded by the Italian Ministry of University, Research and Education (MIUR), is led by INGV and INFN. In this article the mechanical structure of the de- tectors and background suppression techniques are reported

The real-time multiparametric network of Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius

Volcanic processes operate over a wide range of time scale that requires different instruments and techniques to be monitored. The best approach to survey a volcanic unrest is to jointly monitor all the geophysical quantities that could vary before an eruption. The monitoring techniques are sometimes peculiar for each volcano, which has its own behavior. The simultaneous investigation of all the geophysical and geochemical parameters improves the sensibility and the understanding of any variation in the volcanic system. The Osservatorio Vesuviano is the INGV division charged of the Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius monitoring, two of the highest risk volcanic complexes in the world due to the large number of people living on or close to them. Each of them have peculiarities that increase the monitoring challenge: Campi Flegrei has high anthropic noise due to people living within its numerous craters; Vesuvius has a sharp topography that complicates the data transmission and analysis. The real time monitoring of the two areas involves several geophysical fields and the data are transmitted by a wide data-communication wired or radio infrastructure to the Monitoring Centre of Osservatorio Vesuviano: - The seismic network counts of 20 station sites in Campi Flegrei and 23 in Vesuvius equipped with velocimetric, accelerometric and infrasonic sensors. Some of them are borehole stations. - The GPS network counts of 25 stations operating at Campi Flegrei caldera and 9 stations at Vesuvius volcano. All the procedures for remote stations managing (raw data downloading, data quality control and data processing) take place automatically and the computed data are shown in the Monitoring Centre. - The mareographic network counts of 4 stations in the Campi Flegrei caldera coast and 3 close to the Vesuvius that transmit to the Monitoring Centre where the data are elaborated. - The tiltmetric network consist of 10 stations distributed around Pozzuoli harbor, the area of maximum ground uplift of Campi Flegrei, evidenced since 2005, and 7 stations distributed around the Vesuvius crater. Each tiltmetric station is also equipped with a temperature and magnetic sensor. The signals recorded are sent to the Monitoring Centre. - The 4 marine multiparametric stations installed in the Pozzuoli gulf send accelerometric, broad band, hydrophonic and GPS data to the Monitoring Centre. - The geochemical network counts of 4 multiparametric stations in the fumarolic areas of Campi Flegrei and 2 stations in the Vesuvius crater (rim and bottom) with data transmission to the Monitoring Centre. They collect soil CO2 flux, temperature gradient and environmental and meteorological parameters and transmit them directly to the Monitoring Centre. - The permanent thermal infrared surveillance network (TIRNet) is composed of 6 stations distributed among Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius. The stations acquire IR scenes at night-time of highly diffuse degassing areas. IR data are processed by an automated system of IR analysis and the temperatures values are sent to the Monitoring CentrePublishedVienna, Austria1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e sorveglianz

Shadow monochromatic backlighting: Large-field high resolution X-ray shadowgraphy with improved spectral tunability

The shadow monochromatic backlighting (SMB) scheme, a modification of the well-known soft X-ray monochromatic backlighting scheme, is proposed. It is based on a spherical crystal as the dispersive element and extends the traditional scheme by allowing one to work with a wide range of Bragg angles and thus in a wide spectral range. The advantages of the new scheme are demonstrated experimentally and supported numerically by ray-tracing simulations. In the experiments, the X-ray backlighter source is a laser-produced plasma, created by the interaction of an ultrashort pulse, Ti:Sapphire laser (120 fs, 3–5 mJ, 1016 W/cm2 on target) or a short wavelength XeCl laser (10 ns, 1–2 J, 1013 W/cm2 on target) with various solid targets (Dy, Ni + Cr, BaF2). In both experiments, the X-ray sources are well localized spatially (∼20 μm) and are spectrally tunable in a relatively wide wavelength range (λ = 8–15 Å). High quality monochromatic (δλ/λ ∼ 10−5–10−3) images with high spatial resolution (up to ∼4 μm) over a large field of view (a few square millimeters) were obtained. Utilization of spherically bent crystals to obtain high-resolution, large field, monochromatic images in a wide range of Bragg angles (35° < Θ < 90°) is demonstrated for the first time

Guidelines for the good practice of surface wave analysis: a product of the InterPACIFIC project

Surface wave methods gained in the past decades a primary role in many seismic projects. Specifically, they are often used to retrieve a 1D shear wave velocity model or to estimate the VS,30 at a site. The complexity of the interpretation process and the variety of possible approaches to surface wave analysis make it very hard to set a fixed standard to assure quality and reliability of the results. The present guidelines provide practical information on the acquisition and analysis of surface wave data by giving some basic principles and specific suggestions related to the most common situations. They are primarily targeted to non-expert users approaching surface wave testing, but can be useful to specialists in the field as a general reference. The guidelines are based on the experience gained within the InterPACIFIC project and on the expertise of the participants in acquisition and analysis of surface wave data.Published2367-24205T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismicaJCR Journa