GIS and statistical analysis for landslide susceptibility mapping in the Daunia area, Italy

This study focuses on landslide susceptibility mapping in the Daunia area (Apulian Apennines, Italy) and achieves this by using a multivariate statistical method and data processing in a Geographical Information System (GIS). The Logistic Regression (hereafter LR) method was chosen to produce a susceptibility map over an area of 130 000 ha where small settlements are historically threatened by landslide phenomena. By means of LR analysis, the tendency to landslide occurrences was, therefore, assessed by relating a landslide inventory (dependent variable) to a series of causal factors (independent variables) which were managed in the GIS, while the statistical analyses were performed by means of the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software. The LR analysis produced a reliable susceptibility map of the investigated area and the probability level of landslide occurrence was ranked in four classes. The overall performance achieved by the LR analysis was assessed by local comparison between the expected susceptibility and an independent dataset extrapolated from the landslide inventory. Of the samples classified as susceptible to landslide occurrences, 85% correspond to areas where landslide phenomena have actually occurred. In addition, the consideration of the regression coefficients provided by the analysis demonstrated that a major role is played by the "land cover" and "lithology" causal factors in determining the occurrence and distribution of landslide phenomena in the Apulian Apennines

Contribution of Geomatics Engineering and VGI Within the Landslide Risk Assessment Procedures

This paper presents a literature review on the methodology called Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and its use for Landslide Risk Assessment (LRA). General risk assessment procedures are discussed and the potential contributions of VGI are identified, in particular when quantitative characterization of factors such as Hazard, Vulnerability and Exposure is required. The review shows that the standard LRA procedures may benefit from input given by surveyors when performing hazard assessments, while crowdsourced data would be a valuable support in vulnerability/damage assessment studies. The review also highlights several limitations related to the role of VGI and crowdsourcing in LRA

Virtual Tours and Informational Models for Improving Territorial Attractiveness and the Smart Management of Architectural Heritage: The 3D-IMP-ACT Project

The promotion and dissemination of architectural heritage for cultural enhancement and touristic enjoyment are increasingly focused on innovative ICTs, including 3D Geographic Information Systems, photorealistic models and scenes, and VR/AR immersive digital environments, which enable the interaction of visitors with a variety of informational contents, both educational and specialist. Within the above-mentioned framework, this paper will firstly outline the general objectives of the project “3D-IMP-ACT”, which has been funded under the international cooperation programme IPA CBC Interreg Italy-Albania-Montenegro. In this research, some ICT tools are tested and validated to create “virtual networks” of international ancient architectures and sites, based on the identification of “physical networks” of common historic, environmental and technical characteristics and infrastructural connections, in order to address coordinated strategies and transversal policies for development and management. Then, the paper will describe and discuss some results from the design and implementation of the project WebGIS system, which integrates virtual tours of 360° panoramas, 3D models from photomodelling of pictures taken by drones, multimedia contents, and 2D/3D historic evolution schemes within a single platform, where the users are supported in recognizing and exploring the tangible and intangible correspondences among the project pilot-cases. In conclusion, some remarks will be proposed on the potential benefits of the platform as an expert system which supports the technical assessment and control of architectural heritage toward maintenance, refurbishment and conservation

Activation of Fas/FasL pathway and the role of c-FLIP in primary culture of human cholangiocarcinoma cells

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) represents a heterogeneous group of malignancies emerging from the biliary tree, often in the context of chronic bile ducts inflammation. The immunological features of iCCA cells and their capability to control the lymphocytes response have not yet been investigated. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the interaction between iCCA cells and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and the role of Fas/FasL in modulating T-cells and NK-cells response after direct co-culture. iCCA cells express high levels of Fas and FasL that increase after co-culture with PBMCs inducing apoptosis in CD4(+), CD8(+) T-cells and in CD56(+) NK-cells. In vitro, c-FLIP is expressed in iCCA cells and the co-culture with PBMCs induces an increase of c-FLIP in both iCCA cells and biliary tree stem cells. This c-FLIP increase does not trigger the caspase cascade, thus hindering apoptotis of iCCA cells which, instead, underwent proliferation. The increased expression of Fas, FasL and c-FLIP is confirmed in situ, in human CCA and in primary sclerosing cholangitis. In conclusion our data indicated that iCCA cells have immune-modulatory properties by which they induce apoptosis of T and NK cells, via Fas/FasL pathway, and escape inflammatory response by up-regulating c-FLIP system

Large contribution of supercooled liquid clouds to the solar radiation budget of the Southern Ocean

The Southern Ocean is a critical region for global climate, yet large cloud and solar radiation biases over the Southern Ocean are a long-standing problem in climate models and are poorly understood, leading to biases in simulated sea surface temperatures. This study shows that supercooled liquid clouds are central to understanding and simulating the Southern Ocean environment. A combination of satellite observational data and detailed radiative transfer calculations is used to quantify the impact of cloud phase and cloud vertical structure on the reflected solar radiation in the Southern Hemisphere summer. It is found that clouds with supercooled liquid tops dominate the population of liquid clouds. The observations show that clouds with supercooled liquid tops contribute between 27% and 38% to the total reflected solar radiation between 40° and 70°S, and climate models are found to poorly simulate these clouds. The results quantify the importance of supercooled liquid clouds in the Southern Ocean environment and highlight the need to improve understanding of the physical processes that control these clouds in order to improve their simulation in numerical models. This is not only important for improving the simulation of present-day climate and climate variability, but also relevant for increasing confidence in climate feedback processes and future climate projections

