In peninsular Italy, marine terraces and shorelines created during oxygen-isotope substage 5e, known historically as the Tyrrhenian highstand, provide a reliable and homogeneous datum of vertical motions during the past 125 000 years. Published accounts of 121 locations on the Tyrrhenian inner edge were reinterpreted and used to calculate both local and regional uplift rates. The data show arching of southern Italy between the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic coasts and of the Calabrian Arc between the Sangineto and the Longi-Taormina tectonic lineaments at rates of up to 1.2 mm/year for the past 125 000 years. They also suggest that the present configuration of the southern Apennines is the product of post-Early Pleistocene regional uplift superimposed on Tortonian to Early Pleistocene thrusting. Uplift patterns are characterized by different wavelengths in different geodynamic settings, suggesting a close link with the depth of the causative tectonic sources.

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Because of increased mortality and reduced treatment response rates in subjects coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), understanding the selection pressures underlying the evolution of HCV is important for the development of strategies to control both viruses. We therefore investigated diversity of HCV in 11 HIV-HCV-coinfected subjects initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Distinct categories of HCV virologic response to suppression of HIV were identified. The diversity of quasi species at several genomic regions was characterized over the course of a 48-week period. Consensus data suggested a shift in the virus population at all loci except the 5' untranslated region (UTR) after initiation of HAART. Intrasubject genetic distance and entropy were highest in hypervariable region (HVR)-1. In contrast, variation in the 5' UTR was limited. Positive immune selection pressure directed against HVR-1, but not other protein-coding regions, was also detected. These data suggest that there are several mechanisms by which suppression of HIV replication and a reconstituted immune system influence diversity of HCV in HIV-HCV-coinfected subjects.

We present the results of seismological and geophysical investigations performed by the "Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia" team operating in Amatrice village (Central Italy), in the emergency phases following the Mw 6.0 event of August 24th 2016, that caused severe damage in downtown and surrounding areas. Data from seven seismic stations equipped with both weak and strong motion sensors are analyzed in terms of standard spectral ratio to empirically define amplification function using a bedrock reference site. Ambient vibration spectral ratios between horizontal and vertical component of motion are also evaluated in a large number of sites, spread out in the investigated area, to recover the resonance frequency of the soft soil outcropping layers and to generalize the results obtained by earthquake data. Ambient noise vibration are also used for applying a 2D array approach based on surface waves techniques in order to define the near-surface velocity model and to verify its lateral variation. The results allows to better understand the amplification factors in the investigated area, showing spatial variation of site effects despite of the homogeneous shallow geological condition indicated by the microzonation studies available at moment of the described field campaign. The analysis reveals a diffuse amplification effect which reaches its maximum values in downtown area with a resonant frequency of about 2 Hz. The obtained results were used to integrate the microzonation studies and they can be used for urban planning and reconstruction activities.

After the 2009 April 6th Mw 6.3 L'Aquila earthquake (Central Italy) the Italian Civil Defense Department promoted the microzoning study in the ten zones in the epicentral area that suffered major damage. In this paper we present the activities and the results concerning a temporary seismic network installed in the historical L'Aquila city center indicated as "macroarea 1" in the microzoning project. Seismic data were collected to investigate the amplification effects in the city and to support the microzoning activities in verifying both geological profiles and 1D numerical modeling of the seismic response of the city. The conventional spectral approaches using both microtremor and earthquake data allowed to determine the fundamental resonance frequencies and the amplification factors within the city respectively. The spatial variability of these quantities can be related to the geological and geomorphologic characteristics of the investigated area. A comparison between the network data and the data recorded by the two strong motion instruments installed in the city was also made. This allows verifying the relative response of the accelerometric stations that recorded in the city the major events of the sequence.