Hydrogeological characterization of peculiar Apenninic springs

Abstract. In the northern Apennines of Italy, springs are quite widespread over the slopes. Due to the outcropping of low-permeability geologic units, they are generally characterized by low-yield capacities and high discharge variability during the hydrologic year. In addition, low-flow periods (discharge lower than 1 Ls-1) reflect rainfall and snowmelt distribution and generally occur in summer seasons. These features strongly condition the management for water-supply purposes, making it particularly complex. The "Mulino delle Vene" springs (420 m a.s.l., Reggio Emilia Province, Italy) are one of the largest in the Apennines for mean annual discharge and dynamic storage and are considered as the main water resource in the area. They flow out from several joints and fractures at the bottom of an arenite rock mass outcrop in the vicinity of the Tresinaro River. To date, these springs have not yet been exploited, as the knowledge about the hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifer and their hydrological behaviour is not fully achieved. This study aims to describe the recharge processes and to define the hydrogeological boundaries of the aquifer. It is based on river and spring discharge monitoring and groundwater balance assessment carried out during the period 2012–2013. Results confirm the effectiveness of the approach, as it allowed the total aliquot of discharge of the springs to be assessed. Moreover, by comparing the observed discharge volume with the one calculated with the groundwater balance, the aquifer has been identified with the arenite slab (mean altitude of 580 m a.s.l.), extended about 5.5 km2 and located 1 km west of the monitored springs

Pequeños vertebrados del relleno kárstico del Pleistoceno Superior de Avetrana (Apulia, Sur de Italia)

The fossiliferous deposit (karst cavity) in La Grave, a locality near the small town of Avetrana (Taranto, south­ern Italy), has yielded numerous fossils of vertebrates. The remains of large mammals have been the subject of several studies. This paper examines the remains of small vertebrates and identifies four taxa of amphibians (Bufo bufo, Bufotes gr. B. viridis, Hyla gr. H. Arborea and Rana (s.l.) sp.), four taxa of reptiles (Testudo hermanni, Podarcis sp., Zamenis gr. Z. longissimus, Natrix natrix), and nine taxa of small mammals (Erinaceus europaeus, Crocidura suaveolens, Arvicola italicus, Microtus (Terricola) savii, Microtus (Microtus) arvalis, Apodemus gr. A. sylvaticus - A. flavicollis, Hystrix (Acanthion) vinogradovi, Oryctolagus cuniculus and Lepus corsicanus). From a biochronological point of view, the data on small and large vertebrates indicate an age between the beginning of the Late Pleistocene (MIS 5e) and the central part of MIS 3. The most recent fossiliferous layer (bed 8) is likely to have been deposited during a cooler period when compared to the previous layers.The data from small fossil vertebrates combined with those emerging from the large mammals and birds evidence the presence, near the karstic cavity, of open spaces (prairies) with pools of water, bordered by wooded areas and, not far, the presence of a rocky coastline.El depósito (cavidad kárstica) de La Grave, localidad cercana a la pequeña ciudad de Avetrana (Tarento, Italia meridional), ha dado lugar a numerosos fósiles de vertebrados. Los restos de grandes mamíferos han sido objeto de varios estudios. En este trabajo se examinan los restos de pequeños vertebrados y se identifican cuatro taxones de anfibios (Bufo bufo, Bufotes gr. B. viridis, Hyla gr. H. Arborea and Rana (s.l.) sp.), cuatro de reptiles (Testudo hermanni, Podarcis sp., Zamenis gr. Z. longissimus, Natrix natrix), y nueve de pequeños mamíferos (Erinaceus europaeus, Crocidura suaveolens, Arvicola italicus, Microtus (Terricola) savii, Microtus (Microtus) arva­lis, Apodemus gr. A. sylvaticus - A. flavicollis, Hystrix (Acanthion) vinogradovi, Oryctolagus cuniculus and Lepus corsicanus). Desde un punto de vista biocronológico, los datos sobre los vertebrados pequeños y grandes indican una edad entre el comienzo del Pleistoceno tardío (MIS 5e) y la parte central del MIS 3. Es probable que el estrato fosilífero más reciente (nivel 8) se haya depositado durante un período más frío en comparación con las capas anteriores. Los datos de pequeños vertebrados fósiles combinados con los que proceden de los grandes mamífe­ros y aves evidencian la presencia, cerca de la cavidad kárstica, de espacios abiertos (praderas) con charcos de agua, bordeados por zonas boscosas y, no muy lejos, la presencia de una costa rocosa

Sub-Nyquist Field Trial Using Time Frequency Packed DP-QPSK Super-Channel Within Fixed ITU-T Grid