Extratropical forcing and tropical rainfall distribution: energetics framework and ocean Ekman advection

Intense tropical rainfall occurs in a narrow belt near the equator, called the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ). In the past decade, the atmospheric energy budget has been used to explain changes in the zonal-mean ITCZ position. The energetics framework provides a mechanism for extratropics-to-tropics teleconnections, which have been postulated from paleoclimate records. In atmosphere models coupled with a motionless slab ocean, the ITCZ shifts toward the warmed hemisphere in order for the Hadley circulation to transport energy toward the colder hemisphere. However, recent studies using fully coupled models show that tropical rainfall can be rather insensitive to extratropical forcing when ocean dynamics is included. Here, we explore the effect of meridional Ekman heat advection while neglecting the upwelling effect on the ITCZ response to prescribed extratropical thermal forcing. The tropical component of Ekman advection is a negative feedback that partially compensates the prescribed forcing, whereas the extratropical component is a positive feedback that amplifies the prescribed forcing. Overall, the tropical negative feedback dominates over the extratropical positive feedback. Thus, including Ekman advection reduces the need for atmospheric energy transport, dampening the ITCZ response. We propose to build a hierarchy of ocean models to systematically explore the full dynamical response of the coupled climate system

Quality of anticholinergic burden scales and their impact on clinical outcomes: a systematic review.

Older people are at risk of anticholinergic side effects due to changes affecting drug elimination and higher sensitivity to drug's side effects. Anticholinergic burden scales (ABS) were developed to quantify the anticholinergic drug burden (ADB). We aim to identify all published ABS, to compare them systematically and to evaluate their associations with clinical outcomes. We conducted a literature search in MEDLINE and EMBASE to identify all published ABS and a Web of Science citation (WoS) analysis to track validation studies implying clinical outcomes. Quality of the ABS was assessed using an adapted AGREE II tool. For the validation studies, we used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the Cochrane tool Rob2.0. The validation studies were categorized into six evidence levels based on the propositions of the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine with respect to their quality. At least two researchers independently performed screening and quality assessments. Out of 1297 records, we identified 19 ABS and 104 validations studies. Despite differences in quality, all ABS were recommended for use. The anticholinergic cognitive burden (ACB) scale and the German anticholinergic burden scale (GABS) achieved the highest percentage in quality. Most ABS are validated, yet validation studies for newer scales are lacking. Only two studies compared eight ABS simultaneously. The four most investigated clinical outcomes delirium, cognition, mortality and falls showed contradicting results. There is need for good quality validation studies comparing multiple scales to define the best scale and to conduct a meta-analysis for the assessment of their clinical impact

Clouds, circulation and climate sensitivity

Fundamental puzzles of climate science remain unsolved because of our limited understanding of how clouds, circulation and climate interact. One example is our inability to provide robust assessments of future global and regional climate changes. However, ongoing advances in our capacity to observe, simulate and conceptualize the climate system now make it possible to fill gaps in our knowledge. We argue that progress can be accelerated by focusing research on a handful of important scientific questions that have become tractable as a result of recent advances. We propose four such questions below; they involve understanding the role of cloud feedbacks and convective organization in climate, and the factors that control the position, the strength and the variability of the tropical rain belts and the extratropical storm tracks

The intertropical convergence zone modulates intense hurricane strikes on the western North Atlantic margin

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 6 (2016): 21728, doi:10.1038/srep21728Most Atlantic hurricanes form in the Main Development Region between 9°N to 20°N along the northern edge of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Previous research has suggested that meridional shifts in the ITCZ position on geologic timescales can modulate hurricane activity, but continuous and long-term storm records are needed from multiple sites to assess this hypothesis. Here we present a 3000 year record of intense hurricane strikes in the northern Bahamas (Abaco Island) based on overwash deposits in a coastal sinkhole, which indicates that the ITCZ has likely helped modulate intense hurricane strikes on the western North Atlantic margin on millennial to centennial-scales. The new reconstruction closely matches a previous reconstruction from Puerto Rico, and documents a period of elevated intense hurricane activity on the western North Atlantic margin from 2500 to 1000 years ago when paleo precipitation proxies suggest that the ITCZ occupied a more northern position. Considering that anthropogenic warming is predicted to be focused in the northern hemisphere in the coming century, these results provide a prehistoric analog that an attendant northern ITCZ shift in the future may again return the western North Atlantic margin to an active hurricane interval.This research was supported by NSF Awards: OCE-1519578, OCE-1356708, BCS-1118340

MicroRNA-377 suppresses initiation and progression of esophageal cancer by inhibiting CD133 and VEGF

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