On the use of administrative databases to support planning activities: the case of the evaluation of neonatal case-mix in the Emilia-Romagna region using DRG and APR-DRG classification systems.

PubMed

Fantini, M P; Cisbani, L; Manzoli, L; Vertrees, J; Lorenzoni, L

2003-06-01

There are several versions of the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) classification systems that are used for case-mix analysis, utilization review, prospective payment, and planning applications. The objective of this study was to assess the adequacy of two of these DRG systems--Medicare DRG and All Patient Refined DRG--to classify neonatal patients. The first part of the paper contains a descriptive analysis that outlines the major differences between the two systems in terms of classification logic and variables used in the assignment process. The second part examines the statistical performance of each system on the basis of the administrative data collected in all public hospitals of the Emilia-Romagna region relating to neonates discharged in 1997 and 1998. The Medicare DRG are less developed in terms of classification structure and yield a poorer statistical performance in terms of reduction in variance for length of stay. This is important because, for specific areas, a more refined system can prove useful at regional level to remove systematic biases in the measurement of case-mix due to the structural characteristics of the Medicare DRGs classification system.

78 FR 24670 - Notice of a Determination Regarding the Swine Vesicular Disease Status of Certain Regions in Italy

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-26

.... APHIS-2012-0094] Notice of a Determination Regarding the Swine Vesicular Disease Status of Certain...-Romagna, Veneto, and Piemonte and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano are free of swine... introducing swine vesicular disease into the United States. This determination is based on our review of the...

[Prophylaxis of group B streptococcal infections in the birth centers of Emilia Romagna].

PubMed

Berardi, A; Rossi, K; Lugli, L; Tridapalli, E; Ferrari, F

2004-01-01

In the last decade several guidelines for prevention of neonatal group B streptococcal invasive disease have been published, mainly based on administration of intrapartum antibiotics. The spread of such recommendations yielded a reduction of the early-onset disease. The aim of the study was to investigate the practices for prophylaxis of neonatal infection in our region during the 2000 and to standardize them according to the new available evidence. We conducted a multicenter study in Emilia Romagna, sending by mail a detailed questionnaire to the 28 birth centers of our region. Fifteen centers answered to the questionnaire. The practices were often differing from the recommendations of scientific societies. The most sensitive methods to identify colonized women were not widely used. Colonized infants were frequently treated with antibiotics and discharged later from the nursery. The incidence of neonatal invasive diseases was low, but most centers did not regularly collect a blood culture before antibiotic treatment is started. Repeated meetings among centers promoted the diffusion of information, the implementation of a shared protocol and the spread of the practices. The results of such meetings will be evalued in the next months.

Primary care units in Emilia-Romagna, Italy: an assessment of organizational culture.

PubMed

Pracilio, Valerie P; Keith, Scott W; McAna, John; Rossi, Giuseppina; Brianti, Ettore; Fabi, Massimo; Maio, Vittorio

2014-01-01

This study investigates the organizational culture and associated characteristics of the newly established primary care units (PCUs)-collaborative teams of general practitioners (GPs) who provide patients with integrated health care services-in the Emilia-Romagna Region (RER), Italy. A survey instrument covering 6 cultural dimensions was administered to all 301 GPs in 21 PCUs in the Local Health Authority (LHA) of Parma, RER; the response rate was 79.1%. Management style, organizational trust, and collegiality proved to be more important aspects of PCU organizational culture than information sharing, quality, and cohesiveness. Cultural dimension scores were positively associated with certain characteristics of the PCUs including larger PCU size and greater proportion of older GPs. The presence of female GPs in the PCUs had a negative impact on collegiality, organizational trust, and quality. Feedback collected through this assessment will be useful to the RER and LHAs for evaluating and guiding improvements in the PCUs. © 2013 by the American College of Medical Quality.

Wild food plants traditionally consumed in the area of Bologna (Emilia Romagna region, Italy).

PubMed

Sansanelli, Sabrina; Tassoni, Annalisa

2014-09-25

This research was performed in an area belonging to the province of the city of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy). The purpose of the present survey was to record the local knowledge concerning traditional uses of wild food plants and related practices, such as gathering, processing, cooking, therapeutic uses, with the aim of preserving an important part of the local cultural heritage. Thirty-nine people still retaining Traditional Local Knowledge (TLK) were interviewed between March-April 2012 and September-October 2013 by means of open and semi-structured ethnobotanical interviews. For each plant species mentioned, we recorded the botanical family, the English common name, the Italian common and/or folk names, the parts of the plant used, the culinary preparation, and the medicinal usage. The relative frequency of citation index (RFC), a tool that measures the local cultural importance of a plant species, was also included. The folk plants mentioned by the respondents belonged to 33 botanical families, of which the Rosaceae (14 plants) and the Asteraceae (9 plants) were the most representative. The species with the highest RFC index (0.77) were Crepis vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia (Thuill) Thell and Taraxacum officinale Weber. Eleven folk plants were indicated as having therapeutic effects. T. officinale Weber, C. vesicaria subsp. taraxacifolia (Thuill) Thell and Sonchus spp., which are used as food, were reported to be depurative, blood cleaning, refreshing, diuretic and laxative. The most commonly used species was Urtica spp, which was also the most frequently cited for medicinal uses. The present survey documented the wild food plant traditional knowledge of an area belonging to the province of the city of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy). The general perception obtained is that on one side the TLK related to wild food plants has strongly been eroded, mainly due to immigration and urbanization phenomena, whereas on the other side these plants are revaluated today because they are perceived as healthy and also because they represent the preservation of biodiversity and a way of getting back to nature.

3D Architecture and evolution of the Po Plain-Northern Adriatic Foreland basin during Plio-Pleistocene time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amadori, Chiara; Toscani, Giovanni; Ghielmi, Manlio; Maesano, Francesco Emanuele; D'Ambrogi, Chiara; Lombardi, Stefano; Milanesi, Riccardo; Panara, Yuri; Di Giulio, Andrea

2017-04-01

The Pliocene-Pleistocene tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the eastern Po Plain and northern Adriatic Foreland Basin (PPAF) (extended ca. 35,000 km2) was the consequence of severe Northern Apennine compressional activity and climate-driven eustatic changes. According with the 2D seismic interpretation, facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy approach by Ghielmi et al. (2013 and references therein), these tectono-eustatic phases generated six basin-scale unconformities referred as Base Pliocene (PL1), Intra-Zanclean (PL2), Intra-Piacenzian (PL3), Gelasian (PL4), Base Calabrian (PS1) and Late Calabrian (PS2). We present a basin-wide detailed 3D model of the PPAF region, derived from the interpretation of these unconformities in a dense network of seismic lines (ca. 6,000 km) correlated with more than 200 well stratigraphies (courtesy of ENI E&P). The initial 3D time-model has been time-to-depth converted using the 3D velocity model created with Vel-IO 3D, a tool for 3D depth conversions and then validated and integrated with depth domain dataset from bibliography and well log. Resultant isobath and isopach maps are produced to inspect step-by-step the basin paleogeographic evolution; it occurred through alternating stages of simple and fragmented foredeeps. Changes in the basin geometry through time, from the inner sector located in the Emilia-Romagna Apennines to the outermost region (Veneto and northern Adriatic Sea), were marked by repeated phases of outward migration of two large deep depocenters located in front of Emilia arcs on the west, and in front of Ferrara-Romagna thrusts on the east. During late Pliocene-early Pleistocene, the inner side of the Emilia-Romagna arcs evolved into an elongated deep thrust-top basin due to a strong foredeep fragmentation then, an overall tectono-stratigraphic analysis shows also a decreasing trend of tectonic intensity of the Northern Apennine since Pleistocene until present.

A procedure for the sensory evaluation of Salama da sugo, a typical fermented sausage produced in the Emilia Romagna Region, Italy.

PubMed

Coloretti, Fabio; Grazia, Luigi; Gardini, Fausto; Lanciotti, Rosalba; Montanari, Chiara; Tabanelli, Giulia; Chiavari, Cristiana

2015-03-30

Salama da sugo is a fermented sausage from the Ferrara tradition (Italy, Emilia-Romagna region), subjected to a long ripening period (4-6 months) and characterised by a high content of wine and spices in the mixture. It can be consumed after cooking and it is served with its sugo, i.e. the liquid extracted by cooking process. The aim of this work was to set up a method for the sensory profile of Salama da sugo as a request for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) has been made to the European Commission. A system of sample preparation that provides for the precooking in an autoclave and cooking in boiling water was set up. A specific sheet for sensory evaluation of Salama da sugo has been created and reports 23 descriptors identified during the lexicon development. The differences in sensory profile of four samples were evaluated and principal component analysis highlighted the more discriminant parameters, i.e. odour intensity, wine odour, spicy aroma, fat/lean connection, sweet, bitter, juiciness, chewiness and pricking. The proposed method allows the standardisation of sensory profiling of Salama da sugo, and is also to verify compliance with the specification PGI. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

[Environmental surveillance of a sample of indoor swimming pools from Emilia Romagna region: microclimate characteristics and chemical parameters, particularly disinfection by products, in pool waters].

PubMed

Fantuzzi, G; Righi, E; Predieri, G; Giacobazzi, P; Mastroianni, K; Aggazzotti, G

2010-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the environmental and healthy aspects from a representative sample of indoor swimming pools located in the Emilia Romagna region. During the sampling sessions, the occupational environment was evaluated in terms of microclimate parameters and thermal comfort/discomfort conditions. Moreover the chemical risk was assessed by analyzing from the pool water the presence of disinfection by-products (DBPs), such as: trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), chlorite, chlorate and bromate. The analytical results are in agreement with the Italian legislation (Accordo Stato-Regioni; 2003) even if in some of the sampled indoor swimming pools, the dosed combined chlorine levels, were greater than the Italian limit. With the regard to the microclimate conditions evaluation, the considered thermal indices, Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD%), described a satisfactory occupational environment. Among DBPs, the THMs mean levels (41.4 +/- 30.0 microg/l) resulted close to the values of the current Italian drinking water legislation, and seem to not represent an health issue. The pool waters chlorate levels (range: 5 - 19537 microg/l) need further investigations as recent epidemiological studies on drinking water hypothesized a potential genotoxicity effect of these compounds which are involved in cellular oxidative processes.

[ASCUS in screening].

PubMed

Caprara, L; Monari, F; De Bianchi, P S; Amadori, A; Bondi, A

2001-12-01

The significance and use of the cytological diagnosis "atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance" (ASCUS) remain a major problem in cervical cancer screening. The prevalence of ASCUS by patient age has seldom been investigated. The present paper reports the prevalence of ASCUS in a large series of screening Pap smears from the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. The study was based on the data collected by the Department of Health of the Emilia-Romagna Region for the first 3-year round (1997-1999) of a population-based screening programme (target age, 25-64 years). The age-specific frequency of ASCUS has been calculated as a prevalence rate per 1000 screened patients. A total of 597,386 women participated in the programme. Women diagnosed with ASCUS (n = 8205 or 13.7 per 1000) accounted for 49% of the recalls for colposcopy (n = 16,871, or 28.2 per 1000). The prevalence of diagnoses of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LG-SIL) decreased progressively with age while that of high-grade SIL was slightly higher between 30 and 39 years. The prevalence of ASCUS peaked at age 45-49 years (17.3 per 1000 subjects). The observed peak reflects the prevalence of (1) cytological changes closely associated with perimenopausal age and at least compatible with the ASCUS diagnosis, and (2) cytological abnormalities induced by hormone replacement therapy.

Europe/Latin America Report Science and Technology Italian Research Council: 1986 Status Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-01-14

reductions), by Emilia Romagna (subject to erratic changes), by Lazio and Lombardy (relatively stable) and by Tuscany (with constant increases...those of Calabria, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Liguria, Piedmont, Sardinia, Sicily and Tuscany), as well as with public and private organizations and...Calabria, Reggio Calabria Campania Naples, Salerno Molise University of Molise Puglia Bari, Lecce Sardinia Cagliari, Sassari Sicily Catania

[Census 2004 of the Italian Renal and Dialysis Units. Emilia-Romagna, Toscana].

PubMed

Lusenti, T; Santoro, A; Cappelli, G; Cagnoli, L; Moriconi, L; Rindi, P; Lippi, A; Alloatti, S

2006-01-01

The 2004 SIN census of the Italian nephrology and dialysis centres showed many interesting data about the epidemiology and the organization in the Regions of Emilia-Romagna (ER) and Tuscany (T). A) Epidemiology: incidence of dialysis patients 169 pmp (patients per million population) in ER, 147 ppm in T; prevalence of dialysis patients 639 pmp and 665 pmp, respectively; prevalence of transplanted patients 325 ppm in ER and 233 pmp in T; gross mortality of dialysis patients 16.3% and 13.4%, respectively; B) Type of vascular access in prevalently dialysis patients: arteriovenous fistula 83% and 78%; central venous catheter 13% and 12%; vascular graft 5% and 9%. C) Structural resources: nephrology beds 44 mp (per million population) and 50 mp; dialysis places 157 and 146 mp. D) Personnel resources : renal physicians 29 and 41 mp; renal nurses 171 and 202 mp ; each renal physician cares for 22 and 16 dialysis patients, and each renal nurse takes care of 3.7 and 3.3 dialysis patients. E) Activity: hospital admissions 1572, 1769 pmp; renal biopsies 115 and 166 pmp.

Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) in children and adolescents of immigrated families in Emilia-Romagna (Italy).

PubMed

Banin, Patrizia; Rimondi, Fiorenza; De Togni, Aldo; Cantoni, Stefano; Chiari, Giovanni; Iughetti, Lorenzo; Salardi, Silvana; Zucchini, Stefano; Marsciani, Alberto; Suprani, Tosca; Tarchini, Luis; Tozzola, Anna; Xella, Rossella; Marsella, Maria; De Sanctis, Vincenzo

2010-12-01

The etiology and natural history of T1DM are still unknown but certainly both genetics and environmental factors contribute to the development of the disease. Migration studies are an important tool to better understand the role of the environment. The aim of this study was to investigate some variables in diabetic children of immigrant families living in Emilia-Romagna compared with Italian diabetic children living in the same region. We recruited 73 diabetic children from immigrant families and 707 Italian diabetic children. All children were cared by Pediatric Diabetes Units of Emilia-Romagna (10 centers). The investigated variables were: gender, current age, place of birth, parents' country of origin, age at diagnosis, HbA1c and insulin regimen. No significant difference with reference to gender neither among the two ethnic groups, nor in the current mean age was observed. Mean age at diagnosis in the Italian children was lower than in immigrant patients born outside Italy--group A- (7.4 vs. 9.6, p < 0.000) and higher compared to those born in Italy--group B- (7.4 vs. 5.7 p < 0.003; A vs. B p < 0.000). The immigrant patients showed higher mean HbA1c than Italian patients (8.8 vs. 8.2, p < 0.009). A younger age at diagnosis of T1DM in immigrant children, born in Italy compared with those born in the country of origin, and with Italian patients, suggests the existence of some environmental determinants acquired with a more westernised lifestyle. Immigrant children have significantly poorer metabolic control compared with western patients. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Wide recognition of Culex pipiens and lack of detection of Culex torrentium through biomolecular differentiation of mosquitoes in the Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy.

PubMed

Calzolari, M; Bonilauri, P; Bellini, R; Becker, S; Dottori, M

2016-12-01

The Culex pipiens complex includes species with reported differences in vector competence for arthropod-borne viruses, many of which are of significant importance to human health such as the West Nile virus and the Sindbis virus. This group of mosquitoes is difficult to distinguish morphologically; particularly as adult females. In Europe, the two species of the complex, Culex pipiens Linnaeus 1758 and Culex torrentium Martini 1925, are often found sympatrically. With the aim to characterize the presence and spread of both species in the Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy, mosquitoes of the complex - collected during the West Nile virus surveillance plans - were tested by multiplex real-time PCR for the detection of the two species Cx. pipiens and Cx. torrentium. A total of 24 165 mosquitoes, collected between 2012 and 2014 from 105 sites, and sorted in 204 pools, were tested. All tested pools were found to be composed of Cx. pipiens, whereas Cx. torrentium was not detected. These results indicate a likely absence of Cx. torrentium mosquitoes within the surveyed territory, whereas Cx. pipiens is widely distributed in the area mentioned. This is in line with previous reports, which describe a pre-alpine distribution of Cx. torrentium in Italy. © 2016 The Royal Entomological Society.

Survey on antimicrobial prescribing patterns in small animal veterinary practice in Emilia Romagna, Italy.

PubMed

Barbarossa, A; Rambaldi, J; Miraglia, V; Giunti, M; Diegoli, G; Zaghini, A

2017-07-15

This investigation provides for the first time a general view of the prescribing patterns of antimicrobials in small animal practice in Emilia Romagna, Italy. In the context of a project on antimicrobial resistance managed by the Regional Veterinary Service, veterinary clinicians were invited to voluntarily complete an online questionnaire. This was designed to gather information on antimicrobial prescribing practices and biosecurity measures and to understand the perception of the issue specific to this region of Italy. In total, 266 questionnaires correctly completed were collected. Although clinicians seemed to follow different approaches when using antimicrobials, the data analysis revealed a general awareness on resistance. Penicillins were the most commonly prescribed class, followed by (fluoro)quinolones and cephalosporins. Among those who use laboratory testing more or less frequently (microbiological analysis and susceptibility testing) to support their prescribing habits, only 7 per cent make a habit of always waiting for the results before starting the treatment. Seventy-eight per cent of the respondents declared the use of antimicrobials licensed for human beings. Biosecurity measures were carefully taken into account by the majority of the veterinarians. The results identified the antimicrobial classes that are commonly prescribed and highlighted that perioperative hygiene measures and the use of laboratory diagnosis are critical aspects that need to be emphasised in drawing up guidelines on the prudent use of these drugs in pets.

Rumours about the Po Valley earthquakes of 20th and 29th May 2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

La Longa, Federica; Crescimbene, Massimo; Camassi, Romano; Nostro, Concetta

2013-04-01

The history of rumours is as old as human history. Even in remote antiquity, rumours, gossip and hoax were always in circulation - in good or bad faith - to influence human affairs. Today with the development of mass media, rise of the internet and social networks, rumours are ubiquitous. The earthquakes, because of their characteristics of strong emotional impact and unpredictability, are among the natural events that more cause the birth and the spread of rumours. For this reason earthquakes that occurred in the Po valley the 20th and 29th May 2012 generated and still continue to generate a wide variety of rumours regarding issues related to the earthquake, its effects, the possible causes, future predictions. For this reason, as occurred during the L'Aquila earthquake sequence in 2009, following the events of May 2012 in Emilia Romagna was created a complex initiative training and information that at various stages between May and September 2012, involved population, partly present in the camp, and then the school staff of the municipalities affected by the earthquake. This experience has been organized and managed by the Department of Civil Protection (DPC), the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), the Emilia Romagna region in collaboration with the Network of University Laboratories for Earthquake Engineering (RELUIS), the Health Service Emilia Romagna Regional and voluntary organizations of civil protection in the area. Within this initiative, in the period June-September 2012 were collected and catalogued over 240 rumours. In this work rumours of the Po Valley are studied in their specific characteristics and strategies and methods to fight them are also discussed. This work of collection and discussion of the rumours was particularly important to promote good communication strategies and to fight the spreading of the rumours. Only in this way it was possible to create a full intervention able to supporting both the local institutions and the individuals involved to adequately address the emergence and management of organizational problems and social issues related to the earthquake.

A method to identify the areas at risk for the introduction of avian influenza virus into poultry flocks through direct contact with wild ducks.

PubMed

Galletti, G; Santi, A; Guberti, V; Paternoster, G; Licata, E; Loli Piccolomini, L; Procopio, A; Tamba, M

2018-02-22

Wild dabbling ducks are the main reservoir for avian influenza (AI) viruses and pose an ongoing threat to commercial poultry flocks. Combining the (i) size of that population, (ii) their flight distances and (iii) their AI prevalence, the density of AI-infected dabbling ducks (DID) was calculated as a risk factor for the introduction of AI viruses into poultry holdings of Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy. Data on 747 poultry holdings and on 39 AI primary outbreaks notified in Emilia-Romagna between 2000 and 2017 were used to validate that risk factor. A multivariable Bayesian logistic regression was performed to assess whether DID could be associated with the occurrence of AI primary outbreaks. DID value, being an outdoor flock, hobby poultry trading, species reared, length of cycle and flock size were used as explanatory variables. Being an outdoor poultry flock was significantly associated with a higher risk of AI outbreak occurrence. The probability of DID to be a risk factor for AI virus introduction was estimated to be 90%. A DID cut-off of 0.23 was identified to define high-risk areas for AI virus introduction. Using this value, the high-risk area covers 43% of the region. Seventy-four per cent of the primary AI outbreaks have occurred in that area, containing 39% of the regional poultry holdings. Poultry holdings located in areas with a high DID value should be included in a risk-based surveillance programme aimed at AI early detection. © 2018 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Plan for the control of Legionella infections in long-term care facilities: role of environmental monitoring.

PubMed

Cristino, Sandra; Legnani, Pier Paolo; Leoni, Erica

2012-04-01

In accordance with the international and national guidelines, the Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy) has established regional guidelines for the surveillance and prevention of legionellosis based on the concept of risk assessment, with particular attention to environmental monitoring. The aim of this study was to verify how environmental surveillance in the context of risk assessment plans could help to guide decisions about preventive strategies against Legionella infections in Long Term Care Facilities (LTCF). In six LTCFs in the city of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna Region) a self-control plan was implemented that included the environmental monitoring of Legionella spp. and the surveillance of hospital-acquired Legionnaires' Disease. At baseline, four hot water systems were colonized by Legionella pneumophila (3 LCTFs) and Legionella londiniensis (1 LCTF). In each establishment specific control measures were adopted based on the characteristics of the system, the virulence of the strain and the level of the contamination. The monitoring, carried out for around two years, was also extended to the ways in which the system and the distal water distribution points were used and maintained with respect to the good practices in operation and management. The adopted actions (shock and/or continuous disinfection treatments) and the implementation of the good practice measures reduced the contamination to acceptable and stable levels. No cases of hospital-acquired legionellosis occurred during the period of study. The environmental surveillance was successful in evaluating the risk and identifying the most suitable preventive strategies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Vertical integration and contractual network in the cardiovascular sector: the experience of the Italian region Emilia Romagna

PubMed Central

Ugolini, Cristina; Nobilio, Lucia

2003-01-01

Abstract Objective We analysed the integrated planning model adopted by the Italian region Emilia Romagna in year 2000 to cover the entire range of treatment of cardiovascular disease. This model, called “hub and spoke”, provides for the transfer of patient care and treatment from peripheral units (the spokes) to central units (the hubs) once a certain complexity threshold has been reached. Methods We examined inter-temporal variations in patients flows for the selection/referral and follow-up phases between cardiac surgery and cardiology units during two periods characterised by different organisational set-ups, in order to reflect on the progress being made in the organisation of the network. The database consisted of regional records of hospital discharges during the 1997–2001 period. Results The investigation pointed to the achievement of a good degree of coordination between structures at different levels of specialisation in the case of cardiac surgery, for which six centres were selected already in 1996. On the other hand, the more recent introduction of a hierarchical system for interventional cardiology points to the prevalence of operations on patients previously treated within the same centre, to admissions by direct access, and to follow-up mainly conducted within the hub providing the initial service. Conclusions Despite the progress made towards the more effective rationalisation of the health care network, there is still room for improvement in relations between different centres, in particular with regard to the clearer definition of the roles and interdependence of those intermediate-level centres located between the hub centres and basic healthcare facilities. PMID:16896380

Vertical integration and contractual network in the cardiovascular sector: the experience of the Italian region Emilia Romagna.

PubMed

Ugolini, Cristina; Nobilio, Lucia

2003-01-01

We analysed the integrated planning model adopted by the Italian region Emilia Romagna in year 2000 to cover the entire range of treatment of cardiovascular disease. This model, called "hub and spoke", provides for the transfer of patient care and treatment from peripheral units (the spokes) to central units (the hubs) once a certain complexity threshold has been reached. We examined inter-temporal variations in patients flows for the selection/referral and follow-up phases between cardiac surgery and cardiology units during two periods characterised by different organisational set-ups, in order to reflect on the progress being made in the organisation of the network. The database consisted of regional records of hospital discharges during the 1997-2001 period. The investigation pointed to the achievement of a good degree of coordination between structures at different levels of specialisation in the case of cardiac surgery, for which six centres were selected already in 1996. On the other hand, the more recent introduction of a hierarchical system for interventional cardiology points to the prevalence of operations on patients previously treated within the same centre, to admissions by direct access, and to follow-up mainly conducted within the hub providing the initial service. Despite the progress made towards the more effective rationalisation of the health care network, there is still room for improvement in relations between different centres, in particular with regard to the clearer definition of the roles and interdependence of those intermediate-level centres located between the hub centres and basic healthcare facilities.

Sensitivity of sea-level forecasting to the horizontal resolution and sea surface forcing for different configurations of an oceanographic model of the Adriatic Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bressan, Lidia; Valentini, Andrea; Paccagnella, Tiziana; Montani, Andrea; Marsigli, Chiara; Stefania Tesini, Maria

2017-04-01

At the Hydro-meteo-climate service of the Regional environmental agency of Emilia-Romagna, Italy (Arpae-SIMC), the oceanographic numerical model AdriaROMS is used in the operational forecasting suite to compute sea level, temperature, salinity and 3-D current fields of the Adriatic Sea (northern Mediterranean Sea). In order to evaluate the performance of the sea-level forecast and to study different configurations of the ROMS model, two marine storms occurred on the Emilia Romagna coast during the winter 2015-2016 are investigated. The main focus of this study is to analyse the sensitivity of the model to the horizontal resolution and to the meteorological forcing. To this end, the model is run with two different configurations and with two horizontal grids at 1 and 2 km resolution. To study the influence of the meteorological forcing, the two storms have been reproduced by running ROMS in ensemble mode, forced by the 16-members of the meteorological ensemble COSMO-LEPS system. Possible optimizations of the model set-up are deduced by the comparison of the different run outputs.

HIV-1 early and late diagnosis in the Emilia Romagna Region (Italy): a three year study.

PubMed

Musumeci, Giuseppina; Magnani, Giacomo; Bon, Isabella; Longo, Serena; Bertoldi, Alessia; Degli Antoni, Anna Maria; Rossi, Maria Rita; Ruggeri, Alessandro; Sambri, Vittorio; Semprini, Simona; Sighinolfi, Laura; Ursitti, Maria Alessandra; Zerbini, Alessandro; Colangeli, Vincenzo; Calza, Leonardo; Finarelli, Alba Carola; Massimiliani, Erika; Re, Maria Carla

2016-10-01

It is crucial to establish the timing of infection and distinguish between early and long-lasting HIV-1 infections not only for partner notification and epidemiological surveillance, but also to offer early drug treatment and contain the spread of infection. This study analyzed serum and/or plasma samples with a first positive HIV antibody/antigen result coming from different Medical Centers in the Emilia Romagna Region, North East Italy, using the avidity assay, Western Blotting, RNA viral load, CD4 cell counts and genotyping assay. From May 2013 to May 2016, we certified 845 new HIV-1 infections, 18.7% of which were classified on the basis of avidity index as recent infections and 81.3% as long-lasting infections, with an estimated conversion time exceeding six months at the time of study. Western Blotting showed reactivity to only one or two HIV-1 proteins in recently infected patients (RIPs), while a complete pattern to gag, env and pol proteins was observed in most long-lasting infected patients (LLIPs). The median age, gender, nationality and risk transmission factors were comparable in RIPs and LLIPs. Phylogenetic analysis performed in available plasma disclosed B strains, non-B subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) in both groups of patients, with a major presence of CRFs in non-Italian HIV subjects. The large number of patients unaware of their HIV status makes it crucial to discover hidden epidemics and implement appropriate targeted public health interventions.

Climate warming and the decline of Taxus airborne pollen in urban pollen rain (Emilia Romagna, northern Italy).

PubMed

Mercuri, A M; Torri, P; Casini, E; Olmi, L

2013-01-01

Woody plant performance in a changing global environment has always been at the centre of palaeoenvironmental and long-term climate reconstructions carried out by means of pollen analysis. In Mediterranean regions, Taxus constitutes the highest percentage in past pollen diagrams from cold or cool periods, and therefore it is generally considered a good index to infer climate features from past records. However, a comparison of these inferences with the true current trends in pollen production has not been attemped until now. This study reports the decline of airborne pollen of Taxus observed in Emilia Romagna, a region of northern Italy, during the period 1990-2007. Phenological observations on four male specimens and microscopic examination of fresh pollen were made in order to check Taxus flowering time and pollen morphology. Airborne pollen was monitored through continuous sampling with a Hirst volumetric sampler. In the 18-year long period of investigation, Taxus pollen production has decreased, while total woody pollen abundance in air has increased. The trend of the Taxus pollen season shows a delay at the beginning, a shortening of the pollen period, and an advance of the end of the pollen season. This was interpreted as a response to climate warming. In particular, Taxus follows the behaviour of winter-flowering plants, and therefore earlier pollination is favoured at low autumn temperatures, while late pollination occurs more often, most likely after warm autumn temperatures. © 2012 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

A comparative study of the risk profile of hemodialysis patients in a for profit network and in two regional registries of the Italian Society of Nephrology.

PubMed

Postorino, Maurizio; Amato, Claudia; Mancini, Elena; Carioni, Paola; D'Arrigo, Graziella; Di Benedetto, Attilio; Cerino, Fabrizio; Marino, Carmela; Vilasi, Antonio; Tripepi, Giovanni; Stuard, Stefano; Capasso, Giovanbattista; Santoro, Antonio; Zoccali, Carmine

2018-02-01

In 2013, the Italian Society of Nephrology joined forces with Nephrocare-Italy to create a clinical research cohort of patients on file in the data-rich clinical management system (EUCLID) of this organization for the performance of observational studies in the hemodialysis (HD) population. To see whether patients in EUCLID are representative of the HD population in Italy, we set out to compare the whole EUCLID population with patients included in the regional HD registries in Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) and in Calabria (Southern Italy), the sole regions in Italy which have systematically collected an enlarged clinical data set allowing comparison with the data-rich EUCLID system. An analysis of prevalent and incident patients in 2010 and 2011 showed that EUCLID patients had a lower prevalence of coronary heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease, liver disease, peptic ulcer and other comorbidities and risk factors and a higher fractional urea clearance (Kt/V) than those in the Emilia Romagna and Calabria registries. Accordingly, survival analysis showed a lower mortality risk in the EUCLID 2010 and 2011 cohorts than in the combined two regional registries in the corresponding years: for 2010, hazard ratio (HR) EUCLID vs. Regional registries: 0.80 [95% confidence interval: 0.71-0.90]; for 2011, HR: 0.76 [0.65-0.90]. However, this difference was nullified by statistical adjustment for the difference in comorbidities and risk factors, indicating that the longer survival in the EUCLID database was attributable to the lower risk profile of patients included in that database. This preliminary analysis sets the stage for future observational studies and indicates that appropriate adjustment for difference in comorbidities and risk factors is needed to generalize to the Italian HD population analyses based on the data-rich EUCLID database.

Cross-correlation analysis of 2012-2014 seismic events in Central-Northern Italy: insights from the geochemical monitoring network of Tuscany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pierotti, Lisa; Facca, Gianluca; Gherardi, Fabrizio

2015-04-01

Since late 2002, a geochemical monitoring network is operating in Tuscany, Central Italy, to collect data and possibly identify geochemical anomalies that characteristically occur before regionally significant (i.e. with magnitude > 3) seismic events. The network currently consists of 6 stations located in areas already investigated in detail for their geological setting, hydrogeological and geochemical background and boundary conditions. All these stations are equipped for remote, continuous monitoring of selected physicochemical parameters (temperature, pH, redox potential, electrical conductivity), and dissolved concentrations of CO2 and CH4. Additional information are obtained through in situ discrete monitoring. Field surveys are periodically performed to guarantee maintenance and performance control of the sensors of the automatic stations, and to collect water samples for the determination of the chemical and stable isotope composition of all the springs investigated for seismic precursors. Geochemical continuous signals are numerically processed to remove outliers, monitoring errors and aseismic effects from seasonal and climatic fluctuations. The elaboration of smoothed, long-term time series (more than 200000 data available today for each station) allows for a relatively accurate definition of geochemical background values. Geochemical values out of the two-sigma relative standard deviation domain are inspected as possible indicators of physicochemical changes related to regional seismic activity. Starting on November 2011, four stations of the Tuscany network located in two separate mountainous areas of Northern Apennines separating Tuscany from Emilia-Romagna region (Equi Terme and Gallicano), and Tuscany from Emilia-Romagna and Umbria regions (Vicchio and Caprese Michelangelo), started to register anomalous values in pH and CO2 partial pressure (PCO2). Cross-correlation analysis indicates an apparent relationship between the most important seismic events (magnitude >3 up to 5.4) experienced in the Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Umbria regions during the period 2012-2014, and these geochemical anomalies. Changes in pH (decreasing) and PCO2 (increasing) are generally observed from a few months to a few weeks before the main shock. This trend has been recognized for the Parma quake of 27 January 2012 (M = 5.4), for the Pieve Fosciana quake of 13 January 2013 (M = 4.8), for the Garfagnana-Lunigiana seismic sequence started June 21, 2013 (Mmax = 5.2), for the Montefeltro seismic sequence started July 11, 2013 (Mmax = 3.9), for the Gubbio seismic sequences of July and December 2013 (Mmax = 3.9), for the Città di Castello seismic sequences of April 2013 and December 2013 (Mmax = 3.9), for the Casentino seismic sequence started October 17, 2014 (Mmax = 3.5), and for the Chianti seismic sequence started December 19, 2014 (Mmax = 4.1). These features suggest that the selected mineral springs can be considered as appropriate sites for the search of geochemical earthquake precursors. Further investigations focused on in-depth analysis of signals are currently in progress.

Screening history of cervical cancers in Emilia-Romagna, Italy: defining priorities to improve cervical cancer screening.

PubMed

Rossi, Paolo Giorgi; Caroli, Stefania; Mancini, Silvia; de' Bianchi, Priscilla Sassoli; Finarelli, Alba C; Naldoni, Carlo; Bucchi, Lauro; Falcini, Fabio

2015-03-01

Most invasive cervical cancers in industrialized countries are due to the lack of Pap test coverage, very few are due to screening failures. This study aimed at quantifying the proportion of invasive cancers occurring in nonscreened or underscreened women and that in women with a previous negative screening, that is, screening failure, during the first two screening rounds (1996-2002) and in the following rounds (2003-2008) in the Emilia-Romagna region. All cases of invasive cancers registered in the regional cancer registry between 1996 and 2008 were classified according to screening history through a record linkage with the screening programme registry. The incidence significantly decreased from 11.6/100 000 to 8.7/100 000; this decrease is due to a reduction in squamous cell cancers (annual percentage change -6.2; confidence interval: -7.8, -4.6) and advanced cancers (annual percentage change -6.6; confidence interval: -8.8, -4.3), whereas adenocarcinomas and microinvasive cancers were essentially stable. The proportion of cancers among women not yet invited and among nonresponders decreased over the two periods, from 45.5 to 33.3%. In contrast, the proportion of women with a previous negative Pap test less than 5 years and 5 years or more before cancer incidence increased from 5.7 to 13.3% and from 0.3 to 5.5%, respectively. Although nonattendance of the screening programme remains the main barrier to cervical cancer control, the introduction of a more sensitive test, such as the human papillomavirus DNA test, could significantly reduce the burden of disease.

Phenological series in Bologna (Northern Italy): temporal trends and spatial pattern of greening

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puppi, Giovanna; Zanotti, Anna Letizia

2010-05-01

In Europe, in the last thirty years, the onset of spring has advanced (Estrella et al. 2009 Clim Res. 39). However the phenological shifts vary from one country to another and long time series are scanty in Southern Europe (Peňuelas et. al. 2002, Glob. Change Biol.; Črepinšek et Kajfež 2003, Ann.Ser.Hist.Nat.13): for this reason we analyzed the data on leafing of some woody species recorded during the last 3 decades (1977-2009) in the city of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy) and in several hillside stations in the neighbourhood of the town. As BGS index, the average day of "first leaf unfolding" (GFI=V4, BBCH=11) of a group of common woody species was chosen: the BGS days were analysed in relation with time and temperature changes. The BGS happens on average at the end of March. The species observed display a negative trend along the period (about 2 days of advance per decade) and the BGS days show a significant correlation with the mean temperature of the period January-March (about 3 and a half days of earlier start per degree of increasing temperature). Since an increase in winter temperatures has been predicted in the Emilia-Romagna region in the next decades (Tomozeiu et al. 2007, Theor. Appl. Climatol. 90), the growing season in our region is probably going to extend. Phenological spatial patterns of the neighbourhood of the city are also analysed: greening generally starts on southfacing hills between 100 and 300 m asl.

AIDS as a leading cause of death among young adults in Italy.

PubMed

Conti, S; Farchi, G; Prati, S

1994-12-01

The objective of this study is to describe the impact of AIDS on the mortality of young adult (aged 25 to 44 years) in Italy, at both the national and regional level. We analyzed the official mortality data for Italy: the most recent data available being from 1990. General mortality trends show that while mortality among young women is still decreasing (i.e. from a standardized rate of 83.8 per 100,000 in 1980 to 68.4 in 1990), mortality among young men began to rise in the mid-1980s, after a steady decrease over many years. Among the 25-34 year olds, however, this reversal in trend is more marked, notwithstanding a decrease or stabilization in most major causes of death. In fact it coincides with the appearance and spread of AIDS in Italy, which has affected young men in particular. (The peak age group for AIDS deaths is the 25-34 year olds). Mortality data from 1990 reveal that AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death in Italy among men between the ages of 25 and 44 years. Among 25-34 year-old men, however, AIDS is the second leading cause of death, after road accidents. AIDS also contributes greatly to the general mortality in individual regions, both among 25-44 year-old men (Lombardy, Liguria, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany), and especially among 25-34 year-old men (Lombardy, Liguria, Lazio, Sardinia, where it is the number one cause of death, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, and Veneto, where it is the number two cause of death).

[The workplace-based learning: a main paradigm of an effective continuing medical education].

PubMed

Lelli, Maria Barbara

2010-01-01

On the strength of the literature analysis and the Emilia-Romagna Region experience, we suggest a reflection on the workplace-based learning that goes beyond the analysis of the effectiveness of specific didactic methodologies and aspects related to Continuing Medical Education. Health education and training issue is viewed from a wider perspective, that integrates the three learning dimensions (formal, non formal and informal). In such a perspective the workplace-based learning becomes an essential paradigm to reshape the explicit knowledge conveyed in formal context and to emphasize informal contexts where innovation is generated.

ELF signals from the Central Italy Electromagnetic Network (CIEN) at the time of the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fidani, Cristiano

2013-04-01

A network devoted to a continuous monitoring of LF, VLF transmitters and ELF signals was set up in Central Italy, and has been operating since 2006, which is currently composed of 9 stations in 9 different Italian cities. From the beginning of 2012, improvements have been carried out on the stability of CIEN by updating all the stations with UPS and web connections. Moreover, a reduction in the amount of data stored was performed so to permit a real time monitoring of the network by web. Specifically, a 100kb/day was fixed to record the VLF power spectra intervals around the transmitter frequencies every 5 minutes. Similarly, a 600kb/day was fixed to record the ELF power spectra intervals, which was logarithmic spaced in frequency every 5 seconds. Furthermore, different physical measurements at each CIEN site have been recently initiated to better understand the sources of some signals. In order to do so, the Fermo and Torre Pellice stations have been equipped with Geiger counters to monitor atmospheric radioactivity, underground thermometers, as well as meteorological stations to record atmospheric temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, along with atmospheric pressure and rainfall. The Torre Pellice Station had already been equipped with a magnetometer, a Radon-meter and a compass to check the direction of the geomagnetic field. The Chieti station had already been equipped with a magnetometer and an underground current detector. The Perugia and Rieti stations had already been equipped with seismometers and a network to capture transient luminous phenomena in the atmosphere. On May 20th and 29th 2012, two strong earthquakes struck the Emilia-Romagna Region with a magnitude M=5.9 and M=5.8, respectively. The earthquakes caused 27 fatal causalities and significant ground failures. The observations relative to this seismic period were investigated relative to their ELF band electric fields. Observations were thoroughly analysed from the Zocca station, the closest (50km) CIEN monitoring station to the Emilia-Romagna epicenter. Date from other stations were examined to reveal any possible differences. Many horizontal electric oscillations from April 1 - June 30, 2012, were seen. Most of these appeared at the time of rainfalls, which were revealed by the Zocca station on the same days. Electric oscillations under 100 Hz appeared from May 10 - 11, 2012, when there was no recorded meteorological activity. On May 26, 2012, strong ELF oscillations occurred at the Zocca station. This station had not detected ELF horizontal oscillations for many years prior to Emilia-Romagna seismic events in May 2012. Whereas, signals were revealed in mid-April 2012 and increased in number and intensity around the dates of the quakes.

[Mortality study in a cohort of workers employed in the hot working processing of plastics and rubber].

PubMed

Gerosa, Alberto; Scarnato, Corrado; Marchesini, Bruno; Ietri, Evi; Pavone, Venere Leda Mara

2017-01-01

to study mortality rates among workers in companies manufacturing thermoplastic and rubber articles (excluding tyres). cohort study. the cohort includes 4,543 workers employed up to 2000 in 131 companies in the Province of Bologna (Emilia-Romagna Region, Northern Italy) exposed to emissions from hot processing of plastics (3,937) and rubber (606). general- and cause-specific Standardized Mortality Rates (SMR), with 95% confidence intervals; entire reference population resides in the Emilia-Romagna Region. excess mortality for all causes (116 Obs; SMR: 1.20; 95%CI 1.00-1.44) and for lung cancer (18 Obs; SMR: 1.67; 95%CI 1.05-2.65) in men of the rubber factories. Increased mortality rates for oesophageal cancers in women (3 Obs; SMR: 5.41; 95%CI 1.74-16.8) and in men (6 Obs; SMR: 2.16; 95%CI 0.97-4.81), for malignant tumours of pancreas (16 Obs; SMR: 1.65; 95%CI 1.01- 2.70), rectum (11 Obs; SMR: 2.17; 95%CI 1.20-3.92) and kidney (11 Obs; SMR: 1.98; 95%CI 1.10-3.58) in men occupied in plastic processing. in this study, we observed an excess of mortality rates for lung cancer in men of rubber factories and for malignant tumours of the digestive tract, pancreas, and kidney in workers employed in the production of plastic articles. Nevertheless, these results must be interpreted with caution, because exposures to non-occupational risk factors, like tobacco smoke or other occupational exposures outside the companies concerned, are not known. The results suggest to continue epidemiological surveillance.

Cancer incidence and mortality in the province of Ferrara 1989-1990.

PubMed

Ferretti, S; Tassinari, D; Albonico, G; Nenci, I

1995-01-01

Mortality data have clearly highlighted the province of Ferrara as an area with a particular distribution of tumors strictly related with environmental factors. The project of a tumor registry has been planned for a better description of cancer incidence and for a deeper insight into etiologic factors, considering the typical features of the province from geographic and occupational points of view. This study presents the registration results of the first 2 years, in order to verify the quality level of data recruitment and to confirm that observed in previous studies. The population covered by the registry was 151,968 males and 165,835 females, with high representation of the elderly. In this period 2,087 tumors in men and 1,778 in women were observed. Lung cancer reaches one of the highest levels in Italy, according to that observed in Lombardy and Veneto regions and the northern Adriatic coast. Incidence and mortality are, however, significantly higher than in other Emilia-Romagna areas, as pointed out by the registries of Parma, Modena and Forii. Colon cancer also presents high frequencies in comparison with neighboring areas, whereas non-Hodgkin lymphomas reach the highest level in Italy. Gastric tumors, although well represented in males and females, show lower levels than the high-risk neighboring Romagna region. In women, a low incidence of cervix uteri-tumors and high levels of breast cancer have also been observed. The distribution of such neoplasms and the differences observed among neighboring areas deserve further analytical studies, with the aim of a better reading of cancer onset and diffusion. The quality of data obtained (about 70% of histocytologic confirmations, and 5% of "final" death-certificate-only cases), appears to reach satisfying levels, considering the starting phase of the registry.

Prescribing of Antidiabetic Medicines before, during and after Pregnancy: A Study in Seven European Regions.

PubMed

Charlton, Rachel A; Klungsøyr, Kari; Neville, Amanda J; Jordan, Sue; Pierini, Anna; de Jong-van den Berg, Lolkje T W; Bos, H Jens; Puccini, Aurora; Engeland, Anders; Gini, Rosa; Davies, Gareth; Thayer, Daniel; Hansen, Anne V; Morgan, Margery; Wang, Hao; McGrogan, Anita; Nybo Andersen, Anne-Marie; Dolk, Helen; Garne, Ester

2016-01-01

To explore antidiabetic medicine prescribing to women before, during and after pregnancy in different regions of Europe. A common protocol was implemented across seven databases in Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Italy (Emilia Romagna/Tuscany), Wales and the rest of the UK. Women with a pregnancy starting and ending between 2004 and 2010, (Denmark, 2004-2009; Norway, 2005-2010; Emilia Romagna, 2008-2010), which ended in a live or stillbirth, were identified. Prescriptions for antidiabetic medicines issued (UK) or dispensed (non-UK) during pregnancy and/or the year before or year after pregnancy were identified. Prescribing patterns were compared across databases and over calendar time. 1,082,673 live/stillbirths were identified. Pregestational insulin prescribing during the year before pregnancy ranged from 0.27% (CI95 0.25-0.30) in Tuscany to 0.45% (CI95 0.43-0.47) in Norway, and increased between 2004 and 2009 in all countries. During pregnancy, insulin prescribing peaked during the third trimester and increased over time; third trimester prescribing was highest in Tuscany (2.2%) and lowest in Denmark (0.5%). Of those prescribed an insulin during pregnancy, between 50.5% in Denmark and 88.8% in the Netherlands received an insulin analogue alone or in combination with human insulin, this proportion increasing over time. Oral products were mainly metformin and prescribing was highest in the 3 months before pregnancy. Metformin use during pregnancy increased in some countries. Pregestational diabetes is increasing in many areas of Europe. There is considerable variation between and within countries in the choice of medication for treating pregestational diabetes in pregnancy, including choice of insulin analogues and oral antidiabetics, and very large variation in the treatment of gestational diabetes despite international guidelines.

First Multi-Year Retrospective Study on Vibrio Parhaemolyticus and Vibrio Vulnificus Prevalence in Ruditapes Philippinarum Harvested in Sacca Di Goro, Italy.

PubMed

Serratore, Patrizia; Ostanello, Fabio; Passalacqua, Pier Luca; Zavatta, Emanuele; Bignami, Giorgia; Serraino, Andrea; Giacometti, Federica

2016-09-20

The present work describes a retrospective study aiming to verify a possible correlation between the environmental conditions (temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen), the abundance of Vibrio spp., and the prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in the Manila clam R. philippinarum harvested in Sacca di Goro, Emilia-Romagna Region, Northern Italy. On the whole, 104 samples, collected in the period 2007-2015 and submitted to microbiological analyses (isolation and genotyping), have been reconsidered for Vibrio spp. load, V. parahaemolyticus prevalence (total, gene marker toxRP; potentially pathogenic, gene markers tdh and/or trh) and V. vulnificus prevalence (total, gene markers vvh A and hsp) together with environmental data obtained from the monitoring activity of the Emilia-Romagna Regional Agency for the Prevention, the Environment and the Energy. Environmental data have been processed to calculate the median of each, assessing the seasonal range of seawater temperature (warmer months: April-October, T°C >16.45°C; cooler months November-March, T°C <16.45°C), salinity (27 psu), and dissolved oxygen (< or >8.2 mg/L). Total V. vulnificus , total and potentially pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus were present respectively in the 11.5, 29.8 and 6.7% of the samples. The Vibrio spp. load (mean value of 4.69±0.65 log 10 colony forming unit g -1 ) and the prevalence of potentially pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus , were not significantly correlated to the environmental conditions (P>0.05), whereas the prevalence of both total V. vulnificus and total V. parahaemolyticus was significantly higher in the warmer period (P<0.05), without correlation with salinity and dissolved oxygen values (P>0.05).

Copyright for Interactive Systems: Stratagems for Tourism and Cultural Heritage Promotion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cipolla-Ficarra, Francisco V.; Cipolla-Ficarra, Miguel; Ficarra, Valeria M.

We present a series of strategies followed from the interactive design for the realization of a hypermedia system aimed at promoting in an original, simple and universal way the cultural and tourism heritage of a wide rural area in two Italian regions: Emilia Romagna and Lombardy. Besides, the main stratagems followed are disclosed to overcome the existing hurdles when it comes to copyright for the free diffusion of the tourism view of the area, such as can be photography or video, for instance. Finally, we present the first vademecum to be considered before making on-line and off-line interactive systems in Italy.

How health service delivery guides the allocation of major trauma patients in the intensive care units of the inclusive (hub and spoke) trauma system of the Emilia Romagna Region (Italy). A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Chieregato, Arturo; Volpi, Annalisa; Gordini, Giovanni; Ventura, Chiara; Barozzi, Marco; Caspani, Maria Luisa Rita; Fabbri, Andrea; Ferrari, Anna Maria; Ferri, Enrico; Giugni, Aimone; Marino, Massimiliano; Martino, Costanza; Pizzamiglio, Mario; Ravaldini, Maurizio; Russo, Emanuele; Trabucco, Laura; Trombetti, Susanna; De Palma, Rossana

2017-09-29

To evaluate cross-sectional patient distribution and standardised 30-day mortality in the intensive care units (ICU) of an inclusive hub and spoke trauma system. ICUs of the Integrated System for Trauma Patient Care (SIAT) of Emilia-Romagna, an Italian region with a population of approximately 4.5 million. 5300 patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) >15 were admitted to the regional ICUs and recorded in the Regional Severe Trauma Registry between 2007 and 2012. Patients were classified by the Abbreviated Injury Score as follows: (1) traumatic brain injury (2) multiple injuriesand (3) extracranial lesions. The SIATs were divided into those with at least one neurosurgical level II trauma centre (TC) and those with a neurosurgical unit in the level I TC only. A higher proportion of patients (out of all SIAT patients) were admitted to the level I TC at the head of the SIAT with no additional neurosurgical facilities (1083/1472, 73.6%) compared with the level I TCs heading SIATs with neurosurgical level II TCs (1905/3815; 49.9%). A similar percentage of patients were admitted to level I TCs (1905/3815; 49.9%) and neurosurgical level II TCs (1702/3815, 44.6%) in the SIATs with neurosurgical level II TCs. Observed versus expected mortality (OE) was not statistically different among the three types of centre with a neurosurgical unit; however, the best mean OE values were observed in the level I TC in the SIAT with no neurosurgical unit. The Hub and Spoke concept was fully applied in the SIAT in which neurosurgical facilities were available in the level I TC only. The performance of this system suggests that competition among level I and level II TCs in the same Trauma System reduces performance in both. The density of neurosurgical centres must be considered by public health system governors before implementing trauma systems. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

How health service delivery guides the allocation of major trauma patients in the intensive care units of the inclusive (hub and spoke) trauma system of the Emilia Romagna Region (Italy). A cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Volpi, Annalisa; Gordini, Giovanni; Ventura, Chiara; Barozzi, Marco; Caspani, Maria Luisa Rita; Fabbri, Andrea; Ferrari, Anna Maria; Ferri, Enrico; Giugni, Aimone; Marino, Massimiliano; Martino, Costanza; Pizzamiglio, Mario; Ravaldini, Maurizio; Russo, Emanuele; Trabucco, Laura; Trombetti, Susanna; De Palma, Rossana

2017-01-01

Objective To evaluate cross-sectional patient distribution and standardised 30-day mortality in the intensive care units (ICU) of an inclusive hub and spoke trauma system. Setting ICUs of the Integrated System for Trauma Patient Care (SIAT) of Emilia-Romagna, an Italian region with a population of approximately 4.5 million. Participants 5300 patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) >15 were admitted to the regional ICUs and recorded in the Regional Severe Trauma Registry between 2007 and 2012. Patients were classified by the Abbreviated Injury Score as follows: (1) traumatic brain injury (2) multiple injuriesand (3) extracranial lesions. The SIATs were divided into those with at least one neurosurgical level II trauma centre (TC) and those with a neurosurgical unit in the level I TC only. Results A higher proportion of patients (out of all SIAT patients) were admitted to the level I TC at the head of the SIAT with no additional neurosurgical facilities (1083/1472, 73.6%) compared with the level I TCs heading SIATs with neurosurgical level II TCs (1905/3815; 49.9%). A similar percentage of patients were admitted to level I TCs (1905/3815; 49.9%) and neurosurgical level II TCs (1702/3815, 44.6%) in the SIATs with neurosurgical level II TCs. Observed versus expected mortality (OE) was not statistically different among the three types of centre with a neurosurgical unit; however, the best mean OE values were observed in the level I TC in the SIAT with no neurosurgical unit. Conclusion The Hub and Spoke concept was fully applied in the SIAT in which neurosurgical facilities were available in the level I TC only. The performance of this system suggests that competition among level I and level II TCs in the same Trauma System reduces performance in both. The density of neurosurgical centres must be considered by public health system governors before implementing trauma systems. PMID:28965094

COLT: seasonal prediction of crop irrigation needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villani, Giulia; Spisni, Andrea; Mariani, Maria Cristina; Pratizzoli, William; Pavan, Valentina; Tomei, Fausto; Botarelli, Lucio; Marletto, Vittorio

2013-04-01

COLT is an operational chain to predict summer (June, July, August) crop irrigation needs in Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) at the regional and lower scales. Set up by ARPA-SIMC in 2010, it has been applied since with good results. COLT predicts summer irrigation needs in May, i.e. at the beginning of the irrigation season in Emilia-Romagna. COLT is based on the production of yearly updated land use maps, observed daily weather data, a regional soil map and ensemble probabilistic seasonal weather forecasts obtained from the EUROSIP multi-model operational system and a geographical soil water balance model (CRITERIA). The first step of the operational scheme is the supervised classification of crops through field surveys and a set of multitemporal satellite images acquired during the first months of the growing period. As the identification of all crop species during the satellite working windows is not feasible, they are grouped in six classes: summer field crops (including corn, sorghum, tomato, sugar beet, potato and others), winter crops (wheat, barley, oat, etc.), perennial grasses (alfa-alfa and meadows), rice, vineyards and orchards, on the whole regional plain, covering about 775000 ha. The second step involves the statistical downscaling of the EUROSIP ensemble predictions over Emilia-Romagna and the use of a weather generator to synthetically produce a number (usually 50) replicated meteorological summer daily data series, consistent with the predicted and downscaled summer anomalies of temperature, rainfall and other related indices. During the final step the CRITERIA model computes crop development and soil water balance on the crop classification map using observed meteorological daily data up to the end of May. Afterword forecasts are used up to the end of the summer irrigation season, i.e. August 31st. The statistical distribution projections of summer irrigation needs at the regional and reclamation consortia scale are then issued and disseminated from the ARPA-SIMC web site. Since 2010 forecasts of the crops water irrigation requirements have been computed and compared with the simulated data at the end of the summer with good results. The COLT scheme is able to predict the very large interannual variability of the seasonal crop water needs: in 2010 the summer was rather wet and COLT predicted about 500 Mm3, while in 2011 the median forecast was 850 Mm3, a value considered as normal. The summer of 2012 was exceptionally dry, thus the median COLT forecast was 1077 Mm3, while the value computed with observed summer data reached 1340 Mm3 (+24%). The COLT scheme was also tested in a study area located near Ravenna (570 ha), where actual crop irrigation volumes are measured. The median forecasted irrigation (0.50 Mm3) resulted 14% higher than the observed value for 2011 (0.44 Mm3), mainly due to errors in classification of non irrigated crops as irrigated, and possibly to the water table not being accounted for in the model. COLT looks like a promising approach for assessing, planning and managing water resources in agriculture, and for mitigating the impacts of intense climate anomalies in the agricultural sector.

Electrical resistivity tomography for studying liquefaction induced by the May 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake (Mw = 6.1, northern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giocoli, A.; Quadrio, B.; Bellanova, J.; Lapenna, V.; Piscitelli, S.

2014-04-01

This work shows the result of an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) survey carried out for imaging and characterizing the shallow subsurface affected by the coseismic effects of the Mw = 6.1 Emilia-Romagna (northern Italy) earthquake that occurred on 20 May 2012. The most characteristic coseismic effects were ground failure, lateral spreading and liquefaction that occurred extensively along the paleo-Reno River in the urban areas of San Carlo and Mirabello (southwestern portion of Ferrara Province). In total, six electrical resistivity tomographies were performed and calibrated with surface geological surveys, exploratory boreholes and aerial photo interpretations. This was one of first applications of the electrical resistivity tomography method in investigating coseismic liquefaction.

Origin of Human Losses due to the Emilia Romagna, Italy, M5.9 Earthquake of 20 May 2012 and their Estimate in Real Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wyss, M.

2012-12-01

Estimating human losses within less than an hour worldwide requires assumptions and simplifications. Earthquake for which losses are accurately recorded after the event provide clues concerning the influence of error sources. If final observations and real time estimates differ significantly, data and methods to calculate losses may be modified or calibrated. In the case of the earthquake in the Emilia Romagna region with M5.9 on May 20th, the real time epicenter estimates of the GFZ and the USGS differed from the ultimate location by the INGV by 6 and 9 km, respectively. Fatalities estimated within an hour of the earthquake by the loss estimating tool QLARM, based on these two epicenters, numbered 20 and 31, whereas 7 were reported in the end, and 12 would have been calculated if the ultimate epicenter released by INGV had been used. These four numbers being small, do not differ statistically. Thus, the epicenter errors in this case did not appreciably influence the results. The QUEST team of INGV has reported intensities with I ≥ 5 at 40 locations with accuracies of 0.5 units and QLARM estimated I > 4.5 at 224 locations. The differences between the observed and calculated values at the 23 common locations show that the calculation in the 17 instances with significant differences were too high on average by one unit. By assuming higher than average attenuation within standard bounds for worldwide loss estimates, the calculated intensities model the observed ones better: For 57% of the locations, the difference was not significant; for the others, the calculated intensities were still somewhat higher than the observed ones. Using a generic attenuation law with higher than average attenuation, but not tailored to the region, the number of estimated fatalities becomes 12 compared to 7 reported ones. Thus, attenuation in this case decreased the discrepancy between observed and reported death by approximately a factor of two. The source of the fatalities is perplexing: Most fatalities occurred in industrial facilities where few workers are present at 4AM, while the vast majority of the population at home survived. QLARM contains a function modeling the occupancy rate of buildings as a function of the hour of day for residential buildings. The possibility that two-year old industrial plants may collapse and kill workers within a stone's throw from abandoned, old, brick farm houses that do not collapse, as it happened near Sant'Agostino on 20th May 2012, is not considered in QLARM or any loss estimating method. The dismal performance of the many new industrial plants in Emilia Romagna, which collapsed, lost their roofs, or their walls, shows that regional building practices can remain hidden from the world community trying to estimate earthquake risk and lead to surprises and unnecessary fatalities.

[Mortality study update of workers exposed to vinyl chloride in plants located in Ferrara and Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna Region, Northern Italy)].

PubMed

Scarnato, Corrado; Rambaldi, Rossella; Mancini, Gianpiero; Olanda, Sandra; Spagnolo, Maria Rosa; Previati, Elisabetta; Parmeggiani, Valerio; Minisci, Salvatore; Comba, Pietro; Pirastu, Roberta

2017-01-01

to update the mortality study of subjects exposed to vinyl chloride in the phases of synthesis of the monomer and polymerization in the plants of Ferrara and Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna Region, Northern Italy). both for the whole cohort and for the two plants, standardized mortality ratios (SMRs), with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI), were calculated for different death causes, then stratified by duration and latency, periods of the beginning of work and cumulative exposure (ppm-years). the cohort includes 1,540 subjects (469 in Ferrara hired from 1953 to 1999; 1,071 in Ravenna hired from 1959 to 2000), with at least six months of work. by the end of the follow-up (31.12.2013), 348 deaths occurred. Overall observed mortality, contrasted to that expected based on Emilia-Romagna Region mortality rates, appeared to be lower than expected in the whole cohort (348 cases, SMR: 0.85; 95%CI 0.77-0.95) and in Ravenna (173 cases, SMR: 0.71; 95%CI 0.61-0.83). Mortality for all neoplasms was in excess in Ferrara (79 cases, SMR: 1.27; 95%CI 1.02-1.58), but lower than expected in Ravenna (83 cases, SMR: 0.80; 95%CI 0.64-0.99). An excess in mortality was observed in the whole cohort (16 cases, SMR: 1.74; 95%CI 1.07-2.85) and in Ferrara for liver cancer (7 cases, SMR: 2.12; 95%CI 1.02-4.46), and only in Ferrara for respiratory tract cancer (30 cases, SMR: 1.45; 95%CI 1.02-2.07) and larynx cancer (4 cases, SMR: 3.35; 95%CI 1.26-8.92). In the whole cohort, SMR for liver cancer was in excess since a cumulative exposure of 5,000 ppm-year and 12 cases belong to the job title of autoclave workers (12 cases, SMR 4.6; 95%CI 2.6-8.0), duration of work higher than 20 years (8 cases, SMR 2.4; 95%CI 1.2-4.9), and latency higher than 40 years (7 cases, SMR 2.5; 95%CI 1.2-5.2). The excess in mortality for lung cancer is statistically significant for and with cumulative exposure higher than 7,330 ppm-years (6 cases, SMR 3.2 95%CI 1.4-7.0). There are not excesses among subjects hired after 1971. the study findings confirm and expand the ones of previous studies. It was not possible to apply a best evidence approach to the study of liver cancer, and consequently it is not possible to distinguish between hepatic angiosarcoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. The evidence of a causal link between vinyl chloride exposure and liver cancer is anyhow confirmed. The causal link between vinyl chloride exposure and lung cancer must be further investigated.

