In this study, we derive a large-scale Vs30 map for Italy starting from the global terrain geomorphological classification based on normalized slope, local convexity, and surface texture (after ...Iwahashi et al., 2018). The novelty of the present work is the integration of a large amount of data from the Italian seismic microzonation dataset, consisting in about 35,000 borehole logs and 11,300 Vs profiles. The results of our analysis suggest that the geomorphological classes are correlated to subsoil lithologies and Vs30 values more than surface lithological types (after Amanti et al., 2008). As already done in Japan (Matsuoka and Wakamatsu, 2006), Greece (Stewart et al., 2014), Central and Eastern North America (Parker et al., 2017), and Pacific Northwest Region of North America (Ahdi et al., 2017), we found a proxy dependence of Vs30 from slope gradient and elevation through a lognormal linear regression model for each geomorphological class. A stepwise method allowed us to give meaning and statistical robustness to the regression model dependencies. The polygons inconsistent with the Iwahashi et al. (2018) approach (e.g., Meso-Cenozoic carbonate units of Apulian block and Hyblean Plateau related to the foreland domain) were replaced with the polygons of the lithological map (Amanti et al., 2008) and the associated Vs30 lognormal average values. Therefore, a hybrid raster Vs30 map was created with a spatial resolution of 50 × 50 m. The comparison with other previous maps shows how the forecast improves in terms of both accuracy and precision. For these reasons, the new Vs30 proxy-based map for Italy based on the seismic microzonation dataset represents a useful tool for improving several applications: ShakeMaps, stochastic event based hazard map, total hazard map, assessment of coseismic instabilities, seismic risk assessment for spatially distributed emergency and resilience systems. Vs30 raster maps and supplementary material are available in the Research Data (doi:10.17632/8458tgzc73.1).
•Vs30 Italy map was created starting from the global geomorphological classification.•Seismic microzonation dataset was used for better estimation of Vs30 for Italy.•Geomorphological classes represent the best strategy for Vs30 large scale mapping.•The new Vs30 map is a useful tool for seismic risk assessment at large scale.
Introduction
The use of nasogastric-tube feeding (NGT) in the treatment of Anorexia Nervosa (AN) in children and adolescents is recommended by current guidelines. Nonetheless, the literature lacks ...studies assessing prognostic factors for modifications of AN-specific psychopathology treated with NGT.
Objectives
To assess potential prognostic affecting improvement in AN-specific psychopathology in children and adolescents hospitalized for AN, treated with NGT.
Methods
Retrospective study assessing young inpatients with AN, treated with NGT. Considered outcomes (admission vs discharge) were AN-specific psychopathology (Eating Disorder Inventory-3 (EDI-3): Drive for Thinness (DT); Body Dissatisfaction (BD); Eating-Disorders Risk (EDRC)) and body-mass index (BMI). Considered potential predictors were demographics, duration of untreated illness (DUI), severity (admission BMI), diagnoses, early vs late (0-7 vs 8+ days after admission) start of NGT, drugs). Models for specific contributions of predictors related to outcomes were assessed with analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).
Results
Fifty-three inpatients (F=53, mean age 15.1±2.0 years) were enrolled. Both higher DT (F(1,22)=15.07, p<0.001) and BD improvement (F(1,22)=7.73, p=0.011) were predicted by lower admission BMI. Higher BMI improvement was predicted by lower admission BMI (F(1,47)=10.39, p<0.001) and age (F(1.47)=6.12, p=0.011. AN subtypes, comorbidities, antidepressants, and different antipsychotics did not predict any outcome.
