Public Accounts in Italy, 2000-2009: stability and growth , a mission impossible

The paper discusses the ecvolution of public budget situation in Italy since the year 2000 to day. Moreover, the paper focuses on a forecast at medium-term of public finance's equilibrium in Italy. The conclusion emerges that it will be very difficult to combine budget sustainability with the fiscal stance which is requested to promote a recovery from the 2008-2009 crisis. Some suggestions however are formulated.Bilancio pubblico; Italia; anni 2000-2015

Role of Neurotrophins in Neuropathic Pain

Neurotrophins (NTs) belong to a family of structurally and functionally related proteins, they are the subsets of neurotrophic factors. Neurotrophins are responsible for diverse actions in the developing peripheral and central nervous systems. They are important regulators of neuronal function, affecting neuronal survival and growth. They are able to regulate cell death and survival in development as well as in pathophysiologic states. NTs and their receptors are expressed in areas of the brain that undergo plasticity, indicating that they are able to modulate synaptic plasticity

I conti pubblici in Italia, 2000-2009: stabilità e crescita, una missione impossibile

The paper discusses the ecvolution of public budget situation in Italy since the year 2000 to day. Moreover, the paper focuses on a forecast at medium-term of public finance's equilibrium in Italy. The conclusion emerges that it will be very difficult to combine budget sustainability with the fiscal stance which is requested to promote a recovery from the 2008-2009 crisis. Some suggestions however are formulated

A common source for the destructive earthquakes in the volcanic island of Ischia (Southern Italy): insights from historical and recent seismicity

AbstractThe island of Ischia, located in the Gulf of Naples, represents an unusual case of resurgent caldera where small-to-moderate magnitude volcano-tectonic earthquakes generate large damage and catastrophic effects, as in the case of 4 March 1881 (Imax-VIII-IXMCS) and 28 July 1883 (Imax X-XI MCS) historical earthquakes, and of the recent 21 August 2017 MW = 3.9, event. All these earthquakes struck the northern area of the island. With about 65,000 inhabitants, Ischia is a popular touristic destination for thermals baths, hosting more than 3,000,000 visitors per year, thus representing a high seismic risk area. Assessing its seismic potential appears a fundamental goal and, to this end, the estimate of the magnitude of significant historical events and the characterization of their source are crucial. We report here a reassessment of historical data of damage of 1881 and 1883 earthquakes to evaluate the main source parameters of these events (obtained with the BOXER and EXISM software) and quantitatively compare, for the first time, the results with the source characteristics, obtained from instrumental data, of the recent 2017 earthquake. The results allowed us to assess the location, as well as the possible dimension and the related maximum magnitude, of the seismogenic structure responsible for such damaging earthquakes. Our results also provide an additional framework to define the mechanisms leading to earthquakes associated with the dynamics of calderas

InSAR full-resolution analysis of the 2017–2018 M>6 earthquakes in Mexico

Abstract The present study analyzes the sequence of 4 important earthquakes occurred in Mexico from September 2017 to February 2018, exploiting the large availability of InSAR data and analytical models, with a twofold goal: to privede new solutions for seismogenic sources, completely independent from seismological data, and to discuss methodological aspects related to the non-linear and linear inverse problem. We review and update an earlier study, focused on the concept of resolution, showing the level of detail achievable in the investigation of the slip distribution based on geodetic observations, according to data availability, fault locations and event magnitudes. We further give new insights into the relationship between fault resolution and parameter uncertainty, demonstrating that a realistic assessment is strictly related to a proper fault subdivision. We eventually discourage the use of qualitative approaches, such as the checkerboard test, to evaluate the data resolving power and suggest the adoption of quantitative indicators, like the Dirichlet Spread Function, normalized, easy to calculate and mathematically robust

Ground deformation and source geometry of the 30 October 2016 Mw 6.5 Norcia earthquake (Central Italy) investigated through seismological data, DInSAR measurements, and numerical modelling

We investigate the Mw 6.5 Norcia (Central Italy) earthquake by exploiting seismological data, DInSAR measurements, and a numerical modelling approach. In particular, we first retrieve the vertical component (uplift and subsidence) of the displacements affecting the hangingwall and the footwall blocks of the seismogenic faults identified, at depth, through the hypocenters distribution analysis. To do this, we combine the DInSAR measurements obtained from coseismic SAR data pairs collected by the ALOS-2 sensor from ascending and descending orbits. The achieved vertical deformation map displays three main deformation patterns: (i) a major subsidence that reaches the maximum value of about 98 cm near the epicentral zones nearby the town of Norcia; (ii) two smaller uplift lobes that affect both the hangingwall (reaching maximum values of about 14 cm) and the footwall blocks (reaching maximum values of about 10 cm). Starting from this evidence, we compute the rock volumes affected by uplift and subsidence phenomena, highlighting that those involved by the retrieved subsidence are characterized by significantly higher deformation values than those affected by uplift (about 14 times). In order to provide a possible interpretation of this volumetric asymmetry, we extend our analysis by applying a 2D numerical modelling approach based on the finite element method, implemented in a structural-mechanic framework, and exploiting the available geological and seismological data, and the ground deformation measurements retrieved from the multi-orbit ALOS-2 DInSAR analysis. In this case, we consider two different scenarios: the first one based on a single SW-dipping fault, the latter on a main SW-dipping fault and an antithetic zone. In this context, the model characterized by the occurrence of an antithetic zone presents the retrieved best fit coseismic surface deformation pattern. This result allows us to interpret the subsidence and uplift phenomena caused by the Mw 6.5 Norcia earthquake as the result of the gravitational sliding of the hangingwall along the main fault plane and the frictional force acting in the opposite direction, consistently with the double couple fault plane mechanism

