Structural elements, transversal to the Apennine chain, display various problematic aspects connected, above all, with their origin tectonogenetic role. From a seismic point of view, they may act as ...a structural barrier to the propagation of the Apennine normal faults or behave as transfer zones, thus activating neighboring segments belonging to the same fault system; the largest ones can also host significant earthquakes with the hypocenters located in the basement, below the Apennine thrust belt. This paper describes a case of recurrent surface faulting that reactivates a sector of a relevant transverse feature, the "." (FV-VE), near the city of Fabriano (Marche, Italy). Detailed geomorphological observations connect it with past earthquakes, including the disastrous event (I0 = IX MCS, about 6.2 Mw) of 24 April 1741 that struck the area with a wide distribution of damages extending along the Esino River Valley to the Adriatic coast over a distance of more than 50 km. Furthermore, paleoseismological analysis and radiocarbon datings of faulted river terraces and slope deposits, ranging in age from the end of the Middle Pleistocene to the recent Holocene, allowed us to define the evolutionary steps of the fault and estimate a slip rate of about 0.3 mm/year.
This review inspects the relations between the microbiota and the intestinal immune system in the advancement of metabolic illnesses, such as obesity and diabetes mellitus. The role of the microbiota ...in intestinal immune defense and the control of metabolism are subject to examination.
In type 1 diabetes, the adhesion proteins prompt inside the intestinal epithelium prompt a more significant immune response that may result in the destruction of pancreatic β cells by CD8+ T-lymphocytes, as well as increased articulation of interleukin-17, which is associated with autoimmunity. Studies suggest that the beginning of metabolic ailments and certain co-morbidities can be viewed in light of the protection between the gut microbiota and the intestinal immune system. The gut microbiota is analyzed as a key regulator of metabolic ailments. Research demonstrates that obese patients with type 2 diabetes have a certain gut microbiota and that the microbiota is translocated from the gut to the tissues in conjunction with the illness, which instigates inflammation.
Research in animals and people suggests that a probiotic supplement may regulate the gut microbiota, thereby improving the prognosis for diabetes.
The mechanism underlying this phenomenon relates to a decrease in the inflammatory reaction and oxidative stress, as well as a decrease in leaky gut. Such reactions increase insulin sensitivity and reduce autoimmune responses.
Summary
In recent years, several studies proposed new techniques aimed at improving the performances of rigid block‐like objects under base excitation. The majority of these studies considered ...passive control methods, such as base isolation or other techniques based on the tuned mass damper principle. Only few studies considered active and semi‐active control methods applied to the dynamics of rigid blocks. This paper proposes an active control method for symmetric rigid blocks that is based on the LQR approach. The optimal control law is obtained starting from the linearized equation of motion. The effectiveness of the proposed control method is investigated comparing the behaviour of rigid blocks with and without active control under harmonic and seismic excitation. The results are summarized in overturning spectra, in the case of harmonic excitation, and rocking maps, in the case of seismic excitation. Although the proposed active control method is expected to work well for slender blocks, specific analyses show that the method also improves the dynamics of no‐slender blocks and is effective for blocks with different geometrical characteristics. Moreover, the results show that the control law has a good robustness with respect to the sampling time and the time delay.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
In this paper the effects of a mass–damper on the rocking motion of a rigid block, subject to one-sine pulse-type excitation, is investigated. The damper is modelled as a single-degree-of-freedom ...oscillating mass, running at the top of the block and connected to it by a linear visco-elastic device. In a previous paper by the same authors the effectiveness of the oscillating mass–damper was investigated on a block with fixed dimensions, by performing a parametric analysis where only the characteristics of the damper were changed. Instead, in this paper the variable parameters are those characterizing the block that has to be protected. The equations of rocking motion and the uplift and impact conditions are derived by means of a direct approach, capable of providing a deeper interpretation of the forces acting on the system. An extensive parametric analysis is performed by numerical integration of the governing equations and by taking the dimensions of the block, the frequency and the amplitude of the excitation, and the period of the oscillating mass as variable parameters. Curves capable of providing the amplitude of the excitation for which an overturning of the block occurs are obtained and the role of the variable parameters is pointed out. Finally, curves providing the threshold frequency of the one-sine excitation above which the mass–damper does not work well are obtained, depending on the parameters characterizing the block.
