Structural and geomorphological framework of the upper Maira Valley (Western Alps, Italy): the case study of the Gollone Landslide

An interdisciplinary study has been adopted to investigate the upper Maira Valley (Western Alps, Italy). A geological map of an unmapped area, of about 12 km2, at scale 1:10.000, has been realized. The combination of field surveys, GIS database creation, aerial photo observation, local archival data consultation, geo-structural analysis and drillholes re-interpretation outlined a relationship between structures and landforms. A ductile and brittle deformation history with the definition of four discontinuity systems (F1-F4) has been detected. Where the fracturation is intense, rock-falls and topplings are triggered. In area associated with a homogeneous presence of weathered cover, debris flows were identified. The geo-structural pattern obtained from the surveys in the upper Maira Valley allowed characterizing detachment zones of the slope overlooking Acceglio town. The Gollone Landslide is an excellent case study to unravel the structural-morphological interaction and the kinematic evolution due to its framework

Whole-body composition features by computed tomography in ovarian cancer: pilot data on survival correlations

Background: The primary objective of this study was to assess the associations of computed tomography (CT)-based whole-body composition values with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients. The secondary objective was the association of body composition with chemotherapy-related toxicity. Methods: Thirty-four patients (median age 64.9 years; interquartile range 55.4–75.4) with EOC and thorax and abdomen CT scans were included. Clinical data recorded: age; weight; height; stage; chemotherapy-related toxicity; and date of last contact, progression and death. Automatic extraction of body composition values was performed by dedicated software. Sarcopenia was defined according to predefined cutoffs. Statistical analysis included univariate tests to investigate associations of sarcopenia and body composition with chemotoxicity. Association of body composition parameters and OS/PFS was evaluated by log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model. Multivariate models were adjusted for FIGO stage and/or age at diagnosis. Results: We found significant associations of skeletal muscle volume with OS (p = 0.04) and PFS (p = 0.04); intramuscular fat volume with PFS (p = 0.03); and visceral adipose tissue, epicardial and paracardial fat with PFS (p = 0.04, 0.01 and 0.02, respectively). We found no significant associations between body composition parameters and chemotherapy-related toxicity. Conclusions: In this exploratory study, we found significant associations of whole-body composition parameters with OS and PFS. These results open a window to the possibility to perform body composition profiling without approximate estimations

Satellite Propellant Pump Research

NASA Glenn initiated a satellite propellant pump technology demonstration program. The goal was to demonstrate the technologies for a 60 percent efficient pump at 1 gpm flow rate and 500 psia pressure rise. The pump design and analysis used the in-house developed computer codes named PUMPA and HPUMP3D. The requirements lead to a 4-stage impeller type pump design with a tip diameter of 0.54 inches and a rotational speed of 57,000 rpm. Analyses indicated that flow cavitation was not a problem in the design. Since the flow was incompressible, the stages were identical. Only the 2-stage pump was designed, fabricated, assembled, and tested for demonstration. Water was selected as the surrogate fluid for hydrazine in this program. Complete mechanical design including stress and dynamic analyses were conducted. The pump was driven by an electric motor directly coupled to the impellers. Runs up to 57,000 rpm were conducted, where a pressure rise of 200 psia at a flow rate of 0.8 gpm was measured to validate the design effort

Reliability of fecal coliforms and fecal enterococci as indicator of microbial contamination of groundwater in carbonate aquifers

A research is in progress since January 2001 in order to analyze the effect of grazing and manure spreading on microbial pollution of groundwater in carbonate aquifers. The research is carrying out through laboratory and field experiments in different test sites of Southern Italy. The results suggest that fecal enterococci are more reliable than fecal coliforms as indicator organisms of microbial contamination of groundwater. In carbonate Southern Apennines this difference in reliability is strongly conditioned by meteorological and pedological factors. The soil medium, which has a pyroclastic origin, causes a retention of fecal coliforms higher than that of fecal enterococci. This phenomenon is non-uniform at field scale and can reach a difference of an order of magnitude. It often produces the absence of fecal coliforms in spring water samples characterized by low concentrations of fecal enterococci. Both freezing and freeze-thaw intervals will cause a significant decrease in population (3 orders of magnitude, at least) of fecal coliforms while fecal enterococci are temporary inhibited. Each water year this phenomenon determine the absence of fecal coliforms in spring water samples contaminated by fecal enterococci during winter and spring, before the beginning of the new seasonal grazin

Role of organic matter and clay fraction on migration of Escherichia coli cells through pyroclastic soils, southern Italy.

A comparative study on the adsorption of Escherichia coli cells to two different pyroclastic soils collected in southern Italy (carbonate Apennines) was performed in laboratory using surfactant-free solutions and solutions with the surfactants sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS, anionic) and octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol (Triton X-100, non-ionic). Both soils are rich in organic matter (up to 35%), but only one contains a clay fraction (2–5%). The experiments demonstrated that E. coli cells are significantly adsorbed to the clay fraction of the soil, while the organic matter content does not play a significant role. The pore size exclusion phenomenon is another factor to consider when analyzing the retention of E. coli cells within such soils. However, despite the existence of different factors that enhance bacterial cells retention, a high percent of E. coli cells is transported through soil media. The not absolute protection of such soils against microbial pollution is supported not only by the results of the column experiments at lab scale, but also by the findings of a field monitoring at site scale

L’impatto del pascolo sulla qualità delle acque carsiche.

Karst aquifers represent some of the main drinking-water resources of the world. The land use activities, often developed within these aquifers, are the cattle grazing and manure spreading. Pasture and manure spreading are able to cause bacterial contamination of drinking water in karst aquifers. The time dependence of microbial contamination is strongly conditioned by the distribution of precipitation versus time, with emphasis on those precipitation which produce effective infiltration and transport of microorganisms from the ground toward both the groundwater and the springs. Both the retardation and the number of microorganisms transported into the subsurface are strongly conditioned by the interaction with soil and aquifer. This interaction often produces significant differences between microorganisms, due to differences in their properties for attachment to solid surface within both media. Significant differences concerning the temporal and spatial distribution of groundwater microbial contamination is expected in the case the system “swallow hole - karst conduits - spring” is partially located within the saturated medium or in the case the same system is entirely located within the unsaturated medium