Tidal sedimentary dynamics of the Early Pleistocene Messina Strait (Calabria, southern Italy) based on its modern analogue

The Messina Strait excursion opens a series of geological field trips associated with the 10th International Congress of Tidal Sedimentology (Tidalites), Matera, Italy, 5-7 October 2021. This guide aims at documenting a number of selected outcrops located along the eastern margin of the modern Messina Strait, in order to illustrate the sedimentary dynamics of the Early Pleistocene tide-dominated Messina Strait. Since the Pliocene, this extensional basin separated Sicily from Calabria, forming a wide non-tidal seaway. Successively, this basin turned into a ca. 10-15 km-wide and 40 km-long, tide-dominated strait during the Early Pleistocene, prior to its definitive closure following a Middle Pleistocene phase of tectonic uplift. As for today in its modern analogue, the ancient strait acted as a major conduit for marine water exchanges between the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian seas. Semi-diurnal, reverse bidirectional tidal currents flowed in phase opposition parallel to the strait margins, being subject to tidal amplification due to bathymetric restriction across the shallower strait-centre zone. This oceanographic setting partitioned the strait into specific environments. Nowadays, their sedimentary record is exposed in a series of outcrops across the western (Sicily) and eastern (Calabria) margins of the modern strait. A series of stops along a south-to-north transect covers a total distance of ca. 20 km. Outcrops of the first day show coarse-grained deposits lying adjacent to a block-faulted central horst and transgressively overlain by cross-stratified, mixed bioclastic-siliciclastic arenites. These strata record bypass and residual sedimentation in the strait-centre zone of the ancient system. The second day, large- and medium-scale cross-stratification exhibiting a variety of tidal sedimentary indicators are observed, interpreted as the ancient northern tidal dune field. The third day focuses on one major section representing the north-eastern flank of the ancient strait, where subaqueous canyon-fill strata, mass-wasting deposits and tide-influenced delta front-facies are exposed

Is hazard perception ability culturally specific? A cross-cultural comparison between China, Spain and the UK

Hazard perception refers to a driver’s ability to spot hazards on the road in time to make a safe manoeuvre to avoid collision. Such a test is now part of the formal licencing procedure in the UK and in parts of Australia. But can such tests be successfully exported to other countries to reduce traffic fatalities? The aim of this project is to study whether hazard perception skill is culturally specific by comparing UK, Spanish and Chinese drivers across clips filmed in all three countries. Data collection was set-up in the respective countries in collaboration with the University of Granada (Spain) and Tsinghua University (China). Participants had to watch 30 video clips filmed from the driver’s perspective (10 filmed in each of the three countries). Two variants of the test were created: a typical hazard perception test (with full clips requiring speeded responses to hazards), and a hazard prediction task (or 'What Happens Next?' task), where the film ends immediately prior to the hazard onset. This latter test removes the confound of individual hazard thresholds, as participants could successfully report 'what happens next' without judging whether it posed a hazard to them. All videos contained a variety of hazardous situations (or precursors to hazards) reflecting the particular driving environment of each country. Three hundred participants across the 3 countries were tested, evenly divided between learner and experienced drivers. The differences between the culturally-specific tests in their ability to discriminate between driver groups will be discussed in regards to the potential for employing hazard perception testing in diverse geographical locations and cultures

Detection of the Cherenkov light diffused by Sea Water with the ULTRA Experiment

The study of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays represents one of the most challenging topic in the Cosmic Rays and in the Astroparticle Physics fields. The interaction of primary particles with atmospheric nuclei produces a huge Extensive Air Shower together with isotropic emission of UV fluorescence light and highly directional Cherenkov photons, that are reflected/diffused isotropically by the impact on the Earth's surface or on high optical depth clouds. For space-based observations, detecting the reflected Cherenkov signal in a delayed coincidence with the fluorescence light improves the accuracy of the shower reconstruction in space and in particular the measurement of the shower maximum, giving a strong signature for discriminating hadrons and neutrinos, and helping to estimate the primary chemical composition. Since the Earth's surface is mostly covered by water, the ULTRA (UV Light Transmission and Reflection in the Atmosphere)experiment has been designed to provide the diffusing properties of sea water, overcoming the lack of information in this specific field. A small EAS array, made up of 5 particle detectors, and an UV optical device, have been coupled to detect in coincidence both electromagnetic and UV components. The detector was in operation from May to December, 2005, in a small private harbor in Capo Granitola (Italy); the results of these measurements in terms of diffusion coefficient and threshold energy are presented here.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, PDF format, Proceedings of 30th ICRC, International Cosmic Ray Conference 2007, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, 3-11 July 200

