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A core part of the rehabilitation scheduling process consists of planning rehabilitation physiotherapy sessions for patients, by assigning proper operators to them in a certain time slot of a given day, taking into account several legal, medical and ethical requirements and optimizations, e.g., patient's preferences and operator's work balancing. Being able to efficiently solve such problem is of upmost importance, in particular after the COVID-19 pandemic that significantly increased rehabilitation's needs. In this paper, we present a two-phase solution to rehabilitation scheduling based on Answer Set Programming, which proved to be an effective tool for solving practical scheduling problems. We first present a general encoding, and then add domain specific optimizations. Results of experiments performed on both synthetic and real benchmarks, the latter provided by ICS Maugeri, show the effectiveness of our solution as well as the impact of our domain specific optimizations. Under consideration in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP)., Under consideration in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP)

Preeclampsia is an obstetric pathology with striking similarities to COVID-19. The renin-angiotensin system plays a key role in the pathogenesis of both diseases. This report reviews the pharmacological strategies that have been suggested for the prevention and treatment of preeclampsia and that are potentially useful also in the treatment of COVID-19. Of note, both pathologies have in common an Angiotensin II-mediated endothelial dysfunction secondary to an angiogenic imbalance, with effects on vasculature, coagulation, and inflammation. These considerations are drawn from cases of the initial SARS-CoV-2 primary infection and may not apply to more recent SARS-CoV-2 variants or infections after COVID vaccination. The treatment options discussed included albumin infusion, aspirin, corticosteroids, the monoclonal antibody eculizumab, hydroxychloroquine, low molecular weight heparin, magnesium, melatonin, metformin, nitric oxide, proton pump inhibitors, statins, therapeutic apheresis, and vitamin D.

Objetivou-se, neste estudo, avaliar o potencial alelopático de diversas plantas medicinais, com princípios ativos diferenciados, sobre a germinação e vigor de sementes de Bidens pilosa L. O delineamento estatístico foi inteiramente casualizado, com dez tratamentos e quatro repetições, cada unidade experimental constituída por 25 sementes. Sendo os tratamentos, macerados de: alecrim, arruda, assa peixe, babosa, boldo, calêndula, capim cidreira, confrei, eucalipto e testemunha. As variáveis avaliadas foram: Porcentagem de germinação (PG), porcentagem de plantas anormais (PA), índice de velocidade de germinação (IVG), massa fresca (MF), massa seca (MS), comprimento da parte aérea (CPA) e comprimento da radícula (CR). Verificou-se as menores médias para os tratamentos capim cidreira, alecrim e calêndula, indicando uma potencial resposta alelopática negativa comparada aos demais tratamentos e a testemunha, do qual o capim cidreira diferiu estatisticamente para todas as variáveis. Quanto à ação estimulante apesar dos tratamentos assa peixe e eucalipto indicarem as maiores médias, apenas o assa peixe registrou médias superiores para todas as variáveis diferindo estatisticamente da testemunha no IVG, MF, CPA e CR. Dados como estes ressaltam as diferentes respostas dos extratos de plantas medicinais como produtos de potencial ação inibitória e estimulante sobre as plantas daninhas.

Commercial activity and regulatory oversight of the digital economy are growing apace. This essay argues that regulatory heterogeneity can deter digital trade without discrimination. Domestic policies that are not discriminatory can still result in fragmentation of the global digital economy, if sufficiently heterogeneous. We find that rules at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in digital trade agreements offer important directions but insufficiently mitigate heterogeneity. We suggest that heterogeneity should be addressed through the progressive expansion of international trade law. We emphasize the importance of encouraging regulatory coherence and pre-empting the formation of digital blocks.

In Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) patients, psychological and cognitive variables and their association with treatment adherence have been extensively reported in the literature, but few are the investigations in older people. The present study aimed to evaluate the psychological, cognitive, and adherence to treatment profile of older (>65 years) CHF patients, the interrelation between these variables, and identify possible independent predictors of self-reported treatment adherence. CHF inpatients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation were assessed for: anxiety, depression, cognitive impairment, positive and negative affect, and self-reported adherence (adherence antecedents, pharmacological adherence, and non-pharmacological adherence). 100 CHF inpatients (mean age: 74.9 ± 7.1 years) were recruited. 16% of patients showed anxiety and 24.5% depressive symptoms; 4% presented cognitive decline. Cognitive functioning negatively correlated to depression, anxiety, and negative affect (p < 0.01). The adherence antecedents (disease acceptance, adaptation, knowledge, and socio-familiar support) negatively correlated to anxiety (p < 0.05), depression (p < 0.001), and negative affect (p < 0.05), while they positively correlated to positive affect (p < 0.01). Pharmacological adherence negatively correlated to anxiety and negative affect (p < 0.05). Conversely, non-pharmacological adherence and positive affect positively correlated (p < 0.05). Furthermore, depression and anxiety negatively predicted adherence antecedents (β = −0.162, p = 0.037) and pharmacological adherence (β = −0.171, p = 0.036), respectively. Finally, positive affect was found as an independent predictor of non-pharmacological adherence (β = 0.133, p = 0.004). In cardiac rehabilitation, a specific psychological assessment focused on anxiety, depression, and affect can provide useful information to manage CHF older patients’ care related to treatment adherence. In particular, positive affect should be targeted in future interventions to foster patients’ non-pharmacological adherence.

