ALBERT

Description: The main goal of this study is to increase the understanding of the physical mechanisms behind the ongoing seismic activity in the Pollino area and its influence on the seismic hazard of the Apennines-Calabrian arc boundary region. The study area, near the Pollino massif, is located at the northernmost edge of the Calabrian Arc, which is the last oceanic subduction segment along the Africa-Eurasian plate. The subduction results from the sinking of the Ionian oceanic plate beneath the Calabrian Arc-Southern Tyrrhenian Sea and is part of the fragmented tectonic boundary between two macro-plates: Africa and Eurasia. The subduction geometry is well-documented by several seismological studies (i.e. Chiarabba et al., 2005), and the lithospheric structure of the area is quietly well known (i.e. Totaro et al., 2014 and Piana Agostinetti and Amato, 2009) Despite the slow N-S convergence between these major plates, the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea is a large basin characterized by E-W extensional tectonic. Since Late Miocene, the Calabrian Arc slab experienced rapid rollback, moving E to SE at a rate of 5-6 cm/yr, which is by far higher than the ~1-2 cm/yr rate of convergence between Africa and Europa (Faccenna et al., 2004). However, during late Pleistocene, rollback and subduction have slowed and is likely proceeding at less than 1 cm/yr (D’Agostino and Selvaggi., 2004). Geodetic measurements show that the Pollino Range is subject to NE-SW anti-apenninic extension. In the region the strain rate field shows a continuous belt of extensional deformation that follows the ridge of the Southern Apennines and extends in the Pollino region. The extension rate appears to decrease from the Southern Apennines to the Calabria- Lucania border region (D’Agostino et al., 2013). This finding indeed reveals that the Pollino region is deforming and accumulating tectonic strain which results in a complex system of normal active faults striking sub-parallel to the Apennines. Two principal normal faults are present in the Italian Database of the Individual Seismogenic Sources DISS version 3.1.1 (DISS Working Group, 2010) in the Pollino area: the Pollino (P) fault and the “Rimendiello-Mormanno” (RM) fault system. The RM fault is an active seismogenic structure it strikes about NNW-SSE and dips toward NE; it has hosted in its northernmost part a M 5.0 earthquake on 9th September 1998. The P fault has similar strike but dips toward SW: it shows no recent seismicity and is hence one of the most prominent seismic gaps in the Italian historical seismic catalogue (Rovida et al., 2011). Paleoseismic studies have shown that the P fault was active in the last ten thousand years and is capable to produce events with magnitude above 6.0. The DISS database reports as debated source also the Piana Perretti fault (Brozzetti et al., 2009). A detailed structural map of the area interested by the seismic sequence shows three fault systems (Brozzetti et al., 2013) consisting of several aligned fault segments that have been active during the Late Pleistocene and are reasonably presently active. The first fault system strikes NW-SE and dips toward SW (including the Piana Perretti fault at the NE edge of the Mercure Basin), the second one has similar strike and NE dip, while the third one strikes about E-W. Earthquakes reported in the historical catalogues for this area are not very strong. Few earthquakes with magnitude probably less than 6 affected the area, including the Mw=5.6 “Mercure” event in 1998 (Brozzetti et al., 2009). The Parametric Catalogue of Italian earthquakes (CPTI11, Rovida et al., 2011), shows very well the lack of strong earthquakes in the region: there is a clear evidence of large earthquakes in the Campania-Basilicata area (M~7.0) and several strong earthquakes in the Sila region and in the whole Calabrian territory. According to the seismic classification of the national territory, the area affected by the 2010-2014 seismic activity have a relatively higher probability to be shaken by a strong acceleration (Gruppo di Lavoro MPS, 2004). Most of the seismic events occurred in areas where the peak ground acceleration having 10% chance of being exceeded in next 50 years is between the values of 0.225 g and 0.275 g.

Description: Published

Description: Bologna

Description: 2T. Tettonica attiva

Description: 3T. Pericolosità sismica e contributo alla definizione del rischio

Description: 5T. Sorveglianza sismica e operatività post-terremoto

Description: 1IT. Reti di monitoraggio e Osservazioni

Description: open

Description: Materials, Vol. 11, Pages 779: Drug Delivery Nanosystems for the Localized Treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme Materials doi: 10.3390/ma11050779 Authors: L. Nam C. Coll L. C. S. Erthal C. de la Torre D. Serrano R. Martínez-Máñez M. J. Santos-Martínez E. Ruiz-Hernández Glioblastoma multiforme is one of the most prevalent and malignant forms of central nervous system tumors. The treatment of glioblastoma remains a great challenge due to its location in the intracranial space and the presence of the blood–brain tumor barrier. There is an urgent need to develop novel therapy approaches for this tumor, to improve the clinical outcomes, and to reduce the rate of recurrence and adverse effects associated with present options. The formulation of therapeutic agents in nanostructures is one of the most promising approaches to treat glioblastoma due to the increased availability at the target site, and the possibility to co-deliver a range of drugs and diagnostic agents. Moreover, the local administration of nanostructures presents significant additional advantages, since it overcomes blood–brain barrier penetration issues to reach higher concentrations of therapeutic agents in the tumor area with minimal side effects. In this paper, we aim to review the attempts to develop nanostructures as local drug delivery systems able to deliver multiple agents for both therapeutic and diagnostic functions for the management of glioblastoma.

Description: 〈p〉The design and creation of synthetic genomes provide a powerful approach to understanding and engineering biology. However, it is often limited by the paucity of methods for precise genome manipulation. Here, we demonstrate the programmed fission of the 〈i〉Escherichia coli〈/i〉 genome into diverse pairs of synthetic chromosomes and the programmed fusion of synthetic chromosomes to generate genomes with user-defined inversions and translocations. We further combine genome fission, chromosome transplant, and chromosome fusion to assemble genomic regions from different strains into a single genome. Thus, we program the scarless assembly of new genomes with nucleotide precision, a key step in the convergent synthesis of genomes from diverse progenitors. This work provides a set of precise, rapid, large-scale (megabase) genome-engineering operations for creating diverse synthetic genomes.〈/p〉