Functional structure of marine benthic assemblages using Biological Traits Analysis (BTA): A study along the Emilia-Romagna coastline (Italy, North-West Adriatic Sea)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paganelli, Daniele; Marchini, Agnese; Occhipinti-Ambrogi, Anna

2012-01-01

The functional diversity index has shown that the functional diversity of the macrobenthic community increased along a spatial gradient of distance from the Po river delta (Emilia-Romagna coast, Italy, North-Adriatic Sea), which suggests that riverine inputs have a detrimental effect on community functioning. This study focuses on two different depths along a southward gradient of increasing distance from the Po river delta where the Po river is the main source of freshwater and nutrient inputs in the North-Adriatic Sea. A Biological Traits Analysis (BTA) was used to examine a dataset of 156 soft-bottom macrobenthic species that were collected at eight stations in this area. Instead of comparing communities on the basis of their taxonomic composition, BTA uses a series of life history, morphological and behavioural characteristics of species to indicate aspects of their ecological functioning. The variability of the Emilia-Romagna dataset was governed by relatively few biological traits: growth form, trophic group, type of movement, habit, adult mobility and bioturbation activity. The community closer to the coastline was mainly composed of moderately mobile vermiform organisms with burrowing or tube-dwelling behaviour, and deposit feeding behaviour. However, the offshore community was mainly characterized by organisms with a laterally compressed or globose body and tube-dwelling behaviour; filter feeders and deposit feeders were dominant.

Electrical resistivity tomography for studying liquefaction induced by the May 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake (Mw = 6.1, North Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giocoli, A.; Quadrio, B.; Bellanova, J.; Lapenna, V.; Piscitelli, S.

2013-10-01

This work shows the result of an Electrical Resistivity Tomography survey carried out for imaging and characterizing the shallow subsurface affected by the coseismic effects of the Mw = 6.1 Emilia-Romagna (North Italy) earthquake occurred on 20 May 2012. The most characteristic coseismic effects were ground failure, lateral spreading and liquefaction that occurred extensively along the paleo-Reno river in the urban areas of San Carlo, a hamlet of Sant'Agostino municipality, and of Mirabello (south-western portion of the Ferrara Province). Totally, six Electrical Resistivity Tomography were performed and calibrated with surface geological surveys, exploratory borehole and aerial photo interpretations. This was one of the first applications of the Electrical Resistivity Tomography method in investigating coseismic liquefaction.

Forecasting future needs and optimal allocation of medical residency positions: the Emilia-Romagna Region case study.

PubMed

Senese, Francesca; Tubertini, Paolo; Mazzocchetti, Angelina; Lodi, Andrea; Ruozi, Corrado; Grilli, Roberto

2015-01-30

Italian regional health authorities annually negotiate the number of residency grants to be financed by the National government and the number and mix of supplementary grants to be funded by the regional budget. This study provides regional decision-makers with a requirement model to forecast the future demand of specialists at the regional level. We have developed a system dynamics (SD) model that projects the evolution of the supply of medical specialists and three demand scenarios across the planning horizon (2030). Demand scenarios account for different drivers: demography, service utilization rates (ambulatory care and hospital discharges) and hospital beds. Based on the SD outputs (occupational and training gaps), a mixed integer programming (MIP) model computes potentially effective assignments of medical specialization grants for each year of the projection. To simulate the allocation of grants, we have compared how regional and national grants can be managed in order to reduce future gaps with respect to current training patterns. The allocation of 25 supplementary grants per year does not appear as effective in reducing expected occupational gaps as the re-modulation of all regional training vacancies.

Usutu virus persistence and West Nile virus inactivity in the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy) in 2011.

PubMed

Calzolari, Mattia; Bonilauri, Paolo; Bellini, Romeo; Albieri, Alessandro; Defilippo, Francesco; Tamba, Marco; Tassinari, Massimo; Gelati, Antonio; Cordioli, Paolo; Angelini, Paola; Dottori, Michele

2013-01-01

The circulation of West Nile virus and Usutu virus was detected in the Emilia-Romagna region in 2008 and 2009. To evaluate the extent of circulation of both viruses, environmental surveillance, based on bird and mosquito testing, was conducted in 2008 and gradually improved over the years. In February-March 2009-2011, 5,993 hibernating mosquitoes were manually sampled, out of which 80.1% were Culex pipiens; none tested positive for the viruses. From 2008 to 2011, 946,213 mosquitoes, sampled between May and October, were tested; 86.5% were Cx. pipiens. West Nile virus was detected in 32 Cx. pipiens pools, and Usutu virus was detected in 229 mosquito pools (217 Cx. pipiens, 10 Aedes albopictus, one Anopheles maculipennis s.l., and one Aedes caspius). From 2009 to 2011, of 4,546 birds collected, 42 tested positive for West Nile virus and 48 for Usutu virus. West Nile virus and Usutu virus showed different patterns of activity during the 2008-2011 surveillance period. West Nile virus was detected in 2008, 2009, and 2010, but not in 2011. Usutu virus, however, was continuously active throughout 2009, 2010, and 2011. The data strongly suggest that both viruses overwinter in the surveyed area rather than being continually reintroduced every season. The lack of hibernating mosquitoes testing positive for the viruses and the presence of positive birds sampled early in the season support the hypothesis that the viruses overwinter in birds rather than in mosquitoes. Herd immunity in key bird species could explain the decline of West Nile virus observed in 2011, while the persistence of Usutu virus may be explained by not yet identified reservoirs. Reported results are comparable with a peri-Mediterranean circulation of the West Nile virus lineage 1 related strain, which became undetectable in the environment after two to three years of obvious circulation.

Economic appraisal of the angioplasty procedures performed in 2004 in a high-volume diagnostic and interventional cardiology unit.

PubMed

Manari, Antonio; Costa, Elena; Scivales, Alessandro; Ponzi, Patrizia; Di Stasi, Francesca; Guiducci, Vincenzo; Pignatelli, Gianluca; Giacometti, Paola

2007-10-01

Growing interest in the use of drug-eluting stents (DESs) in coronary angioplasty has prompted the Healthcare Agency of the Emilia Romagna Region to draw up recommendations for their appropriate clinical use in high-risk patients. Since the adoption of any new technology necessitates economic appraisal, we analysed the resource consumption of the various types of angioplasty procedures and the impact on the budget of a cardiology department. A retrospective economic appraisal was carried out on the coronary angioplasty procedures performed in 2004 in the Department of Interventional Cardiology of Reggio Emilia. On the basis of the principles of activity-based costing, detailed hospital costs were estimated for each procedure and compared with the relevant diagnosis-related group (DRG) reimbursement. In 2004, the Reggio Emilia hospital performed 806 angioplasty procedures for a total expenditure of euro 5,176,268. These were 93 plain old balloon angioplasty procedures (euro 487,329), 401 procedures with bare-metal stents (euro 2,380,071), 249 procedures with DESs (euro 1,827,386) and 63 mixed procedures (euro 481,480). Reimbursements amounted to euro 5,816,748 (11% from plain old balloon angioplasty, 50% from bare-metal stent, 31% from DES and 8% from mixed procedures) with a positive margin of about euro 680,480 between costs incurred and reimbursements obtained, even if the reimbursement for DES and mixed procedures was not covering all the incurred costs. Analysis of the case-mix of procedures revealed that an overall positive margin between costs and DRG reimbursements was achieved. It therefore emerges that adherence to the indications of the Healthcare Agency of the Emilia Romagna Region for the appropriate clinical use of DESs is economically sustainable from the hospital enterprise point of view, although the DRG reimbursements are not able to differentiate among resource consumptions owing to the adoption of innovative technologies.

Diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in the Emilia Romagna region: a prospective population-based study.

PubMed

Addimanda, Olga; Marino, Massimiliano; Farina, Ilaria; Trevisani, Marica; Arrigoni, Eugenio; Lumetti, Federica; Crescentini, Filippo; Sambo, Paola; Bezzi, Alessandra; Bruschi, Marco; Santilli, Daniele; Reta, Massimo; Bosi, Simona; Delsante, Giovanni; Girelli, Francesco; Montaguti, Luca; Meliconi, Riccardo; Sebastiani, Marco; Ferri, Clodoveo; Malavolta, Nazzarena; Govoni, Marcello; Trombetti, Susanna; De Palma, Rossana; Salvarani, Carlo

2017-01-01

To perform a population-based study in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, in order to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pharmacologic treatments. 1087 patients with RA were enrolled; inclusion criteria were: newly diagnosed RA, already diagnosed RA with high disease activity (HDA) (DAS28≥4.2) starting biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs), already diagnosed RA with HDA continuing with conventional DMARDs (cDMARDs). The following data were collected: demographics, clinical and laboratory features, imaging and prescribed drugs. All parameters except immunology and imaging (performed yearly) were repeated at each follow-up evaluations (after 3, 6 and 12 months, and thereafter every 12 months). In order to evaluate clinical response, the EULAR response criteria were used as the gold standard. 414 (38.1%) newly diagnosed patients with RA, 477 (43.9%) RA patients who started bDMARDs and 196 (18.0%) RA patients who continued with cDMARDs were enrolled from April 2012 to March 2015 at 12 Rheumatology Centres in the Emilia Romagna Region. Statistical analyses showed a relative risk ratio (RRR) for moderate response of 1.65 in RA patients who started bDMARDs (p=0.16) and 2.49 for newly diagnosed RA (p=0.01). Sex, age and Health Assessment Questionnaire were not statistically significant. A RRR of 2.00 has been confirmed for RA patients who started bDMARDs (p<0.0005) for a good response as well as 2.20 for newly diagnosed RA (p<0.0005). An increase in adverse events among bDMARDs was found, but when looking at infections or neoplasia, no differences were highlighted between RA which started bDMARDs and RA who continued with cDMARDs. Our results are in line with already published papers from British and Swedish Registries: a greater likelihood to have a good response is demonstrated for not longstanding RA starting cDMARDs or RA with HDA when a bDMARD is started. Also a good safety profile is demonstrated.

Assessing Adverse Events of Postprostatectomy Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer: Evaluation of Outcomes in the Regione Emilia-Romagna, Italy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Showalter, Timothy N., E-mail: tns3b@virginia.edu; Hegarty, Sarah E.; Division of Biostatistics, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Purpose: Although the likelihood of radiation-related adverse events influences treatment decisions regarding radiation therapy after prostatectomy for eligible patients, the data available to inform decisions are limited. This study was designed to evaluate the genitourinary, gastrointestinal, and sexual adverse events associated with postprostatectomy radiation therapy and to assess the influence of radiation timing on the risk of adverse events. Methods: The Regione Emilia-Romagna Italian Longitudinal Health Care Utilization Database was queried to identify a cohort of men who received radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer during 2003 to 2009, including patients who received postprostatectomy radiation therapy. Patients with prior radiation therapymore » were excluded. Outcome measures were genitourinary, gastrointestinal, and sexual adverse events after prostatectomy. Rates of adverse events were compared between the cohorts who did and did not receive postoperative radiation therapy. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were developed for each class of adverse events, including models with radiation therapy as a time-varying covariate. Results: A total of 9876 men were included in the analyses: 2176 (22%) who received radiation therapy and 7700 (78%) treated with prostatectomy alone. In multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, the additional exposure to radiation therapy after prostatectomy was associated with increased rates of gastrointestinal (rate ratio [RR] 1.81; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.44-2.27; P<.001) and urinary nonincontinence events (RR 1.83; 95% CI 1.83-2.80; P<.001) but not urinary incontinence events or erectile dysfunction. The addition of the time from prostatectomy to radiation therapy interaction term was not significant for any of the adverse event outcomes (P>.1 for all outcomes). Conclusion: Radiation therapy after prostatectomy is associated with an increase in gastrointestinal and genitourinary adverse events. However, the timing of radiation therapy did not influence the risk of radiation therapy–associated adverse events in this cohort, which contradicts the commonly held clinical tenet that delaying radiation therapy reduces the risk of adverse events.« less

Same-day transfer for the invasive strategy of patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome admitted to spoke hospitals: Data from the Emilia-Romagna Regional Network.

PubMed

Campo, Gianluca; Menozzi, Mila; Guastaroba, Paolo; Vignali, Luigi; Belotti, Laura Mb; Casella, Gianni; Berti, Elena; Solinas, Emilia; Guiducci, Vincenzo; Biscaglia, Simone; Pavasini, Rita; De Palma, Rossana; Manari, Antonio

2016-10-01

The service strategy (same-day transfer between spoke hospital and hub centre with catheterisation laboratory (cath-lab) facility to perform invasive procedures) has been suggested to improve the management of patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS) admitted to spoke hospitals. We used data from a large prospective Italian registry to describe application, performance and outcome of the service strategy in the daily clinical practice. This study was based on an observational, post-hoc analysis of all consecutive NSTEACS patients admitted to spoke non-invasive hospitals of the Emilia-Romagna regional network and receiving coronary artery angiography (CAA)±percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We evaluated: application of service strategy, time to cath-lab access, hospital stay length, 30-days occurrence of adverse events. From January 2011-December 2012, 2952 NSTEACS consecutive patients were admitted to spoke non-invasive hospitals and received CAA. Overall, 1765 (60%) patients were managed with a service strategy. After multivariable analysis, service strategy emerged as independent predictor of faster access to cath-lab (within 72 h: hazard ratio (HR) 2.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9-2.7, p<0.0001; within 24 h: HR 2.8, 95% CI 2.2-3.3, p<0.0001, respectively). Service strategy significantly reduced hospital stay length (-5.5 days, p<0.0001). We estimated a mean of €1590 saved for each patient managed with service strategy. Thirty-day occurrence of adverse events did not differ between patients managed with or without a service strategy. In our daily clinical practice, a service strategy seems to be an effective approach to optimise the invasive management of NSTEACS patients admitted to spoke hospitals. © The European Society of Cardiology 2015.

Epidemiological modelling for the assessment of bovine tuberculosis surveillance in the dairy farm network in Emilia-Romagna (Italy).

PubMed

Rossi, Gianluigi; De Leo, Giulio A; Pongolini, Stefano; Natalini, Silvano; Vincenzi, Simone; Bolzoni, Luca

2015-06-01

Assessing the performance of a surveillance system for infectious diseases of domestic animals is a challenging task for health authorities. Therefore, it is important to assess what strategy is the most effective in identifying the onset of an epidemic and in minimizing the number of infected farms. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the performance of the bovine tuberculosis (bTB) surveillance system in the network of dairy farms in the Emilia-Romagna (ER) Region, Italy. A bTB-free Region since 2007, ER implements an integrated surveillance strategy based on three components, namely routine on-farm tuberculin skin-testing performed every 3 years, tuberculin skin-testing of cattle exchanged between farms, and post-mortem inspection at slaughterhouses. We assessed the effectiveness of surveillance by means of a stochastic network model of both within-farm and between-farm bTB dynamics calibrated on data available for ER dairy farms. Epidemic dynamics were simulated for five scenarios: the current ER surveillance system, a no surveillance scenario that we used as the benchmark to characterize epidemic dynamics, three additional scenarios in which one of the surveillance components was removed at a time so as to outline its significance in detecting the infection. For each scenario we ran Monte Carlo simulations of bTB epidemics following the random introduction of an infected individual in the network. System performances were assessed through the comparative analysis of a number of statistics, including the time required for epidemic detection and the total number of infected farms during the epidemic. Our analysis showed that slaughterhouse inspection is the most effective surveillance component in reducing the time for disease detection, while routine surveillance in reducing the number of multi-farms epidemics. On the other hand, testing exchanged cattle improved the performance of the surveillance system only marginally. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gypsum karst in Italy: a review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Waele, Jo; Chiarini, Veronica; Columbu, Andrea; D'Angeli, Ilenia M.; Madonia, Giuliana; Parise, Mario; Piccini, Leonardo; Vattano, Marco; Vigna, Bartolomeo; Zini, Luca; Forti, Paolo

2016-04-01

Although outcropping only rarely in Italy, gypsum karst has been described in detail since the early XXth century (Marinelli, 1917). Gypsum caves are now known from almost all Italian regions (Madonia & Forti, 2003), but are mainly localised along the northern border of the Apennine chain (Emilia Romagna and Marche regions), Calabria, and Sicily, where the major outcrops occur. Recently, important caves have also been discovered in the underground gypsum quarries in Piedmont (Vigna et al., 2010). During the late 80s and 90s several multidisciplinary studies have been carried out in many gypsum areas. All this work converged into a comprehensive overview in 2003 (Madonia & Forti, 2003). Further detailed studies focused on the gypsum areas of Emilia Romagna (Chiesi et al., 2010; Forti & Lucci, 2010; Demaria et al., 2012; De Waele & Pasini, 2013; Ercolani et al., 2013; Columbu et al., 2015; Lucci & Piastra, 2015; Tedeschi et al., 2015) and of Sicily (Madonia & Vattano, 2011). Sinkholes related to Permo-Triassic gypsum have been studied in Friuli Venezia Giulia (Zini et al., 2015). This presentation will review the state of the art regarding different aspects of evaporite karst in Italy focusing on the main new results. References Chiesi M., et al. (2010) - Origin and evolution of a salty gypsum/anhydrite karst spring: the case of Poiano (Northern Apennines, Italy). Hydrogeology Journal, 18, pp. 1111-1124. Columbu A. et al. (2015) - Gypsum caves as indicators of climate-driven river incision and aggradation in a rapidly uplifting region. Geology, 43(6), 539-542. Demaria D. et al. (Eds.) (2012), Le Grotte Bolognesi, GSB-USB, 431 p. De Waele J., Pasini G. (2013) - Intra-messinian gypsum palaeokarst in the northern Apennines and its palaeogeographic implications. Terra Nova 25, pp. 199-205. Ercolani M., et al. (Eds.) (2013), I Gessi e la Cave i Monte Tondo. Studio multidisciplinare di un'area carsica nella Vena del Gesso Romagnola. Memorie Ist. It. Spel. II(26), 559 p. Forti P., Lucci P. (Eds.) (2010) - Il Progetto Stella-Basino. Studio multidisciplinare di un sistema carsico nella Vena del Gesso Romagnola. Memorie Ist. It. Spel. II(14), 260 p. Lucci P., Piastra S. (Eds.) (2015), I Gessi di Brisighella e Rontana: studio multidisciplinare di un'area carsica nella Vena del Gesso Romagnola. Memorie Ist. It. Spel. II(28), 751 p. Madonia G., Forti P. (2003) - Le aree carsiche gessose d'Italia. Memorie Ist. It. Spel. II(14), 285 p. Madonia G., Vattano M. (2011) - New knowledge on the Monte Conca gypsum karst system (central-western Sicily, Italy). Acta Carsologica, 40, (1), pp. 53-64. Marinelli O. (1917) - Fenomeni carsici nelle regioni gessose d'Italia. Mem. Geografiche di Giotto Dainelli, 34, pp. 263-416, suppl. to Riv. Geografica It Tedeschi L. et al. (2015) - Comportamento idrogeologico di alcune risorgenti carsiche nei gessi dell'Emilia-Romagna. Memorie Ist. It. Spel. II(29), pp. 399-404. Vigna B. et al. (2010) - Evolution of karst in Messinian gypsum (Monferrato, Northern Italy). Geodinamica Acta, 23(1-3), pp. 29-40. Zini L. et al. (2015) - a multidisciplinary approach in sinkhole analysis: the Quinis village case study (NE-Italy). Engineering Geology, 197, pp.132-144.

The effects of the macro-environment on treatment retention for problem cocaine users.

PubMed

Lorenzoni, Valentina; Curzio, Olivia; Karakachoff, Matilde; Saponaro, Alessio; Sanza, Michele; Mariani, Fabio; Molinaro, Sabrina

2013-01-01

Client dropout is commonly used as an indicator of quality and effectiveness of drug treatment. Following increasing cocaine use in recent years, research has attempted to identify predictors of retention in treatment for cocaine users but there is no consensus about how individual characteristics and system variables (referral source, treatment setting), what we term here as the "macro-environment" - effect risk of dropout. This study sought to identify macro-environmental factors and examine the way these impact upon treatment retention. A retrospective longitudinal study of an admission cohort among drug services in Vasta Romagna in Emilia Romagna Region, Italy (up to 8 years of treatment or until discharge) was conducted to determine the effect of macro-environmental variables on retention among first time admitted cocaine-dependent clients in different treatment settings. The sample consisted of 1178 clients meeting DSM-IV-R criteria for cocaine dependence. The joint effect of individual and system factors had a significant impact on dropout rates. In particular, lower rates of dropout were observed for those treated in prison and those who had a stable home, HR: 0.09 (0.02-0.48), or lived in rehabilitation units, HR: 0.36 (0.15-0.88), and among clients referred by the local authority and those living with parents, HR: 0.60 (0.38-0.95). The combined effect of individual and system factors on retention in treatment sets a critical background necessary to assess any impact of organizational dynamics and delineate the trajectory for future interventions. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Plant Responses to Climate Change: The Case Study of Betulaceae and Poaceae Pollen Seasons (Northern Italy, Vignola, Emilia-Romagna)

PubMed Central

Mercuri, Anna Maria; Torri, Paola; Fornaciari, Rita; Florenzano, Assunta

2016-01-01

Aerobiological data have especially demonstrated that there is correlation between climate warming and the pollination season of plants. This paper focuses on airborne pollen monitoring of Betulaceae and Poaceae, two of the main plant groups with anemophilous pollen and allergenic proprieties in Northern Italy. The aim is to investigate plant responses to temperature variations by considering long-term pollen series. The 15-year aerobiological analysis is reported from the monitoring station of Vignola (located near Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region) that had operated in the years 1990–2004 with a Hirst spore trap. The Yearly Pollen Index calculated for these two botanical families has shown contrasting trends in pollen production and release. These trends were well identifiable but fairly variable, depending on both meteorological variables and anthropogenic causes. Based on recent reference literature, we considered that some oscillations in pollen concentration could have been a main effect of temperature variability reflecting global warming. The duration of pollen seasons of Betulaceae and Poaceae, depending on the different species included in each family, has not unequivocally been determined. Phenological responses were particularly evident in Alnus and especially in Corylus as a general moving up of the end of pollination. The study shows that these trees can be affected by global warming more than other, more tolerant, plants. The research can be a contribution to the understanding of phenological plant responses to climate change and suggests that alder and hazelnut trees have to be taken into high consideration as sensible markers of plant responses to climate change. PMID:27929423

Plant Responses to Climate Change: The Case Study of Betulaceae and Poaceae Pollen Seasons (Northern Italy, Vignola, Emilia-Romagna).

PubMed

Mercuri, Anna Maria; Torri, Paola; Fornaciari, Rita; Florenzano, Assunta

2016-12-06

Aerobiological data have especially demonstrated that there is correlation between climate warming and the pollination season of plants. This paper focuses on airborne pollen monitoring of Betulaceae and Poaceae, two of the main plant groups with anemophilous pollen and allergenic proprieties in Northern Italy. The aim is to investigate plant responses to temperature variations by considering long-term pollen series. The 15-year aerobiological analysis is reported from the monitoring station of Vignola (located near Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region) that had operated in the years 1990-2004 with a Hirst spore trap. The Yearly Pollen Index calculated for these two botanical families has shown contrasting trends in pollen production and release. These trends were well identifiable but fairly variable, depending on both meteorological variables and anthropogenic causes. Based on recent reference literature, we considered that some oscillations in pollen concentration could have been a main effect of temperature variability reflecting global warming. The duration of pollen seasons of Betulaceae and Poaceae, depending on the different species included in each family, has not unequivocally been determined. Phenological responses were particularly evident in Alnus and especially in Corylus as a general moving up of the end of pollination. The study shows that these trees can be affected by global warming more than other, more tolerant, plants. The research can be a contribution to the understanding of phenological plant responses to climate change and suggests that alder and hazelnut trees have to be taken into high consideration as sensible markers of plant responses to climate change.

The Cost of Arbovirus Disease Prevention in Europe: Area-Wide Integrated Control of Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus, in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy

PubMed Central

Canali, Massimo; Rivas-Morales, Stefano; Beutels, Philippe; Venturelli, Claudio

2017-01-01

Aedes albopictus (tiger mosquito) has become the most invasive mosquito species worldwide, in addition to being a well-known vector of diseases, with a proven capacity for the transmission of chikungunya and dengue viruses in Europe as well as the Zika virus in Africa and in laboratory settings. This research quantifies the cost that needs to be provided by public-health systems for area-wide prevention of arboviruses in Europe. This cost has been calculated by evaluating the expenditure of the plan for Aedes albopictus control set up in the Emilia-Romagna region (Northern Italy) after a chikungunya outbreak occurred in 2007. This plan involves more than 280 municipalities with a total of 4.2 million inhabitants. Public expenditure for plan implementation in 2008–2011 was examined through simple descriptive statistics. Annual expenditure was calculated to be approximately €1.3 per inhabitant, with a declining trend (from a total of €7.6 million to €5.3 million) and a significant variability at the municipality level. The preventative measures in the plan included antilarval treatments (about 75% of total expenditure), education for citizens and in schools, entomological surveillance, and emergency actions for suspected viremias. Ecological factors and the relevance of tourism showed a correlation with the territorial variability in expenditure. The median cost of one antilarval treatment in public areas was approximately €0.12 per inhabitant. Organizational aspects were also analyzed to identify possible improvements in resource use. PMID:28425959

[PRIER II. The Emilia-Romagna Research and Innovation Programme].

PubMed

Addis, Antonio; Papini, Donato; Bassi, Maria Chiara; Grilli, Roberto

2015-09-01

The Emilia-Romagna Programme for Research and Innovation "PRIER" was born in 2005 with the aim of increasing cultural and operational conditions for the development of clinical research, useful both to the Regional Health Service (SSR) and to the private sectors of pharmaceutical and biomedical areas. In this context, the PRIER had from the beginning a double connotation: a space where the SSR can explore issues related to the development of its own research capacity; and a context where new possible ways of relating and comparison with the pharmaceutical and biomedical industry are tested. Over the years the activities of PRIER were defined by: initiatives to strengthen the system of research in SSR; development of tools to monitor activities of the research; production of clinical-organizational recommendations for the governance of innovation. In 2013 a new area of discussion and a common interest have been identified on the subject of clinical registries. In particular, it wanted to build a path of work able to identify all the possible critical and relevant points (points to consider), indispensable, necessary or useful to the construction and use of clinical registries, taking into account the points of view of all actors involved. The course began with defining the rules of the game and continued with workshops that allowed to analyse together the matter. At the end of the second workshop it was decided to make the work carried out visible: first, not to miss the opportunity offered by the past but recent discussion; secondly, to facilitate the discussion both on the issue of registers and to the adopted methodology, which sees the different actors (public and private ones) to reason together in a context for once not influenced by necessities of negotiation and government resources.

Pattern of care and effectiveness of treatment for glioblastoma patients in the real world: Results from a prospective population-based registry. Could survival differ in a high-volume center?

PubMed Central

Brandes, Alba A.; Franceschi, Enrico; Ermani, Mario; Tosoni, Alicia; Albani, Fiorenzo; Depenni, Roberta; Faedi, Marina; Pisanello, Anna; Crisi, Girolamo; Urbini, Benedetta; Dazzi, Claudio; Cavanna, Luigi; Mucciarini, Claudia; Pasini, Giuseppe; Bartolini, Stefania; Marucci, Gianluca; Morandi, Luca; Zunarelli, Elena; Cerasoli, Serenella; Gardini, Giorgio; Lanza, Giovanni; Silini, Enrico Maria; Cavuto, Silvio; Baruzzi, Agostino

2014-01-01

Background As yet, no population-based prospective studies have been conducted to investigate the incidence and clinical outcome of glioblastoma (GBM) or the diffusion and impact of the current standard therapeutic approach in newly diagnosed patients younger than aged 70 years. Methods Data on all new cases of primary brain tumors observed from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2010, in adults residing within the Emilia-Romagna region were recorded in a prospective registry in the Project of Emilia Romagna on Neuro-Oncology (PERNO). Based on the data from this registry, a prospective evaluation was made of the treatment efficacy and outcome in GBM patients. Results Two hundred sixty-seven GBM patients (median age, 64 y; range, 29–84 y) were enrolled. The median overall survival (OS) was 10.7 months (95% CI, 9.2–12.4). The 139 patients ≤aged 70 years who were given standard temozolomide treatment concomitant with and adjuvant to radiotherapy had a median OS of 16.4 months (95% CI, 14.0–18.5). With multivariate analysis, OS correlated significantly with KPS (HR = 0.458; 95% CI, 0.248–0.847; P = .0127), MGMT methylation status (HR = 0.612; 95% CI, 0.388–0.966; P = .0350), and treatment received in a high versus low-volume center (HR = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.328–0.986; P = .0446). Conclusions The median OS following standard temozolomide treatment concurrent with and adjuvant to radiotherapy given to (72.8% of) patients aged ≤70 years is consistent with findings reported from randomized phase III trials. The volume and expertise of the treatment center should be further investigated as a prognostic factor. PMID:26034628

Landslides distribution analysis and role of triggering factors in the Foglia river basin (Central Itay)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baioni, Davide; Gallerini, Giuliano; Sgavetti, Maria

2013-04-01

The present work is focused on the distribution of landslides in Foglia river basin area (northern Marche-Romagna), using a heuristic approach supported by GIS tools for the construction of statistical analysis and spatial data. The study area is located in the Adriatic side of the northern Apennine in the boundary that marks the transition between the Marche and Emilia-Romagna regions. The Foglia river basin extends from the Apennines to the Adriatic sea with NE-SE trend occupying an area of about 708 km2. The purpose of this study is to investigate any relationships between factors related to the territory, which were taken into account and divided into classes, and landslides, trying to identify any possible existence of relationships between them. For this aim the study of landslides distribution was performed by using a GIS approach superimposing each thematic map, previously created, with landslides surveyed. Furthermore, we tried to isolate the most recurrent classes, to detect if at the same conditions there is a parameter that affects more than others, so as to recognize every direct relationship of cause and effect. Finally, an analysis was conducted by applying the model of uncertainty CF (Certainity Factor). In the Foglia river basin were surveyed a total of 2821 landslides occupy a total area of 155 km2, corresponding to 22% areal extent of the entire basin. The results of analysis carried out highlighted the importance and role of individual factors that led to the development of landslides analyzed. Moreover, this methodology may be applied to all orders of magnitude and scale without any problem by not requiring a commitment important, both from the economic point of view, and of human resources.

History and updating on the spread of Aedes albopictus in Italy.

PubMed

Romi, R

1995-12-01

The present distribution in Italy of Aedes albopictus, the Asian mosquito recently introduced, is described. Until now this mosquito species has been established in 8 regions of our country: Liguria, Veneto, Lazio, Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, Toscana, Piemonte and recently Sardegna. The established populations have been able to overcome the winter season. These populations, certainly imported from temperate areas, have reconfirmed the great adaptation of the species, reaching the high latitude of 46 degrees North of the Padova area in Northern Italy. The origin of the infestation in Veneto region was shown to be strictly related to the importation of used tires and demonstrated at least for one load of tires from USA. The internal trading of tires from Veneto is the source of infestation of the other Italian regions, with the exception of Liguria and Lazio. Since the introduction and the establishment of Ae. albopictus in Italy represent a new problem of public health, a centre for the surveillance and control of this species has been set up at the Department of Parasitology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Roma.

Natural versus Urban dunes along the Emilia-Romagna coast, Northern Adriatic (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corbau, Corinne; Simeoni, Umberto

2014-05-01

Beach-dune interaction models can be precious tools for land managers and policymakers. However, if the models are inaccurate, land use policies may be designed based on false pretences or assumptions leading to poor land management, long-term erosion and sustainability issues, and increased difficulties in maintaining the dynamic coastal systems. From the literature, it appears that even the most reliable beach-dunes interactions models are not applicable to all coastal systems (Short and Hesp, 1982; Psuty, 1988; Sherman and Bauer, 1993). The study aims to identify the morphological evolution of the Emilia-Romagna coastal dunes according to its natural and "human" characteristics and to classify groups of dunes with similar evolutionary patterns. The coastal area consists essentially of 130 km of low sandy coast, interrupted by vast lagoon areas, harbor jetties and numerous hard coastal defense structures that were built during the first half of the 20th century to protect the Emilia-Romagna coast against erosion. Today about 57% of the littoral is protected by hard defenses, which have modified the morphodynamic characteristics of the beach without inverting the negative coastal evolution's trend. From recent aerial photographs (2011), 62 coastal dunes have been identified and mapped. Furthermore, the dune analysis shows a variability of the "physical characteristics" of coastal-dune systems along the Emilia-Romagna coast. The dune height varies from 1 to 7 meters, the width of the beach and of the active dunes range respectively from 10 to 150 m and from 10 to 65 m. Three main factors may explain the variability of the "physical characteristics": 1- Firstly the frontal dunes may be of different states according to the classification of Hesp (2002) since they correspond to incipient foredunes, well-developed foredunes, blowouts, residual foredunes as well as reactivated relict foredunes, 2- This could also be related to a different orientation of the coastline and foredune's line to the dominant onshore winds and, 3- Human impacts may also explain this variability since most of the dune-beach systems of Emilia-Romagna are characterized by important anthropogenic features that do not adequately describe beach-foredune interactions. A factor analysis of the coastal dunes has allowed formulating hypotheses about their evolutionary trends according to the importance and interference of factors, both natural and anthropic, acting on the beach-dune system. Four groups of dunes have been identified corresponding to natural dunes, semi-anthropic dunes with major natural features, semi-anthropic dunes with major anthropic feature and "urban" dunes. Furthermore, while human activities impede the formation and development of new incipient dunes, other human activities favor the conservation and development of the human-altered foredunes. Hesp, P., 2002: Foredunes and blowouts: initiation, geomorphology and dynamics, Geomorphology, 245-268. Psuty, N. P. 1988. Sediment budget and dune/beach interaction. Journal of Coastal Research Special Issue 3: 1-4. Sherman, D. J., and B. O. Bauer. 1993. Dynamics of beach-dune systems. Progress in Physical Geography 17 (4): 413-447 Short, A. D., and P. A. Hesp. 1982. Wave, beach and dune interactions in South Eastern Australia. Marine Geology 48: 259-284.

[Pesticide poisonings compensated by the INAIL in 1995-98].

PubMed

Germani, D; Forzato, G; Ossicini, A; Settimi, L

2001-01-01

The present paper describes agricultural pesticide-related accidents compensated by the Italian national institute for insurance of occupational accidents (INAIL) from January 1995 to December 1998. During the period under study, 643 accidents claims were examined by INAIL and 549 received compensation. The Italian regions with the highest number of compensation during the period under study were Puglia (no. 102), Sicily (no. 66), Emilia-Romagna (no. 61), and Veneto (no. 55). The national annual rate of pesticide-related accidents, estimated by dividing the number of cases receiving compensation by the number of insured agricultural workers was 12 per 100,000 per year. The regions with the highest rates were Puglia and Marche (27 per 100,000 per year), Liguria (22 per 100,000 per year), and Sicily (18 per 100,000 per year). Most of the cases (70%) occurred among male workers. The agents most frequently reported to have caused the accidents were fungicides (32.2%). For a relevant number of cases (34.2%) the exposure was not specified.

Developing and validating a novel multisource comorbidity score from administrative data: a large population-based cohort study from Italy.

PubMed

Corrao, Giovanni; Rea, Federico; Di Martino, Mirko; De Palma, Rossana; Scondotto, Salvatore; Fusco, Danilo; Lallo, Adele; Belotti, Laura Maria Beatrice; Ferrante, Mauro; Pollina Addario, Sebastiano; Merlino, Luca; Mancia, Giuseppe; Carle, Flavia

2017-12-26

To develop and validate a novel comorbidity score (multisource comorbidity score (MCS)) predictive of mortality, hospital admissions and healthcare costs using multiple source information from the administrative Italian National Health System (NHS) databases. An index of 34 variables (measured from inpatient diagnoses and outpatient drug prescriptions within 2 years before baseline) independently predicting 1-year mortality in a sample of 500 000 individuals aged 50 years or older randomly selected from the NHS beneficiaries of the Italian region of Lombardy (training set) was developed. The corresponding weights were assigned from the regression coefficients of a Weibull survival model. MCS performance was evaluated by using an internal (ie, another sample of 500 000 NHS beneficiaries from Lombardy) and three external (each consisting of 500 000 NHS beneficiaries from Emilia-Romagna, Lazio and Sicily) validation sets. Discriminant power and net reclassification improvement were used to compare MCS performance with that of other comorbidity scores. MCS ability to predict secondary health outcomes (ie, hospital admissions and costs) was also investigated. Primary and secondary outcomes progressively increased with increasing MCS value. MCS improved the net 1-year mortality reclassification from 27% (with respect to the Chronic Disease Score) to 69% (with respect to the Elixhauser Index). MCS discrimination performance was similar in the four regions of Italy we tested, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (95% CI) being 0.78 (0.77 to 0.79) in Lombardy, 0.78 (0.77 to 0.79) in Emilia-Romagna, 0.77 (0.76 to 0.78) in Lazio and 0.78 (0.77 to 0.79) in Sicily. MCS seems better than conventional scores for predicting health outcomes, at least in the general population from Italy. This may offer an improved tool for risk adjustment, policy planning and identifying patients in need of a focused treatment approach in the everyday medical practice. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Antiepileptic drug prescribing before, during and after pregnancy: a study in seven European regions.

PubMed

Charlton, Rachel; Garne, Ester; Wang, Hao; Klungsøyr, Kari; Jordan, Sue; Neville, Amanda; Pierini, Anna; Hansen, Anne; Engeland, Anders; Gini, Rosa; Thayer, Daniel; Bos, Jens; Puccini, Aurora; Nybo Andersen, Anne-Marie; Dolk, Helen; de Jong-van den Berg, Lolkje

2015-11-01

The aim of this study was to explore antiepileptic drug (AED) prescribing before, during and after pregnancy as recorded in seven population-based electronic healthcare databases. Databases in Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy (Emilia Romagna/Tuscany), Wales and the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, representing the rest of the UK, were accessed for the study. Women with a pregnancy starting and ending between 2004 and 2010, which ended in a delivery, were identified. AED prescriptions issued (UK) or dispensed (non-UK) at any time during pregnancy and the 6 months before and after pregnancy were identified in each of the databases. AED prescribing patterns were analysed, and the choice of AEDs and co-prescribing of folic acid were evaluated. In total, 978 957 women with 1 248 713 deliveries were identified. In all regions, AED prescribing declined during pregnancy and was lowest during the third trimester, before returning to pre-pregnancy levels by 6 months following delivery. For all deliveries, the prevalence of AED prescribing during pregnancy was 51 per 10 000 pregnancies (CI95 49-52%) and was lowest in the Netherlands (43/10 000; CI95 33-54%) and highest in Wales (60/10 000; CI95 54-66%). In Denmark, Norway and the two UK databases lamotrigine was the most commonly prescribed AED; whereas in the Italian and Dutch databases, carbamazepine, valproate and phenobarbital were most frequently prescribed. Few women prescribed with AEDs in the 3 months before pregnancy were co-prescribed with high-dose folic acid: ranging from 1.0% (CI95 0.3-1.8%) in Emilia Romagna to 33.5% (CI95 28.7-38.4%) in Wales. The country's differences in prescribing patterns may suggest different use, knowledge or interpretation of the scientific evidence base. The low co-prescribing of folic acid indicates that more needs to be done to better inform clinicians and women of childbearing age taking AEDs about the need to offer and receive complete preconception care. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Periodic ReMi-MASW surveys on active landslides in the Emilia Romagna region (Northern Apennines)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertello, Lara; Squarzoni, Gabriela; Berti, Matteo

2017-04-01

From January 2014 to December 2016, several combined ReMi-MASW seismic surveys (Refraction Microtremor- Multi Channel Analysis of Surface Waves) were conducted on active landslides. All the landslides are located in the Emilia Romagna region (Northern Apennines), and were classified as: 1) flows and 2) slides. For the seismic campaigns, we used eight vertical polarized geophones at 4.5 Hz, placed at intervals of 2 m each, and a total array length in the range of 10-14 m. As suggested by Louie (2001), we used a single geophone sensor at each channel, with the geophones connected to a SoilSpy Rosina acquisition system (Micromed spa). The first 5 minutes of each acquisition were performed in the passive mode, just acquiring the ambient seismic noise, and the last minute was in the active mode. For the active source, we used the jump of an operator at 5 m from the first geophone. The MASW approach relies on mid-to-high frequency artificial sources and usually provides better results in the high frequency domain (i.e. low depth). The ReMi analysis relies on ambient noise, which is ubiquitous and spans a wider frequency range, potentially working better in the mid-to low frequency domain (i.e. mid-to-high depths). The surveys were interpreted with Grilla (Micromed Software) with a manual procedure. ReMi-MASW lines were done both inside and outside the landslide area to compare the shear wave velocity (Vs) of the displaced soil with that of the source material. Often, the first campaign survey was performed in the range of 15 days from the reactivation of the landslide, than, where it was possible, we conducted periodic ReMi-MASW acquisitions, in order to evaluate the Vs variation over time. Analyzing all the data, it is clear that the Vs detected in the flow types landslide are lower than the ones detected in the slide types. It is also interesting to observe the increase of shear wave velocity over time, due to the consolidation of the material and the decrease of void index.

Sea-level rise along the Emilia-Romagna coast (Northern Italy) in 2100: scenarios and impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perini, Luisa; Calabrese, Lorenzo; Luciani, Paolo; Olivieri, Marco; Galassi, Gaia; Spada, Giorgio

2017-12-01

As a consequence of climate change and land subsidence, coastal zones are directly impacted by sea-level rise. In some particular areas, the effects on the ecosystem and urbanisation are particularly enhanced. We focus on the Emilia-Romagna (E-R) coastal plain in Northern Italy, bounded by the Po river mouth to the north and by the Apennines to the south. The plain is ˜ 130 km long and is characterised by wide areas below mean sea level, in part made up of reclaimed wetlands. In this context, several morphodynamic factors make the shore and back shore unstable. During next decades, the combined effects of land subsidence and of the sea-level rise as a result of climate change are expected to enhance the shoreline instability, leading to further retreat. The consequent loss of beaches would impact the economy of the region, which is tightly connected with tourism infrastructures. Furthermore, the loss of wetlands and dunes would threaten the ecosystem, which is crucial for the preservation of life and the environment. These specific conditions show the importance of a precise definition of the possible local impacts of the ongoing and future climate variations. The aim of this work is the characterisation of vulnerability in different sectors of the coastal plain and the recognition of the areas in which human intervention is urgently required. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) sea-level scenarios are merged with new high-resolution terrain models, current data for local subsidence and predictions of the flooding model in_CoastFlood in order to develop different scenarios for the impact of sea-level rise projected to year 2100. First, the potential land loss due to the combined effect of subsidence and sea-level rise is extrapolated. Second, the increase in floodable areas as a result of storm surges is quantitatively determined. The results are expected to support the regional mitigation and adaptation strategies designed in response to climate change.

Impressions of Reggio Emilia.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borgia, Eileen

The preschools operated by the municipality of Reggio Emilia in Emilia Romagna, Italy, have drawn the attention of early childhood educators worldwide. This paper describes five features of these preschools. First, the educational philosophy of the schools is influenced by the high value accorded to cooperation in nothern Italian culture; Bruner's…

Exploring regional differences in the reading competencies of Italian students.

PubMed

Matteucci, Mariagiulia; Mignani, Stefania

2014-06-01

Recently, the study of territorial differences in educational outcomes has assumed a particular importance for the policy strategies related to the socioeconomic conditions of different geographical areas. In Italy, international surveys for student assessments have introduced a regional stratification only recently, and regular national student assessments started only in 2008. In this article, the reading performances of Italian students based on OECD-PISA 2009 are investigated, taking into account regional and macro-area partition. Student outcomes are explored by using a multilevel analysis, where school membership, socioeconomic and cultural background of students, and regional gross domestic product are introduced. The results show that, despite the existence of a unified educational system in Italy, regional and macro-area differences in student reading achievements are consolidated and variability in performances among schools is especially noticeable. Comparisons based on national assessments by INVALSI at the end of compulsory school confirm these findings. Italian policy makers are advised to take into account these results to improve learning opportunities and to reduce educational gaps. In particular, targeted regional policies are needed to improve the mean performance especially in the Southern regions of Calabria, Campania, and Sicilia, and to strengthen the system equity in several regions, such as Emilia-Romagna. To decrease the school differences, possible suggestions are to postpone the choice of the school type (currently, at age 14) and to motivate good teachers to work in schools located in the worst socioeconomic and cultural environments. © The Author(s) 2014.

Association between in-hospital mortality and renal dysfunction in 186,219 patients hospitalized for acute stroke in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.

PubMed

Fabbian, Fabio; Gallerani, Massimo; Pala, Marco; De Giorgi, Alfredo; Salmi, Raffaella; Dentali, Francesco; Ageno, Walter; Manfredini, Roberto

2014-11-01

Using a regional Italian database, we evaluated the relationship between renal dysfunction and in-hospital mortality (IHM) in patients with acute stroke (ischemic/hemorrhagic). Patients were classified on the basis of renal damage: without renal dysfunction, with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Of a total of 186,219 patients with a first episode of stroke, 1626 (0.9%) had CKD and 819 (0.4%) had ESRD. Stroke-related IHM (total cases) was independently associated with CKD, ESRD, atrial fibrillation (AF), age, and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). In patients with ischemic stroke (n=154,026), IHM remained independently associated with CKD, ESRD, AF, and CCI. In patients with hemorrhagic stroke (n=32,189), variables that were independently associated with IHM were CKD, ESRD, and AF. Renal dysfunction is associated with IHM related to stroke, both ischemic and hemorrhagic, with even higher odds ratios than those of other established risk factors, such as age, comorbidities, and AF. © The Author(s) 2013.

Epidemiology of rotavirus-associated hospital admissions in the province of Ferrara, Italy.

PubMed

Marsella, Maria; Raimondi, Licia; Bergamini, Mauro; Sprocati, Monica; Bigi, Ettore; De Sanctis, Vincenzo; Borgna-Pignatti, Caterina; Gabutti, Giovanni

2009-12-01

Hospital discharge forms with specific codes for rotavirus gastroenteritis in children 0 to 14 years of age were reviewed in the period 2003-2005 in the province of Ferrara. A total of 4,238 children were admitted to the pediatric departments; 151 patients were diagnosed with rotavirus gastroenteritis. The average annual rate of hospitalization for rotavirus gastroenteritis was 1.54/1,000 children <14 years of age and 2.9/1,000 children <5 years of age. Most hospitalizations (72%) involved children aged <60 months. The average length of hospital stay was about 5 days. Considering the Emilia Romagna regional reimbursement codes referable to rotavirus disease, the estimated costs of our 151 cases range from 214,033 euros to 341,832 euros. The results of this study contribute to the awareness of rotavirus epidemiology in Italy and underline the potential impact of rotavirus vaccination in our province.

RIGED-RA project - Restoration and management of Coastal Dunes in the Northern Adriatic Coast, Ravenna Area - Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giambastiani, Beatrice M. S.; Greggio, Nicolas; Sistilli, Flavia; Fabbri, Stefano; Scarelli, Frederico; Candiago, Sebastian; Anfossi, Giulia; Lipparini, Carlo A.; Cantelli, Luigi; Antonellini, Marco; Gabbianelli, Giovanni

2016-10-01

Coastal dunes play an important role in protecting the coastline. Unfortunately, in the last decades dunes have been removed or damaged by human activities. In the Emilia- Romagna region significant residual dune systems are found only along Ravenna and Ferrara coasts. In this context, the RIGED-RA project “Restoration and management of coastal dunes along the Ravenna coast” (2013-2016) has been launched with the aims to identify dynamics, erosion and vulnerability of Northern Adriatic coast and associated residual dunes, and to define intervention strategies for dune protection and restoration. The methodology is based on a multidisciplinary approach that integrates the expertise of several researchers and investigates all aspects (biotic and abiotic), which drive the dune-beach system. All datasets were integrated to identify test sites for applying dune restoration. The intervention finished in April 2016; evolution and restoration efficiency will be assessed.

Relationship between biometric characteristics and stem size of uncemented hip prostheses.

PubMed

De Clerico, Manuela; Bordini, Barbara; Stea, Susanna; Viceconti, Marco; Toni, Aldo

2007-06-01

The authors examined 2329 uncemented hip prosthesis stems (AncaFit stem, Wright Medical Technology, Arlington, TN, USA) implanted between 1996 and 2004 due to primary coxarthrosis. This is the most commonly used stem in the Emilia-Romagna region, in northern Italy, according to data from the Register of Orthopaedic Prosthetic Implants (RIPO). It is produced in eight sizes for each side. We analyzed the relationship between stem size and anthropometric data. Among the patients, 49.5% were men and 50.5% were women; mean age at surgery was 64.1 years (SD 9.1); mean height was 167 cm (SD 8.4), and mean weight was 75.7 kg (SD 12.7). Multifactorial analysis demonstrated that stem size was influenced by sex, age, and height, but not by weight. Besides this, there was an interaction between sex and age: in women, but not in men, the stem size increased with aging.

Earthquake Loading Assessment to Evaluate Liquefaction Potential in Emilia-Romagna Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daminelli, R.; Marcellini, A.; Tento, A.

2016-12-01

The May-June 2012 seismic sequence that struck Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna consisted of seven main events of magnitude greater than 5 followed by numerous aftershocks. The strongest earthquakes occurred on May 20 (M=5.9) and May 29 (M=5.8). The widespread soil liquefaction, unexpected because of the moderate magnitude of the events, pushed the local authorities to issue research projects aimed to define the earthquake loading to evaluate the liquefaction safety factor. The reasons explained below led us to adopt a deterministic hazard approach to evaluate the seismic parameters relevant to liquefaction assessment, despite the fact that the Italian Seismic Building Code (NTC08) is based on probabilistic hazard analysis. For urban planning and building design geologists generally adopt the CRR/CSR technique to assess liquefaction potential; therefore we considered PGA and a design magnitude to be representative of the seismic loading. The procedure adopted consists: a) identification of seismic source zones and characterization of each zone by the maximum magnitude; b) evaluation of the source to site distance and c) adoption of a suitable attenuation law to compute the expected PGA at the site, given the site condition and the design magnitude. The design magnitude can be: the maximum magnitude; the magnitude that causes the largest PGA, or both. The PGA values obtained are larger with respect to the 474 years return period PGA prescribed by NTC08 for the seismic design for ordinary buildings. We conducted a CPTU resistance test intended to define the CRR at the village of Cavezzo, situated in the epicentral area of the 2012 earthquake. The CRR/CSR ratio led to an elevated liquefaction risk at the analysed site. On the contrary the adoption of the 474 years return period PGA of the NTCO8 prescribed for Cavezzo site led to a negligible liquefaction risk. Note that very close to the investigated site several liquefaction phenomena were observed.

Earthquake Loading Assessment to Evaluate Liquefaction Potential in Emilia-Romagna Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daminelli, Rosastella; Marcellini, Alberto; Tento, Alberto

2017-04-01

The May-June 2012 seismic sequence that struck Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna consisted of seven main events of magnitude greater than 5 followed by numerous aftershocks. The strongest earthquakes occurred on May 20 (M=5.9) and May 29 (M=5.8). The widespread soil liquefaction, unexpected because of the moderate magnitude of the events, pushed the local authorities to issue research projects aimed to define the earthquake loading to evaluate the liquefaction safety factor. The reasons explained below led us to adopt a deterministic hazard approach to evaluate the seismic parameters relevant to liquefaction assessment, despite the fact that the Italian Seismic Building Code (NTC08) is based on probabilistic hazard analysis. For urban planning and building design geologists generally adopt the CRR/CSR technique to assess liquefaction potential; therefore we considered PGA and a design magnitude to be representative of the seismic loading. The procedure adopted consists: a) identification of seismic source zones and characterization of each zone by the maximum magnitude; b) evaluation of the source to site distance and c) adoption of a suitable attenuation law to compute the expected PGA at the site, given the site condition and the design magnitude. The design magnitude can be: the maximum magnitude; the magnitude that causes the largest PGA, or both. The PGA values obtained are larger with respect to the 474 years return period PGA prescribed by NTC08 for the seismic design for ordinary buildings. We conducted a CPTU resistance test intended to define the CRR at the village of Cavezzo, situated in the epicentral area of the 2012 earthquake. The CRR/CSR ratio led to an elevated liquefaction risk at the analysed site. On the contrary the adoption of the 474 years return period PGA of the NTCO8 prescribed for Cavezzo site led to a negligible liquefaction risk. Note that very close to the investigated site several liquefaction phenomena were observed.

Calibration of limited-area ensemble precipitation forecasts for hydrological predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diomede, Tommaso; Marsigli, Chiara; Montani, Andrea; Nerozzi, Fabrizio; Paccagnella, Tiziana

2015-04-01

The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of calibration for limited-area ensemble precipitation forecasts, to be used for driving discharge predictions up to 5 days in advance. A reforecast dataset, which spans 30 years, based on the Consortium for Small Scale Modeling Limited-Area Ensemble Prediction System (COSMO-LEPS) was used for testing the calibration strategy. Three calibration techniques were applied: quantile-to-quantile mapping, linear regression, and analogs. The performance of these methodologies was evaluated in terms of statistical scores for the precipitation forecasts operationally provided by COSMO-LEPS in the years 2003-2007 over Germany, Switzerland, and the Emilia-Romagna region (northern Italy). The analog-based method seemed to be preferred because of its capability of correct position errors and spread deficiencies. A suitable spatial domain for the analog search can help to handle model spatial errors as systematic errors. However, the performance of the analog-based method may degrade in cases where a limited training dataset is available. A sensitivity test on the length of the training dataset over which to perform the analog search has been performed. The quantile-to-quantile mapping and linear regression methods were less effective, mainly because the forecast-analysis relation was not so strong for the available training dataset. A comparison between the calibration based on the deterministic reforecast and the calibration based on the full operational ensemble used as training dataset has been considered, with the aim to evaluate whether reforecasts are really worthy for calibration, given that their computational cost is remarkable. The verification of the calibration process was then performed by coupling ensemble precipitation forecasts with a distributed rainfall-runoff model. This test was carried out for a medium-sized catchment located in Emilia-Romagna, showing a beneficial impact of the analog-based method on the reduction of missed events for discharge predictions.

Correlation between pore fluid pressures and DInSAR post-seismic deformation of the May 20, 2012 Emilia-Romagna (Italy) earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moro, M.; Stramondo, S.; Albano, M.; Barba, S.; Solaro, G.; Saroli, M.; Bignami, C.

2015-12-01

The present work focuses on the detection and analysis of the postseismic surface deformations following the two earthquakes that hit the Emilia Romagna region (Italy) on May 20 and 29, 2012. The 2012 Emilia earthquake sequence struck the central sector of the Ferrara arc, which represents the external fold-and-thrust system of the Northern Apennines thrust belt buried below the Po plain. The May 20 event occurred on the Ferrara basal thrust at depth, at about 6-7 km, while, during the May 29 event, the rupture jumped on an inner splay of the Ferrara system. The analysis of the postseismic displacements was carried out thanks to a dataset of SAR COSMO­ SkyMed images covering a time span of about one year (May 20, 2012 - May 11, 2013) after the May 20 event. The DInSAR results revealed the presence of two deformation patches: the first one is located in the area that experienced the coseismic uplift. Here the postseismic displacements point out a further ground uplift occurring along the first three months after the 20 May event. The second deformation patch is located in the villages of San Carlo and Mirabello, where ground subsidence lasting about four months was detected. We hypothesized that both the observed phenomena are related to the pore pressure perturbation caused by the coseismic deformation. In particular, the ground uplift is due to the deep crustal deformations caused by the pore fluid diffusion at depth to re-establish the initial hydrostatic stresses. Instead, the ground subsidence is related to the compaction of the shallow sandy layers caused by the liquefaction phenomena, which widely affected the San Carlo and Mirabello area. Preliminary numerical analyses performed with the Finite Element Method and empirical relations confirmed our hypothesis.

Effects of long-term dumping of harbor-dredged material on macrozoobenthos at four disposal sites along the Emilia-Romagna coast (Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy).

PubMed

Simonini, R; Ansaloni, I; Cavallini, F; Graziosi, F; Iotti, M; Massamba N'siala, G; Mauri, M; Montanari, G; Preti, M; Prevedelli, D

2005-12-01

Sediment from harbors of the Emilia-Romagna (Northern Adriatic Sea) were dredged and dumped in four disposal areas characterized by muddy bottoms. The long-term effects of the dumping on macrozoobenthic communities were investigated before and after 6 month, 8 month, 2 years and 4 years. The disposal of dredged material did not influence the granulometry and %TOC in the sediment, and no alterations in the structure of the macrobenthic communities were observed in the four areas. The lack of impact could be ascribed to the environmental characteristics and precautionary measures taken to minimize the effects of the dumping. It appears that: (1) the communities of the dumping areas are well adapted to unstable environments; (2) the sediments were disposed gradually and homogeneously over relatively large areas; Other factors that help to reduce the impact of sediment disposal are the low concentrations of contaminants in dredged materials and the similarity of sediment in the dredged and disposal areas. Off-shore discharge appears a sustainable strategy for the management of uncontaminated dredged sediments from the Northern Adriatic Sea harbors.

Disability and inclusive education in an Italian Region: analysis of the data for the school year 2012-2013.

PubMed

Lanzarini, Evamaria; Parmeggiani, Antonia

2017-02-17

In Italy, pupils with disabilities enroll in mainstream schools and attend the ordinary classes at all educational levels. For the past twelve years, the Region Emilia Romagna has witnessed an increase in the number of children who are in need of special support. The aim of the study was to identify the causes of disability in children attending public schools during the school year 2012-2013. The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. Data were obtained from the Regional Education Department, and divided into categories based on clinical diagnoses. Statistical analyses were performed to analyze the distribution of the diagnostic categories among Provinces and school grades. The most recurrent combinations of illnesses were identified. Intellectual disability was the most common cause of impairment (38,5%), often associated with epilepsy and autism. Hyperkinetic disorder associated with specific disorders of scholastic skills was the most recurrent combination of diagnoses. Rare diseases were diagnosed in 4,1%, whereas 5,0% of cases were affected by Psychopathological disorders. Our study is the first in Italy for its focus on the causes of children's disabilities in an Italian region. Being familiar with the causes of disability affecting the children of a territory is important to allocate the available resources efficiently, and to ensure all children's effective social integration.

The analysis of a cardiological network in a regulated setting: a spatial interaction approach.

PubMed

Lippi Bruni, Matteo; Nobilio, Lucia; Ugolini, Cristina

2008-02-01

We analyse referral patterns for patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, a procedure for which the assumption of a negative association between volume and adverse outcomes is used to justify its territorial concentration. Nevertheless, recent clinical evidence shows PTCA superiority for immediate treatment of acute myocardial infarction, which advises an increase in the number of points of delivery. Our paper aims to develop analytical tools designed to provide support to policy makers when they are asked to evaluate the spatial distribution of catheterisation laboratories that perform PTCA. Information is drawn from the regional administrative hospital discharge data (SDO) for the year 2002. We first use entropy indexes to investigate the spatial accessibility of the cardiological network. Secondly, by means of a gravity model estimated using Bayesian techniques we identify the determinants of patient flows in terms of demand and supply factors. Our results suggest that information on destinations is processed hierarchically and that agglomeration-like forces are dominant. Furthermore, although self-sufficiency of provision at the provincial level has been achieved to a large extent, there is still scope to improve the organisational efficiency of the network.

Prevalence of Salmonella strains in wild animals from a highly populated area of north-eastern Italy.

PubMed

Rubini, Silva; Ravaioli, Cinzia; Previato, Sara; D'Incau, Mario; Tassinari, Massimo; Guidi, Enrica; Lupi, Silvia; Merialdi, Giuseppe; Bergamini, Mauro

2016-01-01

Salmonella is a ubiquitous pathogen that can infect host species, like wild birds, rodents, and/or arthropods, which may transmit infection to domestic animals and human population. In order to assess the related risk, a cross-sectional study was performed on 1114 carcasses of wild animals from a north-eastern area of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy. During post mortem examination, intestine samples were cultured. A statistical analysis demonstrated that there is no correlation between the presence of sub-clinically infected animals and greater human population density. In contrast, a significant correlation between the number of carcasses positive for Salmonella spp. and greater spatial density of pig, poultry, and cattle farms was observed (p < 0.01). The results of the present study show that wild animals with omnivorous feeding habits are particularly exposed to Salmonella colonization and, consequently, to spreading the organism. Regarding drug resistance, this study confirms the resistance to antimicrobials is increasing in commensal and environmental isolates.

Multiprofessional Primary Care Units: What Affects the Clinical Performance of Italian General Practitioners?

PubMed

Armeni, Patrizio; Compagni, Amelia; Longo, Francesco

2014-08-01

Multiprofessional primary care models promise to deliver better care and reduce waste. This study evaluates the impact of such a model, the primary care unit (PCU), on three outcomes. A multilevel analysis within a "pre- and post-PCU" study design and a cross-sectional analysis were conducted on 215 PCUs located in the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy. Seven dimensions captured a set of processes and services characterizing a well-functioning PCU, or its degree of vitality. The impact of each dimension on outcomes was evaluated. The analyses show that certain dimensions of PCU vitality (i.e., the possibility for general practitioners to meet and share patients) can lead to better outcomes. However, dimensions related to the interaction and the joint works of general practitioners with other professionals tend not to have a significant or positive impact. This suggests that more effort needs to be invested to realize all the potential benefits of the PCU's multiprofessional approach to care. © The Author(s) 2014.