Objective: To describe four consecutive cases of splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) with different clinical patterns of presentation among obstetrical patients. Methods: A series of four cases of SAA diagnosed in pregnant or postpartum women at our University center between January 1998 and December 2020. Clinical and radiologic data were retrospectively obtained by reviewing paper and electronic medical records after acquiring patient’s consent. Results: One case was completely asymptomatic and incidentally identified at the beginning of pregnancy, thus allowing for multidisciplinary treatment. The other three cases were unknown: two manifested with maternal collapse due to aneurysm rupture in the third trimester of gestation, whereas one presented with acute abdominal pain during the postpartum period and was successfully managed before rupture occurred. Conclusion: Although extremely rare, SAA rupture in obstetrical patients can be associated with dramatic consequences. Early suspicion and prompt intervention are essential to avoid fatal outcomes, so promotion of knowledge of all the potential clinical patterns of presentation of SAA rupture among obstetrical patients is mandatory.

This article explores the foundation of Cybele’s cult by the Argonauts on Mount Dindymon as narrated by Apollonius of Rhodes in Book 1 of the Argonautica. It will be maintained that the differences between the ritual described by the poet and the cultic practice attested to in the tradition can be explained as a reference to the myth of Dionysus’ purification in Phrygia, which was also staged in the Grand Procession of Ptolemy II. In particular, the presence of a Dionysiac sub-pattern will be detected in the mention of the vine used for carving the statue of Cybele, which has no parallel in other sources concerning the goddess and which is linked to Dionysus in other Hellenistic poems about cult statues. It will be claimed that the reference to the Dionysiac myth may hide a political message connected with Ptolemaic imperialist ambition in Anatolia and Greece in the 3rd century BC.

SUMMARY The horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral ratio inversion is a traditional technique for deriving the local subsurface structure on Earth. We calculated the H/V from the ambient vibrations at different wind levels at the InSight landing site, on Mars, and also computed the H/V from the S-wave coda of the martian seismic events (marsquakes). Different H/V curves were obtained for different wind periods and from the marsquakes. From the ambient vibrations, the recordings during low-wind periods are close to the instrument self-noise level. During high-wind periods, the seismic recordings are highly contaminated by the interaction of the lander with the wind and the martian ground. Therefore, these recordings are less favourable for traditional H/V analysis. Instead, the recordings of the S-wave coda of marsquakes were preferred to derive the characteristic H/V curve of this site between 0.4 and 10 Hz. The final H/V curve presents a characteristic trough at 2.4 Hz and a strong peak at 8 Hz. Using a full diffuse wavefield approach as the forward computation and the Neighbourhood Algorithm as the sampling technique, we invert for the 1-D shear wave velocity structure at the InSight landing site. Based on our inversion results, we propose a strong site effect at the InSight site to be due to the presence of a shallow high-velocity layer (SHVL) over low-velocity units. The SHVL is likely placed below a layer of coarse blocky ejecta and can be associated with Early Amazonian basaltic lava flows. The units below the SHVL have lower velocities, possibly related to a Late Hesperian or Early Amazonian epoch with a different magmatic regime and/or a greater impact rate and more extensive weathering. An extremely weak buried low velocity layer (bLVL) between these lava flows explains the data around the 2.4 Hz trough, whereas a more competent bLVL would not generate this latter feature. These subsurface models are in good agreement with results from hammering experiment and compliance measurements at the InSight landing site. Finally, this site effect is revealed only by seismic events data and explains the larger horizontal than vertical ground motion recorded for certain type of marsquakes.

This Plenary Lecture summarizes the seismicity of Mars recorded by the NASA InSight mission, which landed on Elysium Planitia on 26 August 2018. Equipped with a highly sensitive seismometer, the lander has been successfully recording the seismicity of Mars for over three years. Different types of marsquakes have been identified, including low-frequency events with mantle-going phases and shallow high-frequency events characterized by crustal propagation. More recently, a few meteoric impacts have also been identified. Over a thousand events have been recorded, with magnitudes reaching up to MW 4.7. Here we review the techniques used by the MarsQuake Service to locate and characterize marsquakes and the active crustal processes in different areas of the red planet, and we discuss the different types of marsquakes.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar espécies nativas que produzem alguns recursos florestais não-madeireiros, visando seu manejo e exploração em diferentes sistemas produtivos e possivelmente contribuindo para a geração de renda para pequenos proprietários, bem como a manutenção das áreas florestais. A pesquisa foi realizada na Área de Proteção Ambiental - APA Tejupá, Corumbataí e Botucatu (SP, Brasil), onde ocorrem os biomas Mata Atlântica e Cerrado. A partir da lista de espécies nativas no plano de manejo da APA, identificamos aquelas mencionadas na literatura por seus usos como medicinais e alimentícios. Para avaliar essas espécies, foram selecionadas aquelas que têm interesse de políticas públicas do governo brasileiro, uma vez que já possuem potencial comercial. Por fim, essas espécies de interesse foram avaliadas com base nos parâmetros de uso sustentável (VPES), para analisar a possibilidade de manejar sustentavelmente essas plantas. Do total de 735 espécies identificadas na região, 329 possuem usos alimentícios e medicinais, sendo que 215 espécies são medicinais e 114 podem ser usadas como fonte de alimento. Além disso, 68% dessas espécies são árvores, demonstrando a alta diversidade de espécies que poderiam ser utilizadas em projetos de restauração florestal e sistemas agroflorestais. No entanto, do total de espécies de plantas detectadas, apenas 22 são objeto de políticas públicas, e apenas 6 destas espécies possuem estudos suficientes para exploração sustentável na região de estudo. Pesquisas e políticas públicas voltadas ao manejo e uso de espécies nativas devem ser reforçadas, visando ampliar o conjunto de espécies que podem ser utilizadas e proporcionar benefícios aos proprietários, além da sustentabilidade ecológica.

