Space-Time Landslide Predictive Modelling

Landslides are nearly ubiquitous phenomena and pose severe threats to people, properties, and the environment. Investigators have for long attempted to estimate landslide hazard to determine where, when, and how destructive landslides are expected to be in an area. This information is useful to design landslide mitigation strategies, and to reduce landslide risk and societal and economic losses. In the geomorphology literature, most attempts at predicting the occurrence of populations of landslides rely on the observation that landslides are the result of multiple interacting, conditioning and triggering factors. Here, we propose a novel Bayesian modelling framework for the prediction of space-time landslide occurrences of the slide type caused by weather triggers. We consider log-Gaussian cox processes, assuming that individual landslides stem from a point process described by an unknown intensity function. We tested our prediction framework in the Collazzone area, Umbria, Central Italy, for which a detailed multi-temporal landslide inventory spanning 1941-2014 is available together with lithological and bedding data. We tested five models of increasing complexity. Our most complex model includes fixed effects and latent spatio-temporal effects, thus largely fulfilling the common definition of landslide hazard in the literature. We quantified the spatio-temporal predictive skill of our model and found that it performed better than simpler alternatives. We then developed a novel classification strategy and prepared an intensity-susceptibility landslide map, providing more information than traditional susceptibility zonations for land planning and management. We expect our novel approach to lead to better projections of future landslides, and to improve our collective understanding of the evolution of landscapes dominated by mass-wasting processes under geophysical and weather triggers

Use of Kluyveromyces marxianus to Increase Free Monoterpenes and Aliphatic Esters in White Wines

An increasing interest in novel wine productions is focused on non-Saccharomyces yeasts due to their potential in improving sensory profiles. Although Kluyveromyces marxianus has been originally isolated from grapes and its enzymatic activities are used in oenology, rarely it has been used as co-starter. The K. marxianus Km L2009 strain has been characterized here and selected as a co-starter both at laboratory- and winery-scale fermentation. The Km L2009 strain showed growth of up to 40 (mg/L) of sulfites and 6% (v/v) of ethanol. Gas chromatographic analysis demonstrates that wines produced by mixed fermentation contain remarkably higher quantities of free monoterpenes and aliphatic esters than wines produced only by commercial strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Differences in the volatile organic compound composition produced sensorially distinct wines. In light of these results, it is possible to state that even within the K. marxianus species it is possible to select strains capable of improving the aromatic quality of wines

Acquiring vulnerability indicators to geo-hydrological hazards: An example of mobile phone-based data collection

Abstract Geo-hydrological risk reduction is a key issue for local governments in Italy. In this context, a collaboration was undertaken between multiple actors in the La Spezia municipality aimed at: (i) monitoring building characteristics, using specific and valuable indicators, and (ii) increasing the knowledge of geo-hydrological hazards across residents and local land planners (iii) implementing local emergency civil protection plan. An extensive mobile data collection was carried out through apps specifically developed for Android and IOS mobile devices. The digital forms were differentiated on the basis of the potential hazard: one of 46 fields and one of 125 fields designed for buildings respectively located in flood prone areas and in medium to very high landslide susceptibility areas. The digital version of the forms was designed using the Open Data Kit (ODK) and GISCloud client-server approach. All the collected data, including geospatial locations and images, were automatically sent to a central server, stored and organized in a database. Geospatial data-analysis and maps resulted useful in evaluating possible impacts to exposed buildings to potential geo-hydrological processes. The proposed public participation method for data-gathering increased the knowledge across residents providing a better understanding of the urban systems, of the buildings condition and their relation respect to the geo-hydrological risk. The method can be considered as part of the decision support systems for civil protection purposes to better planning geo-hydrological mitigation measures. The application of mobile technology for data collection can be effectively used when local government resources are limited

Upon oxidative stress, the antiapoptotic Hsp60/procaspase-3 complex persists in mucoepidermoid carcinoma cells.

Hsp60, a mitochondrial chaperonin highly conserved during evolution, has been found elevated in the cytosol of cancer cells, both in vivo and in vitro, but its role in determining apoptosis during oxidative stress (OS) has not yet been fully elucidated. The aim of the present work was to study the effects of OS on Hsp60 levels and its interactions with procaspase- 3 (p-C3) and p53 in tumor cells. NCI-H292 (mucoepidermoid carcinoma) cells were exposed to various concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for 24 hours. Cell viability was determined by Trypan blue and MTT assays. DNA damage was assessed by the Comet assay, and apoptosis was measured by the AnnexinV cytofluorimetric test. Exposure to increasing concentrations of H2O2 resulted in a reduction of cell viability, DNA damage, and early apoptotic phenomena. Hsp60, p-C3, p53, and p21 were assessed by Western blotting and immunocytochemistry before and after OS. Hsp60 and p-C3 were present before and after OS induction. Immunoprecipitation experiments showed an Hsp60/p-C3 complex before OS that persisted after it, while an Hsp60/p53 complex was not detected in either condition. The presence of wild type (wt) p53 was confirmed by RT-PCR, and p21 detection suggested p53 activation after OS. We postulate that, although OS may induce early apoptosis in NCI-H292 cells, Hsp60 exerts an anti-apoptotic effect in these cells and, by extension, it may do so in other cancer cell