Sediment Dynamics in the Adriatic Sea Investigated with Coupled Models

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-01

Sedinent bynamwls _ In vest lyt~eawith Cop/diot BY CHRISTOPHER R. SHERWOOD, JEFFREY W. BOOK, SANDRO CARNIEL. LUIGI CAVALERI, JACOPO CHIGGIATO , H...Venice, Italy. varying amounts (Swift et al., 1972). In Jacopo Chiggiato is Consultant, Servizio Idro Meteorologico-ARPA Emilia Romagna, most cases...supply fluctuations. Marine Signell, R.P., S. Carniel, L. Cavaleri, J. Chiggiato , Geology 193:61-91. J.D. Doyle, J. Pullen, and M. Sclavo. In press

Effects of FRP application on the seismic response of a masonry church in Emilia-Romagna (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milani, Gabriele; Shehu, Rafael; Valente, Marco

2016-12-01

The paper presents some preliminary results of advanced Finite Element (FE) analyses on the upgrading of old masonry constructions by means of Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRPs). The case study is a masonry Romanesque church, located in Ferrara, Emilia Romagna (Italy). The church exhibits widespread damage caused by the recent earthquake sequence occurred in 2012 about 60 km far from Ferrara with two major seismic events of magnitude 5.8 and 5.9. The main damage involved mainly the columns of the central nave and the apse. A partial detachment of the façade was observed too. First, gravity load analyses and non-linear static and dynamic analyses are performed on the church in the unretrofitted configuration. Numerical results put in evidence the insufficient strength of the apse and the columns of the naves, and the detachment of the façade. A strengthening intervention conducted by means of FRP strips is numerically analysed, assuming the behavior of the strips, especially for what concerns delamination, in agreement with Italian Guidelines. Numerical results show a quite reasonable strength improvement of the weak structural elements due to FRP application, with levels of strength higher than the minimum ones required by Italian Code.

Traditional alcoholic beverages and their value in the local culture of the Alta Valle del Reno, a mountain borderland between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna (Italy).

PubMed

Egea, Teresa; Signorini, Maria Adele; Ongaro, Luca; Rivera, Diego; Obón de Castro, Concepción; Bruschi, Piero

2016-06-22

Traditional alcoholic beverages (TABs) have only received marginal attention from researchers and ethnobotanists so far, especially in Italy. This work is focused on plant-based TABs in the Alta Valle del Reno, a mountainous area on the border between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions. The aims of our study were to document local knowledge about TABs and to analyze and discuss the distribution of related knowledge within the investigated communities. Field data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The relative importance of each plant species used to prepare TABs was assessed by calculating a general Use Value Index (UV general), a current UV (UV current) and a past UV (UV past). We also assessed personal experience of use by calculating effective and potential UV (UV effective, UV potential). A multivariate analysis was performed to compare ingredients in recipes recorded in the Alta Valle del Reno with those reported for neighboring areas. Forty-six plant species, belonging to 20 families, were recorded. Rosaceae was the most significant family (98 citations, 19 species), followed by Rutaceae (15, 3) and Lamiaceae (12, 4). The most important species was Prunus cerasus L. (UV general = 0.44), followed by Juglans regia L. (0.38), Rubus idaeus L. (0.27) and Prunus spinosa L. (0.22). Species with the highest UV current were Juglans regia (0.254), Prunus cerasus (0.238) and Citrus limon L. (0.159). The highest UV effective values were obtained by Prunus cerasus (0.413), Juglans regia (0.254), Rubus idaeus (0.222) and Citrus limon (0.206). We also discuss the results of the multivariate analysis. TABs proved to occupy an important place in the traditional culture and social life of the studied communities. Moreover, data highlight the local specificity and richness of this kind of tradition in the Alta Valle del Reno, compared to other Italian areas. Some plant ingredients used for TABs have potential nutraceutical and even therapeutic properties that are well known by local people. These properties could constitute an additional economic value for TABs' commercialization, which in turn could promote the local rural economy.

Finite-fault inversion of the Mw 5.9 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake (Northern Italy) using aftershocks as near-field Green's function approximations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Causse, Mathieu; Cultrera, Giovanna; Herrero, André; Courboulex, Françoise; Schiappapietra, Erika; Moreau, Ludovic

2017-04-01

On May 29, 2012 occurred a Mw 5.9 earthquake in the Emilia-Romagna region (Po Plain) on a thrust fault system. This shock, as well as hundreds of aftershocks, were recorded by 10 strong motion stations located less than 10 km away from the rupture plane, with 4 stations located within the surface rupture projection. The Po Plain is a very large EW trending syntectonic alluvial basin, delimited by the Alps and Apennines chains to the North and South. The Plio-Quaternary sedimentary sequence filling the Po Plain is characterized by an uneven thickness, ranging from several thousands of meters to a few tens of meters. This particular context results especially in a resonance basin below 1 Hz and strong surface waves, which makes it particularly difficult to model wave propagation and hence to obtain robust images of the rupture propagation. This study proposes to take advantage of the large set of recorded aftershocks, considered as point sources, to model wave propagation. Due to the heterogeneous distribution of the aftershocks on the fault plane, an interpolation technique is proposed to compute an approximation of the Green's function between each fault point and each strong motion station in the frequency range [0.2-1Hz]. We then use a Bayesian inversion technique (Monte Carlo Markov Chain algorithm) to obtain images of the rupture propagation from the strong motion data. We propose to retrieve the slip distribution by inverting the final slip value at some control points, which are allowed to move on the fault plane, and by interpolating the slip value between these points. We show that the use of 5 control points to describe the slip, coupled with the hypothesis of spatially constant rupture velocity and rise-time (that is 18 free source parameters), results in a good level of fit with the data. This indicates that despite their complexity, the strong motion data can be properly modeled up to 1 Hz using a relatively simple rupture. The inversion results also reveal that the rupture propagated slowly, at a speed of about 45% of the shear wave velocity.

[Methods for health impact assessment of policies for municipal solid waste management: the SESPIR Project].

PubMed

Parmagnani, Federica; Ranzi, Andrea; Ancona, Carla; Angelini, Paola; Chiusolo, Monica; Cadum, Ennio; Lauriola, Paolo; Forastiere, Francesco

2014-01-01

The Project Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around the Waste Treatment Plants (SESPIR) included five Italian regions (Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Lazio, Campania, and Sicily) and the National Institute of Health in the period 2010-2013. SESPIR was funded by the Ministry of Health as part of the National centre for diseases prevention and control (CCM) programme of 2010 with the general objective to provide methods and operational tools for the implementation of surveillance systems for waste and health, aimed at assessing the impact of the municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment cycle on the health of the population. The specific objective was to assess health impacts resulting from the presence of disposal facilities related to different regional scenarios of waste management. Suitable tools for analysis of integrated assessment of environmental and health impact were developed and applied, using current demographic, environmental and health data. In this article, the methodology used for the quantitative estimation of the impact on the health of populations living nearby incinerators, landfills and mechanical biological treatment plants is showed, as well as the analysis of three different temporal scenarios: the first related to the existing plants in the period 2008-2009 (baseline), the second based on regional plans, the latter referring to MSW virtuous policy management based on reduction of produced waste and an intense recovery policy.

Proposing priorities of intervention for the recovery of native fish populations using hierarchical ranking of environmental and exotic species impact.

PubMed

Aschonitis, V G; Gavioli, A; Lanzoni, M; Fano, E A; Feld, C; Castaldelli, G

2018-03-15

The freshwater populations of native fish species (Ns) have reached critical levels in many parts of the world due to combined habitat deterioration by human interventions and exotic fish species (Es) invasions. These alarming conditions require combined and well-designed interventions for restoring environmental quality and restricting Es invasion. The aim of the study is to propose a method to design spatially explicit priorities of intervention for the recovery of Ns populations in highly impacted freshwater systems by exotic multi-species invasion and water quality (WQ) degradation. WQ and Es are used as Ns descriptors, which require intervention. The method uses gradient analysis (ordination method of Canonical Correspondence Analysis) for assessing the weights of Ns descriptors' effects, which are further used to develop weighted severity indices; the severity index of WQ (Swq) and Es invasion (Se), respectively. Swq and Se are further merged to one combined total severity index St. The proposed method provides a) a ranking of the sites, based on the values of S t , which denotes the priority for combined intervention in space and can be visualized in maps, b) a ranking of the most important Ns descriptors for each site to perform site-specific interventions, and c) Es rankings based on their potential threat on Ns for species-specific interventions. WQ, Es and Ns data from 208 sampling sites located in the Emilia-Romagna Region (Northern Italy) were used as a case study for the presentation of the proposed method. The application of the method showed that the north and northwestern lowland areas of Emilia-Romagna region presented the higher priority for intervention since the Ns of these areas are the most impacted from combined Es invasions and WQ degradation. Specific Es belonging to cyprinids, which are mostly responsible for the decline of aquatic vegetation and the increase of water turbidity, and a top Es predator (Wels catfish) were mostly present in these areas. Additionally, the most important WQ stressors of Ns were found to be COD, BOD and temperature that are all connected to oxygen depletion. The aforementioned conditions in the areas described by high priority for intervention can be used as a basis for the development of specific Ns conservation practices targeting the containment of the most harmful Es, the restoration of aquatic vegetation and the improvement of oxygen conditions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Crustal structure of northern Italy from the ellipticity of Rayleigh waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berbellini, Andrea; Morelli, Andrea; G. Ferreira, Ana M.

2017-04-01

Northern Italy is a diverse geological region, including the wide and thick Po Plain sedimentary basin, which is bounded by the Alps and the Apennines. The seismically slow shallow structure of the Po Plain is difficult to retrieve with classical seismic measurements such as surface wave dispersion, yet the detailed structure of the region greatly affects seismic wave propagation and hence seismic ground shaking. Here we invert Rayleigh wave ellipticity measurements in the period range 10-60 s for 95 stations in northern Italy using a fully non linear approach to constrain vertical vS,vP and density profiles of the crust beneath each station. The ellipticity of Rayleigh wave ground motion is primarily sensitive to shear-wave velocity beneath the recording station, which reduces along-path contamination effects. We use the 3D layering structure in MAMBo, a previous model based on a compilation of geological and geophysical information for the Po Plain and surrounding regions of northern Italy, and employ ellipticity data to constrain vS,vP and density within its layers. We show that ellipticity data from ballistic teleseismic wave trains alone constrain the crustal structure well. This leads to MAMBo-E, an updated seismic model of the region's crust that inherits information available from previous seismic prospection and geological studies, while fitting new seismic data well. MAMBo-E brings new insights into lateral heterogeneity in the region's subsurface. Compared to MAMBo, it shows overall faster seismic anomalies in the region's Quaternary, Pliocene and Oligo-Miocene layers and better delineates the seismic structures of the Po Plain at depth. Two low velocity regions are mapped in the Mesozoic layer in the western and eastern parts of the Plain, which seem to correspond to the Monferrato sedimentary basin and to the Ferrara-Romagna thrust system, respectively.

The burden of vitamin D deficiency in a mediterranean country without a policy of food fortification.

PubMed

Lippi, Giuseppe; Nouvenne, Antonio; Ticinesi, Andrea; Bonelli, Patrizia; Salvagno, Gian Luca; Cervellin, Gianfranco; Guidi, Gian Cesare

2015-04-27

Vitamin D deficiency is a public healthcare issue and its correction is increasingly regarded as a cornerstone of preventive medicine. We designed a retrospective observational study to clearly define the burden of total vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) deficiency in a supposedly healthy population of outpatients residing in two regions (Emilia Romagna and Veneto) of Northern Italy. 25-hydroxyvitamin D results were available for a total number of 5,096 outpatients in the two centers. The median value of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was 60 nmol/L, and was higher in women than in men (62 nmol/L versus 56 nmol/L; p<0.001). The rate of 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency was 36%, and was marginally but significantly higher in men than in women (40% versus 35%; p=0.003). A significant variation in the rate of 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency was found throughout different age ranges, exhibiting a significant increase in the elderly. The results of this large observational study show that the burden of 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency in two regions of a Mediterranean country without a policy of food fortification is as high as 36%, and this evidence represents a background for healthcare preventive measures aimed at reducing the prevalence of this condition in the general population. (www.actabiomedica.it).

Damage and Site Effects of the May 2012 Emilia-Romagna and Lombardia Earthquake, with Particular Reference to the "Oltrepò Mantovano" (Mantua) Territory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daminelli, R.; Marcellini, A.; Tento, A.

2014-12-01

The seismic sequence that struck the Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna in May 2012 consisted of seven main events of magnitude greater than 5 followed by numerous aftershocks. The strongest earthquakes occurred on May 20 (M=5.9) and May 29 (M=5.8) near the border between Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna. The epicenters of the main events are aligned in east-west direction in a segment of approx. 50 km just south of the Po river. The area was considered a low to medium seismicity: the seismic hazard in the epicentral area, and in the whole damaged area, was estimated to be less than 0.15 g PGA for 10% exceedance in 50 years. Significant damage occurred over an area greater than 1000 km2, which is extremely large for earthquakes of magnitude less than 6, bearing in mind the low vulnerability level of the structures. As seen in detailed geological investigations the degree of damage and its areal extent is largely attributable to the particular conditions of the soil. We focus on the relationship between damage and soil conditions in the area of Oltrepò Mantovano, situated between the Po River and the epicentral area. The soil is largely composed of Quaternary deposits of sands, silty-clay and clay with a very deep bedrock (greater than 100 m) and Vs30 generally less than 500 m/s. According to the cards Aedes (official forms of the Italian Government to assess the state of damage of buildings) houses declared uninhabitable because of the earthquake were mainly concentrated in a few small towns: Moglia, Gonzaga, Quistello and San Giacomo delle Segnate (located approximately at 20 km, 27 km, 20 km and 14 km from the epicenters of the two main shocks, respectively) which reported 73% of the total of all uninhabitable buildings; Moglia 27 %, Gonzaga 14%, Quistello 20% and San Giacomo delle Segnate 12%. The hydrographic system has evolved considerably since the Middle Bronze Age with the result that the area is characterized by a complex geomorphology with the presence of fluvial paleochannels, fluvial ridges and abandoned river channels where numerous cases of soil liquefaction have been observed. The May 2012 earthquake has highlighted a close relationship between the sites where the damage was concentrated and the geological and geomorphological characteristics of the area.

Economics of One Health: Costs and benefits of integrated West Nile virus surveillance in Emilia-Romagna.

PubMed

Paternoster, Giulia; Babo Martins, Sara; Mattivi, Andrea; Cagarelli, Roberto; Angelini, Paola; Bellini, Romeo; Santi, Annalisa; Galletti, Giorgio; Pupella, Simonetta; Marano, Giuseppe; Copello, Francesco; Rushton, Jonathan; Stärk, Katharina D C; Tamba, Marco

2017-01-01

Since 2013 in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, surveillance information generated in the public health and in the animal health sectors has been shared and used to guide public health interventions to mitigate the risk of West Nile virus (WNV) transmission via blood transfusion. The objective of the current study was to identify and estimate the costs and benefits associated with this One Health surveillance approach, and to compare it to an approach that does not integrate animal health information in blood donations safety policy (uni-sectoral scenario). Costs of human, animal, and entomological surveillance, sharing of information, and triggered interventions were estimated. Benefits were quantified as the averted costs of potential human cases of WNV neuroinvasive disease associated to infected blood transfusion. In the 2009-2015 period, the One Health approach was estimated to represent a cost saving of €160,921 compared to the uni-sectoral scenario. Blood donation screening was the main cost for both scenarios. The One Health approach further allowed savings of €1.21 million in terms of avoided tests on blood units. Benefits of the One Health approach due to short-term costs of hospitalization and compensation for transfusion-associated disease potentially avoided, were estimated to range from €0 to €2.98 million according to the probability of developing WNV neuroinvasive disease after receiving an infected blood transfusion.

Coastal Risk Assessment Framework tool for the identification of hotspots along the Emilia-Romagna coastline (northern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armaroli, Clara; Duo, Enrico; Ciavola, Paolo

2017-04-01

The Emilia-Romagna coastline is located in northern Italy, facing the Adriatic sea. The area is especially exposed to the flooding hazard because of its low lying nature, high urbanisation and the large exploitation of beach resources for tourism. The identification of hotspots where marine flooding can cause significant damages is, therefore, a key issue. The methodology implemented to identify hotspots is based on the Coastal Risk Assessment Framework tool that was developed in the RISC-KIT project (www.risckit.eu). The tool combines the hazard component with different exposure indicators and is applied along predefined coastal sectors of almost 1 Km alongshore length. The coastline was divided into 106 sectors in which each component was analysed. The hazard part was evaluated through the computation of maximum water levels, obtained as the sum of wave set-up, storm surge and tide, calculated along representative beach profiles, one per sector, and for two return periods (10 and 100 years). The data for the computation of the maximum water level were extracted from the literature. The landward extension of flood-prone areas in each sector was the extension of the flood maps produced by the regional authorities for the EU Flood Directive and for the same return periods. The exposure indicators were evaluated taking into account the location and type of different assets in each sector and in flood-prone areas. Specifically, the assets that were taken into account are: the transport network, the utilities (water, gas and electricity) networks, the land use typologies, the social vulnerability status of the population and the business sector. Each component was then ranked from 1 to 5, considering a scale based on their computed value (hazard), importance and location (exposure indicators). A final coastal index (CI) was computed as the root mean square of the geometrical mean of the exposure indicators multiplied by the hazard indicator. Land use typologies were valued taking into account a classification produced by the regional authorities for the Flood Directive. The social vulnerability status of the population was derived from data produced by the National Statistic Institute. The regional managers provided the location of transport and utilities networks. The business indicator was built considering the tourist arrivals in each coastal municipality compared to the total number of arrivals. The results showed that the coast is very exposed to flooding and that the 100 year return period event leads to the identification of a large number of hotspots (65 over 106) defined as sectors with CI > 2.5. The main drivers for the hotspot identification were the hazard indicator and the land use typologies, because important transport/utilities network are not located in flood-prone areas. The most critical sectors are situated in the central-southern part of the coastline, where the most attractive tourist facilities are located and where the coastal corridor is occupied by a continuous urbanisation.

Status of insecticide resistance in Culex pipiens field populations from north-eastern areas of Italy before the withdrawal of OP compounds.

PubMed

Toma, Luciano; Menegon, Michela; Romi, Roberto; De Matthaeis, Elvira; Montanari, Mario; Severini, Carlo

2011-01-01

Heavy and constant use of organophosphorus (OP) larvicides selected Culex pipiens L. resistant populations through two main mechanisms of genetic resistance, the increased activity of detoxifying esterase and the production of alterate acetylcholinesterase-1 (AChE1) by G119S mutation. The aim of this study was the assessment of the distribution of Cx. pipiens populations resistant to temephos and chlorpyrifos in the north-eastern regions of Italy and the occurrence of the insensitive AChE in these populations. Data describe the situation in the last years before European legislation prohibited the use of OP larvicides in mosquito control, up until 2007. For the first time a high level of OP resistance in the samples from Ravenna (182-fold, 80% A4/B4 or A5/B5 esterases and 38.3% Ester(5)), Emilia Romagna region, was detected; therefore, new data from the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions were obtained and reinforced existing knowledge about resistance previously studied along the Adriatic coast. Nearby, in the Villa Verucchio locality, the highest (87.5%) AChE1R was found. Cx. pipiens resistance esterases A5/B5 and A4/B4 spread southward along the Adriatic coastal plain while OPs were being used in mosquito control, as confirmed by the first molecular screening of the AChE1 gene in these populations. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry.

Super-Ensemble Techniques: Application to Surface Drift Prediction During the DART06 and MREA07 Campaigns

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-08

Fratianni, L. Torrisi, D. Pallela, J. Chiggiato , M. Tudor, J. Book, P. Martin, G. Peggion, M. Rixen 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK...by the HydroMeteorological Service of ARPA Emilia Romagna, Bologna, Italy (see e.g. Chiggiato and Oddo (2008) and references herein, and http...143-151. Chiggiato , J.. Oddo, P.. 2008. Operational ocean models in the Adriatic Sea: a skill assessment. Ocean Science 4(1), 61-71. <http://www.ocean

The burden of early-onset sepsis in Emilia-Romagna (Italy): a 4-year, population-based study.

PubMed

Berardi, Alberto; Baroni, Lorenza; Bacchi Reggiani, Maria Letizia; Ambretti, Simone; Biasucci, Giacomo; Bolognesi, Serenella; Capretti, Maria Grazia; Carretto, Edoardo; Ciccia, Matilde; Fiorini, Valentina; Fortini, Cinzia; Gargano, Giancarlo; Pedna, Maria Federica; Rizzo, Vittoria; Creti, Roberta; Ferrari, Fabrizio

2016-10-01

To provide the first Italian data on pathogens causing early-onset sepsis (EOS) and their antimicrobial susceptibility, after the successfully prevention of Group B streptococcus (GBS) EOS. Retrospective area-based cohort study from Emilia-Romagna (Italy). Cases of EOS registered (from 2009 to 2012) in all gestational age neonates were reviewed. Live births (LB) numbered 146 682. Ninety neonates had EOS and 12 died (incidence rates of 0.61 and 0.08/1000 LB, respectively). EOS and mortality were the highest among neonates with a birth weight <1000 g (20.37/1000 LB and 8.49/1000 LB, respectively). The most common pathogens were GBS (n = 27, 0.18/1000 LB) and Escherichia coli (n = 19, 0.13/1000 LB). Most infants affected by E. coli EOS were born preterm (n = 13), had complications (n = 4) or died (n = 7). Among 90 isolates tested, only 3 were resistant to both first line empirical antibiotics. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that low gestational age, caesarean section and low platelet count at presentation were significantly associated with death or brain lesions (area under ROC curve = 0.939, H-L = 0.944, sensitivity 76.0%, specificity 90.7%). GBS slightly exceeds E. coli as a cause of EOS. However, E. coli is the prominent cause of death, complications and in most cases affects preterm neonates. Empirical antimicrobial therapy of EOS seems appropriate.

[Evolution in the hospitalization for infectious diseases among non-EU patients in Emilia Romagna].

PubMed

Sabbatani, Sergio; Passini, Alessia; Salvioli, Valentina; Chiodo, Francesco

2005-03-01

In the Emilia Romagna (ER) area, between 1996 and 2000, a progressive increment in hospitalization for TBC, malaria, AIDS and hepatitis in non-EU patients was observed. This study aims to determine whether this trend was confirmed in 2001 and in which cities the increase was most significant. The Hospital Discharge Cards (HDC) registered in ER for non-EU patients in the relevant period were examined. In 2001, of 20,980 hospitalization cases of non-EU patients, 394 (1.87%) were attributed to infectious diseases, amounting to an increase of 1.77% over 2000. Of the 394 patients 250 (63.45%) were male and 144 (36.55%) female. The most represented age group was 20-39 yrs. Male patients more frequently come from Morocco (54), Senegal (45), Brazil (43), females from Nigeria (36), Morocco (26) and Ghana (14). The towns and cities where hospitalization occurred were, in decreasing order: Modena (24.6%), Bologna (19.3%), Reggio Emilia (12.9%), Ravenna (10.4%), Rimini (8.6%), Parma (8.3%), Piacenza (7.3%), Forli (4.8%), Ferrara and Cesena (both 1.8%). The Hospital Departments primarily involved were: Infectious Diseases with 213 hospitalizations (54%), Pneumology 69 (17.5%), Medicine 44 (11.1%), and Paediatrics 39 (9.9 %). Hospitalization causes were, in order of frequency: TBC with 137 cases (34.8%), malaria 75 cases (19%), AIDS 72 cases (18.3%), viral hepatitis 56 cases (14.2%), septicaemia 22 cases (5.6%) and Salmonella spp. infections 18 cases (4.5%).

D Geomatics Techniques for AN Integrated Approach to Cultural Heritage Knowledge: the Case of San Michele in Acerboli's Church in Santarcangelo DI Romagna

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bitelli, G.; Dellapasqua, M.; Girelli, V. A.; Sanchini, E.; Tini, M. A.

2017-05-01

The modern Geomatics techniques, such as Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) and multi-view Structure from Motion (SfM), are gaining more and more interest in the Cultural Heritage field. All the data acquired with these technologies could be stored and managed together with other information in a Historical Building Information Model (HBIM). In this paper, it will be shown the case study of the San Michele in Acerboli's church, located in Santarcangelo di Romagna, Italy. This church, dated about the 6th century A.D., represents a high relevant Romanic building of the high Medieval period. The building presents an irregular square plan with a different length of the lateral brick walls and a consequential oblique one in correspondence of the apse. Nevertheless, the different lengths of the lateral brick walls are balanced thanks to the irregular spaces between the windows. Different changes occurred during the centuries, such as the closing of the seven main doors and the building of the bell tower, in the 11th century A.D., which is nowadays the main entrance of the church. An integrated survey was realized, covering the exterior and the interior. The final 3D model represents a valid support not only for documentation, but also to maintain and manage in an integrate approach the available knowledge of this Cultural Heritage site, developing a HBIM system in which all the mentioned historical, geometrical, material matters are collected.

Effects of layered crust on the coseismic slip inversion and related CFF variations: Hints from the 2012 Emilia Romagna earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nespoli, Massimo; Belardinelli, Maria E.; Anderlini, Letizia; Bonafede, Maurizio; Pezzo, Giuseppe; Todesco, Micol; Rinaldi, Antonio P.

2017-12-01

The 2012 Emilia Romagna (Italy) seismic sequence has been extensively studied given the occurrence of two mainshocks, both temporally and spatially close to each other. The recent literature accounts for several fault models, obtained with different inversion methods and different datasets. Several authors investigated the possibility that the second event was triggered by the first mainshock with elusive results. In this work, we consider all the available InSAR and GPS datasets and two planar fault geometries, which are based on both seismological and geological constraints. We account for a layered, elastic half-space hosting the dislocation and compare the slip distribution resulting from the inversion and the related changes in Coulomb Failure Function (CFF) obtained with both a homogeneous and layered half-space. Finally, we focus on the interaction between the two main events, discriminating the contributions of coseismic and early postseismic slip of the mainshock on the generation of the second event and discuss the spatio-temporal distribution of the seismic sequence. When accounting for both InSAR and GPS geodetic data we are able to reproduce a detailed coseismic slip distribution for the two mainshocks that is in accordance with the overall aftershock seismicity distribution. Furthermore, we see that an elastic medium with depth dependent rigidity better accounts for the lack of the shallow seismicity, amplifying, with respect to the homogeneous case, the mechanical interaction of the two mainshocks.

Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance: Bethesda Classification and Association with Human Papillomavirus

PubMed Central

Barcelos, Ana Cristina Macêdo; Michelin, Márcia Antoniazi; Adad, Sheila Jorge; Murta, Eddie Fernando Candido

2011-01-01

Introduction. To analyze patients with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) through a cytology review and the presence of microbiological agents, with consideration of colposcopy and semiannual tracking. Methods. 103 women with ASCUS were reviewed and reclassified: normal/inflammatory, ASCUS, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), or high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL). If ASCUS confirmed, it was subclassified in reactive or neoplastic ASCUS, ASC-US, or ASC-H; and Regione Emilia Romagna Screening Protocol. Patients underwent a colposcopic examination, and test for Candida sp., bacterial vaginosis, Trichomonas vaginalis, and human papillomavirus (HPV) were performed. Results. Upon review, ASCUS was diagnosis in 70/103 (67.9%), being 38 (54.2%) reactive ASCUS and 32 (45.71%) neoplastic ASCUS; 62 (88.5%) ASC-US and 8 (11.41%) ASC-H. ASCUS (Regione Protocol), respectively 1-5: 15 (21.4%), 19 (27.1%), 3 (27.1%), 16 (22.8%), and 1 (1.4%). A higher number of cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) II/III in the biopsies of patients with ASC-H compared to ASC-US (P = .0021). High-risk HPV test and presence of CIN II/III are more frequent in ASC-H than ASC-US (P = .031). Conclusions. ASC-H is associated with clinically significant disease. High-risk HPV-positive status in the triage for colposcopy of patients with ASC-US is associated with increased of CIN. PMID:21760701

[Quality indicators for the assessment of ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) networks. How hospital discharge records could be integrated with Emergency medical services data: the Emilia-Romagna STEMI network experience].

PubMed

Pavesi, Pier Camillo; Guastaroba, Paolo; Casella, Gianni; Berti, Elena; De Palma, Rossana; Di Bartolomeo, Stefano; Di Pasquale, Giuseppe

2015-09-01

The assessment of the regional network for ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) is fundamental for quality assurance. Since 2011 all Italian Health Authorities, in addition to hospital discharge records (HDR), must provide a standardized information flow (ERD) about emergency department (ED) and emergency medical system (EMS) activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether data integration of ERD with HDR may allow the development of appropriate quality indicators. Patients admitted to coronary care units (CCU) for STEMI between January 1 to December 31, 2013, were identified from the regional HDR database. All data were linked to those of the regional ERD database. Four quality indicators were defined: 1) rates of EMS activation, 2) rates of EMS direct transfer to the catheterization laboratory (Cath-lab), 3) transfer rates from a Spoke to a Hub hospital with angioplasty facilities, and 4) median time spent in ED. In 2013, 2793 patients with STEMI were admitted to the CCU. Of these, 1684 patients (60%) activated EMS and were transported to Spoke or Hub hospitals; 955 (57%) entered directly in CCU/Cath-lab; 677 were transferred directly to a Hub hospital ED without being admitted to a Spoke hospital. The median ED time in Hub hospital was 47 min (IQR 24-136) and in Spoke hospital 53 min (IQR 30-131). The integration among administrative data banks (i.e., HDR with ERD) allowed the assessment of the regional STEMI network and the identification of potentially useful quality indicators. Their easy availability should enable comparisons with local, national and international standards, and may favor quality improvement.

Serological and molecular tools to diagnose visceral leishmaniasis: 2-years’ experience of a single center in Northern Italy

PubMed Central

Ortalli, Margherita; Attard, Luciano; Vanino, Elisa; Gaibani, Paolo; Vocale, Caterina; Rossini, Giada; Cagarelli, Roberto; Pierro, Anna; Billi, Patrizia; Mastroianni, Antonio; Di Cesare, Simona; Codeluppi, Mauro; Franceschini, Erica; Melchionda, Fraia; Gramiccia, Marina; Scalone, Aldo; Gentilomi, Giovanna A.; Landini, Maria P.

2017-01-01

The diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) remains challenging, due to the limited sensitivity of microscopy, the poor performance of serological methods in immunocompromised patients and the lack of standardization of molecular tests. The aim of this study was to implement a combined diagnostic workflow by integrating serological and molecular tests with standardized clinical criteria. Between July 2013 and June 2015, the proposed workflow was applied to specimens obtained from 94 in-patients with clinical suspicion of VL in the Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy. Serological tests and molecular techniques were employed. Twenty-one adult patients (22%) had a confirmed diagnosis of VL by clinical criteria, serology and/or real-time polymerase chain reaction; 4 of these patients were HIV-positive. Molecular tests exhibited higher sensitivity than serological tests for the diagnosis of VL. In our experience, the rK39 immunochromatographic test was insufficiently sensitive for use as a screening test for the diagnosis of VL caused by L. infantum in Italy. However, as molecular tests are yet not standardized, further studies are required to identify an optimal screening test for Mediterranean VL. PMID:28832646

[The path of continuity of care between hospital and territory in patients with severe brain injury. The expectations of caregivers and professionals].

PubMed

Feiroli, Raffaele; Bolzani, Monica; Cornelli, Maria Cristina; Ghirardi, Lida; Guizzardi, Loris; Onesti, Roberta; Dovani, Antonella; Davolo, Andrea; Artioli, Giovanna; Mancini, Tiziana

2013-01-01

The present study analyses how continuity of care is perceived by health professionals and GRACER (Gravi Cerebrolesioni Acquisite Emilia Romagna) patients' caregivers, in order to investigate where the gap between expectations and reality is more heavily felt and which dimension of the continuity of care is the most important both for health professionals and GRACER patients' caregivers. The study has been developed following the Gap Analysis theoretical model. A questionnaire, based on ServQual model, was used to collect data about the three dimensions of the construct of continuity of care related to information, management and relation, declined along the lines of expectations and perception of reality. The questionnaire was administered to health professionals and caregivers of GRACER patients (12-36 months after the event) inside 4 healthcare institutes in Emilia Romagna. The PAI (Piano Assistenziale Individuale) approach was the methodology applied in these 4 sites. To both groups the relational continuity was the most important dimension, followed at a long distance by the informational and the management ones. It has also been noted that to professionals reality is always worse than expectations, with the exception of only two items in the dimension of management continuity. To caregivers reality is worse than expectations in some items in the dimensions of information and management The study has shown that the relational dimension of continuity of care should be more investigated, as confirmed by literature. More research is needed about the professionals' dissatisfaction generated by the negative balance between expectations and perception of reality.

A telephone interview to assess alkylglycerols' effectiveness in preventing influenza-like symptoms in Modena, Emilia Romagna, Italy, in the season 2009-2010.

PubMed

Iannitti, T; Capone, S; Palmieri, B

2011-01-01

Influenza has been related to high morbity and, in children and adults over 60 years, high mortality. It brings a great burden on medical centers, which have to sustain and provide numerous patients with continuous care, especially in winter when influenza reaches the highest peak. Vaccination is still the main preventive measure to avoid serious epidemics. We propose a retrospective phone interview to assess the effect of alkylglycerols, taken immediately before the peak of influenza, to boost the immunitary system. A group of patients from Modena (Emilia Romagna, Italy) were included in this study. Fifty two patients were instructed to take Alkyrol®500 per os, twice a day, during the two principal meals. Sixty patients were chosen from the same familiar nucleus of the treated subjects and they were used as controls since they all had undergone traditional vaccination against H1N1 influenza. Forty two out of 52 patients, treated with alkylglycerols did not report any influenza-like symptoms, while 10 out of 52 showed mild influenza-like symptoms which disappeared after 48-72 hours without the use of any drug. In the control group, 20 out of 60 patients did not show any influenza-like symptoms, while 40 out of 60 patients did. Alkylglycerols may bring therapeutical benefits, support the immunitary system and prevent influenza-like symptoms. Further clinical studies are needed, not only to understand if alkylglycerols can be a valid alternative to vaccination to prevent influenza, but also to study their possible application to treat other pathological conditions.

Children's emotional experience two years after an earthquake: An exploration of knowledge of earthquakes and associated emotions.

PubMed

Raccanello, Daniela; Burro, Roberto; Hall, Rob

2017-01-01

We explored whether and how the exposure to a natural disaster such as the 2012 Emilia Romagna earthquake affected the development of children's emotional competence in terms of understanding, regulating, and expressing emotions, after two years, when compared with a control group not exposed to the earthquake. We also examined the role of class level and gender. The sample included two groups of children (n = 127) attending primary school: The experimental group (n = 65) experienced the 2012 Emilia Romagna earthquake, while the control group (n = 62) did not. The data collection took place two years after the earthquake, when children were seven or ten-year-olds. Beyond assessing the children's understanding of emotions and regulating abilities with standardized instruments, we employed semi-structured interviews to explore their knowledge of earthquakes and associated emotions, and a structured task on the intensity of some target emotions. We applied Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Exposure to the earthquake did not influence the understanding and regulation of emotions. The understanding of emotions varied according to class level and gender. Knowledge of earthquakes, emotional language, and emotions associated with earthquakes were, respectively, more complex, frequent, and intense for children who had experienced the earthquake, and at increasing ages. Our data extend the generalizability of theoretical models on children's psychological functioning following disasters, such as the dose-response model and the organizational-developmental model for child resilience, and provide further knowledge on children's emotional resources related to natural disasters, as a basis for planning educational prevention programs.

Bioengineering applied to erosion and stability control in the North Apennines (Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy): a check about critical aspects of the works.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selli, Lavinia; Cavazza, Claudio; Pavanelli, Donatella

2013-04-01

Because of its geological structure, in the Emilia-Romagna Region over 32,000 landslides have been identified. Several works have been made in order to control mass movement's dynamics and to secure of Reno and Lamone Mountain Basin Rivers, the road network and near by villages and towns. Most of the control works dealt with bioengineering practices: palisades piles, geotextiles, seedings, surface flow control works, dikes within main drainage ditches. In order to check about critical aspects related to the use of these techniques in the Apennines, a survey in this basins was designed with specific interest in the several kinds of works realised, in which plant species were mostly used and in the factors that affected the success or failure of the works. Territory encompasses steep slopes covered with woods to low reliefs covered with grasslands. It is characterized by prevailing clays, inducing instability, and arenaceous lithology with impermeable soils; drainage density is quite high and hillsides suffer extensive and severe erosion and slope stability problems. Chestnut woods mainly represent land use at higher altitudes, while coppice, pastures and crops are present on milder hillsides. The remaining part of the basin is covered by vineyards, orchards, ponds and urban areas, which are basically located in the valley floor. Precipitation events mainly consist of rainfall ranging between 950-1015 mm per year; few snowfalls occur during winter and a long dry season lasts from June until September. We have analyzed 187 works designed mainly for the consolidation of slope instabilities through a widespread enhancement of the vegetation cover. The surveyed works are classified as a function of their building features: it can be seen that cribwalls and palisades are by far the most common types, being the 24% and the 34% respectively of the works. As far as the most adopted plant species, they were silver willow (Salix alba), Spanish Broom (Spartium Junceum) and purple willow (Salix purpurea). Only the 25% of the interventions was accomplished by the use of secondary plant species, as tamarisk (Tamarix spp.,) blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) , whitethorn (Crataegus spp.), sea-buckthorn (Hipphopae rhamnoides), wild pear (Pyrus pyraster), cottonwood (Populus nigra), eglantine (Rosa spp.), goat-willow (Salix caprea) and cornel (Cornus sanguinea). Better results were achieved with Spanish Broom, a very rural plant that can effectively colonise even poor soils like badlands; as a matter of fact, more than the 75% of the interventions had positive outcomes The efficacy of the consolidation work by the presence of living structures point out an increase of the stability of those interventions older than 4 years, with taking root species present from 54% to 78%. So far, the construction and the reliability of the works have been monitored, in order to capture critical aspects for the success of works and to build a geo-referenced data base of the existing works and their status.

A framework to assess welfare mix and service provision models in health care and social welfare: case studies of two prominent Italian regions.

PubMed

Longo, Francesco; Notarnicola, Elisabetta; Tasselli, Stefano

2015-04-09

The mechanisms through which the relationships among public institutions, private providers and families affect care and service provision systems are puzzling. How can we understand the mechanisms in these contexts? Which elements should we explore to capture the complexity of care provision? The aim of our study is to provide a framework that can help read and reframe these puzzling care provision mechanisms in a welfare mix context. First, we develop a theoretical framework for understanding how service provision occurs in care systems that are characterised by a variety of relationships between multiple actors, using an evidence-based approach that looks at both public and private expenditures and the number of users relative to the level of needs coverage and compared with declared values and political rhetoric. Second, we test this framework in two case studies built on data from two prominent Italian regions, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. We argue that service provision models depend on the interplay among six conceptual elements: policy values, governance rules, resources, nature of the providers, service standards and eligibility criteria. Our empirical study shows that beneath the relevant differences in values and political rhetoric between the case studies of the two Italian regions, there is a surprising isomorphism in service standards and the levels of covering the population's needs. The suggested framework appears to be effective and feasible; it fosters interdisciplinary approaches and supports policy-making discussions. This study may contribute to deepening knowledge about public care service provision and institutional arrangements, which can be used to promote more effective reforms and may advance future research. Although the framework was tested on the Italian welfare system, it can be used to assess many different systems.

Is medical perspective on clinical governance practices associated with clinical units' performance and mortality? A cross-sectional study through a record-linkage procedure.

PubMed

Sarchielli, Guido; De Plato, Giovanni; Cavalli, Mario; Albertini, Stefano; Nonni, Ilaria; Bencivenni, Lucia; Montali, Arianna; Ventura, Antonio; Montali, Francesca

2016-01-01

Assessment of the knowledge and application as well as perceived utility by doctors of clinical governance tools in order to explore their impact on clinical units' performance measured through mortality rates and efficiency indicators. This research is a cross-sectional study with a deterministic record-linkage procedure. The sample includes n = 1250 doctors (n = 249 chiefs of clinical units; n = 1001 physicians) working in six public hospitals located in the Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy. Survey instruments include a checklist and a research-made questionnaire which were used for data collection about doctors' knowledge and application as well as perceived utility of clinical governance tools. The analysis was based on clinical units' performance indicators which include patients' mortality, extra-region active mobility rate, average hospital stay, bed occupancy, rotation and turnover rates, and the comparative performance index as efficiency indicators. The clinical governance tools are known and applied differently in all the considered clinical units. Significant differences emerged between roles and organizational levels at which the medical leadership is carried out. The levels of knowledge and application of clinical governance practices are correlated with the clinical units' efficiency indicators (bed occupancy rate, bed turnover interval, and extra-region mobility). These multiple linear regression analyses highlighted that the clinical governance knowledge and application is correlated with clinical units' mortality rates (odds ratio, -8.677; 95% confidence interval, -16.654, -0.700). The knowledge and application, as well as perceived utility by medical professionals of clinical governance tools, are associated with the mortality rates of their units and with some efficiency indicators. However, the medical frontline staff seems to not consider homogeneously useful the clinical governance tools application on its own clinical practice.

Birth, growth and progresses through the last twelve years of a regional scale landslide warning system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fanti, Riccardo; Segoni, Samuele; Rosi, Ascanio; Lagomarsino, Daniela; Catani, Filippo

2017-04-01

SIGMA is a regional landslide warning system that operates in the Emilia Romagna region (Italy). In this work, we depict its birth and the continuous development process, still ongoing, after over a decade of operational employ. Traditionally, landslide rainfall thresholds are defined by the empirical correspondence between a rainfall database and a landslide database. However, in the early stages of the research, a complete catalogue of dated landslides was not available. Therefore, the prototypal version of SIGMA was based on rainfall thresholds defined by means of a statistical analysis performed over the rainfall time series. SIGMA was purposely designed to take into account both shallow and deep seated landslides and it was based on the hypothesis that anomalous or extreme values of accumulated rainfall are responsible for landslide triggering. The statistical distribution of the rainfall series was analyzed, and multiples of the standard deviation (σ) were used as thresholds to discriminate between ordinary and extraordinary rainfall events. In the warning system, the measured and the forecasted rainfall are compared with these thresholds. Since the response of slope stability to rainfall may be complex, SIGMA is based on a decision algorithm aimed at identifying short but exceptionally intense rainfalls and mild but exceptionally prolonged rains: while the former are commonly associated with shallow landslides, the latter are mainly associated with deep-seated landslides. In the first case, the rainfall threshold is defined by high σ values and short durations (i.e. a few days); in the second case, σ values are lower but the decision algorithm checks long durations (i.e. some months). The exact definition of "high" and "low" σ values and of "short" and "long" duration varied through time according as it was adjusted during the evolution of the model. Indeed, since 2005, a constant work was carried out to gather and organize newly available data (rainfall recordings and landslides occurred) and to use them to define more robust relationships between rainfalls and landslide triggering, with the final aim to increase the forecasting effectiveness of the warning system. The updated rainfall and landslide database were used to periodically perform a quantitative validation and to analyze the errors affecting the system forecasts. The errors characterization was used to implement a continuous process of updating and modification of SIGMA, that included: - Main model upgrades (generalization from a pilot test site to the whole Emilia Romagna region; calibration against well documented landslide events to define specific σ levels for each territorial units; definition of different alert levels according to the number of expected - Ordinary updates (periodically, the new landslide and rainfall data were used to re-calibrate the thresholds, taking into account a more robust sample). - Model tuning (set up of the optimal version of the decisional algorithm, including different definitions of "long" and "short" periods; selection of the optimal reference rain gauge for each Territorial Unit; modification of the boundaries of some territorial - Additional features (definition of a module that takes into account the effect of snow melt and snow accumulation; coupling with a landslide susceptibility model to improve the spatial accuracy of the model). - Various performance tests (including the comparison with alternate versions of SIGMA or with thresholds based on rainfall intensity and duration). This process has led to an evolution of the warning system and to a documented improvement of its forecasting effectiveness. Landslide forecasting at regional scale is a very complex task, but as time passes by and with the systematic gathering of new substantial data and the continuous progresses of research, uncertainties can be progressively reduced and a warning system can be set that increases its performances and reliability with time.

Testing Spirotetramat as an Alternative Solution to Abamectin for Cacopsylla pyri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) Control: Laboratory and Field Tests.

PubMed

Civolani, Stefano; Boselli, Mauro; Butturini, Alda; Chicca, Milvia; Cassanelli, Stefano; Tommasini, Maria Grazia; Aschonitis, Vassilis; Fano, Elisa Anna

2015-12-01

Aim of the study was to investigate the performance of the new insecticide "spirotetramat" as an alternative solution of "abamectin" for the control of Cacopsylla pyri L. (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) in the context of an IPM program in European pear, Pyrus communis L.. Laboratory bioassays for the estimation of LC50 and LC90 of both insecticides were performed using four populations collected in Emilia-Romagna (Italy) orchards where different pest management strategies were used (organic, integrated, and conventional). The same populations were also analyzed for the main insecticide detoxifying activities in nymphs by spectrofluorimetric in vitro assays. The performance of the two insecticides was also tested on field on one population under integrated pest management conditions. The laboratory experiments showed that the LC90 of spirotetramat were lower than the highest field concentration allowed in Europe (172.80 mg AI liter(-1)) giving reassurance about the efficacy of the product. Concerning the abamectin, the laboratory bioassays did not show strong indications of resistance development of C. pyri populations of Emilia-Romagna. A similarity in enzyme detoxifying activity was observed in both insecticides indicating a general absence of a significant insecticide resistance. The field trial showed a high efficacy (>90 %) of spirotetramat on C. pyri already after 15 d from application, and it was significantly higher from abamectin. Overall, spirotetramat is one more choice for C. pyri control, as well as abamectin in order to minimize the risks of occurrence of insecticide resistance. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Testing coastal DRR in current and climate change scenarios - Artificial winter dune system in a highly touristic beach in the Northern Adriatic.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duo, Enrico; Armaroli, Clara

2017-04-01

Artificial dunes are common features built along the coast of the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy) that act as temporary protections during the stormy season in order to prevent damages and inundation to the structures located on the backshore. The RER coast is in fact characterised by low sandy beaches that are exploited for tourism and where beach huts are permanently present on the rear part of the beach. While scientists and regional managers already provided proofs of the capacity of the artificial dunes to lower the hazard component, any study has never investigated their direct impacts in the current (CS) and climate change scenarios (CCS). The RISC-KIT project (www.risckit.eu) provided a methodology for testing DRRs at local level integrating hydro-morphological numerical modelling with a Bayesian Network to assess the consequences of extreme events for different scenarios. The approach was applied at the beach of Lido degli Estensi and Spina (Comacchio, Italy) in the Emilia-Romagna coast. It is a highly touristic area with concessions directly facing the sea, providing sun-and-beach tourism services during summer time, and private residences, commercial activities and hotels at the seafront. The flooding and erosion hazards were analyzed, along with their impacts. A 2DH XBeach model was built and forced with a large number of triangular storms, representative of many different representative combinations of waves' and total water level's ranges observed at regional level. Flooding and erosion results were input into a Bayesian Network which included, as feeding variables categories, deep water boundary conditions (including the CCS trigger), receptors (type and location of assets at the coast), hazard intensity affecting the receptors, impacts and DRR. Therefore, it was possible to integrate a flood damage curve and an erosion potential damage function for the analyzed receptors (beach concessions and residential/commercial buildings), in order to calculate the direct impacts. The artificial dune system was implemented, as representative of the DRR scenario, modifying the topography through the DuneMaker 2.0 Matlab tool. The CCS was implemented through a predicted RSLR under RCP8.52050. The results evidenced that the DRR positively influenced both flooding and erosion hazard intensities distributions. The impacts for the CS showed that, potentially: 20% of residential and commercial buildings and 90% of concessions will be preserved from flood impacts; more than 50% of concessions will be preserved from erosion impacts. The impacts of the CCS evidenced that, potentially: 65% of residential and commercial buildings and 95% of concessions will be preserved from flood impacts; more than 30% of concessions will be preserved from erosion. The positive effect on coastal extreme storm impacts of the implementation of the artificial dunes was evidenced and quantified in comparison with current and climate change scenarios without any DRR implemented. Ongoing studies on the artificial winter dunes, comparing field drone observations and numerical modelling, are being implemented starting from October 2016. Besides, the methodology, if properly adapted, can be applied for any type of DRR, as demonstrated by the RISC-KIT project. It is able to help managers in comparing DRR solutions or strategic alternatives.

Price Changes in Regulated Healthcare Markets: Do Public Hospitals Respond and How?

PubMed

Verzulli, Rossella; Fiorentini, Gianluca; Lippi Bruni, Matteo; Ugolini, Cristina

2017-11-01

This paper examines the behaviour of public hospitals in response to the average payment incentives created by price changes for patients classified in different diagnosis-related groups (DRGs). Using panel data on public hospitals located within the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, we test whether a 1-year increase in DRG prices induced public hospitals to increase their volume of activity and whether a potential response is associated with changes in waiting times and/or length of stay. We find that public hospitals reacted to the policy change by increasing the number of patients with surgical treatments. This effect was smaller in the 2 years after the policy change than in later years, and for providers with a lower excess capacity in the pre-policy period, whereas it did not vary significantly across hospitals according to their degree of financial and administrative autonomy. For patients with medical DRGs, instead, there appeared to be no effect on inpatient volumes. Our estimates also suggest that an increase in DRG prices had no impact on the proportion of patients waiting more than 6 months. Finally, we find no evidence of a significant effect on patients' average length of stay. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Socioeconomic factors influencing childhood vaccination in two northern Italian regions.

PubMed

Anello, Paola; Cestari, Laura; Baldovin, Tatjana; Simonato, Lorenzo; Frasca, Gabriella; Caranci, Nicola; Grazia Pascucci, Maria; Valent, Francesca; Canova, Cristina

2017-08-24

Infant vaccination rates have been declining in Italy over the past 5-7years. The aims of this study were to assess the trend in the proportions of children unvaccinated at 24months old, to identify sociodemographic factors associated with non-vaccination; and to examine changes in parental attitudes to vaccination over time. We conducted a population-based birth cohort study by combining existing electronic data sets. The study population consisted of children born from 1995 to 2010 in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia (FVG) region, and from 2007 to 2011 in part of the Emilia Romagna (ER) region, in north-eastern Italy. The immunization registers were linked with the medical birth registers, which contain sociodemographic data on both parents and the newborn. Unconditional logistic regressions were used to identify associations between vaccine uptake at 24months and maternal sociodemographic variables. Of 145,571 babies born in FVG and 75,308 in ER, there were 4222 (1.9%) who had not been vaccinated at all, and 23,948 (11.0%) without the optional measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination. The number of unvaccinated infants increased over time. Mothers who were over 35 or under 25years old, unmarried, with a higher formal education, and citizens of highly-developed countries were less compliant with vaccination recommendations in both the regions. A cohort effect was observed in FVG, for both educational level and citizenship: babies born between 1995 and 2000 to mothers without an Italian citizenship and with a lower formal education were more likely to refuse vaccination for their offspring, while this association was reversed between 2006 and 2010. Mothers who are Italian citizens and have a good formal education have begun to refuse vaccination for their children in recent years. Future public health action in this setting should target highly educated parents. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

[Health impact assessment of policies for municipal solid waste management: findings of the SESPIR Project].

PubMed

Ranzi, Andrea; Ancona, Carla; Angelini, Paola; Badaloni, Chiara; Cernigliaro, Achille; Chiusolo, Monica; Parmagnani, Federica; Pizzuti, Renato; Scondotto, Salvatore; Cadum, Ennio; Forastiere, Francesco; Lauriola, Paolo

2014-01-01

The SESPIR Project (Epidemiological Surveillance of Health Status of Resident Population Around the Waste Treatment Plants) assessed the impact on health of residents nearby incinerators, landfills and mechanical biological treatment plants in five Italian regions (Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Lazio, Campania, and Sicily). The assessment procedure took into account the available knowledge on health effects of waste disposal facilities. Analyses were related to three different scenarios: a Baseline scenario, referred to plants active in 2008-2009; the regional future scenario, with plants expected in the waste regional plans; a virtuous scenario (Green 2020), based on a policy management of municipal solid waste (MSW) through the reduction of production and an intense recovery policy. Facing with a total population of around 24 million for the 5 regions, the residents nearby the plants were more than 380,000 people at Baseline. Such a population is reduced to approximately 330.000 inhabitants and 170.000 inhabitants in the regional and Green 2020 scenarios, respectively. The health impact was assessed for the period 2008-2040. At Baseline, 1-2 cases per year of cancer attributable to MSW plants were estimated, as well as 26 cases per year of adverse pregnancy outcomes (including low birth weight and birth defects), 102 persons with respiratory symptoms, and about a thousand affected from annoyance caused by odours. These annual estimates are translated into 2,725 years of life with disability (DALYs) estimated for the entire period. The DALYs are reduced by approximately 20% and 80% in the two future scenarios. Even in these cases, health impact is given by the greater effects on pregnancy and the annoyance associated with the odours of plants. In spite of the limitations due to the inevitable assumptions required by the present exercise, the proposed methodology is suitable for a first approach to assess different policies that can be adopted in regional planning in the field of waste management. The greatest reduction in health impact is achieved with a virtuous policy of reducing waste production and a significant increase in the collection and recycling of waste.

Evaluation of coastal vulnerability: comparison of two different methodologies adopted by the Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armaroli, Clara; Perini, Luisa; Calabrese, Lorenzo; Ciavola, Paolo; Salerno, Giovanni

2014-05-01

In the last years a large number of catastrophic events have occurred along worldwide coastlines (e.g.: 2012 Super-storm Sandy, US East Coast). European countries have to face similar calamities such as those caused by the recent Xaver cyclone (December 2013). The Emilia-Romagna coastline, Italy, along the North Adriatic Sea, is affected by storms that cause extensive damages. The coast has low elevations, is highly urbanised and there is a massive presence of defence structures. The area is micro-tidal (neap/spring tide ranges = 0.4/0.8 m), low energetic (65% Hs<=1 m) but subjected to significant surge levels (1 year return period = 0.85 m). Therefore an evaluation of the vulnerability of the coastal area is an urgent matter. The Regional Geological Survey has completed an analysis of three scenarios of damage produced by the concurrent happening of a marine storm and high surge levels (1-in-1, 10, 100 year return period) and high spring tidal levels (+0.45 m MSL). Wave heights were used to calculate run-up values along the whole coastline (on 187 equally spaced profiles extracted from LIDAR datasets). The result is a list of ten typology of different levels of damage obtained through the comparison between the computed water levels, for each scenario and along each profile, and the topography/human occupation of the coast. The assessment reveals that 60% of the coastline is vulnerable to the 1-in-1 year return period scenario, thus even modal meteorological conditions can generate significant losses. A comparison was made between the produced typologies and the actual damage caused by a recent storm and the correspondence is almost identical, underlining that the method is reliable. Because the above-mentioned methodology is only punctual, the Geological Survey has started a different evaluation of the areal extension of inundations. The methodology considers the concurrent happening of the same return period storms but in terms of wave set-up only (not including run-up) plus surge levels (extracted from the literature) plus high spring tide level. To find the extension of inundated areas and the intrusion distance of marine water inland, the Cost-Distance tool of ArcGIS was used. The tool is able to evaluate the contribution of each "cell", in which the coast has been divided (from LIDAR data), to avoid or favour the water movement inland, considering its location with respect to the shoreline, its elevation above MSL and the elevation/location of nearby cells. It does not account for water infiltration and terrain roughness, therefore, to avoid getting unrealistic results, an attenuation artifice was introduced: the maximum water level surface, calculated for each return period, is projected inland following a sloping plane. The intrusion distance is determined by the intersection of the oblique water surface and the ground. This artifice, together with the Cost-Distance tool, produces consistent results if compared to observed inundations with similar return periods. A further implementation of coastal vulnerability assessment will be performed through numerical modelling and Bayesian approaches (RISC-KIT EU Project, www.risckit.eu, GA 603458).

Monitoring of land subsidence in Ravenna Municipality using two different DInSAR techniques: comparison and discussion of the results.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiaschi, Simone; Di Martire, Diego; Tessitore, Serena; Achilli, Vladimiro; Ahmed, Ahmed; Borgstrom, Sven; Calcaterra, Domenico; Fabris, Massimo; Ramondini, Massimo; Serpelloni, Enrico; Siniscalchi, Valeria; Floris, Mario

2015-04-01

Land subsidence affecting the Ravenna Municipality (Emilia Romagna Region, NE Italy) is one of the best example on how the exploitation of natural resources can affect the environment and the territory. In fact, the pumping of groundwater and the extraction of gas from both on and off-shore reservoirs, started in the 1950s, have caused a strong land subsidence affecting most of the Emilia Romagna territory but in particular the Adriatic Sea coastline near Ravenna. In such area the current subsidence rate, even if lower than in the past, can reach the -2cm/y. Local Authorities have monitored this phenomenon over the years with different techniques: spirit levelling, GPS surveys and, more recently, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) techniques, confirming the critical situation of land subsidence risk. In this work, we present the comparison between the results obtained with two different DInSAR techniques applied to the study of the land subsidence in the Ravenna territory: the Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) and the Coherent Pixel Technique (CPT) techniques. The SBAS works on SARscape software and is based on the Berardino et al., 2002 algorithm. This technique relies on the combination of differential interferograms created from stacks of SAR image pairs that have small temporal and perpendicular baselines. Thanks to the application of several interferograms for every single image, it is possible to obtain high spatial coherence, high data density and more effective error reduction. This allows us to obtain mean velocity maps with good data density even over non-urbanized territories. For the CPT we used the SUBsoft processor based on the algorithm implemented by Mora et al., 2003. CPT is able to extract from a stack of differential interferograms the deformation evolution over wide areas during large time spans. The processing scheme is composed of three main steps: a) the generation of the best interferogram set among all the available images of the zone under study; b) the selection of the pixels with reliable phase within the employed interferograms and, c) their phase analysis to calculate, as the main result, their deformation time series within the observation period. For this study, different SAR images have been used: 25 meters ground resolution ERS 1/2 (1992-2000) and ENVISAT (2003-2010), and 3 meters ground resolution TerraSAR-X (2012-2014). The results obtained for each stack of images with the two techniques are validated and compared with the C-GPS time series of more than three benchmarks stations. The aim is to test the two InSAR techniques in the monitoring of ground settlements in low urbanized territories. Furthermore, we have investigated the advantages (data accuracy and density) of using SAR images with higher ground resolution.

ERMHAN: A Context-Aware Service Platform to Support Continuous Care Networks for Home-Based Assistance

PubMed Central

Paganelli, Federica; Spinicci, Emilio; Giuli, Dino

2008-01-01

Continuous care models for chronic diseases pose several technology-oriented challenges for home-based continuous care, where assistance services rely on a close collaboration among different stakeholders such as health operators, patient relatives, and social community members. Here we describe Emilia Romagna Mobile Health Assistance Network (ERMHAN) a multichannel context-aware service platform designed to support care networks in cooperating and sharing information with the goal of improving patient quality of life. In order to meet extensibility and flexibility requirements, this platform has been developed through ontology-based context-aware computing and a service oriented approach. We also provide some preliminary results of performance analysis and user survey activity. PMID:18695739

Probabilistic versus deterministic hazard assessment in liquefaction susceptible zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daminelli, Rosastella; Gerosa, Daniele; Marcellini, Alberto; Tento, Alberto

2015-04-01

Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA), usually adopted in the framework of seismic codes redaction, is based on Poissonian description of the temporal occurrence, negative exponential distribution of magnitude and attenuation relationship with log-normal distribution of PGA or response spectrum. The main positive aspect of this approach stems into the fact that is presently a standard for the majority of countries, but there are weak points in particular regarding the physical description of the earthquake phenomenon. Factors like site effects, source characteristics like duration of the strong motion and directivity that could significantly influence the expected motion at the site are not taken into account by PSHA. Deterministic models can better evaluate the ground motion at a site from a physical point of view, but its prediction reliability depends on the degree of knowledge of the source, wave propagation and soil parameters. We compare these two approaches in selected sites affected by the May 2012 Emilia-Romagna and Lombardia earthquake, that caused widespread liquefaction phenomena unusually for magnitude less than 6. We focus on sites liquefiable because of their soil mechanical parameters and water table level. Our analysis shows that the choice between deterministic and probabilistic hazard analysis is strongly dependent on site conditions. The looser the soil and the higher the liquefaction potential, the more suitable is the deterministic approach. Source characteristics, in particular the duration of strong ground motion, have long since recognized as relevant to induce liquefaction; unfortunately a quantitative prediction of these parameters appears very unlikely, dramatically reducing the possibility of their adoption in hazard assessment. Last but not least, the economic factors are relevant in the choice of the approach. The case history of 2012 Emilia-Romagna and Lombardia earthquake, with an officially estimated cost of 6 billions Euros, shows that geological and geophysical investigations necessary to assess a reliable deterministic hazard evaluation are largely justified.

Ambient temperature and FIT performance in the Emilia-Romagna colorectal cancer screening programme.

