New data from borehole strainmeters to infer lava fountain sources (Etna 2011-2012)

In January 2011 eruptive activity resumed at Etna producing a new phase with frequent lava fountain episodes until April 2012. In November 2011, the first two borehole strainmeters were installed, which detected negative strain changes (~ 0.15 - 0.8 strain) during the paroxysmal events. A Finite Element Model was set up to estimate accurately the tilt and volumetric strain, taking into account the real profile of the volcano and the elastic medium heterogeneity. The numerical computations indicated an elongated depressurizing source located at 0 km b.s.l., which underwent a volume change of ~2 x 106 m3 which is the most of the magma volume erupted while a smaller remaining part is accommodated by the magma compressibility. This shallow source cannot accumulate large magma volumes and, thus, favours short term periodic eruptive events with a fairly constant balance between the refilling and the erupted magma

Time-restricted feeding and metabolic outcomes in a cohort of Italian adults

Background: research exploring the effects of food timing and frequency on health and disease is currently ongoing. While there is an increasing body of scientific literature showing the potential health benefits of intermittent fasting (IF) in laboratory settings and in animals, studies regarding IF on humans are limited. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the relationship between the feeding/fasting time window and metabolic outcomes among adult individuals. Methods: dietary and demographic data of 1936 adult subjects living in the south of Italy were examined. Food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) were administered to determine the period of time between the first and the last meal of a typical day. Subjects were then divided into those with a time feeding window lasting more than 10 h, within 8 h (TRF-8) and within 10 h. Results: after adjustment for potential confounding factors related to eating habits (such as adherence to the Mediterranean diet, having breakfast/dinner), TRF-10 was inversely associated with being overweight/obese (OR = 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.07), hypertension (OR = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.45), and dyslipidemias (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.63), while TRF-8 only with being overweight/obese (OR = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.15) and hypertension (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.17, 0.60). No associations were found with type-2 diabetes. Conclusions: individuals with a restricted feeding time window were less likely to be overweight, obese and hypertensive. Further studies are needed to clearly validate the results of the present study

Deep sequence analysis of HIV adaptation following vertical transmission reveals the impact of immune pressure on the evolution of HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can adapt to an individual’s T cell immune response via genomic mutations that affect antigen recognition and impact disease outcome. These viral adaptations are specific to the host’s human leucocyte antigen (HLA) alleles, as these molecules determine which peptides are presented to T cells. As HLA molecules are highly polymorphic at the population level, horizontal transmission events are most commonly between HLA-mismatched donor/recipient pairs, representing new immune selection environments for the transmitted virus. In this study, we utilised a deep sequencing approach to determine the HIV quasispecies in 26 mother-to-child transmission pairs where the potential for founder viruses to be pre-adapted is high due to the pairs being haplo-identical at HLA loci. This scenario allowed the assessment of specific HIV adaptations following transmission in either a non-selective immune environment, due to recipient HLA mismatched to original selecting HLA, or a selective immune environment, mediated by matched donor/recipient HLA. We show that the pattern of reversion or fixation of HIV adaptations following transmission provides insight into the replicative cost, and likely compensatory networks, associated with specific adaptations in vivo. Furthermore, although transmitted viruses were commonly heavily pre-adapted to the child’s HLA genotype, we found evidence of de novo post-transmission adaptation, representing new epitopes targeted by the child’s T cell response. High-resolution analysis of HIV adaptation is relevant when considering vaccine and cure strategies for individuals exposed to adapted viruses via transmission or reactivated from reservoirs

Numerical models for ground deformation and gravity changes during volcanic unrest: simulating the hydrothermal system dynamics of an active caldera