Les caractéristiques de la pandémie COVID-19 (rapidité de diffusion, connaissances incertaines, sévérité, mortalité, semi-confinement, mobilisation physique/psychique extrême) ont installé un climat anxiogène, ainsi qu’incertain auprès du personnel des établissements médicaux sociaux (EMS). L’adhésion à la vaccination et à la distanciation physique revêt une importance particulière puisque les travailleurs des EMS font partie des catégories les plus à risque de contracter le virus. Dans ce contexte, une enquête anonyme par questionnaire a été menée auprès de ces travailleurs par le Centre Neuchâtelois de Psychiatrie (CNP) dans le canton de Neuchâtel en Suisse, afin d’identifier (1) les critères à prendre en compte dans la prise de décision de vaccination; (2) l’impact de la pandémie sur leur santé physique/psychique. 1800 enveloppes sont envoyés aux EMS. 700 participants ont répondu au questionnaire proposé. 500 ont été retenus. Les résultats montrent que (a) 71,4% appui l’idée que le vaccin apporte une réponse à la crise actuelle ; (b) 88,4% ont déjà reçu leur 1ère dose ; (c) impact de la santé physique et mentale (peur et incertitude) sur la décision de vaccination, ainsi que sur la relation avec les résidents des EMS et au niveau privé ; (d) les échelles de santé mentale ont montré une certaine résilience liée à l’âge. Nous constatons des corrélations positives entre « La charge de travail a été lourde » et le fait de ressentir beaucoup de fatigue physique r = 0,54 ; p < 0,01, ainsi que beaucoup de fatigue psychique r = 0,38 ; p < 0,01 chez l’ensemble du personnel associées avec « Des changements importants ont eu lieu dans l’organisation de mon travail, affectation, planning, autres » r = 0,25 ; p < 0,01. En conclusion, les résultats issus de cette étude nous aident à mieux comprendre les critères décisionnels de vaccination, les risques/vulnérabilités ainsi que la résilience du personnel des EMS du canton de Neuchâtel face à l’épuisement physique/psychique.

Supplementary source code and seismic data used for the similarity analysis with Dynamic Time Warping in "Mapping the seismicity of Mars with InSight".

Metal Fused Deposition Modelling is a promising multi-step process able to manufacture metal parts by means of a low-cost additive technique. In this study, a metal-polymer composite filament characterized by homogenous mixture of AISI 316L sinterable metal powders and a multi-component polymeric matrix was used to fabricate samples by means of a FDM printer. A 24 full factorial design of experiments was elaborated to define the possible influence of the relevant printing parameters on dimensional shrinkage, bulk density and overall porosity of printed samples. In addition, the mechanical properties of printed AISI 316L samples were investigated by performing tensile tests, compression tests, Charpy impact tests, Rockwell B and Vickers hardness tests. An X-ray diffraction analysis was conducted to assess the crystallographic structure of the FDM AISI 316L samples.

Objective: The objective of this article is to define a correct diagnostic pathway for oropharyngeal cancer of unknown primary (OPCUP) identification. Background: OPCUP represents one of the most frequent causes of neck metastases onset without the identification of the primary tumor. Therefore, there is a high percentage of late or missing diagnoses, resulting in treatment delay or in a wrong therapeutic process. The up-to-date diagnostic procedures can help us to begin therapies at the right time. Methods: This is a review of the latest articles about diagnostic pathways in the OPCUP. A selection of the references was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and CENTRAL electronic databases. Conclusion: The oropharynx represents the most common site of primary unknown head and neck cancer (HNCUP). Recent epidemiologic data reported an increasing incidence of HNCUP related to human papilloma virus positive squamous cell carcinoma. Positron emission tomography combined with computerized tomography scanning or magnetic resonance imaging allows for improving the detection of primary unknown tumors and distant and locoregional metastases. Finally, the introduction of the trans-oral robotic surgical approach has introduced a new role of surgery in the HNCUP diagnosis and treatment. Hence, the new technological improvement allows reaching in most HNCUP patients an early diagnosis, achieving targeted management and better treatment outcomes, as well as decreasing toxicity and the side effects of treatment options.

Propostas de promoção de empoderamento, que visam maximizar as possibilidades de ação no ambiente de vida, podem contribuir para a mudança dessa realidade ao aumentar as chances de alcançar acesso mais igualitário a recursos que favorecem condições dignas de vida, garantias de direitos, bem-estar e saúde. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste estudo foi investigar, a partir da visão das participantes, elementos que podem funcionar como mecanismos favorecedores de empoderamento para as mulheres negras. Participaram do estudo 23 mulheres de três estados brasileiros. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de entrevistas e a análise do material se deu por meio de Análise Temática, baseada em uma compreensão multidimensional de empoderamento. Os resultados apontam os mecanismos de empoderamento de mulheres negras localizados em três níveis de análise micro/pessoal, meso/comunitário e macro/social. Isso vai ao encontro de abordagens que compreendem o conceito a partir de uma perspectiva multidimensional e ressalta a importância de não se adotar apenas um foco individual. Os achados do estudo apontam ainda elementos que remetem a vivências interseccionadas por raça, gênero e classe.