Conclusions
In this study, greater improvement in AN-specific psychopathology (DT and BD) and weight in patients treated with NGT was predicted by lower admission BMI. These results suggest that young patients with greater severity may highly benefit from NGT. These findings, if confirmed in wider and controlled samples, could help in optimizing the treatment with NGT in young inpatients with AN.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
Although much has been made of the role of HMGB1 acting as an acute damage associated molecular pattern (DAMP) molecule, prompting the response to tissue damage or injury, it is also released at ...sites of chronic inflammation including sites of infection, autoimmunity, and cancer. As such, the biology is distinguished from homeostasis and acute inflammation by the recruitment and persistence of myeloid derived suppressor cells, T regulatory cells, fibrosis and/or exuberant angiogenesis depending on the antecedents and the other individual inflammatory partners that HMGB1 binds and focuses, including IL-1β, CXCL12/SDF1, LPS, DNA, RNA, and sRAGE. High levels of HMGB1 released into the extracellular milieu and its persistence in the microenvironment can contribute to the pathogenesis of many if not all autoimmune disorders and is a key factor that drives inflammation further and worsens symptoms. HMGB1 is also pivotal in the maintenance of chronic inflammation and a "wound healing" type of immune response that ultimately contributes to the onset of carcinogenesis and tumor progression. Exosomes carrying HMGB1 and other instructive molecules are released and shape the response of various cells in the chronic inflammatory environment. Understanding the defining roles of REDOX, DAMPs and PAMPs, and the host response in chronic inflammation requires an alternative means for positing HMGB1's central role in limiting and focusing inflammation, distinguishing chronic from acute inflammation.
During the Mw 4.9 earthquake of December 26, 2018, an 8 km long arc‐shaped coseismic fracture belt formed along the southeastern flank of Etna Volcano (Sicily, Italy). We performed prompt field ...mapping of the 2018 coseismic fracture field, integrated with structural measurements in about 600 sites. The fracture belt comprises a northern, 3‐km‐long N130° striking segment, and a southern, 5‐km‐long N150°–170° portion. Along the former segment our data document a dextral shear zone, geometrically and kinematically coherent with the focal mechanism of the earthquake and indicating N170‐oriented compression. This shear zone shows a distinctive ground signature affecting lava flows of different ages, suggesting progressive growth of the structure through repeated coseismic cycles. The coseismic strain migrated to the NNW‐oriented segment, along which the strike‐slip deformation changed into N100–120°‐trending extension. The deformation along this segment is derived from the reactivation of a Late Quaternary tectonic boundary separating two adjacent compressional and extensional domains. The overall coseismic deformation is the result of these two different kinematics, consistent with the long‐term dynamics of both adjacent domains. The growth rate of recent cumulative morphotectonic features along the remobilized NNW‐striking fault demonstrates that the structure is still deforming at a rate comparable to the long‐period estimate. Our study points out that the 2018 seismic event, even if triggered by volcano‐tectonic processes, represents the expression of the composite regional dynamics, which are well constrained by large scale geodetic data.
Key Points
The study is based on field mapping of the 2018 Mount Etna coseismic fracture field and on 600 structural in situ measurements
We compared the kinematics along the composite coseismic fracture belt to the Late Quaternary regional kinematics
The seismic event is coherent with the active dynamics at the regional scale
A geologic and geodetic integrated analysis of the northern margin of the Hyblean Plateau (SE Sicily) has been carried out in order to test the relationship between the active deformation, recorded ...by GPS data, and the long-term tectonic evolution, reconstructed by the interpretation of structural and morphological data. Our study revealed the active growth of a large antiform, as a consequence of the positive tectonic inversion of the previous flexure, bordering the Hyblean Foreland. The deformation of Middle–Late Pleistocene marine terraces and the evolution of the drainage system are consistent with a progressive regional tilting of the entire eastern sector of the Hyblean Plateau (Siracusa Domain), representing the southern limb of the active antiform. The geometry of the Late Quaternary marine strandlines, compared with the results of analogue models, is compatible with the effects of the NW-ward propagation of a detachment fault at depth. The active deformation of the Hyblean region, coherent with the Nubia–Eurasia plate convergence, suggests to candidate the inverted tectonics at the northern border of the Hyblean Plateau as potential seismogenic sources of the area.
•The paper focuses on the northern border of the Hyblean Plateau (SE Sicily).•The study is based on combination of GPS, structural and morphological data.•The discussed dataset constrains an active NNW directed compression.•The recent and active folding has been related to motion along a detachment.•The conclusions provide new constraints for future modeling on active tectonics.
