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A new geological map representing the southern leading edge of Central High Atlas (Toundoute, South Morocco) updates the stratigraphic architecture of a Lower Jurassic-Cretaceous succession including marine carbonates and terrestrial clastics. Integrated facies and structural analyses outline a marked syn-tectonic control on depositional patterns since the Early Jurassic, as documented by geological maps of adjacent sectors of the Central High Atlas southern flank recently published on Journal of Maps. This incipient diffuse crustal uplift and denudation attests to a pre-collisional stage in the development of the Central High Atlas mountains.

One of the most contentious topics in the study of human evolution is that of the time, place and mode of origin of Homo sapiens 1 , 2 , 3 . The discovery in the Northern Danakil (Afar) Depression, Eritrea, of a well-preserved Homo cranium with a mixture of characters typical of H. erectus and H. sapiens contributes significantly to this debate. The cranium was found in a succession of fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine deposits and is associated with a rich mammalian fauna of early to early-middle Pleistocene age. A magnetostratigraphic survey indicates two reversed and two normal magnetozones. The layer in which the cranium was found is near the top of the lower normal magnetozone, which is identified as the Jaramillo subchron. Consequently, the human remains can be dated at ∼1 million years before present.

The Dandiero Basin is located on the northern part of the 300 km-long Danakil depression. The geologic succession filling the Dandiero Basin is up to 1000 m thick and consists of three synthems, inascending order: the Early-to-Middle Pleistocene Maebele Synthem of fluvio-lacustrine origin; the Late Pleistocene Curbelu Synthem of alluvial deposits and the Late Pleistocene to Holocene Samoti Synthem alluvio-eolian sand. This study and map (1:5000 scale) focuses on the Maebele Synthem exposed in a 3.8 km 2 area near Mt. Alat. Regionally, the Maebele Synthem consists of six lithostratigraphic units, in ascending order: (1) the Bukra Sand and Gravel, (2) the Alat Formation, (3) the Wara Sand and Gravel, (4) the Goreya Formation, and (5) Aro Sand, (6) Addai Fanglomerate. The Bukra Sand and Gravel is about 150-200 m thick and made up mainly of fluvial sand. The Alat Formation is 70-100 m thick and consists of alternating fluvial, lacustrine and deltaic deposits. Fluvial deposits consist of sand-filled channels that occur as amalgamated or isolated bodies within floodplain mud. Lacustrine sediments consist of mud, whereas deltaic deposits are represented by sandy shallow-water and Gilbert-type deltas. The Wara Sand and Gravel (250 m thick) is made up of fluvial sand. The Goreya Formation (50 m thick) consists of lacustrine, deltaic and fluvial deposits. The fluvial deposits consist of sand-filled channels the lacustrine sediments consist of mud with subordinate limestone, and the deltaic deposits are represented by sandy shallow-water deltas. The Aro Sand consists of fluvial sand up to 120 m thick. The Addai Fanglomerate (250-300 m thick) consists of coarse-grained alluvial fan.

Papini and Benvenuti demonstrate that previous research provided an incorrect lithostratigraphic picture, a nonrealistic account of the stratigraphic an depositional evolution of the succession and only a partial reassessment of the chronostratigraphy of the basin's Upper Cretaceous deposits.

IntroductionOne of the purposes of the workshop on ‘Climatic and environmental changes in the Neogene of Europe’, was to assemble different points of view on problems which by their nature need a multidisciplinary approach. Climatic and environmental changes can be detected in the geologic record by palaeontologists, sedimentologists and geochemists, through integration of their efforts. The goal of this paper is to show how sedimentology can contribute to such multidisciplinary studies. Facies analysis has acquired a great importance in the detailed study of sedimentary deposits. A facies is a rock or sediment unit distinguishable from others on the basis of its specific aspect (from Latin facies) including lithologic, sedimentologic, and biologic features. A sedimentary facies records the physical, chemical or biological processes operating during sedimentation. Facies associations and sequences (the spatial arrangement of facies) provide information on the depositional environments and on their dynamics. Selected examples from Upper Miocene–Pliocene continental and shallow marine deposits filling some post-collisional basins in southern and central Tuscany (central Italy, Fig. 17.1a), will show in the following paragraphs, the potentialities and limits of facies analysis as an integrative tool for palaeoclimatic reconstructions.General settingThe sedimentary basins we deal with in this paper are located in central and southern Tuscany (central Italy), on the western margin of the Northern Apennines, a thrust and fold chain whose formation started in the Late Cretaceous. In the Middle (Carmignani et al., 1994) or Late Miocene the western side of the chain was affected by crustal extension, possibly alternated with (Bernini et al. (1990) or subordined to (Boccaletti et al., 1991, 1995) compression.

