Immunotoxicity of the xenoestrogen 4-nonylphenol to the cockle Cerastoderma glaucum     

Matozzo V  Rova G  Ricciardi F  Marin MG 《Marine pollution bulletin》2008,57(6-12):453-459

The in vivo effects of 4-nonylphenol (NP) on functional responses of haemocytes from the cockle Cerastoderma glaucum were investigated after 7 days exposure to sublethal NP concentrations (0, 0+acetone, 0.0125, 0.025, 0.05 and 0.1 mg/l NP). Haemocytes from both controls and exposed cockles were collected, and the effects of NP on total haemocyte count (THC) and volume of circulating cells, intracellular superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) levels, acid phosphatase and lysozyme-like activities in both haemocyte lysate (HL) and cell-free haemolymph (CFH) were evaluated. Exposure of cockles to 0.1mg/l NP significantly increased THC (p<0.05) with respect to controls. Analysis of haemocyte size frequency distribution showed that the haemocyte fraction of about 7-8 microm in diameter and 250 femtolitres in volume increased markedly in cockles exposed to the highest NP concentration tested. Apoptosis resulting in cell volume reduction in NP-exposed animals cannot be excluded. No statistically significant variation in intracellular O(2)(-) levels was observed. Conversely, significant increases (p<0.05) in acid phosphatase activity were observed in CFH from 0.05 and 0.1mg/l NP-exposed animals; no significant differences in enzyme activity were recorded in HL. Lysozyme-like activity also increased significantly in CFH from cockles exposed to 0.05 mg/l NP (p<0.05) and 0.1 mg/l NP (p<0.001). Instead, lysozyme-like activity decreased significantly (p<0.05) in the HL of animals exposed to 0.05 mg/lNP. Our results suggest that NP induces variations in the functional responses of haemocytes of C. glaucum, mainly by reducing cell membrane stability and promoting cell degranulation.  相似文献   

Italian accelerometric archive: geological, geophysical and geotechnical investigations at strong-motion stations     

Lucia Luzi  Sara Lovati  Ezio D’Alema  Simone Marzorati  Domenico Di Giacomo  Salomon Hailemikael  Ettore Cardarelli  Michele Cercato  Gerarda Di Filippo  Giuliano Milana  Giuseppe Di Giulio  Mario Rainone  Patrizio Torrese  Patrizio Signanini  Gabriele Scarascia Mugnozza  Stefano Rivellino  Antonella Gorini 《Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering》2010,8(5):1189-1207

Geological, geophysical and geotechnical investigations, for the characterization of the strong-motion recording sites managed by the Italian Civil Protection, have been carried out in the framework of the project “Italian strong-motion database in the period 1972–2004”. The project aimed at creating an updated database of strong-motion data acquired in Italy by different institutions in the time span 1972–2004, and at improving the quality of disseminated data. This article illustrates the state of the recording site characterization before the beginning of the project, explains the criteria adopted to select the sites where geophysical/geotechnical investigation have been performed and describes the results of the promoted field surveys.  相似文献   

Identification of lateral discontinuities via multi‐offset phase analysis of surface wave data     

Giulio Vignoli  Giorgio Cassiani 《Geophysical Prospecting》2010,58(3):389-413

Surface wave methods are based on the inversion of observed Rayleigh wave phase‐velocity dispersion curves. The goal is to estimate mainly the shear‐wave velocity profile of the investigated site. The model used for the interpretation is 1D, hence results obtained wherever lateral variations are present cannot be considered reliable. In this paper, we study four synthetic models, all with a lateral heterogeneity. When we process the entire corresponding seismograms with traditional f‐k approach, the resulting 1D profiles are representative of the subsurface properties averaged over the whole length of the receivers lines. These results show that classical analysis disregards evidences of sharp lateral velocity changes even when they show up in the raw seismograms. In our research, we implement and test over the same synthetic models, a novel robust automated method to check the appropriateness of 1D model assumption and locate the discontinuities. This new approach is a development of the recent multi‐offset phase analysis with the following further advantages: it does not need previous noise evaluation and more than one shot. Only once the discontinuities are clearly identified, we confidently perform classical f‐k dispersion curve extraction and inversion separately on both sides of the discontinuity. Thus the final results, obtained by putting side by side the 1D profiles, are correct 2D reconstructions of the discontinuous S‐wave distributions obtained without any additional ad‐hoc hypotheses.  相似文献   

Genesis of amethyst geodes in basaltic rocks of the Serra Geral Formation (Ametista do Sul,Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil): a fluid inclusion,REE, oxygen,carbon, and Sr isotope study on basalt,quartz, and calcite   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

H.?Albert?GilgEmail author  Giulio?Morteani  Yuri?Kostitsyn  Christine?Preinfalk  Istvan?Gatter  Adelir?J.?Strieder 《Mineralium Deposita》2003,38(8):1009-1025

