Shear wave splitting changes associated with the 2001 volcanic eruption on Mt. Etna

The time delays and polarizations of shear wave splitting above small earthquakes show variations before the 2001 July 17–August 9 2001 flank eruption on Mt Etna, Sicily. Normalized time delays, measured by singular value decomposition, show a systematic increase starting several days before the onset of the eruption. On several occasions before the eruption, the polarization directions of the shear waves at Station MNT, closest to the eruption, show 90◦- flips where the faster and slower split shear waves exchange polarizations. The last 90◦-flip being 5 days before the onset of the eruption. The time delays also exhibit a sudden decrease shortly before the start of the eruption suggesting the possible occurrence of a ‘relaxation’ phenomena, due to crack coalescence. This behaviour has many similarities to that observed before a number of earthquakes elsewhere

2nd CapHaz-Net Regional Hazard Workshop: Social capacity building for Alpine hazards

The Alpine Space is a trans-national territory inhabited by 13 million people and comprising the territory of 8 countries, 83 regions and about 6,200 communities. It is characterised by a great variety in terms of natural hazard exposure. Floods, avalanches, debris flows, landslides, forest fires threaten the entire Alpine Space and are triggered by both natural and anthropogenic factors. The work described in this report focuses on this space and aims at bringing together and confronting different perspectives on the theme of social capacity building. It summarises the results of one of the work packages (WP8) of the CapHaz-Net project, which aims at identifying social capacities that contribute to making European societies more resilient to the impacts of natural hazards. More precisely the work presented here links previous project findings (related both to central topics and specific social capacities) to the practice of alpine hazards management in Europe, underlining potentials for enhancement of resilience both in this region and in Europe as a whole. This report is based on the preparatory work and the results of the Alpine Regional Hazard Workshop that took place in Gorizia (North Eastern Italy) on 4th and 5th April 2011. The main objectives were to provide an overview of existing institutional frames and the respective policy context at the regional scale, to better understand how social capacity building and preparedness strategies for Alpine hazards work in practice and to foster interdisciplinary and cross country dialogue between scientists and practitioners. This was done by taking into account strengths and weaknesses of existing tools and approaches and by analysing the potential for transferring best practices to different regional and hazard contexts. To bridge the gap between research and practice both theoretical knowledge and practical experiences were taken into account. The workshop started from a description of the main characteristics of alpine hazards. Then the focus shifted on operational risk management in four different countries of the alpine arch (Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia and Italy) and finally on practices for risk mitigation in two Italian case studies (Vipiteno/Sterzing in the Trentino Alto Adige region and Malborghetto-Valbruna in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region). The SWOT methodology was used as a heuristic tool for organizing the available insights and the participants' discussion. Natural sciences, historical perspectives as well as legal analysis have contributed to broadening and detailing the social capacity concept and more precisely to characterising and further specifying each particular capacity. Practitioners in the field of alpine hazards in different countries and residents of the two case study area also contributed by presenting and discussing their views and perspectives about prevention, mitigation, emergency management and recovery from natural disasters

Shear wave splitting time variation by stress-induced magma uprising at Mount Etna volcano

Shear wave splitting exhibits clear time variations before the July 17th – August 9th, 2001 flanK eruption at Mount Etna. The normalized time delays, Tn, detected through an orthogonal transformation of singular value decomposition, exhibit a clearincrease starting 20 days before the occurrence of the eruption (July 17th); the qS1 polarization direction, obtained using a 3D covariance matrix decomposition, shows a 90°-flip several times during the analyzed period: the last flip 5 days before the occurrence of the eruption. Both splitting parameters also exhibit a relaxation phase shortly before the starting of the eruption. Our observations seem in agreement with Anisotropic Poro Elasticity (APE) modelling, suggesting a tool for the temporal monitoring of the build up of the stress leading to the occurrence of the 2001 eruption at Mt. Etna

Observation of coda signals from regional and local earthquakes recorded from a downhole-uphole couple of broad-band sensors at Mt Etna

Seismic coda of regional and local earthquakes recorded at a couple of broad band seismometers located at the bottom of a 125 m deep borehole and up-hole at surface show interesting spectral features. We observe strong similarity between the waveforms recorded from up- and down-hole sensors at low frequency (0.1 -3 Hz) and measurable differences in the higher frequency limit. We interpret this observation assuming that at high frequency the up-hole coda is produced by body-tosurface wave scattering in the near surface. We compare the experimental results with numerical simulations done using the Monte Carlo scheme of Yoshimoto et al. (2000) carried out in the assumption of velocity and scattering coefficient which smoothly vary with depth, with the addition of a body-to-surface wave conversion for the energy particles which reach the surface. The comparison of the experimental coda envelopes with those obtained through numerical simulation allow for a quantification of the turbidity parameter at surface

How the Cathedral Embraced the Bazaar, and the Bazaar Became a Cathedral

Peer reviewe

The Cardiovascular Effects of a Meal: J-Tpeak and Tpeak -Tend Assessment and Further Insights Into the Physiological Effects.

