New discoveries at Woolsey Mound, MC118, northern Gulf of Mexico

Woolsey Mound, a 1km-diameter carbonate-gas hydrate complex in the northern Gulf of Mexico, is the site of the Gulf’s only seafloor monitoring station-observatory in its only research reserve, Mississippi Canyon 118. Active venting, outcropping hydrate, and a thriving chemosynthetic community recommend the site for study. Since 2005, the Gulf of Mexico Hydrates Research Consortium has been conducting multidisciplinary studies to 1. Characterize the site, 2. Establish a facility for real-time monitoring-observing of gas hydrates in a natural setting, 3. Study the effects of gas hydrates on seafloor stability, 4. Establish fluid migration routes and estimates of fluid-flux at the site, 5. Establish the interrelationships between the organisms at the vent site and the association-dissociation of hydrates. A variety of novel geological, geophysical, geochemical and biological studies has been designed and conducted, some in survey mode, others in monitoring mode. Geophysical studies involving merging multiple seismic data acquisition systems accompanied by the application of custom processing techniques verify communication of surface features with deep structures. Supporting geological data derive from innovative recovery techniques. Geochemical sensors, used experimentally in survey mode, including aboard an AUV, double as monitoring devices. A suite of pore-fluid sampling devices has returned data that capture change at the site in daily increments; using only noise as an energy source, hydrophones have returned daily fluctuations in physical properties. Ever-expanding capabilities of a custom-ROV have been determined by research needs. Processing of new as well as conventional data via unconventional means has resulted in the discovery of new features…..vents, faults, benthic fauna…..and modification of others including pockmarks, hydrate outcrops, vent activity, and water-column chemical plumes. Though real-time monitoring awaits communications and power link to land, periodic data-collection reveals a carbonate-hydrate mound, part of an immensely complex hydrocarbon system

RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE PATIENT-REPORTED ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS IN AN ITALIAN ALLERGY UNIT: ALLERG-RAF STUDY

Introduction: The Italian Medicines Agency indicates that about 5% of hospital admissions are due to Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). Several factors are recognized to be associated with an increased risk for ADRs, such as the female gender and polytherapy. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze the suspected ADRs reported by patients during the anamnestic interview at the Allergy Unit. Patients and methods: ALLERG-RAF study is a retrospective analysis of the medical records of patients evaluated in the Allergy Unit of ASST Spedali Civili and University of Brescia from 2000 to 2016. The inclusion criteria were age >18 years and medical consultation requested for suspected ADRs. Data relating to the patient's intrinsic characteristics, the drug supposed to be the cause and the prescribed pharmacological therapy were collected. Pseudonymized data from each patient were collected in an informatics database. Results: From 2000 to 2016, 35817 accesses to the Allergy Unit were made and 2171 unique events related to a suspected ADR were collected in 1840 patients. More than two thirds of the reports concerned females (70.4%). Antibiotics were involved in the majority of the self-reported suspected ADRs (48.7%), particularly beta-lactams (61.1%). Anti-inflammatory drugs, mainly NSAIDs, were second in incidence and suspected in 25.2% of reports. As a site of ADR manifestation, most of the reported reactions involve the skin. No clinical sequelae were reported. Conclusions: Our results underline the importance of patient reporting in Pharmacovigilance. Furthermore, gender gap data emphasizes the importance of the gender-specific medicine approach

Challenges In Imaging the Deep Seabed: Examples From Gulf of Mexico Cold Seeps

Applying improved processing techniques to increasingly high resolution data can produce extremely high resolution results that reveal features invisible on standard resolution images. Increasing demand for resources from the deep sea demands imaging the seabed in ever-more remote areas with increased accuracy. For economic, safety, and legal reasons, lessors of offshore real estate survey the seafloor and shallow sub-seafloor prior to conducting seafloor operations. A standard geohazards survey includes multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar and CHIRP subbottom profiling and will yield useful data at 5–25 m (16–82 ft) resolution. However, higher resolution surveys are now possible and, though more time-consuming (and costly), yield potentially critical information not visible in coarser resolution surveys: morphologic features, structure, biota, etc. Recovering such information has become increasingly important for reasons that include 1) identification of natural seafloor features (i.e., fault traces, protected seafloor communities, seeps, mud volcanoes); 2) selection/elimination of target locations; 3) identification of unnatural features (shipwrecks, instruments, pipelines); 4) siting structures on the seafloor; and 5) instrument location/recovery. Using coarser resolution surveying for regional studies, then focusing higher resolution surveys on areas of particular interest, and applying meticulous processing of acoustic data, our team has produced 1 m (3 ft) resolution seafloor images that have enabled us to identify a host of small-scale features not routinely imaged at coarser resolutions. Here we present significant results including small-scale morphologic features associated with seeps, instrument locations, and benthic fauna habitat in the Gulf of Mexico

Challenges In Imaging the Deep Seabed: Examples From Gulf of Mexico Cold Seeps

Applying improved processing techniques to increasingly high resolution data can produce extremely high resolution results that reveal features invisible on standard resolution images. Increasing demand for resources from the deep sea demands imaging the seabed in ever-more remote areas with increased accuracy. For economic, safety, and legal reasons, lessors of offshore real estate survey the seafloor and shallow sub-seafloor prior to conducting seafloor operations. A standard geohazards survey includes multibeam bathymetry, side-scan sonar and CHIRP subbottom profiling and will yield useful data at 5–25 m (16–82 ft) resolution. However, higher resolution surveys are now possible and, though more time-consuming (and costly), yield potentially critical information not visible in coarser resolution surveys: morphologic features, structure, biota, etc. Recovering such information has become increasingly important for reasons that include 1) identification of natural seafloor features (i.e., fault traces, protected seafloor communities, seeps, mud volcanoes); 2) selection/elimination of target locations; 3) identification of unnatural features (shipwrecks, instruments, pipelines); 4) siting structures on the seafloor; and 5) instrument location/recovery. Using coarser resolution surveying for regional studies, then focusing higher resolution surveys on areas of particular interest, and applying meticulous processing of acoustic data, our team has produced 1 m (3 ft) resolution seafloor images that have enabled us to identify a host of small-scale features not routinely imaged at coarser resolutions. Here we present significant results including small-scale morphologic features associated with seeps, instrument locations, and benthic fauna habitat in the Gulf of Mexico

Geohazard features of the Tyrrhenian Calabria

ABSTRACTThis paper accompanies the Maps of Geohazard features of the Cilento and the Calabro-Tyrrhenian continental margin in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). The main geohazard-related features were derived from extensive seafloor mapping through the collection of high-resolution multibeam data acquired during several oceanographic cruises. They encompass many fluids seepage features, fault scarps, landslides scars, gullies, channels, and canyons. Hazards related to coastal landslides and shelf-indenting canyons are very high in these sectors (especially in southern Calabria) due to active seismicity coupled with rapid uplift, high sedimentation rates and narrow or totally absent continental shelf, thus promoting a direct connection between steep slopes and coastal areas. In this setting, mass-wasting features can directly impact coastal or submarine infrastructures or indirectly create local tsunami waves, as observed in historical times. Moreover, this physiographic setting of the margin facilitates the transfer of marine litter toward deep-sea areas