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This paper explores the relationship between board director compensation and bank performance for the period 1999–2021, considering the US banking system. The literature in this area with reference to financial companies and banks is poorly developed and leads to mixed results. Furthermore, the studies have mainly focused on the remuneration of the chief executive officer (CEO), neglecting that of the board members (Minnick et al., 2011; Khumalo & Masenge, 2015; Iskandrani et al., 2018). The scientific analysis methodology adopted is based on the analysis of panel data. Firstly, the results of the data analysis make it possible to highlight the existence of a significant link between the remuneration policies adopted by banks concerning the corporate results obtained in terms of profitability. Secondly, the results show differences, in terms of impact on banking performance, between the remuneration of chief executive officers and the remuneration of directors. The results of this study can help banks identify best practices for bank management as well as provide useful insights to different categories of stakeholders, especially the bank regulators and supervisors

The knowledge of the crustal stress field is essential in the evaluation of the seismic hazard of an area.To this aim, it is necessary to derive reliable focal mechanisms mainly when small earthquakes have to be included in the computation. The first motion focal mechanism solution techniques are still widely used in modern softwares. The determination of P-wave polarities with manual procedures can lead to human errors and it is time-consuming. Automatic procedures can avoid these drawbacks. Polarity identification is not a classification task easily expressed in terms of mathematical procedures, in fact classical automatic procedures can lead to worse results than those obtained by human operators. For this reason, the use of machine learning approaches results necessary to accomplish this task.With low computational costs, real-time analysis capabilities, no need for complicated pre-processing procedures, and truly competitive results, properly designed convolutional networks can be the answer to various problems, including those related to seismology. In our work, we present the Convolutional First Motion (CFM) network, a Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) used to classify seismic traces based on first motion polarities of P-waves. We used waveforms contained in two datasets. We prepared the first dataset selecting approximatively 150˙000 waveforms contained in the Italian seismic catalogue INSTANCE, specifically designed for the application of machine learning techniques. To this end we devised an analysis procedure using Principal Component Analysis and Self-Organising Maps, through which a clustering process individuated groups of suitable traces. A second dataset, not specifically designed for machine learning techniques, is prepared manually picking approximatively 4˙000 waveforms of earthquakes occurred between 2010 and 2014 at Mt. Pollino area in Italy, avoiding possible overlapping of waveforms between the two datasets. The network, trained on ~130˙000 time windows centred on P-wave arrival times of waveforms in the INSTANCE catalogue, achieved accuracies of 95.7% and 98.9% on two test sets: the Mt. Pollino dataset and part of the INSTANCE catalogue. Further testing showed that if we give the network waveforms with uncertain arrival times, it acquires robustness to this type of noise, still showing high-level of performance.We infer that the CFM network would be suitable in succession to automatic techniques that derive P-wave arrival times, for example techniques in which deep learning is used, in order to cover the entire data processing phase with machine learning. Given the incredible ability of DCNNs to model and process large volumes of data and their remarkable performance, it is reasonable to assume that deep learning will soon become the norm even in the context of first-motion polarity determination. This work was partially supported by the PRIN-2017 MATISSE project (no. 20177EPPN2), funded by the Ministry of Education and Research.

In a geologically interesting land like Italy, and in particular Campania, educating and informing about the concept of risk in general, and specifically seismic risk, is of fundamental importance.The possibilities of seismic risk mitigation, in fact, depend not only on the scientific community but also on how well prepared and informed society is about the risk itself. It is, therefore, crucial to train the local population to increase disaster risk preparedness and resilience within our region.The Science Capital framework, developed by Prof. Louise Archer er al. (https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21227), refers to a person’s science-related resources, such as their science-related understanding, knowledge, attitudes, activities, and social contacts. It also offers a key to defining how everyone's store of scientific knowledge is enriched and influenced by their habits, family, and network of contacts. Understanding this context and its dynamics helps us to enhance the resources available for scientific culture, with a view to building a competent and inclusive educational community. With this in minds, we built a didactic protocol dedicated to seismic risk perception taking into consideration the Science Capital framework.“Waves…a tool to explore our home!” allows students to acquire both specific topics, such as the physical quantities involved in an earthquake, its generation and its dynamics, and general concepts, such as the perception of seismic risk and the impact of man in the prevention, in the possible induction and in the response to an earthquake.An evaluation phase was carried out to assess the learning experience and the effectiveness of the science communication technique.This work has been supported by CORE ("sCience and human factor for Resilient sociEty") project, funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 - research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101021746 .