Meal intake leads to a significant and prolonged increase in cardiac output to supply the splanchnic vasculature. A meal is associated with sympathetic activation of the cardiovascular system, and food ingestion is correlated with an increase in heart rate, an increase in cardiac stroke volume, and QTc interval shortening for up to 7 hours. Given the complexity of the system, one or several of many mechanisms could explain this observation. The shortening of the QTc interval was correlated with a rise of C-peptide following food ingestion, but the mechanisms by which C-peptide may be involved in the modulation of cardiac repolarization are still unknown. This shortening of the myocardial action potential caused by the ingestion of food was further investigated in the present study by measuring the QRS, J-Tpeak , and Tpeak -Tend intervals in search of further clues to better understand the underlying mechanisms. A retrospective analysis was conducted based on data collected in a formal thorough QT/QTc study in which 32 subjects received a carbohydrate-rich "continental" breakfast, moxifloxacin without food, and moxifloxacin with food. We assessed the effect of food on T-wave morphology using validated algorithms for measurement of J-Tpeak and Tpeak -Tend intervals. Our findings demonstrate that a standardized meal significantly shortened J-Tpeak for 4 hours after a meal and to a much lesser extent and shorter duration (up to 1 hour) prolonged the Tpeak -Tend and QRS intervals. This suggests that the QTc shortening occurs mainly during phase 2 of the cardiac action potential. As there was no corresponding effect on Tpeak -Tend beyond the first hour, we conclude that a meal does not interfere with the outward correcting potassium channels but possibly with Ca2+ currents. An effect on mainly Ca2+ aligns well with our understanding of physiology whereby an increase in stroke volume, as observed after a meal, is associated with changes in Ca2+ cycling in and out of the sarcoplasmic reticulum during cardiac myocyte contraction

Study of microstructure and magnetization reversal mechanism in granular CoCrPt:SiO2 films of variable thickness

n/

Increased p21 expression in chondrocytes of achondroplasic children independently from the presence of the G380R FGFR3 mutation

Background. Achondroplasia (ACH) represents the major cause of dwarfi sm and is due to mutations in the fi broblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene. The cellular mechanisms involved in the reduced growth have been mainly described for in vitro or in vivo models, but few data have been obtained for humans. Methods. Thirteen children with ACH were enrolled in the study; the presence of FGFR3 mutations was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and sequencing, whereas protein expression in cartilage biopsy was assessed by immunohistochemistry. Results. Chondrocytes in cartilage biopsies of ACH children were characterized by the presence of growth arrest mediated by STAT activation (both STAT1 and STAT5) and increased expression of p21 and cyclin D1, whereas no expression of either p53 or cyclin D3 could be detected. This mechanism was present in ACH children carrying the G380R mutation but also in a patient in whom no mutation could be detected in the entire coding region of the FGFR3 gene. Conclusions. These data thus demonstrate the presence of a common fi nal mechanism involving p21 and possibly leading to a block in chondrocyte proliferation

Clues on the origin of post-2000 earthquakes at Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy)

Acknowledgements We thank the INGV-OV staff involved in the management and maintenance of the seismic and GPS networks and Francesca Di Luccio for the data of the best located earthquakes. We acknowledge Valerio Acocella and an anonymous reviewer for the helpful comments that improved the clarity of the manuscript.This study has benefited from funding provided by INGV (project COHESO) by the Italian Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri Dipartimento della Protezione Civile (DPC), INGV-DPC Research Agreement 2012–2014, Progetto V2 “Precursori di eruzioni”. This paper does not necessarily represent DPC official opinion and policies. EdP has been partly supported by Spanish Project Ephestos, CGL2011-29499-C02-01 and KNOWAVES, TEC2015-68752. We wish to acknowledge the former contribution of Lorenzo Casertano, Oliveri del Castillo and Maria Teresa Quagliariello, who, in an early paper published on Nature in 1976, first discussed the importance of fluids in the dynamics of Campi Flegrei Caldera.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Myeloid Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers of Immune Suppression in the Blood of Glioma Patients.

Although gliomas are confined to the central nervous system, their negative influence over the immune system extends to peripheral circulation. The immune suppression exerted by myeloid cells can affect both response to therapy and disease outcome. We analyzed the expansion of several myeloid parameters in the blood of low- and high-grade gliomas and assessed their relevance as biomarkers of disease and clinical outcome. Methods: Peripheral blood was obtained from 134 low- and high-grade glioma patients. CD14+, CD14+/p-STAT3+, CD14+/PD-L1+, CD15+ cells and four myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) subsets, were evaluated by flow cytometry. Arginase-1 (ARG1) quantity and activity was determined in the plasma. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to obtain a diagnostic score to discriminate glioma patients from healthy controls and between each glioma grade. A glioblastoma prognostic model was determined by multiple Cox regression using clinical and myeloid parameters. Results: Changes in myeloid parameters associated with immune suppression allowed to define a diagnostic score calculating the risk of being a glioma patient. The same parameters, together with age, permit to calculate the risk score in differentiating each glioma grade. A prognostic model for glioblastoma patients stemmed out from a Cox multiple analysis, highlighting the role of MDSC, p-STAT3, and ARG1 activity together with clinical parameters in predicting patient's outcome. Conclusions: This work emphasizes the role of systemic immune suppression carried out by myeloid cells in gliomas. The identification of biomarkers associated with immune landscape, diagnosis, and outcome of glioblastoma patients lays the ground for their clinical use