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  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
51 Citations
9,275 Views
26 Pages

Coastal Vulnerability Assessment along the North-Eastern Sector of Gozo Island (Malta, Mediterranean Sea)

  • Angela Rizzo,
  • Vittoria Vandelli,
  • George Buhagiar,
  • Anton S. Micallef and
  • Mauro Soldati

15 May 2020

The coastal landscape of the Maltese Islands is the result of long-term evolution, influenced by tectonics, geomorphological processes, and sea level oscillations. Due to their geological setting, the islands are particularly prone to marine-related...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
3,884 Views
19 Pages

Engineering Geological and Geophysical Investigations to Characterise the Unstable Rock Slope of the Sopu Promontory (Gozo, Malta)

  • Davide Pistillo,
  • Emanuele Colica,
  • Sebastiano D’Amico,
  • Daniela Farrugia,
  • Federico Feliziani,
  • Luciano Galone,
  • Roberto Iannucci and
  • Salvatore Martino

Different engineering geological and geophysical investigations were performed at the Sopu promontory in the island of Gozo (Malta), involved in an impressive lateral spreading process due to the superimposition of a stiff limestone (ULC) on a ductil...

  • Article
  • Open Access
10 Citations
3,521 Views
20 Pages

Stability Assessment and Geomorphological Evolution of Sea Natural Arches by Geophysical Measurement: The Case Study of Wied Il-Mielah Window (Gozo, Malta)

  • Giovanni Leucci,
  • Raffaele Persico,
  • Lara De Giorgi,
  • Maurizio Lazzari,
  • Emanuele Colica,
  • Salvatore Martino,
  • Roberto Iannucci,
  • Luciano Galone and
  • Sebastiano D’Amico

12 November 2021

The Wied il-Mielaħ Window (Gozo–Malta) is a limestone natural arch on the north-western coast of the island of Gozo in Malta. It is located at the end of the Wied il-Mielaħ valley north of the village of Għarb. This natural arch is less well known th...

  • Article
  • Open Access
431 Views
16 Pages

6 November 2025

Concentrations of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), as the sum total of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), the individual parts, i.e., NO and NO2, (NOx = NO + NO2), and wind speed and direction measurements were gathered over a thirteen-year perio...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,442 Views
19 Pages

Atmospheric Radon in the Central Mediterranean: Seasonal and Diurnal Variations Measured in Gozo, Malta

  • Beatriz Defez,
  • Raymond Ellul,
  • Martin Saliba,
  • Rebecca Muscat,
  • Marvic Grima,
  • Alfred Micallef,
  • Charles Galdies,
  • María Moncho-Santonja,
  • Silvia Aparisi-Navarro and
  • Guillermo Peris-Fajarnés

This paper presents the findings of a 12-year study on radon conducted from January 2011 to December 2022 at the Giordan Lighthouse station on the island of Gozo, Malta. Located in the Central Mediterranean, Gozo’s strategic position enables ef...

  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
6,346 Views
21 Pages

Sea Caves and Other Landforms of the Coastal Scenery on Gozo Island (Malta): Inventory and New Data on Their Formation

  • Stefano Furlani,
  • Fabrizio Antonioli,
  • Emanuele Colica,
  • Sebastiano D’Amico,
  • Stefano Devoto,
  • Pietro Grego and
  • Timmy Gambin

Sea caves are a type of cave formed primarily by the wave action of the sea. The coastal scenery of the Gozitan coast is very interesting in that sea caves and other coastal landforms, such as sea arches, develop at the sea level. We mapped seventy-n...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
1,026 Views
12 Pages

11 March 2025

Measurements of concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOx) were collected over a period of thirteen years (2011–2023). The data were collected at Giordan Lighthouse atmospheric monitoring and research station on the Island of Gozo, forming part of...

  • Article
  • Open Access
514 Views
26 Pages

24 October 2025

Soil erosion is a growing environmental issue around the world, including in Malta. This study focused on estimating soil loss in the San Blas and Binġemma valleys on the island of Gozo, the second largest in the Maltese archipelago. To do this,...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
1,870 Views
14 Pages

Long-Term Tropospheric Ozone Data Analysis 1997–2019 at Giordan Lighthouse, Gozo, Malta

  • Brunislav Matasović,
  • Martin Saliba,
  • Rebecca Muscat,
  • Marvic Grima and
  • Raymond Ellul

17 September 2023

Long-term data analysis of the hourly ozone volume fractions in the middle of the Mediterranean Seawas carried out covering a period of 22 years. It was noticed that the amount of ozone during this period very rarely exceeded the recommended upper li...