Background: Young people have the potential to be effective agents within their communities, and can play a critical role in promoting their peers’ mental health and well-being. But do young people feel a sense of agency and responsibility towards promoting their peers’ mental health and well-being? This co-produced study mapped how Brazilian young people perceived their role in promoting their peers’ mental health and well-being, as well as perceived barriers to their engagement. Methods: Participants were 46 Brazilian adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years old, recruited primarily via social media. Data were collected via focus groups and individual interviews conducted by a youth collaborator and a senior researcher. Anonymised transcripts were analysed through a reflexive thematic analysis that generated four themes. Results: Two themes report on young people’s sense of agency and responsibility and the strategies they use to promote their peers’ mental health and well-being. Most participants felt motivated to promote mental health and many seemed very committed to providing such support; yet, others felt it was a burden or did not think it was their duty. Examples of strategies included peer-to-peer support such as listening to each other without judgement, but also collective actions such as organising support groups in the school. The other two themes report on contextual and intrapersonal issues that can impair young people’s potential to support their peers’ mental health and well-being, and included: feeling unheard or not trusted by adults, fearing judgement due to mental health stigma, and lacking skills and self-efficacy. Conclusions: These results help advance our understanding of adolescents’ potential for taking action to promote mental health and well-being. However, their potential will not be realised unless identified barriers are addressed, for instance by providing young people with peer support training, and tackling adultism and mental health stigma.

Marsquake recordings by NASA’s InSight seismometer often have low signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) owing to low marsquake amplitudes - only a handful of events are over M3.5 and epicentral distances are large, due to the single station being located in a seismically quiet region, and highly fluctuating atmospheric, spacecraft and instrumental noise signals.We have previously shown [1] how deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) can be used for 1) event detection - thereby producing an event catalogue consistent with the manually curated catalogue by the Marsquake Service (MQS) [2], and further extending it from 1297 to 2079 seismic events - as well as for 2) separating event and noise signals in time-frequency domain. Due to the low number of events readily-available for network training, we trained the CNN on synthetic event data combined with recorded InSight noise.Here, we construct a semi-synthetic data set (with real marsquake & noise data) to assess the denoising performance of the CNN w.r.t. to various evaluation metrics such as SNR, signal-distortion-ratio, cross-correlation, and peak amplitude of the recovered event waveforms, and compare modifications of the CNN architecture and the training data set.For a large number of identified events [1,2] no distance estimates are available (or only with high uncertainty), and for all but a small subset the back azimuth is unclear, as the relatively high background noise often obscures this information in the waveforms. We explore how the denoised waveforms can support the phase picking and polarisation analysis of marsquakes, and with that their localisation, as well as their general characterisation. References:[1] Dahmen et al. (2022), doi: 10.1029/2022JE007503[2] Ceylan et al. (2022), doi: 10.1016/j.pepi.2022.106943

We present the status of ShakeMap-EU, an initiative initially proposed in 2018 to: (i) provide an integrated archive of ShakeMaps at the European level built on EPOS Seismology (www.epos-eu.org/tcs/seismology) services & data products and modern community software; (ii) serve as a backup to authoritative ShakeMap implementations; (iii) deliver ShakeMaps for Euro-Mediterranean regions where no local capability is yet available. ShakeMap-EU products are accessible since mid-2020 at the web portal shakemapeu.ingv.it. Jointly governed by the institutions participating in the initiative, ShakeMap-EU is founded on voluntary institutional contributions and EC-funded projects. ShakeMap-EU has become a reliable European seismological service that can easily and consistently integrate authoritative models and workflows. The system is based on: (a) the latest version of ShakeMap® (usgs.github.io/shakemap); (b) the earthquake information delivered by the EMSC (www.emsc-csem.org); (c) the earthquake shaking data distributed by ORFEUS (orfeus-eu.org/data/strong); (d) the ground motion models adopted within EFEHR (www.efehr.org) for mapping seismic hazard across Europe; (d) the official ShakeMap configurations of some of the most hazardous countries in Europe. Configuration of, and input to the system are managed via a GitHub repository that allows automatic / manual triggering and interaction by authorized users. ShakeMap-EU provides a collaboration framework and laboratory for seismological agencies to address the challenges posed by the heterogeneity of ground shaking mapping strategies across Europe and the need to promote homogenization and best practices in this domain. ShakeMap-EU is used in research projects as the test platform for novel international collaborative research: among recent examples are the ongoing enhancements towards an evolutionary hazard information system including real-time seismicity characterisation and information on earthquake-induced phenomena.

Single-station polarization analysis allows us to extract wave parameters, such as inclination, azimuth, and ellipticity angle, directly from a recorded seismic signal theoretically. In reality, however, seismic data are not purely polarized in the finite analysis window due to varying noise levels, complex wavefield interactions, and calibration errors. Hence, this would potentially influence the observation window of phases of interest. In order to minimize these systematic errors, the involvement of arrays and array processing techniques can further increase the signal-to-noise ratio of coherent signals in a wavefield, which allows us to identify different seismic phases, especially the weaker phases that are usually difficult to observe in a single waveform, even after filtering for a desired wave type. In this study, we present a new approach that combines polarization analysis and filtering in the time-frequency domain using the S-transform with conventional array analysis such as beamforming to enhance seismic signals and distinguish different phases based on their expected slownesses and backazimuth. We apply this approach on AlpArray data and demonstrate wavefield separation in vespagrams using various polarization filters. We also discuss the benefits of our approach especially on small amplitude inner core phases (e.g., PKIKPPKIKP) and their applications for advancing seismological study of Earth’s inner core.

After more than 4 Earth years of operation on the martian surface monitoring the planet’s ground vibrations, the InSight’s seismometer is now retired. Throughout the mission, analyses of body waves from marsquakes and impacts have led to important discoveries about the martian interior structure of the crust, mantle, and core. Recent detection of surface waves, together with gravimetric modeling enabled the characterization of crustal structure variations away from the InSight landing site and showed that average crustal velocity and density structure is similar between the northern lowlands and the southern highlands. Especially for the observed overtones and multi-orbiting surface waves in S1222a, we find the depth sensitivity expands down to the uppermost mantle close to 90 km. Furthermore, our 3D wavefield simulations show significantly broadened volumetric sensitivity of the higher-orbit surface waves. These new constraints obtained by our surface wave analyses provide an important opportunity not only to refine and verify our previous radially symmetric models of the planet’s interior structure but also to improve understanding of seismo-tectonic environments on Mars. Here, we summarize our recent effort in the analyses of surface waves on Mars and discuss the inferred crustal property and its global implications.