During and after catastrophes it is important to investigate the role played by key governmental institutions and scientific community in vehiculating correct information to the whole population on how to manage the consequences of disasters in order to minimize losses and avoid other possible cascading effects. Indeed, messages spread out by policy makers and scientific community get positive effects, only if they are trusted by citizens.The European project entitled “sCience and human factOr for Resilient society” (H2020 CORE) considers trust as a key factor for the individuals’ risk perception, their behavioural response and disaster preparedness. Within this scenario, a survey is promoted by means of an online questionnaire including scales and indicators related to risk perception and trust by controlling for geographical context, socio-demographic and economic backgrounds together with direct and indirect individual experiences. The aim of the survey is twofold: on one hand, it permits to consider the effects on citizens’ behaviors by analysing different hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunami, wildfire, industrial accident, terrorist attack, flash flood and COVID-19 pandemic; on the other one, it allows to underline best practices adopted by institutions during emergencies in different countries by also investigating the role of fake news.The final aim is to release guidelines devoted to the policy makers and scientific community experts in order to understand what they can do to be trusted by communities. Acknowledgment: The present abstract has been produced for the CORE project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101021746.

The harnessed Nesjavellir geothermal area is one of several geothermal fields on the flanks of the Hengill volcano, SW-Iceland. In this study, we present a detailed seismic imaging of the area through the mapping of the VP, VS and VP/VS ratio using seismic data recorded from 2016 to 2020 and compare them to a resistivity model from the same area and rock temperature measured in boreholes. To obtain reliable initial hypocenter locations and a reference seismic velocity, we solve the coupled hypocenter-velocity problem and obtain a reliable minimum 1D P-wave velocity model for the study area. First, we performed the relocation of all the events in the catalogue using the new 1D velocity model and the estimated VP/VS value of 1.77. We chose the highest quality events based on the quality of the relocations and used them to perform the 3D tomographic inversion. We used an iterative linearized delay-time inversion to estimate both the 3D P- and S-wave velocity models and earthquake locations.The results highlight that at depths less than 1 km the crust has a high VP/VS ratio (around 1.9) and low VP and VS values. Low resistivity at comparable depths in the same region has been explained as being due to the smectite clay cap. The observed low VP/VS ratio of 1.64 to 1.70 for depths between 1 and 3 km coincides with high resistivity values. The seismicity in this region, where temperatures often exceed 240°C, seems to be sparse and concentrated near the production wells. This seismicity has been explained as being caused by both production and tectonic activity. At depths larger than 3 km significant high VP/VS ratio anomaly (>1.9) is observed and coincides spatially with a deep-seated conductive body that domes up at about 4.500 m b.sl. Elevated temperatures are observed above this structure in borehole temperature data. We propose that these signals reflect hot 600-900°C cooling intrusives, close to the brittle ductile transition - possibly the heat source(s) of the geothermal field above. These anomalies are at the same location as the last fissure eruption in Hengill almost 2,000 years ago. A deeper NNE-SSW trending seismic cluster at 3-6 km depth, likely outlining an active fault, is observed at the edge of this high VP/VS anomaly. The heat source of the Nesjavellir geothermal field is most likely connected to this most recent volcanism as reflected by the deep-seated low resistivity body and high VP/VS ratio, located beneath the deep fault that connects the flow path of the high temperature geothermal fluid, resulting in an actively producing reservoir.The availability of a 3D model represents a starting point for 4D tomography study which will allow us to track changes in crustal properties over time and the estimation of fault mechanisms and kinematic source parameters.This work has been partially supported by PRIN-2017 MATISSE project, No 20177EPPN2, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education and Research.

