Journal articles on the topic 'Istituto nazionale di architettura (Italy)'

The aim of the present paper is the description of the flow around a fast displacement shiphull model with particular attention on the mechanisms responsible for the generation of streamwise vertical structures along the hull boundary layer. The collected data contribute to a surface-ship resistance and propulsion model-scale database for computational fluid dynamics validation as part of an international cooperative project between Istituto Nazionale per Studied Esperienze di Architettura Navale (INSEAN), Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research (IIHR), and David Taylor Model Basin (DTMB) on experimental and computational fluid dynamics and uncertainty assessment for a combatant geometry(Stern et al 2000). A cross validation of the present results has been carried out through the ones obtained at DTMB and IIHR. Uncertainty assessment of the results has been evaluated following the AIAA Standard S-071-1995.

Abstract. The Centro di Ricerche Sismologiche (CRS, Seismological Research Centre) of the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS, Italian National Institute for Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics) in Udine (Italy) after the strong earthquake of magnitude M=6.4 occurred in 1976 in the Italian Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, started to operate the North-eastern Italy Seismic Network: it currently consists of 17 very sensitive broad band and 18 simpler short period seismic stations, all telemetered to and acquired in real time at the OGS-CRS data centre in Udine. Real time data exchange agreements in place with other Italian, Slovenian, Austrian and Swiss seismological institutes lead to a total number of about 100 seismic stations acquired in real time, which makes the OGS the reference institute for seismic monitoring of North-eastern Italy. The south-western edge of the OGS seismic network (Fig. 1) stands on the Po alluvial basin: earthquake localization and characterization in this area is affected by the presence of soft alluvial deposits. OGS ha already experience in running a local seismic network in high noise conditions making use of borehole installations in the case of the micro-seismicity monitoring of a local gas storage site for a private company. Following the ML = 5.9 earthquake that struck the Emilia region around Ferrara in Northern Italy on 20 May 2012 at 02:03:53 UTC, a cooperation of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, OGS, the Comune di Ferrara and the University of Ferrara lead to the reinstallation of a previously existing very broad band (VBB) borehole seismic station in Ferrara. The aim of the OGS intervention was on one hand to extend its real time seismic monitoring capabilities toward South-West, including Ferrara and its surroundings, and on the other hand to evaluate the seismic response at the site. We will describe improvements in running the North-eastern Italy Seismic Network, including details of the Ferrara VBB borehole station configuration and installation, with first results.

Abstract. Within the framework of the European collaborative research initiative AlpArray (http://www.alparray.ethz.ch), the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanolgia (INGV) deployed overall 20 broad-band seismic stations in Northern Italy and on two islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Capraia and Montecristo) during Fall-Winter 2015. The temporary deployment (16 stations) will run for two to three years and 4 INGV National Seismic Network accelerometric sites are now equipped with additional permanent broad-band sensors. The 16 temporary stations are equipped with REF TEK 130 digitizers and Nanometrics Trillium Compact 120 s sensors, a couple have Nanometrics Trillium 120P sensors and one a Streckeisen STS2. For each site we describe the settings and discuss the noise levels, the site effects and the preliminary sensitivity analysis.

This paper was presented as the 2003–2004 Georg Weinblum Memorial Lecture by Dr. Maurizio Landrini of Istituto Nazionale per Studied Esperienze di Architettura Navale (INSEAN, the Italian Ship Model Basin). Tragically, Maurizio was killed in an accident on June 26, 2003, before he could give the lecture. The lecture was presented in memoriam by Dr. Emilio F. Campana, a friend and colleague at INSEAN. The paper was finished by coresearchers and friends at INSEAN. The present paper is focused on the analysis of nonlinear phenomena in the naval context. The work is split into two parts. In the former, state-of-the-art numerical techniques handling nonlinear free-surface flows are analyzed. Related advantages and shortcomings are discussed through mutual verifications and comparisons with experiments for prototype cases. In the latter, practical problems relevant for ship hydrodynamics, where nonlinear phenomena play a major role, are studied. More in detail, water-on-deck, sloshing, and bow and stern ship breaking wave phenomena are attacked by means of both numerical and experimental techniques, and the main features connected with nonlinear mechanisms are identified.

Abstract We implemented an automatic procedure to update in near-real time (daily to hourly) a homogeneous catalog of Italian instrumental seismicity to be used for forecasting experiments and other statistical analyses. The magnitudes of all events are homogeneously revalued to be consistent with Mw standard estimates made by the Global Centroid Moment Tensor project. For the time interval from 1960 to 15 April 2005, catalogs and online resources available for the Italian area were merged and all magnitudes were homogenized to Mw according to empirical relationships computed using the chi-square regression method, which properly consider the uncertainties of both variables. From 16 April 2005 to the present, an automatic procedure periodically downloads the data of the online bulletin of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia and of online moment tensor catalogs from respective websites, merges the different sources, and applies traditional magnitude conversions to Mw. The final catalog is provided on a website for public dissemination.

Abstract. It is well established that earthquakes and volcanic eruption can produce small variations in the local geomagnetic field. The Italian Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) tectonomagnetic network was installed in Central Italy since 1989 to investigate possible effects on the local geomagnetic field related to earthquakes occurrences. At the present time, total geomagnetic field intensity data are collected in four stations using proton precession magnetometers. We report the complete dataset for the period of years 2004–2005. The data of each station are differentiated respect to the data of the other stations in order to detect local field anomalies removing the contributions from the other sources, external and internal to the Earth. Unfortunately, no correlation between geomagnetic anomalies and the local seismic activity, recorded in Central Italy by the INGV Italian Seismic National Network, was found in this period. Some deceptive structures present in the differentiated data are pointed out.

Abstract. Since 2002 the OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale) in Udine (Italy), the Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (ZAMG) in Vienna (Austria), and the Agencija Republike Slovenije za Okolje (ARSO) in Ljubljana (Slovenia) are collecting, analysing, archiving and exchanging seismic data in real time. Up to now the data exchange between the seismic data centres relied on internet: this however was not an ideal condition for civil protection purposes, since internet reliability is poor. For this reason, in 2012 the Protezione Civile della Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano in Bolzano (Italy) joined OGS, ZAMG and ARSO in the Interreg IV Italia-Austria project "SeismoSAT" (Progetto SeismoSAT, 2014) aimed in connecting the seismic data centres in real time via satellite. As already presented in the past, the general technical schema of the project has been outlined, data bandwidths and monthly volumes required have been quantified, the common satellite provider has been selected and the hardware has been purchased and installed. Right before the end of its financial period, the SeismoSAT project proved to be successful guaranteeing data connection stability between the involved data centres during an internet outage.

Main text As part of the ongoing key comparison BIPM.QM-K1, a comparison has been performed between the ozone national standard of Italy maintained by the Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRIM) and the common reference standard of the key comparison, maintained by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). The instruments have been compared over a nominal ozone amount fraction range of 0 nmol/mol to 500 nmol/mol. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database https://www.bipm.org/kcdb/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

Abstract. The Italian Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) tectonomagnetic network was installed in Central Italy since the middle of 1989 to investigate possible magnetic anomalies related to earthquakes. The network is part of the INGV L'Aquila Geomagnetic Observatory and is located in an area extending approximately in latitude range [41.6°–42.8°] N and longitude range [13.0°–14.3°] E. Actually the network consists of four stations where the total magnetic field intensity data are collected using proton precession magnetometers. New stations will be added to the network starting from the end of 2007. Here we are reporting the whole data set of the network's stations for the period 2004–2006. No significant anomaly in the local geomagnetic field correlated to the seismic activity has been found. Some considerations about misleading structures present in the data sets are reported.

Abstract. The monitoring of statistical network properties could be useful for the short-term hazard assessment of the occurrence of mainshocks in the presence of foreshocks. Using successive connections between events acquired from the earthquake catalog of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) for the case of the L'Aquila (Italy) mainshock (Mw = 6.3) of 6 April 2009, we provide evidence that network measures, both global (average clustering coefficient, small-world index) and local (betweenness centrality) ones, could potentially be exploited for forecasting purposes both in time and space. Our results reveal statistically significant increases in the topological measures and a nucleation of the betweenness centrality around the location of the epicenter about 2 months before the mainshock. The results of the analysis are robust even when considering either large or off-centered the main event space windows.