PubMed

De Girolamo, Gianfranco; Goldoni, Carlo A; Corradini, Rossella; Giuliani, Orietta; Falcini, Fabio; Sassoli De'Bianchi, Priscilla; Naldoni, Carlo; Zauli Sajani, Stefano

2016-12-01

To assess the impact of ambient temperature on faecal immunochemical test (FIT) performance in the colorectal cancer screening programme of Emilia-Romagna (Italy). A population-based retrospective cohort study on data from 2005 to 2011. Positive rate, detection rate, and positive predictive value rate for cancers and adenomas, and incidence rate of interval cancers after negative tests were analysed using Poisson regression models. In addition to ambient temperature, gender, age, screening history, and Local Health Unit were also considered. In 1,521,819 tests analysed, the probability of a positive result decreased linearly with increasing temperature. Point estimates and 95% Confidence Intervals were estimated for six temperature classes (<5, 5 |-10, 10 |-15, 15 |-20, 20|-25 and ≥25℃), and referred to the 5|-10℃ class. The positive rate ratio was significantly related to temperature increase: 0.99 (0.97-1.02), 1, 0.98 (0.96-1.00), 0.96 (0.94-0.99), 0.93 (0.91-0.96), 0.92 (0.89-0.95). A linear trend was also evident for advanced adenoma detection rate ratio: 1.00 (0.96-1.04), 1, 0.98 (0.93-1.02), 0.96 (0.92-1.00), 0.92 (0.88-0.96), 0.94 (0.88-1.01). The effect was less linear, but still important, for cancer detection rates: 0.95 (0.85-1.06), 1, 1.00 (0.90-1.10), 0.94 (0.85-1.05), 0.81 (0.72-0.92), 0.93 (0.80-1.09). No association or linear trend was found for positive predictive values or risk of interval cancer, despite an excess of +16% in the highest temperature class for interval cancer. Ambient temperatures can affect screening performance. Continued monitoring is needed to verify the effect of introducing FIT tubes with a new buffer, which should guarantee a higher stability of haemoglobin. © The Author(s) 2016.

Benthic foraminifera or Ostracoda? Comparing the accuracy of palaeoenvironmental indicators from a Pleistocene lagoon of the Romagna coastal plain (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbieri, Giulia; Vaiani, Stefano Claudio

2018-01-01

Integrated analyses of multiple groups of microfossils are frequently performed to unravel the palaeoenvironmental evolution of subsurface coastal successions, where the complex interaction among several palaeoecological factors can be detected with benthic assemblages. This work investigates the palaeoenvironmental resolution potential provided by benthic foraminifera and ostracoda within a Pleistocene lagoonal succession of the Romagna coastal plain (northern Italy). Quantitative approaches and statistical techniques have been applied to both groups in order to understand the main factors that controlled the composition of assemblages and compare the palaeoecological record provided by single fossil groups. The two faunal groups are characterized by the high dominance of opportunistic species (Ammonia tepida-Ammonia parkinsoniana and Cyprideis torosa); however, detailed palaeoecological information is inferred from less common taxa. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are mainly determined by the frequencies of abnormal individuals and species related to high concentrations of organic matter, showing two assemblages: a stressed assemblage, consistent with a brackish-water environment subject to salinity and oxygen fluctuations, and an unstressed assemblage, which indicates more stable conditions. Despite the lower number of species, ostracoda show more significant differences in terms of species composition and ecological structure between their three assemblages, formed in response to a salinity gradient and indicative of inner, central, and outer lagoon conditions. The stratigraphic distribution of ostracod assemblages shows a general transgressive-regressive trend with minor fluctuations, whereas benthic foraminifera highlight the presence of a significant palaeoenvironmental stress. In this case, the higher abundance along the stratigraphic succession, the higher differentiation of the assemblages, and the well-defined relationship between taxa and ecological parameters determine Ostracoda as the most reliable fossil group for precise palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Nevertheless, benthic foraminifera indicate palaeoenvironmental stress and can be used to refine the environmental interpretation in the presence of monospecific ostracod assemblages.

Children's emotional experience two years after an earthquake: An exploration of knowledge of earthquakes and associated emotions

PubMed Central

Burro, Roberto; Hall, Rob

2017-01-01

A major earthquake has a potentially highly traumatic impact on children’s psychological functioning. However, while many studies on children describe negative consequences in terms of mental health and psychiatric disorders, little is known regarding how the developmental processes of emotions can be affected following exposure to disasters. Objectives We explored whether and how the exposure to a natural disaster such as the 2012 Emilia Romagna earthquake affected the development of children’s emotional competence in terms of understanding, regulating, and expressing emotions, after two years, when compared with a control group not exposed to the earthquake. We also examined the role of class level and gender. Method The sample included two groups of children (n = 127) attending primary school: The experimental group (n = 65) experienced the 2012 Emilia Romagna earthquake, while the control group (n = 62) did not. The data collection took place two years after the earthquake, when children were seven or ten-year-olds. Beyond assessing the children’s understanding of emotions and regulating abilities with standardized instruments, we employed semi-structured interviews to explore their knowledge of earthquakes and associated emotions, and a structured task on the intensity of some target emotions. Results We applied Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Exposure to the earthquake did not influence the understanding and regulation of emotions. The understanding of emotions varied according to class level and gender. Knowledge of earthquakes, emotional language, and emotions associated with earthquakes were, respectively, more complex, frequent, and intense for children who had experienced the earthquake, and at increasing ages. Conclusions Our data extend the generalizability of theoretical models on children’s psychological functioning following disasters, such as the dose-response model and the organizational-developmental model for child resilience, and provide further knowledge on children’s emotional resources related to natural disasters, as a basis for planning educational prevention programs. PMID:29261748

[Mortality study in metal electroplating workers in Bologna (Northern Italy)].

PubMed

Gerosa, Alberto; Scarnato, Corrado; Giacomozzi, Giuseppe; d'Errico, Angelo

2013-01-01

to investigate general and cause-specific mortality of workers exposed to metals and other chemicals in the electroplating industry in Bologna Province. factory records of workers employed in 90 electroplating companies present in 1995 were used to build a cohort of subjects potentially exposed to carcinogenic and other substances in this industry, defined as "revised cohort", which was followed-up for mortality from 1960, or since first employment in an electroplating company if later, to 2008. Mortality risk was also examined separately in a subset of the cohort, composed of workers with at least one year of employment in electroplating, denominated "final cohort". Death rates of residents in Emilia-Romagna Region (Northern Italy) were used as a reference. follow-up completeness was 99%. During the observation period, 533 deaths out of 2,983 subjects were observed in the revised cohort and 317 out of 1,739 in the final cohort. Significantly increased Standardized Mortality Ratios were estimated for overall mortality and for mortality from AIDS in the revised cohort and for bladder and rectal cancer in both cohorts. the present study is, to authors' knowledge, the largest mortality investigation conducted in Italy on electroplating workers, for both size and temporal extension. The presence of excess mortality from causes of death not consistently associated in the literature with exposure to agents in this industry suggests that further research is needed to confirm these associations.

Geographical and genetic factors do not account for significant differences in the clinical spectrum of giant cell arteritis in southern europe.

PubMed

Gonzalez-Gay, Miguel A; Boiardi, Luigi; Garcia-Porrua, Carlos; Macchioni, Pierluigi; Amor-Dorado, Juan C; Salvarani, Carlo

2004-03-01

To investigate whether genetic and geographical differences may influence the clinical spectrum of giant cell arteritis (GCA), we compared the demographic and clinical features of patients with biopsy-proven GCA from Reggio Emilia (Northern Italy) and Lugo (Northwest Spain) during a 15-year period. We performed a retrospective review of the case records of all patients diagnosed with biopsy-proven GCA at Hospital Xeral-Calde (Lugo, Spain) and Hospital Santa Maria Nuova (Reggio Emilia, Italy) between 1 January 1986 and 31 December 2001. Both hospitals are the only referral centers for populations living in central Galicia and central Emilia Romagna, respectively. During the period of study, 194 Lugo residents and 126 Reggio Emilia residents were diagnosed with biopsy proven GCA. Reggio Emilia patients were more likely to be female (74% vs 54%; p = 0.0001). Although Lugo patients complained of headache (86%) more commonly than did those from Reggio Emilia (77%), the difference was only marginally significant (p = 0.05). The proportion of patients with visual manifestations or visual loss was remarkably similar (22% for visual manifestations and 17% for visual loss in Lugo and 29% and 21% for Reggio Emilia residents). The mean erythrocyte sedimentation rate prior to the onset of therapy was also similar. Apart from differences in sex, the clinical spectrum of GCA in these 2 Southern European regions was similar.

Land Subsidence International Symposium held in Venice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

The Third International Symposium on Land Subsidence was held March 18-25, 1984, in Venice, Italy. Sponsors were the Ground-Water Commission of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Italian National Research Council (CNR), the Italian Regions of Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, the Italian Municipalities of Venice, Ravenna, and Modena, the Venice Province, and the European Research Office. Cosponsors included the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH), the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (ISSMFE), and the Association of Geoscientists for International Development (AGID).Organized within the framework of UNESCO's International Hydrological Program, the symposium brought together over 200 international interdisciplinary specialists in the problems of land subsidence due to fluid and mineral withdrawal. Because man's continuing heavy development of groundwater, gas, oil, and minerals is changing the natural regime and thus causing more and more subsiding areas in the world, there had been sufficient new land subsidence occurrence, problems, research, and remedial measures since the 1976 Second International Symposium held in Anaheim, California, to develop a most interesting program of nearly 100 papers from about 30 countries. The program consisted of papers covering case histories of fluid and mineral withdrawal, engineering theory and analysis, karst “sink-hole”-type subsidence, subsidence due to dewatering of organic deposits or due to application of water (hydrocompaction), instrumentation, legal, socioeconomic, and environmental effects of land subsidence, and remedial works.

Occurrence of putative virulence genes on Arcobacter butzleri isolated from three different environmental sites throughout the dairy chain.

PubMed

Piva, S; Gariano, G R; Bonilauri, P; Giacometti, F; Decastelli, L; Florio, D; Massella, E; Serraino, A

2017-04-01

This comparative study investigated the occurrence of cadF, cj1349, ciaB, pldA, tlyA, hecA, hecB, mviN, irgA and IroE genes in 212 Arcobacter butzleri isolated from three different environmental sites linked to the dairy chain (farms, industrial and artisanal dairy plants) located in three Italian regions (Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Calabria). According to the presence of these genes, different pathotypes (P-types) were determined. The main genes detected were ciaB, mviN, tlyA, cj1349, pldA and cadF, while the least common genes were iroE, hecA, hecB and irgA. TlyA, irgA, hecA, hecB and iroE, which were significantly more frequent in isolates recovered in industrial dairy plants. Twelve P-types were detected. The occurrence of the most frequently detected P-types (P-types 1, 2, 3 and 5) differed significantly (P < 0·001) in relation to both the environmental site and geographical area of isolation. The highest diversity in P-types was observed in industrial dairy plants and in the Calabria region. The results of this study show a correlation between the occurrence of putative virulence genes and virulence genotype variability depending on the environmental site and geographical origin of the isolates. The present study provides insights into the similar distribution of putative virulence genes in a dairy chain and other sources' isolates and also into a geographical distribution of some P-types. We have shown that industrial dairy plants may represent an environmental site favouring a selection of the isolates with a higher pathogenetic pattern. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Maternal Education Is Associated with Disparities in Breastfeeding at Time of Discharge but Not at Initiation of Enteral Feeding in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

PubMed

Herich, Lena Carolin; Cuttini, Marina; Croci, Ileana; Franco, Francesco; Di Lallo, Domenico; Baronciani, Dante; Fares, Katia; Gargano, Giancarlo; Raponi, Massimiliano; Zeitlin, Jennifer

2017-03-01

To investigate the relationship between maternal education and breastfeeding in very preterm infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units. This prospective, population-based cohort study analyzed the data of all very preterm infants admitted to neonatal care during 1 year in 3 regions in Italy (Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, and Marche). The use of mothers' own milk was recorded at initial enteral feedings and at hospital discharge. We used multilevel logistic analysis to model the association between maternal education and breastfeeding outcomes, adjusting for maternal age and country of birth. Region was included as random effect. There were 1047 very preterm infants who received enteral feeding, and 975 were discharged alive. At discharge, the use of mother's own milk, exclusively or not, and feeding directly at the breast were significantly more likely for mothers with an upper secondary education or higher. We found no relationship between maternal education and type of milk at initial enteral feedings. However, the exclusive early use of the mother's own milk at initial feedings was related significantly with receiving any maternal milk and feeding directly at the breast at discharge from hospital, and the association with feeding at the breast was stronger for the least educated mothers. In this population-based cohort of very preterm infants, we found a significant and positive association between maternal education and the likelihood of receiving their mother's own milk at the time of discharge. In light of the proven benefits of maternal milk, strategies to support breastfeeding should be targeted to mothers with less education. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unraveling Landscape Complexity: Land Use/Land Cover Changes and Landscape Pattern Dynamics (1954-2008) in Contrasting Peri-Urban and Agro-Forest Regions of Northern Italy.

PubMed

Smiraglia, D; Ceccarelli, T; Bajocco, S; Perini, L; Salvati, L

2015-10-01

This study implements an exploratory data analysis of landscape metrics and a change detection analysis of land use and population density to assess landscape dynamics (1954-2008) in two physiographic zones (plain and hilly-mountain area) of Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. The two areas are characterized by different landscape types: a mixed urban-rural landscape dominated by arable land and peri-urban settlements in the plain and a traditional agro-forest landscape in the hilly-mountain area with deciduous and conifer forests, scrublands, meadows, and crop mosaic. Urbanization and, to a lesser extent, agricultural intensification were identified as the processes underlying landscape change in the plain. Land abandonment determining natural forestation and re-forestation driven by man was identified as the process of change most representative of the hilly-mountain area. Trends in landscape metrics indicate a shift toward more fragmented and convoluted patterns in both areas. Number of patches, the interspersion and juxtaposition index, and the large patch index are the metrics discriminating the two areas in terms of landscape patterns in 1954. In 2008, mean patch size, edge density, interspersion and juxtaposition index, and mean Euclidean nearest neighbor distance were the metrics with the most different spatial patterns in the two areas. The exploratory data analysis of landscape metrics contributed to link changes over time in both landscape composition and configuration providing a comprehensive picture of landscape transformations in a wealthy European region. Evidence from this study are hoped to inform sustainable land management designed for homogeneous landscape units in similar socioeconomic contexts.

Why do paediatricians prescribe antibiotics? Results of an Italian regional project

PubMed Central

Moro, Maria Luisa; Marchi, Massimiliano; Gagliotti, Carlo; Di Mario, Simona; Resi, Davide

2009-01-01

Background To investigate determinants of antibiotic prescription in paediatric care, as a first step of a multilevel intervention to improve prescribing for common respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in a northern Italian region with high antibiotic prescription rate. Methods A two-step survey was performed: in phase I, knowledge, and attitudes were explored involving all family and hospital paediatricians of Emilia-Romagna and a sample of parents. In phase II, patient care practices were explored in a stratified random sample of visits, both in hospitals and family physician's clinics; parent expectations were investigated in a sub-sample of these visits. Results Out of overall 4352 visits for suspected RTIs, in 38% of children an antibiotic was prescribed. Diagnostic uncertainty was perceived by paediatricians as the most frequent cause of inappropriate prescription (56% of 633 interviewed paediatricians); but, rapid antigen detecting tests was used in case of pharyngitis/pharyngotonsillitis by 36% and 21% of family and hospital paediatricians only. More than 50% of paediatricians affirmed to not adopt a "wait and see strategy" in acute otitis. The perceived parental expectation of antibiotics was not indicated by paediatricians as a crucial determinant of prescription, but this perception was the second factor most strongly associated to prescription (OR = 12.8; 95% CI 10.4 - 15.8), the first being the presence of othorrea. Regarding parents, the most important identified factors, potentially associated to overprescribing, were the lack of knowledge of RTIs and antibiotics (41% of 1029 parents indicated bacteria as a possible cause of common cold), and the propensity to seek medical care for trivial infections (48% of 4352 children accessing ambulatory practice presented only symptoms of common cold). Conclusion A wide gap between perceived and real determinants of antibiotic prescription exists. This can promote antibiotic overuse. Inadequate parental knowledge can also induce inappropriate prescription. The value of this study is that it simultaneously explored determinants of antimicrobial prescribing in an entire region involving both professionals and parents. PMID:19895678

Ground-based & satellite DOAS measurements integration for air quality evaluation/forecast management in the frame of QUITSAT Project.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostadinov, Ivan; Petritoli, Andrea; Giovanelli, Giorgio; Masieri, Samuele; Premuda, Margarita; Bortoli, Daniele; Ravegnani, Fabrizio; Palazzi, Elisa

The observations of the Earth's atmosphere from space provide excellent opportunities for the exploration of the sophisticated physical-chemical processes on both global and regional scales. The major interest during the last three decades was focused mainly on the stratosphere and the ozone depletion. More recently the continuous improvements of satellite sensors have revealed new opportunities for larger applications of space observations, attracting scientific interest to the lower troposphere and air quality issues. The air quality depends strongly on the anthropogenic activity and therefore regional environmental agencies along with policy makers are in need of appropriate means for its continuous monitoring and control to ensure the adoption of the most appropriate actions. The goal of the pilot project QUITSAT, funded by the Italian Space Agency, is to develop algorithms and procedures for the evaluation and prediction of the air quality in Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna regions (Italy) by means of integrating satellite observations with ground-based in-situ and remote sensing measurements. This work presents dedicated Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) measurements performed during the summer of 2007 and the winter of 2008. One of the DOAS instruments operate at Mt.Cimone station (2165m a.s.l) and the other two instruments conducted measurements in/near Bologna (90 m. a.s.l). Different observational geometry was adopted (zenith-sky, multi-axis and long-path) aimed to provide tropospheric NO2 columns and O3, SO2 and HCHO concentrations at ground level as an input data for QUITSAT procedures. Details of the instruments, the radiative transfer model used and the algorithms for retrieving and calculation of the target gases concentrations are presented. The obtained experimental results are correlated with the corresponding ones retrieved from SCIAMACHY /ENVISAT observations during the overpasses above the ground-based instruments. The analysis stresses on the specificity of the satellite and ground-based observations and the importance of the right choice of appropriate scenario for correlative studies.

[Proposal of an Italian national protocol of health surveillance for former asbestos workers: an ongoing project].

PubMed

Marchiori, Luciano; Marangi, Gianluca; Ballarin, Nicoletta; Valentini, Flavio; D'Anna, Mauro; Barbina, Paolo; Franchi, Alberto; Mastrangelo, Giuseppe

2016-01-01

to define an Italian national protocol of post-occupational health surveillance for asbestos workers according to effectiveness, appropriateness, saving, and social utility. data for 1,071 former asbestos workers from several Italian Regions were collected and analysed. For these workers, a retrospective estimate of asbestos exposure was carried out. A cohort study of 1,588 asbestos workers recruited from 2000 onward during statutory health examinations in Veneto and followed-up for lung cancer mortality until December 2010 was executed. A literature search on methods of follow-up of asbestos workers (imaging, spirometry, and questionnaires) and diagnosis of non-malignant (asbestosis and pleural plaques) and malignant (lung cancer) asbestos disease was done. A consensus, i.e., a process of agreeing on one result among the participants, was made. 19 Italian Regions (North: Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardia, Piemonte, Valle d'Aosta, Autonomous Province of Trento, Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria; Centre:Toscana, Umbria; South and Islands: Calabria, Abruzzo, Puglia, Campania, Basilicata,Marche, Sicilia, Sardegna), Department of Occupational Medicine at Italian National Institute for Compensation ofWork-Related Diseases and Accidents (INAIL), and Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, and Vascular Sciences at University of Padova. analysis of current regional experiences on health surveillance; retrospective estimate of asbestos exposure; data collection and analysis of a cohort of asbestos workers; search of the relevant literature; final report with the consensus document. the results obtained in each of the above areas of research, along with the relevant findings of the literature, were presented and discussed among the participants. The several phases of expression and evaluation of the participants' opinions were conducted according to an iterative method of investigation (Delphi method), which allows a progressive converging of different views into one shared result. based on all the above, a consensus has been reached on a proposal for an Italian national protocol of health surveillance for asbestos workers.

Establishment, operation and development of a donor human milk bank.

PubMed

Biasini, Augusto; Stella, Marcello; Malaigia, Laura; China, Mariachiara; Azzalli, Milena; Laguardia, Maria Chiara; Rizzo, Vittoria

2013-10-01

Human milk is very valuable in premature infant nutrition. The collection, screening, processing and distribution of donor human milk are described in this report. These activities take place in the Donor Human Milk Bank (DHMB) of the Large Romagna Area (LRA) in Italy, the development of which is also described here. Over the years, the activities of this bank, which is located in Cesena Hospital, in the center of the LRA, have developed from an informal and domestic-level activity to become a multistep controlled process designed to prevent the possibility of disease transmission. This little food-supply industry, run by a multi-disciplinary team with strict rules and diverse responsibilities, complies with the Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system. © 2013.

Genesis and transport of hexavalent chromium in the system ophiolitic rocks - groundwater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shchegolikhina, Anastasia; Guadagnini, Laura; Guadagnini, Alberto

2015-04-01

Our study aims at contributing to the quantification and characterization of chromium transport processes from host rocks and soil matrices to groundwater. We focus on dissolved hexavalent chromium detected in groundwaters of geological regions with ophiolitic rocks (ophiolites and serpentinites) inclusions due to its critical ecological impact. (Oze et al., 2004). Despite the large number of analyses on the occurrence of high concentrations of hazardous hexavalent chromium ions in natural waters, only few studies were performed with the objective of identifying and investigating the geochemical reactions which could occur in the natural system rock - groundwater - dissolved chromium (Fantoni et al., 2002, Stephen and James, 2004, Lelli et al., 2013). In this context, there is a need for integration of results obtained from diverse studies in various regions and settings to improve our knowledge repository. Our theoretical analyses are grounded and driven by practical scenarios detected in subsurface reservoirs exploited for civil and industrial use located in the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy). Available experimental datasets are complemented with data from other international regional-scale settings (Altay mountains region, Russia). Modeling of chromium transformation and migration particularly includes characterization of the multispecies geochemical system. A key aspect of our study is the analysis of the complex competitive sorption processes governing heavy metal evolution in groundwater. The results of the research allow assessing the critical qualitative features of the mechanisms of hexavalent chromium ion mobilization from host rocks and soils and the ensuing transformation and migration to groundwater under the influence of diverse environmental factors. The study is then complemented by the quantification of the main sources of uncertainty associated with prediction of heavy metal contamination levels in the groundwater system explored. Fantoni, D., Brozzo, G., Canepa, M., Cipolli, F., Marini, L., Ottonello, G., Zuccolini, M., 2002. Natural hexavalent chromium in groundwaters interacting with ophiolitic rocks. Environmental Geology 42, 871-882. Lelli, M., Grassi, S., Amadori, M., Franceschini, F., 2013. Natural Cr(VI) contamination of groundwater in the Cecina coastal area and its inner sectors (Tuscany, Italy). Environmental Earth Sciences 71, 3907-3919. Oze, C., Fendorf, S., Bird, D.K., Coleman, R.G., 2004. Chromium geochemistry of serpentine soils. International Geology Review 46, 97-126. Stephen, M.T., James, A.J., 2004. Overview of chromium (VI) in the environment. Chromium (VI) Handbook. CRC Press, pp. 21.

Chronic disease prevalence from Italian administrative databases in the VALORE project: a validation through comparison of population estimates with general practice databases and national survey

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Administrative databases are widely available and have been extensively used to provide estimates of chronic disease prevalence for the purpose of surveillance of both geographical and temporal trends. There are, however, other sources of data available, such as medical records from primary care and national surveys. In this paper we compare disease prevalence estimates obtained from these three different data sources. Methods Data from general practitioners (GP) and administrative transactions for health services were collected from five Italian regions (Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Marche and Sicily) belonging to all the three macroareas of the country (North, Center, South). Crude prevalence estimates were calculated by data source and region for diabetes, ischaemic heart disease, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For diabetes and COPD, prevalence estimates were also obtained from a national health survey. When necessary, estimates were adjusted for completeness of data ascertainment. Results Crude prevalence estimates of diabetes in administrative databases (range: from 4.8% to 7.1%) were lower than corresponding GP (6.2%-8.5%) and survey-based estimates (5.1%-7.5%). Geographical trends were similar in the three sources and estimates based on treatment were the same, while estimates adjusted for completeness of ascertainment (6.1%-8.8%) were slightly higher. For ischaemic heart disease administrative and GP data sources were fairly consistent, with prevalence ranging from 3.7% to 4.7% and from 3.3% to 4.9%, respectively. In the case of heart failure administrative estimates were consistently higher than GPs’ estimates in all five regions, the highest difference being 1.4% vs 1.1%. For COPD the estimates from administrative data, ranging from 3.1% to 5.2%, fell into the confidence interval of the Survey estimates in four regions, but failed to detect the higher prevalence in the most Southern region (4.0% in administrative data vs 6.8% in survey data). The prevalence estimates for COPD from GP data were consistently higher than the corresponding estimates from the other two sources. Conclusion This study supports the use of data from Italian administrative databases to estimate geographic differences in population prevalence of ischaemic heart disease, treated diabetes, diabetes mellitus and heart failure. The algorithm for COPD used in this study requires further refinement. PMID:23297821

Multitemporal mapping of peri-urban carbon stocks and soil sealing from satellite data.

PubMed

Villa, Paolo; Malucelli, Francesco; Scalenghe, Riccardo

2018-01-15

Peri-urbanisation is the expansion of compact urban areas towards low-density settlements. This phenomenon directly challenges the agricultural landscape multifunctionality, including its carbon (C) storage capacity. Using satellite data, we mapped peri-urban C stocks in soil and built-up surfaces over three areas from 1993 to 2014 in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy: a thinly populated area around Piacenza, an intermediate-density area covering the Reggio Emilia-Modena conurbation and a densely anthropized area developing along the coast of Rimini. Satellite-derived maps enabled the quantitative analysis of spatial and temporal features of urban growth and soil sealing, expressed as the ratio between C in built-up land and organic C in soils (Cc/Co). The three areas show substantial differences in C stock balance and soil sealing evolution. In Piacenza (Cc/Co=0.07 in 1993), although questioned by late industrial expansion and connected residential sprawl (Cc/Co growth by 38%), most of the new urbanisation spared the best rural soils. The Reggio Emilia-Modena conurbation, driven by the polycentricism of the area and the heterogeneity of economic sectors (Cc/Co rising from 0.08 to 0.14 from 1993 to 2014), balances sprawl and densification. Rimini, severely sealed since the 1960s (Cc/Co=0.23 in 1993), densifies its existing settlements and develops an industrial expansion of the hinterland, with Cc/Co growth accelerating from +15% before 2003 to +36% for the last decade. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Epidemiology and costs of cervical cancer screening and cervical dysplasia in Italy

PubMed Central

Rossi, Paolo Giorgi; Ricciardi, Alessandro; Cohet, Catherine; Palazzo, Fabio; Furnari, Giacomo; Valle, Sabrina; Largeron, Nathalie; Federici, Antonio

2009-01-01

Background We estimated the number of women undergoing cervical cancer screening annually in Italy, the rates of cervical abnormalities detected, and the costs of screening and management of abnormalities. Methods The annual number of screened women was estimated from National Health Interview data. Data from the Italian Group for Cervical Cancer Screening were used to estimate the number of positive, negative and unsatisfactory Pap smears. The incidence of CIN (cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia) was estimated from the Emilia Romagna Cancer Registry. Patterns of follow-up and treatment costs were estimated using a typical disease management approach based on national guidelines and data from the Italian Group for Cervical Cancer Screening. Treatment unit costs were obtained from Italian National Health Service and Hospital Information System of the Lazio Region. Results An estimated 6.4 million women aged 25–69 years undergo screening annually in Italy (1.2 million and 5.2 million through organized and opportunistic screening programs, respectively). Approximately 2.4% of tests have positive findings. There are approximately 21,000 cases of CIN1 and 7,000–17,000 cases of CIN2/3. Estimated costs to the healthcare service amount to €158.5 million for screening and €22.9 million for the management of cervical abnormalities. Conclusion Although some cervical abnormalities might have been underestimated, the total annual cost of cervical cancer prevention in Italy is approximately €181.5 million, of which 87% is attributable to screening. PMID:19243586

New Methodologies for the Documentation of Fortified Architecture in the State of Ruins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fallavollita, F.; Ugolini, A.

2017-05-01

Fortresses and castles are important symbols of social and cultural identity providing tangible evidence of cultural unity in Europe. They are items for which it is always difficult to outline a credible prospect of reuse, their old raison d'être- namely the military, political and economic purposes for which they were built- having been lost. In recent years a Research Unit of the University of Bologna composed of architects from different disciplines has conducted a series of studies on fortified heritage in the Emilia Romagna region (and not only) often characterized by buildings in ruins. The purpose of this study is mainly to document a legacy, which has already been studied in depth by historians, and previously lacked reliable architectural surveys for the definition of a credible as well as sustainable conservation project. Our contribution will focus on different techniques and methods used for the survey of these architectures, the characteristics of which- in the past- have made an effective survey of these buildings difficult, if not impossible. The survey of a ruin requires, much more than the evaluation of an intact building, reading skills and an interpretation of architectural spaces to better manage the stages of documentation and data processing. Through a series of case studies of fortified buildings in ruins, we intend to describe the reasons that guided the choice of the methods and tools used and to highlight the potentials and the limits of these choices in financial terms.

White paper of Italian Gastroenterology: delivery of services for digestive diseases in Italy: weaknesses and strengths.

PubMed

Buscarini, Elisabetta; Conte, Dario; Cannizzaro, Renato; Bazzoli, Franco; De Boni, Michele; Delle Fave, Gianfranco; Farinati, Fabio; Ravelli, Paolo; Testoni, Pier Alberto; Lisiero, Manola; Spolaore, Paolo

2014-07-01

In 2011 the three major Italian gastroenterological scientific societies (AIGO, the Italian Society of Hospital Gastroenterologists and Endoscopists; SIED, the Italian Society of Endoscopy; SIGE, the Italian Society of Gastroenterology) prepared their official document aimed at analysing medical care for digestive diseases in Italy, on the basis of national and regional data (Health Ministry and Lombardia, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna databases) and to make proposals for planning of care. Digestive diseases were the first or second cause of hospitalizations in Italy in 1999-2009, with more than 1,500,000 admissions/year; however only 5-9% of these admissions was in specialized Gastroenterology units. Reported data show a better outcome in Gastroenterology Units than in non-specialized units: shorter average length of stay, in particular for admissions with ICD-9-CM codes proxying for emergency conditions (6.7 days versus 8.4 days); better case mix (higher average diagnosis-related groups weight in Gastroenterology Units: 1 vs 0.97 in Internal Medicine units and 0.76 in Surgery units); lower inappropriateness of admissions (16-25% versus 29-87%); lower in-hospital mortality in urgent admissions (2.2% versus 5.1%); for patients with urgent admissions due to gastrointestinnal haemorrhage, in-hospital mortality was 2.3% in Gastroenterology units versus 4.0% in others. The present document summarizes the scientific societies' official report, which constitutes the "White paper of Italian Gastroenterology". Copyright © 2014 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Seasonal dynamics and long-term trend of hypoxia in the coastal zone of Emilia Romagna (NW Adriatic Sea, Italy).

PubMed

Alvisi, Francesca; Cozzi, Stefano

2016-01-15

Long-term series of meteorological, hydrological and oceanographic data were compared with hypoxia occurrence, in order to define characteristics and trends of this phenomenon in the Emilia Romagna Coastal Zone (ERCZ) in 1977-2008. During this period, hypoxia was recorded at all sampling stations, up to 20 km offshore. In winter, spring and late autumn, hypoxia appearance was matched to significant positive anomalies of air and surface seawater temperatures (up to +3.6 °C), whereas this effect was less pronounced in August-October. Hypoxia generally occurred with scarce precipitation (0-2 dm(3)m(2)d(-1)) and low wind velocity (0-2 ms(-1)), suggesting the importance of stable meteo-marine conditions for the onset of this phenomenon. Nevertheless, wind direction emerged as an indicator of hydrodynamic seasonal changes in the area and is thus a hypoxia regulator. In winter, spring and autumn, hypoxia was favored by large increases of biomass induced by river freshets. In contrast, summer hypoxia occurred during periods of low runoff, suggesting that pronounced stratification and weak circulation of coastal waters were more important in this season. Since the 1990s, a shift from widespread summer hypoxia to local hypoxia irregularly distributed across the year has occurred. This process was concomitant to long-term increases of air temperature (+0.14 °C yr(-1)), wind speed (+0.03 ms(-1) yr(-1)) and salinity (+0.09 yr(-1)), and decreases of Po River flow (-0.54 km(3) yr(-1)), oxygen saturation (-0.2% yr(-1)) and PO4(3-) (-0.004 μmol P L(-1) yr(-1)) and NH4(+) (-0.04 μmol N L(-1) yr(-1)) concentrations in surface coastal waters. Despite that several of these changes suggest an ERCZ trophic level positive reduction, similar to that reported for the N Adriatic, the concomitant climate warming might further exacerbate hypoxia in particularly shallow shelf locations. Therefore, in order to avoid hypoxia development a further mitigation of anthropogenic pressure is still needed in the area. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An operational coupled wave-current forecasting system for the northern Adriatic Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, A.; Coluccelli, A.; Deserti, M.; Valentini, A.; Benetazzo, A.; Carniel, S.

2012-04-01

Since 2005 an Adriatic implementation of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (AdriaROMS) is being producing operational short-term forecasts (72 hours) of some hydrodynamic properties (currents, sea level, temperature, salinity) of the Adriatic Sea at 2 km horizontal resolution and 20 vertical s-levels, on a daily basis. The main objective of AdriaROMS, which is managed by the Hydro-Meteo-Clima Service (SIMC) of ARPA Emilia Romagna, is to provide useful products for civil protection purposes (sea level forecasts, outputs to run other forecasting models as for saline wedge, oil spills and coastal erosion). In order to improve the forecasts in the coastal area, where most of the attention is focused, a higher resolution model (0.5 km, again with 20 vertical s-levels) has been implemented for the northern Adriatic domain. The new implementation is based on the Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport Modeling System (COAWST)and adopts ROMS for the hydrodynamic and Simulating WAve Nearshore (SWAN) for the wave module, respectively. Air-sea fluxes are computed using forecasts produced by the COSMO-I7 operational atmospheric model. At the open boundary of the high resolution model, temperature, salinity and velocity fields are provided by AdriaROMS while the wave characteristics are provided by an operational SWAN implementation (also managed by SIMC). Main tidal components are imposed as well, derived from a tidal model. Work in progress is oriented now on the validation of model results by means of extensive comparisons with acquired hydrographic measurements (such as CTDs or XBTs from sea-truth campaigns), currents and waves acquired at observational sites (including those of SIMC, CNR-ISMAR network and its oceanographic tower, located off the Venice littoral) and satellite-derived wave-heights data. Preliminary results on the forecast waves denote how, especially during intense storms, the effect of coupling can lead to significant variations in the wave heights. Part of the activity has been funded by the EU FP VII program (project "MICORE", contract n. 202798) and by the Regione Veneto regional law 15/2007 (Progetto "MARINA").

Asthma medication prescribing before, during and after pregnancy: a study in seven European regions.

PubMed

Charlton, Rachel A; Pierini, Anna; Klungsøyr, Kari; Neville, Amanda J; Jordan, Susan; de Jong-van den Berg, Lolkje T W; Thayer, Daniel; Bos, H Jens; Puccini, Aurora; Hansen, Anne V; Gini, Rosa; Engeland, Anders; Nybo Andersen, Anne-Marie; Dolk, Helen; Garne, Ester

2016-01-19

To explore utilisation patterns of asthma medication before, during and after pregnancy as recorded in seven European population-based databases. A descriptive drug utilisation study. 7 electronic healthcare databases in Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy (Emilia Romagna and Tuscany), Wales, and the Clinical Practice Research Datalink representing the rest of the UK. All women with a pregnancy ending in a delivery that started and ended between 2004 and 2010, who had been present in the database for the year before, throughout and the year following pregnancy. The percentage of deliveries where the woman received an asthma medicine prescription, based on prescriptions issued (UK) or dispensed (non-UK), during the year before, throughout or during the year following pregnancy. Asthma medicine prescribing patterns were described for 3-month time periods and the choice of asthma medicine and changes in prescribing over the study period were evaluated in each database. In total, 1,165,435 deliveries were identified. The prevalence of asthma medication prescribing during pregnancy was highest in the UK and Wales databases (9.4% (CI95 9.3% to 9.6%) and 9.4% (CI95 9.1% to 9.6%), respectively) and lowest in the Norwegian database (3.7% (CI95 3.7% to 3.8%)). In the year before pregnancy, the prevalence of asthma medication prescribing remained constant in all regions. Prescribing levels peaked during the second trimester of pregnancy and were at their lowest during the 3-month period following delivery. A decline was observed, in all regions except the UK, in the prescribing of long-acting β-2-agonists during pregnancy. During the 7-year study period, there were only small changes in prescribing patterns. Differences were found in the prevalence of prescribing of asthma medications during and surrounding pregnancy in Europe. Inhaled β-2 agonists and inhaled corticosteroids were, however, the most popular therapeutic regimens in all databases. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Clime: analyzing and producing climate data in GIS environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cattaneo, Luigi; Rillo, Valeria; Mercogliano, Paola

2014-05-01

In the last years, Impacts on Soil and Coasts Division (ISC) of CMCC (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change) had several collaboration experiences with impact communities, including IS-ENES (FP7-INF) and SafeLand (FP7-ENV) projects, which involved a study of landslide risk in Europe, and is currently active in GEMINA (FIRB) and ORIENTGATE (SEE Transnational Cooperation Programme) research projects. As a result, it has brought research activities about different impact of climate changes as flood and landslide hazards, based on climate simulation obtained from the high resolution regional climate models COSMO CLM, developed at CMCC as member of the consortium CLM Assembly. ISC-Capua also collaborates with local institutions interested in atmospherical climate change and also of their impacts on the soil, such as river basin authorities in the Campania region, ARPA Emilia Romagna and ARPA Calabria. Impact models (e.g. hydraulic or stability models) are usually developed in a GIS environment, since they need an accurate territory description, so Clime has been designed to bridge the usually existing gap between climate data - both observed and simulated - gathered from different sources, and impact communities. The main goal of Clime, special purpose Geographic Information System (GIS) software integrated in ESRI ArcGIS Desktop 10, is to easily evaluate multiple climate features and study climate changes over specific geographical domains with their related effects on environment, including impacts on soil. Developed as an add-in tool, this software has been conceived for research activities of ISC Division in order to provide a substantial contribution during post-processing and validation phase. Therefore, it is possible to analyze and compare multiple datasets (observations, climate simulations, etc.) through processes involving statistical functions, percentiles, trends test and evaluation of extreme events with a flexible system of temporal and spatial filtering, and to represent results as maps, temporal and statistic plots (time series, seasonal cycles, PDFs, scatter plots, Taylor diagrams) or Excel tables; in addition, it features bias correction techniques for climate model results. Summarizing, Clime is able to provide users a simple and fast way to retrieve analysis over simulated climate data and observations within any geographical site of interest (provinces, regions, countries, etc.).

[Intercensal reconstruction of population and descriptive epidemiological measures in Italy: what is the impact on the cancer incidence rates?].

PubMed

Rashid, Ivan; Giacomin, Adriano; Michiara, Maria; Minerba, Sante; Sgargi, Paolo; Mincuzzi, Antonia; Silvestrini, Angela

2016-01-01

to test the effect on cancer incidence rates when using precensal computation (computed population) or intercensal reconstruction of population (reconstructed population). comparison between computed and reconstructed population by area and period in 2002-2011; evaluation of the effect on cancer rates using Italian cancer registries data. Setting e participants: population data from the Italian National Institute for Statistics, cancer data from Italian cancer registries; specific analysis involves data from Parma (Emilia-Romagna Region, Northern Italy) and Taranto (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) cancer registries. ratio between computed and reconstructed population by area, gender, age, and period; ratio between corresponding age-standardized incidence rates. Italian population estimates by precensal computation for years 2002-2011 was generally higher than that obtained by intercensal reconstruction especially in 2011, when this has been found in more than 86% of Italian Municipalities. In the same year a smaller proportion of Municipalities (11%) showed an inverse population ratio. Among the most populated Municipalities, the City of Milan showed the higher precensal to intercensal population ratio (1.076), while the City of Taranto showed the lower precensal to intercensal population ratio (0.956). The ratios between age standardized rates obtained with precensal population to those obtained with intercensal population show similar differences; in particular, for all cancer in males and females they were, respectively, 0.985 and 0.982 in the Province of Parma, 0.974 and 0.968 in the City of Parma, 1.023 and 1.013 in the Province of Taranto, and 1.08 and 1.051 in the City of Taranto. using precensal population as denominator for the year 2002- 2011 produces a remarkable distortion of both temporal trend and geographical comparisons. It is, therefore, necessary that researchers take into account this possible distortion when reporting descriptive measures in the years between the last two censuses in Italy.

Some examples of geomorphodiversity in Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panizza, Mario

2014-05-01

The concept of geomorphodiversity (Panizza, 2009) is presented: "the critical and specific assessment of the geomorphological features of a territory, by comparing them in a way both extrinsic (comparison of the geomorphological characteristics with those from other territories) and intrinsic (comparison of the geomorphological characteristics with other areas within the territory itself) and taking into account the level of their scientific quality, the scale of investigation and the purpose of the research". A first example concerns the Dolomites: they have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List because of their exceptional beauty and unique landscape, together with their scientific importance from the geological and geomorphological point of view. They are of international significance for geomorphodiversity, as the classic site for the development of mountains in dolomite limestone and present a wide range of landforms related to erosion, tectonics and glaciation. They represent a kind of high altitude, open air laboratory of geomorphological heritage of exceptional global value, among the most extraordinary and accessible in the world and ideal for researching, teaching, understanding and developing Earth Science theories. The second example concerns the Emilia-Romagna Apennines, candidate for enrolment in the List of European Geoparks: they show a multifaceted and complex image from the international and regional geomorphological (extrinsic and intrinsic geomorphodiversity) point of view and are an educational example for illustrating morphotectonic evolution, stratigraphic and sedimentological sequences and morpholithological peculiarities connected with gypsum karst and clay mass wasting phenomena. The third example concerns the Vesuvius, one of the National Italian Parks: it shows an extrinsic geomorphodiversity mainly referred to the type of eruptions, with some exemplary processes inserted in international volcanic nomenclature; it makes up an important geoheritage that can be considered a field laboratory for research on volcanic geomorphology. At a regional level, intrinsic geomorphodiversity includes typical examples ascribable to lahars, relief inversion and pseudo-karst morphology.

Earthquake damage orientation to infer seismic parameters in archaeological sites and historical earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martín-González, Fidel

2018-01-01

Studies to provide information concerning seismic parameters and seismic sources of historical and archaeological seismic events are used to better evaluate the seismic hazard of a region. This is of especial interest when no surface rupture is recorded or the seismogenic fault cannot be identified. The orientation pattern of the earthquake damage (ED) (e.g., fallen columns, dropped key stones) that affected architectonic elements of cities after earthquakes has been traditionally used in historical and archaeoseismological studies to infer seismic parameters. However, in the literature depending on the authors, the parameters that can be obtained are contradictory (it has been proposed: the epicenter location, the orientation of the P-waves, the orientation of the compressional strain and the fault kinematics) and authors even question these relations with the earthquake damage. The earthquakes of Lorca in 2011, Christchurch in 2011 and Emilia Romagna in 2012 present an opportunity to measure systematically a large number and wide variety of earthquake damage in historical buildings (the same structures that are used in historical and archaeological studies). The damage pattern orientation has been compared with modern instrumental data, which is not possible in historical and archaeoseismological studies. From measurements and quantification of the orientation patterns in the studied earthquakes, it is observed that there is a systematic pattern of the earthquake damage orientation (EDO) in the proximity of the seismic source (fault trace) (<10 km). The EDO in these earthquakes is normal to the fault trend (±15°). This orientation can be generated by a pulse of motion that in the near fault region has a distinguishable acceleration normal to the fault due to the polarization of the S-waves. Therefore, the earthquake damage orientation could be used to estimate the seismogenic fault trend of historical earthquakes studies where no instrumental data are available.

Inappropriate prescribing in a large community-dwelling older population: a focus on prevalence and how it relates to patient and physician characteristics.

PubMed

Amos, T B; Keith, S W; Del Canale, S; Orsi, P; Maggio, M; Baccarini, S; Gonzi, G; Liu, M; Maio, V

2015-02-01

The prescription of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) for older adults is a well-known population health concern. Updated country-specific estimates of inappropriate prescribing in older adults using germane explicit criteria are needed to facilitate physician-tailored quality improvement strategies. Therefore, we sought to determine the prevalence of PIMs for older adults in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, using the updated Maio criteria. We also evaluated patient and general practitioner (GP) characteristics related to inappropriate prescribing. Older adults (≥ 65) in 2012 were evaluated in a one-year retrospective study using administrative health care data. The 2011 Maio criteria includes 25 medications reimbursed by the Italian National Formulary, in the following categories in terms of severity: 16 medications that 'should always be avoided,' 3 that are 'rarely appropriate,' and 6 that have 'some indications although they are often misused.' To evaluate the extent of associations between patient and GP related characteristics, we used generalized estimating equations with an exchangeable covariance design to fit robust logistic regression models. A total of 865,354 older adults were in the cohort and 28% had at least one PIM. Of the entire cohort, 8%, 10%, and 14% of individuals were prescribed at least one medication that 'should always be avoided,' is 'rarely appropriate,' and has 'some indications but are often misused,' respectively. Older patients (≥ 75) and females were more likely to be exposed to PIMs. 2,923 GPs were identified in the region, each having prescribed at least one PIM, of which older GPs (≥ 56), male GPs, and solo practice GPs were more likely to prescribe PIMs to their older patients. The high prevalence of PIM exposure among older adults is a substantial issue in the region. Knowing how patient and GP characteristics relate to PIMs exposure may improve the design and targeting of initiatives for improving prescribing safety in this population. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Epidemiological survey of swine influenza A virus in the wild boar population of two Italian provinces.

PubMed

Foni, Emanuela; Garbarino, Chiara; Chiapponi, Chiara; Baioni, Laura; Zanni, Irene; Cordioli, Paolo

2013-12-01

An epidemiological survey was carried out in order to obtain a better understanding of the role of wild boars in the epidemiology of the influenza virus. The samples were submitted to Real-Time PCR testing for gene M of the swine influenza virus (SIV), and virus isolation was performed from the positive PCR samples. Genome sequence analysis was performed on the isolates. Additionally, 1,977 boar sera samples were analyzed using ELISA and hemoagglutination inhibition. Over recent years, the wild boar population has greatly increased in Italy, including in areas of high-density industrial pig farming, where the influenza virus is widespread. From July to December 2012, wild boar lung samples were collected in the Parma and Piacenza area, in the Emilia Romagna region. 354 wild boar lung samples were collected. Wild-boar influenza A virus infection should be studied more broadly in order to obtain a better understanding of the epidemiological role played by this species. Three SIV strains were isolated out of 12 samples that resulted positive using PCR analysis and they were identified as avian-like SIV subtype H1N1. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences obtained from isolate A/wild boar/291320/2012 showed that it clustered with recent Italian avian-like H1N1 SIVs isolated from domestic pigs. Sixty-eight sera samples showed a positive titer to the isolate A/wild boar/291320/2012. This study suggests that SIV actively circulates in the wild boar population in the investigated. area. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Impact of summer drought on isoprenoid emissions and carbon sink of three Scots pine provenances

PubMed Central

Lüpke, M.; Leuchner, M.; Steinbrecher, R.; Menzel, A.

2016-01-01

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) provenances cover broad ecological amplitudes. In a greenhouse study, we investigated the impact of drought stress and rewetting on gas exchange for three provenances (Italy: Emilia Romagna; Spain: Alto Ebro; Germany: East-German lowlands) of 2-year old Scots pine seedlings. CO2, water vapour and isoprenoid exchange of stressed and control trees were quantified with a four-chamber dynamic-enclosure system in the controlled environment of a climate chamber. The three provenances showed distinct isoprenoid emission patterns and were classified into a non-Δ3-carene, with either high α-/β-pinene or β-myrcene fraction, and a Δ3-carene dominated type. Isoprenoid emission rates, net-photosynthesis and transpiration were reduced during summer drought stress and significantly recovered after rewetting. A seasonal increase of isoprenoid emission rates towards autumn was observed for all control groups. Compared with the German provenance, the Spanish and Italian provenances revealed higher isoprenoid emission rates and more plastic responses to drought stress and seasonal development, which points to a local adaptation to climate. As a result of drought, net carbon uptake and transpiration of trees was reduced, but recovered after rewetting. We conclude from our study that Scots pine isoprenoid emission is more variable than expected and sensitive to drought periods, likely impacting regional air chemistry. Thus, a provenance-specific emission assessment accounting for reduced emission during prolonged (summer) drought is recommend for setting up biogenic volatile organic compound emission inventories used in air quality models. PMID:27591438

Soil resources, land cover changes and rural areas: towards a spatial mismatch?

PubMed

Ferrara, Agostino; Salvati, Luca; Sabbi, Alberto; Colantoni, Andrea

2014-04-15

The present study analyzes the impact of long-term urban expansion on soil depletion in Emilia-Romagna, an agricultural-specialized region of northern Italy. Using settlement density maps at three points in time (1945, 1971 and 2001) dense and diffused urbanization trends were assessed and correlated with soil quality. Non-urbanized land decreased from 11.8% in 1945 to 6.3% in 2001. Urbanization dynamics between 1945 and 1971 reflect the increase of dense settlements around pre-existing urban centers. To the contrary, a discontinuous, low- and medium-density urban expansion along the road network and in the most fertile lowland areas was observed between 1971 and 2001. Overall, urbanization consumed soils with progressively higher quality. However, a diverging trend was observed in the two investigated time intervals: soil with high quality was occupied by compact and dense settlements during 1945-1971 and by discontinuous, medium- and low-density settlements during 1971-2001. These findings document the polarization in areas with low and high soil capital and may reflect disparities in agricultural production and increasing environmental degradation. Moreover, the analysis shows a diverging trend between land and soil consumption patterns suggesting that the edification of pervious land is an unreliable indicator of soil quality depletion. Taken together, the results of this study illustrate the (increasing) spatial mismatch between agricultural land and high-quality soils as a consequence of urbanization-driven landscape transformations and may inform measures to contain soil depletion driven by economic growth. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of 12 Capsicum varieties by evaluation of their carotenoid profile and pungency determination.

PubMed

Giuffrida, Daniele; Dugo, Paola; Torre, Germana; Bignardi, Chiara; Cavazza, Antonella; Corradini, Claudio; Dugo, Giacomo

2013-10-15

In this research 12 different varieties of Capsicum cultivars belonging to three species (Capsicum chinense, Capsicum annuum, Capsicum frutescens) and of various colour, shape, and dimension have been characterised by their carotenoids and capsaicinoids content. The berries were cultivated in the region Emilia-Romagna, in Northern Italy. The native carotenoid composition was directly investigated by an HPLC-DAD-APCI-MS methodology, for the first time. In total, 52 carotenoids have been identified and considerable variation in carotenoid composition was observed among the various cultivars investigated. Among the cultivars with red colour, some Habanero, Naga morich and Sinpezon showed an high β-carotene content, whereas Serrano, Tabasco and Jalapeno showed an high capsanthin content and the absence of β-carotene. Habanero golden and Scotch Bonnet showed a high lutein, α-carotene and β-carotene amounts, and Habanero orange was rich in antheraxanthin, capsanthin and zeaxanthin. Cis-cryptocapsin was present in high amount in Habanero chocolate. The qualitative and quantitative determination of the capsaicinoids, alkaloids responsible for the pungency level, has also been estimated by a validated chromatographic procedure (HPLC-DAD) after a preliminary drying step and an opportune extraction procedure. Results have also been expressed in Scoville units. Dry matter and water activity have also been established on the fresh berries. The dried peppers of each variety were then submitted to the evaluation of the total nitrogen content, measured by a Dumas system, permitting to provide information on the protein content that was found to be in the range between 7 and 16%. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of summer drought on isoprenoid emissions and carbon sink of three Scots pine provenances.

PubMed

Lüpke, M; Leuchner, M; Steinbrecher, R; Menzel, A

2016-11-01

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) provenances cover broad ecological amplitudes. In a greenhouse study, we investigated the impact of drought stress and rewetting on gas exchange for three provenances (Italy: Emilia Romagna; Spain: Alto Ebro; Germany: East-German lowlands) of 2-year old Scots pine seedlings. CO 2 , water vapour and isoprenoid exchange of stressed and control trees were quantified with a four-chamber dynamic-enclosure system in the controlled environment of a climate chamber. The three provenances showed distinct isoprenoid emission patterns and were classified into a non-Δ 3 -carene, with either high α-/β-pinene or β-myrcene fraction, and a Δ 3 -carene dominated type. Isoprenoid emission rates, net-photosynthesis and transpiration were reduced during summer drought stress and significantly recovered after rewetting. A seasonal increase of isoprenoid emission rates towards autumn was observed for all control groups. Compared with the German provenance, the Spanish and Italian provenances revealed higher isoprenoid emission rates and more plastic responses to drought stress and seasonal development, which points to a local adaptation to climate. As a result of drought, net carbon uptake and transpiration of trees was reduced, but recovered after rewetting. We conclude from our study that Scots pine isoprenoid emission is more variable than expected and sensitive to drought periods, likely impacting regional air chemistry. Thus, a provenance-specific emission assessment accounting for reduced emission during prolonged (summer) drought is recommend for setting up biogenic volatile organic compound emission inventories used in air quality models. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Psychometric validation of the Italian Rehabilitation Complexity Scale-Extended version 13

PubMed Central

Agosti, Maurizio; Merlo, Andrea; Maini, Maurizio; Lombardi, Francesco; Tedeschi, Claudio; Benedetti, Maria Grazia; Basaglia, Nino; Contini, Mara; Nicolotti, Domenico; Brianti, Rodolfo

2017-01-01

In Italy, at present, a well-known problem is inhomogeneous provision of rehabilitative services, as stressed by MoH, requiring appropriate criteria and parameters to plan rehabilitation actions. According to the Italian National Rehabilitation Plan, Comorbidity, Disability and Clinical Complexity should be assessed to define the patient’s real needs. However, to date, clinical complexity is still difficult to measure with shared and validated tools. The study aims to psychometrically validate the Italian Rehabilitation Complexity Scale-Extended v13 (RCS-E v13), in order to meet the guidelines requirements. An observational multicentre prospective cohort study, involving 8 intensive rehabilitation facilities of the Emilia-Romagna Region and 1712 in-patients, [823 male (48%) and 889 female (52%), mean age 68.34 years (95% CI 67.69–69.00 years)] showing neurological, orthopaedic and cardiological problems, was carried out. The construct and concurrent validity of the RCS-E v13 was confirmed through its correlation to Barthel Index (disability) and Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (comorbidity) and appropriate admission criteria (not yet published), respectively. Furthermore, the factor analysis indicated two different components (“Basic Care or Risk—Equipment” and “Medical—Nursing Needs and Therapy Disciplines”) of the RCS-E v13. In conclusion, the Italian RCS-E v13 appears to be a useful tool to assess clinical complexity in the Italian rehab scenario case-mix and its psychometric validation may have an important clinical rehabilitation impact allowing the assessment of the rehabilitation needs considering all three dimensions (disability, comorbidity and clinical complexity) as required by the Guidelines and the inhomogeneity could be reduced. PMID:29045409

Indicators of waste management efficiency related to different territorial conditions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Passarini, Fabrizio, E-mail: fabrizio.passarini@unibo.it; Vassura, Ivano, E-mail: ivano.vassura@unibo.it; Monti, Francesco, E-mail: fmonti84@gmail.com

2011-04-15

The amount of waste produced and the control of separate collection are crucial issues for the planning of a territorial Integrated Waste Management System, enabling the allocation of each sorted waste fraction to the proper treatment and recycling processes. The present study focuses on assessing indicators of different waste management systems in areas characterized by different territorial conditions. The investigated case study concerns the municipalities of Emilia Romagna (northern Italy), which present a rather uniform socioeconomic situation, but a variety of geographic, urban and waste management characteristics. A survey of waste generation and collection rates was carried out, and correlatedmore » with the different territorial conditions, classifying the municipalities according to altitude and population density. The best environmental performances, in terms of high separate collection rate, were found on average in rural areas in the plain, while the lowest waste generation was associated with rural hill towns.« less

Il ruolo svolto dall’attività lavorativa sull’ipertensione arteriosa

PubMed Central

Barbini, N.; Gorini, G.; Ferrucci, L.; Biggeri, A.

2009-01-01

RIASSUNTO Introduzione I parametri di pressione arteriosa, sistolica (PAS) o diastolica (PAD) hanno costituito I’oggetto di numerosi studi, alcuni dei quali stabiliscono un’associazione tra I’aumnto di tali parametri e la mortalità, in particolare alle età medie. I fattori di rischio di ipertensione più frequentemente studiati sono il consumo di alcol, il fumo e I’origine etnica in riferimento sia alle differenze genetiche che nella condotta alimentare, mentre i fattori di origine professionale sono stati presi in considerazione più raramente e in maniera poco approfondita, inoltre sono state riferite notevoli differenze nelle pressioni arteriose medie di individui che svolgono professioni diverse. Sembra infatti che i “colletti blu” siano più a rischio dei “colletti bianchi”. Obiettivi Il nostro scopo è valutare se determinati rischi o vincoli connessi con l’attività professionale o determinati stili di vita rappresentano un fattore di rischio per l’ipertensione arteriosa in considerazioni dell’aumentare dell’età. Elementi specifici che rendano conto di questa relazione non sono stati ancora completamente chiariti e soprattutto i dati sulla popolazione italiana sono molto limitati. Metodi La metodologia di ricerca utilizzata è stata quella dell’indagine francese ESTEV (Derriennic, Touranchet, Volkoff) - VISAT (Marquie, Janson), studio epidemiologico longitudinale su oltre 23000 lavoratori attivata in Francia nel 1990 al fine di indagare gli effetti a lungo termine delle condizioni di lavoro, riferite all’intera vita professionale, sia sull’invecchiamento sia sulla salute dei lavoratori. Analoga indagine è stata avviata in Italia, nel 2000, in 6 Regioni, prendendo in esame i lavoratori dipendenti di diversi settori produttivi appartenenti a 5 coorti di età: da 32 a 52 anni con intervallo di 5 anni. Le rilevazioni sono state effettuate dai medici del lavoro di azienda attraverso 3 questionari: 1. sulle condizioni professionali (esposizione a determinati rischi o vincoli); 2. sugli stili di vita e la salute percepita secondo il Nottingham Health Profile; 3. sulle condizioni oggettive di salute. Per il presente lavoro saranno considerati solo alcuni parametri utili all’approfondimento epidemiologico nel settore cardiocircolatorio. Essi riguarderanno: 1) le condizioni di lavoro, 2) la valutazione soggettiva del lavoro, 3) costrizioni specifiche del lavoro vissute come più gravose con l’avanzare dell’età. Relativamente all’ipertensione, sono stati considerati ipertesi i soggetti che presentavano una PAS ≥160 mm/Hg e/o una PAD ≥90 mm/Hg nonché coloro in cura antipertensiva. Risultati I risultati si riferiscono a 1104 lavoratori, di cui 76% uomini e 24% donne. La prevalenza di ipertensione si è dimostrata più elevata nei maschi (33% Vs 22%). Le stime del rischio hanno evidenziato una associazione statisticamente significativa con alcuni fattori lavorativi come mantenere posture difficili (O.R. 1.71), lavorare in presenza di calore (O.R. 1.43), a contatto con agenti chimici (O.R, 1.31). stare a lungo seduti (O.R. 1.48), fare più cose contemporaneamente (O.R. 1.41), essere interrotti nel proprio lavoro (O.R. 1,35). non poter distogilere gli occhi dal lavoro (O.R.1.61). Conclusioni Noi abbiamo osservato che alcune caratteristiche fisiche del lavoro, ma soprattutto quelle di tipo organizzativo sono fortemente associate all’ipertensione arteriosa. Un elemento importante è sembrata la valutazione soggettiva del valore che i lavoratori danno del proprio lavoro: tale elemento è fortemente connesso con I’organizzazione del lavoro, pertanto è un possibile target di prevenzione (fattore di rischio modificabile). PMID:17886759

Analysis and modeling of soil slips in the Emilia Romagna Apennine (Northern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montrasio, L.; Valentino, R.; Losi, G.

2009-04-01

On 10-11 April 2005 the Emilia Romagna Apennine was affected by an intense rainfall event that triggered dozens of soil slips in the Province of Reggio Emilia. These phenomena have been widely described in the scientific literature, referring to historical events occurred in many parts of the world. The particular danger of these phenomena is related to their speed of development, with the difficulty of foreseeing their location, but also with the high density of distribution of individual phenomena, whose downhill trajectories have a substantial probability of interfering with urbanized areas. During the event of April 2005 in the Emilia Romagna Apennine, these shallow landslides mainly occurred on slopes of cultivated lands, often provoking the interruption of roads, heavy damages to the farming activities and economic losses. On the basis of an inventory by aerial photograph interpretation, it was possible to locate 45 sites where soil slips occurred. In the present work the study area is described, considering both geological and climatic aspects. The inducing factors, which are relative to the territory morphology, and the outbreak factors of the triggering mechanism, which are relative to the rainfall conditions, are deeply analyzed. Once known geometrical features and soil characteristics of the slopes, for each site a physically based triggering model, that has recently developed by the Authors, has been applied by considering the local scale of the phenomenon. The model allows to take into account dynamically, in a simplified way, the connection between the stability condition of a slope, the characteristics of the soil and rainfall amounts, including also antecedent rainfalls. The model, in fact, is aimed to give an answer to the recent challenge represented by the dynamic use of real-time landslides early warning systems, the basis of which have to be the coupling between rainfall amounts, hydrological model and stability slope models. The triggering model is based on the limit equilibrium method and considers the hypothesis of infinite slope. The model takes into account the mechanical characteristics of the soil, in condition of partial saturation, and the outflow of underground water. The model allows to calculate the safety factor of a slope versus time on the basis of the previous rainfall amount. The paper contains also a detailed explanation of the choice of the model input data that have been used to carry out the procedure of back analysis for the 45 study sites. In particular, the slope angle has been evaluated for each site on the basis of the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) information and the thickness of the soil has been determined on the basis of field observations. Colluvial, regolithic and in general Quaternary deposits are the soils involved in the soil slips considered. On the basis of geological map information and according to the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), the most common types of soil present in the sample sites resulted silty sand, silty clay and sandy silt. The physical properties of these soils, such as porosity and specific weight, and Mohr-Coulomb shear strength parameters, were assumed taking into account the average values of parameters as reported in the scientific literature for the same types of soils. Other specific model parameters that are directly linked with the type of soil, have been consequently assigned on the basis of previous works carried out by the Authors. Moreover, the parameter that describes the discharge capability of the soil, has been assumed as typical permeability value obtained through field measurements by other Authors, for similar kind of soils and conditions. The results obtained by the application of the model are accurately analyzed and discussed. For each analyzed site, it is shown how the model highlights the instability condition on the real date of the event and the stability condition for the remaining period, under an observation period of 3 years, thus confirming the capability of the model to grasp the triggering mechanism of the analyzed phenomena.

