The transition between the Marsili oceanic crust and the W Calabria rifted margin: rifting and drifting in the upper plate of the Ionian subduction zone

The western Calabria continental margin forms the transition between the Late Pliocene to Recent Marsili spreading center and continental Calabria. Integrating highpenetration and -resolution upper crustal seismic images with seafloor morphology, ODP well data and geological/geophysical constraints we provide a detailed reconstruction of the architecture of the distal portion of the W Calabria rifted margin and of the adjacent Marsili “oceanic” domain (Fig. 1) and develop a scheme for the Pliocene to present rifting and drifting of the upper plate of the Ionian subduction zone. Our seismic data document the presence of stretched and thinned continental crust, less than 10 Km thick into the eastern sector of the Marsili abyssal plain previously considered as floored by a three-layer oceanic crust. Thinning of the crust is associated with a numbers of 2-4 km wide tilted blocks composed of an acoustic basement and pre- and syn-rift sediments. Stretching factors between 1.1 and 1.42 (ca. 40% extension) has been obtained assuming a domino-like style of deformation. With few exceptions, the infill completely smoothes out pre-existing topography and explain the flat sea floor in the area surrounding the Marsili volcano. Extensional tectonics began in the Late (?) Pliocene – Early (?) Pleistocene times and ended at ca. 0.5 Ma resulting in the formation of ca. 70 km of “oceanic” domain with an average spreading rate between ca. 5.1 and 5.9 cm/yr. The appearance of vescicular basalts in the Marsili basin was not associated with the end of extension. The post-extensional sedimentary package has fairly constant thicknesses of ca. 350 along the entire Marsili abyssal plain. The Marsili volcano grows close to the western termination of the stretched and thinned W Calabria continental crust, in an asymmetric position with respect to the < 2 Ma Marsili Basin itself

The sterno-clavicular joint: anatomy, biomechanic, clinical features and aspects of manual therapy

The sterno-clavicular joint covers one remarkable importance in the complex of the shoulder girdle. This review investigates the anatomy, biomechanics, main affections and involvement of this joint in the pathological processes of the shoulder girdle in its complex. Moreover, it focuses on the opportunities offered from the conservative treatment, using in particular the manual therapy. Active and passive, as well as against isometric resistance movements, are discussed. In particular, the passive mobilization is demonstrated effective in the restoration of joint mobility. The sterno- clavicular joint is not structured in order to complete great work loads and has the tendency to become hypermotile or unstable, if subordinate to overload works, becoming painful. In this case, the techniques of passive mobilization and of modulation of the pain turn out effective

Physiopathology and biomechanics of hip osteoarthritis

Several factors seem to play a relevant role in the pathogenesis of hip osteoarthritis. Among these, an altered biomechanic and neuromuscular integrity of the hip joint should be considered. This is a review of the recent international literature concerning the role of loads and strengths acting on the hip joint, in order to better understand the pathogenesis and the physiopathology of the hip osteoarthritis. The study of these factors might be important to prevent the development of the osteoarthritis and might suggest the conservative treatment. In particular, the role of the balance among the muscles working in maintaining the equilibrium of the acting strengths is matter of discussion. The articular and neuromuscular dysfunction might induce an altered load distribution in the hip, particularly on the articular cartilage surface, and seems to favour the development of hip osteoarthritis..

Cost of coexisting with a relict large carnivore population: Impact of apennine brown bears, 2005–2015