Abstract. The Educational & Outreach Group (E&O Group) of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) designed a portable museum to bring on the road educational activities focused on seismology, seismic hazard and Earth science. This project was developed for the first edition of the Science Festival organized in Genoa, Italy, in 2003. The museum has been mainly focused to school students of all ages and explains the main topics of geophysics through posters, movie and slide presentations, and exciting interactive experiments. This new INGV museum has been remarkably successful, being visited by more than 8000 children and adults during the 10 days of the Science Festival. It is now installed at the INGV headquarters in Rome and represents the main attraction during the visits of the schools all year round.

Abstract. The region of central and eastern Europe is an area characterised by a relatively high seismic risk. Since 2001, to monitor the seismicity of this area, the OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale) in Italy, the Agencija Republike Slovenije za Okolje (ARSO) in Slovenia, the Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (ZAMG) in Austria, and the Università di Trieste (UniTS) have cooperated in real-time seismological data exchange. In 2014 OGS, ARSO, ZAMG and UniTS created a cooperative network named the Central and Eastern European Earthquake Research Network (CE3RN), and teamed up with the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, to implement an earthquake early warning system based on the existing networks. Since May 2014, the earthquake early warning system (EEWS) given by the integration of the PRESTo (PRobability and Evolutionary early warning SysTem) alert management platform and the CE3RN accelerometric stations has been under real-time testing in order to assess the system's performance. This work presents a preliminary analysis of the EEWS performance carried out by playing back real strong motion recordings for the 1976 Friuli earthquake (MW= 6.5). Then, the results of the first 6 months of real-time testing of the EEWS are presented and discussed.

Abstract. In the middle of 1989, the INGV (Italian Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) installed in Central Italy a network of magnetic stations in order to investigate possible relationship of the local magnetic field with earthquakes occurrences. Actually the network consists of four stations, where the total magnetic field intensity data are being collected using proton precession magnetometers. Here we are report on the actual state and the future developments of the network. In the frame of the MEM (Magnetic and Electric fields Monitoring) Project, new stations will be added to the network by the end of 2007. The results of the test campaigns carried out in the sites chosen to widen the network are also discussed. Moreover, the 2006 complete data set of the network is also reported. Concerning the data analysis, a new approach is also discussed that takes into account the inductive effects on the local geomagnetic field by means of the inter-station transfer functions time variations analysis.

The study of earthquakes from historical sources, or historical seismology, was considered an early priority for the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) project, which commissioned a study of historical seismicity on a global scale. This was the Global Earthquake History (GEH) project, led jointly by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV; Milan, Italy) and the British Geological Survey (BGS; UK). GEH was structured around three complementary deliverables: archive, catalog, and the Web infrastructure designed to store both the archive and catalog. The Global Historical Earthquake Archive (GHEA) provides a complete account of the global situation in historical seismology for large earthquakes. From GHEA, the Global Historical Earthquake Catalogue (GHEC v1.0) was derived—a world catalog of earthquakes for the period 1000–1903, with magnitudes of Mw7 and over. Though much remains to be done, the data here presented show that the compilation of both archive and catalog contribute to an improved understanding of the Global Earthquake History.

Cancer can erupt in an adolescent’s life, damaging his or her multidimensional balance with its burden of physical suffering, changes in appearance, and anxiety, interrupting their activities, keeping them away from school, and isolating them socially. It is crucially important for adolescents with cancer to be able to feel the same as before, to feel they belong to a group of schoolmates. This is not always easy to achieve. Their peers sometimes lack the necessary resources to treat adolescents with cancer as normal ones, responding instead with pity or avoidance. This article discusses the concept of friendship in adolescents with cancer, based on direct experience of being with them, personal reflections, and texts chosen and shared with the patients, as part of the cultural activities dedicated to adolescents and young adults with cancer at the Youth Area of the Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano, and the Youth Project at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan, Italy.

Abstract The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) is an Italian research institution with focus on earth sciences. Moreover, the INGV is the operational center for seismic surveillance and earthquake monitoring in Italy and is a part of the civil protection system as a center of expertise on seismic, volcanic, and tsunami risks.INGV operates the Italian National Seismic Network and other networks at national scale and is a primary node of the European Integrated Data Archive for archiving and distributing strong-motion and weak-motion seismic recordings. In the control room in Rome, INGV staff performs seismic surveillance and tsunami warning services; in Catania and Naples, the control rooms are devoted to volcanic surveillance. Volcano monitoring includes locating earthquakes in the regions around the Sicilian (Etna, Eolian Islands, and Pantelleria) and the Campanian (Vesuvius, Campi Fregrei, and Ischia) active volcanoes. The tsunami warning is based on earthquake location and magnitude (M) evaluation for moderate to large events in the Mediterranean region and also around the world. The technologists of the institute tuned the data acquisition system to accomplish, in near real time, automatic earthquake detection, hypocenter and magnitude determination, and evaluation of several seismological products (e.g., moment tensors and ShakeMaps). Database archiving of all parametric results is closely linked to the existing procedures of the INGV seismic surveillance environment and surveillance procedures. Earthquake information is routinely revised by the analysts of the Italian seismic bulletin. INGV provides earthquake information to the Department of Civil Protection (Dipartimento di Protezione Civile) to the scientific community and to the public through the web and social media. We aim at illustrating different aspects of earthquake monitoring at INGV: (1) network operations; (2) organizational structure and the hardware and software used; and (3) communication, including recent developments and planned improvements.

Abstract This work describes a procedure to configure U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)‐ShakeMap for a given region. The procedure is applied to Italy to update and improve the ShakeMap service provided by Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). The new configuration features (1) the adoption of recently developed ground‐motion models (GMMs) and of an updated map of VS30 for the local site effects and (2) the adoption of the newly developed USGS‐ShakeMap version 4 (v.4) software (see Data and Resources). We have used the same subdivision in tectonic regimes adopted for the GMMs for the new Italian seismic hazard model (MPS19, Meletti et al., 2017) and selected the most appropriate GMMs after application of a ranking procedure consisting of statistical tests. A cross‐validation technique has been applied to test the goodness of the selected configuration and to compare the ShakeMaps obtained with the old (Michelini et al., 2008) and the new settings. Finally, the INGV ShakeMap workflow has been renovated to exploit the data and analysis chain implemented at INGV from real‐time data streams acquisition to analyst revised waveforms including additional data (e.g., revised location, fault geometry) that may become available days after the event occurrence.

During explosive eruptions, emergency responders and government agencies need to make fast decisions that should be based on an accurate forecast of tephra dispersal and assessment of the expected impact. Here, we propose a new operational tephra fallout monitoring and forecasting system based on quantitative volcanological observations and modelling. The new system runs at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo (INGV-OE) and is able to provide a reliable hazard assessment to the National Department of Civil Protection (DPC) during explosive eruptions. The new operational system combines data from low-cost calibrated visible cameras and satellite images to estimate the variation of column height with time and model volcanic plume and fallout in near-real-time (NRT). The new system has three main objectives: (i) to determine column height in NRT using multiple sensors (calibrated cameras and satellite images); (ii) to compute isomass and isopleth maps of tephra deposits in NRT; (iii) to help the DPC to best select the eruption scenarios run daily by INGV-OE every three hours. A particular novel feature of the new system is the computation of an isopleth map, which helps to identify the region of sedimentation of large clasts (≥5 cm) that could cause injuries to tourists, hikers, guides, and scientists, as well as damage buildings in the proximity of the summit craters. The proposed system could be easily adapted to other volcano observatories worldwide.

