SAR data and field surveys combination to update rainfall-induced shallow landslide inventory

The Campania region has been recurrently hit by severe landslides in volcanoclastic deposits. The city of Naples, and in particular the Camaldoli and Agnano hills (Phlegraean Fields), also suffered several landslide crises in weathered volcanoclastic rocks as a consequence of intense rainfalls or wildfires. To identify slope failures phenomena occurred in the winter season 2019–2020 an innovative procedure has been proposed. The purpose of this procedure is to highlight areas where major land cover changes occurred within our area of study, which can be potentially related to mass movements. The amplitude of spaceborne SAR images has been exploited for the change detection analysis and the output derived from the segmentation procedure has been compared with field observations. The amplitude-based method has been already applied in the detection of landslides, but never on the event with limited extensions, such as for this application. The achieved outcomes allowed the mapping of 62 new landslides that have been used to update the current landslide inventory database. This type of information is expected to help decision-makers with land planning and risk assessment

Bottom-up engineering of InAs at the nanoscale: From V-shaped nanomembranes to nanowires

The ability to rationally tune the morphology of nanostructures is a fundamental milestone in nanoscale engineering. In particular, the possibility to switch between different shapes within the same material system represents a further step in the development of complex nanoscale devices and it increases the potential of nanostructures in practical applications. We recently reported a new form of InAs nanostructures growing epitaxially on Si substrates as vertical V-shaped membranes. Here we demonstrate the possibility of modifying the shape of these nanomembranes and turning them into nanowires by modulating the surface roughness of the substrate by varying the surface treatment. We show that the growth of nanomembranes is favored on smooth surfaces. Conversely rough surfaces enhance the growth of nanowires. We also shove that the V/III ratio plays a key role in determining the absolute yield, i.e. how many nanostructures form during growth. These results envisage a new degree of freedom in the engineering of bottom up nanostructures and contribute to the achievement of nanostructure networks. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Neurovisceral phenotypes in the expression of psychiatric symptoms

This review explores the proposal that vulnerability to psychological symptoms, particularly anxiety, originates in constitutional differences in the control of bodily state, exemplified by a set of conditions that include Joint Hypermobility, Postural Tachycardia Syndrome and Vasovagal Syncope. Research is revealing how brainbody mechanisms underlie individual differences in psychophysiological reactivity that can be important for predicting, stratifying and treating individuals with anxiety disorders and related conditions. One common constitutional difference is Joint Hypermobility, in which there is an increased range of joint movement as a result of a variant of collagen. Joint hypermobility is over-represented in people with anxiety, mood and neurodevelopmental disorders. It is also linked to stress-sensitive medical conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Structural differences in 'emotional' brain regions are reported in hypermobile individuals, and many people with joint hypermobility manifest autonomic abnormalities, typically Postural Tachycardia Syndrome. Enhanced heart rate reactivity during postural change and as recently recognised factors causing vasodilatation (as noted post prandially, post exertion and with heat) is characteristic of Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, and there is a phenomenological overlap with anxiety disorders, which may be partially accounted for by exaggerated neural reactivity within ventromedial prefrontal cortex. People who experience Vasovagal Syncope, a heritable tendency to fainting induced by emotional challenges (and needle/blood phobia), are also more vulnerable to anxiety disorders. Neuroimaging implicates brainstem differences in vulnerability to faints, yet the structural integrity of the caudate nucleus appears important for the control of fainting frequency in relation to parasympathetic tone and anxiety. Together there is clinical and neuroanatomical evidence to show that common constitutional differences affecting autonomic responsivity are linked to psychiatric symptoms, notably anxiety

Interpain A, a Cysteine Proteinase from Prevotella intermedia, Inhibits Complement by Degrading Complement Factor C3