Sub-Nyquist time frequency packing technique was demonstrated for the first time in a super channel field trial transmission over long-haul distances. The technique allows a limited spectral occupancy even with low order modulation formats. The transmission was successfully performed on a deployed Australian link between Sydney and Melbourne which included 995 km of uncompensated SMF with coexistent traffic. 40 and 100 Gb/s co-propagating channels were transmitted together with the super-channel in a 50 GHz ITU-T grid without additional penalty. The super-channel consisted of eight sub-channels with low-level modulation format, i.e. DP-QPSK, guaranteeing better OSNR robustness and reduced complexity with respect to higher order formats. At the receiver side, coherent detection was used together with iterative maximum-a-posteriori (MAP) detection and decoding. A 975 Gb/s DP-QPSK super-channel was successfully transmitted between Sydney and Melbourne within four 50GHz WSS channels (200 GHz). A maximum potential SE of 5.58 bit/s/Hz was achieved with an OSNR=15.8 dB, comparable to the OSNR of the installed 100 Gb/s channels. The system reliability was proven through long term measurements. In addition, by closing the link in a loop back configuration, a potential SE*d product of 9254 bit/s/Hz*km was achieved

Efficacy and microbiota modulation induced by limpial 2.5%, a new medical device for the inverse psoriasis treatment

(1) Inverse psoriasis (IP), also known as intertriginous, typically affects the groin, armpits, navel, intergluteal fissure, and external genitalia. Skin lesions are erythematous plaques of inflammatory nature, smooth, well-delimited, non-scaly, and non-infiltrated. Lesions may be accompanied by itching, pain, or burning sensation. The aim of this study is both to investigate the modulation of the skin microbiota induced by IP and, on the other hand, to test the effectiveness of the new biotechnological product LimpiAL 2.5%. (2) Patients affected by IP were recruited in a private practice and treated for 4 weeks with LimpiAL 2.5% exclusively. The clinical effects on the lesion skin were evaluated, and the skin microbiotas before and after treatment were compared. (3) The clinical outcomes reveled a significant beneficial effect of the tested product. At the same time, LimpiAL increased the biological diversity of the skin microbiota and exerted a significant decrease of some Corynebacterium species, and the increase of some Staphylococcus species. (4) Together, the clinical outcomes and the microbiota analysis suggest that LimpiAL treatment improves the skin condition of affected patients, basically restoring the eubiosis conditions of the affected sites and modulating the bacterial composition of the resident microbiota

Noncyclic covers of knot complements

Hempel has shown that the fundamental groups of knot complements are residually finite. This implies that every nontrivial knot must have a finite-sheeted, noncyclic cover. We give an explicit bound, $\Phi (c)$, such that if $K$ is a nontrivial knot in the three-sphere with a diagram with $c$ crossings and a particularly simple JSJ decomposition then the complement of $K$ has a finite-sheeted, noncyclic cover with at most $\Phi (c)$ sheets.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, from Ph.D. thesis at Columbia University; Acknowledgments added; Content correcte

From building regulations and local health rules to the new local building codes. A national survey in Italy on the prescriptive and performance requirements for a new performance approach

BACKGROUND: World Health Organization has highlighted the need to strengthen the relationship between health and built environment factors, such as inappropriate housing conditions. Building Regulations and Local Health Rules provide safety and building hygiene in construction practices. Currently the Italian Government is giving rise to a Building Regulation Type and the paper aims to verify the present contents of recent innovative Local Health Rules and Building Regulations of several Italian municipalities for supporting the performance approach of the future Building Regulations including hygienic issues. METHODS: The analysis examines both Building Regulations and Local Health Rules of a sample of about 550 cities, analysing some specific fields of interest: urban field, outdoor issues, housing features, housing restrictions, and qualitative aspects. RESULTS: The analysis focuses on some specific aspects defining the general data reported in Building Regulations and Local Health Rules, in particular around surfaces, heights, lighting and aeration ratio, basements and semi-basements, gas radon, building greenery, etc. CONCLUSION: The investigation permitted to have a wide vision on the present State of the Art in order to highlight some innovative aspects and design approaches of Building Regulations and Local Health Rules. New perspectives in the new regulations should have a performance approach, starting also from the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Ultrastructure and SSU rDNA Phylogeny of Paraphysomonas vestita (Stokes) De Saedeleer Isolated from Laguna de Bay, Philippines

Paraphysomonas vestita is a unicellular, colorless, silica-scaled chrysophyte that plays an important ecological role in freshwater microbial communities as a consumer of prokaryotic and eukaryotic prey. There is little biogeographical information for this minute protist despite its significant role in aquatic food webs. In addition, the phylogenetic relationship of P. vestita to other taxa is unclear as P. vestita may be polyphyletic or a cryptic species complex. In this study, a clonal isolate from a freshwater sample of Laguna de Bay, Philippines was subjected to morphological study by electron microscopy and its small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene was sequenced. Morphological studies showed that the isolate possesses two unequal flagella emerging from the anterior part of the cell. Negative staining revealed the structure of the scales which consist of a baseplate with slightly thickened rim. The narrowing spine arises from the center of the baseplate. These results agree with previously studied isolates of P. vestita. The 18S rRNA gene sequence of the isolate had a very high similarity (99%) to P. vestita strain PV10. Phylogenetic analysis also showed that the isolate clustered with other Paraphysomonas sequences with high bootstrap support. Phylogenetic studies confirmed that P. vestita may be polyphyletic. No studies on the ultrastructure and phylogeny of a silica-scaled chrysophyte isolated in the Philippines have been reported so far. Results from this study may contribute to further ultrastructural and phylogenetic studies on aquatic flagellates and specifically to a revision of this potentially polyphyletic species