Analisi dei fenomeni deformativi indotti dalla sequenza sismica emiliana del 2012 su un tratto di argine del Canale Diversivo di Burana (FE)

The seismic sequence that in May 2012 struck a large area of the river Po Valley (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy) triggered significant fractures and deformations in a number of riverbanks located close to the earthquake epicenter. Among them, one of the most severely damaged structures turned out to be the banks of an irrigation canal known as Canale Diversivo di Burana, flowing through the small village of Scortichino (Municipality of Bondeno), near the historic town of Ferrara. Large, longitudinally-oriented ground cracks were observed along a 3 km bank stretch, causing in turn severe structural damages to a large part of the approximately one hundred houses and productive activities built on the bank crown. In order to interpret the response of such soil structure during the 2012 earthquake by identifying possible damage causes as well as to suggest relevant remedial measures and seismic risk mitigation actions towards possible future earthquakes, the Emilia-Romagna regional authority launched an in-depth study carried out by a number of research groups from various Italian universities in cooperation with technical experts of the Geological, Seismic and Soil Survey Regional Department. To this purpose, a number of geotechnical investigations were performed (in situ and laboratory tests) and an accurate geotechnical model for the seismic stability analyses was thus defined. Potential liquefaction phenomena of the shallow sandy soils, in the foundation subsoil, were taken into account in the analyses. The paper describes the main features of the extensive study carried out by the working group and summarizes the most significant achievements of the analyses

Analisi dei fenomeni deformativi indotti dalla sequenza sismica emiliana del 2012 su un tratto di argine del Canale Diversivo di Burana (FE)

L’articolo descrive uno studio riguardante i fenomeni deformativi osservati dopo il sisma dell’Emilia del maggio 2012 lungo un tratto di argine del Canale Diversivo di Burana che ricade nell’abitato di Scortichino, frazione del comune di Bondeno (FE). In questa porzione del rilevato arginale sono state edificate oltre un centinaio di abitazioni ed alcune strutture di medio-piccole dimensioni adibite ad attività produttive o a deposito, molte delle quali sono risultate pesantemente danneggiate e dichiarate inagibili proprio a causa delle deformazioni e del sistema di fratture longitudinali presenti nel terreno in seguito al terremoto. Il contributo qui presentato si prefigge di analizzare la risposta sismica dell’argine durante la sequenza sismica del 2012, comprendere le cause dei dissesti nonché individuare le necessarie azioni di mitigazione e gli eventuali interventi di messa in sicurezza nei confronti di terremoti futuri. A questo scopo è stata condotta un’ampia campagna sperimentale di indagini in sito e in laboratorio, finalizzata alla ricostruzione di un accurato modello geotecnico per la valutazione delle condizioni di stabilità dell’argine in condizioni sismiche, portando in conto anche l’eventuale insorgenza di fenomeni di liquefazione nei terreni sabbiosi superficiali costituenti la fondazione del corpo arginale. L’analisi illustrata è il risultato dell’attività di indagine svolta per più di un anno dal Gruppo di Lavoro Argini (GdLA), costituitosi nel luglio 2012 in seguito ad un accordo fra la Regione Emilia-Romagna e l’Associazione Geotecnica Italiana per la verifica delle condizioni di stabilità dei rilevati arginali nelle aree colpite dal terremoto

SARS-CoV-2 infection among hospitalised pregnant women and impact of different viral strains on COVID-19 severity in Italy: a national prospective population-based cohort study

Objective The primary aim of this article was to describe SARS-CoV-2 infection among pregnant women during the wild-type and Alpha-variant periods in Italy. The secondary aim was to compare the impact of the virus variants on the severity of maternal and perinatal outcomes. Design National population-based prospective cohort study. Setting A total of 315 Italian maternity hospitals. Sample A cohort of 3306 women with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days of hospital admission. Methods Cases were prospectively reported by trained clinicians for each participating maternity unit. Data were described by univariate and multivariate analyses. Main outcome measures COVID-19 pneumonia, ventilatory support, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mode of delivery, preterm birth, stillbirth, and maternal and neonatal mortality. Results We found that 64.3% of the cohort was asymptomatic, 12.8% developed COVID-19 pneumonia and 3.3% required ventilatory support and/or ICU admission. Maternal age of 30-34 years (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.09-1.87) and >= 35 years (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.23-2.13), citizenship of countries with high migration pressure (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.36-2.25), previous comorbidities (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.13-1.98) and obesity (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.29-2.27) were all associated with a higher occurrence of pneumonia. The preterm birth rate was 11.1%. In comparison with the pre-pandemic period, stillbirths and maternal and neonatal deaths remained stable. The need for ventilatory support and/or ICU admission among women with pneumonia increased during the Alpha-variant period compared with the wild-type period (OR 3.24, 95% CI 1.99-5.28). Conclusions Our results are consistent with a low risk of severe COVID-19 disease among pregnant women and with rare adverse perinatal outcomes. During the Alpha-variant period there was a significant increase of severe COVID-19 illness. Further research is needed to describe the impact of different SARS-CoV-2 viral strains on maternal and perinatal outcomes