Reliable Procedure for Molecular Analysis of Airborne Microflora in Three Indoor Environments: An Office and Two Different Museum Contexts

Biological aerosols from air constitute a significant source of exposure to microorganisms in public places. Airborne microorganisms are involved in the development of certain respiratory symptoms, allergies, or infections among users and occupants. Various sampling instruments have commonly been used in aerobiology to collect bacteria and fungi suspended in the air. The objective of this study was to develop a reliable procedure for sampling in indoor public environments presenting different levels of occupancy, airborne bacteria and fungi to be subjected to molecular analysis (bacteria and fungi quantitative PCR, capillary electrophoresis single strand conformation polymorphism fingerprinting). Four different sampling devices were tested in situ in an office building (open‐plan type) and the sampling strategy chosen was tested in two museum contexts. In accordance with the drawbacks involved to our study (quantitative and qualitative aspects, cost, and overcrowding), cyclone device appeared to be most suitable. The results underline the effectiveness of this high‐volume aerosol sampling device for both qualitative and quantitative molecular analysis. Four in situ sampling collections were carried out in 1 day in the Louvre Museum to study quantitative and qualitative variations of airborne bacterial and fungal diversity. The quantitative results revealed a similar order of magnitude for the numbers of both bacteria and fungi. In the Louvre Museum, the samples yielded between 3.7 × 10⁴ and 4.1 × 10⁴ genome equivalent (GE) bacteria/m³ air and between 5.0 × 10⁴ and 5.9 × 10⁴ GE fungi/m³ air and in the Decorative Arts Museum between, 2.1 × 10⁴ and 2.5 × 10⁴ GE bacteria/m³ air and between 1.4 × 10⁴ and 1.7 × 10⁴ GE fungi/m³ air. The results also indicate that the dominant bacterial community displayed a stable structure over a short period of time whereas dominant eukaryotic airborne community appeared more variable.     

From back-analysis to run-out prediction: a case study in the Western Italian Alps

Rock avalanches are complex phenomena that occur with a low frequency but which have a high destructive potential. As a consequence, the people who are responsible for the management of a territory are more and more interested in predicting the possible evolutions of well-known potential events. Tackling the above problems from a quantitative point of view, the RASH3D code, based on continuum mechanics concepts, has been here used to predict the evolution of a potential rock avalanche in the Western Italian Alps. A calibration-based approach, in which rheological parameters are constrained by systematic adjustment during trial-and-error back-analysis of past events similar to the landslide under investigation, is proposed to set rheological parameter values to be used for prediction purposes. The back-analysis of a 2?10⁶ m³ rock avalanche located in the Divedro Valley, close to the area of the potential event, has then been analysed using both a frictional and a Voellmy rheology. The characteristics of the slope and the dynamics of the event have made the frictional rheology more suitable to come to the correct simulation of the historical case. The back-analysis results have contributed not only in the selection of the rheological parameter values but also in the choice of the type of rheological law to use in the carried out forward-analyses.     

LiDAR-based digital terrain analysis of an area exposed to the risk of lava flow invasion: the Zafferana Etnea territory, Mt. Etna (Italy)

The town of Zafferana Etnea, located on the southeastern slope of Mt. Etna volcano (Italy), has been repeatedly threatened by lava flows in recent centuries. The last serious threat occurred during the 1991–1993 eruption, when the lava front came to a halt only 1.7 km from the centre of town. Morphostructural data derived from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) surveys carried out on Etna in 2005 have enabled us to evaluate the risk of lava invasion in a section (16 km²) of the Zafferana Etnea territory. Qualitative and quantitative results are obtained combining the information derived from LiDAR analysis with geological, morphological and structural data using geographic information systems technology (GIS). The study quantifies in unprecedented detail the areal extent and volume of forested and urban areas and its degree of exposure to different levels of hazard from future lava invasion. Nearly 52% of the urban texture fall into areas of moderate to high risk from lava invasion. Future land use planning should take these findings into account and promote new development preferentially in areas of lower risk.     

Modification of the subcontinental mantle beneath East Serbia: Evidence from orthopyroxene-rich xenoliths

Orthopyroxene-rich olivine websterite xenoliths (OWB₂) in Palaeogene basanites in East Serbia are mostly composed of tabular low-Al₂O₃ orthopyroxene (> 70 vol.%, Mg# 85–87) containing tiny Cr spinel inclusions. Orthopyroxene shows a slightly U-shaped primitive mantle-normalized trace element pattern with strong peaks at U and Pb, similar to that of orthopyroxene from normal regional peridotitic mantle. In between the orthopyroxenes are interstitial spaces composed of partially altered olivine (Mg# 85–87), clinopyroxene, Ti-rich spinel, Mg-bearing calcite, K-feldspar, apatite, ilmenite and relicts of a hydrous mineral. Clinopyroxene appears as selvages around orthopyroxene and as coarser euhedral crystals. Trace element patterns of the clinopyroxene selvages resemble those of adjacent orthopyroxene, whereas the coarser ones have flatter and more LREE- and LILE-enriched patterns, similar to that of metasomatic clinopyroxene. The OWB₂ xenoliths are interpreted as having formed in two stages. During Stage I orthopyroxene crystallized, along with some spinel, olivine and probably hydrous phase(s). This original OWB₂ lithology was a hydrous olivine-bearing orthopyroxenite that crystallised from subduction-related SiO₂-saturated, boninite-like magmas. During Stage II the interstitial minerals formed due to infiltration of a low-SiO₂, high-CaO and CO₂-rich external melt, accompanied by decomposition of original H₂O-bearing minerals. The calculated composition of the infiltrating liquid corresponds to a mafic alkaline melt similar to the basanitic host but more enriched in CO₂, LREE and LILE. Metasomatism is interpreted in terms of small degree melts related to the Palaeogene mafic alkaline magmatism.     