Exploitation of large archives of ERS and ENVISAT C-band SAR data to characterize ground deformations

In the last few years, several advances have been made in the use of radar images to detect, map and monitor ground deformations. DInSAR (Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry) and A-DInSAR/PSI (Advanced DInSAR/Persistent Scatterers Interferometry) technologies have been successfully applied in the study of deformation phenomena induced by, for example, active tectonics, volcanic activity, ground water exploitation, mining, and landslides, both at local and regional scales. In this paper, the existing European Space Agency (ESA) archives (acquired as part of the FP7-DORIS project), which were collected by the ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT satellites operating in the microwave C-band, were analyzed and exploited to understand the dynamics of landslide and subsidence phenomena. In particular, this paper presents the results obtained as part of the FP7-DORIS project to demonstrate that the full exploitation of very long deformation time series (more than 15 years) can play a key role in understanding the dynamics of natural and human-induced hazards. © 2013 by the authors

Misurare lo stress psico-fisico del caregiver di pazienti cronici: risultati di uno studio

INTRODUZIONE: Il carico dei caregiver è associato a un peggioramento della loro qualità di vita: aumentato rischio d'insorgenza di malattie cardiovascolari, ipertensione arteriosa, depressione e disturbi d'ansia vengono riportati in letteratura. Ad un aumento del carico assistenziale del caregiver è associata anche una precoce istituzionalizzazione del familiare. OBIETTIVI: Misurare i livelli di burden in un campione dei caregiver informali di pazienti cronici attraverso la creazione e validazione di una versione italiana modificata del Caregiver Strain Index. METODI: Lo studio ha previsto la traduzione e modifica del Caregiver Strain Index, in seguito somministrato ad un campione di convenienza di caregivers informali di pazienti cronici arruolato nei poliambulatori di un singolo centro ospedaliero. RISULTATI La scala ha un’ottima validità di contenuto (CVI-S=0.95) e di facciata e una buona consistenza interna (α di Cronbach=0.78). Il 75% del campione presenta una situazione di burden eccessivo (Me =8, IQR = [7; 9] cutoff 8). Valori più alti sono riportati nelle donne, nei soggetti con licenza media-inferiore e laurea, nei caregiver conviventi, in quelli che assistono più persone e in quelli i cui assistiti sono affetti da Parkinson (p<0.05 per tutte le variabili). Conclusioni: La versione italiana modificata del Caregiver Strain Index è uno strumento valido, affidabile, veloce e di semplice utilizzo capace di valutare i livelli di burden nei caregivers che assistono i pazienti cronici. Gli alti livelli di burden riferiti rivelano la necessità della figura dell’infermiere case manager per la continuità assistenziale al domicilio.BACKGROUND: Caregiver burden is associated with a worsening of their quality of life in psychophysical terms: increased risk of onset of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety disorders. An increase in caregiver burden is also associated with early institutionalization of the family member. It is therefore desirable to assess the levels of stress and load of these caregivers and identify possible paths of support for this figure. AIM:  To measure the levels of burden in a sample of informal caregivers of chronic patients through the creation and validation of a modified Italian version of the Caregiver Strain Index. Materials and Methods: The study involved the translation, modification and administration of the scale to a convenience sample of informal caregivers of chronic patients enrolled in the outpatient clinics of a single hospital center. RESULTS: The scale has excellent face und content validity (CVI-S=0.95) and good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.78). 75%of the sample had excessive burden (Me =8, IQR = [7; 9] cutoff 8). The highest burden values were reported in women, individuals with a lower-middle school and college degree, caregivers living with patients, caregivers caring for more than one person, and those whose caregivers had Parkinson's disease (p<0.05 for all variables). CONCLUSIONS: The modified Italian version of the Caregiver Strain Index is a valid and reliable, fast, and easy-to-use instrument capable of assessing burden levels in informal caregivers caring for chronic patients. High level of burden reveals the need for the nurse case manager figure for home continuity care

COMPARISON OF SRTM ELEVATION DATA WITH CARTOGRAPHICALLY DERIVED DEMS IN ITALY

In this study we evaluated the quality of the DEM acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission(SRTM) for Italy through comparison with cartographically derived DEMs, available for the Italian territory.Comparison was carried out analyzing differences in elevation and slope angle at regional scale. Thecomparisons carried out at the regional scale disclose a general increase in slope angle values with thechange in resolution and a moderate difference in mean elevation. From these results, we highlighted thatimproved surface-based DEMs, based on advanced SAR, have vertical values that approach or exceedthat of current medium resolution surface products. Moreover, this study helps to provide a benchmarkagainst which future DEM products can be evaluated