The Pollino area, one of the largest seismic gaps in Italy, has been struck between 2010 and 2014 by a long-lasting seismic sequence. More than 10,000 small-to-medium earthquakes followed a temporal evolution typical of a seismic swarm and, to a lesser extent, of aftershocks following the two strongest events: a ML 4.3 on 28 May 2012 and a ML 5.0 on 25 October 2012. A delay of almost 4 months separated the two main events, with the first event occurring two years after the beginning of the swarm. A slow slip event began about three months before the strongest earthquake. High VP and high VP/VS values have been found in the swarm area, where clusters of events of similar waveforms have been identified in recent works. The distribution of seismicity has been driven by pore fluid pressure diffusion with relatively low diffusivity value.The present work aims to provide the first 3D images of scattering and absorption of the Pollino area at different frequency bands, measured through peak delay mapping and coda-attenuation tomography, respectively. We collected 870 earthquakes from the 2010 - 2014 seismic sequence and surrounding area, characterized by ML > 1.7, already applied in a recent tomographic work. We used the manual P-wave pickings of the waveforms to compute the peak delay as the lag between the P-wave onset and the maximum of the envelope. Instead, the coda window has been fixed for the entire dataset at 30 seconds after the origin time of the earthquakes, lasting for 15 seconds. This late lapse time allows us to interpret Qc-1 as a marker of the absorption.The preliminary results show a high scattering anomaly characterizing the seismogenic volume of the sequence and the newly identified faults surrounding the focal area. A strong scattering contrast has been identified south of the ML 5.0 plane. This contrast is likely related to the presence of a segment of the Pollino Fault that acts as a barrier for the Southern propagation of the sequence. High attenuation anomalies in areas already marked by high VP and high VP/VS confirm the role that fluids played in this complex sequence. These results, together with the recent outcomes, could give more insights about the seismic hazard of this complex area.This work was supported by the PRIN-2017 MATISSE project (no. 20177EPPN2), funded by the Ministry of Education and Research.

The Calabria-Lucania border region represents the transitional area between the Southern Apennines and the Northern sector of the Calabrian arc. Roughly the whole Apennine chain is struck by more or less intense earthquakes. While the northern and central parts of the chain are characterized by foreland contraction and hinterland extension, the Southern Apennine is characterized by a strike-slip kinematics in the eastern sector and by an extensional regime in the western sector. Strike-slip earthquakes have been observed also in the axial part of the Campania-Molise Apennines, rightly beneath the active extensional sector.The Calabria-Lucania border region is considered a seismic gap in the Apennine chain; few paleo-earthquakes, with magnitude ranging from 5 to 7, have been recorded in the area. During 2010-2014 the region was affected by a low-moderate instrumental seismicity (known as Pollino seismic sequence): thousands of earthquakes occurred. Analysis of that seismicity revealed a shallow hypocentral distribution located into the first few km below the surface, and focal mechanisms of the strongest events of the sequence are consistent with upper crustal extensional deformation. While the shallow seismicity of Calabria-Lucania border region has been deeply studied after the 2010-2013 sequence, the sporadic deep seismicity needs a more detailed analysis.As highlighted by previous studies, instrumental seismicity recorded from 2013 to 2015 reveals the presence of a sporadic deep (from 9 to more than 20 km) seismicity. The events located between 9 and 17 km deep have transcurrent to transpressional kinematics with NE-SW trending P axes; while deeper events show a strike-slip kinematics with NW-SE trending P axes.We analyzed deep (> 10 km) seismicity recorded in the area from 2013 to nowadays. Starting from the picking of seismograms of more than 40 events (with M between 2.4 and 3.8), we analyzed the focal mechanisms of events computed using at least six good first motion observations. According to Ferranti et al., 2017, our results highlight the presence of a strike-slip/oblique kinematics at depths of more than 20 km. Between 10 and 20 km depth both dip-slip and strike-slip kinematics are present, with a predominance of the last ones, confirming the presence of a transition zone. Finally, we inverted the focal mechanisms dataset to infer about the stress field active in the region.

BACKGROUND Postoperative pain after cardiac surgery is a very important issue and affects recovery, risk of postoperative complications and quality of life. The pain management has been traditionally based on intravenous opioids with growing evidence suggesting the use of opioid-free and opioid-sparing techniques to reduce its adverse effects. CASE PRESENTATION We report the case of a 75-years-old frail patient underwent awake mediastinal revision with subxiphoid access due to deep sternal wound infection using a Pectoralis-Intercostal Rectus Sheath (PIRS) plane block. During the procedure the patient never reported pain receiving acetaminophen 1 g every 8 hours for postoperative pain management without others pain relievers. CONCLUSION Ultrasound guided PIRS block could be an effective and safe analgesic technique to manage sternal and subxiphoid drainage pain in patients undergoing cardiac surgery via subxiphoid approach.

Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is a relatively common complication after cardio-thoracic operations with well-known consequences in terms of return to normal activities and quality of life. Little is known about the prevalence and severity of CPSP after minimally invasive cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to measure the rate of CPSP in patients undergoing right minithoracotomy mitral valve (MV) surgery and to compare the effectiveness of different approaches to pain control.A prospective observational study was conducted between March 2019 and September 2020. All patients undergoing right minithoracotomy MV surgery treated with morphine, continuous serratus anterior plane block (SAPB), or continuous erector spinae plane block (ESPB) were included. The Brief Pain Inventory questionnaire was used to evaluate 6-month CPSP and quality of life.A total of 100 patients were enrolled: postoperative pain control was obtained with morphine in 26 cases, with SAPB in 37 cases, and with ESPB in 37 cases. Median intensive care unit and hospital length of stay were 1 day and 6 days, respectively. Pain severity index was lower than 10 in 81 patients, and no differences were recorded between groups (p = .59). No patients reported chronic use of medications for pain management or severe pain interference in daily activities at follow-up.Right minithoracotomy approach is not burdened by a high incidence of CPSP: pain severity index was lower than 10 in more than 90% of patients. Then, in our experience, chronic pain seems not to be related to the type of perioperative analgesia adopted.

OBJECTIVES Chest wall blocks are an effective strategy for postoperative pain control in minimally invasive cardiac surgery, but, in the absence of clinical trials evaluating their safety in the presence of anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs, it still is recommended to follow the same guidelines developed for the neuraxial procedures and for peripheral blocks. DESIGN Retrospective observational study. SETTING AOU Citta della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, Italy. PARTICIPANTS Between March 28, 2019 and October 19, 2020, 70 patients who underwent mitral valve surgery via right minithoracotomy were enrolled: 35 treated with continuous erector spinae plane block (ESPB) and 35 with continuous serratus anterior plane block (SAPB). INTERVENTIONS The primary objective was the evaluation of the number of blocks performed or catheters removed while coagulation was abnormal or antithrombotic and anticoagulant therapies were in progress. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Eleven patients (15.7%) received fascial plane block with international normalized ratio (INR) > 1.40, four patients (5.71%) with a platelet count 1.40, in five patients (7.1%) with a platelet count

We try to answer the following research question: Is unconventional monetary policy (UMP) mediated by European banks’ liquidity and solvency ratios? Starting from micro-prudential tools (unconventional monetary policy), this paper focuses on the micro-prudential perspective and contributes in different ways to the existing literature. First, using supervisory reporting data from European banks (European Central Bank (ECB), Statistical Data Warehouse), provides insights into the UMP (in terms of long term refinancing operation (LTRO)) during the first phase of the COVID 19 pandemic. Second, it empirically investigates the impacts of the LTRO on the liquidity and solvency of European banks, during the Q32016‒Q22021 period. We argue that the impacts of UMP (in terms of LTRO) are strictly related to banks’ solvency and liquidity, thus favouring the stability of the banking system. These results suggest that authorities may want to monitor the bank’s capital ratio and the liquidity position of financial institutions, also to better understand the effects of unconventional monetary tools on lending volume. The topic of our paper is scarcely explored by similar studies; therefore, we believe that our work may fill this gap and significantly contribute to enriching the related empirical literature.

This paper presents a high-level overview of site characterization, risk analysis and monitoring priorities for underground energy-related product storage or sequestration facilities. The siting of an underground storage or sequestration facility depends on several important factors beginning with the area of review. Collection of all existing and available records and data from within the rock volume, including potential vulnerabilities such as prior containment issues, proximity to infrastructure and/or population centres, must be evaluated. Baselining of natural processes before storage or sequestration operations begin provides the basis for assessing the effects of storage or sequestration on the surroundings. These initial investigations include geological, geophysical and geochemical analyses of the suitability of the geological host rock and environs for storage or sequestration. A risk analysis identifies and evaluates threats and hazards, the potential impact should they develop into unwanted circumstances or events and the consequences to the facility should any of them occur. This forms the basis for framing effective mitigation measures. A comprehensive monitoring programme that may include downhole well surveillance, observation wells, geochemical sampling and well testing ensures that the facility operates as designed and that unforeseen issues, such as product migration or loss of integrity, can be identified and mitigated. In addition to these technical issues, human factors and public perception of a project are a critical part of the site characterization, construction and operational phases of a project. Despite differences between underground storage and sequestration, the characterization, risk analysis and monitoring approaches that were developed for underground natural gas storage or for carbon dioxide sequestration could be used for underground storage or sequestration of any type of energy-related product. Recommendations from this work include: (1) develop an industry-standard evaluation protocol (workflow) for the evaluation of salt beds, saline aquifers, depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, underground mines and cased wellbores for potential underground storage or sequestration development beyond those in use today; and (2) develop an industry-wide collaborative process whereby incident and near-miss data related to underground storage or sequestration operations can be reported, documented and shared for use in refining risk analysis modelling.