Abstract. The Centro di Ricerche Sismologiche (CRS, Seismological Research Center) of the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale - OGS (Italian National Institute for Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics) in Udine (Italy) after the strong earthquake of magnitude Mw = 6.4 occurred in 1976 in the Italian Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, started to operate the Northeastern Italy Seismic Network: it currently consists of 12 very sensitive broad band and 21 simpler short period seismic stations, all telemetered to and acquired in real time at the OGS-CRS data centre in Udine. Real time data exchange agreements in place with other Italian, Slovenian, Austrian and Swiss seismological institutes lead to a total number of 93 seismic stations acquired in real time, which makes the OGS the reference institute for seismic monitoring of Northeastern Italy, as shown in Fig. 1 (Bragato et al., 2011; Saraò et al., 2010). Since 2002 OGS-CRS is using the Antelope software suite as the main tool for collecting, analyzing, archiving and exchanging seismic data, initially in the framework of the EU Interreg IIIA project "Trans-national seismological networks in the South-Eastern Alps" (Bragato et al., 2010; Pesaresi et al., 2008). SeisComP is also used as a real time data exchange server tool. In order to improve the seismological monitoring of the Northeastern Italy area, at OGS-CRS we tuned existing programs and created ad hoc ones like: a customized web server named PickServer to manually relocate earthquakes, a script for automatic moment tensor determination, scripts for web publishing of earthquake parametric data, waveforms, state of health parameters and shaking maps, noise characterization by means of automatic spectra analysis, and last but not least scripts for email/SMS/fax alerting. A new OGS-CRS real time seismological website (http://rts.crs.inogs.it/) has also been operative since several years.

The purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the demand characteristics of agritourism in Italy, which has not been fully investigated despite the relatively high number of the supply-side studies on the Italian agritourism. Design – First this paper conceptually characterized the features of agritourism as the old and modern types and outlined the trend of supply and demand in agritourism in Italy in comparison with Japan. Second, this paper statistically examined the characteristics in the demand side for agritourism in Italy in comparison with tourism demand in general, such as that for hotels. Methodology and approach – Data were obtained from ‘Annuario Statistico Italiano’ edited and issued by ISTAT (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica). Data from 1997 were compared with those from 2006. We examined the regional characteristics and trends in the composition of domestic and inbound tourists in relation to agritourism. Findings – (1) Agritourism experienced rapid growth in the number of beds available and of those tourists who stayed overnight during the last decade while the operation rate of agritourism is much lower than that of tourism in general. (2) The market for agritourism domestic demand accounted for more than half of the total agritourism demand. The remaining demand was filled by inbound tourists from European countries. These inbound tourists are driving the growth of agritourism in this country. Even if we consider the particular reasons for low barriers to travel in Europe, these findings clearly indicate that it is essential for the development of agritourism to count not only on domestic but also inbound tourists to raise the operation rate. Originality of the research – The originality comes from the investigation of agritourism in Italy by focusing on the demand factors in comparison with tourism in general.

Abstract. The eSWua project is based on measurements performed by all the instruments installed by the upper atmosphere physics group of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy and on all the related studies. The aim is the realization of a hardware-software system to standardize historical and real-time observations for different instruments. An interactive Web site, supported by a well organized database, can be a powerful tool for the scientific and technological community in the field of telecommunications and space weather. The most common and useful database type for our purposes is the relational one, in which data are organized in tables for petabytes data archiving and the complete flexibility in data retrieving. The project started in June 2005 and will last till August 2007. In the first phase the major effort has been focused on the design of hardware and database architecture. The first two databases related to the DPS4 digisonde and GISTM measurements are complete concerning populating, tests and output procedures. Details on the structure and Web tools concerning these two databases are presented, as well as the general description of the project and technical features.

Abstract. The technological and the scientific objectives of the MEM (Magnetic and Electric fields Monitoring) project concerning to the study of the electromagnetic signals linked with the Earth's crustal activity are reported. The MEM project has been activated in Central Italy to create a network of observatories so as to monitoring the electromagnetic signals, both natural and artificial, in the frequency band [0.001 Hz–100 kHz]. Some examples of the developed instrumentation and the know-how transfer to the industry are reported. We also report some results obtained in the first MEM station installed in the area of the INGV (Italian Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) Observatory of L'Aquila. Using the single station magnetotelluric approach we have obtained some valuables information about the underground resistivity structure in the area of the measurement station. Concerning to the study of the magnetic signals linked with the tectonic activity we have reported an example of the long term behaviour of the magnetic induction vectors characteristics in the lower frequency band [0.001–0.5] Hz, showing their normal behaviour when no large crustal changes due to geodynamical processes are present.

The Gran Sasso National Laboratory of INFN (LNGS) is the largest underground laboratory for astroparticle physics in the world. Located in Italy between the cities of L'Aquila and Teramo, 120 km far from Rome, is a research infrastructure mainly dedicated to astroparticle and neutrino physics. It offers the most advanced underground facility in terms of dimensions, complexity and completeness of its infrastructures. LNGS is one of the four national laboratories run by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN). The scientific program at LNGS is mainly focused on astroparticle, particle and nuclear physics. The laboratory presently hosts many experiments as well as R&D activities, including world-leading research in the fields of solar neutrinos, accelerator neutrinos (CNGS neutrino beam from CERN to Gran Sasso), dark matter (DM), neutrinoless double beta decay (2β0ν) and nuclear cross-section of astrophysical interest. Associate sciences like earth physics, biology and fundamental physics complement the activities. The laboratory is operated as an international science facility and hosts experiments whose scientific merit is assessed by an international advisory Scientific Committee. A review of the main experiments carried out at LNGS will be given, together with the most recent and relevant scientific results achieved.

IONORING (IONOspheric RING) is a tool capable to provide the real-time monitoring and modeling of the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) over Italy, in the latitudinal and longitudinal ranges of 35°N–48°N and 5°E–20°E, respectively. IONORING exploits the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data acquired by the RING (Rete Integrata Nazionale GNSS) network, managed by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). The system provides TEC real-time maps with a very fine spatial resolution (0.1° latitude x 0.1° longitude), with a refresh time of 10 min and a typical latency below the minute. The TEC estimated at the ionospheric piercing points from about 40 RING stations, equally distributed over the Italian territory, are interpolated using locally (weighted) regression scatter plot smoothing (LOWESS). The validation is performed by comparing the IONORING TEC maps (in real-time) with independent products: (i) the Global Ionospheric Maps (GIM) - final product- provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS), and (ii) the European TEC maps from the Royal Observatory of Belgium. The validation results are satisfactory in terms of Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between 2 and 3 TECu for both comparisons. The potential of IONORING in depicting the TEC daily and seasonal variations is analyzed over 3 years, from May 2017 to April 2020, as well as its capability to account for the effect of the disturbed geospace on the ionosphere at mid-latitudes. The IONORING response to the X9.3 flare event of September 2017 highlights a sudden TEC increase over Italy of about 20%, with a small, expected dependence on the latitude, i.e., on the distance from the subsolar point. Subsequent large regional TEC various were observed in response to related follow-on geomagnetic storms. This storm is also used as a case event to demonstrate the potential of IONORING in improving the accuracy of the GNSS Single Point Positioning. By processing data in kinematic mode and by using the Klobuchar as the model to provide the ionospheric correction, the resulting Horizontal Positioning Error is 4.3 m, lowering to, 3.84 m when GIM maps are used. If IONORING maps are used as the reference ionosphere, the error is as low as 2.5 m. Real-times application and services in which IONORING is currently integrated are also described in the conclusive remarks.

Background: Italy is a country showing low math achievement, especially in the Southern regions. Moreover, national student assessments are recent and rigorous policy evaluation is lacking. This study presents the results of one of the first randomized controlled trials implemented in Italian schools in order to measure the effects of a professional development (PD) program for teachers on student math achievement. The program was already at scale when it was being evaluated. Objective: Assessing the effects of a PD program for math teachers on their students’ achievement and making suggestions for future policy evaluations. Design: A large-scale clustered randomized control trial has been conducted. It involves 175 lower secondary schools (sixth - eighth grade) in four among the Italian lowest performing regions. Alongside national standard math assessments, the project collected a wide amount of information. Subjects: Math in lower secondary schools. Measures: Math achievement as measured by standardized tests provided by the National Education Assessment Institute (Istituto Nazionale per la Valutazione del Sistema di Istruzione e Formazione); teacher and student practices and attitudes collected through questionnaires. Results: Findings suggest that the program had no significant impact on math scores during the first year (when the program was held). Nonetheless some heterogeneity was detected, as the treatment does seem “to work” with middle-aged teachers. Moreover, effects on teaching practice and student attitudes appear. Conclusion: Some effects attributable to the intervention have been detected. Moreover, this project shows that a rigorous approach to evaluation is feasible also in a context lacking attention towards evidence-based policies, such the Italian school system.

