The Subsurface Geology and Landscape Evolution of the Volturno Coastal Plain, Italy: Interplay between Tectonics and Sea-Level Changes during the Quaternary

The Volturno alluvial-coastal plain is a relevant feature of the Tyrrhenian side of Southern Italy. Its plan-view squared shape is due to Pliocene-Quaternary block-faulting of the western flank of the south-Apennines chain. On the basis of the stratigraphic analysis of almost 700 borehole logs and new geomorphological survey, an accurate paleoenvironmental reconstruction before and after the Campania Ignimbrite (CI; about 40 ky) eruption is here presented. Tectonics and eustatic forcing have been both taken into account to completely picture the evolution of the coastal plain during Late Quaternary times. The upper Pleistocene-Holocene infill of the Volturno plain has been here re-organized in a new stratigraphic framework, which includes seven depositional units. Structural analysis showed that two sets of faults displaced the CI, so accounting for recent tectonic activity. Yet Late Quaternary tectonics is rather mild, as evidenced by the decametric vertical separations operated by those faults. The average slip rate, which would represent the tectonic subsidence rate of the plain, is about 0.5 mm/year. A grid of cross sections shows the stratigraphic architecture which resulted from interactions among eustatic changes, tectonics and sedimentary input variations. On the basis of boreholes analysis, the trend of the CI roof was reconstructed. An asymmetrical shape of its ancient morphology - with a steeper slope toward the north-west border - and the lack of coincidence between the present course of the Volturno River and the main buried bedrock incision, are significant achievements of this study. Finally, the morpho-evolutionary path of the Volturno plain has been discussed

Regenerating the human heart : direct reprogramming strategies and their current limitations

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the Western world. Unfortunately, current therapies are often only palliative, consequently essentially making heart transplantation necessary for many patients. However, several novel therapeutic approaches in the past two decades have yielded quite encouraging results. The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells, through the forced expression of stem cell-specific transcription factors, has inspired the most promising strategies for heart regeneration by direct reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts into functional cardiomyocytes. Initial attempts at this reprogramming were conducted using a similar approach to the one used with transcription factors, but during years, novel strategies have been tested, e.g., miRNAs, recombinant proteins and chemical molecules. Although preliminary results on animal models are promising, the low reprogramming efficiency, as well as the incomplete maturation of the cardiomyocytes, still represents important obstacles. This review covers direct transdifferentiation strategies that have been proposed and developed and illustrates the pros and cons of each approach. Indeed, as described in the manuscript, there are still many unanswered questions and drawbacks that require a better understanding of the basic signaling pathways and transcription factor networks before functional cells, suitable for cardiac regeneration and safe for the patients, can be generated and used for human therapies

Sphingolipid synthesis inhibition by myriocin administration enhances lipid consumption and ameliorates lipid response to myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury

Myocardial infarct requires prompt thrombolytic therapy or primary percutaneous coronary intervention to limit the extent of necrosis, but reperfusion creates additional damage. Along with reperfusion, a maladaptive remodeling phase might occur and it is often associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, as well as a reduced ability to recover metabolism homeostasis. Infarcted individuals can exhibit reduced lipid turnover and their accumulation in cardiomyocytes, which is linked to a deregulation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs), controlling fatty acids metabolism, energy production, and the anti-inflammatory response. We previously demonstrated that Myriocin can be effectively used as post-conditioning therapeutic to limit ischemia/reperfusion-induced inflammation, oxidative stress, and infarct size, in a murine model. In this follow-up study, we demonstrate that Myriocin has a critical regulatory role in cardiac remodeling and energy production, by up-regulating the transcriptional factor EB, PPARs nuclear receptors and genes involved in fatty acids metabolism, such as VLDL receptor, Fatp1, CD36, Fabp3, Cpts, and mitochondrial FA dehydrogenases. The overall effects are represented by an increased \u3b2-oxidation, together with an improved electron transport chain and energy production. The potent immunomodulatory and metabolism regulatory effects of Myriocin elicit the molecule as a promising pharmacological tool for post-conditioning therapy of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury

Stratigrafia ed assetto geometrico dell’Unità del Sannio nel settore settentrionale dei monti del Matese