Human-carnivore conflicts are a major conservation issue. As bears are expanding their range in Europe’s human-modified landscapes, it is increasingly important to understand, prevent, and address human-bear conflicts and evaluate mitigation strategies in areas of historical coexis-tence. Based on verified claims, we assessed costs, patterns, and drivers of bear damages in the relict Apennine brown bear population in the Abruzzo Lazio and Molise National Park (PNALM), central Italy. During 2005–2015, 203 ± 71 (SD) damage events were verified annually, equivalent to 75,987 ± 30,038 €/year paid for compensation. Most damages occurred in summer and fall, with livestock depredation, especially sheep and cattle calves, prevailing over other types of damages, with apiaries ranking second in costs of compensation. Transhumant livestock owners were less impacted than residential ones, and farms that adopted prevention measures loaned from the PNALM were less susceptible to bear damages. Livestock farms chronically damaged by bears represented 8 ± 3% of those annually impacted, corresponding to 24 ± 6% of compensation costs. Further improvements in the conflict mitigation policy adopted by the PNALM include integrated prevention, conditional compensation, and participatory processes. We discuss the implications of our study for Human-bear coexistence in broader contexts

Tectonics and seismicity of the Tindari Fault System, southern Italy: Crustal deformations at the transition between ongoing contractional and extensional domains located above the edge of a subducting slab

The Tindari Fault System (southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) is a regional zone of brittle deformation located at the transition between ongoing contractional and extensional crustal compartments and lying above the western edge of a narrow subducting slab. Onshore structural data, an offshore seismic reflection profile, and earthquake data are analyzed to constrain the present geometry of the Tindari Fault System and its tectonic evolution since Neogene, including the present seismicity. Results show that this zone of deformation consists of a broad NNW trending system of faults including sets of right-lateral, left-lateral, and extensional faults as well as early strike-slip faults reworked under late extension. Earthquakes and other neotectonic data provide evidence that the Tindari Fault System is still active in the central and northern sectors and mostly accommodates extensional or rightlateral transtensional displacements on a diffuse array of faults. From these data, a multiphase tectonic history is inferred, including an early phase as a right-lateral strike-slip fault and a late extensional reworking under the influence of the subductionrelated processes, which have led to the formation of the Tyrrhenian back-arc basin. Within the present, regional, geodynamic context, the Tindari Fault System is interpreted as an ongoing accommodation zone between the adjacent contractional and extensional crustal compartments, these tectonic compartments relating to the complex processes of plate convergence occurring in the region. The Tindari Fault System might also be included in an incipient, oblique-extensional, transfer zone linking the ongoing contractional belts in the Calabrian-Ionian and southern Tyrrhenian compartments

Ampiezza e tassi dei movimenti verticali a Capo Vaticano (Calabria occidentale,Italia) negli ultimi 20 mila anni determinati sulla base di cunei progradanti epiattaforme di abrasione.

Ampiezza e tassi dei movimenti tettonici verticali sono stati quantificati nel settore offshore di Capo Vaticano (Calabria occidentale), nell’intervallo Pleistocene superiore – Olocene, sulla base delle profondità del ciglio dei cunei progradanti infralitorali e delle piattaforme di abrasione formatesi durante l’ultimo massimo glaciale (LGM). I cunei progradanti sono stati riconosciuti in profili sismici a riflessione ad alta risoluzione Sparker. I dati sismici sono stati acquisiti lungo la piattaforma e la scarpata continentale superiore, durante le crociere oceanografiche Marisk 2010 e 2012 organizzate dall’IAMC del CNR di Napoli, il DISTEM dell’Università di Palermo e il Dip. di Scienze della Terra dell’Università di Napoli. La deformazione tettonica verticale del promontorio di Capo Vaticano e del suo prolungamento offshore è caratterizzata da una marcata asimmetria, con profondità dei cigli dei cunei infralitorali che si approfondisce progressivamente procedendo verso NE. La rimozione della componente non tettonica dei movimenti verticali, ottenuta utilizzando dati sulle variazioni glacio-eustatiche del tardo Quaternario [Lambeck et al., 2011], indica nell’area in esame ~11 (± 5) m di sollevamento e di ~25 (± 5) m di subsidenza, nell’intervallo post-LGM, muovendoci da sud-ovest verso nord-est, su una distanza di ~22 km. Il valore medio del tasso di sollevamento e di subsidenza (considerando la componente sia regionale sia locale) per gli ultimi 20.350 (± 1,35) anni sono pari a 0,52 (± 0,28) mm/anno e di 1,23 (± 0,32) mm/anno, rispettivamente. I valori dell’ampiezza e il pattern dei movimenti verticali ottenuti attraverso l’analisi dei cunei progradanti infralitorali sono comparabili, sebbene a tassi parzialmente differenti, sia con quelli determinati attraverso marker geomorfologici tardo Olocenici [Spampinato et al., 2012] che con i tassi di sollevamento a lungo termine calcolati sulla base delle posizioni dei terrazzi marini formatisi a 80 a 215 mila anni [Cucci & Tertulliani, 2010]. L’integrazione dei nuovi dati con quelli disponibili in letteratura indica che il basculamento del promontorio di Capo Vaticano è episodico ed è avvenuto principalmente tra 215 e 125 mila anni e nel post-LGM