Abstract. Since 2002 OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale) in Udine (Italy), the Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (ZAMG) in Vienna (Austria), and the Agencija Republike Slovenije za Okolje (ARSO) in Ljubljana (Slovenia) are using the Antelope software suite as the main tool for collecting, analyzing, archiving and exchanging seismic data in real time, initially in the framework of the EU Interreg IIIA project "Trans-national seismological networks in the South-Eastern Alps" (Bragato et al., 2004, 2010). The data exchange has proved to be effective and very useful in case of seismic events near the borders between Italy, Austria and Slovenia, where the poor single national seismic networks coverage precluded a correct localization, while the usage of common data from the integrated networks improves considerably the overall reliability of real time seismic monitoring of the area (Fig. 1). At the moment the data exchange between the seismic data centers relies on their internet connections: this however is not an ideal condition for civil protection purposes, since the reliability of standard internet connections is poor. For this reason in 2012 the Protezione Civile della Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano in Bolzano (PCBZ, Italy), OGS, ZAMG subsidiary in Tirol (ZAMG Tirol) and ARSO joined in the Interreg IV Italia-Austria Project "SeismoSAT" (Progetto SeismoSAT, 2012) aimed in connecting the seismic data centers in real time via satellite. ARSO does not belong to the Interreg Italia-Austria region: for this reason ARSO joined the SeismoSAT project as an "associated partner", which, according to Interreg rules can not be funded. ARSO participation in the project is therefore at the beginning limited in benefiting only indirectly from improvement in the robustness of the data exchange between the other data centers, while eventually fully taking part in the project if other sources of funding will be available. The project is in a preliminary phase: the general schema of the project, including first data bandwidth estimates and a possible architecture are here illustrated.

An observation of neutrinoless double beta ([Formula: see text]) decay would allow to shed light onto the nature of neutrinos. Gerda (GERmanium Detector Array) aims to discover this process in a background-free search using [Formula: see text]Ge. The experiment is located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy. Bare, isotopically enriched, high purity germanium detectors are operated in liquid argon. Gerda follows a staged approach. In Phase II 35.6 kg of enriched germanium detectors are operated since December 2015. The application of active background rejection methods, such as a liquid argon scintillation light read-out and pulse shape discrimination of germanium detector signals, allows to reduce the background index to the intended level of [Formula: see text] cts/(keV⋅kg⋅yr). No evidence for the [Formula: see text] decay has been found in 23.2 kg⋅yr of Phase II data, and together with data from Phase I the up-to-date most stringent half-life limit for this process in [Formula: see text]Ge has been established, at a median sensitivity of 5.8⋅10[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]yr the 90[Formula: see text]% C.L. lower limit is 8.0⋅10[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]yr.

Abstract. The Solfatara volcano in the Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy), is monitored by different, permanent ground networks handled by INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia), including thermal infrared cameras (TIRNet). The TIRNet network is composed by five stations equipped with FLIR A645SC or A655SC thermal cameras acquiring at nightime infrared scenes of portions of the Solfatara area characterized by significant thermal anomalies. The dataset processed in this work consists of daily maximum temperatures time-series from 25 April 2014 to 31 May 2019, acquired by three TIRNet stations (SF1 and SF2 inside Solfatara crater, and PIS near Pisciarelli boiling mud pool), and also consists of atmospheric pressure and air temperature time-series. Data pre-processing was carried out in order to remove the seasonal components and the influence of the Earth tides to the selected time-series. By using the STL algorithm (Seasonal Decomposition of Time Series by Loess), the time-series were decomposed into three components (seasonal, trend and remainder) to find seasonality and remove it. Then, a harmonic analysis was performed on the de-seasonalized signals in order to identify and remove the long-period tidal constituents (mainly fortnightly and monthly). Finally, Power Spectral Density was calculated by FFT Matlab algorithm, after applying an acausal Butterworth filter, focusing on the [15–120] d band, to check if characteristic periodicities exist for each site. The reliability and significance of the spectral peaks were proved by statistical and empirical methods. We found that most of the residual periodicities are ascribable to ambient factors, while 18.16 d for Pisciarelli site and 88.71 d for Solfatara have a possible endogenous origin.

Abstract The Orfeus European Integrated Data Archive (EIDA) provides a federated approach to the dissemination of seismological waveform data and ensures access to 12 regional seismological data centers—the EIDA nodes. The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) is one of the founding partners of this EIDA federation and manages the EIDA data distribution node in Italy. INGV has actively managed the smaller MedNet archive since 1990 and adopted a more comprehensive and systematic approach to seismological data archiving since 2007. The Italian EIDA node data archive currently totals 90 TBytes of waveform data available for download, originating from 25 networks and 974 stations, provided by INGV, MedNet, or contributed by various partner institutions. Geographically, it covers mainly Italy and some stations from the Mediterranean region. The archive is currently growing at a rate of approximately 11 TB/yr. INGV recently strengthened its data management capabilities, resources, and infrastructure to effectively respond to the growing scale of station inventory, archive, and volumes of delivered data, and to acknowledge increasing attention toward open data sharing, appropriate attribution, and FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse), as well as higher demands on data quality and expectations of the scientific user community. To this end, it established a dedicated internal unit in charge of all relevant activities related to the Italian EIDA node. In this article, we address key aspects of the EIDA node in Italy such as evolution and status of the seismological waveform archive, and we describe the technical, organizational, and operational setup of data and service management. We also outline ongoing activities and future evolutions aiming to further increase the quality of services, data availability, data and metadata quality, resilience, and sustainability.

Improving the capability to detect volcanic explosive activity could be strategic for the task of a volcano observatory to inform civil protection authorities and air traffic controllers. The detection of explosive volcanic activity can be done in real time and also under bad visibility conditions by using the radar remote sensing technique. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio Etneo (Catania, Italy) installed an S-band pulse Doppler radar in a shelter located at about 3 km south of the active volcanic vents in order to enhance the Etna volcano’s surveillance. Here, we describe the realisation of a system that exploits such device, aimed at continuously monitoring the explosive eruptive activity at the Mt. Etna summit craters through an automatic processing flow of the radar data. We analysed the signals recorded during 23 eruptive episodes that occurred at the Etna South-East Crater during the second half of 2021; these episodes were characterised by an opening Strombolian activity and the subsequent evolution into a lava fountain. To identify the onset of both volcanic phenomena, empirical thresholds of radar time series were extracted with the help of thermal and visible images acquired by the INGV-OE cameras’ network. The resulting monitoring tool automatically operates 24/7 for volcanic surveillance, providing real-time data to the INGV-OE control room.

Abstract The continuity of monitoring operations at national earthquake centers during crisis is an important challenge. In 2020, because of the COronaVIrus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) health emergency, monitoring centers all over the world faced new, unexpected problems. In Italy, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) has the duty to perform earthquake and volcano monitoring, seismic surveillance and tsunami alerting, and maintaining effective communication with the National Civil Protection agency and the public. During the lockdown, that started on 9 March 2020, INGV set up a series of sanitary and organizational measures and improved the technological infrastructures in the control room in Rome for remote use of software for seismic network monitoring, seismic surveillance, and tsunami alerting. Our main goal was to protect the researchers and technicians on duty as much as possible and develop the remote use of software tools necessary to perform service activities when needed to limit the presence in the control room to the essential. In the first month of lockdown, we implemented the organizational controls, the health aids, and the tools for remote surveillance and alerting, and gave online training courses for about 100 shift workers. At the end of March 2020, most of the technicians, researchers, and tsunami experts on duty were able to access the new monitoring tools from home. During these months, the shifts in the control room were done in person and we performed remote seismic surveillance and tsunami alerting only during the weekly disinfections of the control room and at the beginning of each week. The tools developed during the COVID health emergency are going to be useful in the future especially in the case of other emergencies including the occurrence of a strong earthquake.