In the Ametista do Sul area, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, amethyst-bearing geodes are hosted by a ~40- to 50-m-thick subhorizontal high-Ti basaltic lava flow of the Lower Cretaceous Paraná Continental Flood Basalt Province. The typically spherical cap-shaped, sometimes vertically elongated geodes display an outer rim of celadonite followed inwards by agate and colorless and finally amethystine quartz. Calcite formed throughout the whole crystallization sequence, but most commonly as very late euhedral crystals, sometimes with gypsum, in the central cavity. Fluid inclusions in colorless quartz and amethyst are predominantly monophase and contain an aqueous liquid. Two-phase liquid–vapor inclusions are rare. Some with a consistent degree of fill homogenize into the liquid between 95 and 98 °C. Ice-melting temperatures in the absence of a vapor phase between –4 and +4 °C indicate low salinities. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns of calcites are highly variable and show generally no systematic correlation with the paragenetic sequence. The oxygen isotope composition of calcites is very homogeneous (δ¹⁸O_VSMOW=24.9±1.1‰, n=34) indicating crystallization temperatures of less than 100 °C. Carbon isotope values of calcites show a considerable variation ranging from –18.7 to –2.9‰ (VPDB). The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of calcites varies between 0.706 and 0.708 and is more radiogenic than that of the host basalt (~0.705). The most likely source of silica, calcium, carbon, and minor elements in the infill of the geodes is the highly reactive interstitial glass of the host basalts leached by gas-poor aqueous solutions of meteoric origin ascending from the locally artesian Botucatú aquifer system in the footwall of the volcanic sequence. The genesis of amethyst geodes in basalts at Ametista do Sul, Brazil, is thus considered as a two-stage process with an early magmatic protogeode formation and a late, low temperature infill of the cavity. Editorial handling: A. Cheilletz  相似文献   

The stability of the equilibrium of supermassive and superdense stars     

Giulio Calamai 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1970,6(2):240-257

The second variation of the mass-energy (by constant baryon number) is analysed to inquire into the stability of the equilibrium for a spherical mass under the action of its own gravitation. The equations of general relativity are used. For zero density at the surface, the sphere is stable if (and only if) a solution of a second order equation (Jacobi equation) has only one zero in the interior (at center) of the sphere. The results obtained in this way coincide of course with those obtained by means of the Chandrasekhar-Misner-Zapolsky variational principle, but the solution of the Jacobi equation is more simple and straightforward. In particular, the stability of the several modes are analysed without making any choice of a trial function for the Lagrangian displacement.The method is applied to the GrattonR-polytropic model of supermassive stars.Work done in the Laboratorio Astrofisico, Frascati-Roma, Italy.  相似文献   

On a static criterion for the stability of the equilibrium     

Giulio Calamai 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1970,8(1):53-58

In a previous paper the stability of the equilibrium of an isentropic spherically symmetric relativistic star has been related to the existence inside the configuration of the zeros of a functionu. This function, which is a solution of a differential equation, appears there as a pure mathematical tool. Nevertheless it is susceptible of a physical interpretation which is drawn out in the present work. This interpretation allows an inquiry into the relation between the above static condition and the well-known dynamic criterion stated by Chandrasekhar and by Misner and Zapolsky on the stability of the equilibrium.Work done in the Laboratorio Astrofisico di Frascati, Roma, Italy.  相似文献   

Can pseudotachylytes be used to infer earthquake source parameters? An example of limitations in the study of exhumed faults   总被引：1，自引：2，他引：1  

Giulio Di Toro  Giorgio Pennacchioni  Giordano Teza 《Tectonophysics》2005,402(1-4):3

