On the nature of the z=0 X-ray absorbers: I. Clues from an external group

We describe the main features of the evolutionary code ATON 3.1 and its latest version, particularly deviced to be apt for follow up asteroseismology applications. An older version of the code including rotational evolution is also shortly described.     

Interpretation of combined infrared,submillimeter, and millimeter thermal flux data obtained during the Rosetta fly-by of Asteroid (21) Lutetia

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft is the first Solar System mission to include instrumentation capable of measuring planetary thermal fluxes at both near-IR (VIRTIS) and submillimeter–millimeter (smm–mm, MIRO) wavelengths. Its primary mission is a 1 year reconnaissance of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko beginning in 2014. During a 2010 close fly-by of Asteroid 21 Lutetia, the VIRTIS and MIRO instruments provided complementary data that have been analyzed to produce a consistent model of Lutetia’s surface layer thermal and electrical properties, including a physical model of self-heating. VIRTIS dayside measurements provided highly resolved 1 K accuracy surface temperatures that required a low thermal inertia, I < 30 J/(K m² s^0.5). MIRO smm and mm measurements of polar night thermal fluxes produced constraints on Lutetia’s subsurface thermal properties to depths comparable to the seasonal thermal wave, yielding a model of I < 20 J/(K m² s^0.5) in the upper few centimeters, increasing with depth in a manner very similar to that of Earth’s Moon. Subsequent MIRO-based model predictions of the dayside surface temperatures reveal negative offsets of ～5–30 K from the higher VIRTIS-measurements. By adding surface roughness in the form of 50% fractional coverage of hemispherical mini-craters to the MIRO-based thermal model, sufficient self-heating is produced to largely remove the offsets relative to the VIRTIS measurements and also reproduce the thermal limb brightening features (relative to a smooth surface model) seen by VIRTIS. The Lutetia physical property constraints provided by the VIRTIS and MIRO data sets demonstrate the unique diagnostic capabilities of combined infrared and submillimeter/millimeter thermal flux measurements.     

Archaeoseismological evidence of past earthquakes in Rome (fifth to ninth century A.D.) used to quantify dating uncertainties and coseismic damage

The transformation of Rome during the Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages has been investigated by archaeologists and historians. Social and political changes are the main aspects which led to a progressive modification of the urban framework; abandonment, spoliation and transformation of buildings are quite diffused as documented by the archaeological literature. The consequence of these practices is a higher vulnerability of the buildings which, from the seismological point of view, played a main role in increasing the effects of seismic shaking. A number of earthquakes have struck Rome during the period of investigation (fifth to ninth century A.D.), known from historical sources: 443, 484–508, 618, 801, 847; in some cases (443, 484–508, 801) damage has been documented. In contrast, the archaeological sources characterise collapse layers and evidence of destruction at different sites with changing and not always conclusive chronological constraints. Consequently, collapse and destruction have been alternatively attributed to the above-mentioned earthquakes. Through a geoarchaeological and stratigraphic analysis of potentially coseismic collapse units, we want (1) to describe the archaeoseismic evidence derived from recent excavations and from the available literature (e.g. Piazza Madonna di Loreto, Piazza Venezia, Palazzo Valentini Crypta Balbi, Colosseo, Basilica Hilariana, Basilica di Santa Petronilla, Santa Maria Antiqua,…); (2) to discuss the chronological problems and the uncertainty of attribution of the collapse units to known historical earthquakes; (3) to discuss the earthquake damage exaggeration due to erroneous attribution of seismic origin to the evidence of destruction derived from archaeological data. Finally, we will infer the role that earthquakes may have had on the development of the urban landscape in the fifth to ninth century A.D.     

For a Europe of flexible regions and not of region-states divided by ethnicity

Discussion of the future of Europe continues to be a marginal political issue, partly because of the resistance of states, on both the practical (bureaucratic) and conceptual levels, created by the government leaders and heads of state. In turn, the nation-states are challenged from within by independent and separatist movements that have laid bare the fundamental hypocrisy of rhetorical discussions of the principle regarding the self-determination of peoples; interfering with states (and their borders) has proven to be a taboo for Europe. The growing flexibility of the globalised economy should be paralleled by a growing flexibility in the conception of the division and political organisation of territory, but this is not the case. Further inflexibility stems from the socio-economic inequity that we accept in our daily lives as normal, in particular as regards inequality in the use and division of territory. Equality, or better egaliberté (equality and liberty), is a sufficiently dynamic and flexible concept to be taken as a point of reference in envisaging the society, Europe, and world of tomorrow. It is only through the concept of egaliberté that we can imagine a Europe based on relations between regions that are conceived and organised on multiple scales and not as region-nations conceived on the basis of ethnicity or in the name of supposed cultural homogeneity.     