Questions concerning tyrosine kinase-inhibitor therapy and transplants in chronic phase chronic myeloid leukaemia

In this provocative commentary, we consider several questions posed by the late chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) expert Prof. Michele Baccarani, which he challenged us to address after his death. He noted only a small proportion of people with chronic phase CML receiving tyrosine kinase-inhibitor (TKI)-therapy are likely to achieve sustained therapy-free remission (TFR) and even fewer are likely to be cured. Persons most likely to fail TKItherapy can be identified at diagnosis or soon after starting TKI-therapy. These persons are likely to need lifetime TKI-therapy with attendant risks of adverse events, cost and psychological consequences. Allogeneic transplants achieve much higher rates of leukaemia-free survival compared with TKI-therapy but are associated with transplant-related adverse events including an almost 20 percent risk of transplant-related deaths within 1 year post-transplant and a compromised quality-of-life because of complications such as chronic graft-versus-host disease. Subject-, disease- and transplant-related co-variates associated with transplant outcomes are known with reasonable accuracy. Not everyone likely to fail TKI-therapy is a transplant candidate. However, in those who candidates are physicians and patients need to weigh benefits and risks of TKI-therapy versus a transplant. We suggest transplants should be more often considered in the metric when counseling people with chronic phase CML unlikely to achieve TFR with TKI-therapy. We question whether we are discounting a possible important therapy intervention; we think so

EUSO Operations: Flight and Ground

Abstract The EUSO operations concept is described. Both the on-board and onground systems play an important role on operations. Since no permanent contact with the payload is provided, a considerable autonomy of the on-board system is required. The fulfilment of the scientific goals of the mission and the safety of the instrument require the definition of different operational modes and procedures. On-board, scientific and housekeeping data are collected and sent to ground, and control of the instrument subsystems is performed, based on on-board autonomous procedures and on telecommands sent from ground. On ground, telemetry is received, processed, monitored and archived. Telecommands are prepared for uplink, according to a defined mission activity planning

A comparison of hazard perception and hazard prediction tests across China, Spain and the UK

Hazard perception (HP) is the ability to spot on-road hazards in time to avoid a collision. This skill is traditionally measured by recording response times to hazards in video clips of driving, with safer, experienced drivers often out-performing inexperienced drivers. This study assessed whether HP test performance is culturally specific by comparing Chinese, Spanish and UK drivers who watched clips filmed in all three countries. Two test-variants were created: a traditional HP test (requiring timed hazard responses), and a hazard prediction test, where the film is occluded at hazard-onset and participants predict what happens next. More than 300 participants, across the 3 countries, were divided into experienced and inexperienced-driver groups. The traditional HP test did not discriminate between experienced and inexperienced drivers, though participant nationality influenced the results with UK drivers reporting more hazards than Chinese drivers. The hazard prediction test, however, found experienced drivers to out-perform inexperienced drivers. No differences were found for nationality, with all nationalities being equally skilled at predicting hazards. The results suggest that drivers’ criterion level for responding to hazards is culturally sensitive, though their ability to predict hazards is not. We argue that the more robust, culturally-agnostic, hazard prediction test appears better suited for global export

Results from the ULTRA experiment in the framework of the EUSO project

The detection of Cerenkov light from EAS in a delayed coincidence with fluorescence light gives a strong signature to discriminate protons and neutrinos in cosmic rays. For this purpose, the ULTRA experiment has been designed with 2 detectors: a small EAS array (ETscope) and an UV optical device including wide field (Belenos) and narrow field (UVscope) Cerenkov light detectors. The array measures the shower size and the arrival direction of the incoming EAS, while the UV devices, pointing both to zenith and nadir, are used to determine the amount of direct and diffused coincident Cerenkov light. This information, provided for different diffusing surfaces, will be used to verify the possibility of detecting from Space the Cerenkov light produced by UHECRs with the EUSO experiment, on board the ISS