Torque vectoring for electric vehicles with individually controlled motors: state-of-the-art and future developments

This paper deals with the description of current and future vehicle technology related to yaw moment control, anti-lock braking and traction control through the employment of effective torque vectoring strategies for electric vehicles. In particular, the adoption of individually controlled electric powertrains with the aim of tuning the vehicle dynamic characteristics in steady-state and transient conditions is discussed. This subject is currently investigated within the European Union (EU) funded Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) consortium E-VECTOORC, focused on the development and experimental testing of novel control strategies. Through a comprehensive literature review, the article outlines the stateof- the-art of torque vectoring control for fully electric vehicles and presents the philosophy and the potential impact of the E-VECTOORC control structure from the viewpoint of torque vectoring for vehicle dynamics enhancement

Moving towards supraspinal TRPV1 receptors for chronic pain relief

Transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) receptor is a non selective ligand-gated cation channel activated by capsaicin, heat, protons and endogenous lipids termed endovanilloids. As well as peripheral primary afferent neurons and dorsal root ganglia, TRPV1 receptor is also expressed in spinal and supraspinal structures such as those belonging to the endogenous antinociceptive descending pathway which is a circuitry of the supraspinal central nervous system whose task is to counteract pain. It includes periaqueductal grey (PAG) and rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) whose activation leads to analgesia. Such an effect is associated with a glutamate increase and the activation of OFF and inhibition of ON cell population in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM). Activation of the antinociceptive descending pathway via TPRV1 receptor stimulation in the PAG may be a novel strategy for producing analgesia in chronic pain. This review will summarize the more recent insights into the role of TRPV1 receptor within the antinociceptive descending pathway and its possible exploitation as a target for new pain-killer agents in chronic pain conditions, with particular emphasis on the most untreatable pain state: neuropathic pain

The impact of crustal rheology on natural seismicity: Campi Flegrei caldera case study

We analyze the crustal rheology beneath the active resurgent Campi Flegrei caldera (CFc) in Southern Italy by modelling the 3D brittle-ductile (B/D) transition, based on available thermal, geological and geophysical data. Firstly, the thermal field in the conductive physical regime is modeled using a finite element method; based on an optimization tool, this method is applied to evaluate the location and dimensions of the deep thermal source beneath the caldera. A horizontally-extended thermal anomaly located at about 5000 m depth below sea level is identified beneath Pozzuoli Bay, a part of the CFc. The same isotherm is located at a depth of 20,000 m beyond the caldera. This indicates a higher horizontal temperature gradient in the caldera with respect to the surrounding area. Next, we utilize this thermal model to image the 3D rheological stratification of the shallow crust below the caldera with two different values of strain rates. Within the caldera, the B/D transitions with 3equal to 1012 s 1 and 108 s 1 are located at 3000 m and 5000 m depths, respectively. Outside the caldera, the transition is very deep (15,000e20,000 m), seemingly uninfluenced by the thermal state of the CFc volcanism. Finally, we compare these results with the spatial distribution of earthquake hypocenters, Benioff strain release and b-value distribution to investigate the relationship between crustal rheology and seismicity characteristics. Our analysis reveals that the image of the B/D transition is in agreement with the distribution of earthquake hypocenters, constraining the potential seismogenic volume of the region. Our study demonstrates that knowledge of the rheological state of a volcanic system is an important element to interpret its dynamic, forecast future activity and improve evaluation of the associated seismic hazard. 2018, China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

On the enhancement of vehicle handling and energy efficiency of electric vehicles with multiple motors: the iCOMPOSE project

Electric vehicles with multiple motors allow torque-vectoring, i.e., the individual control of each powertrain torque. Torque-vectoring (TV) can provide: i) enhancement of vehicle safety and handling, via the generation of a direct yaw moment to shape the understeer characteristics and increase yaw and sideslip damping; and ii) energy consumption reductions, via appropriate torque allocation to each motor. The FP7 European project iCOMPOSE thoroughly addressed i) and ii). Theoretical analyses were carried out to design state-of-the art TV controllers, which were validated through: a) vehicle simulations; and b) extensive experimental tests, which were performed at rolling road facilities and proving grounds, using a Range Rover Evoque prototype equipped with four identical on-board electric powertrains. This paper provides an overview of the TV-related contributions of iCOMPOSE