On 8 September 2023 an MW 6.8 earthquake struck the High Atlas Mountains of western Morocco, about 70 km southwest from Marrakesh, causing significant devastation and casualties. In this study, we ...investigate a comprehensive geodetic data set, employing interferometric synthetic aperture radar measurements to assess the fault segment responsible for the seismic event. Our findings suggest two potential fault scenarios: either a transpressive NNW‐dipping high‐angle (70°) fault related to the Tizi n'Test alignment or a transpressive SSW‐dipping low‐angle (22°) fault associated with the North Atlas Fault, with slip (up to 2.2 m) only occurring on deeper parts of the fault. While seismic catalogs couldn't definitively determine the dip direction of the fault, evidence from mainshock locations, gravity and heat flow data and modeling, and active shortening direction suggest the activation of a low‐angle south‐westerly dipping oblique thrust of the North Atlas fault during the 2023 Moroccan earthquake.
Plain Language Summary
On 8 September 2023, a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 hit the High Atlas Mountains in western Morocco, causing significant damage and loss of life. In this research, a thorough geodetic analysis was conducted using a technique called interferometric synthetic aperture radar to identify the causative fault. The results suggest two potential fault scenarios: one involves a steeply dipping fault related to the Tizi n'Test crustal structure, while the other suggests a gently dipping fault associated with the North Atlas Fault. As far as existing aftershock records do not allow determination of the angle of the fault, clues from the locations of the mainshock, gravity and heat flow data and modeling, and the direction of active compression suggest that a gently dipping fault was likely activated during the 2023 earthquake in Morocco.
Key Points
Coseismic ground deformation of the 2023 Morocco earthquake measured with interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data
InSAR data allow for two possibilities: the rupture of an intramontane high‐angle fault or of a border low‐angle thrust
Based on aftershock distribution, crustal thickness, and regional tectonic stress orientation, the low‐angle solution is more likely
The Mirandola anticline represents a buried fault-propagation fold which has been growing during Quaternary due to the seismogenic activity of a blind segment belonging to the broader Ferrara Arc. ...The last reactivation occurred during the May 2012 Emilia sequence. In correspondence with this structure, the thickness of the marine and continental deposits of the Po Plain foredeep is particularly reduced. In order to better define the shallow geometry of this tectonic structure, and hence its recent activity, we investigated in a depth range which is intermediate between the surficial morphological observations and seismic profiles information. In particular, we carried out numerous passive seismic measurements (single-station microtremor) for obtaining the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio. The results of a combined analysis of the peak frequency and its amplitude nicely fit the available geological information, suggesting that this low-cost geophysical technique could be successfully applied in other sectors of wide morphologically flat alluvial plains to investigate blind and completely buried potential seismogenic structures.
Levy (2002) and Dragone (2009) showed that rational agents tend to become overweight. Their result is shown to be equivalent to an assumption placed on the instantaneous utility function, and their ...model is shown to admit multiple steady states, including being underweight.
•Extant models of rational eating show that agents tend to become overweight.•The aforesaid result is shown not to be generally true.•An equivalence is shown between steady state weight and instantaneous utility.•The extant models can thus rationalize agents who are any weight in a steady state.•A numerical example shows that multiple steady states can coexist.
Abstract
There exists considerable evidence that people do not often follow the health recommendations issued by health authorities. It might be tempting to think that not following health ...recommendations is a sign of irrationality and that behavioral considerations are required in order to explain such behavior. Despite this temptation, and using a general health‐capital model which accounts for the consumption of many goods, a stock of health and investment in it, as well as an agent's random lifetime and accumulation of wealth, it is shown that such seemingly irrational decisions are in fact consistent with rational, forward‐looking, decision making. Moreover, it is shown, among other things, that the prototypical assumptions employed in the literature imply that rational agents invest more in their health at each point in time than that which minimizes the conditional probability of dying at that point in time, and thus lack sufficient explanatory reach.