The 2016–2017 seismic events that struck central Italy led the Government to carry out a project to produce the third level Seismic Microzonation studies in 138 municipalities. These activities have ...involved many experts in different disciplines such as geology, geomorphology, geophysics, seismology and geotechnical engineering. This project represented the first opportunity to perform nationally coordinated third level Seismic Microzonation studies over a wide area in a quite short time (6 months). It provided the chance to improve methodological procedures, to test the reliability of methods and models for site response analyses and to produce a huge amount of validated data. This paper focuses on the contribution of geological disciplines and concerns: (a) the definition of the main “morphostructural domains” of the Central-Northern Apennines; (b) the creation of an archive of all the lithostratigraphic units occurring in the study area with their conversion into engineering-geological units and their distribution in the different morphostructural domains; (c) the construction of the reference geological and geotechnical models, which are essential to classify the territory into seismically homogeneous microzones and to perform the successive 1D and 2D numerical analyses of the local site response. The geophysical dataset acquired for the study allowed a first statistical characterization of the Vs values typical of the engineering-geological units identified in this study. Some examples of the recurrent geological and geotechnical models are shown to explain the complexity and variety of the geological and geomorphological features of the investigated area and to highlight the different seismostratigraphic behavior of rocks and cover terrains. The analysis of third level Seismic Microzonation data made it possible to identify recurrent subsoil models and to note the main stratigraphic and morphological control-factors of the ground motion modification in the different morphostructural domains.
This systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) aims at evaluating the efficacy of Occupational therapy (OT) interventions in Asperger's syndrome (AS) pediatric patients. We conducted a ...systematic review according to PRISMA guidelines. The screening of the literature was carried out on PUBMED, SCOPUS, WEB OF SCIENCE and OT SEEKER databases, TO December 2018. We selected three RCTs having the common objective to evaluate whether children with AS can improve their social skills thanks to OT treatments. The interventions targeted by the three selected studies were: LEGO therapy, Social Use of Language Programme, Let's Face It! software and Parent Training combined with the administration of risperidone. All the studies showed that the intervention groups improved their overall social ability.This review shows that OT interventions can help concretely AS children in overcoming their social issues. Nevertheless, more RCTs are needed to better understand the OT's benefits and limitations in AS patients.
► We compare two food products with very similar quality levels: a frozen and an ohmically treated vegetable soup. ► We set boundary conditions for the comparison. ► We calculate unit costs (€/kg) ...for each phase of the supply chain of the frozen product. ► We calculate unit costs for each phase of the ohmic product but its production and packaging. ► We find the Process Target Cost (PTC) of this operation: 1.42306€/kg.
In this paper, a quasi-target costing technique was used in order to determine the Process-Target-Cost (PTC) of the ohmic treatment and aseptic packaging of a vegetable soup. This technique was applied through a case study, that compares two products with (ideally) identical quality levels. Specifically, the unit production costs have been evaluated comparing the cold chain of a frozen ready-to-heat soup with the traditional supply chain of an ohmically treated soup. Firstly, the boundary conditions for the comparison were fixed, in order to be representative of a typical Italian product along with its supply chain. Afterwards, the unit costs of the frozen product chain were calculated, from the purchase of raw materials to the distribution and in shop storage of the end product. These unit costs were then assumed for the ohmic product, so as to achieve a maximum PTC of its treatment and packaging equal to 1.42306€/kg. The value of PTC corresponds to 65.89% of the total costs of the ohmic product.
We use a scanning nanometer-scale superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) to image individual vortices in amorphous superconducting MoSi thin films. Spatially resolved measurements of the ...magnetic field generated by both vortices and Meissner screening satisfy the Pearl model for vortices in thin films and yield values for the Pearl length and bulk penetration depth at 4.2 K. Flux pinning is observed and quantified through measurements of vortex motion driven by both applied currents and thermal activation. The effects of pinning are also observed in metastable vortex configurations, which form as the applied magnetic field is reduced and magnetic flux is expelled from the film. Understanding and controlling vortex dynamics in amorphous thin films is crucial for optimizing devices such as superconducting nanowire single photon detectors (SNSPDs), the most efficient of which are made from MoSi, WSi, and MoGe.
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