High-pressure behaviour along the jadeite NaAlSi2O6–aegirine NaFeSi2O6 solid solution up to 10 GPa

The volume variation as a function of pressure along the jadeite–aegirine solid solution was determined at room temperature up to pressures between 6.5 and 9.7 GPa by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The unit-cell volumes collected at room pressure for the different compositions indicate a slight deviation from linearity along the join. The pressure–volume data have been fitted using a third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state (BM3-EoS). The bulk modulus, K _T0, varies from 134.0(7) GPa for pure jadeite to 116.1(5) GPa for pure aegirine. Its evolution with composition along the join is not linear and can be described by the following second order polynomial:

Seismic fragility of reinforced concrete girder bridges using Bayesian belief network

Infrastructure owners and operators, or governmental agencies, need rapid screening tools to prioritize detailed risk assessment and retrofit resources allocation. This paper provides one such tool, for use by highway administrations, based on Bayesian belief network (BBN) and aimed at replacing so‐called generic or typological seismic fragility functions for reinforced concrete girder bridges. Resources for detailed assessments should be allocated to bridges with highest consequence of damage, for which site hazard, bridge fragility, and traffic data are needed. The proposed BBN based model is used to quantify seismic fragility of bridges based on data that can be obtained by visual inspection and engineering drawings. Results show that the predicted fragilities are of sufficient accuracy for establishing relative ranking and prioritizing. While the actual data and seismic hazard employed to train the network (establishing conditional probability tables) refer to the Italian bridge stock, the network structure and engineering judgment can easily be adopted for bridges in different geographical locations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computer-assisted image analysis on clast shape fabric from the Orvieto-Bagnoregio ignimbrite (Vulsini District, central Italy): implications on the emplacement mechanisms

Computer-assisted Image Analysis can be succesfully used to derive quantitative information about grain-size distribution, particle shape and fabric on both consolidated and unconsolidated solid aggregates. We have developed a new analytical method that provides a series of quantitative textural parameters from whatever particulate deposits by combining commercial image acquisition system with devoted C-software. After exhaustive tests of the method, we applied it to a widespread Quaternary ignimbrite formation in central Italy (the Orvieto-Bagnoregio formation). The results suggest some new aspects of emplacement mechanisms of ignimbrites: (1) elongated particles shows variable degrees of flow-related preferred orientation both on horizontal and vertical planes; (2) vertical variations of flow-related preferred particle orientations follow a “zig-zag” pattern that we interpret to result from deposition by progressive aggradation during the passage of a particulate flow. The filling up of paleovalleys by means of progressive aggradation proceeds flank to flank due to alternating flow directions, induced by the already deposited material; (3) the occurrence of vertically spaced peaks on the strength of clast orientation suggests the existence of discrete depositional units deposited by aggradation from an unsteady but persisting flow. Strong fabrics are inferred to result from the high amount of shear stress imparted to particles at the depositional boundary layer, which at the same time can be responsible for the development of the basal inversely graded layer. Image analysis can also provide useful indications of paleoflow directions, paleotopographic details and ignimbrite source areas.     

The Calabrian Stage redefined

The name Calabrian was introduced in the geological literature by the French stratigrapher Maurice Gignoux in 1910, and later described in his important monograph （633 pages） ＂Les formations marines pliocknes et quaternaires de l＇ltalie du sud et de la Sicile ＂published in 1913. Detailed data were provided on several sections （Santa Maria di Catanzaro, Caraffa, Monasterace, Palermo） and on their fossil content. The Calabrian Stage has commonly been used for over fifty years as the oldest subdivision of the Qua- ternary, notably in the time scales of Berggren ＆ van Cou- vering （1974） and Haq ＆ Eysinga （1987）. However, after the GSSP for the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary （P/P） was approved by INQUA in 1982 and ratified by lUGS in 1984 at the Vrica section of Calabria, there was a decline in the usage of the stage name, and an increasing tendency by many Quaternary workers to question the boundary stratotype. This was because there was increasing evidence that it did not correspond to the beginning of the ＂ice age＂. In doing so, they were not complying with the recommendations presented at the 18th International Geological Congress （IGC） in London, 1948 （Oakley, 1950）.     

Low-pH waters discharging from submarine vents at Panarea Island (Aeolian Islands,southern Italy) after the 2002 gas blast: Origin of hydrothermal fluids and implications for volcanic surveillance

A geochemical survey of thermal waters collected from submarine vents at Panarea Island (Aeolian Islands, southern Italy) was carried out from December 2002 to March 2007, in order to investigate (i) the geochemical processes controlling the chemical composition of the hydrothermal fluids and (ii) the possible relations between the chemical features of the hydrothermal reservoir and the activity of the magmatic system. Compositional data of the thermal water samples were integrated in a hydrological conceptual model, which describes the formation of the vent fluid by mixing of seawater, seawater concentrated by boiling, and a deep, highly-saline end-member, whose composition is regulated by water-rock interactions at relatively high temperature and shows clear clues of magmatic-related inputs. The chemical composition of concentrated seawater was assumed to be represented by that of the water sample having the highest Mg content. The composition of the deep end-member was instead calculated by extrapolation assuming a zero-Mg end-member. The Na–K–Ca geothermometer, when applied to the thermal end-member composition, indicated an equilibrium temperature of approximately 300 °C, a temperature in agreement with the results obtained by gas-geothermometry.