Beschreibung: In the field of risk evaluation and seismic hazard assessment, it is necessary to codify a great quantity of aspects of the so called knowledge and to supply an intelligent support for the not-well-defined problems (data uncertainty, lack of rigorous solution algorithms). The main feature of an expert system is to emulate effectively the behaviour of a human expert in a particular and defined field, enabling the final user to improve its decisional process and giving access to him to a knowledge base otherwise not clearly codified. From these general considerations the intention came to develop the prototype CZAR (Classificatore Zone A Rischio) that is an expert system reproducing the Italian seismic classification based on the definition of Seismic Hazard given by Progetto Finalizzato Geodinamica (PFG) of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR). The expert system built up on the commercial shell Nexpert Object is working on a personal computer through a graphic interface developed with the Graphical User Interface (GUI) of Window 3.0. This user friendly interface makes possible the choice of different procedures to estimate the hazard parameters and also allows the activation of the classification inferential process. The influence of different assumptions and strategies has been evaluated by a mathematical algorithm suggested by the general structure of the Bayes’ theorem. In this paper the prototype of the expert system has been applied to the data relating to Toscana region (central Italy) and the interactive evaluation of the maps furnishes a relative measure for discrepancies on seismic classification in the 2nd seismic category.

Beschreibung: Published

Beschreibung: 153-173

Beschreibung: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Beschreibung: The warming of our planet is changing the Arctic dramatically. The area covered by sea-ice is shrinking and the ice that is left is younger and thinner. We took part in an expedition to the Arctic, to study how these changes affect organisms living in and under the ice. Following this expedition, we found that storms can more easily break the thinner ice. Storms form cracks in the sea ice, allowing sunlight to pass into the water below, which makes algal growth possible. Algae are microscopic “plants” that grow in water or sea ice. Storms also brought thick heavy snow, which pushed the ice surface below the water. This flooded the snow and created slush. We discovered that this slush is another good habitat for algae. If Arctic sea ice continues to thin, and storms become more common, we expect that these algal habitats will become more important in the future.

Beschreibung: The abundance of the alien, Indo-Pacific damselfish Neopomacentrus cyanomos on an oil-loading platform in the southwest Gulf of Mexico indicates that widely distributed platforms could facilitate the expansion of its geo- graphic range across the western and northern fringes of the Gulf. From there it likely will spread to other areas of the Greater Caribbean. The lionfish example demonstrates that it eventually happens, and can do so rapidly. Reduced temperature effects on the physiology of this species were examined to better predict its survivability in the northern Gulf during winter, when sea surface temperatures fall as low as 15 °C along the coast. Overall, our results show that when the degree of experimental temperature decline was large and rapid, no compensation occurred and the stress response observed mostly reflected cellular processes that minimized damage. Integrated biomarker response values were significantly different between fish rapidly exposed to colder vs. warmer temperatures (declines of −4 °C each day, from 26 to 14 °C), reflected in higher values of blood metabolites and routine metabolic rates observed in fish exposed to 14 and 18 °C respectively, and lower activity of all enzymes, lower protein carbonylation, and higher oxidative damage to lipids in fish exposed to 14 °C. While the phy- siological proxies responded to minimize damage during the rapid-decrease experiment, the same proxies re- flected the consequences of compensation when fish were thermally challenged after a 45 days acclimation at 18 °C. In this case, lower values of blood metabolites and high antioxidant levels and indicators of damages underpinned its pejus lower range. Based on the results of the present work, it seems clear that low winter SSTs in the northern Gulf will slow down the colonization of the inshore area of N. cyanomos. We suggest that the use of physiological cellular stress markers on specimens acquired at the beginning of an invasion should be im- plemented in new standardized experimental protocols, including both rapid increases/decreases of temperature and post-acclimation temperature challenges, to assess the invasiveness potential of aquatic species such as this.

Beschreibung: The Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, has evolved seasonal rhythms of physiology and behaviour to survive under the extreme photoperiodic conditions in the Southern Ocean. However, the molecular mechanisms generating these rhythms remain far from understood. The aim of this study was to investigate seasonal differences in gene expression in three different latitudinal regions (South Georgia, South Orkneys/Bransfield Strait, Lazarev Sea) and to identify genes with potential regulatory roles in the seasonal life cycle of Antarctic krill. The RNA-seq data were analysed (a) for seasonal differences between summer and winter krill sampled from each region, and (b) for regional differences within each season. A large majority of genes showed an up-regulation in summer krill in all regions with respect to winter krill. However, seasonal differences in gene expression were less pronounced in Antarctic krill from South Georgia, most likely due to the milder seasonal conditions of the lower latitudes of this region, with a less extreme light regime and food availability between summer and winter. Our results suggest that in the South Orkneys/Bransfield Strait and Lazarev Sea region, Antarctic krill entered a state of metabolic depression and regressed development (winter quiescence) in winter. Moreover, seasonal gene expression signatures seems to be driven by a photoperiodic timing system that may adapt the flexible behaviour and physiology of Antarctic krill to the highly seasonal environment according to the latitudinal region. However, at the lower latitude South Georgia region, food availability might represent the main environmental cue influencing seasonal physiology.