The goal of this article is the illustration of the new functionalities of the VADASE (Variometric Approach for Displacements Analysis Stand-alone Engine) processing approach. VADASE was presented in previous works as an approach able to estimate in real time the velocities and displacements in a global reference frame (ITRF), using high-rate (1 Hz or more) carrier phase observations and broadcast products (orbits, clocks) collected by a stand-alone GNSS receiver, achieving a displacements accuracy within 1–2 cm (usually better) over intervals up to a few minutes. It has been well known since the very first implementation and testing of VADASE that the estimated displacements might be impacted by two different effects: spurious spikes in the velocities due to outliers (consequently, displacements, obtained through velocities integration, are severely corrupted) and trends in the displacements time series, mainly due to broadcast orbit and clock errors. Two strategies are herein introduced, respectively based on Leave-One-Out cross-validation (VADASE-LOO) for a receiver autonomous outlier detection, and on a network augmentation strategy to filter common trends out (A-VADASE); they are combined (first, VADASE-LOO; second, A-VADASE) for a complete solution. Moreover, starting from this VADASE improved solution, an additional strategy is proposed to estimate in real time the overall coseismic displacement occurring at each GNSS receiver. New VADASE advances are successfully applied to the GPS data collected during the recent three strong earthquakes that occurred in Central Italy on 24 August and 26 and 30 October 2016, and the results are herein presented and discussed. The VADASE real-time estimated coseismic displacements are compared to the static ones derived from the daily solutions obtained within the standard post-processing procedure by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia.

BackgroundRetifanlimab (INCMGA00012) is a humanized, hinge-stabilized immunoglobulin G4 kappa (IgG4κ), anti-programmed cell death protein (PD)-1 monoclonal antibody with safety and clinical pharmacology that are characteristic for the class. Evaluation of retifanlimab in solid tumors is under investigation in phase 2 and 3 studies. POD1UM-201 is an open-label, single-arm, multicenter, phase 2 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of retifanlimab in patients with chemotherapy-naïve or chemotherapy-refractory advanced/metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). Updated results from the chemotherapy-naïve cohort are reported here.MethodsEligible patients were ≥18 years of age, had metastatic or recurrent unresectable loco-regional MCC, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤1, measurable disease per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1, and had not received prior systemic treatment for MCC. Retifanlimab 500 mg IV every 4 weeks (Q4W) was administered for up to 2 years. The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR) assessed by independent central review per RECIST v1.1. Secondary endpoints included duration of response, disease control rate (DCR; defined as proportion of patients with either an objective response or stable disease lasting at least 6 months), progression-free survival, overall survival, safety, and pharmacokinetics.ResultsAs of April 16, 2021, 87 patients with chemotherapy-naïve advanced/metastatic MCC had received retifanlimab. Per protocol, the primary efficacy analyses are based on the first 65 patients assessed. At the data cutoff, 34 of these 65 patients (52.3%) were on treatment; 4 (6.2%) had completed treatment; and 27 (41.5%) had discontinued treatment for reasons including disease progression (18 [27.7%]), adverse event (AE; 7 [10.8%]), death (1 [1.5%]), and physician decision (1 [1.5%]). The ORR in these patients was 46.2% (n=30: complete response, 8 [12.3%]; partial response, 22 [33.8%]). The DCR was 53.8% (n=35). Other secondary efficacy results are not yet mature. Among all treated patients (n=87), 66 (75.9%) had a treatment-emergent AE (TEAE), 25 (28.7%) had a grade ≥3 TEAE, and 12 (13.8%) had a grade ≥3 treatment-related AE. Twenty-three patients (26.4%) had an immune-related AE (irAE), and 8 (9.2%) had a grade ≥3 irAE. Four patients (4.6%) discontinued treatment due to irAEs (peripheral sensorimotor neuropathy, pancreatitis, eosinophilic fasciitis, and polyarthritis [each n=1]). One patient (1.1%) had a grade 3 infusion reaction.ConclusionsThese data from the POD1UM-201 trial show that retifanlimab monotherapy at 500 mg Q4W continues to demonstrate promising clinical activity and safety in patients with advanced/metastatic chemotherapy-naïve MCC. Updated results will be presented at the meeting.AcknowledgementsThe study is sponsored by Incyte Corporation (Wilmington, DE). Statistical support was provided by Xiaohan Xu of Incyte Corporation. Editorial assistance was provided by Matthew Bidgood of Envision Pharma Group (Philadelphia, PA, USA).Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT03599713; EudraCT 2018-001627-39Ethics ApprovalThe study was approved by institutional review boards or independent ethics committees in Canada (McGill University Health Center-Research Ethics Board [MP-37-2019-5103, MEO-37-2019-1616]; Ontario Cancer Research Ethics Board [1728]; Health Research Ethics Board of Alberta – Cancer Committee [HREBA.CC-19-0004, HREBA.CC-19-0020]); Czech Republic (Eticka komise Fakultni nemocnice Kralovske Vinohrady, Eticka komise IKEM a FTNsP, Eticka komise Nemocnice Na Bulovce, Statni ustav pro kontrolu leciv, Eticka komise FN a LF UP Olomouc [169/18MEK24, LEK/04/07/2018, (L-18-85) 8522/23.3.2021, 22.3.2021/9965/EK-Z]); France (Comité de Protection des Personnes Ile de France X [CNRIPH : 18.11.19.49212/Id. 2043]; Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé); Germany (Ethik-Kommission der Medizinischen Fakultaet der Universitaet Duisburg-Essen [18-8371-AF]; Bundesamt fuer Strahlenschutz; Paul-Ehrlich Institute); Hungary (Egeszsegugyi Tudomanyos Tanacs Klinikai Farmakologiai Etikai Bizottsaga [IV/2407-0/2021-EKL, OGYÉI/11697-2/2021]; Orszagos Gyogyszereszeti es Elelmezes-egeszsegugyi Intezet); Italy (Comitato Etico IRCCS Pascale Napoli [116/21 E - 87/18]; Comitato Etico IRCCS di Candiolo [232/2021]; Istituto Tumori Giovanni Paolo II IRCCS Ospedale Oncologico Bari [736/CE]; Comitato Etico Locale per la Sperim. Clin. dei Medicinali dell’Az. Osp.ra Univ.ria Senese di Siena [14107]; Comitato Etico dell’IRCCS Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro di Genova [389/2018 - 24/05/2021]; Comitato etico degli IRCCS Istituto Europeo di Oncologia e Centro Cardiologico Monzino [IEO 948 - RE3065/IB Edition 7 dated 10Nov2020 (SA7)]; Comitato Etico, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, .c. Medicina Oncologica 1 – Fondazio [INT 01/19]; Comitato Etico IRCCS Istituto Oncologico Veneto di Padova [EM 109/2021]; Comitato Etico dell’IRCCS Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata Ospedale Generale S. Carlo di Roma [550/7]; AIFA – Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco [0040152-01/04/2021-AIFA-AIFA_USC-P]; Comitatao Etico Policlinico di Modena [1017/2018/FARM/AOUMO - EMENDAMENTO SOSTANZIALE IB EDIZIONE 7 DEL 10/11/20 (201800162739-010) (p. 9869/21)]); Poland (Komisja Bioetyczna przy Centrum Onkologii [no. 55/2019]; Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products [UR/DBL/D/328/2019]); Spain (CEIC Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon [280/18]; Agencia Española del Medicamento y Productos Sanitarios); Switzerland (Kantonale Ethikkommission Zürich (KEK-Zürich) [2019-00200]; Swissmedic [2019DR2035]); United Kingdom (North East – York Research Ethics Committee [248465]; Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency; Health Research Authority); United States (Copernicus Group IRB; Western Institutional Review Board [20181738, Work order number -– IQV1-18-309]; Roswell Park Cancer Institute IRB [STUDY00000802/P 75918]; Inova Institutional Review Board, Human Research Protection Program; Stanford IRB Research Compliance Office [48198]; Rush University Medical Center [18072304-IRB01]; University of Miami IRB; Mayo Clinic IRB – Rochester).

