Equilibrium Cross Section of River Channels With Cohesive Erodible Banks

Predicting the equilibrium cross section of natural rivers has been widely investigated in fluvial morphology. Several approaches have been developed to meet this aim, starting from regime equations to the empirical formulations of Parker et al. (2007) and Wilkerson and Parker (2011), who proposed quasi-universal relations for describing bankfull conditions in sand and gravel bed rivers. Nevertheless, a general physics-based framework is still missing, and it remains an open issue to better clarify the basic mechanisms whereby a river selects its width. In this contribution we focus our attention on lowland rivers with cohesive banks, whose resistance to erosion is crucial to control the river width. In particular, we formulate a theoretical model that evaluates the equilibrium width of river cross sections modeling the interaction between the core flow in the central part of the section and the boundary layer that forms in the vicinity of the cohesive banks. The model computes the cross-section equilibrium configuration by which the shear stresses on the banks equal a critical threshold value. These stresses are computed by partitioning the total shear stress into an effective grain roughness component and a form component (Kean and Smith, 2006a). The model is applied to a large data set, concerning both sand and gravel bed rivers, and it is used to determine the relations expressing the channel width and the bankfull flow depth to the bankfull discharge, which appear to provide a unitary description of bankfull hydraulic geometry

How should eosinophilic cystitis be treated in patients with chronic granulomatous disease?

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a primary immunodeficiency resulting from the absence or malfunction of oxidative mechanism in phagocytic cells. The disease is due to a mutation in one of four genes that encode subunits of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase complex. Affected patients experience severe infections and granuloma formation due to exuberant inflammatory responses. Some evidence suggests that eosinophilic cystitis (EC) is included in the spectrum of inflammatory manifestations. EC is an inflammatory disease, rare in childhood, which may require different, nonstandardized therapeutic approaches, ranging from antihistamines to cyclosporine

Volcanology and magma geochemistry of the present day activity: constraints on the feeding system

Stromboli volcano is famous in the scientific literature for its persistent state of activity, which began about 1500 years ago and consists of continuous degassing and mild intermittent explosions (normal Strombolian activity). Rare lava emissions and sporadic more violent explosive episodes (paroxysms) also occur. Since its formation, the present-day activity has been dominated by the emission of two basaltic magmas, differing chiefly in their crystal and volatile contents, whose characteristics have remained constant until now. The normal Strombolian activity and lava effusions are fed by a crystal-rich, degassed magma, stored within the uppermost part of the plumbing system, whereas highly vesicular, crystal-poor light-colored pumices are produced during paroxysms testifying to the ascent of volatile-rich magma batches from deeper portions of the magmatic system. Mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic data, together with data on the volatile contents of magmas, are presented here with the aim of discussing (1) the relationships between the different magma batches erupted at Stromboli, (2) the mechanisms of their crystallization and transfer, (3) the plumbing system and triggering mechanisms of Strombolian eruptions.Unpublished203.5. Geologia e storia dei sistemi vulcanici4.3. TTC - Scenari di pericolosità vulcanicareserve

The onset of an eruption: selective assimilation of hydrothermal minerals during pre-eruptive magma ascent of the 2010 summit eruption of Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Iceland

The complex processes occurring in the initial phases of an eruption are often recorded in the products of its opening stage, which are usually characterized by small volume and limited dispersal, and thus generally poorly studied. The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (Iceland) represents a unique opportunity for these investigations thanks to the good preservation of tephra deposits within the ice/snow pack. A detailed geochemical investiga- tion on the glassy groundmass of single ash clasts disclosed a population of fragments with unusual high 87Sr/86Sr (up to 0.70668) for Icelandic magmatism, and anomalous elemental composition with respect to most of the ju- venile material of the eruption. This suggests that during its rise, before intruding into the ice cover, magma at a dyke tip selectively assimilated hydrothermal minerals with seawater-related, high-Sr isotopic ratios (zeolites, silica phases, anhydrite) hosted in altered volcanic/epiclastic rocks. According to the observed precursory seismic- ity, only restricted to few hours before the onset of the eruption, this process could have accompanied subcritical aseismic fracture opening during the days before the eruption, possibly related to stress corrosion-cracking pro- cesses, which enhanced the partial dissolution/melting and subsequent selective assimilation of the host rocks

