Search Results (9)

Tsunami hazards in the Bay of Naples are primarily driven by submarine landslides, intense seismic activity, and volcanic phenomena from nearby systems like Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei caldera. While localized historical tsunamis have occurred, they are generally rare events. Key tsunami sources include submarine landslides, volcanic eruptions, and seismicity. In this paper we provide a review of the tsunamis in Naples Bay within a general framework of Mediterranean tsunamis based on a literature review. Underwater avalanches, particularly around the steep slopes of the Dohrn Canyon and Ischia, are considered a primary localized threat. Scientific models indicate that a major collapse (like past events like the Ischia debris avalanche) could generate significant waves that could cross the bay in minutes. Explosive eruptions where magma meets seawater (such as PDCs—pyroclastic density currents) can displace water violently. This was famously documented during the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which created submarine ash fans and tsunami waves in the gulf. Earthquakes related to bradyseism in the Campi Flegrei or regional faults can also trigger sea level oscillations or localized tidal waves. Among the historical modeled events, we focus on the A.D. 79 eruption and on the 1343 Naples tsunami. The numerical simulations are revised. Depending on the source, the modeled waves vary from minor oscillations to heights of up to 6 m in canyon areas or over 20 m in nearby islands like Ischia. Full article

The complex nature of immune system behavior in both autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection can be understood through the lens of avalanche dynamics in critical-point systems. This paper introduces the concept of the “immunological avalanche” as a framework for understanding unpredictable patterns of immune activity in both contexts. Just as avalanches represent sudden releases of accumulated potential energy, immune responses exhibit periods of apparent stability followed by explosive flares triggered by seemingly minor stimuli. The model presented here draws parallels between immune system behavior and other complex systems such as earthquakes, forest fires, and neuronal activity, where localized events can propagate into large-scale disruptions. In autoimmune conditions like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which affects multiple organ systems including the kidneys in approximately 50% of patients, these dynamics manifest as alternating periods of remission and flares. Similarly, in transplant recipients, the immune system exhibits metastable behavior under constant allograft stimulation. This critical-point dynamics framework is characterized by threshold-dependent activation, positive feedback loops, and dynamic non-linearity. In autoimmune diseases, triggers such as UV light exposure, infections, or stress can initiate cascading immune responses. In transplant patients, longitudinal analysis reveals how monitoring oscillatory patterns in blood parameters and biological age markers can predict rejection risk. In a preliminary study on kidney transplant, all measured variables showed temporal instability. Proteinuria exhibited precise log–log linearity in power law analysis, confirming near-critical-point system behavior. Two distinct dynamic patterns emerged: large oscillations in eGFR, proteinuria, or biological age predicted declining function, while small oscillations indicated stability. During avalanche events, biological age increased dramatically, with partial reversal leaving persistent elevation after acute episodes. Understanding these dynamics has important implications for therapeutic approaches in both contexts. Key findings suggest that monitoring parameter oscillations, rather than absolute values, better indicates system instability and potential avalanche events. Additionally, biological age calculations provide valuable prognostic information, while proteinuria measurements offer efficient sampling for system dynamics assessment. This conceptual model provides a unifying framework for understanding the pathogenesis of both autoimmune and transplant-related immune responses, potentially leading to new perspectives in disease management and rejection prediction. Full article

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is an emerging modality that merges optical and ultrasound imaging to provide high-resolution and functional insights into biological tissues. This technique leverages the photoacoustic effect, where tissue absorbs pulsed laser light, generating acoustic waves that are captured to reconstruct images. While lasers have traditionally been the light source for PAI, their high cost and complexity drive interest towards alternative sources like light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This study evaluates the feasibility of using an avalanche oscillator to drive high-power LEDs in a basic photoacoustic imaging system. An avalanche oscillator, utilizing semiconductor avalanche breakdown to produce high-voltage pulses, powers LEDs to generate short, high-intensity light pulses. The system incorporates an LED array, an ultrasonic transducer, and an amplifier for signal detection. Key findings include the successful generation of short light pulses with sufficient intensity to excite materials and the system’s capability to produce detectable photoacoustic signals in both air and water environments. While LEDs demonstrate cost-effectiveness and portability advantages, challenges such as lower power and broader spectral bandwidth compared to lasers are noted. The results affirm that LED-based photoacoustic systems, though currently less advanced than laser-based systems, present a promising direction for affordable and portable imaging technologies. Full article

In this work, we experimentally analyze the periodic oscillations that take place in staircase APDs with separate absorption and multiplication regions when operating under continuous laser light. These oscillations increase in frequency when the APD gain increases. We have verified that they are not affected by the parameters (gain and bandwidth) of the transimpedance amplifier, and thus originate inside the APD. The phenomenon is analyzed systematically by considering devices with different thicknesses of the absorption region. Possible physical interpretations related to the flux of holes generated by impact ionization are provided. Full article