The scientific literature on banks’ corporate governance has considered multiple characteristics of the board of directors to try to understand its effects in terms of banking performance; however, there is a gap in the literature on the effects of the quality of education of board members on the banks’ performance. Indeed, there is no consensus in the literature that human capital resources can predict risk-taking or bank performance. This study seeks to reduce this gap by examining for the period 2000–2021 the impact of the quality of the education background of board members on the performance of a group of large US banks. The results of this empirical investigation may offer relevant policy implications. The Federal Reserve System may consider adopting stricter measures than those currently imposed to control the behavior of the bank’s board members and reduce agency problems

Storage of energy-related products in the geological subsurface provides reserve capacity, resilience, and security to the energy supply chain. Sequestration of energy-related products ensures long-term isolation from the environment and, for CO 2 , a reduction in atmospheric emissions. Both porous-rock media and engineered caverns can provide the large storage volumes needed for energy security and supply-chain resilience today and in the future. Methods for site characterization and modelling, monitoring, and inventory verification have been developed and deployed to identify and mitigate geological threats and hazards such as induced seismicity and loss of containment. Broader considerations such as life-cycle analysis, environment, social and governance (ESG) impact and effective engagement with stakeholders can reduce project uncertainty and cost while promoting sustainability during the ongoing energy transition toward net-zero or low-carbon economies.

The effectiveness of risk mitigation also depends on how well-prepared and informed society is about the risk itself. The younger generation plays a key role in the scientific awareness of society, representing both the future of society and a conduit to reach and educate their families. We developed a didactic experience, based on Serious Games, dedicated to seismic risk that was tested and, then, implemented during the whole COVID-19 pandemic. Before the start and at the end of any of these activities, an evaluation phase was carried out to assess the learning experience and the effectiveness of the science communication technique.

Background Postoperative analgesia in SCOLA (subcutaneous onlay laparoscopic approach) surgery is traditionally based on intravenous opioids. The aim of this retrospective observational study was to evaluate the efficacy of bilateral subcostal transversus abdominis plane (SCTAP) block on postoperative pain relief in the first 48 postoperative hours following SCOLA. Materials and methods From August 2017 to December 2019, 163 patients were eligible for the analysis. Postoperative analgesia was managed either with an intravenous tramadol continuous infusion (opioid group) or a multimodal opioid-sparing strategy based on bilateral SCTAP block (SCTAP group), according to the anesthesiologist's postoperative plan. After data collection, 103 patients were assigned post hoc to the SCTAP group and 60 patients to the opioid group. The primary outcome was the evaluation of postoperative pain, considering both the Numeric Rating Scale score and the percentage of patients with uncontrolled pain at 6, 12, 24, or 48 hours. Secondary outcomes were differences in the administration of ketorolac rescue analgesia and incidence of mild adverse effects. Results There were no significant differences in median Numeric Rating Scale at 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours and ketorolac rescue dose consumption in both groups. Five patients (4.85% of a total of 103 patients) referred postoperative nausea and vomiting in the SCTAP group versus 10 patients (16.67% of a total of 60 patients) in the opioid group (P=0.02). Conclusion Analgesia with SCTAP block seems to represent a feasible and efficient strategy for pain management in patients undergoing SCOLA surgery, allowing good quality analgesia, low opioids requirements, and reduced incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting.

