Several members of Italy’s National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks resigned Tuesday after the conviction of six scientists and a public official on manslaughter charges for failing to give adequate warning to the residents of a seismically active area before an earthquake that killed more than 300 people. Luciano Maiani, a physicist, resigned as president of the commission, along with several other members in protest over Monday’s ruling, in which the defendants have drawn six-year prison sentences. “The commission can’t carry out its functions in this situation, which borders on intimidation,” he said in an interview. “It’s impossible to work with serenity if you’re afraid that if you give an opinion that turns out not to be right you can be punished.”