Destination Earth initiative pursues the implementation of a digital model of the Earth. With the aim to help understand and simulate the evolution and behavior of the Earth system components, to aid in better forecasting the impacts on human system processes, ecosystem processes and their interaction. The current state of the art technologies in numerical computations (HPC), data infrastructures (involving data storage, data access, data analysis), enable the possibility of developing numerical clones mimicking Earth’s geophysical extreme phenomena.A Digital Twin for GEOphysical extremes (DT-GEO),is a new EU project funded under the Horizon Europe programme (2022-2025), with the objective of developing a prototype for a digital twin on geophysical extremes including earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and anthropogenic-induced extreme events. It will enable analyses, forecasts, and responses to “what if” scenarios for natural hazards from their genesis phases and across their temporal and spatial scales. The project consortium brings together world-class computational and data Research Infrastructures (RIs), operational monitoring networks, and leading-edge research and academia partnerships in various fields of geophysics. It mergesthe latest outcomes from other European projects and, Centers of Excellence. DT-GEO will deploy and test 12 Digital Twin Components (DTCs). These will be self-contained entities embedding flagship simulation codes, Artificial Intelligence layers, large volumes of (real-time) data streams from and into data-lakes, data assimilation methodologies, and overarching workflows for deployment and execution of single or coupled DTCs in centralized HPC and virtual cloud computing Ris. (DT-GEO: A Digital Twin for GEOphysical extremes, project ID 101058129)

The current Martian cratering rate has been determined either from repeated orbital imaging (e.g.[1][2]), or using lunar rates extended to Mars in combination with crater counting [3]. Eight seismic events detected by the NASA InSight seismometer have been confirmed as impacts by orbital imaging [4]. Six of those events are part of the Very High Frequency (VF) group of marsquakes, which consists of 70 events in total. The impact signals are very similar to other VF events, suggesting that more or all VF events could be impact related. The unique characteristics of VF events, such as a long seismic coda interpreted as a result of shallow source in a strongly scattering near-surface layer [5] and their temporal and spatial distributions, are consistent with impact origin.Assuming all high quality VF events are impacts allows us to place a novel constraint on the impact rate on Mars, independent of the formation of easy-to-spot large blast zones, necessary to identify fresh craters in orbital images. We test the compatibility with the existing cratering rate estimates by using two approaches to derive a first seismically constrained impact rate for Mars. First, we use the Gutenberg-Richter law to determine the slope of the VF event magnitude-frequency distribution. The impact rate is derived by applying a relationship between seismic moment and crater diameter [6]. We refine our estimates by extrapolating the detectability of each event using a semi-empirical relationship between crater size and seismic amplitude [6]. We find that both approaches give similar rates, varying slightly depending on the detectability conditions assumed by each method. The cumulative rates N(D≥8m) = 1-4x10-6 /km2/yr are higher than those from previous imaging studies, but consistent with isochron rates [3].The discrepancy with imaging-based rates could indicate that there are impacts which are missed in imagery due to absent blast zones or that are located in unfavourable terrain, unaccounted for in the imaging-based area correction. References:[1] Daubar et al. (2013). doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2013.04.009[2] Daubar et al. (2022). doi: 10.1029/2021JE007145[3] Hartmann (2005). doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2004.11.023[4] Daubar et al. (2023). InSight Seismic Events Confirmed as Impacts Thus Far. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2023 abstract.[5] van Driel et al. (2021). doi: 10.1029/2020JE006670[6] Wójcicka et al. (2023). Impact Rate on Mars Implied by Seismic Observations. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2023 abstract.

Tectonic faults are often assumed to slip either slow due to stable, velocity-strengthening frictional behavior, or fast as a result of velocity-weakening friction leading to dynamic (seismic) rupture. As a consequence, velocity-strengthening faults may be regarded as intrinsically stable as they do not spontaneously nucleate seismic events. However, recent laboratory and in-situ experiments of fluid injection challenged such assumptions. Here we present a fully coupled hydro-mechanical fault model in which stable, rate-strengthening frictional behavior is combined with dynamic weakening due to rapid poroelastic effects, allowing unstable (seismic) slip to occur on nominally stable faults. In our numerical experiments, fluid injection reduces the effective normal stress and frictional resistance, thus bringing the fault to failure. The onset of fault failure is controlled by competing mechanisms of shear-induced dilation and shear-enhanced compaction, which cause fault weakening and the propagation of a slow-slip transient from the fluid injection point. When a critical size of the slow slip patch is reached, dynamic rupture eventually nucleates at the slow-slip event front and propagates beyond the fluid pressure perturbed region. Further numerical experiments indicate that, when the fault is critically stressed, the growth of the aseismic patch – prior to dynamic rupture – occurs in a few seconds, whereas at lower stress levels, the aseismic slip phase propagates slowly over hundreds of seconds. These results predict that poroelastic compaction and fluid pressurization can cause the transition from aseismic slow-slip to fast seismic slip and the propagation of dynamic rupture on velocity-strengthening faults. In particular, they demonstrate that compaction-induced fluid pressurization can overcome the initial phase of shear-induced dilatancy, thus allowing the propagation of dynamic rupture in the form of pulse-like pore-pressure waves. The implication that earthquake rupture may nucleate on rate-strengthening faults, presently considered to be nominally stable, requires a re-evaluation of seismic hazard in many areas, particularly in the case of fluid injection in enhanced geothermal systems and CO2 storage.

