The Water Supply System of Ancient Pompeii (Southern Italy): From Resource to Geohazard

Pompeii, a famous ancient city in the southern Italy, was finally demised by the Plinian eruption in the 79 AD, but, long before it was hit by two alluvial mass flows that damaged the city. These pre-79 AD volcaniclastic deposits had been emplaced by avalanches, slumps, and associated debris flows (secondary lahars) during volcanically quiescent phases of the Somma-Vesuvius volcano. These deposits were transported and channelized along stream beds. Some of these extended to the immediate proximity of Capua Gate, at the northern side of Pompeii, where an artificial canal was built to supply water to the city. The canal path continues toward Vesuvius Gate and then, toward Villa of Mysteries. The flood deposits were released from hyperconcentrated slumps and debris flows. The first flood event, not transported through the artificial canal, took place before the foundation of the city (764 BC) and has affected a wide area of the Sarno Plain. The second one, occurred during the fourth century BC, was caused by the canal’s limited width and produced severe damage in the archaic city. Instead, the third flood event occurred in 170 BC and caused severe damage in the northern part of the city. The geological data prove that the water, as resource, in some cases can turn into a geohazard

Rules of the Game and Rules Inside the Game: a Complex Framework of European Development Policies

Following the transaction-costs politics (TCP) approach (Dixit 1996), this paper tries to spell out the making of that development policy, as prevailing in the Objective 1 area in Europe from 1999, based on decentralization and multilevel governance, and essentially implied from the success of endogenous growth paradigm. The TCP approach allows for the explanation of both the genesis and evolution of a policy in real time, by considering (i) the policy-making as a set of general rules and of individual intervention actions, and (ii) this set in the same way of incomplete, flexible and dynamic contracts (Williamson 1985). In this theoretical context we reconsider the underlying innovative notion of decentralization, that consists in a devolution process of political power to local agents and their communities, by promoting local partnership rather than a mere administrative delegation of function from central to local level (Bardhan 1996). The outcome (success or failure) of this development policy approach is strictly connected either with new frame of governance rules or with their feasible "use": this means that a rules scheme would be not neutral with respect to objectives choices (Stiglitz 2001). In short, we refer to the agency model in order to explain either the enforcement process of rules or local implementation of specific development policies and measures. Finally the outcome policy will be not predetermined, but it will depend from how the agents (formal, informal, individual, groups, organisations) interact inside a community, that benefits by the set of development measures (complementarity) (Aoki 2001;Ray 2000)

Rules of the Game and Rules Inside the Game: a Complex Framework of European Development Policies

Following the transaction-costs politics (TCP) approach (Dixit 1996), this paper tries to spell out the making of that development policy, as prevailing in the Objective 1 area in Europe from 1999, based on decentralization and multilevel governance, and essentially implied from the success of endogenous growth paradigm. The TCP approach allows for the explanation of both the genesis and evolution of a policy in real time, by considering (i) the policy-making as a set of general rules and of individual intervention actions, and (ii) this set in the same way of incomplete, flexible and dynamic contracts (Williamson 1985). In this theoretical context we reconsider the underlying innovative notion of decentralization, that consists in a devolution process of political power to local agents and their communities, by promoting local partnership rather than a mere administrative delegation of function from central to local level (Bardhan 1996). The outcome (success or failure) of this development policy approach is strictly connected either with new frame of governance rules or with their feasible "use": this means that a rules scheme would be not neutral with respect to objectives choices (Stiglitz 2001). In short, we refer to the agency model in order to explain either the enforcement process of rules or local implementation of specific development policies and measures. Finally the outcome policy will be not predetermined, but it will depend from how the agents (formal, informal, individual, groups, organisations) interact inside a community, that benefits by the set of development measures (complementarity) (Aoki 2001;Ray 2000)

On the occurrence of the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff tephra in the Northern Phlegraean Fields offshore (Eastern Tyrrhenian margin; Italy)

A main volcanic marker has been identified for the first time on the continental shelf of the northern Phlegraean Fields in the Gaeta Gulf (Campania region, eastern Tyrrhenian margin, Italy) by means of Subbottom Chirp profile grid and stratigraphic analysis of a core collected on the slope. In the seismic sections, the core bottom corresponds to the top of a continuous and parallel reflector (V) interbedded within the transgressive deposits of the Late Quaternary-Holocene depositional sequence. The Transgressive System Tract deposits are particularly thick compared to the majority of the transgressive deposits of other shelf settings. This might be due to the input of pyroclastic and volcanoclastic deposits related to the intense eruptive activity of the Campania Plain during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene time span. Undulations and pockmarks are the main morphological features of the sea floor and they might be linked to gas uprising, widely detected in the study area. The V reflector is located on the shelf from northeast to southwest at different depths, ranging from 10 ms (about 8 m) to 30 ms (about 25 m) below sea floor and it can be mapped down to the continental slope. The geological calibration of this continuous reflector coupled with tephrostratigraphic analysis, allowed to correlate it with the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff deposits emplaced at Phlegraean Fields at ca. 15 ka

Acute Delta Hepatitis in Italy spanning three decades (1991–2019): Evidence for the effectiveness of the hepatitis B vaccination campaign