Amyloidosis is a relatively rare human disease caused by the deposition of abnormal protein fibres in the extracellular space of various tissues, impairing their normal function. Proteomic analysis of patients’ biopsies, developed by Dogan and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic, has become crucial for clinical diagnosis and for identifying the amyloid type. Currently, the proteomic approach is routinely used at National Amyloidosis Centre (NAC, London, UK) and Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ITB-CNR, Milan, Italy). Both centres are members of the European Proteomics Amyloid Network (EPAN), which was established with the aim of sharing and discussing best practice in the application of amyloid proteomics. One of the EPAN’s activities was to evaluate the quality and the confidence of the results achieved using different software and algorithms for protein identification. In this paper, we report the comparison of proteomics results obtained by sharing NAC proteomics data with the ITB-CNR centre. Mass spectrometric raw data were analysed using different software platforms including Mascot, Scaffold, Proteome Discoverer, Sequest and bespoke algorithms developed for an accurate and immediate amyloid protein identification. Our study showed a high concordance of the obtained results, suggesting a good accuracy of the different bioinformatics tools used in the respective centres. In conclusion, inter-centre data exchange is a worthwhile approach for testing and validating the performance of software platforms and the accuracy of results, and is particularly important where the proteomics data contribute to a clinical diagnosis.

AbstractPublic concern about anthropogenic seismicity in Italy first arose in the aftermath of the deadly M ≈ 6 earthquakes that hit the Emilia-Romagna region (northern Italy) in May 2012. As these events occurred in a (tectonically active) region of oil and gas production and storage, the question was raised, whether stress perturbations due to underground industrial activities could have induced or triggered the shocks. Following expert recommendations, in 2014, the Italian Oil & Gas Safety Authority (DGS-UNMIG, Ministry of Economic Development) published guidelines (ILG - Indirizzi e linee guida per il monitoraggio della sismicità, delle deformazioni del suolo e delle pressioni di poro nell’ambito delle attività antropiche), describing regulations regarding hydrocarbon extraction, waste-water injection and gas storage that could also be adapted to other technologies, such as dams, geothermal systems, CO2 storage, and mining. The ILG describe the framework for the different actors involved in monitoring activities, their relationship and responsibilities, the procedure to be followed in case of variations of monitored parameters, the need for in-depth scientific analyses, the definition of different alert levels, their meaning and the parameters to be used to activate such alerts. Four alert levels are defined, the transition among which follows a decision to be taken jointly by relevant authorities and industrial operator on the basis of evaluation of several monitored parameters (micro-seismicity, ground deformation, pore pressure) carried on by a scientific-technical agency. Only in the case of liquid reinjection, the alert levels are automatically activated on the basis of exceedance of thresholds for earthquake magnitude and ground shaking – in what is generally known as a Traffic Light System (TLS). Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia has been charged by the Italian oil and gas safety authority (DGS-UNMIG) to apply the ILG in three test cases (two oil extraction and one gas storage plants). The ILG indeed represent a very important and positive innovation, as they constitute official guidelines to coherently regulate monitoring activity on a national scale. While pilot studies are still mostly under way, we may point out merits of the whole framework, and a few possible critical issues, requiring special care in the implementation. Attention areas of adjacent reservoirs, possibly licenced to different operators, may overlap, hence making the point for joint monitoring, also in view of the possible interaction between stress changes related to the different reservoirs. The prescribed initial blank-level monitoring stage, aimed at assessing background seismicity, may lose significance in case of nearby active production. Magnitude – a critical parameter used to define a possible step-up in activation levels – has inherent uncertainty and can be evaluated using different scales. A final comment considers the fact that relevance of TLS, most frequently used in hydraulic fracturing operations, may not be high in case of triggered tectonic events.

Abstract. The Italian Tsunami Alert Centre of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (Centro di Allerta Tsunami, hereinafter CAT-INGV) supported a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey to investigate tsunami risk perception in two pilot regions of southern Italy. The survey was carried out on a stratified sample of 1021 interviewees representing about 3.2 million people living in 183 coastal municipalities of the two regions, namely Calabria and Apulia. The main goal of this research is to verify whether and how people's perception of tsunami hazard compares to the results of (PTHA) – probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment (TSUMAPS-NEAM project; Basili et al., 2018). As shown by the results of this project, both investigated regions are characterised by high tsunami hazard. Nonetheless, the long return time of such events could lead people to consider the occurrence of a tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea to be very unlikely. The survey results reveal that people's risk perception is low: for almost half of the whole sample the occurrence of a tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea is considered quite unlikely, with a clear difference between Apulia and Calabria. In the latter region the risk perception is much higher than in the former, probably due to the shorter time elapsed since the last event. Also, belonging to different coastal areas1 appears to have a significant influence on the way tsunami hazard is conceived, having a stronger effect on risk characterisation: the interviewees of Tyrrhenian Calabria are indeed more likely to associate tsunami risk with volcanoes than the Ionian citizens. This is coherent considering the presence of active volcanoes and related tsunami precedents in the Tyrrhenian. Television emerged as the most relevant source of knowledge for almost 90 % of the sample, and the influence of media also results in the way tsunami risk is characterised. In particular, the survey showed that people's perception and understanding of tsunamis are affected by media accounts of large events, such as the 2004 Sumatra and the 2011 Japan tsunamis. At the same time, it is evident that the risk posed by smaller events is underrated. Furthermore, the survey's results show that the word “tsunami” occupies a different semantic space in comparison to the Italian traditional headword maremoto, with differences among sample strata. In other words, the same physical phenomenon would be understood in two different ways by younger, educated people and elders with a low education level. The results of this study, although limited to two regions, provide a first assessment of tsunami risk perception in Italy, also entailing important consequences for both risk communication practice and mitigation policies.

Abstract. This paper describes a study of the daily variability shown by the main characteristics of the sporadic E (Es) layer, that is the top frequency (ftEs) and the lowest virtual height (h'Es). The study is based on ionograms recorded by the Advanced Ionospheric Sounder by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (AIS-INGV) ionosondes installed in the ionospheric stations at Rome (41.8° N, 12.5° E) and Gibilmanna (37.9° N, 14.0° E), Italy, during the summer (June, July, August and September) of 2013, a year falling in the ascending phase of solar cycle 24. The ftEs presents a diurnal variation characterized by two maxima, the first around noon is very well defined and the second in the evening/night is much less defined; the amplitude of both maxima decreases from June to September accompanied by a general decrease of the ftEs values which is more pronounced in the daytime than in the nighttime. h'Es also presents a diurnal variation characterized by two maxima but, unlike ftEs, these present the same amplitude which is independent from the considered month. Assuming that both ftEs and h'Es trends are influenced by the atmospheric tides, the height–time–intensity (HTI) technique was applied to deeply investigate how these waves control the Es dynamics. The HTI study, along with a fast Fourier transform analysis, show that a well-defined semidiurnal periodicity characterizes the Es layer dynamics most accurately in June and July, while in August and September the daytime semidiurnal periodicity becomes weaker and the role of the diurnal periodicity is consequently highlighted.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano (Pacific Ocean) generated a cataclysmic explosion on 15 January 2022, triggering several atmospheric disturbances at a global scale, as a huge increase in the total electron content (TEC) in the ionosphere, and a pressure wave travelling in the troposphere. We collected and analysed data over the Mediterranean to study these disturbances, and in particular, (i) data from the barometric and infrasonic stations installed on Italian active volcanoes by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) for investigating the tropospheric pressure waves; (ii) barometric data from the INGV-TROPOMAG and SIAS (Sicilian Agro-meteorological Information System) networks, for investigating the interaction between the orography and pressure waves; (iii) ionograms from the Advanced Ionospheric Sounder-INGV ionosonde at Gibilmanna (Sicily, Italy); (iv) data from the RING (Rete Italiana Integrata GNSS) network, to retrieve the ionospheric TEC; (v) soil CO2 flux data from the INGV surveillance network of Vulcano Island. The analysis of the ground-level barometric data highlights that pressure waves were reflected and diffracted by the topographic surface, creating a complex space–time dynamic of the atmospheric disturbances travelling over Sicily, driven by the interference among the different wavefronts. The ionograms show that a medium-scale travelling ionospheric disturbance (MSTID), with a horizontal wavelength of about 220 km and a period of about 35 min, propagated through the ionospheric plasma in the correspondence of the first barometric variations. Moreover, comparing detrended TEC and barometric data, we further confirmed the presence of the aforementioned MSTID together with its close relation to the tropospheric disturbance.

