A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) multiplex system: the association of five SNPs with human eye and hair color in the Slovenian population and comparison using a Bayesian network and logistic regression model

Aim To analyze two phenotype characteristics – eye and hair color – using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and evaluate their prediction accuracy in Slovenian population. Methods Twelve SNPs (OCA2 – rs1667394, rs7170989, rs1800407, rs7495174; HERC2 – rs1129038, rs12913832; MC1R – rs1805005, rs1805008; TYR – rs1393350; SLC45A2 – rs16891982, rs26722; SLC24A5 – rs1426654) were used for the development of a single multiplex assay. The single multiplex assay was based on SNaPshot chemistry and capillary electrophoresis. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the prediction of eye and hair color, we used the logistic regression model and the Bayesian network model, and compared the parameters of both. Results The new single multiplex assay displayed high levels of genotyping sensitivity with complete profiles generated from as little as 62 pg of DNA. Based on a prior evaluation of all SNPs in a single multiplex, we focused on the five most statistically significant in our population in order to investigate the predictive value. The two prediction models performed reliably without prior ancestry information, and revealed very good accuracy for both eye and hair color. Both models determined the highest predictive value for rs12913832 (P < 0.0001), while the other four SNPs (rs1393350, rs1800407, rs1805008, and rs7495174) showed additional association for color prediction. Conclusion We developed a sensitive and reliable single multiplex genotyping assay. More samples from different populations should be analyzed before this assay could be used as one of the supplemental tools in tracing unknown individuals in more complicated crime investigations

Application of airborne LiDAR to mapping seismogenic faults in forested mountainous terrain, southeastern Alps, Slovenia

Results are presented of the first airborne LiDAR survey ever flown in Europe for the purpose of mapping the surface expression of earthquake-prone faults. Detailed topographic images derived from LiDAR data of the Idrija and Ravne strike-slip faults in NW Slovenia reveal geomorphological and structural features that shed light on the overall architecture and kinematic history of both fault systems. The 1998 Mw = 5.6, and 2004 Mw = 5.2 Ravne Fault earthquakes and the historically devastating 1511 M = 6.8 Idrija earthquake indicate that both systems pose a serious seismic hazard in the region. Because both fault systems occur within forested terrain, a tree removal algorithm was applied to the data; the resulting images reveal surface scarps and tectonic landforms in unprecedented detail. Importantly, two sites were discovered to be potentially suitable for fault trenching and palaeo-seismological analysis. This study highlights the potential contribution of LiDAR surveying in both low-relief valley terrain and high-relief mountainous terrain to a regional seismic hazard assessment programme. Geoscientists working in other tectonically active regions of the world where earthquake-prone faults are obscured by forest cover would also benefit from LiDAR maps that have been processed to remove the canopy return and reveal the forest floor topography

Multi-disciplinary investigations of active faults in the Julian Alps, Slovenia

UK-Slovenian collaborative research connected to EU COST-Action 625 began in 2003 and has involved interdisciplinary research into the current activity, structural architecture and landscape expression of the Ravne and Idrija strike-slip fault systems in NW Slovenia. The Ravne fault may be the best exposed actively propagating strike-slip fault system in Europe and through combined structural fieldwork, earthquake seismology and airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) surveys, a new understanding of the fault’s along-strike segmentation, three dimensional geometry and stepover zone kinematics has been gained. The Idrija Fault in contrast, is poorly exposed, but defines a regional lineament with an intensely brecciated fault core; it may have been responsible for the largest historical earthquake to have ever affected the region. High-resolution LiDAR images recently obtained for both fault systems allow for efficient focussed fieldwork and future work will be devoted to documenting the timing of previous earthquakes and the connectivity and displacement transfer between active faults at the NE corner of the Adria microplate

Database of Individual Seismogenic Sources (DISS), Version 3.2.1: A compilation of potential sources for earthquakes larger than M 5.5 in Italy and surrounding areas

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e VulcanologiaPublished2T. Deformazione crostale attiva3T. Sorgente sismica4T. Sismicità dell'Italia5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica6T. Studi di pericolosità sismica e da maremoto4IT. Banche dat

The European Fault-Source Model 2020 (EFSM20): geologic input data for the European Seismic Hazard Model 2020

Earthquake hazard analyses rely on seismogenic source models. These are designed in various fashions, such as point sources or area sources, but the most effective is the three-dimensional representation of geological faults. We here refer to such models as fault sources. This study presents the European Fault-Source Model 2020 (EFSM20), which was one of the primary input datasets of the recently released European Seismic Hazard Model 2020. The EFSM20 compilation was entirely based on reusable data from existing active fault regional compilations that were first blended and harmonized and then augmented by a set of derived parameters. These additional parameters were devised to enable users to formulate earthquake rate forecasts based on a seismic-moment balancing approach. EFSM20 considers two main categories of seismogenic faults: crustal faults and subduction systems, which include the subduction interface and intraslab faults. The compiled dataset covers an area from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge to the Caucasus and from northern Africa to Iceland. It includes 1248 crustal faults spanning a total length of ∼95 100 km and four subduction systems, namely the Gibraltar, Calabrian, Hellenic, and Cyprus arcs, for a total length of ∼2120 km. The model focuses on an area encompassing a buffer of 300 km around all European countries (except for Overseas Countries and Territories) and a maximum of 300 km depth for the subducting slabs. All the parameters required to develop a seismic source model for earthquake hazard analysis were determined for crustal faults and subduction systems. A statistical distribution of relevant seismotectonic parameters, such as faulting mechanisms, slip rates, moment rates, and prospective maximum magnitudes, is presented and discussed to address unsettled points in view of future updates and improvements. The dataset, identified by the DOI https://doi.org/10.13127/efsm20 (Basili et al., 2022), is distributed as machine-readable files using open standards (Open Geospatial Consortium).</p

Structural conditions within Sava Fault zone in the Western Karavanke mountains, NW Slovenia

The investigated area of Western Karavanke lies in the zone of Sava Fault – the southern most part of the Periadriatic Fault zone. The work is based on detail structural mapping of the fault zones combined with measurements of microtectonic data used for paleostress tensor inversion. The prevailing orientation of fault zones in the studied area is generally E–W oriented with steep dips towards N with strike-slip kinematics as the main slip sense recorded on them. Alongside horizontal deformation, records of vertical movements on these faults are also to be seen in the field and the inversion data confirm such kinematic style with compressional stress regime. Two systems of connecting faults that lie between two strands of E–W oriented faults are also present in the studied area. Along both of them blocks of more deformable rocks were extruded on more rigid rock units. I connect the age of this style of deformation to post-collisional processes connected to Alpine orogenesis, and recent earthquakes in the area prove the ongoing active deformation of the area