Objective: Nowadays, the coagulation status of the cardiac surgical patient is monitored using standard laboratory parameters. However, these tests involve long turnaround times, a critical limitation in settings where the patient’s coagulation status can change very quickly. The aim of the present study is to describe, through serial blood controls, traditional tests and Point Of Care (POC), the coagulation status of patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Design: Observational study. Setting: Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, University of Turin, Italy. Partecipants: We enrolled 29 patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass for cardiac surgery at the ‘Città della Salute e della Scienza’ University Hospital in Turin between March and June 2021. Interventions: In all patients two series of blood samples were performed at T1 (before the start of CPB, after sternum opening, before UFH administration) and at T2 (after the end of CPB, after protamine administration and before any blood component transfusions). Laboratory tests included blood count, INR, aPTT, Fibrinogen and functional assay of coagulation factors (AT III, factors II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, proteins C and S). An additional sample was obtained (both at T1 and T2) for ROTEM analysis. Measurements and Main results: Between the beginning and the end of the bypass we observed a significant decrease in coagulation factors II, X, XI, XII, protein C and S with an average percentage decrease of 32.58%, 34.11%, 36.69 %, 47.45%, 33.65% and 30.20%, respectively. Regarding viscoelastic parameters, we recorded a median increase of 22.64% of CT in Intem during CPB, with a reduction in MCF in Fibtem of 16.66%, as well as platelet contribution (MCF Extem-Fibtem), which was reduced by 7.69%. Conclusions: CPB-induced coagulopathy involve dilution, activation and consumption of all components of haemostasis, together with the need for profound anticoagulation. Our data seem to confirm the important reduction of all coagulation factors and platelets, together with a consensual change in traditional laboratory and viscoelastic parameters.

The Mt. Pollino area has been affected by a 4-year long seismic sequence, occurred between 2010 and 2014 and characterized by low-to-moderate seismicity and two moderate events (ML 4.3 and ML 5.0). The sequence developed as a combination of swarm-like and aftershocks. The two main earthquakes occurred late in the sequence, with a slow-slip event starting 3-4 months before the largest earthquake and lasting for a year. Despite the lack of historical and instrumental recordings of strong earthquakes (M>6), paleo-seismological investigations confirm the occurrence in the last 10,000 years of at least two M 6.5-7 earthquakes on the Pollino and Castrovillari faults, located in the SE sector of the Mt. Pollino area. Thus, the area has been marked as the widest high seismic hazard gap in Italy.In this study we present the most recent advancements in the comprehension of the main peculiarities of the last seismic sequence and of its space and time evolution. New local 3D P- and S-wave tomographic images offered a detailed picture of the main lithological units involved in the sequence and more reliable earthquake hypocenter locations. The inferred velocity contrasts have been compared with 2D scattering and absorption maps computed for the area, along with total direct wave attenuation. Clusters of events of similar waveforms (cross-correlation higher than 0.8) have been selected and located applying the master-slave relative location technique. New fault mechanisms have been computed. These mechanisms allowed modeling the local stress field and performing a Focal Mechanism Tomography. Its result was an evaluation of the excess of pore fluid pressure in the volume interested by the sequence. A 1D diffusivity analysis suggests a pore fluid pressure diffusion which, in addition to the Coulomb static stress transfer, can explain the delayed triggering of the two larger events.This work has been supported by the CORE (“sCience and human factor for Resilient sociEty”) project, funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 - research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101021746 and by PRIN-MATISSE (20177EPPN2) project funded by Italian Ministry of Education and Research.

Risk perception is a concept of fundamental importance for the resilience of societies. An important effort to raise the level of risk awareness must be made by the scientific community, which must adopt innovative communication techniques to get closer to the local community. A striking example of how crucial scientific communication is to risk perception was and still is Covid 19. Which allowed us to appreciate how important, if not necessary, it is to focus the energies of the scientific community not only on pure research, but also on how its outputs are communicated to the public.It is therefore of fundamental importance for the scientific and civil community to disseminate information on the subject to create greater individual awareness and sensitivity, and to enable all citizens to make a tangible contribution to environmental protection through virtuous behaviour in everyday life, even outside the school/work context. The possibilities of risk mitigation, in fact, depend not only on the scientific community but also on how well prepared and informed society is about the risk itself. It is, therefore, crucial to train the local population to increase disaster risk preparedness and resilience of the society.The younger generation plays a key role in the scientific awareness of society, representing both the future of society and a conduit to reach and educate their families.In this perspective, the use of Serious Games, which is certainly an innovative practice in science communication, is gaining momentum since it favours participants' learning through their active involvement in the activities.During the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed, using serious games, two didactic experiences, one dedicated to seismic risk (ALARM) and the other dedicated to climate change (Finding Gaia), targeting secondary school students, their families and science enthusiasts. Both experiences are characterised by an approach that is virtual and inclusive, allowing participation to people with motor disabilities, and fully interactive, through a series of quizzes, puzzles, and tasks of different difficulty, to include more and less experts/enthusiasts and exploit not only top-down but also peer-to-peer learning.Moreover, these experiences encourage the use of certain topics by allowing the basic concepts to be used in everyday life while the guidance of experts throughout the game allow a critical understanding of the topic.Before the start and at the end of any of these activities, an evaluation phase was carried out to assess the learning experience and the effectiveness of the science communication technique. For both practices, it was also found that, thanks to the introduction of the serious game, the virtual characteristic of the experience was evaluated as not negative, even though all the experiences were carried out during the COVID19 pandemic, with obvious repercussions on the disposition of the participants.This work has been supported by CORE ("sCience and human factor for Resilient sociEty") project, funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 - research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101021746 and by PRIN-MATISSE (20177EPPN2) project funded by Italian Ministry of Education and Research.