Indirect searches for dark matter through Standard Model products of its annihilation generally assume a cross-section which is dominated by a term independent of velocity (
-wave annihilation). ...However, in many DM models an
-wave annihilation cross-section is absent or helicity suppressed. To reproduce the correct DM relic density in these models, the leading term in the cross section is proportional to the DM velocity squared (
-wave annihilation). Indirect detection of such
-wave DM is difficult because the average velocities of DM in galaxies today are orders of magnitude slower than the DM velocity at the time of decoupling from the primordial thermal plasma, thus suppressing the annihilation cross-section today by some five orders of magnitude relative to its value at freeze out. Thus
-wave DM is out of reach of traditional searches for DM annihilations in the Galactic halo. Near the region of influence of a central supermassive black hole, such as Sgr A*, however, DM can form a localized over-density known as a "spike". In such spikes the DM is predicted to be both concentrated in space and accelerated to higher velocities, thereby allowing the
-ray signature from its annihilation to potentially be detectable above the background. We use the
Large Area Telescope to search for the
-ray signature of
-wave annihilating DM from a spike around Sgr A* in the energy range 10 GeV-600 GeV. Such a signal would appear as a point source and would have a sharp line or box-like spectral features difficult to mimic with standard astrophysical processes, indicating a DM origin. We find no significant excess of
rays in this range, and we place upper limits on the flux in
-ray boxes originating from the Galactic Center. This result, the first of its kind, is interpreted in the context of different models of the DM density near Sgr A*.
Our previously published paper demonstrated that fermented ammoniated condensed whey (FACW) supplementation improved feed efficiency and metabolic profile in postpartum dairy cows. The objective of ...this study was to further explore the effects of FACW supplementation on liver triglyceride content, hepatic gene expression and protein abundance, and plasma biomarkers related to liver function, inflammation, and damage. Individually fed multiparous Holstein cows were blocked by calving date and randomly assigned to postpartum (1 to 45 d in milk, DIM) isonitrogenous treatments: control diet (n = 20) or diet supplemented with FACW (2.9% dry matter of diet as GlucoBoost; Fermented Nutrition, Luxemburg, WI, replacing soybean meal; n = 19). Liver biopsies were performed at 14 and 28 DIM for analysis of mRNA expression, protein abundance, and liver triglyceride content. There was marginal evidence for a reduction in liver triglyceride content at 14 DIM in FACW-supplemented cows compared with the control group. Cows supplemented with FACW had greater mRNA expression of glucose-6-phosphatase at 14 DIM relative to control. Supplementation with FACW increased mRNA expression of pyruvate carboxylase (PC), but did not alter cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK1), resulting in a 2.4-fold greater PC:PCK1 ratio for FACW-supplemented cows compared with control. There was no evidence for a FACW effect on mRNA expression of propionyl-CoA carboxylase nor on mRNA expression or protein abundance of lactate dehydrogenase A or B. Cows supplemented with FACW had lower plasma urea nitrogen compared with control. Plasma l-lactate was greater for FACW-supplemented cows compared with control at 2 h before feeding time at 21 DIM. There was no evidence for altered expression of IL1B or IL10, or blood biomarkers related to liver function and damage. Greater glucose-6-phosphatase and PC gene expression, together with greater blood glucose and similar milk lactose output, suggests that FACW increased the supply of glucose precursors, resulting in greater gluconeogenesis between 3 and 14 DIM. Greater hepatic PC:PCK1 ratio, together with previously reported decreased plasma β-hydroxybutyrate and the marginal evidence for lower liver triglyceride content at 14 DIM, suggests greater hepatic capacity for complete oxidation of fatty acids in FACW-supplemented cows compared with control. Overall, improvements in metabolite profile and feed efficiency observed with postpartum supplementation of FACW may be attributed to increased gluconeogenic and anaplerotic precursors, most likely propionate, due to modulated rumen fermentation.