Integrated Use of Remote Sensed Data and Numerical Cartography for the Generation of 3d City Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bitelli, G.; Girelli, V. A.; Lambertini, A.

2018-05-01

3D city models are becoming increasingly popular and important, because they constitute the base for all the visualization, planning, management operations regarding the urban infrastructure. These data are however not available in the majority of cities: in this paper, the possibility to use geospatial data of various kinds with the aim to generate 3D models in urban environment is investigated. In 3D modelling works, the starting data are frequently the 3D point clouds, which are nowadays possible to collect by different sensors mounted on different platforms: LiDAR, imagery from satellite, airborne or unmanned aerial vehicles, mobile mapping systems that integrate several sensors. The processing of the acquired data and consequently the obtainability of models able to provide geometric accuracy and a good visual impact is limited by time, costs and logistic constraints. Nowadays more and more innovative hardware and software solutions can offer to the municipalities and the public authorities the possibility to use available geospatial data, acquired for diverse aims, for the generation of 3D models of buildings and cities, characterized by different level of detail. In the paper two cases of study are presented, both regarding surveys carried out in Emilia Romagna region, Italy, where 2D or 2.5D numerical maps are available. The first one is about the use of oblique aerial images realized by the Municipality for a systematic documentation of the built environment, the second concerns the use of LiDAR data acquired for other purposes; in the two tests, these data were used in conjunction with large scale numerical maps to produce 3D city models.

Dynamics and conceptual model of the Rossena castle landslide (Northern Apennines, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chelli, A.; Mandrone, G.; Ruffini, A.; Truffelli, G.

2005-11-01

In the Northern Apennines there are many historical villages and castles, which are of great value and represent a cultural heritage of great importance. Their presence within a territory greatly affected by landslide hazards creates, in many circumstances, the need to solve problems of land management and to act for the preservation of historical monuments. This paper describe an interesting landslide, failed during the night of 28 February 2004, that involved the village of Rossena: the failure damaged the village (Fig. 1), the road and the fields down to the stream but, fortunately, the castle just upslope the village was not involved at all. The 10th century massive castle of Rossena stands on the top of a cliff at about 500 m a.s.l., on the border between the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia, and it is surrounded by a small ancient village. The castle of Rossena is the best preserved stronghold of the Longobard times, enlarged and reinforced in the tenth century and partially rebuilt by Bonifacio, the father of Matilda of Canossa (the Vice-Queen of Italy and probably the most important woman in the Middle Ages) as a defensive structure guarding the Enza Valley. In addition, at Conossa, very close to Rossena, there was the meeting between Pope Gregory VII and the Emperor of Germany Henry IV, during the historical event known as "fight for the investitures". For these reasons, the area of Rossena is one of the most relevant from a historical point of view in the entire western part of the Emilia Romagna Region and it also has a high value as a geosite (Coratza et al., 2004).

The first 2 years of colorectal cancer screening in Ferrara, Italy.

PubMed

Matarese, Vincenzo G; Feo, Carlo Vittorio; Lanza, Giovanni; Fusetti, Nadia; Carpanelli, Maria Cristina; Cataldo, Serena; Cifalà, Viviana; Ferretti, Stefano; Gafà, Roberta; Marzola, Marina; Montanari, Enrica; Palmonari, Caterina; Simone, Loredana; Trevisani, Lucio; Stockbrugger, Reinhold; Gullini, Sergio

2011-05-01

We report on the first screening round in the District of Ferrara, a region of Emilia-Romagna, carried out between March 2005 and March 2007 to illustrate the effort of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening from administration and information to therapy and follow-up. After invitation of 38 344 persons aged 50-69 years (28.5%), 19 480 (50.8%) accepted the immunological faecal occult blood test, with 1 149 (6%) resulting positive. One thousand and one individuals (88.2%) who tested positive for immunological faecal occult blood test accepted examination by either colonoscopy (99.5%) or barium enema (0.5%). Out of 996 screenees having a colonoscopy, 231 had low-risk adenomas (23.2%) and 239 had high-risk adenomas (24%), and were treated endoscopically (96%) or surgically (4%). Ninety-one cancers were diagnosed in 9.1% of colonoscopies (Dukes stadia: A, 58.2%; B, 19.8%; C, 18.7%; D, 3.3%). Fourteen cancers (all in polyps) were treated endoscopically, and the remaining 77 were treated by surgery. One Dukes B patient and 13 of 17 Dukes C patients received adjuvant chemotherapy. Three Dukes D patients had chemotherapy only. During the 2-year study period, 87 screenees had a follow-up colonoscopy: no neoplasia was found in 35 patients initially diagnosed with cancer; low-risk adenomas were found in 31 of 52 patients with initial high-risk adenomas. In conclusion, the first CRC screening round in Ferrara was easy to organize, had a high acceptance, and detected 91 cancers (78% of which were in Dukes stages A and B, compared with only 40% in sporadic CRC in the same background population). Chemotherapy was necessary in 17 cases. This report may motivate other health authorities to initiate CRC screening campaigns.

Insecticidal activity and fungitoxicity of plant extracts and components of horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) and garlic (Allium sativum).

PubMed

Tedeschi, Paola; Leis, Marilena; Pezzi, Marco; Civolani, Stefano; Maietti, Annalisa; Brandolini, Vincenzo

2011-01-01

To avoid environmental pollution and health problems caused by the use of traditional synthetic pesticides, there is a trend to search for naturally occurring toxicants from plants. Among the compounds discussed for anti-fungal and insecticidal activity, the natural extracts from garlic and horseradish have attracted considerable attention. The objective of this study is to determine the insecticidal and anti-fungal activity of Armoracia rusticana and Allium sativum L. extracts against larvae of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and some pathogenic fungi. For the insecticidal test, horseradish and garlic extracts were prepared from fresh plants (cultivated in Emilia Romagna region) in a solution of ethanol 80 % and the two different solutions were used at different concentrations (for the determination of the lethal dose) against the fourth instar mosquito's larvae. The fungicidal test was carried out by the agar plates technique using garlic and horseradish extracts in a 10 % ethanol solution against the following organisms: Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc., Trichoderma longibrachiatum, Botrytis cinerea Pers., Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. and Fusarium culmorum (Wm. G. Sm.) Sacc. The first results demonstrated that the horseradish ethanol extracts present only a fungistatic activity against Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc., Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. and F. culmorum (Wm.G. Sm) Sacc. while garlic extracts at the same concentration provided a good fungicidal activity above all against Botrytis cinerea Pers. and S. rolfsii. A. rusticana and A. sativum preparations showed also an interesting and significant insecticidal activity against larvae of A. albopictus, even if horseradish presented a higher efficacy (LC₅₀ value of 2.34 g/L), approximately two times higher than garlic one (LC₅₀ value of 4.48 g/L).

The PRECOS framework: Measuring the impacts of the global changes on soils, water, agriculture on territories to better anticipate the future.

PubMed

Trolard, Fabienne; Bourrié, Guilhem; Baillieux, Antoine; Buis, Samuel; Chanzy, André; Clastre, Philippe; Closet, Jean-François; Courault, Dominique; Dangeard, Marie-Lorraine; Di Virgilio, Nicola; Dussouilliez, Philippe; Fleury, Jules; Gasc, Jérémy; Géniaux, Ghislain; Jouan, Rachel; Keller, Catherine; Lecharpentier, Patrice; Lecroart, Jean; Napoleone, Claude; Mohammed, Gihan; Olioso, Albert; Reynders, Suzanne; Rossi, Federica; Tennant, Mike; de Vicente Lopez, Javier

2016-10-01

In a context of increased land and natural resources scarcity, the possibilities for local authorities and stakeholders of anticipating evolutions or testing the impact of envisaged developments through scenario simulation are new challenges. PRECOS's approach integrates data pertaining to the fields of water and soil resources, agronomy, urbanization, land use and infrastructure etc. It is complemented by a socio-economic and regulatory analysis of the territory illustrating its constraints and stakes. A modular architecture articulates modeling software and spatial and temporal representations tools. It produces indicators in three core domains: soil degradation, water and soil resources and agricultural production. As a territory representative of numerous situations of the Mediterranean Basin (urban pressures, overconsumption of spaces, degradation of the milieus), a demonstration in the Crau's area (Southeast of France) has allowed to validate a prototype of the approach and to test its feasibility in a real life situation. Results on the Crau area have shown that, since the beginning of the 16th century, irrigated grasslands are the cornerstones of the anthropic-system, illustrating how successfully men's multi-secular efforts have maintained a balance between environment and local development. But today the ecosystem services are jeopardized firstly by urban sprawl and secondly by climate change. Pre-diagnosis in regions of Emilia-Romagna (Italy) and Valencia (Spain) show that local end-users and policy-makers are interested by this approach. The modularity of indicator calculations and the availability of geo-databases indicate that PRECOS may be up scaled in other socio-economic contexts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does soil fauna like truffles just as humans do? One-year study of biodiversity in natural brûlés of Tuber aestivum Vittad.

PubMed

Pinto, Stefania; Gatti, Fabio; García-Montero, Luis G; Menta, Cristina

2017-04-15

There are numerous aspects related to Tuber species, which have not been explored to date. Tuber aestivum Vitt. is an ectomycorrhizal fungus, that produces an area (called brûlé) around the host plant trunk, where the germination of other plants is inhibited. What happens inside this particular environment is still not sufficiently understood, especially in terms of soil fauna. A previous work showed that there were higher microarthropod abundances outside during the period of maximum activity of the mycelium. The genus Folsomia (Isotomidae Family; Order Collembola) showed higher abundance inside. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of brûlé, on soil parameters and soil fauna, during the annual biological cycle of T. aestivum. This study was carried out in nine spontaneous brûlés situated in Northern Italy (Emilia Romagna Region - Piacenza Province). Soil cores were collected in order to perform soil chemical and biological analysis. Moisture content, pH, organic matter content, total organic carbon were analyzed. Biodiversity and soil quality indices were applied. We found higher pH, lower carbon and organic matter content within the brûlé. Soil fauna community also showed some differences, seasonal and inside vs outside the brûlé. Some groups seem to be negatively affected by Tuber while Folsomia genus recorded almost always higher values inside. These results suggest that some organisms, such as some Collembola, might find a favorable environment inside the brûlé, while others - a negative one. However, these results should be compared by other analysis either on other Tuber species and on other soil organisms, such as nematodes and earthworms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flood loss modelling with FLF-IT: a new flood loss function for Italian residential structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasanzadeh Nafari, Roozbeh; Amadio, Mattia; Ngo, Tuan; Mysiak, Jaroslav

2017-07-01

The damage triggered by different flood events costs the Italian economy millions of euros each year. This cost is likely to increase in the future due to climate variability and economic development. In order to avoid or reduce such significant financial losses, risk management requires tools which can provide a reliable estimate of potential flood impacts across the country. Flood loss functions are an internationally accepted method for estimating physical flood damage in urban areas. In this study, we derived a new flood loss function for Italian residential structures (FLF-IT), on the basis of empirical damage data collected from a recent flood event in the region of Emilia-Romagna. The function was developed based on a new Australian approach (FLFA), which represents the confidence limits that exist around the parameterized functional depth-damage relationship. After model calibration, the performance of the model was validated for the prediction of loss ratios and absolute damage values. It was also contrasted with an uncalibrated relative model with frequent usage in Europe. In this regard, a three-fold cross-validation procedure was carried out over the empirical sample to measure the range of uncertainty from the actual damage data. The predictive capability has also been studied for some sub-classes of water depth. The validation procedure shows that the newly derived function performs well (no bias and only 10 % mean absolute error), especially when the water depth is high. Results of these validation tests illustrate the importance of model calibration. The advantages of the FLF-IT model over other Italian models include calibration with empirical data, consideration of the epistemic uncertainty of data, and the ability to change parameters based on building practices across Italy.

Effectiveness of palliative care services: A population-based study of end-of-life care for cancer patients.

PubMed

De Palma, Rossana; Fortuna, Daniela; Hegarty, Sarah E; Louis, Daniel Z; Melotti, Rita Maria; Moro, Maria Luisa

2018-06-01

Multiple studies demonstrate substantial utilization of acute hospital care and, potentially excessive, intensive medical and surgical treatments at the end-of-life. To evaluate the relationship between the use of home and facility-based hospice palliative care for patients dying with cancer and service utilization at the end of life. Retrospective, population-level study using administrative databases. The effect of palliative care was analyzed between coarsened exact matched cohorts and evaluated through a conditional logistic regression model. The study was conducted on the cohort of 34,357 patients, resident in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy, admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of metastatic or poor-prognosis cancer during the 6 months before death between January 2013 and December 2015. Patients who received palliative care experienced significantly lower rates of all indicators of aggressive care such as hospital admission (odds ratio (OR) = 0.05, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.04-0.06), emergency department visits (OR = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.21-0.25), intensive care unit stays (OR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.26-0.32), major operating room procedures (OR = 0.22, 95% CI: 0.21-0.24), and lower in-hospital death (OR = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.10-0.11). This cohort had significantly higher rates of opiate prescriptions (OR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.21-1.33) ( p < 0.01 for all comparisons). Use of palliative care at the end of life for cancer patients is associated with a reduction of the use of high-cost, intensive services. Future research is necessary to evaluate the impact of increasing use of palliative care services on other health outcomes. Administrative databases linked at the patient level are a useful data source for assessment of care at the end of life.

Vitamin D supplementation is required to normalize serum level of 25OH-vitamin D in older adults: an observational study of 974 hip fracture inpatients.

PubMed

Lauretani, F; Frondini, C; Davoli, M L; Martini, E; Pellicciotti, F; Zagatti, A; Giordano, A; Zurlo, A; Pioli, G

2012-11-01

Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in older adults in all continents. In this study we assessed the vitamin D status of hip fracture subjects across different hospitals in a real word situation using the data from a multicenter cohort study on outcomes in orthogeriatric units. We performed a prospective cohort study on 974 consecutive patients 75 yr or older admitted with fragility hip fracture over a 12 months period at 4 general hospitals of different districts in Emilia Romagna Region, Italy. Data collected included comorbidity, cognitive impairment, prefracture functional status, walking ability, living arrangement along with the use of antiosteoporotic drugs, serum intact PTH and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D]. Mean 25(OH)D serum levels were 12.2±9.4 ng/ml and 84.2% of patients had levels below recommended values. Male had a higher probability to have values within the reference range [odds ratio (OR): 1.74 (1.13-2.67); p=0.012] while living in nursing resulted negatively related even if only close to statistical significance [OR: 0.24 (0.06-1.02); p=0.051]. Vitamin D supplementation appeared to be the strongest factor associated with adequate level of vitamin D levels [OR: 4.50 (2.57-7.88); p<0.001). This study confirmed the very high rate of severe vitamin D deficiency in Italian subjects admitted with hip fracture. Our study also showed that supplementation of vitamin D is the strongest determinant influencing serum 25(OH)D level of older persons with hip fracture and these results should be taken into account when planning treatment in older persons.

Impact on Prehospital Delay of a Stroke Preparedness Campaign: A SW-RCT (Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial).

PubMed

Denti, Licia; Caminiti, Caterina; Scoditti, Umberto; Zini, Andrea; Malferrari, Giovanni; Zedde, Maria Luisa; Guidetti, Donata; Baratti, Mario; Vaghi, Luca; Montanari, Enrico; Marcomini, Barbara; Riva, Silvia; Iezzi, Elisa; Castellini, Paola; Olivato, Silvia; Barbi, Filippo; Perticaroli, Eva; Monaco, Daniela; Iafelice, Ilaria; Bigliardi, Guido; Vandelli, Laura; Guareschi, Angelica; Artoni, Andrea; Zanferrari, Carla; Schulz, Peter J

2017-12-01

Public campaigns to increase stroke preparedness have been tested in different contexts, showing contradictory results. We evaluated the effectiveness of a stroke campaign, designed specifically for the Italian population in reducing prehospital delay. According to an SW-RCT (Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial) design, the campaign was launched in 4 provinces in the northern part of the region Emilia Romagna at 3-month intervals in randomized sequence. The units of analysis were the patients admitted to hospital, with stroke and transient ischemic attack, over a time period of 15 months, beginning 3 months before the intervention was launched in the first province to allow for baseline data collection. The proportion of early arrivals (within 2 hours of symptom onset) was the primary outcome. Thrombolysis rate and some behavioral end points were the secondary outcomes. Data were analyzed using a fixed-effect model, adjusting for cluster and time trends. We enrolled 1622 patients, 912 exposed and 710 nonexposed to the campaign. The proportion of early access was nonsignificantly lower in exposed patients (354 [38.8%] versus 315 [44.4%]; adjusted odds ratio, 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.60-1.08; P =0.15). As for secondary end points, an increase was found for stroke recognition, which approximated but did not reach statistical significance ( P =0.07). Our campaign was not effective in reducing prehospital delay. Even if some limitations of the intervention, mainly in terms of duration, are taken into account, our study demonstrates that new communication strategies should be tested before large-scale implementation. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01881152. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Parameter regionalisation methods for a semi-distributed rainfall-runoff model: application to a Northern Apennine region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neri, Mattia; Toth, Elena

2017-04-01

The study presents the implementation of different regionalisation approaches for the transfer of model parameters from similar and/or neighbouring gauged basin to an ungauged catchment, and in particular it uses a semi-distributed continuously-simulating conceptual rainfall-runoff model for simulating daily streamflows. The case study refers to a set of Apennine catchments (in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy), that, given the spatial proximity, are assumed to belong to the same hydrologically homogeneous region and are used, alternatively, as donors and regionalised basins. The model is a semi-distributed version of the HBV model (TUWien model) in which the catchment is divided in zones of different altitude that contribute separately to the total outlet flow. The model includes a snow module, whose application in the Apennine area has been, so far, very limited, even if snow accumulation and melting phenomena do have an important role in the study basins. Two methods, both widely applied in the recent literature, are applied for regionalising the model: i) "parameters averaging", where each parameter is obtained as a weighted mean of the parameters obtained, through calibration, on the donor catchments ii) "output averaging", where the model is run over the ungauged basin using the entire set of parameters of each donor basin and the simulated outputs are then averaged. In the first approach, the parameters are regionalised independently from each other, in the second one, instead, the correlation among the parameters is maintained. Since the model is a semi-distributed one, where each elevation zone contributes separately, the study proposes to test also a modified version of the second approach ("output averaging"), where each zone is considered as an autonomous entity, whose parameters are transposed to the ungauged sub-basin corresponding to the same elevation zone. The study explores also the choice of the weights to be used for averaging the parameters (in the "parameters averaging" approach) or for averaging the simulated streamflow (in the "output averaging" approach): in particular, weights are estimated as a function of the similarity/distance of the ungauged basin/zone to the donors, on the basis of a set of geo-morphological catchment descriptors. The predictive accuracy of the different regionalisation methods is finally assessed by jack-knife cross-validation against the observed daily runoff for all the study catchments.

Compulsory and recommended vaccination in Italy: evaluation of coverage and non-compliance between 1998-2002 in Northern Italy

PubMed Central

Stampi, Serena; Ricci, Rita; Ruffilli, Isa; Zanetti, Franca

2005-01-01

Background Since vaccinations are an effective prevention tool for maintaining the health of society, the monitoring of immunization coverage allows us to identify areas where disease outbreaks are likely to occur, and possibly assist us in predicting future outbreaks. The aim of this study is the investigation of the coverage achieved for compulsory (diphtheria, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B,) and recommended (pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae, measles-mumps-rubella) vaccinations between 1998 and 2002 in the municipality of Bologna and the identification of the subjects not complying with compulsory and recommended vaccinations. Methods The statistics regarding vaccinal coverage were elaborated from the data supplied by the Bologna vaccinal registration system (1998–2000) and the IPV4 program (2001–2002). To calculate the coverage for compulsory vaccinations and cases of non-compliance reference was made to the protocol drawn up by the Emilia Romagna Regional Administration. The reasons for non-compliance were divided into various categories Results In Bologna the levels of immunization for the four compulsory vaccinations are satisfactory: over 95% children completed the vaccinal cycle, receiving the booster for anti-polio foreseen in their 3rd year and for anti-dyphteria, tetanus, pertussis at 6 years. The frequency of subjects with total non-compliance (i.e. those who have not begun any compulsory vaccinations by the age of one year) is generally higher in Bologna than in the region, with a slight increase in 2002 (2.52% and 1.06% in the city and the region respectively). The frequency of the anti-measles vaccination is higher than that of mumps and rubella, which means that the single vaccine, as opposed to the combined MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) was still being used in the period in question. The most common reason for non compliance is objection of parents and is probably due to reduction of certain diseases or anxiety about the possible risks. Conclusion In Bologna the frequency of children aged 12 and 24 months who have achieved compulsory vaccination varied, in 2002, between 95% and 98%. As regards recommended vaccinations the percentage of coverage against Haemophilus influenzae is 93.3%, while the levels for measles, mumps and pertussis range from 84% to approx. 92%. Although these percentages are higher if compared to those obtained by other Italian regions, every effort should be made to strengthen the aspects that lead to a successful vaccinal strategy. PMID:15845144

Dispersion and transport of tropospheric aerosol and pollutants in the Western Mediterranean: the role of the Po Valley under different transport regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bucci, Silvia; Fierli, Federico; Ravetta, François; Raut, Jean Christophe; Cristofanelli, Paolo; Decesari, Stefano; Diliberto, Luca; Größ, Johannes; Pap, Ines; Weinhold, Kay; Wiedensohler, Alfred; Cairo, Francesco

2016-04-01

This work reports a characterization of the vertical variability of tropospheric aerosol and gaseous pollutants, over the western Mediterranean, during the 2012 summer season. In particular, we investigate the role of the Po Valley region as a receptor and emissive region of both natural and anthropogenic aerosol. The observational analysis, based on a comprehensive database of meteorological, aerosol and chemical measurements, is integrated with a model analysis using the Lagrangian transport system FLEXPART combined with emission databases, and WRF-Chem, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with Chemistry. Observations have been performed in the framework of the Supersito project by Regional Agency of Prevention and Environment of the Emilia Romagna region (ARPA-ER, Ital), the TRAQA campaign (TRAnsport et Qualité de l'Air au dessus du bassin Méditerranéen) performed in the ChArMEx (Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment) project, and the european project PEGASOS (Pan-European Gas-AeroSOl-climate interaction Study). An alternation between different transport regimes characterized the 2012 summer, resulting in a large variability of aerosol and pollution at different time and spatial scales. Particles of different nature have been discriminated basing on optical properties retrieved from lidar data and supported by in-situ observations and transport analysis. Results show that, during the analysed season, aerosol in the Po Valley was mainly confined below 2000 m and dominated (50% of detections) by spherical particles. Two events of dust advection from northern Africa were identified (19th-21th June and 29th June-2nd July), with intrusion and mixing with local pollution in the PBL and a non-negligible occurrence (~7%) of dust at the ground. Frequent events (22% of occurrence) of non-spherical particles resuspension, likely due to uplift of mineral soil particles, were observed from the ground to 2000 m during afternoon and evening. In the same season, the combination of airborne measurements with transport and chemical model analysis, allowed to individuate two episodes of inversion in the main advection pattern (23th -24th June and 26th -27th June), causing an easterly pollution export from the Po basin toward the Genoa Gulf (North-Western Mediterranean). Using the CO species as a tracer of pollution, we estimated the Po Valley contribution over the local pollution background value. The CO plume affected a layer from the sea level to 1000 m over the Genoa Gulf, with concentrations reaching 50 ppbv.

The Chikungunya epidemic in Italy and its repercussion on the blood system.

PubMed

Liumbruno, Giancarlo Maria; Calteri, Deanna; Petropulacos, Kyriakoula; Mattivi, Andrea; Po, Claudio; Macini, Pierluigi; Tomasini, Ivana; Zucchelli, Paolo; Silvestri, Anna Rita; Sambri, Vittorio; Pupella, Simonetta; Catalano, Liviana; Piccinini, Vanessa; Calizzani, Gabriele; Grazzini, Giuliano

2008-10-01

The Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes and recently caused a massive epidemic on La Réunion Island, in the Indian Ocean. Between July and September 2007 it caused the first autochthonous epidemic outbreak in Europe, in the Region of Emilia-Romagna in the north-east of Italy. After the first reports of an unusually high number of patients with a febrile illness of unknown origin in two contiguous villages, an outbreak investigation was carried out to identify the primary source of infection, the modes of transmission and the dynamics of the epidemic. An active surveillance system was also implemented. Laboratory diagnosis was performed through serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Blood donation was discontinued in the areas involved from September to October 2007 and specific precautionary blood safety and self-sufficiency measures were adopted by the regional health and blood authorities and the National Blood Centre. An estimate method to early assess the risk of viraemic blood donations by asymptomatic donors was developed, as a tool for "pragmatic" risk assessment and management, aiming at providing a reliable order of magnitude of the mean risk of CHIKV transmission through blood transfusion. Two hundred and seventeen cases of CHIKV infection were identified between 4th July and 28th September. The disease was fairly mild in most of the cases. The precautionary measures adopted in the blood system caused a considerable reduction of the collection of blood components and of the delivery of plasma to the pharmaceutical industry for contract manufacturing. The estimated risk of CHIKV transmission through blood transfusion peaked in the third week of August. ACHIKV epidemic poses considerable problems for public health authorities, who not only need good routine programmes of vector control and epidemiological surveillance but also local and national emergency plans to sustain the blood supply, so as to promptly deal with the potentially severe effects of an epidemic outbreak, especially when affected areas locally require a significant blood inventory and at the same time represent a critical resource for other areas depending on external supplies of blood components.

Hypogeal geological survey in the "Grotta del Re Tiberio" natural cave (Apennines, Italy): a valid tool for reconstructing the structural setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghiselli, Alice; Merazzi, Marzio; Strini, Andrea; Margutti, Roberto; Mercuriali, Michele

2011-06-01

As karst systems are natural windows to the underground, speleology, combined with geological surveys, can be useful tools for helping understand the geological evolution of karst areas. In order to enhance the reconstruction of the structural setting in a gypsum karst area (Vena del Gesso, Romagna Apennines), a detailed analysis has been carried out on hypogeal data. Structural features (faults, fractures, tectonic foliations, bedding) have been mapped in the "Grotta del Re Tiberio" cave, in the nearby gypsum quarry tunnels and open pit benches. Five fracture systems and six fault systems have been identified. The fault systems have been further analyzed through stereographic projections and geometric-kinematic evaluations in order to reconstruct the relative chronology of these structures. This analysis led to the detection of two deformation phases. The results permitted linking of the hypogeal data with the surface data both at a local and regional scale. At the local scale, fracture data collected in the underground have been compared with previous authors' surface data coming from the quarry area. The two data sets show a very good correspondence, as every underground fracture system matches with one of the surface fracture system. Moreover, in the cave, a larger number of fractures belonging to each system could be mapped. At the regional scale, the two deformation phases detected can be integrated in the structural setting of the study area, thereby enhancing the tectonic interpretation of the area ( e.g., structures belonging to a new deformation phase, not reported before, have been identified underground). The structural detailed hypogeal survey has, thus, provided very useful data, both by integrating the existing information and revealing new data not detected at the surface. In particular, some small structures ( e.g., displacement markers and short fractures) are better preserved in the hypogeal environment than on the surface where the outcropping gypsum is more exposed to dissolution and recrystallization. The hypogeal geological survey, therefore, can be considered a powerful tool for integrating the surface and log data in order to enhance the reconstruction of the deformational history and to get a three-dimensional model of the bedrock in karst areas.

Assessment of Stone Columns as a Mitigation Technique of Liquefaction-Induced Effects during Italian Earthquakes (May 2012)

PubMed Central

Forcellini, Davide; Tarantino, Angelo Marcello

2014-01-01

Soil liquefaction has been observed worldwide during recent major earthquakes with induced effects responsible for much of the damage, disruption of function, and considerable replacement expenses for structures. The phenomenon has not been documented in recent time with such damage in Italian context before the recent Emilia-Romagna Earthquake (May 2012). The main lateral spreading and vertical deformations affected the stability of many buildings and impacted social life inducing valuable lessons on liquefaction risk assessment and remediation. This paper aims first of all to reproduce soil response to liquefaction-induced lateral effects and thus to evaluate stone column mitigation technique effectiveness by gradually increasing the extension of remediation, in order to achieve a satisfactory lower level of permanent deformations. The study is based on the use of a FE computational interface able to analyse the earthquake-induced three-dimensional pore pressure generation adopting one of the most credited nonlinear theories in order to assess realistically the displacements connected to lateral spreading. PMID:24592148

Rare missense variants in POT1 predispose to familial cutaneous malignant melanoma

PubMed Central

Shi, Jianxin; Yang, Xiaohong R.; Ballew, Bari; Rotunno, Melissa; Calista, Donato; Fargnoli, Maria Concetta; Ghiorzo, Paola; Paillerets, Brigitte Bressac-de; Nagore, Eduardo; Avril, Marie Francoise; Caporaso, Neil E.; McMaster, Mary L.; Cullen, Michael; Wang, Zhaoming; Zhang, Xijun; Bruno, William; Pastorino, Lorenza; Queirolo, Paola; Banuls-Roca, Jose; Garcia-Casado, Zaida; Vaysse, Amaury; Mohamdi, Hamida; Riazalhosseini, Yasser; Foglio, Mario; Jouenne, Fanélie; Hua, Xing; Hyland, Paula L.; Yin, Jinhu; Vallabhaneni, Haritha; Chai, Weihang; Minghetti, Paola; Pellegrini, Cristina; Ravichandran, Sarangan; Eggermont, Alexander; Lathrop, Mark; Peris, Ketty; Scarra, Giovanna Bianchi; Landi, Giorgio; Savage, Sharon A.; Sampson, Joshua N.; He, Ji; Yeager, Meredith; Goldin, Lynn R.; Demenais, Florence; Chanock, Stephen J.; Tucker, Margaret A.; Goldstein, Alisa M.; Liu, Yie; Landi, Maria Teresa

2014-01-01

Although CDKN2A is the most frequent high-risk melanoma susceptibility gene, the underlying genetic factors for most melanoma-prone families remain unknown. Using whole exome sequencing, we identified a rare variant that arose as a founder mutation in the telomere shelterin POT1 gene (g.7:124493086 C>T, Ser270Asn) in five unrelated melanoma-prone families from Romagna, Italy. Carriers of this variant had increased telomere length and elevated fragile telomeres suggesting that this variant perturbs telomere maintenance. Two additional rare POT1 variants were identified in all cases sequenced in two other Italian families, yielding a frequency of POT1 variants comparable to that of CDKN2A mutations in this population. These variants were not found in public databases or in 2,038 genotyped Italian controls. We also identified two rare recurrent POT1 variants in American and French familial melanoma cases. Our findings suggest that POT1 is a major susceptibility gene for familial melanoma in several populations. PMID:24686846

Assessment of stone columns as a mitigation technique of liquefaction-induced effects during Italian earthquakes (May 2012).

PubMed

Forcellini, Davide; Tarantino, Angelo Marcello

2014-01-01

Soil liquefaction has been observed worldwide during recent major earthquakes with induced effects responsible for much of the damage, disruption of function, and considerable replacement expenses for structures. The phenomenon has not been documented in recent time with such damage in Italian context before the recent Emilia-Romagna Earthquake (May 2012). The main lateral spreading and vertical deformations affected the stability of many buildings and impacted social life inducing valuable lessons on liquefaction risk assessment and remediation. This paper aims first of all to reproduce soil response to liquefaction-induced lateral effects and thus to evaluate stone column mitigation technique effectiveness by gradually increasing the extension of remediation, in order to achieve a satisfactory lower level of permanent deformations. The study is based on the use of a FE computational interface able to analyse the earthquake-induced three-dimensional pore pressure generation adopting one of the most credited nonlinear theories in order to assess realistically the displacements connected to lateral spreading.

Implementing the water framework directive: contract design and the cost of measures to reduce nitrogen pollution from agriculture.

PubMed

Bartolini, Fabio; Gallerani, Vittorio; Raggi, Meri; Viaggi, Davide

2007-10-01

The performance of different policy design strategies is a key issue in evaluating programmes for water quality improvement under the Water Framework Directive (60/2000). This issue is emphasised by information asymmetries between regulator and agents. Using an economic model under asymmetric information, the aim of this paper is to compare the cost-effectiveness of selected methods of designing payments to farmers in order to reduce nitrogen pollution in agriculture. A principal-agent model is used, based on profit functions generated through farm-level linear programming. This allows a comparison of flat rate payments and a menu of contracts developed through mechanism design. The model is tested in an area of Emilia Romagna (Italy) in two policy contexts: Agenda 2000 and the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. The results show that different policy design options lead to differences in policy costs as great as 200-400%, with clear advantages for the menu of contracts. However, different policy scenarios may strongly affect such differences. Hence, the paper calls for greater attention to the interplay between CAP scenarios and water quality measures.

Implementing the Water Framework Directive: Contract Design and the Cost of Measures to Reduce Nitrogen Pollution from Agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartolini, Fabio; Gallerani, Vittorio; Raggi, Meri; Viaggi, Davide

2007-10-01

The performance of different policy design strategies is a key issue in evaluating programmes for water quality improvement under the Water Framework Directive (60/2000). This issue is emphasised by information asymmetries between regulator and agents. Using an economic model under asymmetric information, the aim of this paper is to compare the cost-effectiveness of selected methods of designing payments to farmers in order to reduce nitrogen pollution in agriculture. A principal-agent model is used, based on profit functions generated through farm-level linear programming. This allows a comparison of flat rate payments and a menu of contracts developed through mechanism design. The model is tested in an area of Emilia Romagna (Italy) in two policy contexts: Agenda 2000 and the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform. The results show that different policy design options lead to differences in policy costs as great as 200-400%, with clear advantages for the menu of contracts. However, different policy scenarios may strongly affect such differences. Hence, the paper calls for greater attention to the interplay between CAP scenarios and water quality measures.

Preselection statistics and Random Forest classification identify population informative single nucleotide polymorphisms in cosmopolitan and autochthonous cattle breeds.

PubMed

Bertolini, F; Galimberti, G; Schiavo, G; Mastrangelo, S; Di Gerlando, R; Strillacci, M G; Bagnato, A; Portolano, B; Fontanesi, L

2018-01-01

Commercial single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays have been recently developed for several species and can be used to identify informative markers to differentiate breeds or populations for several downstream applications. To identify the most discriminating genetic markers among thousands of genotyped SNPs, a few statistical approaches have been proposed. In this work, we compared several methods of SNPs preselection (Delta, F st and principal component analyses (PCA)) in addition to Random Forest classifications to analyse SNP data from six dairy cattle breeds, including cosmopolitan (Holstein, Brown and Simmental) and autochthonous Italian breeds raised in two different regions and subjected to limited or no breeding programmes (Cinisara, Modicana, raised only in Sicily and Reggiana, raised only in Emilia Romagna). From these classifications, two panels of 96 and 48 SNPs that contain the most discriminant SNPs were created for each preselection method. These panels were evaluated in terms of the ability to discriminate as a whole and breed-by-breed, as well as linkage disequilibrium within each panel. The obtained results showed that for the 48-SNP panel, the error rate increased mainly for autochthonous breeds, probably as a consequence of their admixed origin lower selection pressure and by ascertaining bias in the construction of the SNP chip. The 96-SNP panels were generally more able to discriminate all breeds. The panel derived by PCA-chrom (obtained by a preselection chromosome by chromosome) could identify informative SNPs that were particularly useful for the assignment of minor breeds that reached the lowest value of Out Of Bag error even in the Cinisara, whose value was quite high in all other panels. Moreover, this panel contained also the lowest number of SNPs in linkage disequilibrium. Several selected SNPs are located nearby genes affecting breed-specific phenotypic traits (coat colour and stature) or associated with production traits. In general, our results demonstrated the usefulness of Random Forest in combination to other reduction techniques to identify population informative SNPs.

Characterization of events of transport over the Mediterranean Basin during summer 2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bucci, Silvia; Fierli, Federico; Di Donfrancesco, Guido; Diliberto, Luca; Viterbini, Maurizio; Ravetta, François; Pap, Ines; Weinhold, Kay; Größ, Johannes; Wiedensohler, Alfred; Cairo, Francesco

2014-05-01

Long-range transport has a great influence on the atmospheric composition in the Mediterranean Basin (MB). This work focuses on the dust intrusion events and the outflows of polluted air from the Po Valley during the PEGASOS (Pan-European Gas-AeroSOls Climate Interaction Study), TRAQA (TRAnsport et Qualité de l'Air au dessus du bassin Méditerranéen) and Supersito Arpa (Emilia Romagna) measurements campaigns of June - July 2012. In order to investigate the sources and identify the transport patterns, numerical simulations, in-situ, remote sensing and airborne aerosol measurements were jointly used. The ground based lidar situated at the San Pietro Capofiume (SPC) station, in the eastern part of the Po Valley, provides continuous measurements of backscatter and depolarization profiles and the Aerodynamical Particle Sizer (APS), in the same site, gives the aerosol spectral distribution at the ground. Observations show two main events of mineral aerosol inflow over north Italy (19- 21 June and 29-01 July). Optical properties provide a primary discrimination between coarser (likely dust) and finer particles (probably anthropogenic). The vertical statistical distribution of the different aerosol classes shows that larger particles are mainly individuated over the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) level while smaller particles tend to follow the daily evolution of the PBL or remain confined under it. Dust events are also detected during the TRAQA airborne campaign in the area of the gulf of Genoa, contributing to the identification of the dust plume characterization. Cluster trajectories analysis coupled to mesoscale simulations highlights the effective export of air masses from the Sahara with frequent intrusions of dust over the Po Valley, as recorded in the observational SPC site. Transport analysis also indicates an inversion of the main advection pattern (the Po Valley outflow is mainly directed eastward in the Adriatic region) during 23th and 26th June, with a possible impact of the Po Valley emissions on the Genoa Gulf where simultaneous airborne observations occurred.

Industrial Accidents Triggered by Natural Hazards: an Emerging Risk Issue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renni, Elisabetta; Krausmann, Elisabeth; Basco, Anna; Salzano, Ernesto; Cozzani, Valerio

2010-05-01

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding or hurricanes have recently and dramatically hit several countries worldwide. Both direct and indirect consequences involved the population, causing on the one hand a high number of fatalities and on the other hand so relevant economical losses that the national gross product may be affected for many years. Loss of critical industrial infrastructures (electricity generation and distribution, gas pipelines, oil refineries, etc.) also occurred, causing further indirect damage to the population. In several cases, accident scenarios with large releases of hazardous materials were triggered by these natural events, causing so-called "Natech events", in which the overall damage resulted from the simultaneous consequences of the natural event and of the release of hazardous substances. Toxic releases, large fires and explosions, as well as possible long-term environmental pollution, economical losses, and overloading of emergency systems were recognised by post-event studies as the main issues of these Natech scenarios. In recent years the increasing frequency and severity of some natural hazards due to climate change has slowly increased the awareness of Natech risk as an emerging risk among the stakeholders. Indeed, the iNTeg-Risk project, co-funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Program specifically addresses these scenarios among new technological issues on public safety. The present study, in part carried out within the iNTeg-Risk project, was aimed at the analysis and further development of methods and tools for the assessment and mitigation of Natech accidents. Available tools and knowledge gaps in the assessment of Natech scenarios were highlighted. The analysis mainly addressed the potential impact of flood, lightning and earthquake events on industrial installations where hazardous substances are present. Preliminary screening methodologies and more detailed methods based on quantitative risk analysis were developed. Strategies based on the use of multiple information layers aiming at the identification of mitigation and early warning systems were also explored. A case-study in the Emilia-Romagna region is presented.

An early (3-6 weeks) active surveillance study to assess the safety of pandemic influenza vaccine Focetria in a province of Emilia-Romagna region, Italy - part one.

PubMed

Candela, Silvia; Pergolizzi, Sara; Ragni, Pietro; Cavuto, Silvio; Nobilio, Lucia; Di Mario, Simona; Dragosevic, Valentina; Groth, Nicola; Magrini, Nicola

2013-02-27

An observational, non-comparative, prospective, surveillance study of individuals vaccinated with the MF59-adjuvanted A/H1N1 influenza vaccine, Focetria, (Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics, Siena, Italy), was performed in Italy during the 2009 A/H1N1 influenza pandemic. This study assessed the short-term (six-week) safety profile of the investigational vaccine in real time. After vaccination (N=7943), adverse events (AE) were assessed using both active (telephone) and passive (healthcare database) follow-up in enrolled vaccinated subjects, including infants (6-23 months), pregnant women, and the immunosuppressed. The treating physicians of all subjects experiencing AEs post-vaccination were consulted for clinical information on the conditions reported. All AEs were coded according to ICD-10. A total of 1583 AEs occurred during the study, 67 (4.2%) of which were serious adverse events (SAEs). One SAE was considered to be possibly related to vaccination (transitory and ill-defined neurologic disorder experienced by a 16-year-old asthmatic male). Three adverse events of special interest (AESI) were identified (convulsions experienced by two epileptic subjects), none of which were considered to be vaccine-related. Six individuals died during the study period, in each case the cause of death was not related to vaccination (four cases of severe underlying co-morbidity, one case of psychoactive drug misuse, and one case of acute myocardial infarction). No cases of clinically relevant AEs, SAEs, or AESI were observed within a six-week period of vaccine administration. In accordance with existing clinical and post-marketing safety data, the results of this active surveillance study demonstrate a good safety profile for the MF59-adjuvanted A/H1N1 vaccine, Focetria, within the general population. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extensional Structures on the Po Valley Side of the Northern Apennines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bettelli, G.; Vannucchi, P.; Capitani, M.

2001-12-01

The present-day tectonics of the Northern Apennines is characterized by extension in the inner Tyrrhenian side and compression in the outer Po Valley-Adriatic side. The boundary separating the two domains, extensional and compressional, is still largely undetermined and mainly based on geophysical data (focal mechanisms of earthquakes). Map-scale extensional structures have been studied only along the Tyrrhenian side of the Northern Apennines (Tuscany), while along the Po Valley-Adriatic area the field studies concentrated on compressional features. A new, detailed field mapping of the Po Valley side of the Northern Apennines carried out in the last ten years within the Emilia Romagna Geological Mapping Program has shown the presence of a large extensional fault crossing the high Bologna-Modena-Reggio Emilia provinces, from the Sillaro to the Val Secchia valleys. This Sillaro-Val Secchia Normal Fault (SVSNF) is NW-SE trending, NE dipping and about 80 km long. The age, based on the younger displaced deposits, is post-Miocene. The SVSNF is a primary regional structure separating the Tuscan foredeep units from the Ligurian Units in the south-east sector of the Northern Apennines, and it is responsible for the exhumation of the Tuscan foredeep units along the Apennine water divide. The sub-vertical, SW-NE trending faults, formerly interpreted as strike slip, are transfer faults associated to the extensional structure. A geological cross-section across the SVSNF testifies a former thickness reduction and lamination of the Ligurian Units, as documented in the field, in the innermost areas of the Bologna-Modena-Reggio Emilia hills, implying the occurrence of a former extensional fault. These data indicate that the NE side of the water divide has already gone under extension reducing the compressional domain to the Po Valley foothills and plain. They can also help in interpreting the complex Apennines kinematics.

The Seismotectonics of the Po Plain (Northern Italy): Tectonic Diversity in a Blind Faulting Domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vannoli, Paola; Burrato, Pierfrancesco; Valensise, Gianluca

2015-05-01

We present a systematic and updated overview of a seismotectonic model for the Po Plain (northern Italy). This flat and apparently quiet tectonic domain is, in fact, rather active as it comprises the shortened foreland and foredeep of both the Southern Alps and the Northern Apennines. Assessing its seismic hazard is crucial due to the concentration of population, industrial activities, and critical infrastructures, but it is also complicated because (a) the region is geologically very diverse, and (b) nearly all potential seismogenic faults are buried beneath a thick blanket of Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments, and thus can be investigated only indirectly. Identifying and parameterizing the potential seismogenic faults of the Po Plain requires proper consideration of their depth, geometry, kinematics, earthquake potential and location with respect to the two confronting orogens. To this end, we subdivided them into four main, homogeneous groups. Over the past 15 years we developed new strategies for coping with this diversity, resorting to different data and modeling approaches as required by each individual fault group. The most significant faults occur beneath the thrust fronts of the Ferrara-Romagna and Emilia arcs, which correspond to the most advanced and buried portions of the Northern Apennines and were the locus of the destructive May 2012 earthquake sequence. The largest known Po Plain earthquake, however, occurred on an elusive reactivated fault cutting the Alpine foreland south of Verona. Significant earthquakes are expected to be generated also by a set of transverse structures segmenting the thrust system, and by the deeper ramps of the Apennines thrusts. The new dataset is intended to be included in the next version of the Database of Individual Seismogenic Sources (DISS; http://diss.rm.ingv.it/diss/, version 3.2.0, developed and maintained by INGV) to improve completeness of potential sources for seismic hazard assessment.

Forecasting skills of the ensemble hydro-meteorological system for the Po river floods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ricciardi, Giuseppe; Montani, Andrea; Paccagnella, Tiziana; Pecora, Silvano; Tonelli, Fabrizio

2013-04-01

The Po basin is the largest and most economically important river-basin in Italy. Extreme hydrological events, including floods, flash floods and droughts, are expected to become more severe in the next future due to climate change, and related ground effects are linked both with environmental and social resilience. A Warning Operational Center (WOC) for hydrological event management was created in Emilia Romagna region. In the last years, the WOC faced challenges in legislation, organization, technology and economics, achieving improvements in forecasting skill and information dissemination. Since 2005, an operational forecasting and modelling system for flood modelling and forecasting has been implemented, aimed at supporting and coordinating flood control and emergency management on the whole Po basin. This system, referred to as FEWSPo, has also taken care of environmental aspects of flood forecast. The FEWSPo system has reached a very high level of complexity, due to the combination of three different hydrological-hydraulic chains (HEC-HMS/RAS - MIKE11 NAM/HD, Topkapi/Sobek), with several meteorological inputs (forecasted - COSMOI2, COSMOI7, COSMO-LEPS among others - and observed). In this hydrological and meteorological ensemble the management of the relative predictive uncertainties, which have to be established and communicated to decision makers, is a debated scientific and social challenge. Real time activities face professional, modelling and technological aspects but are also strongly interrelated with organization and human aspects. The authors will report a case study using the operational flood forecast hydro-meteorological ensemble, provided by the MIKE11 chain fed by COSMO_LEPS EQPF. The basic aim of the proposed approach is to analyse limits and opportunities of the long term forecast (with a lead time ranging from 3 to 5 days), for the implementation of low cost actions, also looking for a well informed decision making and the improvement of flood preparedness and crisis management for basins greater than 1.000 km2.

Spatio-temporal patterns of distribution of West Nile virus vectors in eastern Piedmont Region, Italy

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background West Nile Virus (WNV) transmission in Italy was first reported in 1998 as an equine outbreak near the swamps of Padule di Fucecchio, Tuscany. No other cases were identified during the following decade until 2008, when horse and human outbreaks were reported in Emilia Romagna, North Italy. Since then, WNV outbreaks have occurred annually, spreading from their initial northern foci throughout the country. Following the outbreak in 1998 the Italian public health authority defined a surveillance plan to detect WNV circulation in birds, horses and mosquitoes. By applying spatial statistical analysis (spatial point pattern analysis) and models (Bayesian GLMM models) to a longitudinal dataset on the abundance of the three putative WNV vectors [Ochlerotatus caspius (Pallas 1771), Culex pipiens (Linnaeus 1758) and Culex modestus (Ficalbi 1890)] in eastern Piedmont, we quantified their abundance and distribution in space and time and generated prediction maps outlining the areas with the highest vector productivity and potential for WNV introduction and amplification. Results The highest abundance and significant spatial clusters of Oc. caspius and Cx. modestus were in proximity to rice fields, and for Cx. pipiens, in proximity to highly populated urban areas. The GLMM model showed the importance of weather conditions and environmental factors in predicting mosquito abundance. Distance from the preferential breeding sites and elevation were negatively associated with the number of collected mosquitoes. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was positively correlated with mosquito abundance in rice fields (Oc. caspius and Cx. modestus). Based on the best models, we developed prediction maps for the year 2010 outlining the areas where high abundance of vectors could favour the introduction and amplification of WNV. Conclusions Our findings provide useful information for surveillance activities aiming to identify locations where the potential for WNV introduction and local transmission are highest. Such information can be used by vector control offices to stratify control interventions in areas prone to the invasion of WNV and other mosquito-transmitted pathogens. PMID:22152822

Spatio-temporal patterns of distribution of West Nile virus vectors in eastern Piedmont Region, Italy.

PubMed

Bisanzio, Donal; Giacobini, Mario; Bertolotti, Luigi; Mosca, Andrea; Balbo, Luca; Kitron, Uriel; Vazquez-Prokopec, Gonzalo M

2011-12-09

West Nile Virus (WNV) transmission in Italy was first reported in 1998 as an equine outbreak near the swamps of Padule di Fucecchio, Tuscany. No other cases were identified during the following decade until 2008, when horse and human outbreaks were reported in Emilia Romagna, North Italy. Since then, WNV outbreaks have occurred annually, spreading from their initial northern foci throughout the country. Following the outbreak in 1998 the Italian public health authority defined a surveillance plan to detect WNV circulation in birds, horses and mosquitoes. By applying spatial statistical analysis (spatial point pattern analysis) and models (Bayesian GLMM models) to a longitudinal dataset on the abundance of the three putative WNV vectors [Ochlerotatus caspius (Pallas 1771), Culex pipiens (Linnaeus 1758) and Culex modestus (Ficalbi 1890)] in eastern Piedmont, we quantified their abundance and distribution in space and time and generated prediction maps outlining the areas with the highest vector productivity and potential for WNV introduction and amplification. The highest abundance and significant spatial clusters of Oc. caspius and Cx. modestus were in proximity to rice fields, and for Cx. pipiens, in proximity to highly populated urban areas. The GLMM model showed the importance of weather conditions and environmental factors in predicting mosquito abundance. Distance from the preferential breeding sites and elevation were negatively associated with the number of collected mosquitoes. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was positively correlated with mosquito abundance in rice fields (Oc. caspius and Cx. modestus). Based on the best models, we developed prediction maps for the year 2010 outlining the areas where high abundance of vectors could favour the introduction and amplification of WNV. Our findings provide useful information for surveillance activities aiming to identify locations where the potential for WNV introduction and local transmission are highest. Such information can be used by vector control offices to stratify control interventions in areas prone to the invasion of WNV and other mosquito-transmitted pathogens.

Cancer prevalence in Italian cancer registry areas: the ITAPREVAL study. ITAPREVAL Working Group.

PubMed

Micheli, A; Francisci, S; Krogh, V; Rossi, A G; Crosignani, P

1999-01-01

To present data on cancer prevalence for the areas covered by Italian cancer registries, by using a standardized set of data collection and elaboration criteria, and a single method of data analysis. Data on over 250,000 patients with cancer, diagnosed between 1978 and 1992, from 11 Italian cancer registries covering about 12% of the Italian population were collected, validated and analyzed according to the unified protocol of the ITAPREVAL project. The method implemented in the PREVAL computer program was used to provide prevalence estimates for the period covered by cancer registration. The total prevalence for each registry and for the pool of all registries was then estimated by correcting for incomplete observations due to the period in which the registration was not yet activated. All prevalence estimates were for 1992. Prevalence figures are presented by cancer site, age, sex, years from diagnosis and registry area. For all malignancies combined, total prevalence ranged from 1,350 per 100,000 inhabitants in Ragusa to 3,650 per 100,000 inhabitants in Romagna, the ratio between these two extremes being 2.7. For the pool of the areas covered by registration cancer prevalence was 3,100 per 100,000 females and 2,250 per 100,000 males. About a third of the total female cases and about half the male cases were diagnosed in the previous five years. Among those aged over 75 years, total prevalence was higher for males than for females: 11,300 versus 8,900 per 100,000 respectively. This is the first large-scale estimate of the burden of cancer in Italy. It is also one of the first studies in the world which was aimed to study cancer prevalence in detail. These data are necessary for predicting health service needs and help in the evaluation of differences in health service demand by sex, age and Italian regions.

Cardiovascular health in migrants: current status and issues for prevention. A collaborative multidisciplinary task force report.

PubMed

Modesti, Pietro A; Bianchi, Stefano; Borghi, Claudio; Cameli, Matteo; Capasso, Giovambattista; Ceriello, Antonio; Ciccone, Marco Matteo; Germanò, Giuseppe; Maiello, Maria; Muiesan, Maria Lorenza; Novo, Salvatore; Padeletti, Luigi; Palmiero, Pasquale; Pillon, Sergio; Rotella, Carlo Maria; Saba, Pier Sergio; Scicchitano, Pietro; Trimarco, Bruno; Volpe, Massimo; Pedrinelli, Roberto; Di Biase, Matteo

2014-09-01

To review information on cardiovascular health and migration, to stress the attention of researchers that much needs to be done in the collection of sound data in Italy and to allow policy makers identifying this issue as an important public health concern. In Italy, the rate of immigrants in the total number of residents increased from 2.5% in 1990 to 7.4% in 2010, and currently exceeds 10% in regions such as Lombardia, Emilia Romagna and Toscana. A consensus statement was developed by approaching relevant Italian national scientific societies involved in cardiovascular prevention. Task force members were identified by the president and/or the boards of each relevant scientific society or working group, as appropriate. To obtain a widespread consensus, drafts were merged and distributed to the scientific societies for local evaluation and revision by as many experts as possible. The ensuing final draft was finally approved by scientific societies. In several western European countries, the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, obesity and metabolic syndrome was found to be higher among immigrants than in the native population. Although migrants are often initially healthier than non-migrant populations in their host countries, genetic factors, and changing environments with lifestyle changes, social exclusion and insufficient medical control may expose them to health challenges. Cultural reasons may also hamper both the dissemination of prevention strategies and migrant communication with healthcare providers. However, great diversity exists across and within different groups of migrants, making generalizations very difficult and many countries do not collect registry or survey data for migrant's health. In the present economic context, the European Union is placing great attention to improve data collection for migrant health and to support the implementation of specific prevention policies aimed at limiting the future burden of cardiovascular and renal disease, and the consequent load for health systems. Wider initiatives on the topic are awaited in Italy.

Enhance knowledge on sustainable use of plant protection products within the framework of the sustainable use directive.

PubMed

Calliera, Maura; Berta, Fabio; Galassi, Tiziano; Mazzini, Floriano; Rossi, Rossana; Bassi, Roberto; Meriggi, Pierluigi; Bernard, Alfredo; Marchis, Alex; Di Guardo, Andrea; Capri, Ettore

2013-08-01

In 2008-2009, a survey in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy collected information on the farm use of plant protection products (PPPs) and evaluated whether the provisions of the Directive for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides are applicable. It was concluded that the provisions can be implemented, even if some gaps need to be filled and also the behaviour of farmers needs to be improved. Moreover, it was observed that all stages in the use of PPPs on farms could generate risks for the operator and/or the environment. One of the recommendations is to promote training for operators and to adopt good agronomic practices in order to improve sustainable use of PPPs. The findings were used, in the following years, to develop a Guideline for Sustainable Use of PPPs to help the user in identifying the flaws in current practices at farm level as well as their corresponding corrective actions. The Guidelines are accompanied by free online software to be used as a diagnostic tool as well as to provide recommendations for improvements. The approach adopted, taking into account the variability in farm structure, cropping pattern, risk attitude and economic availability, is not an instrument to identify the most suitable protection strategy for a given crop in a given period, but to help professional users to improve their practices in managing PPPs on farms and to make the most appropriate choices leading to reduced environmental and human risk, without compromising the profitability of agricultural production and food standards. This work has, as an underlying principle, a holistic approach to link the different elements of the three pillars of sustainability (environment, economy and society) and to enhance knowledge, which represents one of the main aspects of the Directive. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

[The economics of preventing psycho-social risks].

PubMed

Golzio, Luigi

2014-01-01

The aim of the essay is to show the SHIELD methodology for helping the firm management to improve the risks prevention policy. It has been tested in the field with positive results. SHIELD is a cost-benefit analysis application to compare prevention and non-prevention costs, which arise from non-market risks. In the economic perspective safety risks (which include psycho-social risks) are non-market ones as they cause injures to workers during the job. SHIELD (Social Health Indicators for Economic Labour Decisions), is the original method proposed by the author. It is a cost benefits analysis application, which compares safety prevention and non-prevention costs. The comparison allow stop management to evaluate the efficiency of the current safety prevention policy as it helps top management to answer to the policy question: how much to invest in prevention costs? The costs comparison is obtained through the reclassification of safety costs between prevention and non-prevention costs (which are composed by claim damages and penalty sanction costs). SHIELD has been tested empirically in four companies operating in the agribusiness sector during a research financed by the Assessorato all'Agricoltura and INAI Regionale of Emilia Romagna Region. Results are postive: it has been found that the increase of prevention costs causes the cut of non-prevention costs in all companies looked into, as assumed by the high reliability organization theory. SHIELD can be applied to all companies which must have an accounting system by law, no matter of the industry they act. Its application has limited costs as SHIELD doesn't need changes in the accounting system. Safety costs sustained by the company are simply reclassified in prevention and non-prevention costs. The comparison of these two costs categories has been appreciated by top management of companies investigated as a useful support to decide the risks prevention policy for the company. The SHIELD original feature compared with others cost benefit analysis application is to compute registered costs in the company accounting system.

Pitfalls of negationist approach in communicating induced seismicity hazard in Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mucciarelli, Marco

2013-04-01

Italy is a country rich in hydropower, geothermal wells, extraction/reinjection of hydrocarbons, but surprisingly from 1964 to date only three papers have been published on the seismicity induced by dams, two on the problem of seismicity induced by reinjection of fluids and one that studies the effect on seismicity by the variation of the groundwater regime possibly caused by the excavation of a tunnel or by climate change. What has happened in Italy to cause this (at least apparent) disregard for the induced seismicity? We must go back to 1964, after the catastrophe of Vajont. In that year, prof. Caloi, then principal geophysicist of the National Institute of Geophysics published a work in which he noted as the start of the reservoir impounding gave rise to a sequence of induced seismicity in the same rock shoulder that later collapsed causing an inundation claiming more than 2000 casualties. Since then induced seismicity is a taboo, constantly downplayed by companies and utilities, dismissed as impossible or communicated with artifacts like the constant use of the prefix "micro-". The Emilia 2012 occurred close to a site that was selected for a gas storage facility in an (un)confined aquifer. Regional government denied permission due to the vicinity to an active fault and the question was still pending in front of the National authority in charge of licensing the plant when the earthquake occurred. The local residents, that were opposing the gas storage, misinterpreted the motivation of the denial of permission, understanding that the fault would became active only if the storage was working. Thus they concluded the the earthquake occurred because the company performed secret drillings. Badly informed journalists mounted the case, calling it a "fracking" operation. Incredible it may sound, the governor of the Emilia-Romagna region appointed an international commission charged to investigate the relationship between drillings (not storage) and earthquakes. In the meantime, the L'Aquila sentence convinced the population that all the seismologists are corrupted, politically-linked flunkeys. Other hydrocarbons operation are now strongly opposed by residents and even geothermal projects, once hailed as eco-friendly, are blocked by local authorities on the base that "any drilling will cause earthquakes". The fact that there are not reliable expert in the field of induced seismicity is making things difficult to resolve, since no opinion is considered trustworthy.

Evidence for bovine besnoitiosis being endemic in Italy--first in vitro isolation of Besnoitia besnoiti from cattle born in Italy.

