A first insight into the Marsili volcanic seamount (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy): results from ORION-GEOSTAR3 experiment

The Marsili Seamount is the largest European underwater volcano. It is Plio-Pleistocenic in age, rising up to more than 3000m from the seafloor in the SE Tyrrhenian basin (Central Mediterranean), a back arc basin which began progressively opening 10 Ma ago (Kastens et al., 1988). The seamount lies in a key area for understanding the evolution of the Tyrrhenian region, characterized by high values of heat flow (Della Vedova et al., 2001) and low values of Moho isobaths (Locardi and Nicolich, 1988). In spite of the large dimensions of the Marsili seamount, we still have limited knowledge of its present activity. Ocean exploration is dependent on available technology and infrastructure, which started to develop strongly only after the 1980s. In fact, from its discovery in the 1920s, very little was known of the Marsili Seamount until the late 1990s when new techniques such as multibeam acoustic bathymetry were developed allowed to reveal at least the morphology. Some dedicated expeditions then obtained the first morpho-bathimetric map of the entire Tyrrhenian seafloor, based on multibeam swath-mapping together with seismic, gravimetric and magnetometric data (e.g. Marani and Gamberi, 2004). Although these data have greatly contributed to our understanding, the necessarily short measurement time limits the extent to which they reflect short- to medium-term geophysical processes in the Tyrrhenian basin. New technologies, such as multiparameter seafloor observatories, provide long-term continuous time-series in deep ocean waters, which are the basis for an original approach in ocean exploration. The observation of phenomena variability over time is key to understanding many Earth processes, among which we recall hydrothermal activity, active tectonics, and ecosystem life cycles. The development in Europe of multidisciplinary seafloor observatories has been pioneered under the EC Framework Programmes, specifically in the GEOSTAR projects (Beranzoli et al., 1988, 2000). From 2003 to 2005, long-term geophysical and oceanographic monitoring was conducted within the EC ORION-GEOSTAR3 project with two multiparameter observatories deployed on the seafloor 3320m below sea level (b.s.l.) in the vicinity of the Marsili Seamount. The two observatories were equipped with a set of sensors providing long-term continuous time-series of various physical measurements. The acquired time series are the longest continuous data record of the Marsili Basin available so far. This chaper intends to provide the main information on this experiment and present some results of the processing of the corresponding time-series, adding new valuable information on the still poorly explored activity of the volcano seamount. This chapter is organized as follows: The next section will provide the geological setting to understanding the importance of the Marsili Seamount and its basin; the ORION-GEOSTAR3 experiment is described in Section 24.3; some results from this unprecedented seismic, magnetic and gravimetric data analyses are shown in Section 24.4; and finally, in the last section we present our discussion with the main conclusions.Published623-6413A. Geofisica marina e osservazioni multiparametriche a fondo mar

Postpartum depression screening through artificial intelligence: preliminary data through the Talking About algorithm

Postpartum depression (PD) is the most widespread perinatal psy­chiatric disorder, also representing the most frequent non-obstetric birth-related complication. From an epidemiological point of view, it has an average prevalence of 17-18% worldwide. This psychiatric disorder may have long-standing effects on the health of both the mother and the child, but also on the relationship with the partner (including paternal PD). Therefore, an early diagnosis is fundamental to treat this disorder immediately and avoid such complications. Talking About, by the company GPI (Trento, Italy), is a project focused on voice analysis as a medium to access human emotions. It consists of a series of Speech Emotion Recognition (SER) algorithms. The aim of the study is to evaluate the application of the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm Talking About on the mothers’ emotions analysis. Talking About investigates the unconscious aspects of voice that usually cannot be controlled or voluntarily modified, aiming at identifying the subjects’ emotions. Thus, all bias, characterising all classic screening questionnaires, should be neutralised, achieving a sharper overview of the mothers’ emotional state. The mother’s emotional results are displayed in 5 main categories: 2 positive, 3 negative. This study has engaged a total of 154 mothers who gave birth at the “Policlinico Universitario D. Casula” and/or carried out a pediatric examination at the “ambulatorio SOS MAMI” (which is a PostNatal Care Service). They underwent both the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) test and the Talking About voice test. Despite this study’s sample limitations, our preliminary data related to PD symptoms identification are promising and encouraging, leading the way to further investigations related to the application of AI as a PD screening support. Indeed, further studies are needed to improve our knowledge on this topic and possibly apply this tool in clinical practice in the future, even considering PD of the father

A School-Based Program to Promote Well-Being in Preadolescents: Results From a Cluster Quasi-Experimental Controlled Study

Diario della Salute [My Health Diary] is a school-based program designed to enhance the subjective well-being and health of 12- to 13-year-old students. We hypothesized that providing students with the social and emotional skills to fulfill their potential and deal with common developmental tasks of adolescence (e.g., onset of puberty, identity development, increased responsibilities and academic demands) would result in improved well-being and health. The program comprises five standardized interactive lessons concerning common psychosocial and health issues in adolescence, and two narrative booklets addressed to both students and their parents. We evaluated the effectiveness of the program in terms of the students' subjective well-being, aggressive behavior, and health behavior. Using a quasi-experimental study design, schools in the intervention group implemented the full program and those in the comparison group received their regular curriculum. We administered measures of the study's objectives both before and after program implementation. Statistical analyses accounted for within-school clustering, potential socioeconomic and demographic confounding, and pre-implementation levels of these measures. We sampled 62 schools and allocated 2630 students to either an intervention or comparison group. Sociodemographic characteristics and baseline outcomes were balanced across study groups. Unexpectedly, respondents in the intervention group had 0.38 greater mean adjusted score of the WHO/Europe Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Symptom Checklist instrument than respondents in the comparison group, indicating a reduction in subjective well-being. We did not observe any program effects on aggressive and health behaviors. The apparent reduction in subjective well-being reflected by an increased perception of psychosomatic complaints is suggestive of either increased emotional competence or, potentially, iatrogenic program effects. While greater emotional competence is positively associated with well-being over the course of life, the program in its present form should not be disseminated due to the possibility of adverse unintended effects