Crystal-mush reactivation by magma recharge: Evidence from the Campanian Ignimbrite activity, Campi Flegrei volcanic field, Italy

International audienceProcesses of crystal-mush remobilization by mafic magma recharges are often related to the outpouring of largevolumes of silicic melt during caldera-forming eruptions. This occurred for the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) erup-tion (Campi Flegrei, Italy), which produced a voluminous trachy-phonolitic ignimbrite in southern-central Italyabout 40 ka ago. We focussed on the proximal-CI deposits at San Martino that are composed of a main sequenceof early-erupted, crystal-poor units and a late-erupted (post-caldera collapse) crystal-rich Upper Pumice FlowUnit (UPFU). Detailed micro-analytical geochemical data were performed on glasses and crystals of pyroclastsfrom these deposits and coupled with Sr-Nd isotopic measurements on glasses. Results show that the CI eruptionwas fed by two distinct melts for the early-erupted units and the late UPFU, respectively. The glasses of the early-erupted units have negative Eu anomalies and show more evolved compositions and higher Nd isotope ratiosthan those of the UPFU, which have positive Eu/Eu*. The magmas of the early units formed the main volume oferuptible meltof the CI reservoir, and are interpretedashaving beenextractedfrom cumulate crystal-mushwith-out a vertical geochemical gradient within the magma reservoir. The data indicate that the generation of thedistinctive UPFU melts involved the injection of a new batch of mafic magma into the base of the CI reservoir.The mafic magma allowed heating and reactivation of the CI crystal-mush by melting of low-Or sanidines(+/−low-An plagioclases), leaving high-An plagioclases and high-Mg# clinopyroxenes as residual phases anda crystal-mush melt, made of 20% of the initial mush interstitial melt (with a composition similar to the early-erupted units) and 80% of sanidine melt. When the mush crystallinity was sufficiently reduced, the maficmagma was able to penetrate into the reactivated crystal-mush, mixing with variable proportions of crystal-mush melt and generating cooler hybrid melts, which underwent further crystallization of high-Or sanidine atvariable degrees (10–25%). Finally, possibly a short time before the eruption, the UPFU magmas were able tomix and mingle with the crystal-poor eruptible melts still persisting in the CI reservoir at the time of UPFU emis-sion. We suggest that the complex mechanisms described for the magma evolution feeding the CI eruption mayoccur whenever a crystal-mush is reactivated by new mafic magma input

The Impact of Specific Viruses on Clinical Outcome in Children Presenting with Acute Heart Failure

Abstract: The presence and type of viral genomes have been suggested as the main etiology for inflammatory dilated cardiomyopathy. Information on the clinical implication of this finding in a large population of children is lacking. We evaluated the prevalence, type, and clinical impact of specific viral genomes in endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) collected between 2001 and 2013 among 63 children admitted to our hospital for acute heart failure (median age 2.8 years). Viral genome was searched by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Patients underwent a complete two-dimensional echocardiographic examination at hospital admission and at discharge and were followed-up for 10 years. Twenty-seven adverse events (7 deaths and 20 cardiac transplantations) occurred during the follow-up. Viral genome was amplified in 19/63 biopsies (35%); PVB19 was the most commonly isolated virus. Presence of specific viral genome was associated with a significant recovery in ejection fraction, compared to patients without viral evidence (p < 0.05). In Cox-regression analysis, higher survival rate was related to virus-positive biopsies (p < 0.05). When comparing long-term prognosis among different viral groups, a trend towards better prognosis was observed in the presence of isolated Parvovirus B19 (PVB19) (p = 0.07). In our series, presence of a virus-positive EMB (mainly PVB19) was associated with improvement over time in cardiac function and better long-term prognosis