An innovative bioelectrochemical reductive/oxidative sequential process was developed and tested on a laboratory scale to obtain the complete mineralization of perchloroethylene (PCE) in a synthetic medium. The sequential bioelectrochemical process consisted of two separate tubular bioelectrochemical reactors that adopted a novel reactor configuration, avoiding the use of an ion exchange membrane to separate the anodic and cathodic chamber and reducing the cost of the reactor. In the reductive reactor, a dechlorinating mixed inoculum received reducing power to perform the reductive dechlorination of perchloroethylene (PCE) through a cathode chamber, while the less chlorinated daughter products were removed in the oxidative reactor, which supported an aerobic dechlorinating culture through in situ electrochemical oxygen evolution. Preliminary fluid dynamics and electrochemical tests were performed to characterize both the reductive and oxidative reactors, which were electrically independent of each other, with each having its own counterelectrode. The first continuous-flow potentiostatic run with the reductive reactor (polarized at −450 mV vs SHE) resulted in obtaining 100% ± 1% removal efficiency of the influent PCE, while the oxidative reactor (polarized at +1.4 V vs SHE) oxidized the vinyl chloride and ethylene from the reductive reactor, with removal efficiencies of 100% ± 2% and 92% ± 1%, respectively.

Toads (Rhinella arenarum) received training with a novel incentive procedure involving access to solutions of different NaCl concentrations. In Experiment 1, instrumental behavior and weight variation data confirmed that such solutions yield incentive values ranging from appetitive (deionized water, DW, leading to weight gain), to neutral (300 mM slightly hypertonic solution, leading to no net weight gain or loss), and aversive (800 mM highly hypertonic solution leading to weight loss). In Experiment 2, a downshift from DW to a 300 mM solution or an upshift from a 300 mM solution to DW led to a gradual adjustment in instrumental behavior. In Experiment 3, extinction was similar after acquisition with access to only DW or with a random mixture of DW and 300 mM. In Experiment 4, a downshift from DW to 225, 212, or 200 mM solutions led again to gradual adjustments. These findings add to a growing body of comparative evidence suggesting that amphibians adjust to incentive shifts on the basis of habit formation and reorganization.

Chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) are common groundwater contaminants due to their improper use in several industrial activities. Specialized microorganisms are able to perform the reductive dechlorination (RD) of high-chlorinated CAHs such as perchloroethylene (PCE), while the low-chlorinated ethenes such as vinyl chloride (VC) are more susceptible to oxidative mechanisms performed by aerobic dechlorinating microorganisms. Bioelectrochemical systems can be used as an effective strategy for the stimulation of both anaerobic and aerobic microbial dechlorination, i.e., a biocathode can be used as an electron donor to perform the RD, while a bioanode can provide the oxygen necessary for the aerobic dechlorination reaction. In this study, a sequential bioelectrochemical process constituted by two membrane-less microbial electrolysis cells connected in series has been, for the first time, operated with synthetic groundwater, also containing sulphate and nitrate, to simulate more realistic process conditions due to the possible establishment of competitive processes for the reducing power, with respect to previous research made with a PCE-contaminated mineral medium (with neither sulphate nor nitrate). The shift from mineral medium to synthetic groundwater showed the establishment of sulphate and nitrate reduction and caused the temporary decrease of the PCE removal efficiency from 100% to 85%. The analysis of the RD biomarkers (i.e., Dehalococcoides mccartyi 16S rRNA and tceA, bvcA, vcrA genes) confirmed the decrement of reductive dechlorination performances after the introduction of the synthetic groundwater, also characterized by a lower ionic strength and nutrients content. On the other hand, the system self-adapted the flowing current to the increased demand for the sulphate and nitrate reduction, so that reducing power was not in defect for the RD, although RD coulombic efficiency was less.

Hospital wards and patient management protocols were modified to quickly adapt to the clinical needs of the patients as well as to ensure patient safety and healthcare worker (HCW) protection from infection.1,2 The execution of this strategy to deal with the epidemic imposed significant costs on our hospital. Currently, many expenditure models have been published, as data concerning national health insurance and losses in terms of investments in the various economic sectors.3-5 We quantified economic costs incurred by the AOUP from March to July 2020 for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the structural costs for the implementation of the present structure and for the realization of a new COVID-19 hospital. Costs Directly Related to the Preparedness and the Management of the COVID-19 Epidemic in Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana Phase Description Costs Euros US$a Phase 1 Technical area (COVID hospital rearrangement) 338,444.51 395,239.17 Technical area (site safety charges) 4,000.00 4,671.24 Ventilation system adaption (from positive to negative pressure) 70,000.00 81,755.40 Health management units (cleaning setting improvement) 154,648.22 180,618.96 Health management units (biological materials transport) 20,000.00 23,358.69 Health management units (security services) 65,268.00 76,228.74 Health management units (special waste disposal) 20,000.00 23,358.69 Medical devices (including FFP2/FFP3 masks) 1,586,505.57 1,852,829.24 Health furnishing 633,000.00 739,260.50 Pharmaceutical spending for COVID patients) 446,666.67 521,647.75 Pharmaceutical spending for medical gases 233,333.33 272,502.55 Hydroalcoholic gel 40,000.00 46,714.72 SARS COV-2 screening test 1,466,666.67 1,712,824.47 Administrative burden expense (notebook) 20,000.00 23,358.69 New healthcare workers recruitment 585,136.49 683,342.79 Accommodation services for employees 10,000.00 11,678.35 Phase 2 Technical areas (aeraulic facilities reconversion and cleaning) 740,000.00 864,197.80 Health Management Units (wards cleaning and sanitizing) 560,000.00 653,984.76 Environmental monitoring and microbiological analysis 13,672.00 15,966.57 Phase 3 New COVID hospital reconstruction (structural costs and health furnishing) 3,817,882.00 4,458,636.85 Environmental monitoring and microbiological analysis 6,882.00 8,037.01 Note.