Prevalence of Chromosomally Integrated Human Herpesvirus 6 in Patients with Human Herpesvirus 6–Central Nervous System Dysfunction

AbstractWe identified 37 hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients with human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) central nervous system dysfunction and tested donor-recipient pairs for chromosomally integrated HHV-6 (ciHHV-6). One patient had ciHHV-6A with possible HHV-6A reactivation and encephalitis. There was no ciHHV-6 enrichment in this group, but larger studies are needed to determine if patients with ciHHV-6 are at increased risk for HHV-6–associated diseases or other complications

Assessing the Potential of Intra-specific Biodiversity towards Adaptation of Irrigated and Rain-fed Italian Production Systems to Future Climate

AbstractThe study addresses the biophysical dimension of adaptation. It illustrates and applies a framework to evaluate options for adaptation by identifying cultivars optimally adapted to expected climate conditions, building on existing crops intra-specific biodiversity. The aim is to reduce the vulnerability of current production systems without altering the pattern of current species and cultivation systems.Adaptability is assessed through a three-step approach that involves: 1) evaluation of indicators of expected thermal and hydrological conditions within the specific landscape and production system; 2) determination, for a set of cultivars, of cultivar- specific thermal and hydrological requirements to attain the desirable yield; 3) identification, as options for adaptation, of the cultivars for which expected climate conditions match the climatic requirements. The approach relies on a process-based simulation model of water flow in the soil-plant-atmosphere system for the calculation of hydrological indicators. Thermal indicators are derived by means of phenological models. Empirical functions of cultivars yield response to water availability are used to determine cultivar-specific hydrological requirements, whereas cultivars thermal requirements are estimated through phenological observations.In a future climate case (2021-2050) three case-studies are analyzed: 1) a system dominated by rain-fed crops (olive, winegrapes, durum wheat) in a hilly area of southern Italy; 2) irrigated fruit crops (peach, pear) in the Po Valley; 3) maize and tomato crop in an irrigated plain of southern Italy.Cultivars adapted to the future climate have been identified for rain-fed crops (e.g. 5 olive cvs). For irrigated crops we have evaluated adaptability for optimal and deficit irrigation schedules, accounting for site-specific soils hydrological properties. Options for adaptations have been identified as a combination of cultivars, soils and irrigation schedules (e.g 2 tomato cvs and 3 maize hybrids have been identified as options for adaptation at scarce water availability). Moreover, in the case of fruit crops, accounting for phenological changes highlighted the impact on irrigation water requirements of the interaction between phenology and the intra-annual distribution of precipitation

Stakeholder mapping to support invasive non-native species management in South America

Peer reviewe

NEMO-SN1 Abyssal Cabled Observatory in the Western Ionian Sea

The NEutrinoMediterranean Observatory—Submarine Network 1 (NEMO-SN1) seafloor observatory is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, Western Ionian Sea, off Eastern Sicily (Southern Italy) at 2100-m water depth, 25 km from the harbor of the city of Catania. It is a prototype of a cabled deep-sea multiparameter observatory and the first one operating with real-time data transmission in Europe since 2005. NEMO-SN1 is also the first-established node of the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory (EMSO), one of the incoming European large-scale research infrastructures included in the Roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) since 2006. EMSO will specifically address long-term monitoring of environmental processes related to marine ecosystems, marine mammals, climate change, and geohazards

Optimization of High-Density Fe-Au Nano-Arrays for Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Biological Samples

The method of realizing nanostructures using porous alumina templates has attracted interest due to the precise geometry and cheap cost of nanofabrication. In this work, nanoporous alumina membranes were utilized to realize a forest of nanowires, providing a bottom-up nanofabrication method suitable for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Gold and iron were electroplated through the straight channels of the membrane. The resulting nanowires are, indeed, made of an active element for plasmonic resonance and SERS as the hexagonal distribution of the nanowires and the extreme high density of the nanowires allows to excite the plasmon and detect the Raman signal. The method to reduce the distance between pores and, consequently, the distance of the nanowires after electrodeposition is optimized here. Indeed, it has been predicted that the light intensity enhancement factor is up to 1012 when the gap is small than 10 nm. Measurements of Raman signal of thiol groups drying on the gold nanowires show that the performance of the device is improved. As the thiol group can be linked to proteins, the device has the potential of a biosensor for the detection of a few biomolecules. To assess the performance of the device and demonstrate its ability to analyze biological solutions, we used it as SERS substrates to examine solutions of IgG in low abundance ranges. The results of the test indicate that the sensor can convincingly detect biomolecules in physiologically relevant ranges