PubMed

Gentile, A; Militerno, G; Schares, G; Nanni, A; Testoni, S; Bassi, P; Gollnick, N S

2012-03-23

Until 2009, bovine besnoitiosis had never been considered endemic in Italy and the only report on the disease in this country referred to animals imported from France shortly before. However, recently, an autochthonous outbreak of bovine besnoitiosis was reported in four herds located at the intersection of the borders between Emilia-Romagna, Toscana and Marche (Northern Apennine Mountains), which has led to an increased awareness concerning this disease. The present study describes a further outbreak of bovine besnoitiosis in Italy. The afflicted herd was a dairy herd with no evidence for contact with cattle from regions known to be endemic for bovine besnoitiosis. The farm investigation was initiated after a three-year old Holstein Friesian dairy cow with generalized thickening and lichenification of the skin was diagnosed with bovine besnoitiosis. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed by gross pathology, histopathology, serology and PCR. Bradyzoites released from tissue cysts obtained from the skin of this animal enabled the first in vitro isolation of Besnoitia besnoiti in Italy. This isolate was named Bb-Italy1. Sequencing of a 2118 bp spanning region including the complete internal transcribed spacer 1 and parts of the 18S and the 5.8S rRNA gene from DNA extracted from skin-derived zoites revealed a 99.9% identity to sequences known for other B. besnoiti isolated from cattle in Europe. Two GKO mice which had been inoculated intraperitoneally with bovine skin-derived bradyzoites became ill 7 days post inoculation. Parasitophorous vacuoles with multiplying zoites were observed in the cell culture inoculated with peritoneal fluids of these mice and a B. besnoiti infection in the mice and in the cell culture could be confirmed by real-time PCR. A serological investigation in the afflicted herd using immunoblots and an immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) revealed an overall herd seroprevalence of 9.7% (31/321), whereas within the female animals older than 2 years 17.0% (29/171) of the dams were tested positive. With one exception, an imported cow from Germany, all the seropositive animals were born in Italy. In connection with previously described autochthonous cases of bovine besnoitiosis the case described herein suggests that bovine besnoitiosis should be considered endemic in Italy. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The POLIMI forecasting chain for real time flood and drought predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ceppi, Alessandro; Ravazzani, Giovanni; Corbari, Chiara; Mancini, Marco

2016-04-01

Nowadays coupling meteorological and hydrological models is recognized by scientific community as a necessary way to forecast extreme hydrological phenomena, in order to activate useful mitigation measurements and alert systems in advance. The development and implementation of a real-time forecasting chain with a hydro-meteorological operational alert procedure for flood and drought events is presented in this study. Different weather models are used to build the POLIMI operative chain: the probabilistic COSMO-LEPS model with 16 ensembles developed by ARPA-Emilia Romagna, the deterministic Bolam and Moloch models, developed by the Italian ISAC-CNR, and nine further simulations obtained by different runs of the WRF-ARW (3), WRF-NMM (2), ETA2012 (1) and the GFS (3), provided by the private Epson Meteo Center and Terraria companies. All the meteorological runs are then implemented with the rainfall-runoff physically-based distributed FEST-WB model, developed at Politecnico di Milano to obtain a multi-model approach system with hydrological ensemble forecasts in different areas of study over the Italian country. As far as concerning drought predictions, three test-beds are monitored: two in maize fields, one in the Puglia region (South of Italy), and another in the Po Valley area, (northern Italy), and one in a golf course in Milan city. The hydrological model was here calibrated and validated against measurements of latent heat flux and soil moisture acquired by an eddy-covariance station, TDR probes and remote sensing images. Regarding flood forecasts, two test-sites are chosen: the first one is the urban area northern Milan where three catchments (the Seveso, Olona, and Lambro River basins) are used to show how early warning systems are an effective complement to structural measures for flood control in Milan city which flooded frequently in the last 25 years, while the second test-site is the Idro Lake, located between the Lombardy and Trentino region where the POLIMI hydro-meteorological chain is performed to forecast the hydrometric lake level for a better management of the upstream and downstream basin. The same hydrological model has been here calibrated and validated with observed data coming from local bodies: ARPA Lombardy, Meteonetwork and Meteo Trentino. Reliability of the forecasting system and its benefits are assessed with skill scores on some cases-study occurred in the recent years and through the real-time visualization of the implemented dashboards.

Assessing ionospheric activity by long time series of GNSS signals: the search of possible connection with seismicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galeandro, Angelo; Mancini, Francesco; De Giglio, Michaela; Barbarella, Maurizio

2014-05-01

The modifications of some atmospheric physical properties prior to a high magnitude earthquake were recently debated in the frame of the Lithosphere-Atmosphere-Ionosphere (LAI) Coupling model. Among this variety of phenomena, the ionization of air at the ionospheric levels due to leaking of gases from earth crust through the analysis of long time series of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals was investigated in this work. Several authors used the dispersive properties of the ionospheric strata towards the GNSS signals to detect possible ionospheric anomalies over areas affected by earthquakes and some evidences were encountered. However, the spatial scale and temporal domains over which such disturbances come into evidence is still a controversial item. Furthermore, the correspondence by chance between ionospheric disturbances and relevant seismic activity is even more difficult to model whenever the reference time period and spatial extent of investigation are confined. Problems could also arise from phenomena due to solar activity (now at culmination within the 11 years-long solar cycle) because such global effects could reduce the ability to detect disturbances at regional or local spatial scale. In this work, two case studies were investigated. The first one focuses on the M = 6.3 earthquake occurred on April 6, 2009, close to the city of L'Aquila (Abruzzo, Italy). The second concerns the M = 5.9 earthquake occurred on May 20, 2012, between the cities of Ferrara and Modena (Emilia Romagna, Italy). To investigate possible connections between the ionospheric activity and seismicity for such events, a five-year (2008-2012) long series of high resolution ionospheric maps was used. These maps were produced by authors from GNSS data collected by permanent stations uniformly distributed around the epicenters and allowed to assess the ionospheric activity through the analysis of the TEC (Total Electron Content). To avoid the influence of solar activity, only nighttime hours were considered. Moreover, to de?ne the temporal domain of potential ionospheric disturbances and separate local from global effects, results from local observations were compared with regional TEC series. The whole analysis shows episodes where anomalies in the ionospheric activity were detected in the vicinity of the mentioned shocks. However, their statistical significance and the temporal correlation with seismic activity are still controversial.

A cloud based brokering framework to support hydrology at global scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boldrini, E.; Pecora, S.; Bordini, F.; Nativi, S.

2016-12-01

This work presents the hydrology broker designed and deployed in the context of a collaboration between the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna (ARPA-ER) and CNR-IIA (National Research Council of Italy). The hydrology brokering platform eases the task of discovering and accessing hydrological observation data, usually acquired and made available by national agencies by means of a set of heterogeneous services (e.g. CUAHSI HIS servers, OGC services, FTP servers) and formats (e.g. WaterML, O&M, ...). The hydrology broker makes all the already published data available according to one or more of the desired and well known discovery protocols, access protocols, and formats . As a result, the user is able to search and access the available hydrological data through his preferred client (e.g. CUAHSI HydroDesktop, 52North SWE client). It is also easy to build a hydrological web portal on top of the broker, using the user friendly js API. The hydrology broker has been deployed on the Amazon cloud to ensure scalability and tested in the context of the work of the Commission for Hydrology of WMO on three different scenarios: the La Plata river basin, the Sava river basin and the Arctic-HYCOS project. In each scenario the hydrology broker discovered and accessed heterogeneous data formats (e.g. Waterml 1.0/2.0, proprietary CSV documents) from the heterogeneous services (e.g. CUAHSI HIS servers, FTP service and agency proprietary services) managed by several national agencies and international commissions. The hydrology broker made possible to present all the available data uniformly through the user desired service type and format (e.g. an HIS server publishing Waterml 2.0), producing a great improvement in both system interoperability and data exchange. Interoperability tests were also successfully conducted with WMO Information System (WIS) nodes, making possible for a specific Global Information Center System (GISC) to gather the available hydrological records as ISO 19115:2007 metadata documents through the OAI-PMH interface exposed by the broker. The framework flexibility makes it also easy to add other sources, as well as additional published interfaces, in order to cope with the future standard requirements needed by the hydrological community.

Inclusion of climatic and touristic factors in the analysis and modelling of the municipal water demand in a Mediterranean region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toth, Elena; Bragalli, Cristiana; Neri, Mattia

2017-04-01

In Mediterranean regions, inherently affected by water scarcity conditions, the gap between water availability and demand may further increase in the near future due to both climatic and anthropogenic drivers. In particular, the high degree of urbanization and the concentration of population and activities in coastal areas is often severely impacting the water availability also for the residential sector. It is therefore crucial analysing the importance of both climatic and touristic factors as drivers for the water demand in such areas, to better understand and model the expected consumption in order to improve the water management policies and practices. The study presents an analysis referred to a large number of municipalities, covering almost the whole Romagna region, in Northern Italy, representing one of the most economically developed areas in Europe and characterized by an extremely profitable tourist industry, especially in the coastal cities. For this region it is therefore extremely important to assess the significance of the drivers that may influence the demand in the different periods of the year, that is climatic factors (rainfall depths and occurrence, temperature averages and extremes), but also the presence of tourists, in both official tourist accommodation structures and in holidays homes (and the latter are very difficult to estimate). Analyses on the Italian water industry at seasonal or monthly time scale has been so far, extremely limited in the literature by the scarce availability of data on the water demands, that are made public only as annual volumes. All the study municipalities are supplied by the same water company, who provided monthly consumption volumes data at the main inlet points of the entire distribution network for a period of 7 years (2009-2015). For the same period, precipitation and temperature data have been collected and summarised in indexes representing monthly averages, days of occurrence and over threshold values; in addition, information on the tourist flows, at monthly scale, have been collected and processed. Such data have been validated and aggregated at municipal or multi-municipal scale and are analysed, in particular in reference to a severe dry period occurred in 2011-2012, in order to understand the demand pattern and the users' response to a water scarcity condition, examining the influence of the different climatic and anthropogenic (touristic) drivers on the water demand. Finally, a non-linear model, based on a neural network architecture, was implemented for each municipality, for simulating the monthly water demand as a function of previous demands and of the identified climatic and touristic indexes: the outcomes of the models demonstrate the added value of the addition of determinants based on both climatic and touristic data and such value, as expected, is higher for the coastal municipalities, having a higher tourist vocation.

Comparative effectiveness of ceramic-on-ceramic implants in stemmed hip replacement: a multinational study of six national and regional registries.

PubMed

Sedrakyan, Art; Graves, Stephen; Bordini, Barbara; Pons, Miquel; Havelin, Leif; Mehle, Susan; Paxton, Elizabeth; Barber, Thomas; Cafri, Guy

2014-12-17

The rapid decline in use of conventional total hip replacement with a large femoral head size and a metal-on-metal bearing surface might lead to increased popularity of ceramic-on-ceramic bearings as another hard-on-hard alternative that allows implantation of a larger head. We sought to address comparative effectiveness of ceramic-on-ceramic and metal-on-HXLPE (highly cross-linked polyethylene) implants by utilizing the distributed health data network of the ICOR (International Consortium of Orthopaedic Registries), an unprecedented collaboration of national and regional registries and the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration). A distributed health data network was developed by the ICOR and used in this study. The data from each registry are standardized and provided at a level of aggregation most suitable for the detailed analysis of interest. The data are combined across registries for comprehensive assessments. The ICOR coordinating center and study steering committee defined the inclusion criteria for this study as total hip arthroplasty performed without cement from 2001 to 2010 in patients forty-five to sixty-four years of age with osteoarthritis. Six national and regional registries (Kaiser Permanente and HealthEast in the U.S., Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, Catalan region in Spain, Norway, and Australia) participated in this study. Multivariate meta-analysis was performed with use of linear mixed models, with survival probability as the unit of analysis. We present the results of the fixed-effects model and include the results of the random-effects model in an appendix. SAS version 9.2 was used for all analyses. We first compared femoral head sizes of >28 mm and ≤28 mm within ceramic-on-ceramic implants and then compared ceramic-on-ceramic with metal-on-HXLPE. A total of 34,985 patients were included; 52% were female. We found a lower risk of revision associated with use of ceramic-on-ceramic implants when a larger head size was used (HR [hazard ratio] = 0.73, 95% CI [confidence interval] = 0.60 to 0.88, p = 0.001). Use of smaller-head-size ceramic-on-ceramic bearings was associated with a higher risk of failure compared with metal-on-HXLPE bearings (HR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.09 to 1.68, p = 0.006). Use of large-head-size ceramic-on-ceramic bearings was associated with a small protective effect relative to metal-on-HXLPE bearings (not subdivided by head size) in years zero to two, but this difference dissipated over the longer term. Our multinational study based on a harmonized, distributed network showed that use of ceramic-on-ceramic implants with a smaller head size in total hip arthroplasty without cement was associated with a higher risk of revision compared with metal-on-HXLPE and >28-mm ceramic-on-ceramic implants. These findings warrant careful reflection by regulatory and clinical communities and wide dissemination to patients for informed decision-making regarding such surgery. Copyright © 2014 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated.

Earthquakes and depleted gas reservoirs: which comes first?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mucciarelli, M.; Donda, F.; Valensise, G.

2014-12-01

While scientists are paying increasing attention to the seismicity potentially induced by hydrocarbon exploitation, little is known about the reverse problem, i.e. the impact of active faulting and earthquakes on hydrocarbon reservoirs. The recent 2012 earthquakes in Emilia, Italy, raised concerns among the public for being possibly human-induced, but also shed light on the possible use of gas wells as a marker of the seismogenic potential of an active fold-and-thrust belt. Based on the analysis of over 400 borehole datasets from wells drilled along the Ferrara-Romagna Arc, a large oil and gas reserve in the southeastern Po Plain, we found that the 2012 earthquakes occurred within a cluster of sterile wells surrounded by productive ones. Since the geology of the productive and sterile areas is quite similar, we suggest that past earthquakes caused the loss of all natural gas from the potential reservoirs lying above their causative faults. Our findings have two important practical implications: (1) they may allow major seismogenic zones to be identified in areas of sparse seismicity, and (2) suggest that gas should be stored in exploited reservoirs rather than in sterile hydrocarbon traps or aquifers as this is likely to reduce the hazard of triggering significant earthquakes.

Padus, Sandalus, Gens Fadiena. Underwater Surveys in Palaeo-Watercourses (ferrara District - Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bucci, G.

2015-04-01

In the ambit of our program of researches on ancient rivers in Ferrara hinterland (Italy), we have been joining a Scientific - Didactic Project between Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Emilia Romagna, Comune di Portomaggiore Assessorato alla Cultura, CMAS A.CDCI. - Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques Federation ITA F07 - Associazione CMAS Diving Center Italia. The Project is focused on underwater archaeological surveys in ex quarry lakes, following the Rivers Padus and Sandalus between Voghiera, Gambulaga and Portomaggiore (Ferrara District). Here we are going to introduce our most recent results, after the last immersions and a 3D bathymetrical survey completed by echo-side scan sonar in Tramonto Lake at Gambulaga, explaining the connection with remote sensing investigations and direct surveys applied to underwater archaeology of the inland water. The main submerged structure individuated is a part of wooden dock on the left side of Padus, in front of the Necropolis of Fadieni (1st-3rd cent. A.D.). Thanks to the study of 183 finds coming from the lake, involving students and young collaborators of the Archaeological National Museum of Ferrara, we are reconstructing the ancient landscape between Proto-Imperial Age and Late Antique.

[The assessment of the impact of education and support to nursing research on nurses' scientific production in an Emilia Romagna Hospital].

PubMed

Forni, Cristiana; Chiari, Paolo; Guarino, Lorenza; Tremosini, Morena; Trofa, Carmela; D'Alessandro, Fabio; Sabattini, Tania; Mini, Sandra; Zanotti, Enrichetta

2014-01-01

In Italy research conducted by non medical professions is scarce also for the lack of knowledge on methods. At Rizzoli hospital in Bologna in 2006 a Centre for research to educate and support health professionals was implemented. To assess the impact of the research centre on number of research articles and protocols produced by nurses. Interrupted time series. In the five years before and after the implementation of the centre data on the number of protocols approved by Ethical Committee with a nurse as principal investigator and on the number of articles published on impacted journals with a nurse as first author were collected. The number of nurses authors of the publications was also collected. For all the variables an increasing trend, starting from 2006 was observed, with statistically significant differences from 2008 for the number of research protocols presented (p=0.037), the number of nurses authors of scientific articles (p=0.027). Although the number of publications on impacted journals increased from 2006, differences were not statistically significant after 2008. An hospital based Centre for education and support to research for health professionals may facilitate the scientific and research production.

Enhancing international earth science competence in natural hazards through 'geoNatHaz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giardino, Marco; Clague, John J.

2010-05-01

"geoNatHaz" is a Transatlantic Exchange Partnership project (TEP 2009-2012) within the framework of the EU-Canada programme for co-operation in higher education, training, and youth. The project is structured to improve knowledge and skills required to assess and manage natural hazards in mountain regions. It provides student exchanges between European and Canadian universities in order to enhance international competence in natural hazard research. The university consortium is led by Simon Fraser University (Canada) and Università degli studi di Torino (Italy). Partner universities include the University of British Columbia, Queen's University, Università di Bologna, Université de Savoie, and the University of Athens. Université de Lausanne (Switzerland) supports the geoNatHaz advisory board through its bilateral agreements with Canadian partner universities. The geoNatHaz project promotes cross-cultural understanding and internationalization of university natural hazard curricula through common lectures, laboratory exercises, and field activities. Forty graduate students from the seven Canadian and European partner universities will benefit from the project between 2009 and 2012. Some students enrolled in graduate-level earth science and geologic engineering programs spend up to five months at the partner universities, taking courses and participating in research teams under the direction of project scientists. Other students engage in short-term (four-week) exchanges involving training in classic natural hazard case-studies in mountain regions of Canada and Europe. Joint courses are delivered in English, but complementary cultural activities are offered in the languages of the host countries. Supporting organizations offer internships and technical and scientific support. Students benefit from work-study programs with industry partners. Supporting organizations include government departments and agencies (Geological Survey of Canada; CNR-IRPI National Research Institute on Hydrogeological Hazards; Simon Fraser University Centre for Natural Hazard Research; Civil Protection of Regione Piemonte; Dipartimento Difesa del Suolo of Regione Valle d'Aosta; Environmental Protection, Civil Protection and Geological Survey of Regione Emilia-Romagna; Alberta Geological Survey), non-governmental and non-profit organizations (Fondazione Vaiont; Fondation Montaine Sure; Comitato Glaciologico Italiano; Tele-Rilevamento Europa; IMAGEO), and companies (MacDonald, Detwiller and Associates; TRE-Canada; BC Hydro; CVA). Support programs to ensure that students fully benefit from their exchanges are in place in each of the participating universities. Exchanges of faculty and technicians will ensure that students' educational experiences are challenging, rich, and intellectually rewarding. The exchanges also will facilitate development of up-to-date natural hazard courses shared by the seven partner universities and will catalyze collaborations among scientists participating in the project. The centrepiece of the project is field-based courses in natural hazards and risk in high mountain environments. Six field courses will be offered over the three-year period of the project - three in Europe and three in Canada. Course topics include (1) impacts of climate change on natural hazards in high mountains, (2) deep-seated rock-slope deformation, (3) mitigation of landslide hazards in mountain valleys, (4) applications of new technologies in natural hazard research, (5) frequency-magnitude relations and risk assessment, and (6) earthquake hazards and risk in mountain regions. The courses are taught by faculty from each of the partner universities, with the assistance of graduate students and technicians. The field courses support and extend existing programs in geology, geomorphology, and engineering geology offered by the partner universities.

Prediction in Ungauged Basins (PUB) for estimating water availability during water scarcity conditions: rainfall-runoff modelling of the ungauged diversion inflows to the Ridracoli water supply reservoir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toth, Elena

2013-04-01

The Ridracoli reservoir is the main drinking water supply reservoir serving the whole Romagna region, in Northern Italy. Such water supply system has a crucial role in an area where the different characteristics of the communities to be served, their size, the mass tourism and the presence of food industries highlight strong differences in drinking water needs. Its operation allows high quality drinking water supply to a million resident customers, plus a few millions of tourists during the summer of people and it reduces the need for water pumping from underground sources, and this is particularly important since the coastal area is subject also to subsidence and saline ingression into aquifers. The system experienced water shortage conditions thrice in the last decade, in 2002, in 2007 and in autumn-winter 2011-2012, when the reservoir water storage fell below the attention and the pre-emergency thresholds, thus prompting the implementation of a set of mitigation measures, including limitations to the population's water consumption. The reservoir receives water not only from the headwater catchment, closed at the dam, but also from four diversion watersheds, linked to the reservoir through an underground water channel. Such withdrawals are currently undersized, abstracting only a part of the streamflow exceeding the established minimum flows, due to the design of the water intake structures; it is therefore crucial understanding how the reservoir water availability might be increased through a fuller exploitation of the existing diversion catchment area. Since one of the four diversion catchment is currently ungauged (at least at the fine temporal scale needed for keeping into account the minimum flow requirements downstream of the intakes), the study first presents the set up and parameterisation of a continuous rainfall-runoff model at hourly time-step for the three gauged diversion watersheds and for the headwater catchment: a regional parameterisation approach is then applied for modelling the streamflow originated in the fourth, ungauged, diversion watershed. Finally, the potential reservoir water availability is estimated, hypothesising to take from the diversion catchments all the streamflow exceeding the minimum flow requirements. The results indicate that modifying the water intake structures might allow a consistent increase in the storage volumes in the reservoir during the water scarcity periods: the water available to the reservoir would in fact - on average - increase of around the 13% of the abstracted annual volume.

[MISSCARE Survey - Italian Version: findings from an Italian validation study].

PubMed

Sist, Luisa; Contini, Carla; Bandini, Anna; Bandini, Stefania; Massa, Licia; Zanin, Roberta; Maricchio, Rita; Gianesini, Gloria; Bassi, Erika; Tartaglini, Daniela; Palese, Alvisa; Ferraresi, Annamaria

2017-01-01

The Missed Nursing Care (MNC) refers to nursing interventions that are not completed, partially completed, or postponed. Despite the relevance of MNC, no assessment tools are available in the Italian context, and no data regarding the occurrence of this phenomenon has been documented on a large scale to date. The study aims were: (1) to validate the Italian version of the MISSCARE Survey tool; (2) to measure the prevalence of missed interventions and reasons for missed care as perceived by clinical nurses working in Italian health care settings. After having conducted the forward and backward translation, pre-pilot and pilot phases were developed to ensure face and content validity as well as semantic and conceptual equivalence of the Italian version with the original version. The MISSCARE survey questionnaire was then distributed to 1,233 clinical nurses of whom 1,003 completed the questionnaire. Overall, 979 questionnaires were analysed. The questionnaires were completed from January to March 2012, by nurses working in medical and surgical hospital departments in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. Construct validity and internal consistency of the instrument were assessed. The face and content validity were ascertained by a group of experts. The instrument acceptability was good given that 79.4% of respondents replied to all items. Construct validity was investigated by an Exploratory Factor Analysis. Four factors explaining 64.18% of variance emerged: communication, lack of facilities/supplies, lack of staff, and unexpected events. Internal consistency, evaluated with Cronbach a, was 0.94. The nursing interventions omitted with greater frequency were, in order: ambulation (74.8%), passive mobilization (69.6%) and oral care (51.3%). The three main reasons for missed interventions were: an unexpected increase in the number of patients (90.5%), increased instability of the clinical condition (86.1%) and insufficient human resources (85.5%). The Italian version of the MISSCARE Survey was shown to have good psychometric properties. Therefore, it can be used to evaluate the missed nursing care phenomenon in Italy and will allow for international comparisons.

Feasibility and effectiveness of a low cost campaign on antibiotic prescribing in Italy: community level, controlled, non-randomised trial.

PubMed

Formoso, Giulio; Paltrinieri, Barbara; Marata, Anna Maria; Gagliotti, Carlo; Pan, Angelo; Moro, Maria Luisa; Capelli, Oreste; Magrini, Nicola

2013-09-12

To test the hypothesis that a multifaceted, local public campaign could be feasible and influence antibiotic prescribing for outpatients. Community level, controlled, non-randomised trial. Provinces of Modena and Parma in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, November 2011 to February 2012. 1,150,000 residents of Modena and Parma (intervention group) and 3,250,000 residents in provinces in the same region but where no campaign had been implemented (control group). Campaign materials (mainly posters, brochures, and advertisements on local media, plus a newsletter on local antibiotic resistance targeted at doctors and pharmacists). General practitioners and paediatricians in the intervention area participated in designing the campaign messages. Primary outcome was the average change in prescribing rates of antibiotics for outpatient in five months, measured as defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants/day, using health districts as the unit of analysis. Antibiotic prescribing was reduced in the intervention area compared with control area (-4.3%, 95% confidence interval -7.1% to -1.5%). This result was robust to "sensitivity analysis" modifying the baseline period from two months (main analysis) to one month. A higher decrease was observed for penicillins resistant to β lactamase and a lower decrease for penicillins susceptible to β lactamase, consistent with the content of the newsletter on antibiotic resistance directed at health professionals. The decrease in expenditure on antibiotics was not statistically significant in a district level analysis with a two month baseline period (main analysis), but was statistically significant in sensitivity analyses using either a one month baseline period or a more powered doctor level analysis. Knowledge and attitudes of the target population about the correct use of antibiotics did not differ between the intervention and control areas. A local low cost information campaign targeted at citizens, combined with a newsletter on local antibiotic resistance targeted at doctors and pharmacists, was associated with significantly decreased total rates of antibiotic prescribing but did not affect the population's knowledge and attitudes about antibiotic resistance. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01604096.

Toxin levels and profiles in microalgae from the north-Western Adriatic Sea--15 years of studies on cultured species.

PubMed

Pistocchi, Rossella; Guerrini, Franca; Pezzolesi, Laura; Riccardi, Manuela; Vanucci, Silvana; Ciminiello, Patrizia; Dell'Aversano, Carmela; Forino, Martino; Fattorusso, Ernesto; Tartaglione, Luciana; Milandri, Anna; Pompei, Marinella; Cangini, Monica; Pigozzi, Silvia; Riccardi, Elena

2012-01-01

The Northern Adriatic Sea is the area of the Mediterranean Sea where eutrophication and episodes related to harmful algae have occurred most frequently since the 1970s. In this area, which is highly exploited for mollusk farming, the first occurrence of human intoxication due to shellfish consumption occurred in 1989, nearly 10 years later than other countries in Europe and worldwide that had faced similar problems. Until 1997, Adriatic mollusks had been found to be contaminated mostly by diarrhetic shellfish poisoning toxins (i.e., okadaic acid and dinophysistoxins) that, along with paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins (i.e., saxitoxins), constitute the most common marine biotoxins. Only once, in 1994, a toxic outbreak was related to the occurrence of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in the Adriatic coastal waters. Moreover, in the past 15 years, the Adriatic Sea has been characterized by the presence of toxic or potentially toxic algae, not highly widespread outside Europe, such as species producing yessotoxins (i.e., Protoceratium reticulatum, Gonyaulax spinifera and Lingulodinium polyedrum), recurrent blooms of the potentially ichthyotoxic species Fibrocapsa japonica and, recently, by blooms of palytoxin-like producing species of the Ostreopsis genus. This review is aimed at integrating monitoring data on toxin spectra and levels in mussels farmed along the coast of the Emilia-Romagna region with laboratory studies performed on the species involved in the production of those toxins; toxicity studies on toxic or potentially toxic species that have recently appeared in this area are also reviewed. Overall, reviewed data are related to: (i) the yessotoxins producing species P. reticulatum, G. spinifera and L. polyedrum, highlighting genetic and toxic characteristics; (ii) Adriatic strains of Alexandrium minutum, Alexandrium ostenfeldii and Prorocentrum lima whose toxic profiles are compared with those of strains of different geographic origins; (iii) F. japonica and Ostreopsis cf. ovata toxicity. Moreover, new data concerning domoic acid production by a Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata strain, toxicity investigations on a Prorocentrum cf. levis, and on presumably ichthyotoxic species, Heterosigma akashiwo and Chattonella cf. subsalsa, are also reported.

Toxin Levels and Profiles in Microalgae from the North-Western Adriatic Sea—15 Years of Studies on Cultured Species

PubMed Central

Pistocchi, Rossella; Guerrini, Franca; Pezzolesi, Laura; Riccardi, Manuela; Vanucci, Silvana; Ciminiello, Patrizia; Dell’Aversano, Carmela; Forino, Martino; Fattorusso, Ernesto; Tartaglione, Luciana; Milandri, Anna; Pompei, Marinella; Cangini, Monica; Pigozzi, Silvia; Riccardi, Elena

2012-01-01

The Northern Adriatic Sea is the area of the Mediterranean Sea where eutrophication and episodes related to harmful algae have occurred most frequently since the 1970s. In this area, which is highly exploited for mollusk farming, the first occurrence of human intoxication due to shellfish consumption occurred in 1989, nearly 10 years later than other countries in Europe and worldwide that had faced similar problems. Until 1997, Adriatic mollusks had been found to be contaminated mostly by diarrhetic shellfish poisoning toxins (i.e., okadaic acid and dinophysistoxins) that, along with paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins (i.e., saxitoxins), constitute the most common marine biotoxins. Only once, in 1994, a toxic outbreak was related to the occurrence of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in the Adriatic coastal waters. Moreover, in the past 15 years, the Adriatic Sea has been characterized by the presence of toxic or potentially toxic algae, not highly widespread outside Europe, such as species producing yessotoxins (i.e., Protoceratium reticulatum, Gonyaulax spinifera and Lingulodinium polyedrum), recurrent blooms of the potentially ichthyotoxic species Fibrocapsa japonica and, recently, by blooms of palytoxin-like producing species of the Ostreopsis genus. This review is aimed at integrating monitoring data on toxin spectra and levels in mussels farmed along the coast of the Emilia-Romagna region with laboratory studies performed on the species involved in the production of those toxins; toxicity studies on toxic or potentially toxic species that have recently appeared in this area are also reviewed. Overall, reviewed data are related to: (i) the yessotoxins producing species P. reticulatum, G. spinifera and L. polyedrum, highlighting genetic and toxic characteristics; (ii) Adriatic strains of Alexandrium minutum, Alexandrium ostenfeldii and Prorocentrum lima whose toxic profiles are compared with those of strains of different geographic origins; (iii) F. japonica and Ostreopsis cf. ovata toxicity. Moreover, new data concerning domoic acid production by a Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata strain, toxicity investigations on a Prorocentrum cf. levis, and on presumably ichthyotoxic species, Heterosigma akashiwo and Chattonella cf. subsalsa, are also reported. PMID:22363227

Weight status and perception of body image in children: the effect of maternal immigrant status.

PubMed

Gualdi-Russo, Emanuela; Manzon, Vanessa Samantha; Masotti, Sabrina; Toselli, Stefania; Albertini, Augusta; Celenza, Francesca; Zaccagni, Luciana

2012-10-15

Recent studies have shown that body image perception is an important factor in weight control and may be influenced by culture and ethnicity. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between immigrant status of the mother and weight status and body image perception of the child. In total, 2706 schoolchildren (1405 boys and 1301 girls) aged 8-9 years and their mothers participated in a cross-sectional survey in Emilia-Romagna region (northern Italy). Weight and height of the children were measured and Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. Actual and ideal body image perception by the children and by the mothers with respect to their children was evaluated according to Collins' body image silhouettes. The BMI values were significantly lower in children of immigrants than in children of Italian mothers (F:17.27 vs 17.99 kg/m²; M:17.77 vs 18.13 kg/m²). The prevalence of overweight/obesity was lower, and the prevalence of underweight higher, in children of immigrant mothers than in those of Italian mothers (overweight- F:21.3 vs 29.1%; M. 28.3 vs 31.4%; underweight- F:5.16 vs 3.84%; M:6.63 vs 2.82%). The children's body image perception was consistent with the differing pattern of nutritional status. In the comparison between actual and ideal figures, the Feel-Ideal Difference Index (FID) scores resulted different between the subsample with foreign-born mother in comparison to the native one (significantly lower in daughters of immigrants) (FID- F: 0.31 vs 0.57; M: 0.35 vs 0.32). There were significant differences in the choice of the ideal figure of the child between immigrant mothers and Italian mothers (FID- F: -0.05 vs 0.19; M: -0.35 vs -0.03): the ideal figure values were higher in the immigrant mothers of male children and lower in the Italian mothers of female children. Our results suggest that cultural and behavioral factors linked to ethnicity play an important role in the nutritional status of children and in the perceived and ideal body image.

[Determinants of occupational injuries in the construction of the "high speed train" Bologna-Florence].

PubMed

Pavone, Venere Leda Mara; Lisi, Catiuscia; Cinti, Danilo; Cervino, Daniela; Costantini, Adele Seniori; Forastiere, Francesco

2007-01-01

to study determinants of occupational injuries in tunnel construction using data from the surveillance system which had been implemented in order to monitor accidents during the construction of the "high speed train tracks in the Italian Regions Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. retrospective cohort study. 16 sites for the construction of 14 tunnels of the high speed railway-tract Bologna-Firenze, in Italy. 1,602 workers (of 3,000 employed in the underground tunnelling), aged 18 - 67 years, operating during excavation with traditional method in 1999-2002. A total of 549 injuries occurred among 385 workers. The number of worked hours were used as time at risk. incidence rate ratios (IRR) and 95% confidence intervals for all injuries, serious injuries and first injuries were considered in separate multiple regression analyses (Poisson). residence, task and working phase were taken into consideration. An increased risk was found for younger workers, for carpenters (IRR "all-events" = 2.33; 95% CI=1.85-2.94; IRR" first-events" = 2.12; 95% CI 1.62-2.77) and miners (IRR "all-events" = 1.76; 95% CI 1.39-2.24; IRR"first-events" = 1.71; 95% CI 1.30-2.24) vs. machinery operators. Construction of inverted arch turns out to have an incidence rate ratio three times higher than digging out (IRR "all-events" = 2.79; 95% CI 2.27-3.43; IRR "firsts-event = 2.98; 95% CI 2.33-3.81). The probability of "serious" injuries (>30 days) is higher for miners (IRR=2.45; 95% CI 1.65-3.64) and for carpenters (IRR=2.31; 95% CI 1.53-3.49). this study pointed out to indicate some determinants (age, task and work phase) of injuries in tunneling about which little had been published previously. These results are useful for addressing preventive measures, for control and prevention activities and point to the need to explore the effect of experience and to study, through a case crossover design, transient working and individual risk factors for traumatic injury within these working sites.

[Lead exposure in the ceramic tile industry: time trends and current exposure levels].

PubMed

Candela, S; Ferri, F; Olmi, M

1998-01-01

There is a high density of industries for the production of ceramic tiles in the District of Scandiano (province of Reggio Emilia, Emilia Romagna region). In this area, since the beginning of 1970s, the time trend of Pb exposure in ceramic tile plants has been evaluated by means of biological monitoring (BM) data collected at the Service of Prevention and Safety in the Work Environment and its associated Toxicology Laboratory. From these data, a clear decreasing time trend of exposure levels is documented, the reduction being more evident during the seventies and in 1985-88. During the seventies BM was introduced systematically in all ceramic tile plants with the determination of delta-aminolevulinic acid in urine (ALA-U). As a consequence of the BM programme, hygienic measures for the abatement of pollution inside the plants were implemented, and a reduction, from 20.6% to 2%, of ALA-U values exceeding 10 mg/l, was observed. In 1985, the determination of lead in blood (PbB) replaced that of ALA-U in the BM programmes and highlighted the persistence of high level of exposure to Pb, which could not be outlined by means of ALA-U because of its lower sensitivity. PbB levels were 36.1 micrograms/100 ml and 25.7 micrograms/100 ml in male and female workers, respectively. These results required the implementation, within the plants, of additional hygienic measures and a significant reduction of PbB was obtained in the following three years. In 1988 PbB levels were 26.0 +/- 10.7 and 21.6 +/- 10.3 micrograms/100 ml in male and female workers, respectively. In 1993-95 Pb levels were obtained from 1328 male and 771 female workers of 56 plants, accounting for about 40% of the total number of workers in the ceramic industry, in the zones of Sassuolo and Scandiano. Exposure levels are not different from those observed in the preceding years, with PbB levels of 25.3 +/- 11.1 and 19.1 +/- 9.2 micrograms/100 ml in male and female workers, respectively.

Multisensor surveys of historical buildings before, during and after a seismic sequence: the leaning bell tower of Ficarolo (Rovigo)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teza, Giordano; Pesci, Arianna; Trevisani, Sebastiano

2014-05-01

Three regions of Northern Italy (Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Lombardy) were struck in May-June 2012 by a seismic sequence that included a moment magnitude 5.9 earthquake. Such a sequence caused significant damage to several historical buildings; in some cases complete structural collapse occurred. The 69-m high bell tower of Ficarolo (Rovigo province, Northern Italy) leans at a significant angle (~3° in the shaft). Because the combination of height and leaning angle is visually impressive, Ficarolo is also known as the 'Pisa of Polesine' (Polesine is the Venetian bank of the Po River), referring to the well-known 55-m high, 4° leaning tower of Pisa. A project aimed at studying the geometry of the tower, by means of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), possible local seismic amplification and soil-structure interaction (SSI), by means of low-cost operational modal analysis (OMA) and geophysical measurements, began in early 2012, before the earthquake. In particular, the first series of data were taken in February 2012 (OMA) and April 2012 (TLS). The distance from Ficarolo of the epicenters of the six events with moment magnitude higher than 5.0 ranged from 9 km to 37 km. Several cracks appeared in the bell tower belfry and cusp. An inclinometer installed in 2003 showed that the base was unchanged, but the upper part of the shaft had moved by 2.5 cm after the main shock. No further displacements were detected as a result of the aftershocks. The repetition of the TLS and OMA surveys during and after the seismic sequence, together with infrared thermal imaging (IRT) measurements, allowed an evaluation of the changes caused by the earthquake. Two main results were obtained: (1) an estimate of earthquake induced damage to the Ficarolo's bell tower, which were relatively limited thanks to absence of SSI, and (2) it was demonstrated that fast measurements can be repeated during earthquake emergencies and that preventive measures can be carried out under reasonable time and budget constraints in high seismic hazard areas. The second point is particularly important from the viewpoint of cultural heritage management purposes.

Doctors and local media: a synergy for public health information?: a controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a multifaceted campaign on antibiotic prescribing (protocol).

PubMed

2011-10-19

Use of information campaigns and educational interventions directed to citizens and supported by physicians, aimed at promoting the appropriate use of medicines, have been evaluated by several studies with conflicting results. These interventions are potentially relevant, favouring the reduction of unnecessary use of medicines and related risks. Several studies have specifically evaluated the promotion of the appropriate use of antibiotics in adults and children, with variable results. A controlled study is proposed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention aimed at reducing antibiotic prescription by increasing awareness on risks of their unnecessary use. Information will be provided to citizens through several media (posters, local TV, radio and newspapers, video terminals, websites of Local Health Authorities). Brochures with information on expected benefits and risks of antibiotics will be also available, either with direct access in waiting rooms and pharmacies or handed out and mediated by doctors. Physicians and pharmacists will get specific data on local antibiotic resistance. A small group of representative doctors have also actively participated in defining the campaign key messages. A sample of general practitioners and paediatricians will be trained in patient counselling strategies.The information campaign will be implemented in two Provinces of Emilia-Romagna during the fall-winter season (November 2011-February 2012). Change in the overall prescribing rate of antibiotics (expressed as DDD per 1000 inhabitants/day) in the intervention area will be compared versus other areas in the same Region. Knowledge and attitudes of the general population will be evaluated through a phone and internet survey on a representative sample. While the campaign messages will be mainly directed to the general population, doctors' prescribing will be assessed. The main rationale for this apparent discrepancy lies in the influence patients may have on physicians' prescribing behaviour (directly or indirectly) and in physicians' endorsement of the campaign goals, considering their participation in its design.This study could observe a reduction lower than 5% in the prescribing rate of antibiotics. Such a reduction would be of public health relevance and would determine average savings of almost twice as much as the campaign costs.

Performances of the snow accumulation melting model SAMM: results in the Northern Apennines test area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lagomarsino, Daniela; Martelloni, Gianluca; Segoni, Samuele; Catani, Filippo; Fanti, Riccardo

2013-04-01

In this work we propose a snow accumulation-melting model (SAMM) to forecast the snowpack height and we compare the results with a simple temperature index model and an improved version of the latter.For this purpose we used rainfall, temperature and snowpack thickness 5-years data series from 7 weather stations in the Northern Apennines (Emilia Romagna Region, Italy). SAMM is based on two modules modelling the snow accumulation and the snowmelt processes. Each module is composed by two equations: a mass conservation equation is solved to model snowpack thickness and an empirical equation is used for the snow density. The processes linked to the accumulation/depletion of the snowpack (e.g. compression of the snowpack due to newly fallen snow and effects of rainfall) are modelled identifying limiting and inhibitory factors according to a kinetic approach. The model depends on 13 empirical parameters, whose optimal values were defined with an optimization algorithm (simplex flexible) using calibration measures of snowpack thickness. From an operational point of view, SAMM uses as input data only temperature and rainfall measurements, bringing the additional advantage of a relatively easy implementation. In order to verify the improvement of SAMM with respect to a temperature-index model, the latter was applied considering, for the amount of snow melt, the following equation: M = fm(T-T0), where M is hourly melt, fm is the melting factor and T0 is a threshold temperature. In this case the calculation of the depth of the snowpack requires the use of 3 parameters: fm, T0 and ?0 (the mean density of the snowpack). We also performed a simulation by replacing the SAMM melting module with the above equation and leaving unchanged the accumulation module: in this way we obtained a model with 9 parameters. The simulations results suggest that any further extension of the simple temperature index model brings some improvements with a consequent decrease of the mean error between model and experimental data of the snowpack thickness.

Learning from soil gas change and isotopic signatures during 2012 Emilia seismic sequence.

PubMed

Sciarra, Alessandra; Cantucci, Barbara; Coltorti, Massimo

2017-10-27

Soil surveys were performed in Medolla (Italy), a peculiar area characterized by spotty high soil temperature, gas vent, and lack of vegetation, to determine the migration mechanisms and spatial behavior of gas species. Hereby we present soil gas measurements and their isotopic ratios measured between 2008 and 2015, including the 2012 Emilia-Romagna seismic sequence. We found that soil gas concentrations markedly changed during the main shocks of May 20 and 29, 2012 (Mw 6.1 and 6.0, respectively), highlighting the presence of a buried fault intersecting the gas vents. We suggest that crustal dilation associated with seismic activity favored the uprising of geogas towards the surface. Changes in the isotopic signature highlight the contribution of two distinct sources, one deeper, thermogenic and another superficial related to organic-rich layer, whose relative contribution varied before, during and after the earthquake. We suppose an increase of microbial component likely due to the ground shaking of shallower layers linked to seismic sequence, which masks the thermogenic contribution. Although the changes we detect are specific for an alluvial plain, we deduce that analogous processes may be active elsewhere, and that soil gas geochemistry represents an useful tool to discriminate the gas migration related to seismic activity.

Participation in sports, body composition, and fitness characteristics in children according to ethnic background.

PubMed

Toselli, S; Belcastro, M G

2017-12-01

Participation in sports has important implications, being associated with health and social features. The objectives of this study were to verify whether there were any differences in sport participation between immigrant and Italian children and whether there was any relation with their body composition and fitness characteristics. A survey was conducted on 1432 children attending primary school in the Emilia-Romagna (northern Italy). Anthropometric measurements, fitness characteristics, and data about participation in sports were considered. Italian children were more likely to participate in sports than immigrants and boys than girls. Among immigrants, the lowest values were observed in Asians. Eastern European males and Latin American females displayed the widest dimensions. Eastern Europeans generally showed the highest values of strength, while Latin Americans had the highest values of flexibility. Asian children showed the highest values of centripetal fat, and a high percentage of them exceeded the %F reference. These aspects, together with the low frequency of practicing sports, place Asians at greater risks for health. Sex and ethnic group are the most informative variables associated with participation in sports by children. Interventions including health education lessons and promoting the participation in sports for immigrant children attending schools need to be encouraged. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Serological surveillance of Leptospirosis in Italy: two‑year national data (2010‑2011).

PubMed

Tagliabue, Silvia; Figarolli, Bianca Maria; D'Incau, Mario; Foschi, Giovanni; Gennero, Maria Silvia; Giordani, Roberta; Giordani, Roberta; Natale, Alda; Papa, Paola; Ponti, Nicoletta; Scaltrito, Domenico; Spadari, Luisa; Vesco, Gesualdo; Ruocco, Luigi

2016-06-30

Nowadays, leptospirosis is a re‑emerging widespread infectious disease often underestimate worldwide. The National Reference Centre for Leptospirosis (NRCL), at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Brescia (Italy), with the cooperation of all the other Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali (IIZZSS), evaluated the distribution of such important zoonosis in Italy. Serological data obtained between 2010‑2011 by each laboratory were collected by the NRCL and discussed. Serum samples collected from 43,935 animal specimens were analysed by the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT), using a panel of 8 serogroups as antigens (Australis, Ballum, Canicola, Grippotyphosa, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pomona, Sejroe, Tarassovi). A MAT cut‑off of 1:100 was used to identify the serological positivities, 6,279 sera showed positive titers. Bovine (46.9%), swine (27.5%), ovine and goat (7.4%), dog (6.9%), and wild boar (4.5%) samples were delivered to the Laboratories more frequently than equine and other species sera. Data analysis showed that the most common serogroups in Italy are: Australis present in dogs, wild boars, horses, hares, swine, foxes, and rodents; Sejroe detected in cattle, sheep, goats, and buffaloes; Icterohaemorrhagiae present in dogs, goats, and foxes; Pomona detected in swine, cattle, and wild species; Grippotyphosa reported in hares.

Non-targeted 1H NMR fingerprinting and multivariate statistical analyses for the characterisation of the geographical origin of Italian sweet cherries.

PubMed

Longobardi, F; Ventrella, A; Bianco, A; Catucci, L; Cafagna, I; Gallo, V; Mastrorilli, P; Agostiano, A

2013-12-01

In this study, non-targeted (1)H NMR fingerprinting was used in combination with multivariate statistical techniques for the classification of Italian sweet cherries based on their different geographical origins (Emilia Romagna and Puglia). As classification techniques, Soft Independent Modelling of Class Analogy (SIMCA), Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) were carried out and the results were compared. For LDA, before performing a refined selection of the number/combination of variables, two different strategies for a preliminary reduction of the variable number were tested. The best average recognition and CV prediction abilities (both 100.0%) were obtained for all the LDA models, although PLS-DA also showed remarkable performances (94.6%). All the statistical models were validated by observing the prediction abilities with respect to an external set of cherry samples. The best result (94.9%) was obtained with LDA by performing a best subset selection procedure on a set of 30 principal components previously selected by a stepwise decorrelation. The metabolites that mostly contributed to the classification performances of such LDA model, were found to be malate, glucose, fructose, glutamine and succinate. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Grid Oriented Implementation of the Tephra Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coltelli, M.; D'Agostino, M.; Drago, A.; Pistagna, F.; Prestifilippo, M.; Reitano, D.; Scollo, S.; Spata, G.

2009-04-01

TEPHRA is a two dimensional advection-diffusion model implemented by Bonadonna et al. [2005] that describes the sedimentation process of particles from volcanic plumes. The model is used by INGV - Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Catania, to forecast tephra dispersion during Etna volcanic events. Every day weather forecast provided by the Italian Air Force Meteorological Office in Rome and by the hydrometeorological service of ARPA in Emilia Romagna are processed by TEPHRA model with other volcanological parameters to simulate two different eruptive scenarios of Mt. Etna (corresponding to 1998 and 2002-03 Etna eruptions). The model outputs are plotted on maps and transferred to Civil Protection which takes the trouble to give public warnings and plan mitigation measures. The TEPHRA model is implemented in ANSI-C code using MPI commands to maximize parallel computation. Actually the model runs on an INGV Beowulf cluster. In order to provide better performances we worked on porting it to PI2S2 sicilian grid infrastructure inside the "PI2S2 Project" (2006-2008). We configured the application to run on grid, using Glite middleware, analyzed the obtained performances and comparing them with ones obtained on the local cluster. As TEPHRA needs to be run in a short time in order to transfer fastly the dispersion maps to Civil Protection, we also worked to minimize and stabilize grid job-scheduling time by using customized high-priority queues called Emergency Queue.

3D decompaction and sequential restoration: a tool to quantify sedimentary and tectonic control on elusive Quaternary structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Ambrogi, Chiara; Emanuele Maesano, Francesco

2015-04-01

Basin-wide detailed 3D model, deeply constrained by the interpretation of an impressive dense seismic dataset (12.000 km, provided confidentially by ENI S.p.A.) and 136 well stratigraphies, is the core of a workflow of decompaction and sequential restoration in 3D aimed to quantify the sedimentation and uplift rate in the central part of the Po Plain (northern Italy), during Quaternary. The Po basin is the common foredeep of two opposite verging chains, the Southern Alps, to the north, and the Northern Apennines, to the south, that influenced the evolution of the foreland basin from Paleogene onward. In this particular setting there are many examples of interaction of sedimentary processes and tectonics, both at regional and local scale. During the Quaternary the complex interaction of tectonic processes, sea-level fluctuations, climate changes, and sediment supply produced the filling of the basin with the progradation of the fluvio-deltaic system, from west toward east. The most important tectonic phases can be easily recognized along the basin margin marked by the deformation and tilting of river terraces and of exposed syntectonic sediments; conversely their detection is particularly difficult in the central-distal part of the basin. In such structurally complex area analysis of syntectonic deposits and growth strata are strategic to describe the basin evolution and tectonic control; in their analysis 3D decompaction and regional tilting must be taken into account to assess the residual vertical separation that can be attributed to tectonic processes only. The Pleistocene portion of a detailed 3D model, build in the framework of the EU-funded GeoMol Project, is the starting point of a sequential restoration workflow in 3D that included the unfolding and decompaction of 6, chronologically constrained, sedimentary units ranging from 1.5 to 0.45 Myr. This previously unavailable detail in the definition of the geometry of Quaternary bodies in the central part of the Po Basin provided a set of detailed pictures that show the topography and the evolution of the infilling at different point during time. As a matter of fact the resulting 3D surfaces describe the basin configuration and the changes and migration of regional depocentres controlled by thrust activity up to the Pleistocene but also allow to highlight the interference of active tectonic and sedimentation in the central portion of the Po basin, an area considered less affected by the main structures (e.g. the Emilia and Ferrara-Romagna arcs). In the analysis of this structure also the foreland tilting has been subtracted from the topography resulting after unfolding and decompaction, for the 6 time intervals; we obtained a residual signal related to the growing anticline, and the uplift rate of the structure during its Pleistocene evolution. The project GeoMol is co-funded by the Alpine Space Program as part of the European Territorial Cooperation 2007-2013. The project integrates partners from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland and runs from September 2012 to June 2015. Further information on www.geomol.eu

Simulation of the Basin Effects in the Po Plain During the Emilia-Romagna Seismic Sequence (2012) Using Empirical Green's Functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dujardin, Alain; Causse, Mathieu; Courboulex, Françoise; Traversa, Paola

2016-06-01

The two main earthquakes that occurred in 2012 (May 20 and 29) in the Reggio-Emiliano region (Northern Italy) were relatively small (Mw 6.1 and Mw 5.9) but they generated unexpected damages in a large area around the epicenter. On some stations, the observed seismic levels exceeded design levels recommended by the EC8 seismic code for buildings and civil engineering works. The ground motions generated by the two mainshocks have specific characteristics: the waveforms are mainly controlled by surface waves generated by the deep sedimentary Po plain, by local site effects and also, on some stations, by non-linear behaviors. In this particular context, we test the ability of an empirical Green's function (EGF) simulation approach to reproduce the recorded seismograms in a large frequency band without any knowledge of the underground medium. We focus on the possibility to reproduce the strong surface waves generated by the basin at distances between 25 and 90 km. We choose to work on the second mainshock of the sequence (Mw 5.9), which occurred on May 29, 2012, because it is better recorded by the seismological networks than the May 20th first mainshock. We use a k-2 kinematic source model to generate a set of 100 slip distributions on the fault plane and choose the recordings of a close-by Mw 3.9 event as EGF. We then generate a set of broad-band seismograms (from 0.2 to 35 Hz) and compare them to the mainshock signals at 15 stations (Seismograms, Fourier spectra, PGA, PGV, duration, Stockwell Transforms) at epicentral distances from 5 to 160 km. We find that the main specific features of the signals are very well reproduced for all the stations within and beyond the basin. Nevertheless, at nearby stations, the PGA values are over-evaluated, which could be explained by the fact that non- linear effects are not taken into account in the simulation process. A better fit was found for a position of the nucleation point to the bottom west of the fault, that suggest a directivity effect of the rupture process of the May 29th event towards the North-East.

A multi-element psychosocial intervention for early psychosis (GET UP PIANO TRIAL) conducted in a catchment area of 10 million inhabitants: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in ‘real-world’ services. Methods/Design The Psychosis early Intervention and Assessment of Needs and Outcome (PIANO) trial is part of a larger research program (Genetics, Endophenotypes and Treatment: Understanding early Psychosis - GET UP) which aims to compare, at 9 months, the effectiveness of a multi-component psychosocial intervention versus treatment as usual (TAU) in a large epidemiologically based cohort of patients with FEP and their family members recruited from all public community mental health centers (CMHCs) located in two entire regions of Italy (Veneto and Emilia Romagna), and in the cities of Florence, Milan and Bolzano. The GET UP PIANO trial has a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled design. The randomized units (clusters) are the CMHCs, and the units of observation are the centers’ patients and their family members. Patients in the experimental group will receive TAU plus: 1) cognitive behavioral therapy sessions, 2) psycho-educational sessions for family members, and 3) case management. Patient enrolment will take place over a 1-year period. Several psychopathological, psychological, functioning, and service use variables will be assessed at baseline and follow-up. The primary outcomes are: 1) change from baseline to follow-up in positive and negative symptoms’ severity and subjective appraisal; 2) relapse occurrences between baseline and follow-up, that is, episodes resulting in admission and/or any case-note records of re-emergence of positive psychotic symptoms. The expected number of recruited patients is about 400, and that of relatives about 300. Owing to the implementation of the intervention at the CMHC level, the blinding of patients, clinicians, and raters is not possible, but every effort will be made to preserve the independency of the raters. We expect that this study will generate evidence on the best treatments for FEP, and will identify barriers that may hinder its feasibility in ‘real-world’ clinical settings, patient/family conditions that may render this intervention ineffective or inappropriate, and clinical, psychological, environmental, and service organization predictors of treatment effectiveness, compliance, and service satisfaction. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01436331 PMID:22647399

[The accuracy of the causes of death and the estimated trend: the case of cervix uteri].

PubMed

Mancuso, Pamela; Sacchettini, Claudio; Vicentini, Massimo; Caroli, Stefania; Giorgi Rossi, Paolo

2016-01-01

reduction in cervical cancer mortality is the ultimate goal of the screening. Quality of death certificate reports has been improved over time, but they are still inaccurate, making it difficult to assess time trends in mortality. to evaluate the accuracy of the topographic coding of causes of death and to estimate the mortality time trend for cervical cancer through the method of incidence-based mortality (IBM) using cancer registry (CR) data. from the mortality registry (MR), we extracted data on deaths for cervix uteri cancer, corpus uteri cancer, and uterus cancer not otherwise specified (NOS) referred to residents in Reggio Emilia (Emilia-Romagna Region, Northern Italy) from 1997 to 2013. Deaths were checked with the CR to verify the topographical site of the primary tumour. Furthermore, by using CR data, we constructed a cohort of incident cervical cancer cases diagnosed between 1997 and 2009 with a 5-year follow-up. We calculated cause-specific IBM (excluding ovary) and IBM for all cause, crude and standardized, and annual percentage change (APC). out of 369 deaths for uterine cancer, 269 were reported in the RT: 32 for cervix uteri cancer, 76 for corpus uteri cancer, 161 for uterus cancer NOS. 28 of the 32 persons who died for cervical cancer were incidents for cervix uteri cancer. 63 of the 76 who died for corpus uteri cancer were incidents for corpus uteri cancer. Of the 161 who died of uterus cancer NOS, 80 were incidents for corpus uteri cancer, 45 for cervix uteri cancer, 28 for uterus cancer NOS, 5 for vagina cancer, and 3 for cancer of other non-specified organs. Applying these proportions of misclassification, we can estimate that the real number of cervical cancer deaths is 2.4 folds the number of cases reported in the MR as cervical cancer. IBM for all causes decreased significantly over the years (APC: -9.5; 95%CI -17.1;-1.1); cause-specific IBM decreases, but not significantly (APC: -5.1; 95%IC -16.1;+7.3). There is no improvement in survival (r2=0.02; p=0.6), while the incidence shows a decrease (APC: -6.6;95%CI -10.0;-3.0). mortality for cervical cancer is still underestimated by deaths certificates: for each reported case, there are other 1.4 cases that are reported with other less specific causes.

Real time hydro-metereological hazards monitoring system for the Ravenna municipality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertoni, W.; Cattarossi, A.; Gonella, M.

2003-04-01

The Ravenna municipality (Italy, Emilia Romagna region), through a cooperative agreement with ENI S.p.A’s., AGIP division, is carrying out a research study for the development of a real time monitoring system of hydro-meteorological conditions. The system aims to support the city Crisis Response Unit to provide more efficient support all over the municipal territory that is the largest in Italy with more than 700 km2. The support unit, a GIS computer based application, directly links to a broad range of sources, gathering real time information from a Local Area Model (meteorological data), a Wave Model (sea hydrodynamic circulation), monitoring stations, located partially on the Adriatic sea (AGIP offshore platform, SIMN) and partially over the Ravenna inland (SPDS, SIN). In the first phase, now completed and undergoing testing, this vast and diversified collection of data feeds a number of statistical models with up to 72 hours of forecast capabilities. The GIS application displays actual and forecast sea conditions offshore of Ravenna littorals in addition to actual and forecast flood conditions along the Ravenna Province inland. Model generated data are used for the forecast, which is then calibrated using the measured data. When the predefined warning limits are exceeded, end users are alerted via prerecorded phone messages, SMS, or visually through the direct or remote interaction with the GIS system (remotely accessible via portable computers). In the second stage, the statistical approach will be substituted by a more deterministic approach. A coupled hydrologic-hydraulic model will be used to forecast water stages along rivers and runoff volume along major watersheds. Moreover, already functioning capabilities allows direct control of remote monitoring points (stream and rain gages, etc.) The entire Real Time Monitoring System was developed on a GIS platform. The GEOdatabase, a relational database based on MSDE technology, is the core of the application which revolves around the conceptualization of a Hydro Data Model, a standardized way to store hydraulic based data such as watershed delineation, hydrologic network, monitoring points and time series data. Recent advancement in GIS software technologies and ready to use hydro-meteorological data offer an unprecedented opportunity to customize the GIS application and provide a powerful application to prevent and defeat flood hazards.

[Hyperkalemia as a limiting factor in the use of drugs that block the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS)].

PubMed

Santoro, Antonio; Mandreoli, Marcora

2018-05-01

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE-I) inhibitors and ARBs have shown real efficacy in reducing blood pressure, proteinuria, in slowing the progression of chronic kidney disease (MRC) and in clinical improvement. in patients with heart failure, diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart disease. However, their use is limited by some side effects such as the increase in serum potassium (K), which can be particularly severe in patients with renal insufficiency. In the 23,000 patients followed by the PIRP project of the Emilia-Romagna Region, hyperkalaemia at the first visit (K> 5.5 mEq / L) was present in about 7% of all patients. The prevalence of K values> 5.5 mEq / L increased in relation to the CKD stage, reaching 11% in patients in stage 4 and 5. Among patients with values of K> 5.5 at baseline, 44.8% were in therapy with ACE-I / ARB inhibitors, 3.8% with anti-mineralcortoid and a further 3.9% concurrently taking SRAA-blocking agents and K-sparing diuretics. Counter-measures to avoid the onset of hyperkalemia during treatment with drugs that block the RAAS range from the low-K diet, to diuretics and finally to drugs that promote fecal elimination of K. Among these, polystyrene sulfonates, which have more than 50 years of life, exchange K with sodium or calcium. These drugs, however, in chronic use, can lead to sodium or calcium overload and cause dangerous intestinal necrosis. Recently two new highly promising drugs have been introduced on the market for the treatment of hyperkalemia, the patiromer and sodium zirconium cyclosilicate. The patiromer, which is a potassium-calcium exchanger, acts at the level of the colon where there is a higher concentration of K and where the drug is most ionized. Sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (ZS-9) is a resin with micropores of well-defined dimensions, placed in the crystalline structure of the zirconium silicate. The trapped K is exchanged with other protons and sodium. However, even these drugs will have to demonstrate their long-term efficacy and safety to be considered true partners of RAAS blockers in some categories of patients. Copyright by Società Italiana di Nefrologia SIN, Rome, Italy.

Doctors and local media: a synergy for public health information? A controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a multifaceted campaign on antibiotic prescribing (protocol)

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Use of information campaigns and educational interventions directed to citizens and supported by physicians, aimed at promoting the appropriate use of medicines, have been evaluated by several studies with conflicting results. These interventions are potentially relevant, favouring the reduction of unnecessary use of medicines and related risks. Several studies have specifically evaluated the promotion of the appropriate use of antibiotics in adults and children, with variable results. A controlled study is proposed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention aimed at reducing antibiotic prescription by increasing awareness on risks of their unnecessary use. Methods/design Information will be provided to citizens through several media (posters, local TV, radio and newspapers, video terminals, websites of Local Health Authorities). Brochures with information on expected benefits and risks of antibiotics will be also available, either with direct access in waiting rooms and pharmacies or handed out and mediated by doctors. Physicians and pharmacists will get specific data on local antibiotic resistance. A small group of representative doctors have also actively participated in defining the campaign key messages. A sample of general practitioners and paediatricians will be trained in patient counselling strategies. The information campaign will be implemented in two Provinces of Emilia-Romagna during the fall-winter season (November 2011-February 2012). Change in the overall prescribing rate of antibiotics (expressed as DDD per 1000 inhabitants/day) in the intervention area will be compared versus other areas in the same Region. Knowledge and attitudes of the general population will be evaluated through a phone and internet survey on a representative sample. Discussion While the campaign messages will be mainly directed to the general population, doctors' prescribing will be assessed. The main rationale for this apparent discrepancy lies in the influence patients may have on physicians' prescribing behaviour (directly or indirectly) and in physicians' endorsement of the campaign goals, considering their participation in its design. This study could observe a reduction lower than 5% in the prescribing rate of antibiotics. Such a reduction would be of public health relevance and would determine average savings of almost twice as much as the campaign costs. PMID:22011332

Safety assessment of historical masonry churches based on pre-assigned kinematic limit analysis, FE limit and pushover analyses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Milani, Gabriele, E-mail: milani@stru.polimi.it; Valente, Marco, E-mail: milani@stru.polimi.it

2014-10-06

This study presents some results of a comprehensive numerical analysis on three masonry churches damaged by the recent Emilia-Romagna (Italy) seismic events occurred in May 2012. The numerical study comprises: (a) pushover analyses conducted with a commercial code, standard nonlinear material models and two different horizontal load distributions; (b) FE kinematic limit analyses performed using a non-commercial software based on a preliminary homogenization of the masonry materials and a subsequent limit analysis with triangular elements and interfaces; (c) kinematic limit analyses conducted in agreement with the Italian code and based on the a-priori assumption of preassigned failure mechanisms, where themore » masonry material is considered unable to withstand tensile stresses. All models are capable of giving information on the active failure mechanism and the base shear at failure, which, if properly made non-dimensional with the weight of the structure, gives also an indication of the horizontal peak ground acceleration causing the collapse of the church. The results obtained from all three models indicate that the collapse is usually due to the activation of partial mechanisms (apse, façade, lateral walls, etc.). Moreover the horizontal peak ground acceleration associated to the collapse is largely lower than that required in that seismic zone by the Italian code for ordinary buildings. These outcomes highlight that structural upgrading interventions would be extremely beneficial for the considerable reduction of the seismic vulnerability of such kind of historical structures.« less

Hgis and Archive Researches: a Tool for the Study of the Ancient Mill Channel of Cesena (italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bitelli, G.; Bartolini, F.; Gatta, G.