  • Project Report
  • Open Access
3 Citations
1,758 Views
21 Pages

Energy and Digital Transitions for Energy Communities: Tools and Methodologies to Promote Digitalization in Italy

  • Claudia Meloni,
  • Laura Blaso,
  • Samuele Branchetti,
  • Matteo Caldera,
  • Paola Clerici Maestosi,
  • Gianluca D’Agosta,
  • Angelo Frascella,
  • Nicoletta Gozo,
  • Gilda Massa and
  • Paolo Zangheri
  • + 6 authors

This paper presents an overall concept developed by ENEA (the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) in the Italian framework of renewable energy communities (RECs). The proposed work is driven by t...

  • Article
  • Open Access
962 Views
11 Pages

Effect of Inhalation of Hydrogen Gas on Postoperative Recovery After Hepatectomy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

  • Hisashi Kosaka,
  • Khanh Van Nguyen,
  • Kosuke Matsui,
  • Hideyuki Matsushima,
  • Takumi Miyauchi,
  • Gozo Kiguchi,
  • Hidekazu Yamamoto,
  • Tung Thanh Lai,
  • Hoang Hai Duong and
  • Masaki Kaibori
  • + 2 authors

17 December 2025

Hydrogen has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that may attenuate perioperative stress responses. However, its clinical impact on postoperative recovery remains unclear. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluated whe...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,534 Views
17 Pages

Loading Criteria and Deposit Layer Characteristics as Causes of Sediment Settlement in an Estuary

  • Andi Patriadi,
  • Ria Asih Aryani Soemitro,
  • Dwa Desa Warnana,
  • Wasis Wardoyo,
  • Toshifumi Mukunoki,
  • Gozo Tsujimoto,
  • Mahendra Andiek Maulana and
  • Trihanyndio Rendy Satrya

Sediment compaction due to the extraction of groundwater and self-weight consolidation, and monitoring land settlement of the river delta using geodetic measurement has been executed in several studies, while sediment settlement in the estuary is hyp...

  • Article
  • Open Access
14 Citations
3,442 Views
18 Pages

FOXC2 Promotes Vasculogenic Mimicry in Ovarian Cancer

  • Maria Sol Recouvreux,
  • Jiangyong Miao,
  • Maricel C. Gozo,
  • Jingni Wu,
  • Ann E. Walts,
  • Beth Y. Karlan and
  • Sandra Orsulic

4 October 2022

FOXC2 is a forkhead family transcription factor that plays a critical role in specifying mesenchymal cell fate during embryogenesis. FOXC2 expression is associated with increased metastasis and poor survival in various solid malignancies. Using in vi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
1,556 Views
12 Pages

The Prognostic Impact of Adipophilin Expression on Long-Term Survival Following Liver Resection in Patients with Colorectal Liver Metastases

  • Tung Thanh Lai,
  • Mitsuaki Ishida,
  • Hisashi Kosaka,
  • Kosuke Matsui,
  • Hideyuki Matsushima,
  • Hidekazu Yamamoto,
  • Gozo Kiguchi,
  • Khanh Van Nguyen,
  • Kyoko Inoue and
  • Masaki Kaibori
  • + 4 authors

14 November 2024

Background/Objectives: Adipophilin (ADP) is a protein associated with lipid droplets, and its expression is related to poor prognosis in certain cancers. However, its impact on the survival of patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs) remains...

  • Article
  • Open Access
24 Citations
8,710 Views
12 Pages

Novel Application of Cultured Epithelial Autografts (CEA) with Expanded Mesh Skin Grafting Over an Artificial Dermis or Dermal Wound Bed Preparation

  • Sadanori Akita,
  • Kenji Hayashida,
  • Hiroshi Yoshimoto,
  • Masaki Fujioka,
  • Chikako Senju,
  • Shin Morooka,
  • Gozo Nishimura,
  • Nobuhiko Mukae,
  • Kazuo Kobayashi and
  • Nagasaki University plastic surgeons group
  • + 7 authors

Cultured epithelial autografts (CEA) with highly expanded mesh skin grafts were used for extensive adult burns covering more than 30% of the total body surface area. A prospective study on eight patients assessed subjective and objective findings up...

  • Article
  • Open Access
44 Citations
10,152 Views
21 Pages

WebGIS Implementation for Dynamic Mapping and Visualization of Coastal Geospatial Data: A Case Study of BESS Project

  • Giovanni Randazzo,
  • Franco Italiano,
  • Anton Micallef,
  • Agostino Tomasello,
  • Federica Paola Cassetti,
  • Anthony Zammit,
  • Sebastiano D’Amico,
  • Oliver Saliba,
  • Maria Cascio and
  • Anselme Muzirafuti
  • + 6 authors

5 September 2021

Within an E.U.-funded project, BESS (Pocket Beach Management and Remote Surveillance System), the notion of a geographic information system is an indispensable tool for managing the dynamics of georeferenced data and information for any form of terri...