Ground deformation and gravity changes in restless calderas during periods of unrest can signal an impending eruption and thus must be correctly interpreted for hazard evaluation. It is critical to differentiate variation of geophysical observables related to volume and pressure changes induced by magma migration from shallow hydrothermal activity associated with hot fluids of magmatic origin rising from depth. In this paper we present a numerical model to evaluate the thermo-poroelastic response of the hydrothermal system in a caldera setting by simulating pore pressure and thermal expansion associated with deep injection of hot fluids (water and carbon dioxide). Hydrothermal fluid circulation is simulated using TOUGH2, a multicomponent multiphase simulator of fluid flows in porous media. Changes in pore pressure and temperature are then evaluated and fed into a thermo-poroelastic model (one-way coupling), which is based on a finite-difference numerical method designed for axi-symmetric problems in unbounded domains. Informed by constraints available for the Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy), a series of simulations assess the influence of fluid injection rates and mechanical properties on the hydrothermal system, uplift and gravity. Heterogeneities in hydrological and mechanical properties associated with the presence of ring faults are a key determinant of the fluid flow pattern and consequently the geophysical observables. Peaks (in absolute value) of uplift and gravity change profiles computed at the ground surface are located close to injection points (namely at the centre of the model and fault areas). Temporal evolution of the ground deformation indicates that the contribution of thermal effects to the total uplift is almost negligible with respect to the pore pressure contribution during the first years of the unrest, but increases in time and becomes dominant after a long period of the simulation. After a transient increase over the first years of unrest, gravity changes become negative and decrease monotonically towards a steady-state value. Since the physics of the investigated hydrothermal system is similar to any fluid-filled reservoir, such as oil fields or CO2 reservoirs produced by sequestration, the generic formulation of the model will allow it to be employed in monitoring and interpretation of deformation and gravity data associated with other geophysical hazards that pose a risk to human activity

UFGM - 2006 Annual Report

INGV, SEZIONE DI CATANIAPublished2.6. TTC - Laboratorio di gravimetria, magnetismo ed elettromagnetismo in aree attiveope

Influence of habitual dairy food intake on LDL cholesterol in a population-based cohort

Background: Cholesterol has a pivotal role in human physiology, exerting both structural and functional activity. However, higher blood cholesterol levels, especially low-density lipopro-tein cholesterol (LDL-C), are a major cardiovascular risk factor. Therefore, special attention has been given to the effect of dietary factors in influencing LDL-C blood levels. In particular, much research has focused on dairy products, since they are a main component of different dietary patterns world-wide. A large body of evidence did not support the hypothesis that dairy products significantly increase circulating LDL-C, but no definitive data are available. Hence, we aimed to assess the rela-tionships among LDL-C, habitual dairy food intake and anthropometric variables in a cohort representative of the general population in a Mediterranean area. Methods: We evaluated 802 healthy adults included in the ABCD_2 (Alimentazione, Benessere Cardiovascolare e Diabete) study (ISRCTN15840340), a longitudinal observational single-center study of a cohort representative of the general population of Palermo, Sicily. The habitual intake of dairy products was assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire, and LDL-C serum levels and several anthropometric pa-rameters were measured. Results: The group with high LDL-C serum concentrations (≥130 vs. <130 mg/dL) exhibited higher age, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), body fat percent-age, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, carotid intima-media thickness and glycated hemoglobin. The habitual diet was not different between the groups in terms of macronutrient, cholesterol, egg and dairy food intake, with the exception of the weekly number of portions of milk (higher in the low LDL-C group vs. the high LDL-C group) and ricotta cheese (higher in the high LDL-C group vs. the LDL-C group). No significant correlation was found between LDL-C blood levels and the habitual intake of dairy products or the dietary intake of cholesterol and fats. The multivariate regression analyses (R2 = 0.94) showed that LDL-C blood levels were significantly associated with the habitual intake of milk (p < 0.005) and ricotta cheese (p < 0.001) and with BMI (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our study reported that total dairy food consumption was not correlated with LDL-C blood levels. However, multivariate analyses showed an inverse association between serum LDL-C and milk intake as well as a positive association between ricotta cheese intake and LDL-C concentrations. More studies are needed to better characterize the relationship between dairy products and circulating LDL-C

Autism and Intellectual Disability Are Differentially Related to Sociodemographic Background at Birth

Background: Research findings investigating the sociodemographics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been inconsistent and rarely considered the presence of intellectual disability (ID). Methods: We used population data on Western Australian singletons born from 1984 to 1999 (n = 398,353) to examine the sociodemographic characteristics of children diagnosed with ASD with or without ID, or ID without ASD compared with non-affected children. Results: The profiles for the four categories examined, mild-moderate ID, severe ID, ASD without ID and ASD with ID varied considerably and we often identified a gradient effect where the risk factors for mild-moderate ID and ASD without ID were at opposite extremes while those for ASD with ID were intermediary. This was demonstrated clearly with increased odds of ASD without ID amongst older mothers aged 35 years and over (odds ratio (OR) = 1.69 [CI: 1.18, 2.43]), first born infants (OR = 2.78; [CI: 1.67, 4.54]), male infants (OR = 6.57 [CI: 4.87, 8.87]) and increasing socioeconomic advantage. In contrast, mild-moderate ID was associated with younger mothers aged less than 20 years (OR = 1.88 [CI: 1.57, 2.25]), paternal age greater than 40 years (OR = 1.59 [CI: 1.36, 1.86]), Australian-born and Aboriginal mothers (OR = 1.60 [CI: 1.41, 1.82]), increasing birth order and increasing social disadvantage (OR = 2.56 [CI: 2.27, 2.97]). Mothers of infants residing in regional or remote areas had consistently lower risk of ASD or ID and may be linked to reduced access to services or underascertainment rather than a protective effect of location. Conclusions: The different risk profiles observed between groups may be related to aetiological differences or ascertainment factors or both. Untangling these pathways is challenging but an urgent public health priority in view of the supposed autism epidemic

