Monitoring the last Apennine glacier: recent in situ campaigns and modelling of Calderone glacial apparatus

The Calderone glacier is at present the most southern glacier in Europe (42° 28' 15’’ N). The little apparatus (about 20.000 m2 in surface area) has been giving an interesting response both to short- and long-term climatic variations which resulted in a considerable reduction in surface area and volume. The glacial apparatus is split into two ice bodies (glacierets) since 2000. The two glacierets are located in a deep northward valley below the top of the Corno Grande (2912 m asl) in the centre of the Gran Sasso d’Italia mountain range (Central Italy). Such glacial apparatus has been subjected to a strong reduction, with a loss of total surface area of about 50% and thickness of about 65%with respect to the hypothetical size (about 105.00 m2 and 55 m at the Little Ice Age). Since early 90s the Calderone glacier has been subjected to several multidisciplinary field campaigns to monitor and evaluate its role as an environmental indicator in the framework of global warming. Starting from historical series related to more than a century of records, the variability of the different glacier properties has been estimated by using classical geomorphologic methods as well as in situ and remote sensing techniques. In particular, the last field campaigns, in 2015, 2016 and 2019, have been carried out using Ground Penetrating Radar equipped with different antenna frequencies, drone-based survey, snow pit measurements and chemical-physical sampling. The measurement campaigns have been complemented by a regional climate analysis, spanning the last fifty years, and snowpack modelling initialized with microphysical snow data (e.g., snow density, crystal shape and size, hardness). The snowpack chemical analyses include the main and trace elements, soluble inorganic and organic ions, EC/OC and PAH, with different spatial resolution depending on the analytes. We present here the methodological approach used and some preliminary results

Safety of extended interval dosing immune checkpoint inhibitors:a multicenter cohort study

BACKGROUND: Real-life spectrum and survival implications of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients treated with extended interval dosing (ED) immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are unknown. METHODS: Characteristics of 812 consecutive solid cancer patients who received at least 1 cycle of ED monotherapy (pembrolizumab 400 mg Q6W or nivolumab 480 mg Q4W) after switching from canonical interval dosing (CD; pembrolizumab 200 mg Q3W or nivolumab 240 mg Q2W) or treated upfront with ED were retrieved. The primary objective was to compare irAEs patterns within the same population (before and after switch to ED). irAEs spectrum in patients treated upfront with ED and association between irAEs and overall survival were also described. RESULTS: A total of 550 (68%) patients started ICIs with CD and switched to ED. During CD, 225 (41%) patients developed any grade and 17 (3%) G3 or G4 irAEs; after switching to ED, any grade and G3 or G4 irAEs were experienced by 155 (36%) and 20 (5%) patients. Switching to ED was associated with a lower probability of any grade irAEs (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.64 to 0.99; P = .047), whereas no difference for G3 or G4 events was noted (aOR = 1.55, 95% CI = 0.81 to 2.94; P = .18). Among patients who started upfront with ED (n = 232, 32%), 107 (41%) developed any grade and 14 (5%) G3 or G4 irAEs during ED. Patients with irAEs during ED had improved overall survival (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.34 to 0.82; P = .004 after switching; aHR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.35 to 0.93; P = .025 upfront). CONCLUSIONS: Switching ICI treatment from CD and ED did not increase the incidence of irAEs and represents a safe option also outside clinical trials.</p

Interaction of the Sea Breeze with the Urban Area of Rome: WRF Mesoscale and WRF Large-Eddy Simulations Compared to Ground-Based Observations

The Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model is used to simulate atmospheric circulation during the summer season in a coastal region of central Italy, including the city of Rome. The time series of surface air temperature, wind speed, and direction are compared with insitu observations in urban Rome and its rural surroundings. Moreover, the vertical wind profiles are compared to sodar urban measurements. To improve the WRF model’s ability to reproduce the local circulation, and the onset and propagation of the sea breeze, several simulations are carried out modifying the landuse and the thermal and physical properties of the surfaces. Based on the results of the correlation coefficient and the root mean square error, the heat capacity and albedo are the parameters mostly influencing the daily temperature cycle. Particularly, the temperature in the urban area is reproduced more realistically when the heat capacity is increased. Hence, the best simulations are used to initialize a large-eddy simulation (LES) at high spatial resolution to analyze the interaction between the sea breeze and the urban heat island and to investigate the interaction of the sea breeze front with orography and surface roughness. As confirmed by observations collected by insitu weather stations in the surroundings of Rome, the front, entering the city, splits into three branches: i) a west component in the western flank of the city, closer to the sea; ii) a north-west component in the northern, inland side, and iii) a south-west component in the south area of the city

Modelling the Maritime Cultural Landscape of the Costiera Amalfitana: The First Three Seasons of Research (2016–2018)

Human activity along the Amalfi coastline in Italy has been tied to the sea for millennia–for sustenance, migration, trade, warfare, and leisure. As a result, this region has an equally rich and extensive maritime cultural landscape composed of tangible and intangible elements. In 2016, a multi-disciplinary project began efforts to model and to understand changes within this landscape, and this essay presents the preliminary results of our first three seasons of work. Some efforts, such as the documentation of maritime cultural heritage in local museums, archival work, and geomorphological research proceeded smoothly. Unexpectedly, however, little material from the pre-modern era was found under water, adding questions to this study that future work in the Marine Protected Area west of Positano may answer

The integrated Marine Hazard {webGIS} platform for management of open and coastal ocean in Sicily

This paper describes an integrated webGIS system dedicated to the central Mediterranean region surrounding Sicily, contributing to the Marine Hazard Project. The webGIS system aims at integrating information from in situ and remote sensing measurements made at the Observatories at Lampedusa and Capo Granitola, in Sicily, and from satellite products distributed by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service. The background structure of the webGIS system, the contributing datasets, and an example case study are described in this wor