2016-06-01

The present study aims to demonstrate the usefulness of GIS to support archive searches and historical studies (e.g. related to industrial archaeology), in the case of an ancient channel for mill powering near Cesena (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), whose history is weaved together with the history of the Compagnia dei Molini di Cesena mill company, the most ancient limited company in Italy. Several historical maps (about 40 sheets in total) inherent the studied area and 80 archive documents (drawings, photos, specifications, administrative acts, newspaper articles), over a period of more than 600 years, were collected. Once digitized, historical maps were analysed, georeferenced and mosaicked where necessary. Subsequently, in all the maps the channel with its four mills and the Savio river were vectorized. All the additional archive documents were digitized, catalogued and stored. Using the QGIS open source platform, a Historical GIS was created, encompassing the current cartographic base and all historical maps, with their vectorized elements; each archive document was linked to the proper historical map, so that the document can be immediately retrieved and visualized. In such a HGIS, the maps form the base for a spatial and temporal navigation, facilitated by a specific interface; the external documents linked to them complete the description of the represented elements. This simple and interactive tool offers a new approach to archive searches, as it allows reconstruction in space and time of the evolution of the ancient channel and the history of this important mill company.

The limitations of some European healthcare databases for monitoring the effectiveness of pregnancy prevention programmes as risk minimisation measures.

PubMed

Charlton, R A; Bettoli, V; Bos, H J; Engeland, A; Garne, E; Gini, R; Hansen, A V; de Jong-van den Berg, L T W; Jordan, S; Klungsøyr, K; Neville, A J; Pierini, A; Puccini, A; Sinclair, M; Thayer, D; Dolk, H

2018-04-01

Pregnancy prevention programmes (PPPs) exist for some medicines known to be highly teratogenic. It is increasingly recognised that the impact of these risk minimisation measures requires periodic evaluation. This study aimed to assess the extent to which some of the data needed to monitor the effectiveness of PPPs may be present in European healthcare databases. An inventory was completed for databases contributing to EUROmediCAT capturing pregnancy and prescription data in Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Italy (Tuscany/Emilia Romagna), Wales and the rest of the UK, to determine the extent of data collected that could be used to evaluate the impact of PPPs. Data availability varied between databases. All databases could be used to identify the frequency and duration of prescriptions to women of childbearing age from primary care, but there were specific issues with availability of data from secondary care and private care. To estimate the frequency of exposed pregnancies, all databases could be linked to pregnancy data, but the accuracy of timing of the start of pregnancy was variable, and data on pregnancies ending in induced abortions were often not available. Data availability on contraception to estimate compliance with contraception requirements was variable and no data were available on pregnancy tests. Current electronic healthcare databases do not contain all the data necessary to fully monitor the effectiveness of PPP implementation, and thus, special data collection measures need to be instituted.

[The degree of coincidence between the needs of cancer patients and the answers in the statutes of associations and dedicated health services].

PubMed

Copelli, Patrizia; Foà, Chiara; Devincenzi, Franca; Fanfoni, Rita; Prandi, Rossella; Puddu, Maria; Silvano, Rosa; Artioli, Giovanna; Mancini, Tiziana

2011-01-01

The research took place in the northern area of Emilia Romagna, and aimed at investigating the needs expressed by cancer patients and those included in the goals of health services and associations dedicated to cancer disease. The study involved 22 cancer patients (12 females and 10 males, mean age 55.36 +/- 10.7) through a semi-structured interview. Twenty-five Organizational Regulations and 17 Health Card Services of institutions dedicated to cancer disease were also analyzed. The basic needs of cancer patients are rarely economic, legal, material and more often medical and psychological (e.g. psychological support, medical care and equal treatment, continuity of care in hospital and at home and information about diagnosis and treatment). The health services focus on the fulfillment of the needs of self-determination, dignity and respect for people, information on diagnosis and treatments, and of psychological support. The associations provide help through activities geared towards ensuring socialization opportunities (need for aggregation and company), support patients and their family and aim to be a connection in the continuity of care between hospital and home. While the aims of health services and associations are oriented to respond to many basic needs, some remain still unmet and others are not adequately considered (eg. need to return to daily lives). The offer, aimed to fulfill these need, could be enhanced through a network of synergistic partnerships between health services, citizenship and associations.

Predictors of Full Enteral Feeding Achievement in Very Low Birth Weight Infants

PubMed Central

Corvaglia, Luigi; Fantini, Maria Pia; Aceti, Arianna; Gibertoni, Dino; Rucci, Paola; Baronciani, Dante; Faldella, Giacomo

2014-01-01

Background To elucidate the role of prenatal, neonatal and early postnatal variables in influencing the achievement of full enteral feeding (FEF) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants and to determine whether neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) differ in this outcome. Methods Population-based retrospective cohort study using data on 1,864 VLBW infants drawn from the “Emilia-Romagna Perinatal Network” Registry from 2004 to 2009. The outcome of interest was time to FEF achievement. Eleven prenatal, neonatal and early postnatal variables and the study NICUs were selected as potential predictors of time to FEF. Parametric survival analysis was used to model time to FEF as a function of the predictors. Marginal effects were used to obtain adjusted estimates of median time to FEF for specific subgroups of infants. Results Lower gestational age, exclusive formula feeding, higher CRIB II score, maternal hypertension, cesarean delivery, SGA and PDA predicted delayed FEF. NICUs proved to be heterogeneous in terms of FEF achievement. Newborns with PDA had a 4.2 days longer predicted median time to FEF compared to those without PDA; newborns exclusively formula-fed had a 1.4 days longer time to FEF compared to those fed human milk. Conclusions The results of our study suggest that time to FEF is influenced by clinical variables and NICU-specific practices. Knowledge of the variables associated with delayed/earlier FEF achievement could help in improving specific aspects of routine clinical management of VLBW infants and to reduce practice variability. PMID:24647523

On the importance of a correct divulgation of monitoring results for an efficient management of landslide emergencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giordan, Daniele; Manconi, Andrea; Allasia, Paolo

2015-04-01

In the last decades, technological evolution has strongly increased the number of instruments that can be used to monitor landslide phenomena. Robotized Total Stations, GB-InSAR, and GPS are only few examples of the systems that can be used for the control of the topographic changes due to the landslide activity. These monitoring systems are often merged in a complex network, aimed at controlling the most important physical parameters influencing the evolution of landslide activity. The technological level reached by these systems allows us to use them for early warning purposes. Critical thresholds are identified and, when overcome, emergency actions are associated to protect population living in areas potentially involved by landslide failure. The use of these early warning systems can be very useful for the decision makers, which have to manage emergency conditions due to a landslide acceleration likely precursor of a collapse. At this stage, every instrument has a proper management system and the dataset obtained is often not compatible with the results of the others systems. The level of complexity increases with the number of monitoring systems and often could generate a paradox: the source of data are so numerous and difficult to interpret that a full understanding of the phenomenon could be hampered. Nowadays, a correct divulgation of the recent evolution of a landslide potentially dangerous for the population is very important. The Geohazard Monitoring Group of CNR IRPI developed a communication strategy to divulgate the monitoring network results based on both, a dedicated web page (for the publication in near real time of last updates), and periodical bulletins (for a deeper analysis of the available dataset). To manage the near real time application we developed a system called ADVICE (ADVanced dIsplaCement monitoring system for Early warning) that collects all the available data of a monitoring network and creates user-friendly representations of the recent landslide evolution. The system is also able to manage early warnings based on pre-defined thresholds (usually related to the analysis of displacement and/or velocity) sending emails and SMS. Starting from the same dataset, the representations are different if the information has to be delivered to the population or the technicians involved in the landslide emergency. Our communication strategy considers three different levels of representations of the acquired dataset to be able to communicate the results to the different stakeholders potentially involved in the emergency. This communication scheme has been achieved over time, thank to the experience acquired during the management of monitoring networks relevant to different case studies, such as: Mt. de La Saxe Landslide (Aosta Valley, NW Italy), Ripoli landslide (Emilia Romagna region, central Italy), Montaguto landslide (Campania region, south Italy). Here we present how the correct and user-friendly communication of the monitoring results has been an important added value to support decision makers and population during emergency scenarios.

A high resolution Adriatic-Ionian Sea circulation model for operational forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciliberti, Stefania Angela; Pinardi, Nadia; Coppini, Giovanni; Oddo, Paolo; Vukicevic, Tomislava; Lecci, Rita; Verri, Giorgia; Kumkar, Yogesh; Creti', Sergio

2015-04-01

A new numerical regional ocean model for the Italian Seas, with focus on the Adriatic-Ionian basin, has been implemented within the framework of Technologies for Situational Sea Awareness (TESSA) Project. The Adriatic-Ionian regional model (AIREG) represents the core of the new Adriatic-Ionian Forecasting System (AIFS), maintained operational by CMCC since November 2014. The spatial domain covers the Adriatic and the Ionian Seas, extending eastward until the Peloponnesus until the Libyan coasts; it includes also the Tyrrhenian Sea and extends westward, including the Ligurian Sea, the Sardinia Sea and part of the Algerian basin. The model is based on the NEMO-OPA (Nucleus for European Modeling of the Ocean - Ocean PArallelise), version 3.4 (Madec et al. 2008). NEMO has been implemented for AIREG at 1/45° resolution model in horizontal using 121 vertical levels with partial steps. It solves the primitive equations using the time-splitting technique for solving explicitly the external gravity waves. The model is forced by momentum, water and heat fluxes interactively computed by bulk formulae using the 6h-0.25° horizontal-resolution operational analysis and forecast fields from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) (Tonani et al. 2008, Oddo et al. 2009). The atmospheric pressure effect is included as surface forcing for the model hydrodynamics. The evaporation is derived from the latent heat flux, while the precipitation is provided by the Climate Prediction Centre Merged Analysis of Precipitation (CMAP) data. Concerning the runoff contribution, the model considers the estimate of the inflow discharge of 75 rivers that flow into the Adriatic-Ionian basin, collected by using monthly means datasets. Because of its importance as freshwater input in the Adriatic basin, the Po River contribution is provided using daily average observations from ARPA Emilia Romagna observational network. AIREG is one-way nested into the Mediterranean Forecasting System (MFS, http://medforecast.bo.ingv.it/) using daily means fields computed from daily outputs of the 1/16° general circulation model. One-way nesting is done by a novel pre-processing tool for an on-the-fly computation of boundary datasets compatible with BDY module provided by NEMO. It imposes the interpolation constraint and correction as in Pinardi et al. (2003) on the total velocity, ensuring that the total volume transport across boundaries is preserved after the interpolation procedures. In order to compute the lateral open boundary conditions, the model applies the Flow Relaxation Scheme (Engerdhal, 1995) for temperature, salinity and velocities and the Flather's radiation condition (Flather, 1976) for the depth-mean transport. Concerning the forecasting production cycle, AIFS produces 9-days forecast every day, producing hourly and daily means of temperature, salinity, surface currents, heat flux, water flux and shortwave radiation fields. AIREG model performances have been verified by using statistics (root mean square errors and BIAS) with respect to observed data (ARGO and CDT datasets)

Senile anorexia in different geriatric settings in Italy.

PubMed

Donini, L M; Dominguez, L J; Barbagallo, M; Savina, C; Castellaneta, E; Cucinotta, D; Fiorito, A; Inelmen, E M; Sergi, G; Enzi, G; Cannella, C

2011-11-01

Anorexia is the most frequent modification of eating habits in old age, which may lead to malnutrition and consequent morbidity and mortality in older adults. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and factors associated to anorexia in a sample of Italian older persons living in different settings. Our secondary aim was to evaluate the impact of senile anorexia on nutritional status and on eating habits, as well as on functional status. Observational study in nursing homes, in rehabilitation and acute geriatric wards, and in the community in four Italian regions (Lazio, Sicily, Emilia-Romagna, and Veneto). 526 over 65 years old participants were recruited; 218 free-living subjects, 213 from nursing homes, and 96 patients from rehabilitation and acute geriatric wards in the context of a National Research Project (PRIN) from the Italian Ministry of Instruction, University and Research (2005-067913 "Cause e Prevalenza dell'Anoressia senile"). Anthropometric and nutritional evaluation, olfactory, chewing, and swallowing capacity, food preferences, cognitive function, functional status, depression, quality of life, social aspects, prescribed drugs, and evaluation of gastrointestinal symptoms and pain. Laboratory parameters included prealbumin, albumin, transferrin, C-reactive protein, mucoprotein, lymphocyte count, as well as neurotransmitters leptin, and ghrelin. Anorexia was considered as ≥50% reduction in food intake vs. a standard meal (using 3-day "Club Francophone de Gériatrie et Nutrition" form), in absence of oral disorders preventing mastication. The overall prevalence of anorexia was 21.2% with higher values among hospitalized patients (34.1% women and 27.2% men in long-term facilities; 33.3% women and 26.7% men in rehabilitation and geriatric wards; 3.3% women and 11.3% men living in the community) and in the oldest persons. Anorexic subjects were significantly less self-sufficient and presented more often a compromised nutritional and cognitive status. Diet composition analyses of anorexic older adults revealed a lower intake of all food groups and a general tendency to a monotonous diet. Anorexia is a frequent condition in older Italians, particularly those hospitalized, with important consequences in the nutritional and functional status. The analysis of dietary components and its quality along with the frequency of intake of single food groups may be useful to plan intervention strategies aiming to improve the nutritional and health status of older adults with anorexia. An early detection of anorexia followed by an adequate intervention in older hospitalized patients to avoid further worsening of clinical and functional status is warranted.

A search for model parsimony in a real time flood forecasting system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grossi, G.; Balistrocchi, M.

2009-04-01

As regards the hydrological simulation of flood events, a physically based distributed approach is the most appealing one, especially in those areas where the spatial variability of the soil hydraulic properties as well as of the meteorological forcing cannot be left apart, such as in mountainous regions. On the other hand, dealing with real time flood forecasting systems, less detailed models requiring a minor number of parameters may be more convenient, reducing both the computational costs and the calibration uncertainty. In fact in this case a precise quantification of the entire hydrograph pattern is not necessary, while the expected output of a real time flood forecasting system is just an estimate of the peak discharge, the time to peak and in some cases the flood volume. In this perspective a parsimonious model has to be found in order to increase the efficiency of the system. A suitable case study was identified in the northern Apennines: the Taro river is a right tributary to the Po river and drains about 2000 km2 of mountains, hills and floodplain, equally distributed . The hydrometeorological monitoring of this medium sized watershed is managed by ARPA Emilia Romagna through a dense network of uptodate gauges (about 30 rain gauges and 10 hydrometers). Detailed maps of the surface elevation, land use and soil texture characteristics are also available. Five flood events were recorded by the new monitoring network in the years 2003-2007: during these events the peak discharge was higher than 1000 m3/s, which is actually quite a high value when compared to the mean discharge rate of about 30 m3/s. The rainfall spatial patterns of such storms were analyzed in previous works by means of geostatistical tools and a typical semivariogram was defined, with the aim of establishing a typical storm structure leading to flood events in the Taro river. The available information was implemented into a distributed flood event model with a spatial resolution of 90m; then the hydrologic detail was reduced by progressively assuming a uniform rainfall field and constant soil properties. A semi-distributed model, obtained by subdividing the catchment into three sub-catchment, and a lumped model were also applied to simulate the selected flood events. Errors were quantified in terms of the peak discharge ratio, the flood volume and the time to peak by comparing the simulated hydrographs to the observed ones.

Sperm quality and environment: A retrospective, cohort study in a Northern province of Italy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Santi, Daniele, E-mail: santi.daniele@gmail.com; Department of Medicine, Endocrinology, Metabolism and Geriatrics; Vezzani, Silvia

Background: Several studies proposed a relationship between environmental factors and semen quality, as well as the negative effect of air pollution on spermatogenesis and gonadal function. No specific studies evaluated the environmental influence on semen quality in a specific geographical area. Aim: to evaluate the environmental influence on male sperm parameters in a Northern Italian population referred for semen analysis in the National Health System. The objective of the study is the assessment of the relationship of both air pollution and environmental parameters with quality-related sperm variables, during the coldest months of the year when air is usually most polluted,more » due to low ventilation and poor rainfall. Study design: A retrospective, observational, cohort study was carried out in the province of Modena, located in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Methods: Semen analyses (n=406), environmental temperature, air humidity and air particulate matter (PM) measurements from the 1st of November 2014 to the 19th of February 2015 were acquired to the first database. Since spermatogenesis lasts over two months, a second, wider database was arranged, evaluating environmental exposure in the 3 months before semen collection (from August 1st 2014). All data included in the database were registered by geo-coding the residential address of the patients and the site of registration of environmental factors. The geo-codification of parameters was performed using Fusion Tables of Google available at (https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data? dsrcid=implicit), considering the exact time of measurement. Results: Average air temperature was inversely related to sperm concentration and to total sperm number (p<0.001). Semen volume was inversely related only to the minimum (p<0.001) and not to maximum recorded temperature (p=0.110). Air humidity was not related to sperm quantity and quality. PM{sub 2.5} was directly related to total sperm number (p<0.001). PM{sub 10} was directly related to both semen volume (0<0.001), and typical forms (p<0.001), inversely related to atypical forms (p<0.001), but related neither to sperm concentration (p=0.430) nor to sperm motility. The extended analyses considering environmental parameters in the 3 months before semen collection, confirmed the relationship between air temperature and sperm quantity, whereas no influence was found between PM and sperm quality. Conclusion: An influence of environmental temperature on semen quantity is suggested, without a clear effect of air pollution, as assessed through PM{sub 10} levels, on sperm parameter variations.« less

The 2012 Emilia earthquake in northern Italy: coseismic geological effects within a compressive tectonic framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montone, P.; Alessio, G.; Alfonsi, L.; Brunori, C.; Burrato, P.; Casula, G.; Cinti, F. R.; Civico, R.; Colini, L.; Cucci, L.; De Martini, P. M.; Falcucci, E.; Galadini, F.; Gaudiosi, G.; Gori, S.; Mariucci, M.; Moro, M.; Nappi, R.; Nardi, A.; Nave, R.; Pantosti, D.; Patera, A.; Pesci, A.; Pignone, M.; Pinzi, S.; Pucci, S.; Vannoli, P.; Venuti, A.; Villani, F.

2012-12-01

On May 20 2012 a Ml 5.9 seismic event hit the Emilia Po Plain area (northern Italy) triggering an intense earthquake activity along a broad area of the Plain. Nine days later, on May 29 a Ml 5.8 event occurred roughly 10 km to the SW of the first main shock; these events caused 26 victims and several injured and damages. The aftershock area extended for more than 50 km, in WNW-ESE direction, including five major aftershocks with 5.1≤Ml≤5.3 and more than two thousands of minor events. In general, the seismic sequence was confined in the upper 10 km of depth (ISIDe, http://iside.rm.ingv.it/). The focal mechanisms calculated for the main events and also for several M>4.5 aftershocks are almost all consistent with a compression (P-axes) N-S oriented due to thrust fault mechanisms. The two nodal planes, both E-W oriented, show a 40° southward and 60-70° northward dipping plane (QRCMT, Quick Regional Moment Tensors, http://autorcmt.bo.ingv.it/quicks.html), connected with the compressional regime of the area. From a tectonic point of view, the active Apennine thrust fronts, buried under the Po Plain Plio-Quaternary sediments, locally consist of three N-verging arcs. The most external structures, the active Ferrara and Mirandola thrusts and folds are responsible for the Emilia Romagna 2012 earthquake sequence. Just after the 20th May seismic event, the EMERGEO Working Group was active in surveying the epicentral area searching for coseismic geological effects. The survey lasted one month, involving about thirty researchers and technicians of the INGV in field and aerial investigations. Simultaneously, a laboratory-working group gathered, organized and interpreted the observations, processing them in the EMERGEO Information System (siE), on a GIS environment. The most common coseismic effects are: 1) liquefactions related to overpressure of aquifers hosted in buried and confined sand layers, occurring both as single cones or through several aligned vents forming coalescent sand blows; 2) extensional fractures with small vertical throws, apparently organized in an en-echelon pattern, observed mainly in the eastern sector and in the central area; 3) liquefactions directly associable to fractures where huge amounts of liquefied sand and fine sand was ejected from fractures tens of meters long. The dip of the fault plane, the depth of the main shock and the magnitude indeed did not induce any primary rupture at the surface.

The National Tumor Association Foundation (ANT): A 30 year old model of home palliative care

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Models of palliative care delivery develop within a social, cultural, and political context. This paper describes the 30-year history of the National Tumor Association (ANT), a palliative care organization founded in the Italian province of Bologna, focusing on this model of home care for palliative cancer patients and on its evaluation. Methods Data were collected from the 1986-2008 ANT archives and documents from the Emilia-Romagna Region Health Department, Italy. Outcomes of interest were changed in: number of patients served, performance status at admission (Karnofsky Performance Status score [KPS]), length of participation in the program (days of care provided), place of death (home vs. hospital/hospice), and satisfaction with care. Statistical methods included linear and quadratic regressions. A linear and a quadratic regressions were generated; the independent variable was the year, while the dependent one was the number of patients from 1986 to 2008. Two linear regressions were generated for patients died at home and in the hospital, respectively. For each regression, the R square, the unstandardized and standardized coefficients and related P-values were estimated. Results The number of patients served by ANT has increased continuously from 131 (1986) to a cumulative total of 69,336 patients (2008), at a steady rate of approximately 121 additional patients per year and with no significant gender difference. The annual number of home visits increased from 6,357 (1985) to 904,782 (2008). More ANT patients died at home than in hospice or hospital; this proportion increased from 60% (1987) to 80% (2007). The rate of growth in the number of patients dying in hospital/hospice was approximately 40 patients/year (p < 0.01), vs. approximately 177 patients/year for patients who died at home. The percentage of patients with KPS < 40 at admission decreased from 70% (2003) to 30% (2008); the percentage of patients with KPS > 40 increased. Mean days of care for patients with KPS > 40 exceeded mean days for patients with KPS < 40 (p < 0.001). Patients and caregivers reported high satisfaction with care in each year of assessment; in 2008, among 187 interviewed caregivers, 95% judged the quality of doctors' assistance, and 91% judged the quality of nurses' assistance, to be "optimal." Conclusions The ANT home care model of palliative care delivery has been well-received, with progressively growing numbers of patients served. It has resulted in a greater proportion of home deaths and in patients' accessing palliative care at an earlier point in the disease trajectory. Changes in ANT chronicle palliative care trends in general. PMID:20529310

Sperm quality and environment: A retrospective, cohort study in a Northern province of Italy.

PubMed

Santi, Daniele; Vezzani, Silvia; Granata, Antonio Rm; Roli, Laura; De Santis, Maria Cristina; Ongaro, Chiara; Donati, Federica; Baraldi, Enrica; Trenti, Tommaso; Setti, Monica; Simoni, Manuela

2016-10-01

Several studies proposed a relationship between environmental factors and semen quality, as well as the negative effect of air pollution on spermatogenesis and gonadal function. No specific studies evaluated the environmental influence on semen quality in a specific geographical area. to evaluate the environmental influence on male sperm parameters in a Northern Italian population referred for semen analysis in the National Health System. The objective of the study is the assessment of the relationship of both air pollution and environmental parameters with quality-related sperm variables, during the coldest months of the year when air is usually most polluted, due to low ventilation and poor rainfall. A retrospective, observational, cohort study was carried out in the province of Modena, located in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Semen analyses (n=406), environmental temperature, air humidity and air particulate matter (PM) measurements from the 1st of November 2014 to the 19th of February 2015 were acquired to the first database. Since spermatogenesis lasts over two months, a second, wider database was arranged, evaluating environmental exposure in the 3 months before semen collection (from August 1st 2014). All data included in the database were registered by geo-coding the residential address of the patients and the site of registration of environmental factors. The geo-codification of parameters was performed using Fusion Tables of Google available at https://www.google.com/fusiontables/data? dsrcid=implicit, considering the exact time of measurement. Average air temperature was inversely related to sperm concentration and to total sperm number (p<0.001). Semen volume was inversely related only to the minimum (p<0.001) and not to maximum recorded temperature (p=0.110). Air humidity was not related to sperm quantity and quality. PM2.5 was directly related to total sperm number (p<0.001). PM10 was directly related to both semen volume (0<0.001), and typical forms (p<0.001), inversely related to atypical forms (p<0.001), but related neither to sperm concentration (p=0.430) nor to sperm motility. The extended analyses considering environmental parameters in the 3 months before semen collection, confirmed the relationship between air temperature and sperm quantity, whereas no influence was found between PM and sperm quality. An influence of environmental temperature on semen quantity is suggested, without a clear effect of air pollution, as assessed through PM10 levels, on sperm parameter variations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Thermal comfort and indoor air quality in some of the italian state police workplaces.

PubMed

Chirico, Francesco; Rulli, Giuseppina

2017-12-01

Little can be found in the literature about thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ) in law enforcement workplaces. This study, based on environmental surveys carried out by the Centro Sanitario Polifunzionale of Milan (Italian State Police Health Service Department), aims to assess the thermal comfort and IAQ in some of the Italian State Police workplaces. Measurements were performed in some indoor workplaces such as offices, archives, laboratories and guard-houses in various regions (Lombardia, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Veneto, Trentino Alto-Adige) of Northern Italy. The PMV/PPD model developed by Fangar for the evaluation of the thermal comfort was used. We measured both CO2 concentration and relative humidity indoor levels for the evaluation of IAQ. We used Chi square and t Student tests to study both prevalence of thermal discomfort and low IAQ, and their differences between summer and winter. For the purposes of the present study we carried out 488 measurements in 36 buildings (260 in winter and 228 in summer). Our results showed that thermal comfort was reached in 95% and 68% of environmental measurements (in winter and summer, respectively). In summer, we measured different types of thermal discomfort. As regard to IAQ, CO2 exceeded the threshold limit value (1000 ppm) in 39% (winter) and 9% (summer) of our measurements. Chi-square test showed a statistically significant difference between summer and winter for all outcomes considered. Indeed, thermal comfort was better in winter than summer (X2 = 61.0795), while IAQ was found to be better in the summer than winter considering both the CO2 1000 ppm and 1200 ppm threshold values (X2 = 56.9004 and X2 = 8.8845 respectively). Prevalence of low relative humidity in winter was higher than in summer (X2 = 124.7764). Even though this study did not report any situation of risk to Italian police officers health and safety, it has highlighted some potential issues in some of the examined workplaces, concerning thermal comfort in summer and IAQ in winter. Regarding the risk assessment process, simple and inexpensive preventive measures are already feasible in the 'observation phase' of the risk assessment, before execution of instrumental environmental survey. According to the technical standards and risk assessment models, this way might increase both comfort levels for workers employed in indoor environments and the effectiveness of the risk assessment process, through the optimization of available resources. Copyright© by Aracne Editrice, Roma, Italy.

Assessing the impact of extreme air temperature on fruit trees by modeling weather dependent phenology with variety-specific thermal requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alfieri, Silvia Maria; De Lorenzi, Francesca; Missere, Daniele; Buscaroli, Claudio; Menenti, Massimo

2013-04-01

Extremely high and extremely low temperature may have a terminal impact on the productivity of fruit tree if occurring at critical phases of development. Notorious examples are frost during flowering or extremely high temperature during fruit setting. The dates of occurrence of such critical phenological stages depend on the weather history from the start of the yearly development cycle in late autumn, thus the impact of climate extremes can only be evaluated correctly if the phenological development is modeled taking into account the weather history of the specific year being evaluated. Climate change impact may lead to a shift in timing of phenological stages and change in the duration of vegetative and reproductive phases. A changing climate can also exhibit a greater climatic variability producing quite large changes in the frequency of extreme climatic events. We propose a two-stage approach to evaluate the impact of predicted future climate on the productivity of fruit trees. The phenological development is modeled using phase - specific thermal times and variety specific thermal requirements for several cultivars of pear, apricot and peach. These requirements were estimated using phenological observations over several years in Emilia Romagna region and scientific literature. We calculated the dates of start and end of rest completion, bud swell, flowering, fruit setting and ripening stages , from late autumn through late summer. Then phase-specific minimum and maximum cardinal temperature were evaluated for present and future climate to estimate how frequently they occur during any critically sensitive phenological phase. This analysis has been done for past climate (1961 - 1990) and fifty realizations of a year representative of future climate (2021 - 2050). A delay in rest completion of about 10-20 days has been predicted for future climate for most of the cultivars. On the other hand the predicted rise in air temperature causes an earlier development of crops thus a reduction in the length of the different phenological stages. Despite the earlier timing of phenological phases may expose the crops to frost hazard, the mean increase of air temperature avoids relevant impacts on crops. The frequency of air temperatures higher than the cardinal temperatures is expected to increase by 5% compared with the reference 1961 - 1990 climate. The work was carried out within the Italian national project AGROSCENARI funded by the Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forest Policies (MIPAAF, D.M. 8608/7303/2008)

Verification of forecast ensembles in complex terrain including observation uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorninger, Manfred; Kloiber, Simon

2017-04-01

Traditionally, verification means to verify a forecast (ensemble) with the truth represented by observations. The observation errors are quite often neglected arguing that they are small when compared to the forecast error. In this study as part of the MesoVICT (Mesoscale Verification Inter-comparison over Complex Terrain) project it will be shown, that observation errors have to be taken into account for verification purposes. The observation uncertainty is estimated from the VERA (Vienna Enhanced Resolution Analysis) and represented via two analysis ensembles which are compared to the forecast ensemble. For the whole study results from COSMO-LEPS provided by Arpae-SIMC Emilia-Romagna are used as forecast ensemble. The time period covers the MesoVICT core case from 20-22 June 2007. In a first step, all ensembles are investigated concerning their distribution. Several tests have been executed (Kolmogorov-Smirnov-Test, Finkelstein-Schafer Test, Chi-Square Test etc.) showing no exact mathematical distribution. So the main focus is on non-parametric statistics (e.g. Kernel density estimation, Boxplots etc.) and also the deviation between "forced" normal distributed data and the kernel density estimations. In a next step the observational deviations due to the analysis ensembles are analysed. In a first approach scores are multiple times calculated with every single ensemble member from the analysis ensemble regarded as "true" observation. The results are presented as boxplots for the different scores and parameters. Additionally, the bootstrapping method is also applied to the ensembles. These possible approaches to incorporating observational uncertainty into the computation of statistics will be discussed in the talk.

Food habits and nutritional status of adolescents in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

PubMed

Toselli, S; Argnani, L; Canducci, E; Ricci, E; Gualdi-Russo, E

2010-01-01

The prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity is increasing, with negative medical and psychosocial consequences. This study examines the association between weight status and nutrient intake, sport and leisure habits of middle school students in Bologna (Italy). Anthropometric data (height, weight) of 598 subjects (321 males and 277 females) 11-14 years old were collected. Questionnaires on nutrient intake, sport and leisure behaviour were administered. Protein, carbohydrate and total fat intakes of the adolescents were higher than the recommended ranges in all age groups and in both sexes. The proportion of energy from protein and total fat was higher than recommended, but the percentage from carbohydrate was lower. A significant proportion of the adolescents had a cholesterol intake above the Italian RDA and lower than recommended intakes for micronutrients. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is higher in males than in females at all ages (overweight: 35.2 vs 31.6 at 11 yrs.; 27.5 vs 20.2 at 12 yrs.; 18.6 vs 17.8 at 13 yrs.; 18.7 vs 10.9 at 14 yrs.; obesity: 5.5 vs 3.2 at 12 yrs.; 3.9 vs 1.1 at 13 yrs.; 5.3 vs 3.6 at 14 yrs.), except in subjects 11 years old (obesity: 7.4 vs 10.5). The overweight and obese adolescents consumed less carbohydrates and less fibre than their normal weight and underweight counterparts. The results of the present study indicate an unbalanced diet of the Bologna adolescents, which could damage their health and quality of life.

The structural hinge of a chain-foreland basin: Quaternary activity of the Pede-Apennine Thrust front (Northern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maestrelli, Daniele; Benvenuti, Marco; Bonini, Marco; Carnicelli, Stefano; Piccardi, Luigi; Sani, Federico

2018-01-01

The Pede-Apennine margin (Northern Italy) is a major WNW-ESE-trending morpho-structural element that delimits the Po Plain to the southwest and consists of a system of southwest dipping thrusts, generally referred to as Pede-Apennine Thrust (PAT). The leading edge of the chain lies further north-east and is buried beneath the Plio-Quaternary marine and fluvial deposits of the Po Plain. Whereas the buried external thrust fronts are obvious active structures (as demonstrated by the 2012 Emilia earthquakes; e.g. Burrato et al., 2012), ongoing activity of the PAT is debated. Using a multidisciplinary approach that integrates structural, seismic, sedimentological and pedological field data, we describe the recent activity of the PAT structures in a sector of the Pede-Apennine margin between the Panaro and the Enza Rivers (Emilia-Romagna). We found that the PAT is emergent or sub-emergent and deforms Middle Pleistocene deposits. We also infer a more recent tectonic phase ( 60-80 ka) by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of soil profiles that have been deformed by a recent reactivation of the PAT. Furthermore, we show evidence that the PAT and its external splay thrusts strongly influenced the drainage pattern, causing fluvial diversions and forcing paleo-rivers to develop roughly parallel to the margin. Finally, numerical Trishear modelling has been used to calculate deformation rates for the PAT along two transects. Extrapolated slip rates vary between 0.68 and 0.79 mm·yr- 1 for about the last 1.2-0.8 million years.

On the dynamics of viscous masonry beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucchesi, M.; Pintucchi, B.; Šilhavý, M.; Zani, N.

2015-05-01

In this paper, we consider the longitudinal and transversal vibrations of the masonry beams and arches. The basic motivation is the seismic vulnerability analysis of masonry structures that can be modeled as monodimensional elements. The Euler-Bernoulli hypothesis is employed for the system of forces in the beam. The axial force and the bending moment are assumed to consist of the elastic and viscous parts. The elastic part is described by the no-tension material, i.e., the material with no resistance to tension and which accounts for the cases of limitless, as well as bounded compressive strength. The adaptation of this material to beams has been developed in Orlandi (Analisi non lineare di strutture ad arco in muratura. Thesis, 1999) and Zani (Eur J Mech A/Solids 23:467-484, 2004). The viscous part amounts to the Kelvin-Voigt damping depending linearly on the time derivatives of the linearized strain and curvature. The dynamical equations are formulated, and a mathematical analysis of them is presented. Specifically, following Gajewski et al. (Nichtlineare Operatorgleichungen und Operatordifferentialgleichungen. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 1974), the theorems of existence, uniqueness and regularity of the solution of the dynamical equations are recapitulated and specialized for our purposes, to support the numerical analysis applied previously in Lucchesi and Pintucchi (Eur J Mech A/Solids 26:88-105, 2007 ). As usual, for that the Galerkin method has been used. As an illustration, two numerical examples (slender masonry tower and masonry arch) are presented in this paper with the applied forces corresponding to the acceleration in the earthquake in Emilia Romagna in May 29, 2012.

Spirits and liqueurs in European traditional medicine: Their history and ethnobotany in Tuscany and Bologna (Italy).

PubMed

Egea, Teresa; Signorini, Maria Adele; Bruschi, Piero; Rivera, Diego; Obón, Concepción; Alcaraz, Francisco; Palazón, José Antonio

2015-12-04

Fermented drinks, often alcoholic, are relevant in many nutritional, medicinal, social, ritual and religious aspects of numerous traditional societies. The use of alcoholic drinks of herbal extracts is documented in classical pharmacy since the 1st century CE and it is often recorded in ethnobotanical studies in Europe, particularly in Italy, where are used for a wide range of medicinal purposes. Formulations and uses represent a singular tradition which responds to a wide range of environmental and cultural factors. This research has two overarching aims To determine how long ancient uses, recipes and formulas for medicinal liqueurs from the pharmacopoeias and herbals of the 18th century persisted in later periods and their role in present ethnobotanical knowledge in areas of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna (Italy). To trace other possible relationships among ancient and recent recipes of alcoholic beverages, from both popular and 'classic' (learned) sources in N-C Italy and neighboring areas. The review of herbals and classical pharmacopoeias, and ethnobotanical field work in Alta Valle del Reno (Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, Italy) were followed of a systematic study of ingredients and medicinal uses with multivariate analysis techniques. The multivariate analysis clearly shows six different styles of preparing medicinal alcoholic beverages: 1. The medicinal wine formulae by Dioscorides (1st century CE). 2. The pharmacopoeias of Florence and Bologna in the 18th century CE. 3. The formularies of Santa Maria Novella and Castiglione (19th and early 20th centuries CE). 4. The ethnobotanical data from Appennino Tosco-Emiliano; home-made formulations based almost exclusively on the use of local resources. 5. Traditional recipes from NE Italy and Austria. 6. Traditional recipes from NW Italy, Emilia, and Provence (France). A total of 54 ingredients (29 fruits) from 48 species are used in different combinations and proportions in Alta Valle del Reno (Italy) to produce fermented beverages, liqueurs, distilled spirits and aromatized wines. Among these, 37 ingredients (33 species) are used as medicinal remedies. 15 ingredients (14 species) are also used to prepare specific medicinal liqueurs. Most are addressed to the treatment of diseases of the digestive system, dyspepsia in particular, followed by diseases of the respiratory system symptoms, not elsewhere classified and diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, fundamentally of allergic origin. Although medicinal wines, liqueurs and spirits are recorded in numerous classical herbals and pharmacopoeias in Italy and other countries of Europe these show in terms of formulations and ingredients little influence in the ethnobotanical formulations recorded in Alta Valle del Reno (Italy), they apparently play no role in present ethnobotanical knowledge in Appennino Tosco-Emiliano and similarly in other areas of Italy, France and Austria. No (or very poor) persistence was found of ancient uses, recipes and formulas for medicinal liqueurs from pharmacopoeias and herbals of the 16th century CE in later periods in the formulas in use in the pharmacies of Tuscany. Popular recipes are strongly dependent on the availability of local wild and cultivated plants. Overall, Alta Valle del Reno ethnobotanical formulations of medicinal wines and spirits are extremely simple involving from one single ingredient to a few, which are locally produced or collected and selected among relevant medicinal resources used for a wide range of diseases in form of non-alcoholic aqueous extracts. Fruits gathered in the forests are the main ingredients which in this aspect show similarities with those from Tyrol (Austria). Medicinal liqueurs and wines are in analyzed ethnobotanical data mainly employed as digestives. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Age and speleogenesis of epigenic gypsum caves in the northern Apennines (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Columbu, Andrea; Chiarini, Veronica; De Waele, Jo; Drysdale, Russell; Forti, Paolo; Hellstrom, John; Woodhead, Jon

2016-04-01

Triassic and Messinian gypsum beds host the majority of the caves in the eastern flank of the northern Apennines. To date, more than six hundreds voids have been mapped, including the longest known epigenic gypsum cave system in the world (Spipola-Acquafredda, ~11 km of tunnels) (De Waele et al., 2013). Superimposed caves are typically sub-horizontal (Klimchouk, 2000) and connected through vertical shafts, reflecting the palaeo base-level variations. When preserved, river terraces at the surface lie at the same palaeo altitude of the base level and horizontal cave passages. Notwithstanding the well-known geology of the area known (Vai and Martini, 2001), the age of these caves has been greatly underestimated in the past. Considering the rapid dissolution of the gypsum and uplifting of the area, the start of speleogenesis activity was considered to have occurred during the last glacial age. The age of karst voids can be only indirectly estimated by the dating of the infilling sediments. U-Th dating on carbonate speleothems provides high-precision and accurate ages (Hellstrom, 2003; Scholz and Hoffmann, 2008). We thus applied this methodology to 20 speleothems coming from 14 different caves belonging to the Monte Tondo, Spipola Acquafredda, Castelnuovo, Stella-Rio Basino and Brisighella systems. The results show that: i) caves were forming since at least ~300 ka; ii) the peak of speleogenesis was reached during relatively cold climate stages, when rivers formed terraces at the surface and aggradation caused paragenesis in the stable cave levels (Columbu et al., 2015). Besides the significant contribution to the understanding of the Apennines evaporite karst evolution, this study (and its further advancement) may also refine knowledge of the local vs regional uplifting rates and base-level variations since the late Pleistocene (Wegmann and Pazzaglia, 2009). References Columbu, A., De Waele, J., Forti, P., Montagna, P., Picotti, V., Pons-Branchu, E., Hellstrom, J., Bajo, P., and Drysdale, R., 2015, Gypsum caves as indicators of climate-driven river incision and aggradation in a rapidly uplifting region: Geology. De Waele, J., Fabbri, F., Forti, P., Lucci, P., and Marabini, S., 2013, Evoluzione speleogenetica del sistema carsico del re Tiberio (Vena del gesso Romagnola): I gessi e la cava di Monte Tondo. Memorie dell'istituto Italiano di speleologia. Hellstrom, J., 2003, Rapid and accurate U/Th dating using parallel ion-counting multi-collector ICP-MS.: Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, v. 18. Klimchouk, A. B., 2000, Speleogenesis in noncarbonate lithologies: In: Klimchouk, A.B., Ford, D.C., Palmer, A.N., Dreybrodt, W. (Eds.) Speleogenesis, evolution of karst aquifers, p. 430-442. Scholz, D., and Hoffmann, D., 2008, 230Th/U-dating of fossil corals and speleothems: Quat. Sci. J, v. 57, p. 52. Vai, G. B., and Martini, I. P., 2001, Anatomy of an orogen: The Apennines and adjacent Mediterranean:: Dordrecht, Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publishers,, p. 631. Wegmann, K. W., and Pazzaglia, F. J., 2009, Late Quaternary fluvial terraces of the Romagna and Marche Apennines, Italy: climatic, lithologic, and tectonic controls on terrace genesis in an active orogen: Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 28, no. 1, p. 137-165.

Earthquakes and depleted gas reservoirs: which comes first?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mucciarelli, M.; Donda, F.; Valensise, G.

2015-10-01

While scientists are paying increasing attention to the seismicity potentially induced by hydrocarbon exploitation, so far, little is known about the reverse problem, i.e. the impact of active faulting and earthquakes on hydrocarbon reservoirs. The 20 and 29 May 2012 earthquakes in Emilia, northern Italy (Mw 6.1 and 6.0), raised concerns among the public for being possibly human-induced, but also shed light on the possible use of gas wells as a marker of the seismogenic potential of an active fold and thrust belt. We compared the location, depth and production history of 455 gas wells drilled along the Ferrara-Romagna arc, a large hydrocarbon reserve in the southeastern Po Plain (northern Italy), with the location of the inferred surface projection of the causative faults of the 2012 Emilia earthquakes and of two pre-instrumental damaging earthquakes. We found that these earthquake sources fall within a cluster of sterile wells, surrounded by productive wells at a few kilometres' distance. Since the geology of the productive and sterile areas is quite similar, we suggest that past earthquakes caused the loss of all natural gas from the potential reservoirs lying above their causative faults. To validate our hypothesis we performed two different statistical tests (binomial and Monte Carlo) on the relative distribution of productive and sterile wells, with respect to seismogenic faults. Our findings have important practical implications: (1) they may allow major seismogenic sources to be singled out within large active thrust systems; (2) they suggest that reservoirs hosted in smaller anticlines are more likely to be intact; and (3) they also suggest that in order to minimize the hazard of triggering significant earthquakes, all new gas storage facilities should use exploited reservoirs rather than sterile hydrocarbon traps or aquifers.

A novel approach emphasising intra-operative superficial margin enhancement of head-neck tumours with narrow-band imaging in transoral robotic surgery.

PubMed

Vicini, C; Montevecchi, F; D'Agostino, G; DE Vito, A; Meccariello, G

2015-06-01

The primary goal of surgical oncology is to obtain a tumour resection with disease-free margins. Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) for surgical treatment of head-neck cancer is commensurate with standard treatments. However, the likelihood of positive margins after TORS is up to 20.2% in a recent US survey. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and the feasibility of narrow-band imaging (NBI) during TORS in order to improve the ability to achieve disease-free margins during tumour excision. The present study was conducted at the ENT, Head- Neck Surgery and Oral Surgery Unit, Department of Special Surgery, Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital, Azienda USL Romagna. From March 2008 to January 2015, 333 TORS were carried out for malignant and benign diseases. For the present study, we retrospectively evaluated 58 biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinoma patients who underwent TORS procedures. Patients were divided into 2 groups: (1) 32 who underwent TORS and intra-operative NBI evaluation (NBI-TORS); (2) 21 who underwent TORS with standard intra-operative white-light imaging (WLITORS). Frozen section analysis of margins on surgical specimens showed a higher rate of negative superficial lateral margins in the NBI-TORS group compared with the WLI-TORS group (87.9% vs. 57.9%, respectively, p = 0.02). The sensitivity and specificity of intra-operative use of NBI, respectively, were 72.5% and 66.7% with a negative predictive value of 87.9%. Tumour margin enhancement provided by NBI associated with magnification and 3-dimensional view of the surgical field might increase the capability to achieve an oncologically-safe resection in challenging anatomical areas where minimal curative resection is strongly recommended for function preservation.

Authenticating the recovery location of meteorites: The case of Castenaso

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Folco, Luigi; D'Orazio, Massimo; Perchiazzi, Natale

2007-03-01

This forensic work aims to authenticate the recovery location of Castenaso, a 120 g ordinary chondritic (L5) meteorite reportedly found in 2003 along the sandy bank of the Idice Stream, near the village of Castenaso (Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy). Using the hypothesis that Castenaso was instead a hot-desert meteorite, we conducted a comparative mineralogical and geochemical study of major weathering effects on European and Saharan ordinary chondrites as potential markers of the environment where Castenaso resided during its terrestrial lifetime.Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) data reveals that Castenaso is significantly enriched in Sr, Ba, Tl, and U, and suggests geochemical alteration in a hot-desert environment. The alteration is minor: Castenaso is not coated by desert varnish and does not show significant light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment or loss of Ni and Co.The apparent contrast in size, morphology, and composition between the soil particles filling the external fractures of Castenaso and those from the bank of the Idice Stream observed under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) suggests that Castenaso did not reside at the reported find location. Abraded quartz grains (up to 1 mm in size) in Castenaso are undoubtedly from a hot-desert eolian environment: they are well-rounded and show external surfaces characterized by the presence of dish-shaped concavities and upturned silica plates that have been subject to solution-precipitation and subsequent smoothing.We therefore conclude that Castenaso is one of the many hot-desert ordinary chondrite finds, probably from the Sahara, that is currently available on the market. This forensic work provides the scientific grounds for changing the name of this meteorite.

PubMed Central

VICINI, C.; MONTEVECCHI, F.; D'AGOSTINO, G.; DE VITO, A.

2015-01-01

SUMMARY The primary goal of surgical oncology is to obtain a tumour resection with disease-free margins. Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) for surgical treatment of head-neck cancer is commensurate with standard treatments. However, the likelihood of positive margins after TORS is up to 20.2% in a recent US survey. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and the feasibility of narrow-band imaging (NBI) during TORS in order to improve the ability to achieve disease-free margins during tumour excision. The present study was conducted at the ENT, Head- Neck Surgery and Oral Surgery Unit, Department of Special Surgery, Morgagni Pierantoni Hospital, Azienda USL Romagna. From March 2008 to January 2015, 333 TORS were carried out for malignant and benign diseases. For the present study, we retrospectively evaluated 58 biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinoma patients who underwent TORS procedures. Patients were divided into 2 groups: (1) 32 who underwent TORS and intra-operative NBI evaluation (NBI-TORS); (2) 21 who underwent TORS with standard intra-operative white-light imaging (WLITORS). Frozen section analysis of margins on surgical specimens showed a higher rate of negative superficial lateral margins in the NBI-TORS group compared with the WLI-TORS group (87.9% vs. 57.9%, respectively, p = 0.02). The sensitivity and specificity of intra-operative use of NBI, respectively, were 72.5% and 66.7% with a negative predictive value of 87.9%. Tumour margin enhancement provided by NBI associated with magnification and 3-dimensional view of the surgical field might increase the capability to achieve an oncologically-safe resection in challenging anatomical areas where minimal curative resection is strongly recommended for function preservation. PMID:26246659

The Prognostic Roles of Gender and O6-Methylguanine-DNA Methyltransferase Methylation Status in Glioblastoma Patients: The Female Power.

PubMed

Franceschi, Enrico; Tosoni, Alicia; Minichillo, Santino; Depenni, Roberta; Paccapelo, Alexandro; Bartolini, Stefania; Michiara, Maria; Pavesi, Giacomo; Urbini, Benedetta; Crisi, Girolamo; Cavallo, Michele A; Tosatto, Luigino; Dazzi, Claudio; Biasini, Claudia; Pasini, Giuseppe; Balestrini, Damiano; Zanelli, Francesca; Ramponi, Vania; Fioravanti, Antonio; Giombelli, Ermanno; De Biase, Dario; Baruzzi, Agostino; Brandes, Alba A

2018-04-01

Clinical and molecular factors are essential to define the prognosis in patients with glioblastoma (GBM). O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) methylation status, age, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), and extent of surgical resection are the most relevant prognostic factors. Our investigation of the role of gender in predicting prognosis shows a slight survival advantage for female patients. We performed a prospective evaluation of the Project of Emilia Romagna on Neuro-Oncology (PERNO) registry to identify prognostic factors in patients with GBM who received standard treatment. A total of 169 patients (99 males [58.6%] and 70 females [41.4%]) were evaluated prospectively. MGMT methylation was evaluable in 140 patients. Among the male patients, 36 were MGMT methylated (25.7%) and 47 were unmethylated (33.6%); among the female patients, 32 were methylated (22.9%) and 25 were unmethylated (17.9%). Survival was longer in the methylated females compared with the methylated males (P = 0.028) but was not significantly different between the unmethylated females and the unmethylated males (P = 0.395). In multivariate analysis, gender and MGMT methylation status considered together (methylated females vs. methylated males; hazard ratio [HR], 0.459; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.242-0.827; P = 0.017), age (HR, 1.025; 95% CI, 1.002-1.049; P = 0.032), and KPS (HR, 0.965; 95% CI, 0.948-0.982; P < 0.001) were significantly correlated with survival. Survival was consistently longer among MGMT methylated females compared with males. Gender can be considered as a further prognostic factor. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rise and fall of outbreak-specific clone inside endemic pulsotype of Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:-; insights from high-resolution molecular surveillance in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, 2012 to 2015.

PubMed

Morganti, Marina; Bolzoni, Luca; Scaltriti, Erika; Casadei, Gabriele; Carra, Elena; Rossi, Laura; Gherardi, Paola; Faccini, Fabio; Arrigoni, Norma; Sacchi, Anna Rita; Delledonne, Marco; Pongolini, Stefano

2018-03-01

Background and aimEpidemiology of human non-typhoid salmonellosis is characterised by recurrent emergence of new clones of the pathogen over time. Some clonal lines of Salmonella have shaped epidemiology of the disease at global level, as happened for serotype Enteritidis or, more recently, for Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:-, a monophasic variant of serotype Typhimurium. The same clonal behaviour is recognisable at sub-serotype level where single outbreaks or more generalised epidemics are attributable to defined clones. The aim of this study was to understand the dynamics of a clone of Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:- over a 3-year period (2012-15) in a province of Northern Italy where the clone caused a large outbreak in 2013. Furthermore, the role of candidate outbreak sources was investigated and the accuracy of multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) was evaluated. Methods: we retrospectively investigated the outbreak through whole genome sequencing (WGS) and further monitored the outbreak clone for 2 years after its conclusion. Results: The study showed the transient nature of the clone in the population, possibly as a consequence of its occasional expansion in a food-processing facility. We demonstrated that important weaknesses characterise conventional typing methods applied to clonal pathogens such as Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:-, namely lack of accuracy for MLVA and inadequate resolution power for PFGE to be reliably used for clone tracking. Conclusions : The study provided evidence for the remarkable prevention potential of whole genome sequencing used as a routine tool in systems that integrate human, food and animal surveillance.

Smoking habits, exposure to passive smoking and attitudes to a non-smoking policy among hospital staff.

PubMed

Zanetti, F; Gambi, A; Bergamaschi, A; Gentilini, F; De Luca, G; Monti, C; Stampi, S

1998-01-01

A survey was carried out into the smoking habits and exposure to passive smoking among health staff in the hospitals of Faenza, Forli and Rimini (Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy), 2453 subjects answered anonymously a 41 question questionnaire. 53% of the subjects were professionals nurses, 16% doctors, 15% maintenance staff, 10% ancillary staff, 1% non-medical graduates, 2% were administrators and 3% were assigned to the category ¿other'. Of the subjects answering the questionnaire 39% were smokers, 19% ex-smokers and 42% non smokers. The highest number of smokers was found among women (41%) compared to men (37%) and among ancillary staff (48%) compared to nurses (41%) and doctors (31%). The males were mostly heavy smokers (> or = 20 cigarettes/d) and smoked strong cigarettes (> or = 12 mg/cig condensate content). The females were mostly light smokers (< 10 cigarettes/d) and smoked light cigarettes (1-6 mg/cig condensate content). A high percentage of subjects (87%) smoked at work especially in areas reserved for staff. 43% and 26% of shift workers and non-shift workers tended not to modify their habit when on morning or afternoon shifts. During night shifts the majority of them increased their tobacco consumption. Around 87% of hospital employees stated they were exposed to passive smoking inside the hospital especially in cooking areas, at information desks and corridors. Nurses, ancillaries and maintenance staff were those most exposed and for a greater number of hours per day compared to doctors. Almost all subjects were aware of the harm caused by passive smoking. 56% of smokers, 65% of ex-smokers and 72% of non smokers said they were willing to participate in future campaigns to limit smoking in their hospitals.

Strangers in a strange land: work experiences of foreign nurses in Parma's territory.

PubMed

Vesperoni, Pietro; Masera, Giuliana

2015-03-13

The purpose of this research is to explore, investigate and describe experiences and points of view of foreign nurses working in the area of Parma. We focalize particularly on two areas of interest: negativities and positivities in experiences related to the process of integration into the new working environment. The literature search has revealed that the phenomenon of "nursing immigration" is numerically significant in Italy and more particularly in Emilia Romagna. From studies conducted in other countries (UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Iceland) there are two categories of factors which influence the process of integration of foreign nurses in the new working environment, facilitators and barriers. For this study we followed the phenomenological method . A total of twelve foreign nurses were interviewed in the months of October and November 2013 in the territory of Parma working in various professional fields (medicine, critical care and surgery). We did not impose any structure to interviews so that respondents were free to express their lived experiences spontaneously. All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed by the method of Giorgi (1970). Results obtained from the analysis of interviews revealed seven themes, divided in positivities and negativities. Positivities are psycho-social support (Italian colleagues, fellow countrymen, patients), opportunities of cultural enrichment, positive work ethic. negativities are difficulty of language and communication, and inequalities racial prejudice, differences in care practices and inadequate opportunities for professional growth related to the Italian working environment. The study concludes by pointing out the importance of the role that foreign nurses can play in our health care system and how the results of this search can help all professionals in the health sector to have a greater understanding of their experiences. This knowledge can make a contribution to the development of new quantitative research in the same area and then to the formation of new strategies for hospitality and support.

Organic aerosol evolution and transport observed at Mt. Cimone (2165 m a.s.l.), Italy, during the PEGASOS campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rinaldi, M.; Gilardoni, S.; Paglione, M.; Sandrini, S.; Fuzzi, S.; Massoli, P.; Bonasoni, P.; Cristofanelli, P.; Marinoni, A.; Poluzzi, V.; Decesari, S.

2015-10-01

High-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer measurements were performed, for the first time, at the Mt. Cimone Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station between June and July 2012, within the EU project PEGASOS and the ARPA-Emilia-Romagna project SUPERSITO. Submicron aerosol was dominated by organics (63 %), with sulfate, ammonium and nitrate contributing the remaining 20, 9 and 7 %, respectively. Organic aerosol (OA) was in general highly oxygenated, consistent with the remote character of the site; our observations suggest that oxidation and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation processes occurred during aerosol transport to high altitudes. All of the aerosol component concentrations as well as the OA elemental ratios showed a clear daily trend, driven by the evolution of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and by the mountain wind regime. Higher loadings and lower OA oxidation levels were observed during the day, when the site was within the PBL, and therefore affected by relatively fresh aerosol transported from lower altitudes. Conversely, lower loadings and higher OA oxidation levels were observed at night, when the top of Mt. Cimone resided in the free troposphere although affected by the transport of residual layers on several days of the campaign. Analysis of the elemental ratios in a Van Krevelen space shows that OA oxidation follows a slope comprised between -0.5 and -1, consistent with addition of carboxylic groups, with or without fragmentation of the parent molecules. The increase of carboxylic groups during OA ageing is confirmed by the increased contribution of organic fragments containing more than one oxygen atom in the free troposphere night-time mass spectra. Finally, positive matrix factorization was able to deconvolve the contributions of relatively fresh OA (OOAa) originating from the PBL, more aged OA (OOAb) present at high altitudes during periods of atmospheric stagnation, and very aged aerosols (OOAc) transported over long distances in the free troposphere.

Formation of Oxidized Organic Aerosol (OOA) through Fog Processing in the Po Valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilardoni, S.; Paglione, M.; Rinaldi, M.; Giulianelli, L.; Massoli, P.; Hillamo, R. E.; Carbone, S.; Lanconelli, C.; Laaksonen, A. J.; Russell, L. M.; Poluzzi, V.; Fuzzi, S.; Facchini, C.

2014-12-01

Aqueous phase chemistry might be responsible for the formation of a significant fraction of the organic aerosol (OA) observed in the atmosphere, and could explain some of the discrepancies between OA concentration and properties predicted by models and observed in the environment. Aerosol - fog interaction and its effect on submicron aerosol properties were investigated in the Po Valley (northern Italy) during fall 2011, in the framework of the Supersite project (ARPA Emilia Romagna). Composition and physical properties of submicron aerosol were measured online by a High Resolution- Time of Flight - Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-TOF-AMS), a Soot Photometer - Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (SP-AMS), and a Tandem Differential Mobility Particle Sizer (TDMPS). Organic functional group analysis was performed off-line by Hydrogen - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (H-NMR) spectrometry and by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry. Aerosol absorption, scattering, and total extinction were measured simultaneously with a Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP), a Nephelometer, and a Cavity Attenuated Phase Shift Spectrometer particle extinction monitor (CAPS PMex), respectively. Water-soluble organic carbon in fog-water was characterized off-line by HR-TOF-AMS. Fourteen distinct fog events were observed. Fog dissipation left behind an aerosol enriched in particles larger than 400 nm, typical of fog and cloud processing, and dominated by secondary species, including ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate and oxidized OA (OOA). Source apportionment of OA allowed us to identify OOA as the difference between total OA and primary OA (hydrocarbon like OA and biomass burning OA). The formation of OOA through fog processing is proved by the correlation of OOA concentration with hydroxyl methyl sulfonate signal and by the similarity of OOA spectra with organic mass spectra obtained by re-aerosolization of fog water samples. The oxygen to carbon ratio and the hydrogen to carbon ratio of this OOA fraction was about 0.6 and 1.3, respectively. Organic functional group analysis showed that OOA observed after fog dissipation was characterized by organic-sulfur and organic-nitrogen species.

Communications and relationships between patient and nurse in Intensive Care Unit: knowledge, knowledge of the work, knowledge of the emotional state.

PubMed

Foà, Chiara; Cavalli, Lisa; Maltoni, Alessia; Tosello, Nicoletta; Sangilles, Chiara; Maron, Ilaria; Borghini, Marina; Artioli, Giovanna

2016-11-22

In an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) the communication between nurse and patient, the core of the care, is often hindered by patient's cognitive alterations and critical situation, by devices employed for the mechanical ventilation, and by the clinical and care-giving setting. How to overcome these barriers? How is the relational and communicative approach between nurse and patient unable to express him or herself to be managed? The available literature reveals that studies on communication with difficult patients, such as those treated in ICU are currently scarce. The present research offers a contribution in this respect, through fact-finding about the knowledge acquired by professional studies or work experiences, the personal and institutional techniques implemented in regards to communication (knowledge of the work), the relational behaviours and the emotional experience with patients (knowledge of the emotional state) of nurses working in the Intensive Care Units. A semi-structured interview have been designed and submitted to 30 nurses working in fourteen Highly Specialized Centres (HUB) in Emilia Romagna, Italy. Two nurses with different years of experience in the field have been chosen for each Operating Unit. According to the interviewees paraverbal communication is the most common way to communicate with patients: different strategies are employed such as facial expression or lip movement. In any case, the nurse has the task to choose the most suitable technique according to his or her experiences, his or her knowledge and the patient him or herself. The results claim that lack of specific training on communicative aspects of care, should be combined with an attitude of being prone to listening to and understanding the needs of the patient and of his or her family as well. The interviewees declare they have a solid preparation in the bio-clinical aspect of care, but both new hired nurses and experts affirm that they need a specific training in relational and communicative aspects, proving its importance.