Beschreibung: Nitrogen fixers, or diazotrophs, play a key role in the carbon and nitrogen cycle of the world oceans, but the controlling mechanisms are not comprehensively understood yet. The present study compares two paradigms on the ecological niche of diazotrophs in an Earth System Model (ESM). In our standard model configuration, which is representative for most of the state-of-the-art pelagic ecosystem models, diazotrophs take advantage of zooplankton featuring a lower food preference for diazotrophs than for ordinary phytoplankton. We compare this paradigm with the idea that diazotrophs are more competitive under oligotrophic conditions, characterized by low (dissolved, particulate, organic and inorganic) phosphorous availability. Both paradigms are supported by observational evidence and lead to a similar good agreement to the most recent and advanced observation-based nitrogen fixation estimate in our ESM framework. Further, we illustrate that the similarity between the two paradigms breaks in a RCP 8.5 anthropogenic emission scenario. We conclude that a more advanced understanding of the ecological niche of diazotrophs is mandatory for assessing the cycling of essential nutrients, especially under changing environmental conditions. Our results call for more in-situ measurements of cyanobacteria biomass if major controls of nitrogen fixation in the oceans are to be dissected.

Beschreibung: This document defines and prioritises the key objectives of dissemination of REFLECT and details the steps to be taken during the project’s lifetime in order to achieve maximum impact and reach relevant audiences. It also sets the framework to facilitate communication among Consortium members, and between the Consortium and stakeholders or the general public.

Beschreibung: The analysis of damage on buildings affected by an earthquake allow to trace back to the defects of the structural system and the imperfections of the constructive elements with reference to the best or worst behaviour in case of seismic action. As a matter of fact the tendency of buildings to be damaged, also defined as seismic vulnerability, is strictly connected with their geometric-constructive characteristics. The damage appears as "effect" of the phenomenon that has its "cause" in the seismic action. Once the characteristics of the system are defined, it is possible to reconstruct the 'cause-effect' relation between seismic action and damage. These relations can be obtained through survey of damage caused by recent earthquake. However this methodology reveals a series of problems. The various quantities applied must be expressed with indices that allow to synthesize complex and articulated scenarios exhaustively; although the damage is a quantity that can be directly assessed by description, it is difficult to measure, as its quantification should be representative for all aspects connected with it (physical, economic, functional, social, etc.). The level of the seismic action must be expressed by a parameter that is an index of the event's destructive capacity and in direct correlation with mechanical quantities (acceleration, velocity, energy, etc.). The vulnerability is an entity able to characterize the more or less accentuated predisposition of the structures to suffer damages independently from the intensity and direction of the seismic action. In this work, subjects concerning seismic action and vulnerability shall not be dealt with, as they have already been investigated in previous works [see Grimaz S., 1992 - Cella F. 1994 and 1995]; in the following the problem of damage quantification shall therefore be explored.

Beschreibung: Published

Beschreibung: 83-103

Beschreibung: 5T. Sismologia, geofisica e geologia per l'ingegneria sismica

Beschreibung: New Zealand has a large exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of which the area between the 30 and 50 m bathymetric zone offers the most prospects for shellfish production. Only 0.3% of this zone would be required to increase New Zealand’s shellfish production by 150,000 t. The Enabling Open Ocean Aquaculture Program, funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, is a collaboration aiming to develop technologies that will enable the extension of aquaculture into New Zealand’s harsh and challenging open ocean conditions, and facilitate adaptation to the escalating effects of climate change in inner shore environments. New Zealand has started expanding aquaculture into exposed environments, allowing farm expansion to meet increasing demand for aquaculture products but also enabling ventures into new aquatic products. Expansion into offshore developments is in direct response to mounting stakeholder interaction in inshore coastal areas. This document presents a brief overview of the potential zones for open ocean aquaculture, the influence of climate change, and two potential shellfish operational systems that may facilitate the expansion of shellfish aquaculture onto New Zealand’s exposed ocean sites.