Spectroscopic investigation of the chromosphere

The line profile of H as emanating from the interior of supergranular cells was measured at sin = 0, 0.6, 0.8 and 0.9. The measurements are described and the results presented.Mitteilung aus dem Fraunhofer Institut Nr. 117.     

Automated Segmentation of Resistivity Image Logs Using Wavelet Transform

We describe a wavelet-transform-based method for automated segmentation of resistivity image logs that takes into account the apparent dip in the data and addresses the problem of discriminating lithofacies boundaries from noise and intrafacies variations. Our method can be applied to borehole measurements in general, but might have an advantage when applied to resistivity image logs as it addresses explicitly the large variability in facies segments recorded with a high-resolution multiple-sensor tool. We have developed an algorithm based on this method that might outperform other existing segmentation methods in the cases of low to moderate dip. We made a detailed comparison of the segmentation from our method with the one done by a geologist to delineate different lithofacies blocks in a well drilled in a deepwater depositional environment. Our results show considerable success rates in reproducing the geologically defined lithofacies boundaries, and the generality of our procedure suggests it could also be applied to other depositional environments.     

The importance of digital elevation model resolution on granular flow simulations: a test case for Colima volcano using TITAN2D computational routine

The mobility of gravity-driven granular flows such as debris flows or pyroclastic density currents are extremely sensitive to topographic changes, such as break in slopes, obstacles, or ravine deviations. In hazard assessment, computer codes can reproduce past events and evaluate hazard zonation based on inundation limits of simulated flows over a natural terrain. Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a common input for the simulation algorithm and its accuracy to reproduce past flows is crucial. In this work, we use TITAN2D code to reproduce past block-and-ash flows at Colima volcano (Mexico) over DEMs with different cell size (5, 10, 30, 50, and 90 m) in order to illustrate the influences of the resolution on the numeric simulations. Our results show that topographic resolution significantly affects the flow path and runout. Also, we found that simulations of past flows with the same input parameters (such as the basal friction angle) over topography with different resolutions resulted in different flow paths, areas, and thickness of the simulated flows. In particular, the simulations performed with the 5- and 10-m DEMs produced similar results. Also, we obtained consistent simulation results for the 30- and 50-m DEMs. However, for the coarser 90-m DEM results are largely different and inaccurate. We recommend generating a benchmark table in order to acquire characteristic values for the basal friction angle of studied events. In case of rugged topographies, a DEM with high resolution should be used for more confident results.     

Curie Point Depth Estimates and Correlation with Subduction in Mexico

We investigate the regional thermal structure of the crust in Mexico using Curie Point Depth (CPD) estimates. The top and bottom of the magnetized crust were calculated using the power-density spectra of the total magnetic field from the freely available ??Magnetic Anomaly Map of North America??. We applied this method to estimate the regional crustal thermal structure in overlapping square windows of 2°?×?2°. The CPD estimates range between 10 and 40?km and show several regions of relatively shallow and deep magnetic sources, with a general inverse correlation with measured heat flow. A deep CPD region (20?C30?km) is located in the fore-arc area where the subducting Cocos plate has a flat-slab geometry. This deep region is bound to the NW and SE by shallow CPD areas beneath the states of Michoacan (CPD?=?12?C16?km) and Oaxaca (CPD?=?~16?km), respectively. There is a good spatial correlation between this deep CPD area and two main fracture zones located on the incoming Cocos plate (Orozco and O??Gorman fracture zones), suggesting that subduction plays an important role in setting apart different CPD provinces along the Mexican coast. Another deep CPD (16?C32?km) area corresponds to the region where the Rivera plate subducts beneath Jalisco block. The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is characterized by a decrease in Curie depths from west (16?C20?km) to east (10?C12?km). Finally, several deep CPD areas are situated in the back-arc region where old Mesozoic terrains are present. Our results suggest that the main control on the crust??s regional thermal structure in the fore-arc and volcanic arc regions is due to the subduction of the Cocos and Rivera plates beneath Mexico.     

A site evaluation campaign for a ground based atmospheric Cherenkov telescope in Romania

Around the world, several scientific projects share the interest of a global network of small Cherenkov telescopes for monitoring observations of the brightest blazars??the DWARF network. A small, ground based, imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope of last generation is intended to be installed and operated in Romania as a component of the DWARF network. To prepare the construction of the observatory, two support projects have been initiated. Within the framework of these projects, we have assessed a number of possible sites where to settle the observatory. In this paper we submit a brief report on the general characteristics of the best four sites selected after the local infrastructure, the nearby facilities and the social impact criteria have been applied.