Abstract The Outreach Cosmic Ray Activities (OCRA) project was created in 2018 within the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) to offer a platform for all outreach activities focusing on cosmic rays within the institute. OCRA now counts 22 of the institute’s divisions all over Italy as members. The project offers activities both for students and teachers. The one activity common to all local groups is the participation in the yearly International Cosmic Day, organized by DESY, inviting high school students to carry out hands-on measurements of the cosmic ray flux and learn about the related physics background. Two students from each division are then selected to participate in the annual OCRA science camp, a three-day full immersion into the life of a physicist. For both teachers and students, the OCRA website https://web.infn.it/OCRA/, offers a series of online laboratories designed both to be used by students individually but also to be offered in the classroom by teachers. A section dedicated to teachers provides ample material to help bring these laboratories to the classroom. The online materials were presented in a course for teachers in spring 2021. In addition to the national efforts, there are also local initiatives of the OCRA member groups: workshops and secondments, science competitions and the development of new detectors for outreach activities offer a multitude of possibilities for students to engage with our researchers and to explore the world of cosmic rays. This article provides an overview on all activities offered by OCRA with a particular focus on the 2022 science camp.

The Etna volcano is renowned worldwide for its extraordinary lava fountains that rise several kilometers above the vent and feed eruptive columns, then drift hundreds of kilometers away from the source. The Italian Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia-Osservatorio Etneo (INGV-OE) is responsible for the monitoring of Mt. Etna, and for this reason, has deployed a network of visible and thermal cameras around the volcano. From these cameras, INGV-OE keeps a keen eye, and is able to observe the eruptive activity, promptly advising the civil protection and aviation authorities of any changes, as well as quantifying the spread of lava flows and the extent of pyroclastic and ash plumes by using a careful analysis of the videos recorded by the monitoring cameras. However, most of the work involves analysis carried out by hand, which is necessarily approximate and time-consuming, thus limiting the usefulness of these results for a prompt hazard assessment. In addition, the start of lava fountains is often a gradual process, increasing in strength from Strombolian activity, to intermediate explosive activity, and eventually leading to sustained lava fountains. The thresholds between these different fields (Strombolian, Intermediate, and lava fountains) are not clear cut, and are often very difficult to distinguish by a manual analysis of the images. In this paper, we presented an automated routine that, when applied to thermal images and with good weather conditions, allowed us to detect (1) the starting and ending time of each lava fountain, (2) the area occupied by hot pyroclasts, (3) the elevation reached by the lava fountains over time, and (4) eventually, to calculate in real-time the erupted volume of pyroclasts, giving results close to the manual analysis but more focused on the sustained portion of the lava fountain, which is also the most dangerous. This routine can also be applied to other active volcanoes, allowing a prompt and uniform definition of the timing of the lava fountain eruptive activity, as well as the magnitude and intensity of the event.

The growing population of artificial satellites in near-Earth orbit has made the monitoring of orbital debris objects ever more important. Orbital debris objects pose a threat to these satellites as their orbit cannot be changed in order to avoid a collision. In recent years, the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) programme has been assisting national institutions in the upgrading of their space debris detection and monitoring capabilities. One of the latest such systems within this programme is the BIRALES space surveillance system based in Italy. The receiving antenna is a radio telescope that is made up of 32 receivers which are placed on eight parabolic cylindrical reflectors of the North–South arm of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)’s Northern Cross. This work introduces a new software backend which was developed for this novel space debris sensor. The system was designed to be a fast, highly configurable software backend for the radio telescope’s acquisition and processing system and whose monitoring and control can be realized by a simple front-end web-based application. The real-time detection of Resident Space Object (RSO) is an important prerequisite for such a system as it gives the operator an immediate feedback loop on any detections whilst keeping the storage requirements at a minimum given that there is no need to save the raw data. The detection of high-velocity objects is achieved by means of a specially developed data processing pipeline that uses the received raw antenna voltages to generate a number of beams, collectively known as a multipixel, that cover the Field of View (FoV) of the instrument. The trajectory of the detected objects is determined by considering the illumination sequence within this multipixel. The initial results on known objects represent the first steps in extending the growing network of European SST systems.

e16179 Background: Biliary tract cancers (BTCs) are a group of rare tumors with a dismal prognosis and a complex molecular landscape. In this setting, the incidence and clinical relevance of cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) is unknown, thus BTCs are not included in common thrombotic risk scores (e.g. Khorana Score). Moreover, retrospective studies highlighted associations between thromboembolic events and some genetic alterations, such as KRAS in lung and colorectal cancer, ALK/ROS1 in lung cancer and IDH1 mutations in glioma. Nevertheless, the impact of different genomic alterations on CAT risk in BTCs patients has never been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate for the first time the incidence and the clinical relevance of CAT in a cohort of BTC patients. In addition, we investigated the association between tumor genomics and CAT in this patients’ population. Methods: Clinical and genomic data of consecutive BTC patients who underwent extensive molecular profiling with the FoundationOneCDx panel at Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano, Italy, were collected. The association between genomic alterations and CAT incidence was investigated with the Fisher exact test, considering alterations occurring in at least 5% of patients. Cox regression was used to analyze the impact of CAT, considered as a time-dependent covariate, on overall survival (OS). Results: 140 patients were included in the analysis, mostly represented by cases of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (77%). CAT occurred in 18 (13%) patients, the majority being pulmonary embolism (28%) and visceral thrombosis (44%). Pathogenic KRAS and BRCA1 mutations were found in 33% and 11% of patients with CAT, resulting significantly associated with an increased risk of thrombosis ( p = 0.041 for both). Patients who experienced CAT showed a significantly poorer OS (HR 3.29, p = < 0.001). Conclusions: This is the first report describing a non-negligible incidence and significant prognostic impact of CAT in BTC patients. Future studies investigating the clinical and molecular risk factors for CAT in this population are needed to tailor thromboprophylaxis in this rare population.

Attempts to derive true embryonic stem cells in large farm animals rely on the supply of good quality embryos. In these species, including the pig, pre-implantation-stage embryos can be produced by in vitro techniques from slaughterhouse ovaries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the inner cell masses (ICMs) of pig embryos, produced in vitro by different methods, to provide viable initial outgrowths of ICM cells that could be subsequently subcultured and expanded. Porcine oocytes were recovered from slaughtered donors and matured in vitro for 40–44 h in DMEM-F12 supplemented with 10% FCS, 0.05 IU LH and FSH (Menogon, Ferring, Milan, Italy), 0.3 mM cystine, 0.5 mM cysteamine, 50 ng/mL long-EGF, 100 ng/mL long-IGF1, 5 ng/mL bFGF (Sigma-Aldrich, Milan, Italy) in 5% CO2 at 38.5°C. Boar frozen-thawed semen was separated on a percoll gradient and diluted in TALP medium with PHE (penicillamine, hypotaurine, epinefrine) to a concentration ranging from 0.05 to 0.1 million sperm per mL. Oocytes were partially decumulated, co-incubated with sperm for 24 h, and finally denuded and cultured in microdrops of mSOFaa or NCSU. After cleavage, approximately half of the cleaved embryos were surgically transferred into the sheep oviduct for 4 days of in vivo culture and the remaining embryos were left in vitro in the two media. On Day +6 in vivo-cultured embryos were recovered from the sheep oviduct. Blastocyst formation and quality were comparatively evaluated in the three culture groups. Quality specifically referred to the morphology/size of the ICM according to the following criteria: ICM A (large/prominent), ICM B (flat), and ICM C (non-visible). All embryos with a visible inner cell mass were subjected to microdissection with needles to recover the ICMs that were then plated on feeder-layers of mitomycin-treated STO fibroblasts. Attachment and outgrowth was evaluated 48–72 h post-plating. Results are presented in Table 1. Our data indicate that in vivo culture of pig embryos in the sheep oviduct greatly enhance both blastocyst development and ICM quality. As a consequence the efficiency of outgrowth formation, following plating for ES cell derivation, was significantly higher with ICMs derived from IVM-IVF pig embryos cultured in vivo as compared to their in vitro-cultured counterparts. Within the two culture media tested for in vitro culture, SOF and NCSU, the rate of blastocyst formation was similar but the quality of SOF-cultured embryos is higher. In conclusion, embryo/ICM quality represents a fundamental requirement for the derivation of ES cell lines, and in vivo culture in the sheep oviduct provides the most efficient source of high quality IVM-IVF pig embryos. Table 1. Blastocyst development and ICM quality of in vitro-produced pig embryos This work was supported by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Programma Nazionale Cellule Staminali, Rome, Italy, grant No. CS 11.