  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
3,824 Views
21 Pages

Assessment of Heavy Metal Distributions in Sand Beaches in the Maltese Islands

  • Isaac Matthew Azzopardi,
  • Frederick Lia and
  • Christine Costa

17 July 2022

This study focuses on the quantification of heavy metals present in 18 sand beaches on the islands of Malta and Gozo. A total of 134 samples were collected, digested using Aqua Regia, and analysed using flame AAS to find the concentration of six heav...

  • Article
  • Open Access
16 Citations
4,952 Views
17 Pages

Use of UAVs and Deep Learning for Beach Litter Monitoring

  • Roland Pfeiffer,
  • Gianluca Valentino,
  • Sebastiano D’Amico,
  • Luca Piroddi,
  • Luciano Galone,
  • Stefano Calleja,
  • Reuben A. Farrugia and
  • Emanuele Colica

31 December 2022

Stranded beach litter is a ubiquitous issue. Manual monitoring and retrieval can be cost and labour intensive. Therefore, automatic litter monitoring and retrieval is an essential mitigation strategy. In this paper, we present important foundational...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
6,629 Views
19 Pages

13 August 2021

Volcanic obsidian was widely used in ancient times for stone tools, with its highly glassy nature making it sharper than other lithics for cutting purposes. In Europe and the Mediterranean, there are just several island sources, and a few in one inla...

  • Article
  • Open Access
31 Citations
9,838 Views
24 Pages

Potential Sea Level Rise Inundation in the Mediterranean: From Susceptibility Assessment to Risk Scenarios for Policy Action

  • Angela Rizzo,
  • Vittoria Vandelli,
  • Christopher Gauci,
  • George Buhagiar,
  • Anton S. Micallef and
  • Mauro Soldati

29 January 2022

Coastal ecosystems and anthropic activities are prone to be affected by the negative impact of marine-related processes induced by climate change, such as erosion, flooding and permanent inundation. Studies aiming at defining potential risk scenarios...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,623 Views
17 Pages

Dipping Tidal Notch (DTN): Exposed vs. Sheltered Morphometry

  • Stefano Furlani,
  • Mauro Agate,
  • Eleonora de Sabata,
  • Renato Chemello,
  • Valeria Vaccher,
  • Giulia Visconti and
  • Fabrizio Antonioli

Tidal notches, long regarded as reliable indicators of mean sea level, have been extensively studied along carbonate coasts in the central Mediterranean Sea. Previous studies revealed a correlation between the genesis of tidal notches and tidal range...

  • Article
  • Open Access
10 Citations
2,950 Views
19 Pages

Investigation of an Intense Dust Outbreak in the Mediterranean Using XMed-Dry Network, Multiplatform Observations, and Numerical Modeling

  • Umberto Rizza,
  • Konrad Kandler,
  • Melanie Eknayan,
  • Giorgio Passerini,
  • Enrico Mancinelli,
  • Simone Virgili,
  • Mauro Morichetti,
  • Michael Nolle,
  • Konstantinos Eleftheriadis and
  • Pierina Ielpo
  • + 1 author

9 February 2021

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with online coupled chemistry (WRF-Chem) is applied to study an intense Saharan dust outbreak event affecting the Italian peninsula in 15 and 16 April 2018. According to the MODIS retrievals, this intr...

  • Article
  • Open Access
22 Citations
4,622 Views
21 Pages

Trends in Vessel Atmospheric Emissions in the Central Mediterranean over the Last 10 Years and during the COVID-19 Outbreak

  • Martin Saliba,
  • Francelle Azzopardi,
  • Rebecca Muscat,
  • Marvic Grima,
  • Alexander Smyth,
  • Jukka-Pekka Jalkanen,
  • Lasse Johansson,
  • Alan Deidun,
  • Adam Gauci and
  • Raymond Ellul
  • + 2 authors

Giordan Lighthouse, located on the island of Gozo in the Malta-Sicily Channel within the central Mediterranean region, is ideally located to study the primary sources of atmospheric pollution. A total of 10 years of data have been accumulated from th...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
1,622 Views
21 Pages

The general increase in awareness of environmental pollutants and typical sources reflects the application of sustainability and development goals. Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy analysis has been used to analyse sand samples colle...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
1,953 Views
19 Pages

Evolution of Coastal Cliffs Characterized by Lateral Spreading in the Maltese Archipelago

  • Luciano Galone,
  • Federico Feliziani,
  • Emanuele Colica,
  • Enrique Fucks,
  • Jesús Galindo-Zaldívar,
  • Ritienne Gauci,
  • Christopher Gauci,
  • Guglielmo Grechi,
  • Salvatore Martino and
  • Sebastiano D’Amico
  • + 1 author

21 August 2024

The Maltese archipelago is renowned for its spectacular coasts, characterized by vertical cliffs and scree slopes. In the western sector of Malta and the eastern region of Gozo, a marly clay formation with ductile properties underlying a stiff limest...