Ulf Magnetic Observations: An Useful Tool to Investigate the Occurrence of Earthquake Precursors?

In the last two decades many researchers investigated ULF (Ultra-Low-Frequency) magnetic data in the hope of finding pre-earthquake seismogenic signals. Several ULF stations were installed and many papers documented the observations of pre-earthquake magnetic anomalies. These claims motivate the belief that one day short-term earthquake prediction based on magnetic data may become a routine technique. Since the earthquake prediction is a very important topic of social importance, recently some researchers gave rise to a re-examination process of controversial scientific claims and they published their findings. These authors demonstrated that many presumed seismogenic signatures were normal variations driven by the geomagnetic activity. Here, some examples of presumed earthquake precursors are reported hoping to shed light on the usefulness of the ULF magnetic measurements to study the occurrence of pre-earthquake seismogenic signals

Magnetic Field Observations Close to the Epicenter of the 2009 L´Aquila Earthquake.

On 6 April 2009 a seismic sequence culminated with the Mw6.3 main shock which heavily damaged the town of L’Aquila. Here, we report the analysis of ULF magnetic field data from the Geomagnetic Observatory of L’Aquila during the period 2008-2009. Magnetic data are investigated by means of conventional techniques of polarization ratio and fractal analysis. In addition, total geomagnetic field data from the INGV Central Italy tectonomagnetic network were also investigated using the simple inter-station differentiation method. Our study does not show any anomalous signal that could be undoubtedly related to the seismic activity

Design of Approaches for Dependability and Initial Prototypes

The aim of CONNECT is to achieve universal interoperability between heterogeneous Networked Systems. For this, the non-functional properties required at each side of the connection going to be established must be fulfilled. By the one inclusive term "CONNECTability" we comprehend properties belonging to all four non-functional concerns of interest for CONNECT, namely dependability, performance, security and trust. We model such properties in conformance with a meta-model which establishes the relevant concepts and their relations. Then, building on the conceptual models proposed in the first year in Deliverable D5.1, in this document we present the approaches developed for assuring CONNECTability both at synthesis time and at runtime. The contributions include: the Dependability&Performance analysis Enabler, for which we release a modular architecture supporting stochastic verification and state-based analysis; incremental verification and event-based monitoring for runtime analysis; a model-based approach to interoperable trust management; the Security-by-Contract-with-Trust framework, which guarantees and enforces the expected trust levels and security policies

Ulf Magnetic Observations: An Useful Tool to Investigate the Occurrence of Earthquake Precursors?

In the last two decades many researchers investigated ULF (Ultra-Low-Frequency) magnetic data in the hope of finding pre-earthquake seismogenic signals. Several ULF stations were installed and many papers documented the observations of pre-earthquake magnetic anomalies. These claims motivate the belief that one day short-term earthquake prediction based on magnetic data may become a routine technique. Since the earthquake prediction is a very important topic of social importance, recently some researchers gave rise to a re-examination process of controversial scientific claims and they published their findings. These authors demonstrated that many presumed seismogenic signatures were normal variations driven by the geomagnetic activity. Here, some examples of presumed earthquake precursors are reported hoping to shed light on the usefulness of the ULF magnetic measurements to study the occurrence of pre-earthquake seismogenic signals.PublishedSan Fernando, Cádiz, Spain2.6. TTC - Laboratorio di gravimetria, magnetismo ed elettromagnetismo in aree attiveope

A statistical study of global ionospheric map total electron content changes prior to occurrences of M ≥ 6.0 earthquakes during 2000-2014

There are many reports on the occurrence of anomalous changes in the ionosphere prior to large earthquakes. However, whether or not these changes are reliable precursors that could be useful for earthquake prediction is controversial within the scientific community. To test a possible statistical relationship between ionospheric disturbances and earthquakes, we compare changes in the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere with occurrences of 1279 M≥ 6.0 earthquakes globally for 2000–2014. We use TEC data from the global ionosphere map (GIM) and an earthquake list declustered for aftershocks. For each earthquake, we look for anomalous changes in GIM-TEC within 2.5° latitude and 5.0° longitude of the earthquake location (the spatial resolution of GIM-TEC). Although case studies of individual earthquakes that used short periods of data sometimes yield GIM-TEC changes that were considered possible earthquakerelated phenomena, our analysis has not found any statistically significant changes prior to earthquakes when considering all 1279 earthquakes together. Thus, we have found no evidence that would suggest that monitoring changes in GIM-TEC might be useful for predicting earthquakes.Published2151–21611A. Geomagnetismo e PaleomagnetismoJCR Journa

On a reported effect in ionospheric TEC around the time of the 6 April 2009 L'Aquila earthquake

In a report published in Advances in Space Research, Nenovski et al. (2015) analyse ionospheric TEC (total electron content) data from GPS measurements around the time of the 6 April 2009 Mw 6:1 L’Aquila (Italy) earthquake. According to the authors, TEC difference (DTEC) calculated from two GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers in central Italy shows a hump-like shape (an increase followed by a decrease) during the hours just before and shortly after the main shock. They maintain that the hump-like shape is anomalous and may be related to the earthquake. We show that the DTEC increase in the hours before the shock, as well as its subsequent slow decrease, does not have any characteristic that might support a possible relationship with the earthquake. We have also conducted our own independent analysis using the same GPS data analysed by Nenovski et al. (2015). We have found a diurnal variation in DTEC time series that shows hump-like shapes like that reported by Nenovski et al. (2015) throughout the investigated period. This demonstrates that the hump-like shape in DTEC close to the time of the 6 April earthquake is not anomalous and cannotPublished1461–14681A. Geomagnetismo e PaleomagnetismoJCR Journa