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of the supporting structures of the teeth caused by, among other pathogens, Prevotella intermedia. Many strains of P. intermedia are resistant to killing by the human complement system, which is present at up to 70% of serum concentration in gingival crevicular fluid. Incubation of human serum with recombinant cysteine protease of P. intermedia (interpain A) resulted in a drastic decrease in bactericidal activity of the serum. Furthermore, a clinical strain 59 expressing interpain A was more serum-resistant than another clinical strain 57, which did not express interpain A, as determined by Western blotting. Moreover, in the presence of the cysteine protease inhibitor E64, the killing of strain 59 by human serum was enhanced. Importantly, we found that the majority of P. intermedia strains isolated from chronic and aggressive periodontitis carry and express the interpain A gene. The protective effect of interpain A against serum bactericidal activity was found to be attributable to its ability to inhibit all three complement pathways through the efficient degradation of the α-chain of C3—the major complement factor common to all three pathways. P. intermedia has been known to co-aggregate with P. gingivalis, which produce gingipains to efficiently degrade complement factors. Here, interpain A was found to have a synergistic effect with gingipains on complement degradation. In addition, interpain A was able to activate the C1 complex in serum, causing deposition of C1q on inert and bacterial surfaces, which may be important at initial stages of infection when local inflammatory reaction may be beneficial for a pathogen. Taken together, the newly characterized interpain A proteinase appears to be an important virulence factor of P. intermedia

T cell phenotypes in COVID-19 - a living review

COVID-19 is characterized by profound lymphopenia in the peripheral blood, and the remaining T cells display altered phenotypes, characterized by a spectrum of activation and exhaustion. However, antigen-specific T cell responses are emerging as a crucial mechanism for both clearance of the virus and as the most likely route to long-lasting immune memory that would protect against re-infection. Therefore, T cell responses are also of considerable interest in vaccine development. Furthermore, persistent alterations in T cell subset composition and function post-infection have important implications for patients’ long-term immune function. In this review, we examine T cell phenotypes, including those of innate T cells, in both peripheral blood and lungs, and consider how key markers of activation and exhaustion correlate with, and may be able to predict, disease severity. We focus on SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells to elucidate markers that may indicate formation of antigen-specific T cell memory. We also examine peripheral T cell phenotypes in recovery and the likelihood of long-lasting immune disruption. Finally, we discuss T cell phenotypes in the lung as important drivers of both virus clearance and tissue damage. As our knowledge of the adaptive immune response to COVID-19 rapidly evolves, it has become clear that while some areas of the T cell response have been investigated in some detail, others, such as the T cell response in children remain largely unexplored. Therefore, this review will also highlight areas where T cell phenotypes require urgent characterisation

Capon- and APES-Based SAR Processing: Performance and Practical Considerations

This paper discusses the use of Capon's minimum-variance method (MVM) and Amplitude and Phase EStimation (APES) spectral-estimation algorithms to synthetic aperture radar range�azimuth focusing. The rationale of the algorithms is discussed. An implementation of a Capon or APES processing chain is explained, and processing parameters such as chip-image size, resampling factor, and diagonal loading are discussed. For multichannel cases, a joint-processing approach is presented. A set of Monte Carlo simulations are described and used to benchmark Capon- and APES-based processing against conventional matched-filter-based approaches. Both methods improve the resolution and reduce sidelobes. APES yields generally better estimates of amplitude and phase than Capon but with worse resolution. Results with RADARSAT-2 quad-polarization data over Barcelona are used to qualitatively study the real-life performance of these algorithms

Single-Pass Bistatic SAR Interferometry Using Fixed-Receiver Configurations: Theory and Experimental Validation

In this paper, bistatic interferometry using fixed-receiver configurations is addressed both theoretically and experimentally. The analytical expressions for interferometric phase and height sensitivity are derived, and a full interferometric processing chain for digital elevation model (DEM) generation is presented. The derived expressions are general, and they can be applied to two possible acquisition geometries: backscattering and forward scattering. The theoretical developments are complemented with experimental results done with the bistatic receiver Synthetic Aperture radar Bistatic Receiver for INterferometric Applications. The obtained DEMs are compared with a DEM from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and a digital terrain model from the Institut Cartografic de Catalunya. The comparison allows one to validate the results and demonstrate to which particular features of the scene that the bistatic radar is sensitive