•Single degree of freedom oscillating mass-damper.•Rocking motion of a rigid block.•One-sine pulse type excitation.•Overturning curves, providing the overturning amplitude of the excitation versus the period of TMD.•Threshold frequency of the excitation over which the mass-damper does not work well.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Summary
In physiological conditions, red blood cells (RBCs) are capable of dramatic deformations when passing through the microvasculature. This extreme deformability is closely related to the RBC ...biconcave shape, to the fluidic nature of the haemoglobin and the cell membrane structure, primarily consisting of a phospholipid bilayer with an underlying two‐dimensional spectrin network. In many pathological and inflammatory conditions, the shape and the extreme deformability of erythrocytes appear to be significantly altered. These findings have stimulated intense research towards the search and validation of novel erythrocyte‐based mechanical biomarkers, useful for disease diagnosis and therapy monitoring. In this study, we investigated with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) the mechanical properties of erythrocytes obtained from a 68 years old cirrhotic man diagnosed with spur cell anaemia and cold agglutinated disease, before and after liver transplantation. Mechanical changes are compared with ultrastructural alterations as studied by scanning electron microscopy and discussed according to confocal fluorescence microscopy results, showing possible alterations induced by the cirrhotic environment at the level of the RBCs cytoskeletal organisation and lipidic composition. Taken together, the results here presented show that liver transplantation not only contributes to restoring the proper RBC morphology, but it also induces recovery of the physiological viscous behaviour of cells, further stressing the relevance of viscous and dissipative forces in determining the RBC biomechanical response.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective
In spite of previous conflicting results, an adjuvant role of selenium in the treatment of Graves’ disease (GD) hyperthyroidism has been proposed. To address this issue, a randomized ...clinical trial was carried out aimed at investigating whether selenium is beneficial on the short-term control of GD hyperthyroidism treated with methimazole (MMI).
Methods
Thirty newly diagnosed hyperthyroid GD patients were randomly assigned to treatment with: (i) MMI or (ii) MMI plus selenium. Primary outcomes were: control of hyperthyroidism and clinical and biochemical manifestations of hyperthyroidism heart rate, cholesterol, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), hyperthyroidism symptoms at 90 days.
Results
Baseline features of the two groups did not differ. Serum selenium at baseline was similar in the two groups and within the recommended range to define selenium sufficiency. Selenium increased with treatment in the MMI-selenium group and became significantly higher than in the MMI group. Serum malondialdehyde, a marker of oxidative stress, was similar in the two groups and decreased significantly with treatment, with no difference between groups. Administration of MMI was followed by a reduction of FT
3
and FT
4
, with no difference between groups. Heart rate, SHBG and symptoms of hyperthyroidism decreased, whereas total cholesterol increased in both groups with no difference between groups.
Conclusions
Our study, carried out in a selenium-sufficient cohort of GD patients, failed to show an adjuvant role of selenium in the short-term control of hyperthyroidism. However, selenium might be beneficial in patients from selenium-deficient areas, as well as in the long-term outcome of antithyroid treatment.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The European Commission (EC), being the co-lead of the European Regional Group on Earth Observations (EuroGEO), is currently outlining an ecosystem that will interconnect European technologies, ...digital infrastructures and data and enable the implementation of policy-relevant use cases using shared standards. This ecosystem will in turn strengthen Europe’s contribution to GEOSS, which is the Global Earth Observation System of Systems. To evaluate and demonstrate the potential of this ecosystem, prioritization of use cases is necessary. This work presents a methodology for this prioritization, taking into consideration policy relevance, data and digital infrastructures and adherence to European approaches, principles and values. This methodology can also be used for identifying noteworthy research projects in the Earth observation (EO) domain that possess policy relevance and have the potential to be transformed into sustained and operational services beyond the funding period, focusing on research projects funded by Horizon 2020 (H2020) and Horizon Europe EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation. We applied this methodology to an H2020 project named “EuroGEO Showcases: Applications Powered by Europe (e-shape)”, composed of 37 pilots, and here we present the results. This process led to the identification of a priority pilot on solar energy potential assessment in urban areas, for which EC Knowledge Centre on Earth Observation (KCEO) will participate in co-design activities with ARMINES, the leader of this pilot. We finally present the pilot shortly and elaborate on the next steps.
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