A new station for monitoring electromagnetic fields in Duronia (Italy): experimental setup and first results

<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 9.0px Times;">Since the end of 2007 a new electromagnetic field monitoring station has been in operation in Central Italy in the area of a village called Duronia. The station was created in the framework of the MEM (Magnetic and Electric</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 9.0px Times;">fields Monitoring) Project composed of a team headed by the Abruzzo region. The main target of the MEM Project is to create in the Adriatic Area a network of observatories to monitor the environmental electromagnetic signals in the frequency band from 0.001Hz to 100kHz (ULF-ELF-VLF). The peculiarity of the Duronia installation is the low electromagnetic background noise of the site and the low noise of the instrumentation. Here we show the experimental setup, with a brief discussion on the installed instrumentation and on the preliminaresults obtained in the first months of operation. The research activity is mainly focused on the analysis of the spectral structure of the Schumann Resonance in the range of frequencies [5.0-35.0]Hz, and the Ionospheric Alfvén Resonator in the range of frequencies [0.1-7.0]Hz and their evolution in time. Another target concerns the long-term monitoring of local magnetic field anomalies possiblelated to the local geodynamical processes.</p> <br /> <br /&gt

Toxoplasmosis in a Cohort of Italian Patients With Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders: How Infection May Affect Clinical Features?

This study investigated the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in a cohort of 101 Italian inpatients affected by mood or schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and compared clinical features between seronegative and seropositive subjects. Patients diagnosed according to DSM-5 criteria underwent clinical assessments and blood collection to test parasite-specific IgG/IgM serum levels. Twenty-eight patients (27.7%) had IgG anti-T. gondii, and none had IgM antibodies. We found higher prevalence rate in patients aged 40 years or older, as compared with younger. No significant association was detected between T. gondii and a specific diagnostic category; however, bipolar disorder (BD)-II showed the highest positivity rate (40.9%). The seropositive status was significantly associated with a lower presence of psychotic symptoms, higher number of total episodes of predominant excitatory polarity, longer illness duration, and lower severity of current episode, particularly anxiety, depressive, and withdrawal/retardation symptoms. These preliminary results seem to point out an association between chronic toxoplasmosis and a specific subtype of BD

Role of CT texture analysis for predicting peritoneal metastases in patients with gastric cancer

Purpose Aim of the study was to perform CT texture analysis in patients with gastric cancer (GC) to investigate potential role of radiomics for predicting the occurrence of peritoneal metastases (PM). Materials and methods In this single-centre retrospective study, patients with gastric adenocarcinoma and surgically confirmed presence or absence of PM were, respectively, enrolled in group PM and group non-PM. Patients with T1-staging, previous treatment or presence of imaging artifacts were excluded from the study. Pre-operative CT examinations were evaluated. Acquisition protocol consisted of gastric distension with water, pre-contrast and arterial phases on upper abdomen and portal phase on thorax and whole abdomen. Texture analysis was performed on portal phase images: the region of interest was manually drawn along the margins of the primitive lesion on each slice and the volume of interest of the whole tumour was obtained. A total of 38 texture parameters were extracted and analysed. ROC curves were performed on significant texture features (p < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression was conducted on features with the best AUC to identify differentiating variables for both groups. Results A total of 90 patients were evaluated (group PM, n = 45; group non-PM, n = 45). T2/T3 tumours were prevalent in group non-PM, T4 was significantly associated with group PM. Significant differences between the two groups were observed for 22/38 texture parameters. Volume and GLRLM_LRHGE showed the greatest AUC in ROC curve analysis (0.737 and 0.734, respectively) and were found to be independent differentiating variables of group PM in the multiple regression analysis (OR 8.44, [95% CI, 1.52-46.8] and OR 18.99 [95% CI, 84-195.31], respectively). Conclusions Our preliminary results suggest the potential value of CT texture analysis for predicting the risk of PM from GC, which may be helpful to stratify patients and address them to the most appropriate treatment

Tapping into the antitubercular potential of 2,5-dimethylpyrroles: A structure-activity relationship interrogation

An exploration of the chemical space around a 2,5-dimethylpyrrole scaffold of antitubercular hit compound 1 has led to the identification of new derivatives active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant clinical isolates. Analogues incorporating a cyclohexanemethyl group on the methyleneamine side chain at C3 of the pyrrole core, including 5n and 5q, exhibited potent inhibitory effects against the M. tuberculosis strains, substantiating the essentiality of the moiety to their antimycobacterial activity. In addition, selected derivatives showed promising cytotoxicity profiles against human pulmonary fibroblasts and/or murine macrophages, proved to be effective in inhibiting the growth of intracellular mycobacteria, and elicited either bactericidal effects, or bacteriostatic activity comparable to 1. Computational studies revealed that the new compounds bind to the putative target, MmpL3, in a manner similar to that of known inhibitors BM212 and SQ109