Unexpected large eruptions from buoyant magma bodies within viscoelastic crust

Large volume effusive eruptions with relatively minor observed precursory signals are at odds with widely used models to interpret volcano deformation. Here we propose a new modelling framework that resolves this discrepancy by accounting for magma buoyancy, viscoelastic crustal properties, and sustained magma channels. At low magma accumulation rates, the stability of deep magma bodies is governed by the magma-host rock density contrast and the magma body thickness. During eruptions, inelastic processes including magma mush erosion and thermal effects, can form a sustained channel that supports magma flow, driven by the pressure difference between the magma body and surface vents. At failure onset, it may be difficult to forecast the final eruption volume; pressure in a magma body may drop well below the lithostatic load, create under-pressure and initiate a caldera collapse, despite only modest precursors

Psychoactive Pharmaceuticals Induce Fish Gene Expression Profiles Associated with Human Idiopathic Autism

Idiopathic autism, caused by genetic susceptibility interacting with unknown environmental triggers, has increased dramatically in the past 25 years. Identifying environmental triggers has been difficult due to poorly understood pathophysiology and subjective definitions of autism. The use of antidepressants by pregnant women has been associated with autism. These and other unmetabolized psychoactive pharmaceuticals (UPPs) have also been found in drinking water from surface sources, providing another possible exposure route and raising questions about human health consequences. Here, we examined gene expression patterns of fathead minnows treated with a mixture of three psychoactive pharmaceuticals (fluoxetine, venlafaxine & carbamazepine) in dosages intended to be similar to the highest observed conservative estimates of environmental concentrations. We conducted microarray experiments examining brain tissue of fish exposed to individual pharmaceuticals and a mixture of all three. We used gene-class analysis to test for enrichment of gene sets involved with ten human neurological disorders. Only sets associated with idiopathic autism were unambiguously enriched. We found that UPPs induce autism-like gene expression patterns in fish. Our findings suggest a new potential trigger for idiopathic autism in genetically susceptible individuals involving an overlooked source of environmental contamination

A novel approach of homozygous haplotype sharing identifies candidate genes in autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heritable disorder of complex and heterogeneous aetiology. It is primarily characterized by altered cognitive ability including impaired language and communication skills and fundamental deficits in social reciprocity. Despite some notable successes in neuropsychiatric genetics, overall, the high heritability of ASD (~90%) remains poorly explained by common genetic risk variants. However, recent studies suggest that rare genomic variation, in particular copy number variation, may account for a significant proportion of the genetic basis of ASD. We present a large scale analysis to identify candidate genes which may contain low-frequency recessive variation contributing to ASD while taking into account the potential contribution of population differences to the genetic heterogeneity of ASD. Our strategy, homozygous haplotype (HH) mapping, aims to detect homozygous segments of identical haplotype structure that are shared at a higher frequency amongst ASD patients compared to parental controls. The analysis was performed on 1,402 Autism Genome Project trios genotyped for 1 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We identified 25 known and 1,218 novel ASD candidate genes in the discovery analysis including CADM2, ABHD14A, CHRFAM7A, GRIK2, GRM3, EPHA3, FGF10, KCND2, PDZK1, IMMP2L and FOXP2. Furthermore, 10 of the previously reported ASD genes and 300 of the novel candidates identified in the discovery analysis were replicated in an independent sample of 1,182 trios. Our results demonstrate that regions of HH are significantly enriched for previously reported ASD candidate genes and the observed association is independent of gene size (odds ratio 2.10). Our findings highlight the applicability of HH mapping in complex disorders such as ASD and offer an alternative approach to the analysis of genome-wide association data