BACKGROUND: Known genetic causes of congenital heart disease (CHD) explain METHODS: We tested de novo variants from trio studies of 2649 CHD probands and their parents, as well as rare (allele frequency, − 6 ) variants from 4472 CHD probands in the Pediatric Cardiac Genetics Consortium through a combined computational and in vitro approach. RESULTS: We identified 53 de novo and 74 rare variants in CHD cases that alter splicing and thus are loss of function. Of these, 77 variants are in known dominant, recessive, and candidate CHD genes, including KMT2D and RBFOX2 . In 1 case, we confirmed the variant’s predicted impact on RNA splicing in RNA transcripts from the proband’s cardiac tissue. Two probands were found to have 2 loss-of-function variants for recessive CHD genes HECTD1 and DYNC2H1 . In addition, SpliceAI—a predictive algorithm for altered RNA splicing—has a positive predictive value of ≈93% in our cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Through assessment of RNA splicing, we identified a new loss-of-function variant within a CHD gene in 78 probands, of whom 69 (1.5%; n=4472) did not have a previously established genetic explanation for CHD. Identification of splice-altering variants improves diagnostic classification and genetic diagnoses for CHD. REGISTRATION: URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT01196182.

The crater density on planetary surfaces is used to determine their ages throughout the solar system, which requires a model for the rate of meteorite impacts of different sizes. For craters smaller than 30 meters, this rate has been observed from the generation of new craters in repeated orbital images. For larger craters, the rate was extrapolated from the lunar surface ages, taking into account the atmospheric removal of small craters. It has been observed that both estimates do not match for crater diameters smaller than 30 meters. The NASA InSight seismometer SEIS provided a new independent constraint, when it recorded seismic signals of several impacts during its mission. These confirmed impacts are part of a larger class of marsquakes (Very High Frequency, VF), all of which have characteristics consistent with an impact origin. We show that these VFs are plausibly caused by meteorite impacts and derive the impact rate required to explain their numbers. An empirical scaling relationship is used to convert between seismic moment and crater diameter. We apply area and time corrections to derive a global impact rate and find that the derived rate is 210--290 craters >8m globally per year, consistent with previously published chronology model rates and above the rates derived from freshly imaged craters.

Using seismic recordings of event S1222a, we measure dispersion curves of Rayleigh and Love waves, including their first overtones, and invert these for shear velocity (VS) and radial anisotropic structure of the martian crust. The crustal structure along the topographic dichotomy is characterized by a fairly uniform vertically-polarized shear velocity (VSV) of 3.17 km/s between ∼5-30 km depth, compatible with the previous study by Kim et al. (2022). Radial anisotropy as large as 12 % (VSH > VSV) is required in the crust between 5-40 km depth. At greater depths, we observe a large discontinuity near 63 ± 10 km, below which VSV reaches 4.1 km/s. We interpret this velocity increase as the crust-mantle boundary along the path. Combined gravimetric modeling suggests that the observed average crustal thickness favors the absence of large-scale density differences across the topographic dichotomy., Geophysical Research Letters, 50 (8), ISSN:0094-8276, ISSN:1944-8007

Friction Stir Welding is a solid-state bonding process that during last years has caught the researcher's attention for the mechanical characteristics of the welded joints that are quite similar to the properties of the base material. The Friction Stir Welding is affected by several process parameters leading to intrinsic variability in the process. The present paper would introduce a new approach for predicting the surface hardness in different areas of the welded parts. Specifically, this method is based on the hypothesis that multiple Artificial Neural Networks, characterized by the same architecture but different weights, can be used for forecasting both the punctual value of the local hardness and its confidence interval, resulting in taking into account the intrinsic variability of the process.

Introdução:O HPV (papilomavírus humano) é um vírus com tropismo por pele ou mucosas, sendo que são listados mais de 100 tipos do vírus. Este, por sua vez, acomete homens e mulheres podendo surgir lesões na região genital e extragenital, evidenciando manifestações clínicas, subclínicas e latentes. De acordo com o Ministério da Saúde, a maneira mais eficaz para controle da infecção e da evolução para lesões malignas é a realização do exame Papanicolau. Em relação à prevenção, teve início a distribuição, pelo SUS, da vacina quadrivalente no ano de 2014 para meninas na faixa etária de 9 a 14 anos. No ano de 2017 foram incluídos meninos de 11 a 14 anos no esquema de vacinação. Além desses grupos citados, os pacientes imunodeprimidos (HIV/AIDS, transplantados etc) têm a faixa etária de cobertura estendida.Objetivos:O presente estudo objetiva avaliar o perfil epidemiológico da vacinação contra o HPV no estado do Rio de Janeiro (RJ) entre os anos de 2019-2020, bem como avaliar a adesão por sexo, idade e a realização do esquema completo.Metodologia:Trata-se de um estudo epidemiológico retrospectivo, de caráter descritivo, de abordagem transversal e quantitativa, no qual foram utilizados dados do Sistema de Informação do Programa Nacional de Imunizações (SI-PNI) disponíveis no banco de dados do Departamento de Informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS) referentes às vacinações de primeira e segunda dose contra HPV em meninas e meninos na faixa etária de 9 – 19 anos entre os anos de 2017-2020 no estado do Rio de Janeiro (RJ).Resultados e Discussão:Sob a perspectiva e análise dos dados apresentados, percebe-se que a cobertura vacinal se mostrou inversamente proporcional à idade, ou seja, os maiores índices de vacinação foram em faixas etárias mais jovens, de 9 – 14 anos para meninas e 11 – 14 anos para meninos. Além disso, foi possível perceber que a aplicação da segunda dose foi significativamente inferior em relação à primeira em todos os anos estudados, o que permite inferir que, possivelmente, muitos esquemas vacinais foram incompletos.Conclusão:Percebeu-se que a maior cobertura vacinal tanto de meninas quanto de meninos, tanto de primeira quanto de segunda dose no período estudado, foram ao encontro das faixas etárias de aplicação preconizadas pelo Ministério da Saúde.

