Damage to Masonry Structures in the Historic Center of Arezzo (Tuscany, Italy) Following the Excavation of a Sewer Tunnel

The work carried out in the 1983-84 period for the building of a sewer line at a shallow depth in the historic center of Arezzo (Tuscany - Italy) caused serious damage to many of the masonry structures. For a depth of 6-7 m., the foundation underground is made of a thick deposit of eterogeneous soils, mainly clayey silt of medium or soft consistency, including elements of gravel, boulders and organic sediment. The tunnel has a circular section, its external diameter being 1.90 m, cover 3.40 - 5.20 m, and the work was carried out using a shield. The method of excavation and the subsequent operation of the tunnel brought about a prolonged disturbance and resettling of the ground in contact with the casing and thus, where fairly large boulders came into contact with the outside edge, gaps formed which were not injected with plastic concrete. On the basis of the geotechnical data available, the surface subsidence has subsequently been calculated and has been compared with what is allowable without damaging the overhead structures

In Situ and Laboratory Tests for the Evaluation of Dynamic Geotechnical Properties of a Cohesive Deposit in Florence

In order to determine dynamic parameters to use for seismic microzoning purposes in a new development area near Florence, the dynamic behavior of the alluvial silty clays situated in the upper 60 m of the deposit was experimentally investigated using geophysical surveys and cyclic laboratory tests. Previous studies on the geotechnical properties of the clays of Florence revealed that, in spite of some similarities in a comparison with other coeval clays described in the literature this soil exhibits a few anomalies, as e.g. higher variations between field and laboratory shear waves velocities and remarkable differences in the coefficients of the empirical relations that link the shear modulus to other geotechnical parameters. Moreover, many current correlations from CPT and DMT tests resulted not valid. This peculiar behavior cannot be explained in terms of cementation, because the carbonatic contents values, even if scattered, are practically normal. The objectives of the test program herein described were, therefore, as much to deepen our knowledge of the dynamic behavior of the soil both in situ and in laboratory, at low and high strain level, as to find out the reasons for this different behavior, by examining the possible influence of sample disturbance and of long-term effects, as well as of different geophysical survey techniques. The results of crosshole tests (CH), of spectral analysis of superficial waves surveys (SASW), of resonant column tests (RC) and of triaxial tests with measurement of shear and longitudinal wave velocities (Vt1), as well as the empirical relationships obtained between geotechnical parameters are analyzed and discussed

The Ligurian Units of Western Tuscany (Northern Apennines): insight on the influence of pre-existing weakness zones during ocean closure

Most of the tectonic units cropping out in Western Tuscany are fragments of the Jurassic oceanic crust, ophiolitic successions, overlaid diachronously by Upper Cretaceous-middle Eocene carbonate and siliciclastic flysch successions with their Cenomanian-lower Eocene shalycalcareous basal complexes. These units, so called Ligurian, have been emplaced during the closure of the Ligurian-Piedmont Ocean. Ophiolite bearing debris flows are common in the flysch basins and their relationship with ophiolitic tectonic slices points to a strong relation between tectonics and sedimentation from the early compressive events of the Late Cretaceous. The tectonic activity reflects in a rough morphology of the ocean floor. It progressively influences the distribution and sedimentology of the turbidites. During middle Eocene this relationship begun very important and a paleogeographic reconstruction with prominent linear ophiolitic reliefs that bounded some turbiditic basins can be done. In our reconstruction the sedimenta..

Fluid history related to the early Eocene-middle Miocene convergent system of the Northern Apennines (Italy). Constraints from structural and isotopic studies

The late Eocene-middle Miocene erosive plate boundary between the European and the Adriatic plates is exhumed in the Northem Apennines of Italy. The fossil fault zone is 500 m thick and the outcropping portion exposes the :first 5 km of its depth. At this plate boundary basai and frontal tectonic erosion incorporated unlithified, fluid-rich sediments into the fault zone. The deformation and nature of the material along the plate boundary define a fossil subduction channel. Here we couple a detailed structural analysis of the Apennine subduction channel, focusing, in particular, on calcite veins, with a stable isotope analysis to characterize the fluid regime along an active subduction channel. The 13C and 180 composition of calcite vein and host rock samples within the fault zone indicates that there is a deep metamorphic source of fluids migrating upward along the subduction channel, in addition to locally derived fluid components. Dewatering of subducting turbidites contributes significantly only in the shallowest part of the channel. Structural observations indicate fluid flow along and across the subduction channel. At deep levels fluid flow is associated with discrete deformation events on shear faults offset by dilational jogs :filled with implosion breccias. At intennediate levels deformation is stili cyclic and associated with repeated crack-and-seal events. At the shallowest levels deformation occurred, while portions of the subducting material were stili unlithi:fied. Here the deformation was quasicontinuous, without associated vein development. Both isotope and structural analyses indicate that this erosive subduction channel behaved as a weak: fault with a vertical maximum principal stres

Mutational analysis of BCORL1 in the leukemic transformation of chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms.