Tectonic pseudotachylytes might be used to constrain earthquake source parameters, such as dynamic shear stress resistance, average dynamic friction and slip-weakening distance. Estimation of dynamic shear stress resistance and dynamic friction from field studies is based on the assumption that the volume of melt produced during coseismic slip is proportional to the frictional work converted to heat on the fault surface. Conditions conducive to a realistic estimate of dynamic shear resistance are: (i) the presence of large outcrop exposures that allow for estimation of the volume of pseudotachylyte; (ii) the presence of structural markers offset by faults in order to relate the displacement accommodated by the fault with the volume of melt produced; (iii) data that provide an estimate of the initial melt temperature; and (iv) determination of host-rock temperature and pressure conditions that may have existed during seismic faulting. An independent indication that steady-state friction in the presence of melts might be achieved during coseismic slip arises from the dependence of the fractal dimension of the fault profile (intersection of the fault surface with the outcrop surface) with displacement. This relation could also indicate the slip-weakening distance (Hirose, T., Shimamoto, T., 2003. Fractal dimension of molten surfaces as a possible parameter to infer the slip-weakening distance of faults from natural pseudotachylytes. Journal of Structural Geology 25, 1569–1574).The above conditions are all satisfied in the case of the Gole Larghe Fault Zone, which consists of hundreds subparallel strike-slip faults that cut tonalites of the Adamello batholith (Italy). The thickness of pseudotachylyte-bearing faults increases with displacement. From displacement/thickness ratios and energy balance calculations, we determined the dynamic shear resistance for several pseudotachylyte-bearing faults. In the same faults, the fractal dimension of the fault profile increases from 1.0 to 1.16 with displacement. This was also observed in experiments where steady-state friction in the presence of melt was achieved (Hirose, T., Shimamoto, T., 2003. Fractal dimension of molten surfaces as a possible parameter to infer the slip-weakening distance of faults from natural pseudotachylytes. Journal of Structural Geology 25, 1569–1574). However, we will show that the estimate of the dynamic shear stress resistance, average dynamic friction and slip-weakening distance in the studied faults is limited by the uncertainties to attribute the measured displacement to a single seismic rupture. Since many pseudotachylytes in the upper seismogenic crust overprint preexisting cataclasites, it is suggested that future field and experimental work should be addressed to determine microstructural indicators (i.e. evolution of cataclastic fabric with displacement) within cataclasites, which might constrain the contribution of the cataclastic, pre-pseudotachylyte displacement to the total displacement accommodated by the fault.  相似文献   

Recent innovations in hazard and risk analysis     

Iovine  Giulio  Aubrecht  Christoph  Cohen  Denis  Pastor  Manuel 《Natural Hazards》2018,91(1):1-17

Air pollution has been a major transboundary problem and a matter of global concern for decades. Climate change and air pollution are closely coupled. Just as air pollution can have adverse effects on human health and ecosystems, it can also impact the earth’s climate. As we enter an era of rapid climate change, the implications for air quality need to be better understood, both for the purpose of air quality management and as one of the societal consequences of climate change. In this study, an attempt has been made to estimate the current air quality to forecast the air quality index of an urban station Kolkata (22.65°N, 88.45°E), India for the next 5 years with neural network models. The annual and seasonal variability in the air quality indicates that the winter season is mostly affected by the pollutants. Air quality index (AQI) is estimated as a geometric mean of the pollutants considered. Different neural network models are attempted to select the best model to forecast the AQI of Kolkata. The meteorological parameters and AQI of the previous day are utilized to train the models to forecast the AQI of the next day during the period from 2003 to 2012. The selection of the best model is made after validation with observation from 2013 to 2015. The radial basis functional (RBF) model is found to be the best network model for the purpose. The RBF model with various architectures is tried to obtain precise forecast with minimum error. RBF of 5:5-91-1:1 structure is found to be the best fit for forecasting the AQI of Kolkata.  相似文献   

Advanced methods in landslide modelling     

Giulio Iovine  Denis Cohen 《Natural Hazards》2014,72(1):1-4

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Shallow-landslide susceptibility in the Costa Viola mountain ridge (southern Calabria,Italy) with considerations on the role of causal factors   总被引：2，自引：1，他引：1  

Giulio G. R. Iovine  Roberto Greco  Stefano L. Gariano  Annamaria D. Pellegrino  Oreste G. Terranova 《Natural Hazards》2014,73(1):111-136

The “Costa Viola” mountain ridge (southern Calabria), in the sector between Bagnara Calabra and Scilla, is particularly exposed to geo-hydrological risk conditions. The study area has repeatedly been affected by slope instability events in the last decades, mainly related to debris slides, rock falls and debris flows. These types of slope movements are among the most destructive and dangerous for people and infrastructures, and are characterized by abrupt onset and extremely rapid movements. Susceptibility evaluations to shallow landslides have been performed by only focusing on source activation. A logistic regression approach has been applied to estimating the presence/absence of sources in terms of probability, on the basis of linear statistical relationships with a set of territorial variables. An inventory map of 181 sources, obtained from interpretation of air photographs taken in 1954–1955, has been used as training set, and another map of 81 sources, extracted from 1990 to 1991 photographs, has been adopted for validation purposes. An initial set of 12 territorial variables (i.e. lithology, land use, soil sand percentage, elevation, slope angle, aspect, across-slope and down-slope curvatures, topographic wetness index, distance to road, distance to fault and index of daily rainfall) has been considered. The adopted regression procedure consists of the following steps: (1) parameterization of the independent variables, (2) sampling, (3) calibration, (4) application and (5) evaluation of the forecasting capability. The “best set” of variables could be identified by iteratively excluding one variable at a time, and comparing the ROC results. Through a sensitivity analysis, the role of the considered factors in predisposing shallow slope failures in the study area has been evaluated. The results obtained for the Costa Viola mountain ridge can be considered acceptable, as 98.1 % of the cells are correctly classified. According to the susceptibility map, the village of Scilla and its surroundings fall in the highest susceptibility class.  相似文献