The growth and erosion of cinder cones in Guatemala and El Salvador: Models and statistics

Morphologic data for 147 cinder cones in southern Guatemala andwestern El Salvador are comparedwith data from the San Francisco volcanic field, Arizona (USA), Cima volcanic field, California (USA), Michoácan–Guanajuato volcanic field, Mexico, and the Lamongan volcanic field, East Java. The Guatemala cones have an average height of 110+/-50 m, an average basal diameter of 660+/-230 m and an average top diameter of 180+/-150 m. The generalmorphology of these cones can be described by their average cone angle of slope (24+/-7), average heightto- radius ratio (0.33+/-0.09) and their flatness (0.24+/-0.18). Although the mean values for the Guatemalan cones are similar to those for other volcanic fields (e.g., San Francisco volcanic field, Arizona; Cima volcanic field, California; Michoácan–Guanajuato volcanic field, Mexico; and Lamongan volcanic field, East Java), the range of morphologies encompasses almost all of those observed worldwide for cinder cones. Three new 40Ar/39Ar age dates are combined with 19 previously published dates for cones in Guatemala and El Salvador. There is no indication that the morphologies of these cones have changed over the last 500–1000 ka. Furthermore, a re-analysis of published data for other volcanic fields suggests that only in the Cima volcanic field (of those studied) is there clear evidence of degradation with age. Preliminary results of a numerical model of cinder cone growth are used to show that the range of morphologies observed in the Guatemalan cinder cones could all be primary, that is, due to processes occurring at the time of eruption

Radar array diagnosis from undersampled data using a compressed sensing/sparse recovery technique

A Compressed Sensing/Sparse Recovery approach is adopted in this paper for the accurate diagnosis of fault array elements from undersampled data. Experimental validations on a slotted waveguide test array are discussed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed procedure in the failures retrieval from a small set of measurements with respect to the number of radiating elements. Due to the sparsity feature of the proposed formulation, the method is particularly appealing for the diagnostics of large arrays, typically adopted for radar applications

The growth and erosion of cinder cones in Guatemala and El Salvador: Models and statistics

Morphologic data for 147 cinder cones in southern Guatemala andwestern El Salvador are comparedwith data from the San Francisco volcanic field, Arizona (USA), Cima volcanic field, California (USA), Michoácan–Guanajuato volcanic field, Mexico, and the Lamongan volcanic field, East Java. The Guatemala cones have an average height of 110+/-50 m, an average basal diameter of 660+/-230 m and an average top diameter of 180+/-150 m. The generalmorphology of these cones can be described by their average cone angle of slope (24+/-7), average heightto- radius ratio (0.33+/-0.09) and their flatness (0.24+/-0.18). Although the mean values for the Guatemalan cones are similar to those for other volcanic fields (e.g., San Francisco volcanic field, Arizona; Cima volcanic field, California; Michoácan–Guanajuato volcanic field, Mexico; and Lamongan volcanic field, East Java), the range of morphologies encompasses almost all of those observed worldwide for cinder cones. Three new 40Ar/39Ar age dates are combined with 19 previously published dates for cones in Guatemala and El Salvador. There is no indication that the morphologies of these cones have changed over the last 500–1000 ka. Furthermore, a re-analysis of published data for other volcanic fields suggests that only in the Cima volcanic field (of those studied) is there clear evidence of degradation with age. Preliminary results of a numerical model of cinder cone growth are used to show that the range of morphologies observed in the Guatemalan cinder cones could all be primary, that is, due to processes occurring at the time of eruption

Sustained low influenza vaccination in health care workers after H1N1 pandemic: A cross sectional study in an Italian health care setting for at-risk patients