New stratigraphic and biostratigraphic data arising from the realization of the Sheet No. 405 "Campobasso" of the new Geological map of Italy (1:50.000 scale - CARG Project) allowed, for the first time in this area, to stratigraphically and cartographically define all the ranges composing the basinal Sannio Unit Auct.. Structural analysis and the chronostratigraphic redefinition of siliciclastic deposits covering the Sannio Unit and the carbonate platform successions of the Matese- Frosolone Units, indicate two main evolutionary stages in the Miocene- Pliocene structuring of this portion of the Southern Apennines. In the first stage, starting before Serravallian times, E-verging contraction affected exclusively the basinal units together with their siliciclastic cover. During the second stage, beginning after early Messinian times, NE-verging compression involved both the basinal Sannio Unit and the Matese-Frosolone Units.UnpublishedISPRA - Roma, Italy2.2. Laboratorio di paleomagnetismorestricte

La valutazione delle deformazioni del suolo nella piana di Venafro mediante l’elaborazione di dati PSInSar, morfo-strutturali e stratigrafici

I bacini intramontani dell’Appennino centro-meridionale sono soggetti, sin dalla loro genesi (Pleistocene inferiore), a deformazioni del suolo, la cui non uniforme distribuzione e la cui diversa entità sono una risposta all’attività di faglie, intersecanti e bordanti le pianure, e al costipamento differenziale dei depositi costituenti le successioni sedimentarie di riempimento. Al fine di valutare la distribuzione spaziale dei movimenti verticali e le relative velocità, e di interpretarne correttamente le cause, è stato affrontato uno studio multidisciplinare che ha previsto l’elaborazione di dati radar con tecnica PSInSAR, lo studio geomorfologico e strutturale e l’analisi stratigrafica di dati di sottosuolo della piana di Venafro, ampia depressione tettonica interposta tra i M. delle Mainarde-M. di Venafro ed i M. del Matese e drenata dal F. Volturno. L’interpolazione dei dati PS, effettuata in ambiente GIS, riferita a due intervalli di tempo, 1995–2000 (ERS) e 2003–2008 (ENVISAT) ha permesso di valutare i ‘cumulative vertical displacements’ (mm), i ‘displacement rates’ (mm/a) e il ‘gradient field’ dei ‘displacement rates’, consentendo di individuare alcuni settori del bacino che si distinguono per tassi di subsidenza superiori alla media e per comportamento deformativo costante nel tempo. Risulta evidente una correlazione tra la distribuzione spaziale del quadro deformativo di natura interferometrica, lo sviluppo geometrico delle faglie che interessano la piana e la natura litologica del riempimento sedimentario. I valori maggiori di subsidenza si registrano nel settore centrale della piana, probabilmente indotti da un maggiore spessore dei depositi di riempimento, nonché dalla presenza di depositi argillo-sabbiosi poco addensati e più suscettibili al costipamento, così come dalla presenza di alcuni lineamenti tettonici orientati NE-SW e NW-SE. In particolare, i valori maggiori si registrano a valle di una scarpata morfologica, orientata NW-SE, coincidente anche con un importante ‘knick point’ del F. Volturno, oltre che a valle di una faglia, orientata NW-SE (Faglia dell’’Aquae Juliae’), attiva in tempi storici per aver dislocato l’acquedotto romano

Influence of Age and Gender on Complications of Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation

Background: Despite catheter ablation (CA) has become an accepted treatment option for symptomatic, drug-resistant atrial fibrillation (AF), safety of this procedure continues to be cause for concern. Objective: Aim of the present multicenter study was to assess the influence of age and gender on incidence and severity of early CA complications. Methods: From January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011, data from 2,323 consecutive patients who underwent CA (mean age 59.1+10.9; 72.3% male) for AF in 29 Italian centres were collected. All complications occurring to the patients from admission to 30th post-procedural day were recorded. Results: Complications occurred in 94 patients (4.0%); of these 7 (0.30%) developed permanent sequelae. There was a significant trend toward a greater incidence of complications with increasing age-group. In particular, the incidence of complications was 35/1066 (3.3%) in patients 60 year-old (p=0.03). All 7 patients with permanent sequeale were older than 60. Females had a higher incidence of complications both among younger [13/231 (5.6%) vs 22/915 (2.5%), p=0.02] and older patients [32/405 (7.9%) vs 27/739 (3.5%) p=0.001]. In subjects older than 60, 5/405 (1.2%) females and 2/176 (0.3%) males (p=0.04) suffered from permanent sequelae. Conclusions: Older patients and females are a subgroup at higher risk of complications during AF ablation. A particular care should be taken when performing CA in this clinical setting