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This study aims at assessing the deformation processes affecting an area NW of the city of Ravenna (northern Italy), caused by groundwater withdrawal activities. In-situ data, geologic and structural maps, piezometric measurements, underground water withdrawal volumes, and satellite C-band SAR data were used to jointly exploit two different techniques: 1) fluid-dynamic and geomechanical modelling (by RSE S.p.A), and 2) Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) analysis (by CNR - IREA). The results of the comparative analysis presented in this work brought new evidence about the contribution of groundwater withdrawal to the total subsidence affecting the area during the 2000-2017 time interval. In particular, they show an increase of the subsidence from year 2000 to 2010 and a decrease from year 2010 to 2017. These results are generally in line with groundwater withdrawal data that report a reduction of the extracted water volumes during the considered temporal interval. Meantime, they show a delay effect in the subsidence process, partially recovered during the 2010-2017 thanks to a stabilisation of the extracted groundwater volumes. The presented results shade new light on the groundwater withdrawal contribution to the subsidence of the analysed zone, although further investigations are foreseen to better clarify the ongoing scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Adria microplate is the foreland of the oppositely verging Apennines and Alps or Dinarides fold‐thrust belts associated to the related subduction zones. Along its western margin, the Adria plate hosts the active Northern Apennines accretionary prism, which is buried under the Adriatic Sea and the Po Plain. The interpretation of seismic reflection profiles and borehole data allowed us to define the geometry of the transition from the Apennines fold‐thrust belt to its undeformed foreland. Moreover, continuous GPS (CGPS) data from offshore hydrocarbon platforms anchored to the seabed of the northern Adriatic plate allow to measure present‐day kinematics. Although the CGPS signals are affected by non‐tectonic components associated with hydrocarbon extraction, the integration of geodetic analysis, subsurface geological reconstructions, and analytical modeling allowed us to constrain the ongoing tectonic activity. Shortening is currently accommodated by aseismic slip along the basal detachment, likely accumulating elastic energy along the frontal ramp that may eventually seismically slip. Our multidisciplinary study suggests that the study area may not be sheltered from relevant seismic sequences similar to the Mw 6 Emilia 2012 events and that the occurrence of potential seismogenic sources in the area should be carefully evaluated. Similar studies may be useful to constrain the present‐day activity in other marine areas and to identify potential and hitherto unrecognized seismogenic sources along the entire Apennines belt and other accretionary prisms worldwide. Key Points: Seismic reflection profiles in the northern Adriatic Sea allow to reconstruct the Apennines fold‐thrust belt geometry and its forelandOffshore CGPS data allow computation of the active shortening in the accretionary prismAnalytical modeling provides a first‐order estimation of the current slip rate of the unlocked and locked surfaces of the basal decollement [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lani Guinier accused the press of not analyzing her work properly before criticizing it. Reporters lack training to deal with the matters they report, which results in presenting superficial coverage of the issue. Guinier feels that reporters too often lack knowledge on the subjects they are assigned to cover and are more concerned with getting a story than with getting the facts straight.

Background: Careful staging of hepatic tumors is mandatory for appropriate selection of patients for liver resection. Number and relationships of liver nodules are issues of utmost importance when evaluating resectability. Sensitivity of preoperative imaging for secondary lesions has been reported between 60-75% with spiral contrast-enhanced computed cosmography (CT), 80-85% with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 90-96% with intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS). Also for primary lesions IOUS has been reported to allow detection of liver nodules in 17% and modify surgical strategy in 10%. The aim of this study was to point out the usefulness of open (IOUS) and laparoscopic (LIOUS) ultrasound in patients undergoing hepatic surgery for liver tumors.Methods: In the years 2004-2006, 50 patients, mean age 66 years (range 44-76 years) were evaluated for resective surgery at the General Surgery Department of Monaldi Hospital, Naples, Italy. All of them were studied with biphasic CT and transabdominal ultrasound. Eighteen (36%) were judged unresectable. The others were scheduled for laparoscopy and LIOUS, by means of an ALOKA SSD-5500 (Aloka Co. Ltd. Tokyo, Japan), equipped with linear flexible tip laparoscopic probe.Results: Six patients (18.7%) were excluded because of pathology diffusion; 26 (81.3%) were resected, using ultrasonic shears (Harmonic ACE, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Cincinnati Oh., USA) for parenchymal transection, 3 (11.5%) laparoscopically and 23 (88.5%) after laparotomy. IOUS was repeated in the latter group. LIOUS spared useless laparotomies in six patients (18.7%) and, coupled with IOUS, found undetected nodes in five patients (19.2%), changing surgical strategy in three patients (11.5%).Conclusion: In our experience LIUOS and IOUS proved to be of utmost importance both in the selection of patients for resective surgery and in planning surgical approach. Ultrasonic shears device and systematic pedicle clamping sped up resection time and reduced intraoperative bleeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For more than 20 years intraoperative ultrasonography (IOUS) has been considered an important diagnostic tool in abdominal surgery. In the last few years, with the spread of laparoscopic surgery, echo-laparoscopy (LIOUS) has gradually replaced open ultrasonography, aiming to achieve similar results.Methods: LIOUS was performed using an ALOKA 5.500 device, provided with a linear flexible laparoscopic probe that was compatible with a 10-mm port. IOUS was performed by means of a linear side-view, T-shaped or microconvex probe. The probes were sterilized with hydrogen peroxide. No water bath was used during the surgical examination, but full contact of the probe with the surface of the involved organ was always attempted. From 2001 to 2005, 36 liver resections, 40 pancreas procedures, 203 procedures for suspected common bile duct calculi, 541 colon and 82 stomach resections, and 82 adrenal surgery procedures were performed. IOUS or LIOUS was performed in 432 patients (43.8%). All livers and pancreases underwent intraoperative ultrasound, while biliary, colonic, gastric, and adrenal pathologies were selectively studied when there were doubts about the location and extension of the disease.Results: IOUS and LIOUS were valuable diagnostic procedures, supplying relevant clinical information in 65.1% of the patients and modifying the surgical approach in 17.2%. LIOUS was used instead of cholangiography to study bile ducts when lythiasis was suspected, achieving high diagnostic specificity (98%) and accuracy (100%). Surgical anatomy of the bile ducts was correctly identified by LIOUS in every case.Discussion: In our experience IOUS and LIOUS were of the utmost importance in better defining staging of disease, infiltration of neighboring structures, number and size of nodular lesions, and anatomy of the hepatic pedicle and intrahepatic structures, thus making it possible to more accurately plan surgical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents reflective essays on the presidential election in the United States. Controversies on public relations; Consideration of presidential election as advanced public relations; Implication of the 2000 presidential election on the American people.

The input flow of groundwater from the seabed to the coastal ocean, known as Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD), has been only recently recognized as an important component of continental margin systems. It potentially impacts physical, chemical and biological marine dynamics. Independently of its specific nature (seepage, submarine springs, etc.) or fluid chemical composition, a SGD is generally characterized by low flow rates, hence making its detection and quantification very difficult, and explaining why it has been somewhat neglected by the scientific community for a long time. Along with the growing interest for SGDs emerged the need for in-situ observations in order to characterize in details how these SGDs behave. In this work, we describe the morphology of a pockmark field, detected in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Mediterranean Sea), and provide observational evidences of the presence of active submarine springs over the coastal shelf area. We describe the effect of the fluid seeps on the water column stratification close to the main plumes and in the neighbouring areas, providing quantitative estimates of the intensity of the turbulent mixing and discussing their potential impact on the seabed morphology and pockmark formation in the context of turbulent buoyant plumes analytical modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]