We present a comprehensive review of seismic and gravity observations and tomographic models produced over the past four decades in order to understand the structure of the crust beneath the Campi Flegrei caldera. We describe the main lithological and structural discontinuities defined through these observations, illustrate their geophysical responses, and discuss the constraints they give to the understanding of magmatic and volcanic processes. Micro-seismic crises related to caldera unrest, and ambient seismic noise measurements provide comprehensive seismic data to local earthquake and ambient noise tomography. In combination with reflection data from onshore and offshore active seismic experiments, velocity tomography reconstructs the elastic properties of the caldera between surface and ~4 km depth. Active experiments also define the depth of lithological interfaces and deep (~7.5 km) partially molten bodies. Seismic attenuation tomography provides information complementary to velocity tomography, defining lateral lithological changes and the geometry of onshore and offshore fluid and magma bodies down to 4 km depth. Once compared with seismic analyses, gravity data highlight lateral changes in the offshore caldera structures. During the deformation and seismo-geochemical unrest (1982–1984), they permitted to reconstruct a minor (

Ground shaking, whether it is due to natural or induced earthquakes, has always been a matter of concern since it correlates with structural/non-structural damage and can culminate in human anxiety. Industrial activities such as water injection, gas sequestration and waste fluid disposals, promote induced seismicity and consequent ground shaking that can hinder ongoing activities. Therefore, keeping in mind the importance of timely evaluation of a seismic hazard and its mitigation for societal benefits, the present study proposes specifically designed ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) from induced earthquakes in the St. Gallen geothermal area, Switzerland. The data analysed in this study consist of 343 earthquakes with magnitude −1.17 ≤ ML, corr ≤ 3.5 and hypocentral distance between 4 and 15 km. The proposed study is one of the first to incorporate ground motions from negative magnitude earthquakes for the development of GMPEs. The GMPEs are inferred with a two-phase approach. In the first phase, a reference model is obtained by considering the effect of source and medium properties on the ground motion. In the second phase the final model is obtained by including a site/station effect. The comparison between the GMPEs obtained in the present study with GMPEs developed for the other induced seismicity environments highlights a mismatch that is ascribed to differences in regional seismic environment and local site conditions of the respective regions. This suggests that, when dealing with induced earthquakes, GMPEs specific for the study should be inferred and used for both monitoring purposes and seismic hazard analyses.

This paper explores the relationship between directors’ remuneration and banks’ performance using extensive panel data for the period 2002–2021, to be able to make comparisons between the COVID-19 period and the pre-COVID-19 period and also make a comparison with the Great Financial Crisis born in the US in 2007. The scientific analysis methodology adopted is based on panel data analysis and the content analysis approach. The first results of the data analysis allow highlighting the existence of a significant connection between the remuneration policies adopted by the US banks with respect to the results obtained in terms of profitability. These findings can help banks identify best practices for bank management during the financial international crisis, as well as provide useful insights to different categories of stakeholders, including bank regulators and supervisors

