3D displacement field retrieved by integrating Sentinel-1 InSAR and GPS data: the 2014 South Napa earthquake

In this study the integration of Sentinel-1 InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) and GPS (Global Positioning System) data was performed to estimate the three components of the ground deformation field due to the Mw 6.0 earthquake occurred on August 24th, 2014, in the Napa Valley, California, USA. The SAR data were acquired by the Sentinel-1 satellite on August 7th and 31st respectively. In addition, the GPS observations acquired during the whole month of August were analyzed. These data were obtained from the Bay Area Regional Deformation Network, the UNAVCO and the Crustal Dynamics Data Information System online archives. The data integration was realized by using a Bayesian statistical approach searching for the optimal estimation of the three deformation components. The experimental results show large displacements caused by the earthquake characterized by a predominantly NW-SE strike-slip fault mechanism.The research has been supported by the “Marco Polo” project by the University of Bologna (UNIBO), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness research project ESP2013-47780-557 C2-1-R and the EU 7th FP MED-SUV project (contract 308665).Peer reviewe

Monitoring and understanding crustal deformation by means of GPS and InSAR data

Monitoring deformation of the Earth’s crust by using data acquired by both the GNSS and SAR techniques allows describing crustal movements with high spatial and temporal resolution. This is a key contribution for achieving a deeper and better insight of geodynamic processes. Combination of the two techniques provides a very powerful means, however, before combing the different data sets it is important to properly understand their respective contribution. For this purpose, strictly simultaneous and long time series would be necessary. This is not, in general, a common case due to the relatively long SAR satellites revisit time. A positive exception is represented by the data set of COSMO SKYMed (CSK) images made available for this study by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The flyover area encompass the city of Bologna and the smaller nearby town of Medicina where permanent GPS stations are operational. At the times of the CSK flyovers, we compared the GPS and SAR Up and East coordinates of a few stations as well as differential tropospheric delays derived by both techniques. The GPS time series were carefully screened and corrected for the presence of discontinuities by adopting a dedicated statistical procedure. The comparisons of both the estimated deformation and the tropospheric delays are encouraging and highlight the need for having available a more evenly sampled SAR data set

Rate and determinants of association between advanced retinopathy and chronic kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes: the Renal Insufficiency And Cardiovascular Events (RIACE) Italian multicenter study

To evaluate the rate and determinants of concordance between advanced diabetic retinopathy (DR) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), as assessed by both albuminuria and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), in the large cohort of the Renal Insufficiency And Cardiovascular Events (RIACE) Italian multicenter study

Onconase responsive genes in human mesothelioma cells: implications for an RNA damaging therapeutic agent

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Onconase represents a new class of RNA-damaging drugs. Mechanistically, Onconase is thought to internalize, where it degrades intracellular RNAs such as tRNA and double-stranded RNA, and thereby suppresses protein synthesis. However, there may be additional or alternative mechanism(s) of action.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, microarray analysis was used to compare gene expression profiles in untreated human malignant mesothelioma (MM) cell lines and cells exposed to 5 μg/ml Onconase for 24 h. A total of 155 genes were found to be regulated by Onconase that were common to both epithelial and biphasic MM cell lines. Some of these genes are known to significantly affect apoptosis (IL-24, TNFAIP3), transcription (ATF3, DDIT3, MAFF, HDAC9, SNAPC1) or inflammation and the immune response (IL-6, COX-2). RT-PCR analysis of selected up- or down-regulated genes treated with varying doses and times of Onconase generally confirmed the expression array findings in four MM cell lines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Onconase treatment consistently resulted in up-regulation of IL-24, previously shown to have tumor suppressive activity, as well as ATF3 and IL-6. Induction of ATF3 and the pro-apoptotic factor IL-24 by Onconase was highest in the two most responsive MM cell lines, as defined by DNA fragmentation analysis. In addition to apoptosis, gene ontology analysis indicated that pathways impacted by Onconase include MAPK signaling, cytokine-cytokine-receptor interactions, and Jak-STAT signaling.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results provide a broad picture of gene activity after treatment with a drug that targets small non-coding RNAs and contribute to our overall understanding of MM cell response to Onconase as a therapeutic strategy. The findings provide insights regarding mechanisms that may contribute to the efficacy of this novel drug in clinical trials of MM patients who have failed first line chemotherapy or radiation treatment.</p

Journal of Geodynamics

The Journal of Geodynamics is an international and interdisciplinary forum for the publication of results and discussions of solid earth research in geodetic, geophysical, geological and geochemical geodynamics, with special emphasis on the large scale processes involved

Anslisi ed interpretazione dei dati GPS raccolti dalla rete di stazioni ENI nell'area Adriatica nel periodo 1999-2004

Obiettivi L'obiettivo principale delle attività di ricerca inerenti il contratto riguarda la determinazione, con alta precisione, mediante osservazioni GPS continue (CGPS) dei movimenti del suolo, in particolare dei movimenti verticali, presso le stazioni GPS permanenti della rete ENI nell'area Adriatica. Si tratta, per il periodo 1999-2004, di un totale di 21 stazioni CGPS installate sia su piattaforme in Adriatico che in continente. Risultati programmati La ricerca consentirà di: a)definire linee guida per l'installazione delle stazioni GPS, in accordo con le caratteristiche richieste dai Servizi Internazionali, quali IGS ed EUREF. In particolare, si fa riferimento al ricevitore, all'antenna, al caposaldo ed alla monumentazione sulla quale è installata l'antenna. Saranno descritte le caratteristiche ottimali di tale costruzione; b)stabilire linee guida relative alla scelta della rete di stazioni di fiducia da utilizzare nell'ambito dell'analisi dei dati delle stazioni GPS della rete ENI; c)stimare valori giornalieri delle coordinate di ciascuna delle stazioni CGPS della rete ENI; d)rilevare, se presenti, oscillazioni a corto periodo (annuale) nelle serie temporali delle quote e realizzare modelli delle oscillazioni annuali osservate; e)stimare la variazione lineare di lungo periodo delle serie temporali delle quote; f)stimare la variazione lineare di lungo periodo delle serie temporali delle componenti orizzontali

GEODAC: A service to support geodynamic studies along the Eurasia-Nubia plate boundary

In the framework of the WEGENER project (IAG Inter-Commission Project P3.2), and following the directives approved in the last Wegener meeting (Tangier, 2004), a new service dedicated to support geodynamic studies along the Eurasia-Nubia plate boundary is being implemented. GEODAC (GEO-Database and Analysis Center) has three major goals: (1) collect, store and make available geodata to the scientific community, either directly or by providing the necessary links; (2) process and analyze geodetic measurements (in particular GPS observations); (3) promote the use of state-of-art processing methodologies and latest results/solutions by supporting the scientific community, with a special focus on developing countries. The regions selected for the initial phase of implementation of this service were the Iberian Peninsula and North-Western Africa. Existing geodetic and geophysical information is being gathered for archiving and will be made available. Simultaneously, the observations of all available continuously-operating GPS sites in the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco (also including some stations in the Azores, Madeira and Canary Archipelagos, and Europe) are being processed, on a daily basis (with a backward processing extending to January 1996), using the GEODAC facilities. The current status of GEODAC is presented together with the expected improvements in the near future. The interest of individuals and organizations in this center is a major reason towards the full implementation of this project