Background: Despite consistent recommendations by all Public Health Authorities in support of annual influenza vaccination for at-risk categories, there is still a low uptake of influenza vaccine in these groups including health care workers (HCWs). Aim of this observational two-phase study was to estimate the immunization rates for influenza in four subsequent seasons and for pandemic H1N1 influenza in HCWs of a University Hospital, and to investigate its distribution pattern and the main determinants of immunization. Phase 1 data collection was performed in 2009-2010, during the peak of H1N1 pandemic. Phase 2 data collection, aimed to investigate seasonal influenza vaccination coverage in the three seasons after pandemic, was performed in 2012-2013. Methods: The overall H1N1 vaccination rate was derived by the Hospital immunization registry. In 2010, the personnel of three Departments (Infectious Diseases, Pediatrics and Gynecology/Obstetrics) completed a survey on influenza. A second-phase analysis was performed in 2012 to investigate influenza vaccination coverage in three consecutive seasons. Results: The first-phase survey showed a low coverage for influenza in all categories (17 %), with the lowest rate in nurses (8.1 %). A total of 37 % of health care workers received H1N1 vaccine, with the highest rate among physicians and the lowest in nurses. H1N1 vaccination was closely related to the Department, being higher in the Department of Infectious Diseases (53.7 %) and Pediatrics (42.4 %) than in Gynecology/Obstetrics (8.3 %). The second-phase survey showed the lowest rate of influenza vaccination in 2012/13 season. The main reasons for not being vaccinated were "Unsure of the efficacy of vaccine" and "Feel not at-risk of getting influenza or its complications". Despite recommendations, influenza vaccine uptake remains poor. Conclusion: Immunization is largely perceived as a personal protection rather than a measure needed to prevent disease spreading to at-risk patients. Compulsory vaccination against influenza should be considered as a possible strategy, at least in health institutions where at-risk patients are admitted

The Magnetic Distortion Calibration System of the LHCb RICH1 Detector

The LHCb RICH1 detector uses hybrid photon detectors (HPDs) as its optical sensors. A calibration system has been constructed to provide corrections for distortions that are primarily due to external magnetic fields. We describe here the system design, construction, operation and performance.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figure

Aging and oral care: An observational study of characteristics and prevalence of oral diseases in an Italian cohort

Background: Poor oral health is a common condition in patients suffering from dementia. Several aspects of this systemic pathology contribute to causing oral problems: cognitive impairment, behavior disorders, communication and, motor skills deterioration, low levels of cooperation and medical-nursing staff incompetency in the dental field. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the prevalence and the characteristics of oral pathology in a demented elderly population, as well as to check the association between the different degree of dementia and the oral health condition of each patient. Materials and Methods: In this observational study (with cross-sectional design) two groups of elderly patients suffering from dementia, living in two different residential care institutions were recruited. The diagnosis of dementia of each included patient was performed using the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale. In order to evaluate the oral health condition of the included subjects, each patient underwent a physical examination of the oral cavity, during which different clinical parameters were analyzed (number of remaining teeth, oral mucosa, periodontal tissues, bone crests). To each parameter, a score was assigned. Spearman’s Rho test was used. Results: Regarding the prevalence of oral pathology in elderly suffering from dementia, it emerged that 20.58% of the included patients had mucosal lesions and/or new mucosal formations (in most cases undiagnosed and therefore untreated). The prevalence of periodontal disease was equal to 82.35% and a marked clinically detectable reabsorption of bone crests was found in almost all patients (88.23%). 24.13% of patients, who underwent the oral examination, had totally edentulous maxillae and/or with retained roots, without prosthetic rehabilitations. The correlation index r showed the presence of a linear correlation (inverse relationship) between the degree of dementia and the state of health of the oral cavity of each patient. Conclusions: Several factors contribute to poor oral health in the elderly suffering from dementia: cognitive functions deterioration, behavioral disorders and inadequate medical-staff nursing training on oral hygiene. This study also demonstrated that the lower the dementia degree is, the lower tends to be the oral health status. In order to guarantee a complete assistance to these patients, residential care institutions should include in their healthcare program specific dental protocols