On the shoreline monitoring via earth observation: An isoradiometric method

Shoreline variations, triggered by climate change, eustatism, and tectonic, drive the coastal landscape evolution over multiple spatial and temporal scales. Among the many different existing coast types, sandy coasts are the most sensitive to coastal erosion and accretion processes and, at the same time, often host valuable anthropogenic assets. The rapid and ongoing evolution of these coastal environments poses challenges for their management, necessitating cost-effective and highly reliable methods for measuring these changes. Many remotely sensed shoreline extraction methods have been proposed in the literature, providing valuable tools for improving coastal management. Even if these methodologies allow the demarcation of the shoreline, its pixelated shape usually requires refinement through subsequent smoothing or vector generalization processes. It is important to note that the position of the thus extracted coastline is not a direct result of a measured physical quantity but rather a product of these refinement techniques. To address this problem, we developed a sub-pixel resolution method for extracting shorelines from remotely sensed images of sandy beaches, leveraging the radiometric signature of the shoreline. Validated through precise Global Navigation Satellite System field surveys for positioning the beach foreshore, this method was successfully applied to three beaches in Sicily, in the central Mediterranean, all exhibiting similar microtidal conditions. Its robust design allows for application across various satellite images, employing a straightforward radiometric interpolation method adaptable to different spatial resolutions. This method would be a valuable tool for coastal managers in detecting and mitigating coastal erosion and developing and maintaining anthropogenic coastal assets

Imaging and rheumatic diseases: correlation between fingertip blood perfusion and nailfold capillary impairment in systemic sclerosis

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Subclinical dermal involvement is detectable by high frequency ultrasound even in patients with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis.

Background: The aim of the study was to detect by skin high-frequency ultrasound (US) possible subclinical skin involvement in patients affected by limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc), in those skin areas apparently not affected by the disease on the basis of a normal modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS). Differences in dermal thickness (DT) in comparison with healthy subjects were investigated. Methods: Fifty patients with lcSSc (age 62 \ub1 13 years (mean \ub1 SD), disease duration 5 \ub1 5 years) and 50 sex-matched and age-matched healthy subjects (age 62 \ub1 11 years) were enrolled. DT was evaluated by both mRSS and US at the usual 17 skin areas (zygoma, fingers, dorsum of the hands, forearms, upper arms, chest, abdomen, thighs, lower legs and feet). Non-parametric tests were used for the statistical analysis. Results: Subclinical dermal involvement was detected by US even in the skin areas in patients with lcSSc, who had a normal local mRSS. In addition, statistically significantly higher mean DT was found in almost all skin areas, when compared to healthy subjects (p &lt; 0.0001 for all areas). In particular, DT was significantly greater in patients with lcSSc than in healthy subjects in four out of six skin areas with a normal mRSS (score = 0) (upper arm, chest and abdomen), despite the clinical classification of lcSSc. Conclusions: This study strongly suggests that subclinical dermal involvement may be detectable by US even in skin areas with a normal mRSS in patients classified as having lcSSc. This should be taken into account during SSc subset classification in clinical studies/trial