An accurate second-order spatial and temporal finite-difference scheme is applied to solve the dynamics model of a depth-averaged avalanche. Within the framework of the MacCormack scheme, a total variation diminishing term supplements the corrector step to suppress large oscillations in domains with steep gradients. The greatest strength of the scheme lies in its high computational efficiency while maintaining satisfactory accuracy. The performance of the scheme is tested on a granular flume flow–obstacle interaction scenario and a granular dam breaking scenario. In the former, the flume flow splits into two granular streams when an obstacle is encountered. The opening between the two granular streams widens when the side length of the obstacle increases. In the simulation, shock waves with a fan-shaped configuration are captured, and successive waves in the tail of the avalanche between the two streams are observed. In the latter scenario, the average values and the fluctuations in the flow rate and velocity (at relatively steady state) decrease with the width of the breach. The capture of complex and typical granular-flow phenomena indicates the applicability and effectiveness of combining the TVD-MacCormack Scheme and S-H model to simulate dam breaking and inclined flow–obstacle interaction cases. In this study, the dense granular flow strikes on a rigid obstacle that is described by a wall boundary, rather than a topographic feature with a finite slope. This shows that the TVD-MacCormack scheme has a shock-capturing ability. The results of granular dam break simulations also revealed that the boundary conditions (open or closed) affect the collapse of the granular pile, i.e., the grains evenly breached out under closed boundary conditions, whereas the granules breaching out of the opening were mostly grains adjacent to the boundaries under open boundary conditions. Full article

We used synthetic aperture radar offset tracking to reconstruct a unique record of ice surface velocities for a 3.2 year period (15 January 2017–6 April 2020), for the Palcaraju glacier located above Laguna Palcacocha, Cordillera Blanca, Peru. Correlation and spatial cluster analysis of residuals of linear fits through cumulative velocity time series, revealed that velocity variations were controlled by the intra-annual outer tropical seasonality and inter-annual variation in Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies (SSTA), related to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The seasonal signal was dominant, where it was sensitive to altitude, aspect, and slope. The measured velocity variations are related to the spatial and temporal variability of the glacier’s surface energy and mass balance, meltwater production, and subglacial water pressures. Evaluation of potential ice avalanche initiation areas, using deviations from linear long-term velocity trends, which were not related to intra- or inter-annual velocities, showed no evidence of imminent avalanching ice instabilities for the observation period. Full article

The coastline environment and urban areas of Peru overlooking the Pacific Ocean are among the most affected by El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events, and its cascading hazards such as floods, landslides and avalanches. In this work, the complete archives of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s European Remote-Sensing (ERS-1/2) missions and European Commission’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 constellation were screened to select synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images covering the most severe and recent ENSO-related flooding events that affected Lima, the capital and largest city of Peru, in 1997–1998 and 2017–2018. Based on SAR backscatter color composites and ratio maps retrieved from a series of pre-, cross- and post-event SAR pairs, flooded areas were delineated within the Rímac River watershed. These are mostly concentrated along the riverbanks and plain, where low-lying topography and gentle slopes (≤5°), together with the presence of alluvial deposits, also indicate greater susceptibility to flooding. A total of 409 areas (58.50 km²) revealing change were mapped, including 197 changes (32.10 km²) due to flooding-related backscatter variations (flooded areas, increased water flow in the riverbed, and riverbank collapses and damage), and 212 (26.40 km²) due to other processes (e.g., new urban developments, construction of river embankments, other engineering works, vegetation changes). Urban and landscape changes potentially contributing, either detrimentally or beneficially, to flooding susceptibility were identified and considered in the overall assessment of risk. The extent of built-up areas within the basin was mapped by combining information from the 2011 Global Urban Footprint (GUF) produced by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Open Street Map (OSM) accessed from the Quantum GIS (QGIS) service, and 2011–2019 very high-resolution optical imagery from Google Earth. The resulting flooding risk map highlights the sectors of potential concern along the Rímac River, should flooding events of equal severity as those captured by SAR images occur in the future. Full article

Networks of stochastic spiking neurons are interesting models in the area of theoretical neuroscience, presenting both continuous and discontinuous phase transitions. Here, we study fully-connected networks analytically, numerically and by computational simulations. The neurons have dynamic gains that enable the network to converge to a stationary slightly supercritical state (self-organized supercriticality (SOSC)) in the presence of the continuous transition. We show that SOSC, which presents power laws for neuronal avalanches plus some large events, is robust as a function of the main parameter of the neuronal gain dynamics. We discuss the possible applications of the idea of SOSC to biological phenomena like epilepsy and Dragon-king avalanches. We also find that neuronal gains can produce collective oscillations that coexist with neuronal avalanches. Full article

The design of a direct time-of-flight complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (dToF-CIS) based on a single-photon avalanche-diode (SPAD) array with an in-pixel time-to-digital converter (TDC) must contemplate system-level aspects that affect its overall performance. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the impact of process parameters, voltage supply, and temperature (PVT) variations on the time bin of the TDC array. Moreover, the design and characterization of a global compensation loop is presented. It is based on a phase locked loop (PLL) that is integrated on-chip. The main building block of the PLL is a voltage-controlled ring-oscillator (VCRO) that is identical to the ones employed for the in-pixel TDCs. The reference voltage that drives the master VCRO is distributed to the voltage control inputs of the slave VCROs such that their multiphase outputs become invariant to PVT changes. These outputs act as time interpolators for the TDCs. Therefore the compensation scheme prevents the time bin of the TDCs from drifting over time due to the aforementioned factors. Moreover, the same scheme is used to program different time resolutions of the direct time-of-flight (ToF) imager aimed at 3D ranging or depth map imaging. Experimental results that validate the analysis are provided as well. The compensation loop proves to be remarkably effective. The spreading of the TDCs time bin is lowered from: (i) 20% down to 2.4% while the temperature ranges from 0 °C to 100 °C; (ii) 27% down to 0.27%, when the voltage supply changes within ±10% of the nominal value; (iii) 5.2 ps to 2 ps standard deviation over 30 sample chips, due to process parameters’ variation. Full article