The Nesjavellir geothermal field in the Northeastern part of the Hengill central volcano, South West Iceland, has been exploited since 1990. Geothermal energy is currently produced by Reykjavík Energy (OR) at two power plants around Hengill, at Nesjavellir to the northeast and at Hellisheiði to the southwest. Part of the surplus geothermal water from both plants goes into injection wells, and in analogy with the nearby Hellisheiði power plant the re-injection of geothermal gases into basaltic formations is planned in Nesjavellir. Currently, a test of deep fluid injection is conducted in preparation of the experimental re-injection of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. The seismicity recorded in the study area is due to volcano-tectonic processes, natural geothermal activity as well as induced seismicity due to production and injection.The aim of this work is to seismically image the production area of the Nesjavellir geothermal plant. Where the elastic properties of the propagation medium are investigated through the 3D and 4D seismic tomography and the b-value.The available dataset in Nesjavellir consists of 6906 seismic events extracted from ÍSOR’s catalogue, with local magnitude -0.8≤ML≤3.8 recorded between October 2016 and June 2020. The earthquakes were relocated in a 1D velocity model optimized for the area. We used tomographic method in which the P- and S-arrival times are simultaneously inverted for earthquakes location and velocity parameters estimation. Re-located earthquakes are further analysed to image the b-value in the investigated volume. Time variations of the seismic properties of the medium are observed in terms of VP, Vs and VP/Vs ratio obtained from the 4D tomography.The results indicate that seismicity in Nesjavellir is mainly concentrated in three different clusters: two are located at shallow depths (1-2 km) while the third reaches down to 6 km depth. The three clusters of earthquakes are striking SW-NE and are all dipping to the west. Both the P- and S-velocity obtained models show lateral variation in E-W direction. A high VP/Vs ratio value is observed at shallow depths (due to low Vs values) and high VP/VS ratio is observed between 3.5 and 6 km depth (due to high VP and low Vs values). From the b-value mapping we observe low values (less than 1) at shallow depths and high values where the rate of small magnitude events is considerably higher. For each timestep we observe variations in VP and VS velocities that seem to be correlated with the fluids involved in field operation.This work has been supported by the S4CE ("Science for Clean Energy") project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 - R&I Framework Programme, under grant agreement No 764810 and by PRIN-2017 MATISSE project, No 20177EPPN2, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education and Research.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems apply the pressurized fluid injection to fracture impermeable rocks to form pathways in which water circulates. The cold water under high pressure is pumped into the hot subsoil, where it heats up and returns to the surface. However, the induced fractures may coalesce into unwanted paths that allow the fluids to reach pre-existing faults, triggering major seismic events.This work investigates the relationship between injection and a degree of disordering of sources, ZZ, at Cooper Basin geothermal field in Australia, following the methodology developed and applied to study The Geysers geothermal field case (Lasocki & Orlecka-Sikora, 2020). The parameter ZZ quantifies the potential of seismicity to build pathways for fluid migration. It is the average distance between the seismic events in the eight-dimensional parameter space consisting of three hypocentral coordinates, T- and P-axis plunges, T-axis trend, and polar and azimuthal angles in the spherical system of coordinates beginning at the open hole of an injection well. A decrease of ZZ indicates an increasing hazard of forming far-reaching migration pathways. In The Geysers case, ZZ turned out to be highly correlated with the injection rate.Here we focus on the case of Habanero 4 well stimulation from 17 - November 30, 2012 (data access, see: IS EPOS, 2020). We processed 489 seismic events with known focal mechanisms. The events moment magnitude varies between 0.8 and 3.1. Our analysis shows that ZZ is significantly correlated with both the injection rate and the wellhead pressure. The higher the injection rate / the wellhead pressure was, the less probable was the creation of undesired fluid migration pathways. The Cooper Basin’s and The Geyser’s reservoir rocks are vastly different, the former – granite, the latter – greywacke sandstone, likewise the stimulation techniques applied in these two reservoirs. However, in both cases, ZZ was positively correlated with injection rate; thus, the potential to build unwanted paths for fluids was negatively correlated. These results suggest that such correlation may be a global feature of rock fracturing caused by pressurized fluid injections.This work has been supported by S4CE (Science for Clean Energy) project, funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 - Framework Programme, under grant agreement No 764810 and by PRIN-MATISSE (20177EPPN2) project funded by Italian Ministry of Education and Research. References:IS EPOS (2020), Episode: COOPER BASIN, https://tcs.ah-epos.eu/#episode:COOPER_BASIN, doi:10.25171/InstGeoph_PAS_ISEPOS-2020-001Lasocki, S., & Orlecka-Sikora, B. (2020). High injection rates counteract formation of far-reaching fluid migration pathways at The Geysers geothermal field. Geophysical Research Letters, 47, e2019GL086212. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL086212