Background The introduction of technology-assisted rehabilitation (TAR) uncovers promising challenges for the treatment of motor disorders, particularly if combined with exergaming. Patients with neurological diseases have proved to benefit from TAR, improving their performance in several activities. However, the subjective perception of the device has never been fully addressed, being a conditioning factor for its use. The aims of the study were: (a) to develop a questionnaire on patients’ personal experience with TAR and exergames in a real-world clinical setting; (b) to administer the questionnaire to a pilot group of neurologic patients to assess its feasibility and statistical properties. Methods A self-administrable and close-ended questionnaire, Technology Assisted Rehabilitation Patient Perception Questionnaire (TARPP-Q), designed by a multidisciplinary team, was developed in Italian through a Delphi procedure. An English translation has been developed with consensus, for understandability purposes. The ultimate version of the questionnaire was constituted of 10 questions (5 with multiple answers), totalling 29 items, exploring the patient’s performance and personal experience with TAR with Augmented Performance Feedback. TARPP-Q was then administered pre-post training in an observational, feasible, multi-centric study. The study involved in-patients aged between 18 and 85 with neurological diseases, admitted for rehabilitation with TAR (upper limb or gait). FIM scale was run to control functional performance. Results Forty-four patients were included in the study. All patients answered the TARPP-Q autonomously. There were no unaccounted answers. Exploratory factor analyses identified 4 factors: Positive attitude, Usability, Hindrance perception, and Distress. Internal consistency was measured at T0. The values of Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.72 (Distress) to 0.92 (Positive attitude). Functional Independence Measure (FIM®) scores and all TARPP-Q factors (Positive attitude, Usability, Hindrance perception, except for Distress (p = 0.11), significantly improved at the end of the treatment. A significant positive correlation between Positive attitude and Usability was also recorded. Conclusions The TARPP-Q highlights the importance of patients’ personal experience with TAR and exergaming. Large-scale applications of this questionnaire may clarify the role of patients’ perception of training effectiveness, helping to customize devices and interventions.

A comprehensive summary of the measurements made to characterize test mass charging due to the space environment during the LISA Pathfinder mission is presented. Measurements of the residual charge of the test mass after release by the grabbing and positioning mechanism, show that the initial charge of the test masses was negative after all releases, leaving the test mass with a potential in the range $-12$ mV to $-512$ mV. Variations in the neutral test mass charging rate between $21.7$ e s$^{-1}$ and $30.7$ e s$^{-1}$ were observed over the course of the 17-month science operations produced by cosmic ray flux changes including a Forbush decrease associated with a small solar energetic particle event. A dependence of the cosmic ray charging rate on the test mass potential between $-30.2$ e s$^{-1}$ V$^{-1}$ and $-40.3$ e s$^{-1}$ V$^{-1}$ was observed and this is attributed to a contribution to charging from low-energy electrons emitted from the gold surfaces of the gravitational reference sensor. Data from the on-board particle detector show a reliable correlation with the charging rate and with other environmental monitors of the cosmic ray flux. This correlation is exploited to extrapolate test mass charging rates to a 20-year period giving useful insight into the expected range of charging rate that may be observed in the LISA mission., Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures

A chat-story Cadê o Kauê?, realizada pelo Projeto Engajadamente, é uma ferramenta importante para fortalecimento do protagonismo do adolescente e construção do sentido de pertencimento ao grupo e à comunidade, sendo estes fatores de proteção à saúde mental. A ferramenta foi experimentada em escolas do distrito federal e atendeu à demanda de auxiliar os educadores na abordagem dos conteúdos relacionados à Promoção da Saúde. Recomenda-se a apresentação da proposta do Projeto para a comunidade escolar a fim de que cada Escola decida a melhor estratégia para sua implementação, além da articulação com o Programa Saúde na Escola para ampliar a possibilidade de atuação em rede e favorecer o protagonismo do jovem na escola.

In the present paper, the mechanical properties of a AA2024 welded by Friction Stir Welding (FSW) were examined, both homogeneously and using a commercial pure copper sheet positioned between the edges to be welded in two configurations, T and C. The temperature trends reached during the FSW process were extrapolated through the development of a simulative model, to select the best combination of parameters to use in the experimental phase of the campaign. After that, the FSWed homogeneous and heterogeneous joints were executed and analysed. From the mechanical point of view, Rockwell B hardness tests and tensile tests were performed. It was possible to evidence a good relationship between the hardness distribution and the presence of the copper, especially at the nugget. On the contrary, the tensile tests executed orthogonally to the welding direction, showed a reduction of the tensile strength and of the real elongation percentage in the aluminium-copper heterogeneous FSWed joints.