Updated incidence data of acute Delta virus hepatitis (HDV) are lacking worldwide. Our aim was to evaluate incidence of and risk factors for acute HDV in Italy after the introduction of the compulsory vaccination against hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 1991. Data were obtained from the National Surveillance System of acute viral hepatitis (SEIEVA). Independent predictors of HDV were assessed by logistic-regression analysis. The incidence of acute HDV per 1-million population declined from 3.2 cases in 1987 to 0.04 in 2019, parallel to that of acute HBV per 100,000 from 10.0 to 0.39 cases during the same period. The median age of cases increased from 27 years in the decade 1991-1999 to 44 years in the decade 2010-2019 (p < .001). Over the same period, the male/female ratio decreased from 3.8 to 2.1, the proportion of coinfections increased from 55% to 75% (p = .003) and that of HBsAg positive acute hepatitis tested for by IgM anti-HDV linearly decreased from 50.1% to 34.1% (p < .001). People born abroad accounted for 24.6% of cases in 2004-2010 and 32.1% in 2011-2019. In the period 2010-2019, risky sexual behaviour (O.R. 4.2; 95%CI: 1.4-12.8) was the sole independent predictor of acute HDV; conversely intravenous drug use was no longer associated (O.R. 1.25; 95%CI: 0.15-10.22) with this. In conclusion, HBV vaccination was an effective measure to control acute HDV. Intravenous drug use is no longer an efficient mode of HDV spread. Testing for IgM-anti HDV is a grey area requiring alert. Acute HDV in foreigners should be monitored in the years to come

Ebook e dati della lettura

L’occasione del ventennale del Centro Bibliotecario dell’Università degli studi di Salerno è stato lo spunto per riflettere su due temi importanti: la lettura in Italia e nel mezzogiorno e la rivoluzione annunciata e non del tutto compiuta dell’ebook. La riflessione sui dati della lettura restituisce un quadro che può definirsi deprimente rilevando segnali di una vera e propria emergenza sociale, formativa e culturale. La riflessione sulla progressiva e incruenta evoluzione degli ebook mette in luce più di un ostacolo alla piena concretizzazione

“ Rules of the game and rules inside the game : A complex framework of European development policies”

Following the transaction-costs politics (TCP) approach (Dixit 1996), this paper tries to spell out the making of that development policy, as prevailing in the Objective 1 area in Europe from 1999, based on decentralization and multilevel governance, and essentially implied from the success of endogenous growth paradigm. The TCP approach allows for the explanation of both the genesis and evolution of a policy in real time, by considering (i) the policy-making as a set of general rules and of individual intervention actions, and (ii) this set in the same way of incomplete, flexible and dynamic contracts (Williamson 1985). In this theoretical context we reconsider the underlying innovative notion of decentralization, that consists in a devolution process of political power to local agents and their communities, by promoting local partnership rather than a mere administrative delegation of function from central to local level (Bardhan 1996). The outcome (success or failure) of this development policy approach is strictly connected either with new frame of governance rules or with their feasible "use": this means that a rules scheme would be not neutral with respect to objectives choices (Stiglitz 2001). In short, we refer to the agency model in order to explain either the enforcement process of rules or local implementation of specific development policies and measures. Finally the outcome policy will be not predetermined, but it will depend from how the agents (formal, informal, individual, groups, organisations) interact inside a community, that benefits by the set of development measures (complementarity) (Aoki 2001;Ray 2000)

Structural and lithostratigraphic controls of earth-flow evolution, Montaguto earth flow, Southern Italy

This paper aims to define the control exerted by geological setting on the evolution and segmentation of the Montaguto earth flow in Southern Italy. A detailed geological survey and multi-temporal maps were used to reconstruct the geological model of La Montagna Mt. and to quantify the evolution of the flow in terms of sediment pulse formation, movement direction and spatial change in earth-flow area. The spatial distribution of structural fabric of the mountainside was compared with (1) planar geometry of earth-flow source area, (2) orientation of strike-slip faults bounding the earth-flow moving core (i.e. movement direction) and (3) kinematic-zone position and extent.We infer that the evolution of the earth flow is controlled by geological structures and lithology. Moreover, the entire basal-slip surface is composed of newly formed basalslip surface in the source area, and corresponds to pre-earth-flow topography downslope from the neck. Implications of our work are that (1) a detailed geological model of an unstable mountainside, combined with information about earth-flow spatial evolution, might be considered as a tool that allows the localization of areas of possible earth-flow enlargement and (2) geological structures constrain earth-flow movement, inducing a predictable seasonal behaviour in terms of movement direction

Spatiotemporal Hotspots Analysis for Exploring the Evolution of Diseases: An Application to Oto-Laryngopharyngeal Diseases

This paper presents a spatiotemporal analysis of hotspot areas based on the Extended Fuzzy C-Means method implemented in a geographic information system. This method has been adapted for detecting spatial areas with high concentrations of events and tested to study their temporal evolution. The data consist of georeferenced patterns corresponding to the residence of patients in the district of Naples (Italy) to whom a surgical intervention to the oto-laryngopharyngeal apparatus was carried out between the years 2008 and 2012