Southern Apennines represent a collisional orogenic belt whose compressional regime is commonly assumed to have ceased during Middle Quaternary. On the other hand, to the south the Calabria Arc is ...still characterized by subduction and the principal aim of the present research is to shed some light on the space and time transition from the ceased collision to the active subduction. Accordingly, we investigated the offshore sector of the Southern Apennines accretionary wedge, corresponding to the Taranto Gulf. To gain insights into the offshore accretionary wedge, we reconstructed a 3D geological and tectonic model by interpreting a grid of 40 seismic reflection lines (1100 km, 80 intersections), within an area of ca. 104 km2, calibrated with 17 wells. The geometric and chronological constraints allow documenting a systematic Messinian-Quaternary thrust migration from internal towards external sectors of the wedge. The migrating deformational process was essentially associated with a leading-imbricate thrust system with a general NE-younging direction, where we could recognize and distinguish some major advancing phases characterized by alternating fast thrust propagation events and strain accumulation periods within the wedge. This process is well emphasized by the jump of the foredeep and piggy-back basins. The NE-wards wedge migration was also associated with a lithospheric-scale flexural folding that generated a set of normal faults striking parallel to the coeval thrusts, likely reactivating optimally oriented structures inherited from Mesozoic events. Finally, a persisting thrust activity up to the latest Quaternary and possibly up to Present in correspondence of the externalmost sector of the accretionary wedge has been documented and explained in terms of strain partitioning in the frame of a recent oblique convergence. The results of this research have possible implications for the seismic hazard assessment of the broader region which is possibly greater than previously assumed.
•Reconstruction of systematic offshore thrusting migration in Taranto Gulf•Coeval normal faulting during lower plate bending•Smooth sliding on basal detachment alternating with internal wedge contraction•Thrusting slip-rate decrease in Middle-Late Quaternary•Recent slip partitioning in the wedge due to new oblique convergence
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•A relevant percentage of breast cancers are tied to pathogenetic (P)/likely pathogenetic (LP) variants in predisposing genes.•P/LP variants in predisposing genes influences surgery ...and subsequent oncological treatments and follow-up.•Patient with early or metastatic breast cancers can benefit from personalized treatment if carriers of P/LP in BRCA1/2 genes.•The delivery of Cancer Genetic Counseling reflects the technological advances in the era of precision medicine.•The universal testing allows personalized management of patients and preventive measure of healthy family members.
A relevant percentage of breast cancers (BCs) are tied to pathogenetic (P)/likely pathogenetic (LP) variants in predisposing genes. The knowledge of P/LP variants is an essential element in the management of BC patients since the first diagnosis because it influences surgery and subsequent oncological treatments and follow-up. Moreover, patients with metastatic BCs can benefit from personalized treatment if carriers of P/LP in BRCA1/2 genes. Multigene panels allow the identification of other predisposing genes with an impact on management. Cascade genetic testing for healthy family members allows personalized preventive strategies. Here, we review the advances and the challenges of Cancer Genetic Counseling (CGC). We focus on the area of oncology directed to hereditary BC management describing the peculiar way to lead CGC and how CGC changes over time. The authors describe the impact of genetic testing by targeted approach or universal approach on the management of BC according to the stage at diagnosis. Moreover, they describe the burden of CGC and testing and future perspectives to widely offer testing. A new perspective is needed for models of service delivery of CGC and testing, beyond formal genetic counselling. A broader genetic test can be quickly usable in clinical practice for comprehensive BC management and personalized prevention in the era of precision oncology.
SUMMARY Breast cancer is not considered anymore a unique disease. Microarray gene expression analysis led to the identification of 4 major breast cancer “intrinsic” subtypes, including hormone ...receptor (HR)-positive luminal A and B, human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2)-positive and basal-like breast cancer (BLBC). These subtypes have distinct phenotypes, molecular profiles, clinical behaviour and response to therapy, with the BLBC carrying the worst outcome. Microarray analysis is not feasible in routine practice and therefore oncologists rely on a simpler immunohistochemical (IHC) classification to identify relevant breast cancer subtypes. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is defined by the absence of oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 expression at IHC analysis. TNBC is strictly related to BLBC and, given the lack of common therapeutic targets, represent a major challenge for breast oncologist. In this review we will summarize the updated knowledge on TNBC, with emphasis on its current treatment and on the new therapeutic options under development.
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