InSight’s seismometers recorded more than 1300 events. Ninety-eight of these, named the low-frequency family, show energy predominantly below 1 Hz down to ∼0.125 Hz. The Marsquake Service identified seismic phases and computed distances for 42 of these marsquakes, 26 of which have backazimuths. Hence, the locations of the majority of low-frequency family events remain undetermined. Here, we use an envelope shape similarity approach to determine event classes and distances, and introduce an alternative method to estimate the backazimuth. In our similarity approach, we use the highest quality marsquakes with well-constrained distance estimates as templates, including the largest event S1222a, and assign distances to marsquakes with relatively high signal-to-noise ratio based on their similarities to the template events. The resulting enhanced catalog allows us to re-evaluate the seismicity of Mars. We find the Valles Marineris region to be more active than initially perceived, where only a single marsquake (S0976a) had previously been located. We relocated two marsquakes using new backazimuth estimates, which had reported distances of ∼90o, in the SW of the Tharsis region, possibly at Olympus Mons. In addition, two marsquakes with little or no S-wave energy have been located in the NE of the Elysium Bulge. Event epicenters in Cerberus Fossae follow a North-South trend due to uncertainties in location, while the fault system is in the NW-SE direction; therefore, these events are re-projected along the observed fault system.

Potential dust avalanches as aftermaths of the seismic event of S1222a detected by the SEIS/InSight seismometer are investigated. Orbital observations emphasize that the area around the estimated location shows rather flat topography with North-South ridge structures. Thermal inertia data attests that the surface is essentially composed of granular materials, including dust. Thus, only a few locations show steep slopes with fragile soil. We investigated the orbital archive and requested targeted locations to assess the avalanche rate in the area and the influence of the M$_{W}^{Ma}$ 4.7, S1222a event. We find an increase in the avalanche rates when thermal inertia is low. We investigate the best location that could explain these avalanche rates from the aftermath ground deformation and discuss the implications in regards to the regional geology.

We report observations of Rayleigh waves that orbit around Mars up to three times following the S1222a marsquake. Averaging these signals, we find the largest amplitude signals at 30 s and 85 s central period, propagating with distinctly different group velocities of 2.9 km/s and 3.8 km/s, respectively. The group velocities constraining the average crustal thickness beneath the great circle path rule out the majority of previous crustal models of Mars that have a >200 kg/m3 density contrast across the dichotomy. We find that the thickness of the martian crust is 42-56 km on average, and thus thicker than the crusts of the Earth and Moon. Together with thermal evolution models, a thick martian crust suggests that the crust must contain 50-70% of the total heat production to explain present-day local melt zones in the interior of Mars.

COVID-19 has been primarily identified as a respiratory infection characterized by signs and symptoms associated with the dysfunction of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). This is attributed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus invading the respiratory mucosa via angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is an important element of the RAS. Meanwhile, preeclampsia is an obstetric pathology that, surprisingly, resembles the pathology of COVID-19. It is a systemic syndrome that occurs during the second half of pregnancy and is determined to be a major cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. This disease typically presents with new-onset hypertension and proteinuria or other specific end-organ dysfunctions. RAS-mediated mechanisms may explain its primary clinical-pathological features, which are suggestive of an underlying microvascular dysfunction in both diseases, with induction of vasculopathy, coagulopathy, and inflammation. In this report, we review the medical literature on this subject. Further, the underlying similarities between the two conditions are discussed to assess preeclampsia as a model for COVID-19. These considerations are valid in the case of original SARS-CoV-2 primary infection. Emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants as well as the vaccination could alter various aspects of the virus biology, including human ACE-2 receptor binding affinity and therefore the RAS mediated consequences.

For over three Earth years the Marsquake Service has been analyzing the data sent back from the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure—the seismometer placed on the surface of Mars by NASA’s InSight lander. Although by October 2021, the Mars seismic catalog included 951 events, until recently all these events have been assessed as lying within a radius of 100° of InSight. Here we report two distant events that occurred within days of each other, located on the far side of Mars, giving us our first glimpse into Mars’ core shadow zone. The first event, recorded on 25 August 2021 (InSight sol 976), shows clear polarized arrivals that we interpret to be PP and SS phases at low frequencies and locates to Valles Marineris, 146° ± 7° from InSight. The second event, occurring on 18 September 2021 (sol 1000), has significantly more broadband energy with emergent PP and SS arrivals, and a weak phase arriving before PP that we interpret as Pdiff. Considering uncertain pick times and poorly constrained travel times for Pdiff, we estimate this event is at a distance between 107° and 147° from InSight. With magnitudes of MMaw 4.2 and 4.1, respectively, these are the largest seismic events recorded so far on Mars., The Seismic Record, 2 (2), ISSN:2694-4006

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrections are provided as Suppl. material 1. © Gabriele Galasso et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Recent natural disasters that seriously affected critical infrastructure (CI) with significant socio-economic losses and impact revealed the need for the development of reliable methodologies for vulnerability and risk assessment. In this paper, a risk-based multi-level stress test method that has been recently proposed, aimed at enhancing procedures for evaluation of the risk of critical non-nuclear infrastructure systems against natural hazards, is specified and applied to six key representative CIs in Europe, exposed to variant hazards. The following CIs are considered: an oil refinery and petrochemical plant in Milazzo, Italy, a conceptual alpine earth-fill dam in Switzerland, the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline in Turkey, part of the Gasunie national gas storage and distribution network in the Netherlands, the port infrastructure of Thessaloniki, Greece, and an industrial district in the region of Tuscany, Italy. The six case studies are presented following the workflow of the stress test framework comprised of four phases: pre-assessment phase, assessment phase, decision phase and report phase. First, the goals, the method, the time frame and the appropriate stress test level to apply are defined. Then, the stress test is performed at component and system levels and the outcomes are checked and compared to risk acceptance criteria. A stress test grade is assigned, and the global outcome is determined by employing a grading system. Finally, critical components and events and risk mitigation strategies are formulated and reported to stakeholders and authorities. © 2019, Springer Nature B.V.