BCORL1 mutations do not seem to be commonly associated with leukemic transformation of MPN, further substantiating the different molecular profile compared with denovo leukemias. Although the small number of cases does not allow us to exclude that BCORL1 mutations can be found also in post-MPN AML, their occurrence is, at least, very infrequent and their detection does not appear to deserve clinical relevance

Cholesterol Serum Levels and Use of Statins in Graves' Orbitopathy: A New Starting Point for the Therapy.

Graves' Orbitopathy (GO) is the most frequent extrathyroidal manifestation of Graves' disease (GD). Its ultimate cause remains unclear, but it is commonly considered an autoimmune disorder due to self recognition of autoantigens constitutively expressed by orbital fibroblasts (OFs), and thyroid epithelial cells. High dose intravenous glucocorticoids (ivGC) are the most commonly used treatment for moderately severe and active GO. However, based on the complex pathogenesis of GO, a number of factors may have a protective and maybe a therapeutic role. The use of other medications improving the effect of GC may increase the overall effectiveness of the therapy and reduce GC doses, thereby limiting side effects. Recently, a possible protective role of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme reductase inhibitors, the so-called statins, and perhaps of lowering cholesterol levels, has been proposed. Thus, statins have been reported to be associated with a reduced frequency of GO in GD patients and in recent cross-sectional and retrospective studies a significant correlation was found between the occurrence of GO and both total and LDL-cholesterol in patients with a GD of relatively recent onset, suggesting a role of cholesterol in the development of GO. Moreover, a correlation was found between the GO clinical activity score and total as well as LDL-cholesterol in untreated GO patients, depending on GO duration, indicating a role of cholesterol on GO activity. Therefore, statin treatment may be beneficial for GO. Here we review this subject, which offers new therapeutic perspectives for patients with GO

Symbolic verification of event–condition–action rules in intelligent environments

In this paper we show how state-of-the art SMT-based techniques for software verification can be employed in the verification of event–condition–action rules in intelligent environments. Moreover, we exploit the specific features of intelligent environments to optimise the verification process. We compare our approach with previous work in a detailed evaluation section, showing how it improves both performance and expressivity of the language for event–condition–action rules

Late Cenozoic tephrostratigraphy offshore the southern Central American Volcanic Arc: 2. Implications for magma production rates and subduction erosion

Pacific drill sites offshore Central America provide the unique opportunity to study the evolution of large explosive volcanism and the geotectonic evolution of the continental margin back into the Neogene. The temporal distribution of tephra layers established by tephrochonostratigraphy in Part 1 indicates a nearly continuous highly explosive eruption record for the Costa Rican and the Nicaraguan volcanic arc within the last 8 M.y. The widely distributed marine tephra layers comprise the major fraction of the respective erupted tephra volumes and masses thus providing insights into regional and temporal variations of large-magnitude explosive eruptions along the southern Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA). We observe three pulses of enhanced explosive magmatism between 0-1 Ma at the Cordillera Central, between 1-2 Ma at the Guanacaste and at >3 Ma at the Western Nicaragua segments. Averaged over the long-term the minimum erupted magma flux (per unit arc length) is ∼0.017 g/ms. Tephra ages, constrained by Ar-Ar dating and by correlation with dated terrestrial tephras, yield time-variable accumulation rates of the intercalated pelagic sediments with four prominent phases of peak sedimentation rates that relate to tectonic processes of subduction erosion. The peak rate at >2.3 Ma near Osa particularly relates to initial Cocos Ridge subduction which began at 2.91±0.23 Ma as inferred by the 1.5 M.y. delayed appearance of the OIB geochemical signal in tephras from Barva volcano at 1.42 Ma. Subsequent tectonic re-arrangements probably involved crustal extension on the Guanacaste segment that favored the 2-1 Ma period of unusually massive rhyolite production