e14077 Background: Beyond PD-L1, nowadays oncologists can only use clinical characteristics to candidate patients for immunotherapy (IO). Previously, a clinical prognostic score composed by ECOG performance status (PS), sex, histology, stage, uses of platin-based therapy at first-line (1L) and response to 1L categorized 3 different prognostic groups for patients treated with second-line (2L) chemotherapy (CHT) (Di Maio, EJC. 2010 Mar;46(4):735-43.). The aim of this study is to assess if the same score is able to discriminate the outcome of aNSCLC pts treated in 2L or further-line IO, potentially helping decision making. Methods: We recorded data of patients collected from two institutional databases: Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan and IRCCS Oncologico Giovanni Paolo II of Bari, Italy. Overall survival (OS) was the primary endpoint and also progression-free survival (PFS) was assessed. Prognostic score was generated, and pts were divided into 3 prognostic groups: best (B: < 5), intermediate (I:5-9), worst (W: > 9). Results: Overall, 347 pts were included in the analysis (193 from Milan and 154 from Bari). Median age was 66 years (y) (30 – 88y), most were < 70 y (67.5%), male (70.7%), smokers (79.5%) and adenocarcinoma (74.6%). ECOG PS was: 0 (23%), 1 (54.5%) and 2 (22.5%). Pts distribution was: 28%, 51% and 21% in the B, I and W groups, respectively. Median OS was 18.0 months for B group, 8.5 months for I group (HR vs B 1.83, 95%CI 1.35 – 2.47, p < 0.001) and 2.6 months for W group (HR vs B 5.77, 95%CI 3.99 – 8.33, p < 0.001). Median PFS was 3.4 months for B group, 3.7 months for I group (HR vs B 1.35, 95% CI 1.03 – 1.77, p = 0.032) and 1.9 months for W group (HR vs B 2.51. 95% CI 1.80- 3.50, p < 0.001). Similar results were obtained stratifying the model by Institution. Conclusions: This clinical prognostic score, that was generated in patients treated with second-line chemotherapy, is able to highly predict outcomes of patients treated with IO. These results demonstrated that in pre-treated aNSCLC pts, the worst category has a dismal absolute life expectancy, and probably would not benefit from any active systemic therapy (independently if CHT or IO). Perhaps for these pts best supportive care could be the best choice.

Настоящая работа является первым общим описанием на русском языке двух некрополей Кампокиаро (Кампобассо, Италия) – Виченне и Морионе, датируемых последней третью VII в. – началом VIII в. Культурное содержание некрополей показывает прочные связи с населением центральноазиатского происхождения. Важнейшим признаком некрополей являются захоронения с конем, соответствующие евразийскому кочевому погребальному обряду. Автор поддержал выводы европейских исследователей о том, что с большой долей вероятности некрополи оставлены булгарами дукса–гаштальда Алзеко, зафиксированными Павлом Диаконом в VIII в. на территориях Бояно, Сепино и Изернии. Аналогии некрополей Кампокиаро с погребениями Аварского каганата показывают присутствие в аварском обществе булгар со схожим погребальным обрядом. Из тысяч погребений с конем, оставленных аварским населением, булгарам могла принадлежать большая часть. Авары и булгары составляли основу и правящую верхушку каганата. 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Background. Waldenström Macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare indolent lymphoma typical of the elderly population, with a median age at diagnosis of 65-70 years and median overall survival of approximately 10 years. Age is the most important prognostic factor in WM, and unrelated mortality significantly impacts survival in elderly patients. The past two decades have witnessed important treatment advances in WM, with the introduction of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies in the early 2000s and of ibrutinib in more recent years. Less than 10% of WM patients are diagnosed at young age, and few studies have addressed their characteristics and outcome in the era of immunotherapy and targeted therapies. Here we report the presenting features, treatment and outcome of WM patients younger than 55 years diagnosed in 12 Hematologic Centers across Italy between 2000 and 2018. Patients and Methods. Diagnostic criteria were those established during the second International Workshop on WM (Owen et al, 2003) and were retrospectively applied to patients diagnosed before 2003. The overall survival (OS) observed in the study cohort was compared with the expected survival of the general Italian population matched by sex, age and calendar year. The expected survival estimates were derived from Italian life tables (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, ISTAT). Results. The median age of patients included in the study was 50 years (interquartile range, IQR: 46-52). Their clinical characteristics at diagnosis are reported in Table 1. With a median follow-up of 5.6 years (IQR 3.1-9.1), 76 of 129 patients (59%) have been treated, at diagnosis (n=31, 41%) or after initial observation (n=45, 59%). The median treatment-free survival was 39 months. According to ISS-WM prognostic score, 58% were classified as low risk, 30% as intermediate risk and 12% as high risk. Frontline therapy included Rituximab in 71/76 patients (93%). Rituximab was associated with chemotherapy in 62 patients (82%), whereas 9 patients (12%) received a chemo-free induction. Five patients (7%) received chemotherapy only as first-line therapy (Table 2). The overall response rate (ORR) to induction therapy was 85%, including 39% CR+VGPR. Two patients received Rituximab maintenance for 2 years. The median progression-free survival (PFS) after first-line therapy was 76 months. Four of 76 patients (5%) received an autologous stem cell transplantation at relapse/progression. Overall, 14/76 patients (18%) received ibrutinib as first (n=2) or as subsequent line of therapy (n=12). During follow-up, 4/76 patients (5%) developed a solid cancer (bladder n=2, breast n=1, prostate n=1) and 2 a second hematologic cancer (chronic myelomonocytic leukemia n=1, secondary MDS n=1). Using a competing-risk model, accounting for death from any cause as the competing event, the cumulative incidence of second cancers was 2% at 5 years and 5.8% at 10 years. Three patients have died, 2 due to WM and 1 due to acute myeloid leukemia. The 5-and 10-year OS from diagnosis were 99% and 96% respectively. In a time-dependent survival analysis, considering therapy as a time-dependent covariate, the OS of treated and untreated WM patients was not significantly different (P = 0.162) (Figure 1). Among treated patients, the OS was significantly shorter in high-risk patients as compared with low- and intermediate-risk patients (5-year OS 85.7% versus 100%, P=0.018) (Figure 2). The OS of young WM patients was not significantly reduced as compared with age-, sex- and calendar year- matched general population (P &gt; 0.05) (Figure 3). Conclusions. The presenting features of young WM patients resemble those typically described in the elderly WM population. Among treated patients, more than half are low-risk according to ISS-WM, confirming age as the most important prognostic factor. More than 90% of patients received Rituximab as part of the upfront treatment, mainly in combination with chemotherapy. Ibrutinib seems to be preferred over autologous stem cell transplantation in the relapsed/refractory setting. The outcome of young WM patients treated in Italy in the contemporary era was excellent in terms of both PFS and OS, with a life expectancy not significantly reduced as compared with the general population. Figure 1 Disclosures Varettoni: Gilead: Other: travel expenses; Janssen: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy; ABBVIE: Other: travel expenses. Tedeschi:AstraZeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Janssen spa: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; BeiGene: Honoraria; Janssen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; SUNESIS: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; AbbVie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Gilead: Consultancy. Benevolo:Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy. Del Fabro:Janssen: Consultancy. Luminari:ROCHE: Other: Role as Advisor ; CELGENE: Other: Role as Advisor & Travel Grant; TAKEDA: Other: Travel Grant; GILEAD: Other: Lecturer . Arcaini:Gilead Sciences: Research Funding; Celgene: Speakers Bureau; Celgene, Roche, Janssen-Cilag, Gilead: Other: Travel expenses; Bayer, Celgene, Gilead Sciences, Roche, Sandoz, Janssen-Cilag, VERASTEM: Consultancy.