Performance analysis of coupled and uncoupled hydrodynamic and wave models in the northern Adriatic Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Busca, Claudia; Coluccelli, Alessandro; Valentini, Andrea; Benetazzo, Alvise; Bonaldo, Davide; Bortoluzzi, Giovanni; Carniel, Sandro; Falcieri, Francesco; Paccagnella, Tiziana; Ravaioli, Mariangela; Riminucci, Francesco; Sclavo, Mauro; Russo, Aniello

2014-05-01

The complex dynamics of the Adriatic Sea are the result of geographical position, orography and bathymetry, as well as rivers discharge and meteorological conditions that influence, more strongly, the shallow northern part. Such complexity requires a constant monitoring of marine conditions in order to support several activities (marine resources management, naval operations, emergency management, shipping, tourism, as well as scientific ones). Platforms, buoys and mooring located in Adriatic Sea supply almost continuously real time punctual information, which can be spatially extended, with some limitations, by drifters and remote sensing. Operational forecasting systems represent valid tools to provide a complete tridimensional coverage of the area, with a high spatial and temporal resolution. The Hydro-Meteo-Clima Service of the Emilia-Romagna Environmental Agency (ARPA-SIMC, Bologna, Italy) and the Dept. of Life and Environmental Sciences of Università Politecnica delle Marche (DISVA-UNIVPM, Ancona, Italy), in collaboration with the Institute of Marine Science of the National Research Council (ISMAR-CNR, Italy) operationally run several wave and hydrodynamic models on the Adriatic Sea. The main implementations are based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), the wave model Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN), and the coupling of the former two models in the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) system. Horizontal resolutions of the different systems range from the 2 km of AdriaROMS to the 0.5 km of the recently implemented northern Adriatic COAWST. Forecasts are produced every day for the subsequent 72 hour with hourly resolution. All the systems compute the fluxes exchanged through the interface with the atmosphere from the numerical weather prediction system named COSMO-I7, an implementation for Italy of the Consortium for Small-scale Modeling (COSMO) model, at 7 km horizontal resolution. Considering the several operational implementations currently running, there is the need to: assess their forecast skill; quantitatively evaluate if the new, coupled systems provide better performances than the uncoupled ones; individuate weaknesses and eventual time trends in the forecasts quality, their causes, and actions to improve the systems. This work presents a first effort aimed to satisfy such need. We employ in situ and remote sensing data collected starting from November 2011, in particular: temperature and salinity data collected during several oceanographic cruises, sea surface temperature derived from satellite measurements, waves, sea level and currents measurements from oceanographic buoys and platforms; specific observational activities funded by the Italian Flagship project RITMARE allowed to collect new measurements in NA coastal areas. Data-model comparison is firstly performed with exploratory qualitative comparisons in order to highlight discrepancies between observed and forecasted data, then a quantitative comparison is performed through the computation of standard statistical scores (root mean square error, mean error, mean bias, standard deviation, cross-correlation). Results are plotted in Taylor diagrams for a rapid evaluation of the overall performances.

Kinematic analysis of recent and active faults of the southern Umbria-Marche domain, Northern Apennines, Italy: geological constraints to geodynamic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasqui, Valeria; Viti, Marcello; Mantovani, Enzo

2013-04-01

The recent and active deformation that affects the crest zone of the Umbria-Marche belt (Northern Apennines, Italy) displays a remarkable extensional character, outlined by development of normal fault sets that overprint pre-existing folds and thrusts of Late Miocene-Early Pliocene age. The main extensional fault systems often bound intermontane depressions hosting recent, mainly continental, i.e. fluvial or lacustrine deposits, separating the latter from Triassic-Miocene, mainly carbonatic and siliciclastic marine rocks that belong to the Romagna-Umbria-Marche stratigraphic succession. Stratigraphic data indicate that the extensional strain responsible for the development of normal fault-bounded continental basins in the outer zones of the Northern Apennines was active until Middle Pleistocene time. Since Middle Pleistocene time onwards a major geodynamic change has affected the Central Mediterranean region, with local reorganization of the kinematics in the Adria domain and adjacent Apennine belt. A wide literature illustrates that the overall deformation field of the Central Mediterranean area is presently governed by the relative movements between the Eurasia and Africa plates. The complex interaction of the Africa-Adria and the Anatolian-Aegean-Balkan domains has led the Adria microplate to migrate NW-ward and to collide against Eurasia along the Eastern Southern Alps. As a consequence Adria is presently moving with a general left-lateral displacement with respect to the Apennine mountain belt. The sinistral component of active deformations is also supported by analysis of earthquake focal mechanisms. A comparison between geophysical and geological evidence outlines an apparent discrepancy: most recognized recent and active faults display a remarkable extensional character, as shown by the geometry of continental basin-bounding structutes, whereas geodetic and seismologic evidence indicates the persistency of an active strike-slip, left-lateral dominated strain field. The coexistence of extensional and strike-slip regimes, in principle difficult to achieve, may be explained in the framework of a transtensional deformation model where extensional components, normal to the main NW-directed structural trends, are associated to left-lateral strike-slip movements parallel to the main NW-directed structural trends. Critical for the evaluation of the internal consistency of a deformation model for the brittle upper crustal levels is the definition of the kinematics of active faults. In this study we illustrate the preliminary results of a kinematic analysis carried out along 20, exceptionally well exposed, recent and active fault surfaces cropping out in the southernmost portion of the Umbria-Marche belt adjacent to its termination against the the Latium-Abruzzi domain to the East. The collected data indicate that the investigated faults reflect a kinematically oblique character, and that development of these structures may be explained in the framework of a left-dominated transtensional strain field. More important, the data indicate that fault kinematic analysis is an effective tool in testing geodynamic models for actively deforming crustal domains.

Effect of compost supplies on soil bulk density and aggregate stability. Results from a six years trial in two experimental fields in Northern Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calzolari, C.; Ungaro, F.; Salvador, P.; Torri, D.

2009-04-01

Results of a long term trial (2002-2007) on the effect of different organic amendments on topsoil structural properties at the end of the 6th year are presented. Two soils located in two experimental farms of the Emilia-Romagna region (Northern Italy), namely a silty clay loam Haplic Calcisol under sorghum (Sorghum bicolor, L.) continuous cropping, and a silty Calcaric Cambisols under peach (Persica vulgaris, Mill.), have been treated with a different amount of organic amendments. Four different treatments were tested plus control: manure (10 Mg ha-1 y-1), low input compost (5 and 10 Mg ha-1 y-1), high input compost (10 and 40 Mg ha-1 y-1), and no-tillage. In all the plots soil samples were collected three times every year: at the beginning of the growing season, at full crop coverage and after harvest. At each time, samples were collected in three replicates and soil bulk density and aggregate stability were measured. At the end of the 6 years trial 930 bulk density and 405 aggregate stability measurements were made available. The influence of organic amendments on soil physical properties is different according to the considered soil property and to the different soils. Soil bulk density (BD) shows clear and statistically significant differences among the tested theses, all with a marked seasonality and distinct temporal trends. The overall trends observed in the two soils are coherent with the amount of organic matter distributed in the different theses and with the field operations (tillage mainly), but with a short term effect. More important, over the period of observation and within each year, the treatments exhibit cyclical variations due to climate seasonality. Among the treatments, that with distribution of manure exhibits the weakest seasonal variations and a substantially stable general trend, with BD values slightly lower than those observed for the control. Different effects are also observed on soil aggregates stability, but also in this case a temporal trend is not clearly detectable, suggesting that the amendments have no cumulative effect at least during the 6 years of observations, and the responses are different in the two trials: slightly positive for the low compost supply in the silty clay loam Haplic Calcisol and negative for both low and high compost supply in the silty Calcaric Cambisols. The dominant issue is the seasonal variability of aggregate resistance which is well shown at the site where more data are available. Data also hints an ambiguous behavior of the compost: increasing the amount of applied compost leads to a slight increase in aggregate stability which is then followed by a decrease, as if the aggregation capability of the compost is counteracted by a dispersion effect.

3D Quaternary deformation pattern in the central Po Plain (Northern Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sileo, G.; Mueller, K.; Michetti, A. M.; Livio, F.; Berlusconi, A.; Carcano, C.; Rogledi, S.; Vittori, E.

2009-04-01

The Po Plain is a foredeep basin flanked by the two major and active orogens of the Italian Peninsula, the Alps to the North and the Apennines to the South. The basin has a quasi - triangular shape and grades longitudinally to the East in the Adriatic Sea. We used petroleum industry seismic reflection data acquired by ENI E&P in the Central Po Plain, over an area spanning about 6800 km2 from Lake Como to the W to Lake Garda to the E, and from the Lombardian Southern Alps to the N and the Emilia Apennines to the S, in order to analyze and interpret selected seismic reflectors and to define the evolution in space and time of the local active tectonic structures. Folds associated with underlying thrusts were recognized based on deformation recorded by two regional sequence boundary horizons, i.e. the ‘A' Surface (1.6 Myr) and the ‘R' Surface (0. 9 Myr; e.g., Carcano & Piccin, 2002; Muttoni et al., 2003), characterized by good stratigraphic and age bracketing, and marking significant changes in the sedimentary architecture of the Po Basin. Age controls are based on stratigraphic, paleontological and magnetostratigraphic analysis by ENI E&P and Regione Lombardia (Carcano & Piccin, 2002; Scardia et al., 2006). The analysis of strain recorded by these horizons allowed us to: A) recognize a belt of active fold and thrust structures, each 10 to 20 km long, arranged with an en-echelon pattern across the whole Po Basin, and B) analyze their evolution over the Quaternary. 'A' surface (1.6 Myr) The ‘A' surface has been mapped over about 7800 Km2. From North to South four major morphobathymetric domains can be defined in the Pleistocene marine Po Basin: an Alpine platform domain, a slope that links it with the wider central basin domain, a smaller and steeper slope and an Apennine platform domain. The basin shape has an asymmetric transversal profile and is ca. 40 km wide. Several tectonic structures affect this surface. On the Alpine platform domain two small structures have been identified. We interpreted them as N-verging fault propagation folds with low angle ramps that detach the Gonfolite Lombarda clastics (Oligo - Miocene; Bernoulli et al., 1989; Gelati et al., 1991) from the underlying Upper Cretaceous carbonates. The present-day geomorphic evidence of these two structures are represented by the Pievedizio, Capriano, Castenedolo and Ciliverghe Hills South of Brescia (Livio et al, 2008; Michetti et al., 2008). On the basin floor domain nine structures have been identified. Six of them belong to the Southern Alps and we interpreted them as S-verging fault propagation folds. All these structures have a double plunging termination (Burbank & Anderson, 2001) that mark the endpoints of actively slipping blind thrusts. These structures range from 11 to 16 km long with an average strike of N 110° E. The remaining three structures record shortening at the leading edge of the Apennines; their axial lengths range from 8 to 28 km and the average axial strike is 110°. These structures thus define the 3D architecture of blind thrusts hidden beneath the basin floor; these collectively define the two active, facing fronts of the Apennines and Southern Alps thrust belts (Fantoni et al. 2004). ‘R' Surface The second analyzed surface is the ‘R' surface (0.9 Myr.); strain measured across this sequence stratigraphic boundary confirmed and further defines the magnitude and timing of shortening accommodated by fault propagation folds described on the ‘A' surface. Differences between the basin between "A" and "R" surface time include the arrangement of the structures on the basin floor and by the number of the identified structures. The Alpine platform domain in "R" time is in fact more extended than on the ‘A' surface, and a less steep slope links it with a wider but less deep basin domain; the Apennines platform is smaller, because it has been involved in the deformation of the more internal Apennines structures. The basin floor is ca. 30 km wide with a progressive westward narrowing, and still displays an asymmetric transversal profile. Sedimentation rates are considerably higher than uplift rates of the structures, resulting in a paleobathymetry gentler than the ‘A' surface The measurement of the folds axial length becomes consequently more difficult. In order to filter the tectonic signal we conducted a profile curvature analysis perpendicular to the mean axial direction of the structures. We recognized six structures with an average length of 18 - 20 km and an average axial strike of N 110° E. The comparison of these structures with those recognized on the ‘A' surface clearly shows a decreasing number of folds, suggesting some thrusts shut off between "A" and "R" surface time. The similar geometry of folded "R" and "A" surfaces suggest consistent fault geometry and stress orientation during this time. This kinematic pattern is consistent with a spatially - varying shortening rate model (e.g., Salvini & Storti, 2002). The folds appear to grow with constant fault geometry and the displacement varies along strike since the tip of the faults migrates laterally in a direction perpendicular to the regional horizontal stress (Mueller & Talling, 1997, Keller et al., 1999; Champel et al, 2002; Burbank & Anderson, 2001). In summary, the analysis of the two described Quaternary seismic surfaces allowed us to understand the evolution of active folds within the Po Plain and their growth mechanism and evolution both in space and time. These folds are the modern loci of compressive strain that links the Southern Alps with the Northern Apennines. Comparing the two surfaces we can observe a significant shift in the localization of the tectonic deformation, consisting A) in the reactivation of N-verging backthrusts and associated folds in the Southern Alps instead of the main forethrusts, and B) in a similar backward skip of the activity from the outermost Apennines fronts, with the reactivation of the Pedeappenninic Thrust Fault (e.g. Boccaletti & Martelli, 2004). This might be related to a differential sedimentary load between proximal and distal portions of the basin related to increased erosion, especially in the Alps in hinterland areas and corresponding sedimentation in the foreland, both triggered by climate change in the Mid-Pleistocene (e.g. Muttoni et al., 2002). REFERENCES Boccaletti, M. & Martelli, L., (Editors) (2004) - Carta Sismotettonica della Regione Emilia-Romagna: Note Illustrative. Regione Emilia-Romagna, Servizio Geologico, Sismico e dei Suoli CNR - Firenze, SELCA S.r.l., Firenze, 60 p. Burbank, D., Anderson, R. (2001) - Tectonic Geomorphology. Wiley Blackwell. ISBN: 978-0-632-04386-6 Carcano, C. & Piccin, A. (Editors) (2002) - Geologia Degli Acquiferi Padani Della Regione Lombardia. Firenze: S.El.Ca. Champel, B., Van Der Beek, P., Mugnier J.& Leturmy, P. (2002) - Growth And Lateral Propagation Of Fault-Related Folds In The Siwaliks Of Western Nepal: Rates, Mechanisms, And Geomorphic Signature. Journal Of Geophysical Research, 107, B6, doi 10.1029/2001jb000578. Desio, A. (1965) - I Rilievi Isolati Della Pianura Lombarda Ed I Movimenti Tettonici Del Quaternario. Rend. Ist. Lom. Acc. Sc. Lett., Sez. A 99 pp.881-894. Fantoni, R., Bersezio, R., & Forcella, F., (2004) - Alpine structure and deformation chronology at the Southern Alps-Po Plain border in Lombardy. Boll. Soc. Geol. It., 123, 3, p. 463- 476. Keller, E. A., Gurrola, L. & Tierney, T. E. (1999) - Geomorphic Criteria To Determine Direction Of Lateral Propagation Of Reverse Faulting And Folding. Geology (Boulder), 27, 6, p. 515-518. Livio F., Berlusconi A., Michetti A.M., Sileo G., Zerboni A., Cremaschi M., Trombino L., Carcano C., Rogledi S., Vittori E., Mueller K. (2008) - Fagliazione Superficiale Olocenica E Paleoliquefazione Nel Sito Di Monte Netto, Brescia: Implicazioni Sismotettoniche. Rend. Online Sgi, 1, Note Brevi, www.Socgeol.It, p. 101-103. Michetti A.M., Berlusconi A., Livio F., Sileo G., Zerboni A., Cremaschi M., Trombino L, Mueller K., Vittori E., Carcano C., Rogledi S. (2008) - Holocene Surface Faulting At Monte Netto, Brescia, And The Christmas 1222 (Io = Ix Mcs) Earthquake In The Po Plain, Italy: What Does It Mean "Blind Fault"? Geophysical Research Abstracts, 10, Egu2008-A-00000, 2008 Egu General Assembly 2008. Mueller, K. & Talling, P. (1997) - Geomorphic Evidence For Tear Faults Accommodating Lateral Propagation Of An Active Fault-Bend Fold, Wheeler Ridge, California. Journal Of Structural Geology, 19, 3-4, p. 397-411. Muttoni G., Carcano, C., Garzanti, E., Ghielmi, M., Piccin, A., Pini, R., Rogledi, S., Sciunnach, D. (2002) - Onset Of Major Pleistocene Galciations In The Alps. Geology. - 2003. - 11 : 31. - p. 989-992. Salvini, F. & Storti, F. (2002) - Three-Dimensional Architecture Of Growth Strata Associated To Fault-Bend, Fault-Propagation, And Decollement Anticlines In Non-Erosional Environments. Sedimentary Geology, 146, p 57 - 73 Scardia, G., Muttoni, G. & Sciunnach, D. (2006) - Subsurface Magnetostratigraphy Of Pleistocene Sediments From The Po Plain (Italy): Constraints On Rates Of Sedimentation And Rock Uplift. GSA Bulletin 118, 11/12, p.1299-1312.

Impact of storms on coastlines: preparing for the future without forgetting the past? Examples from European coastlines using a Storm Impact Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ciavola, Paolo; Garnier, Emmanuel; Ferreira, Oscar; Spencer, Thomas; Armaroli, Clara

2017-04-01

Severe storms have historically affected many European coastlines but the impact of each storm has been evaluated in different ways in different countries, often using local socio-economic impact criteria (e.g. loss of lives and damage to properties). Although the Xynthia (2010) storm, Atlantic coast of France, was the largest coastal disaster of the last 50 years, similar events have previously impacted Europe. The 1953 storm surge in the southern North Sea, resulted in over 2000 deaths and extensive flooding and was the catalyst for post WWII improvements in flood defences and storm early warning systems. On a longer timescale, the very extreme storm of 1634 AD re-configured Wadden Sea coastlines, accompanied by thousands of deaths. Establishing patterns of coastal risk and vulnerability is greatly helped by the use of historical sources, as these allow the development of more complete time series of storm events and their impacts. The work to be presented was supported by the EU RISC-KIT (Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts - toolKIT) Project. RISC-KIT (http://www.risckit.eu/np4/home.html) is a EU FP7 Collaborative project that has developed methods, tools and management approaches to reduce risk and increase resilience to low frequency, high-impact hydro-meteorological events in the coastal zone. These products will enhance forecasting, prediction and early warning capabilities, improve the assessment of long-term coastal risk and optimize the mix of prevention, mitigation and preparedness measures. We analyse historical large-scale events occurred from The Middle Ages to the 1960s at the case study sites of North Norfolk Coast (UK), the Charente-Maritime and Vendée coast (France), the Cinque Terre-Liguria (Italy), the Emilia-Romagna coast (Italy), and the Ria Formosa coast (Portugal). The work presented here uses a database of events built by the project, examining records for the last 300 years, including the characteristics of the storms as well as recorded losses. Finally, lessons learned will be presented, understanding the interaction between DRR elements such as prevention, resilience, mitigation and preparedness. The project's database is publicly available (http://risckit.cloudapp.net/risckit/#/)

Fog scavenging of organic and inorganic aerosol in the Po Valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilardoni, S.; Massoli, P.; Giulianelli, L.; Rinaldi, M.; Paglione, M.; Pollini, F.; Lanconelli, C.; Poluzzi, V.; Carbone, S.; Hillamo, R.; Russell, L. M.; Facchini, M. C.; Fuzzi, S.

2014-07-01

The interaction of aerosol with atmospheric water affects the processing and wet removal of atmospheric particles. Understanding such interaction is mandatory to improve model description of aerosol lifetime and ageing. We analyzed the aerosol-water interaction at high relative humidity during fog events in the Po Valley within the framework of the Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e l'Ambiente (ARPA) - Emilia Romagna supersite project. For the first time in this area, the changes in particle chemical composition caused by fog are discussed along with changes in particle microphysics. During the experiment, 14 fog events were observed. The average mass scavenging efficiency was 70% for nitrate, 68% for ammonium, 61% for sulfate, 50% for organics, and 39% for black carbon. After fog formation, the interstitial aerosol was dominated by particles smaller than 200 nm Dva (vacuum aerodynamic diameter) and enriched in carbonaceous aerosol, mainly black carbon and water-insoluble organic aerosol. For each fog event, the size-segregated scavenging efficiency of nitrate and organic aerosol (OA) was calculated by comparing chemical species size distribution before and after fog formation. For both nitrate and OA, the size-segregated scavenging efficiency followed a sigmoidal curve, with values close to zero below 100 nm Dva and close to 1 above 700 nm Dva. OA was able to affect scavenging efficiency of nitrate in particles smaller than 300 nm Dva. A linear correlation between nitrate scavenging and particle hygroscopicity (κ) was observed, indicating that 44-51% of the variability of nitrate scavenging in smaller particles (below 300 nm Dva) was explained by changes in particle chemical composition. The size-segregated scavenging curves of OA followed those of nitrate, suggesting that organic scavenging was controlled by mixing with water-soluble species. In particular, functional group composition and OA elemental analysis indicated that more oxidized OA was scavenged more efficiently than less oxidized OA. Nevertheless, the small variability of organic functional group composition during the experiment did not allow us to discriminate the effect of different organic functionalities on OA scavenging.

On the seismic behavior of the main tower of the San Felice sul Panaro (Italy) fortress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castellazzi, Giovanni; D'Altri, Antonio Maria; de Miranda, Stefano; Magagnini, Stefano; Tralli, Antonio

2016-12-01

The medieval fortresses are a very common and distinctive type among the Emilian historical constructions and the earthquakes of May 20th and 29th, 2012 underlined their high vulnerability. Among those heavily damaged, there is the fortress of San Felice sul Panaro located between the two epicenters. This study presents some FE results regarding the behavior under seismic actions of the main tower (Mastio tower). The Mastio has peculiar geometric features and represents a typical example of non-isolated tower. In fact, it is constrained in very different ways by the surrounding parts of the fortress along two of its sides: on the north side it is constrained by the perimeter wall until one third of his high, while a stiffer building constrains it on the west side. In order to remodel the entire fortress, a multidisciplinary project involving the Municipality of San Felice sul Panaro and four Universities of the Emilia- Romagna (Bologna, Ferrara, Parma and Modena) together with the University of Genoa is going on. The study, oriented to the structural restoration, produced an accurate survey of the entire building including a fine definition of architectural peculiarities, historical stages and materials evolution. Based on such geometrical data, we developed a detailed 3D realistic mesh, with a point-by-point characterization of each single geometric element. We performed both pushover and nonlinear dynamic analyses using accelerograms data measured near the fortress on May 29th. A damage-plasticity material model exhibiting softening in both tension and compression, already available in the commercial code Abaqus, has been used for masonry in nonlinear dynamic analyses. On the other hand, pushover analyses have been performed utilizing similar constitutive equations available on code DIANA. The effects of higher modes of vibration have been taken into account by means of the modal pushover analysis technique. For the sake of conciseness, only some preliminary findings are presented in this paper. The results obtained with pushover analyses fit reasonably well with nonlinear dynamic simulations.

Investigating source directivity for the 2012 Ml5.9 Emilia (Northern Italy) earthquake by jointly using High-rate GPS and Strong motion data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avallone, A.; Herrero, A.; Latorre, D.; Rovelli, A.; D'Anastasio, E.

2012-12-01

On May, 20th 2012, the Ferrara and Modena provinces (Emilia Romagna, Northern Italy) were struck by a moderate magnitude earthquake (Ml 5.9). The focal mechanism is consistent with a ~E-W-striking thrust fault. The mainshock was recorded by 29 high-rate sampling (1-Hz) continuous GPS (HRGPS) stations belonging to scientific or commercial networks and by 55 strong motion (SM) stations belonging to INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) and RAN (Rete Accelerometrica Nazionale) networks, respectively. The spatial distribution of both HRGPS and SM stations with respect to the mainshock location allows a satisfactory azimuthal coverage of the area. To investigate directivity effects during the mainshock occurrence, we analyze the spatial variation of the peak ground displacement (PGD) measured either for HRGPS or SM sites, using different methods. For each HRGPS and SM site, we rotated the horizontal time series to the azimuth direction and we estimated the GPS-related and the SM-related peak ground displacement (G-PGD and S-PGD, respectively) retrieved by transverse component. However, in contrast to GPS displacements, the double integration of the SM data can be affected by the presence of drifts and, thus, they have to be corrected by quasi-manual procedures. To more properly compare the G-PGDs to the S-PGDs, we used the response spectrum. A response spectrum is simply the response of a series of oscillators of varying natural frequency, that are forced into motion by the same input. The asymptotic value of the displacement response spectrum is the peak ground displacement. Thus, for each HRGPS and SM site, we computed the value of this asymptotic trend (G-PGDrs and S-PGDrs, respectively). This method allows simple automatic procedures. The consistency of the PGDs derived from HRGPS and SM is also evaluated for sites where the two instruments are collocated. The PGDs obtained by the two different methods and the two different data types suggest a source directivity effect in the SE (~120°-150°N) direction.

Targeting growth factor supply in keratopathy treatment: comparison between maternal peripheral blood and cord blood as sources for the preparation of topical eye drops

PubMed Central

Versura, Piera; Buzzi, Marina; Giannaccare, Giuseppe; Terzi, Adriana; Fresina, Michela; Velati, Claudio; Campos, Emilio C.

2016-01-01

Background Epitheliotrophic growth factors (GF) can be supplied topically to patients with severe keratopathy through a variety of blood-derived products. We compared GF content in adult peripheral blood serum (PB-S) and cord blood serum (CB-S) as potential sources of GF. To limit inter-individual variability the assessment was performed in maternal-child pairs at the time of delivery. Material and methods The amounts of epidermal GF (EGF), insulin-like GF (IGF), transforming GF-beta (TGF-β), vascular endothelial GF (VEGF) in CB units collected from the umbilical vein and PB from mothers (each group n=30) were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Obstetric characteristics and haematological data were recorded from the archives of the Emilia Romagna Cord Blood Bank. Statistical evaluations were performed by Wilcoxon’s test and correlations between variables were determined using Spearman’s (ρ) coefficient; p-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results EGF, TGF-β and VEGF levels were significantly higher in CB-S than in PB-S (median 1,254.4 vs 646.0 pg/mL, 51.3 vs 38.4 μg/mL and 686.8 vs 30 pg/mL, respectively; all p<0.0001) whereas IGF content was significantly higher in PB-S than in CB-S (159.9 vs 53.5 pg/mL, respectively; p<0.0001). In CB-S, the CD34+ cell concentration appeared to be related to EGF, IGF and TGF-β levels whereas white blood cell count appeared to be related to EGF and TGF-β levels. VEGF levels showed no relation to the haematological parameters considered. Platelet counts were not related to GF level in either CB or PB. Discussion The GF content in the two blood sources was different, with CB containing larger amounts. Each GF selectively regulates cellular processes involved in corneal healing, so the use of PB or CB should be targeted to supply specific GF on the basis of the type and severity of the keratopathy. PMID:26192781

Association between mothers’ screening uptake and daughters’ HPV vaccination: a quasi-experimental study on the effect of an active invitation campaign

PubMed Central

Baldacchini, Flavia; Campari, Cinzia; Perilli, Cinzia; Pascucci, Maria Grazia; Finarelli, Alba Carola; Moscara, Luigi; Rossi, Paolo Giorgi

2017-01-01

Objectives In Emilia-Romagna, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign started in 2008 offering free vaccines for 1996 and 1997 cohorts. Systematic active invitation was implemented for the 1997 cohort. Our study aimed at measuring the impact of the active invitation campaign on HPV vaccine coverage and on coverage inequalities in 11-year-old girls. Second, we evaluated the effect of the HPV vaccination campaign on participation in cervical cancer screening by mothers of target girls. Methods We collected information on vaccination status for girls residing in Reggio Emilia in 2008 and mothers’ screening history, before and after the 2008 vaccination campaign. Log-binomial regression models were performed to estimate Relative Risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of being vaccinated as regarded citizenship, siblings, mothers’ education, marital status and screening history, stratified by birth cohort. We also calculated RR of receiving a Pap test after the vaccination campaign as regarded education, daughter’s cohort and mothers’ decision to have their daughter vaccinated. Interaction between education and cohort in mothers overdue for Pap testing was calculated. Results Vaccination coverage was 46.3% for the uninvited cohort (1046/2260) and 77.9% for the invited cohort (1798/2307). In the uninvited cohort, daughters’ vaccination showed association with mothers’ education (8 to 11 years of education vs. graduated mothers, RR 1.61 95% CI 1.14–2.28), citizenship (foreigners vs. Italians, RR 0.45 95% CI 0.37–0.56) and screening history (regular vs. non-participant; RR 1.72 95% CI 1.26–2.36). In the invited cohort, only a slight association with screening history persisted (regular vs. non-participant; RR 1.20 95% CI 1.04–1.40). Highly educated under-screened mothers of the invited cohort showed a higher probability of receiving a Pap test after the vaccination campaign period (RR 1.27 95% CI 1.04–1.56) compared with those not invited, Conclusion Active invitation could increase overall HPV immunisation coverage and reduce socio-demographic inequalities and the association with mothers’ screening participation. PMID:28951407

Climate change, variability and extreme events : risk assessment and management strategies in a Peach cultivated area in Italy.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alfieri, Silvia Maria; De Lorenzi, Francesca; Basile, Angelo; Bonfante, Antonello; Missere, Daniele; Menenti, Massimo

2014-05-01

Climate change in Mediterranean area is likely to reduce precipitation amounts and to increase temperature thus affecting the timing of development stages and the productivity of crops. Further, extreme weather events are expected to increase in the future leading to significant increase in agricultural risk. Some strategies for effectively managing risks and adapting to climate change involve adjustments to irrigation management and use of different varieties. We quantified the risk on Peach production in an irrigated area of "Emilia Romagna" region ( Italy) taking into account the impact on crop yield due to climate change and variability and to extreme weather events as well as the ability of the agricultural system to modulate this impact (adaptive capacity) through changes in water and crop management. We have focused on climatic events causing insufficient water supply to crops, while taking into account the effect of climate on the duration and timing of phenological stages. Further, extreme maximum and minimum temperature events causing significant reduction of crop yield have been considered using phase-specific critical temperatures. In our study risk was assessed as the product of the probability of a damaging event (hazard), such as drought or extreme temperatures, and the estimated impact of such an event (vulnerability). To estimate vulnerability we took into account the possible options to reduce risk, by combining estimates of the sensitivity of the system (negative impact on crop yield) and its adaptive capacity. The latter was evaluated as the relative improvement due to alternate management options: the use of alternate varieties or the changes in irrigation management. Vulnerability was quantified using cultivar-specific thermal and hydrologic requirements of a set of cultivars determined by experimental data and from scientific literature. Critical temperatures determining a certain reduction of crop yield have been estimated and used to assess thermal hazard and vulnerability in sensitive phenological stages. Cultivar-specific yield response functions to water availability were used to assess the reduction of yield for a determinate management option. Downscaled climate scenarios have been used to calculate indicators of soil water availability and thermal times and to evaluate the variability of crop phenology in combination with critical temperatures. Two climate scenarios were considered: reference (1961-90) and future (2021-2050) climate, the former from climatic statistics on observed variables, and the latter from statistical downscaling of general circulation models (AOGCM). Management options were defined by combinations of irrigation strategies (optimal, rainfed and deficit) with use of alternate varieties. As regards hydrologic conditions, risk assessment has been done at landscape scale in all soil units within each study area. The mechanistic model SWAP (Soil-Water-Atmosphere-Plant model) of water flow in the soil-plant-atmosphere system was used to describe the hydrological conditions in response to climate and irrigation. Different farm management options were evaluated. In a moderate water shortage scenario, deficit irrigation was an effective strategy to cope with climate change risks. In a severe water shortage scenario, the study showed the potentiality of intra-specific biodiversity to reduce risk of yield losses, although costs should be evaluated against the benefits of each specific management option. The work was carried out within the Italian national project AGROSCENARI funded by the Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forest Policies (MIPAAF, D.M. 8608/7303/2008)

Changes in the outcomes of severe trauma patients from 15-year experience in a Western European trauma ICU of Emilia Romagna region (1996-2010). A population cross-sectional survey study.

PubMed

Di Saverio, Salomone; Gambale, Giorgio; Coccolini, Federico; Catena, Fausto; Giorgini, Eleonora; Ansaloni, Luca; Amadori, Niki; Coniglio, Carlo; Giugni, Aimone; Biscardi, Andrea; Magnone, Stefano; Filicori, Filippo; Cavallo, Piergiorgio; Villani, Silvia; Cinquantini, Francesco; Annicchiarico, Massimo; Gordini, Giovanni; Tugnoli, Gregorio

2014-01-01

Our experience in trauma center management increased over time and improved with development of better logistics, optimization of structural and technical resources. In addition recent Government policy in safety regulations for road traffic accident (RTA) prevention, such compulsory helmet use (2000) and seatbelt restraint (2003) were issued with aim of decreasing mortality rate for trauma. The evaluation of their influence on mortality during the last 15 years can lead to further improvements. In our level I trauma center, 60,247 trauma admissions have been recorded between 1996 and 2010, with 2183 deaths (overall mortality 3.6 %). A total of 2,935 trauma patients with ISS >16 have been admitted to Trauma ICU and recorded in a prospectively collected database (1996-2010). Blunt trauma occurred in 97.1 % of the cases, whilst only 2.5 % were penetrating. A retrospective review of the outcomes was carried out, including mortality, cause of death, morbidity and length of stay (LOS) in the intensive care unit (ICU), with stratification of the outcome changes through the years. Age, sex, mechanism, glasgow coma scale (GCS), systolic blood pressure (SBP), respiratory rate (RR), revised trauma score (RTS), injury severity score (ISS), pH, base excess (BE), as well as therapeutic interventions (i.e., angioembolization and number of blood units transfused in the first 24 h), were included in univariate and multivariate analyses by logistic regression of mortality predictive value. Overall mortality through the whole period was 17.2 %, and major respiratory morbidity in the ICU was 23.3 %. A significant increase of trauma admissions has been observed (before and after 2001, p < 0.01). Mean GCS (10.2) increased during the period (test trend p < 0.05). Mean age, ISS (24.83) and mechanism did not change significantly, whereas mortality rate decreased showing two marked drops, from 25.8 % in 1996, to 18.3 % in 2000 and again down to 10.3 % in 2004 (test trend p < 0.01). Traumatic brain injury (TBI) accounted for 58.4 % of the causes of death; hemorrhagic shock was the death cause in 28.4 % and multiple organ failure (MOF)/sepsis in 13.2 % of the patients. However, the distribution of causes of death changed during the period showing a reduction of TBI-related and increase of MOF/sepsis (CTR test trend p < 0.05). Significant predictors of mortality in the whole group were year of admission (p < 0.05), age, hemorrhagic shock and SBP at admission, ISS and GCS, pH and BE (all p < 0.01). In the subgroup of patients that underwent emergency surgery, the same factors confirmed their prognostic value and remained significant as well as the adjunctive parameter of total amount of blood units transfused (p < 0.05). Surgical time (mean 71 min) showed a significant trend towards reduction but did not show significant association with mortality (p = 0.06). Mortality of severe trauma decreased significantly during the last 15 years as well as mean GCS improved whereas mean ISS remained stable. The new safety regulations positively influenced incidence and severity of TBI and seemed to improve the outcomes. ISS seems to be a better predictor of outcome than RTS.

The 1980 Irpinia-Basilicata earthquake: the environmental phenomena and the choices of reconstruction.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porfido, Sabina; Alessio, Giuliana; Avallone, Paola; Gaudiosi, Germana; Lombardi, Giovanni; Nappi, Rosa; Salvemini, Raffaella; Spiga, Efisio

2016-04-01

This paper, by means of a multidisciplinary approach, deals with changes of the urban and territorial setting in many localities of the epicentral area of the 23 November 1980 Irpinia earthquake. The 23 November 1980 earthquake, known as the "Irpinia-Basilicata earthquake" was the strongest seismic event of the last 80 years in the Southern Apennines of Italy (Mw 6.9, I0=X MCS). It was felt nearly everywhere in Italy, from Sicily in the South, to Emilia Romagna and Liguria in the North. This earthquake was characterized by a complex main rupture, composed of three major sub-events, interpreted as a succession of normal faulting events. Many localities in the Avellino, Salerno and Potenza provinces were nearly completely destroyed (I=IX-X MSK, Postpischl et al., 1985); among them Castelnuovo di Conza, Conza della Campania, Lioni, Santomenna, San Mango sul Calore, San Michele di Serino and Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi. About 800 localities suffered serious damage (Balvano, Bisaccia, Calitri, etc); 75,000 houses collapsed totally and 275,000 were badly damaged. Casualties were 3000, and 10,000 people were wounded. A large amount of information on primary and secondary environmental effects, over all slope movements, was available on the basis of several geological surveys of the area affected by this earthquake. The amount of surface faulting was about 40 km in length and the maximum displacement about 100 cm, while the total area interested by slope movements was estimated in 7400 km2 (Porfido et al., 2002, 2007; Serva et al.2009). In this study we aim to describe trends and specific effects that have taken place in the 35 years following the 1980 earthquake: how the urban and territorial setting have changed, especially in the villages located in the epicentral area; the consequences of the environmental effects on the choices of reconstruction, both in situ, and far from the original historical centre. Therefore, some case histories as San Mango sul Calore and Calitri villages, affected by severe landslide phenomena, and in situ rebuilt, will be examined; whereas Conza della Campania, on the basis of the suffered damages, has been reconstructed far from its original position. In addition, we also illustrate the socio-economic implications that the choices of reconstruction have had, not only for the local communities, but also on the whole Italian country.

The mapping competences of the nurse Case/Care Manager in the context of Intensive Care.

PubMed

Alfieri, Emanuela; Ferrini, Anna Chiara; Gianfrancesco, Francesca; Lise, Gianluca; Messana, Giovanni; Tirelli, Lorenzo; Lorenzo, Ana; Sarli, Leopoldo

2017-03-15

Since the recent introduction of the Case/Care Manager's professional figure, it is quite difficult to identify properly his/her own particular features, which could be mainly be found revising mainly in American studies. Therefore, the present study intended to identify the Case/Care Manager's skills and professional profile in an Intensive Care Unit experience, taking into consideration the staff's activities, perception and expectations towards the Case/Care Manager. In particular, it has been compared the experience of an Intensive Care Units where the Case/Care Manager's profile is operational to a different Unit where a Case/Care Manager is not yet in force. a Levati's model was used to map the Case/Care Manager's skills, involving each unit whole working staff, executives and caregivers through semi-structured interviews. It has been taken into consideration the Anaesthesia Unit and Emergency Unit of Cesena's healthcare organisation (AUSL of Romagna) and a Cardiology Intensive Care Unit of Piacenza's healthcare organisation, where the Case/Care Manager's profile has not been experimented yet. Firstly, it a data collection in each healthcare organization has been organised. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews to doctors, unit nurses, caregivers, nurses' coordinators and medical staff have been used to compare each healthcare system. The interviewees' described their expectations in relation to the Case/Care Manager working in a critical area. Then, every data collected during interviews has been organised to map a Case/Care Manager's essential professional profile to work in a critical area together with medical staff. Piacenza's O.U. critical area experience reported a major demand for patients' and patient's families' assistance. On the other hand, the very same aspects seem to have been better achieved in Cesena's O.U., where a Case/Care Manager's recent introduction has actually helped to overcome the void in organising systems. a Case/Care Manager's profile has been drafted on the basis of the comparative analysis conducted. It has been noted how the Case/Care Manager's professional profile can really improve relationships and communications between medical staff and patients, promoting a major unity among the working team. According to the present research, the Case/Care Manager's profile has been proved helpful in positively influencing the team activity and to elicit major satisfaction both in patients and their family.

Cord blood serum-based eye drops: the impact of donor haematological and obstetric factors on the variability of epidermal growth factor levels

PubMed Central

Versura, Piera; Buzzi, Marina; Giannaccare, Giuseppe; Grillini, Marco; Terzi, Adriana; Pagliaro, Pasqualepaolo; Campos, Emilio C.

2014-01-01

Background Cord blood serum (CBS)-based eye drops are successfully used in corneal epithelial wound healing and are prepared to supply a known amount of epidermal growth factor (EGF). Product standardisation includes expensive EGF dosage in all cord blood (CB) units. The influence of donor obstetric and haematological characteristics on EGF content was evaluated, to exclude unsuitable CBS and pre-select those CB units able to provide the correct EGF supply for healing corneal wounds. Materials and methods Data were retrospectively collected from 135 donors included in the Emilia Romagna Cord Blood Bank records. Obstetric characteristics, parity and gestational age of the mother, sex, birth weight and Apgar score of the neonate, placental weight, duration of labour and mode of delivery were considered. Haematological characteristics, CD34+ cell number, and total nucleated cell, white blood cell and platelet counts were recorded. EGF content in CB units was estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical evaluation was performed by Mann-Whitney unpaired and Student’s t tests. Correlations between variables were evaluated by using Pearson’s (r) or Spearman’s (ρ) correlation coefficients. Results EGF content was significantly higher in CBS from donors aged <30 years and after vaginal deliveries as compared with scheduled Caesarean sections (1,386±580 vs 1,106±391 pg/mL; P=0.002). EGF content was significantly correlated with duration of labour (r=0.45; P=0.0001), number of CD34+ cells/mL (r=0.3; P=0.002) particularly in vaginal deliveries (r=0.36; P=0.003), mother’s age (−0.25; P=0.005), neonate’s birth weight (r=0.27; P=0.005), and total nucleated cell (r=0.25; P=0.006), white cell (r=0.29; P=0.001) and platelet (r=0.24; P=0.009) counts. No significant correlations were found between EGF content and parity, gestational age, placental weight, neonate’s sex or Apgar scores. Discussion EGF levels are higher in CB units from younger mothers (<30 years), with longer labour duration (>6 hours), and higher CD34+ cell content (>0.05×106/mL). In order to optimise the preparation and costs of CBS–based eye drops, pre-selection of CB units is recommended. PMID:24120597

Circum-Mediterranean cultural heritage and medicinal plant uses in traditional animal healthcare: a field survey in eight selected areas within the RUBIA project

PubMed Central

Pieroni, Andrea; Giusti, Maria Elena; de Pasquale, Caterina; Lenzarini, Cinzia; Censorii, Eleonora; Gonzáles-Tejero, María Reyes; Sánchez-Rojas, Cristina Patricia; Ramiro-Gutiérrez, Jose M; Skoula, Melpomeni; Johnson, Chris; Sarpaki, Anaya; Della, Athena; Paraskeva-Hadijchambi, Demetra; Hadjichambis, Andreas; Hmamouchi, Mohammed; El-Jorhi, Said; El-Demerdash, Mohamed; El-Zayat, Mustafa; Al-Shahaby, Omar; Houmani, Zahia; Scherazed, Mekious

2006-01-01

During the years 2003–2005, a comparative ethnobotanical field survey was conducted on remedies used in traditional animal healthcare in eight Mediterranean areas. The study sites were selected within the EU-funded RUBIA project, and were as follows: the upper Kelmend Province of Albania; the Capannori area in Eastern Tuscany and the Bagnocavallo area of Romagna, Italy; Cercle de Ouezanne, Morocco; Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park in the province of Huelva, Spain; the St. Catherine area of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt; Eastern and Western Crete, Greece; the Paphos and Larnaca areas of Cyprus; and the Mitidja area of Algeria. One hundred and thirty-six veterinary preparations and 110 plant taxa were recorded in the survey, with Asteraceae and Lamiaceae being the most quoted botanical families. For certain plant species the survey uncovered veterinary phytotherapeutical indications that were very uncommon, and to our knowledge never recorded before. These include Anabasis articulata (Chenopodiaceae), Cardopatium corymbosum (Asteraceae), Lilium martagon (Liliaceae), Dorycnium rectum (Fabaceae), Oenanthe pimpinelloides (Apiaceae), Origanum floribundum (Lamiaceae), Tuberaria lignosa (Cistaceae), and Dittrichia graveolens (Asteraceae). These phytotherapeutical indications are briefly discussed in this report, taking into account modern phytopharmacology and phytochemistry. The percentage of overall botanical veterinary taxa recorded in all the study areas was extremely low (8%), however when all taxa belonging to the same botanical genus are considered, this portion increases to 17%. Nevertheless, very few plant uses were found to be part of a presumed "Mediterranean" cultural heritage in veterinary practices, which raises critical questions about the concept of Mediterraneanism in ethnobotany and suggests that further discussion is required. Nearly the half of the recorded veterinary plant uses for mammals uncovered in this survey have also been recorded in the same areas in human folk medicine, suggesting a strong link between human and veterinary medical practices, and perhaps also suggesting the adaptive origins of a few medical practices. Since most of the recorded data concern remedies for treating cattle, sheep, goats, and camels, it would be interesting to test a few of the recorded phytotherapeuticals in the future, to see if they are indeed able to improve animal healthcare in breeding environments, or to raise the quality of dairy and meat products in the absence of classical, industrial, veterinary pharmaceuticals. PMID:16563158

Association between mothers' screening uptake and daughters' HPV vaccination: a quasi-experimental study on the effect of an active invitation campaign.

PubMed

Venturelli, Francesco; Baldacchini, Flavia; Campari, Cinzia; Perilli, Cinzia; Pascucci, Maria Grazia; Finarelli, Alba Carola; Moscara, Luigi; Rossi, Paolo Giorgi

2017-09-25

In Emilia-Romagna, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign started in 2008 offering free vaccines for 1996 and 1997 cohorts. Systematic active invitation was implemented for the 1997 cohort. Our study aimed at measuring the impact of the active invitation campaign on HPV vaccine coverage and on coverage inequalities in 11-year-old girls. Second, we evaluated the effect of the HPV vaccination campaign on participation in cervical cancer screening by mothers of target girls. We collected information on vaccination status for girls residing in Reggio Emilia in 2008 and mothers' screening history, before and after the 2008 vaccination campaign. Log-binomial regression models were performed to estimate Relative Risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of being vaccinated as regarded citizenship, siblings, mothers' education, marital status and screening history, stratified by birth cohort. We also calculated RR of receiving a Pap test after the vaccination campaign as regarded education, daughter's cohort and mothers' decision to have their daughter vaccinated. Interaction between education and cohort in mothers overdue for Pap testing was calculated. Vaccination coverage was 46.3% for the uninvited cohort (1046/2260) and 77.9% for the invited cohort (1798/2307). In the uninvited cohort, daughters' vaccination showed association with mothers' education (8 to 11 years of education vs. graduated mothers, RR 1.61 95% CI 1.14-2.28), citizenship (foreigners vs. Italians, RR 0.45 95% CI 0.37-0.56) and screening history (regular vs. non-participant; RR 1.72 95% CI 1.26-2.36). In the invited cohort, only a slight association with screening history persisted (regular vs. non-participant; RR 1.20 95% CI 1.04-1.40). Highly educated under-screened mothers of the invited cohort showed a higher probability of receiving a Pap test after the vaccination campaign period (RR 1.27 95% CI 1.04-1.56) compared with those not invited, CONCLUSION: Active invitation could increase overall HPV immunisation coverage and reduce socio-demographic inequalities and the association with mothers' screening participation. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Hydrogeochemical characterization of the phreatic system of the coastal wetland located between Fiumi Uniti and Bevano rivers in the southern Po plain (Northern Italy).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marconi, V.; Dinelli, E.; Antonellini, M.; Capaccioni, B.; Balugani, E.; Gabbianelli, G.

2009-04-01

A hydrogeochemical study has been undertaken on the phreatic system of the coastal area included between Fiumi Uniti and Bevano rivers (in the southern part of the Po plain, near the city of Ravenna) within the framework of the CIRCLE-ERANET project WATERKNOW on the effects of climate change on the mediterranean catchments. It is one of the first attempt in the area to characterize the shallow groundwater water system and to investigate if the arsenic anomaly, known in deeper groundwater (about 100 µg/l according to recent Annual Groundwater Quality Reports of Emilia-Romagna Region), occurs also in the phreatic system. The coastal part of the Po plain consists of a low-lying and mechanically-drained farmland further from the sea and of a narrow belt of dunes and pine forests in the backshore area. The study area is recognized as a protected area at european (ZPS and SIC, site code number: IT 14070009), national and regional level (Po delta Park area). As a result of an intensive exploitation of coastal aquifers for agricultural, industrial, and civil uses, both the phreatic aquifer and the surface waters (drainage ditches and ponds) have been contaminated by seawater and by deeper groundwater. Samples representative of the top of the water table were collected in Summer 2008 in 22 auger-holes and in 3 shallow piezometers (6 m deep) documenting the deeper layers of the phreatic groundwater system. Temperature, electrical conductivity, pH and Eh of the groundwater and of the surface water were measured on site using portable instruments. Samples were filtered directly in the field, an aliquot was acidified with diluted HCl for metal analysis. Cations were determined by Flame Atomic Absorption (thermo S-series spectrometer), anions by ion chromatography (Dionex ICS-90), Fe, As, Si, B by ICP-OES (Thermo iCAP6000). The data collected in the field show that a fresh groundwater lens is still present at the top of the phreatic aquifer in the backshore area and that the surface water is all brackish to salty and characterised by negative values of Eh, which is probably due to the low hydraulic gradients of the area. Hydrochemistry indicates that a simple mixing model does not completely account for the observed groundwater chemistry, thus a more complex and dynamic system must be invoked. The interaction between saltwater and freshwater could be possibly complicated by contributions from deeper and older connate waters and, considering the type of water sample, by precipitation-dissolution reactions taking place in the vadose zone. Application of the BEX (Base Exchange Index, Stuyfzand, 1993), corrected for the occurrence of dolomite in the aquifer, indicate that a salinization processes is taking place in the largest part of the studied area and only in few locations close to the Fiumi Uniti river mouth there are geochemical evidences of freshening probably because there is a different geological situation: silt-clay lenses containing exchangeable minerals are intercalated and/or overlying the sandy aquifer. However an influence of the river on groundwater chemistry cannot be at present completely excluded for the proximity of these sites to the river. Apart groundwater salinization another major environmental problem concerning water quality is represented by elevated Arsenic concentrations. The element display a good negative correlation with Eh but no evident sign of correlation with other measured parameters. Observed arsenic concentrations reach a maximum of 42 µg/l in an auger-hole close to a pond, which is characterized by abundant precipitation of iron hydroxides in the hyporheic zone as well as most of the others surface water bodies. Other relatively high concentration (about 60 µg/l ) are observed in a piezometer (screen depth of 5 m) in the southern area. The ongoing salinization process and the detected anomalies in Arsenic in the phreatic aquifer and in surface water are jeopardizing this wetland ecosystem, which poses a major environmental issue for phreatic water management in the coast. Stuyfzand, P.J. 1993. Hydrochemistry and hydrology of the coastal dune area of the Western Netherlands. Ph.D Thesis Vrije Univ. Amsterdam, KIWA, ISBN 90-74741-01-0, 366 p.

A cross selectional survey in a critical care: the job satisfaction and functioning team of the health professionals.

PubMed

La Sala, Rachele; Boninsegni, Katiuscia; Tani, Alice; Rasi, Alice; Ricci, Barbara; Sansovini, Linda; Scarpelli, Giulia; Artioli, Giovanna; Sarli, Leopoldo

2015-01-01

Health care workers, especially those who are part of the OS core, are essential in the delivery of services, as they represent the institution at the time of the contact with the user and they represent also the image of the organization. Health administrations, therefore, are called to improve the performance through a better motivation and satisfaction of the staff, in view of two strategic aspects: job satisfaction of professionals and team collaboration. Between January and September 2014, a survey at the OU (UUOO) intensive care and sub intensive has been made inside three hospitals in Emilia Romagna. It' s been a multicentre cross-sectional quantitative study by administering a self-report questionnaire designed to investigate the different constructs. On 742 questionnaires were spread 454 professionals gave it back  (response rate = 73%). Of those, 273 (60.1%) were nurses, 119 (26.2%) were physicians and 62 (13.7%) were healthcare operators. 62 (13.7%) Job Satisfaction was measured with the McCloskey Mueller Satisfaction Scale. Team Functioning was measured with the Index of Interprofessional Team Collaboration. Results from MANOVA indicated that physicians were less satisfied of scheduling than both nurses and healthcare operators. For professional opportunities, instead, healthcare operators showed the lower level of satisfaction. The participants seem to perceive a high level of team effectiveness and therefore the professionals involved in the care of critically ill patients than the two dimensions analysed, (reflection between the processes and interdependent roles), also state a greater tendency to respect the roles interdisciplinary, maintaining their professional autonomy and a lower tendency to use critical thinking to act professionally in order to improve the effectiveness of care provided. The study results oriented healthcare administrators, to take paths that feed the job satisfaction and the collaboration of professionals by developing the aspects investigated. Considering the shared perception among the professions studied, compared to the constructs under investigation, it seems to be clear how the routes should be designed in a systematic order to involve, in an integrated way the best professionals (nurses, doctors and OSS) involved in taking managing critical patients. No statistically significant difference have been found between these three professions considered, on most dimensions of job satisfaction investigated (relations between colleagues, 'social interactions, work-family balance, time work organization and working professional opportunity). There is a difference between two specific factors: the work time planning organization and wich is seen less by the nurses, while the job opportunities that are perceived less from the OOS.

Hydrologic behavior of a steep forested slope prone to shallow landsliding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berti, Matteo; Simoni, Alessandro

2015-04-01

Over the past ten years, the frequency of debris flows in the Northern Apennines of Italy has significantly increased. Gravitational movements in the area are dominated by slow-moving landslides involving fine-grained soils and, to a lesser extent, by shallow slips in weathered arenaceous rocks. During the past 5 years, at least 20 debris flow events were triggered by exceptional rainfall events. Although no fatalities of injuries resulted from these landslides, the appearance of this new danger generated great concern among local communities. The Civil Protection Agency of the Emilia-Romagna region therefore decided to produce a debris flow susceptibility map to target high-risk zones and to help local authorities in emergency planning. This task, however, is particularly difficult due to the lack of historical data required to apply heuristic or statistical methods. In this context we installed a monitoring system on a representative slope in order to investigate the hydrologic response to rainfall and to support the choice of a suitable deterministic model. The selected slope is close to the village of Porretta Terme (Province of Bologna, Italy) at an elevation of 510 m asl. The slope has an inclination of about 30° and consists of a thin soil cover (0.5-1 thickness) lying over a fractured arenaceous bedrock. The soil is a well-graded sand with silt, gravel, cobbles, and weathered rock blocks. The slope is densely vegetated with grass, shrubs and mature trees. Part of the slope failed on the 30th November 2008 after a rainfall of 140 mm in 24 hours. A shallow slide of the soil mantle rapidly mobilized into debris flow leaving the bedrock exposed in the source area. The monitoring system is located on an unfailed slope close to the initiation area. The system consists of three stations aligned along the maximum slope at a distance of 15-20 m. Each station is equipped with: i) an open-standpipe piezometer installed near the soil-rock interface (1 m deep); ii) three tensiometers installed in the soil cover at different depths (0.2, 0.5 and 0.8 m); iii) three soil moisture capacitance sensors installed beside the tensiometer probes. The uphill station also includes an ultrasonic sensor for measuring snow depth and a barometric/temperature sensor. A tipping-bucket rain gage is installed in an area free of tree vegetation located 50 m further uphill. All the data are recorded every 10 minutes and stored on site. The monitoring system was installed in September 2012 and the first two years of data provide a consistent picture of slope hydrology. During all the dry season (from June to September) the sandy soil is essentially dry with strong negative pore pressures (less than -80 kPa). Occasional summer rainfall causes the infiltration of water into the unsaturated soil but the soil never approaches the saturation, nor groundwater is accumulated at the soil-rock interface. With the start of the wet season (around October) the soil water content progressively increases and the pore pressure rises to values detectable by the tensiometers (higher than 80 kPa). The soil, however, remains generally unsaturated with negative pore pressures in the order of -20/-30 kPa. Full saturation is temporarily reached in response to intense rainfall events. Rainfall water induce fast, transient pore pressure increases in the soil mantle and moves vertically toward the soil-rock interface, eventually leading to the development of a transient perched water table during the heaviest rainfall events. The thickness of the perched water table is clearly related to rainfall intensity (very intense rainfall may saturate up to 80% of the soil profile) while the contribution of lateral flow is less evident probably because it is dominated by macropores or because because bedrock fractures favour deeper circulation.

Statistical and hydrogeochemical approach to study processes that affect groundwater composition in the Ferrara province (Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di roma, Antonella; Vaccaro, Carmela

2017-04-01

The ground water should not be seen only as a reserve for the water supply, but also be protected for its environmental value. Groundwater plays an essential role in the hydrological cycle for which the characterization, pollution prevention, monitoring and restoration are essential in view of the recovery and identification of the water bodies to be submitted to recharge for the adaptation to DM n. 100/2016. Groundwater of Ferrara province presents salinisation problems and pollution of noxious metals that can be mitigated through recharge processes evaluated based on the specific site characteristics. It is essential to know the hydrogeochemical characteristics of different aquifer levels. To do this have been discuss analytical results of groundwater (2014-2015 monitoring phreatic ground water and temporal series from 2003-2015 A1-A2-A3 samples from Emilia Romagna databases). Results showed that in the territory analyzed insist both salinization and refreshening processes. Factor analysis(FA) conducted on samples has divided them into three groups. 1: samples affected by ionic exchange, 2: pH reaction on heavy metal, 3: samples affected by mineralization. The geochemical groundwater facies changed from Ca-HCO3, and NaHCO3 with a small samples group of CaSO4 and through geochemical investigations were observed the reactions that take place in the waters mixing of different composition. The Na excesses are explained by ionic exchange processes. A determinant role is played by ionic exchange between Ca and Na. In this territory is important also the role of CH4 presence which typically rises towards the surface along faults and fractures and influence rise of deep water with different composition. On samples selected from FA Group 1 has been observed an increase of the CEC (Cation exchange capacity). Adsorption-desorption exchanges take place between water and the fine fraction sediment rich in clay minerals. Higher CEC values are found in rich organic substance areas which is noticeably water sediment interaction contributing to the increase of some elements (Ca, Na, Mg, K). The salinization processes are attributable to a change in the weather conditions, with increased evapotranspiration and change in pH that leads to the decomposition of organic matter resulting in an increase of Na in the waters. The refreshening processes involving deepwater characterized by a marked increase in HCO3. Overall, mixing, cation exchange and oxidation of organic matter are identified as the major processes determining the general groundwater quality. This approach represents a new method of identification and classification of phreatic and deep groundwater and identifies areas on which it would be interesting to intensify monitoring to see which water bodies may be intended for regeneretion through innovative processes.

System Dynamics Model to develop resilience management strategies for lifelines exposed to natural hazards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagano, Alessandro; Pluchinotta, Irene; Giordano, Raffaele; Vurro, Michele

2016-04-01

Resilience has recently become a key concept, and a crucial paradigm in the analysis of the impacts of natural disasters, mainly concerning Lifeline Systems (LS). Indeed, the traditional risk management approaches require a precise knowledge of all potential hazards and a full understanding of the interconnections among different infrastructures, based on past events and trends analysis. Nevertheless, due to the inner complexity of LS, their interconnectedness and the dynamic context in which they operate (i.e. technology, economy and society), it is difficult to gain a complete comprehension of the processes influencing vulnerabilities and threats. Therefore, resilience thinking addresses the complexities of large integrated systems and the uncertainty of future threats, emphasizing the absorbing, adapting and responsive behavior of the system. Resilience thinking approaches are focused on the capability of the system to deal with the unforeseeable. The increasing awareness of the role played by LS, has led governmental agencies and institutions to develop resilience management strategies. Risk prone areas, such as cities, are highly dependent on infrastructures providing essential services that support societal functions, safety, economic prosperity and quality of life. Among the LS, drinking water supply is critical for supporting citizens during emergency and recovery, since a disruption could have a range of serious societal impacts. A very well-known method to assess LS resilience is the TOSE approach. The most interesting feature of this approach is the integration of four dimensions: Technical, Organizational, Social and Economic. Such issues are all concurrent to the resilience level of an infrastructural system, and should be therefore quantitatively assessed. Several researches underlined that the lack of integration among the different dimensions, composing the resilience concept, may contribute to a mismanagement of LS in case of natural disasters. Moving in such direction, System Dynamics Modeling (SDM) is a suitable operative approach. The SDM allows taking into account all resilience dimensions in an integrated and dynamic way. Furthermore, it allows to combine predictive and learning functionality through feedback mechanisms, and to foster active involvement of stakeholders in the modelling process. The present paper show some results of ongoing research activities. The main aim of the work is to describe using SDM, the relationships and interdependencies between drinking water supply infrastructures and societies in building the resilience of urban communities in case of natural disasters. Reflections are carried out on the comparison between two major earthquakes in Italy: L'Aquila in 2009 and Emilia Romagna in 2012. The model aims at defining a quantitative tool to assess the evolution of resilience of drinking water supply system. Specifically, it has been used to evaluate the impact of actions and strategies for resilience improvement on the dynamic evolution of the system, thus suggesting the most suitable ones.

Tutorship process in health care professions: a survey investigation in Emilia Romagna.

PubMed

Priami, Diletta; Sollami, Alfonso; Vivoli, Vanessa; Artioli, Giovanna

2015-09-09

The areas that we wanted to investigate include: tasks performed, tools used, formalization of the assignment, workload, empowerment and satisfaction of the function performed, and training. The results clearly show that the processes of tutoring are different for physicians and non-physician healthcare professionals. The first interesting difference is the method of assignment of mentoring. While among medical professions the function is assigned by others, tutors are often non-medical volunteers. This evidence leads to two unanswered questions: what are the criteria by which they are chosen as tutors? Do volunteers really possess the skills and ability to carry out this role? Future research should be directed towards clearly defining the profile of the "tutor" among both doctors and non-medical professionals. Another difference is the way the work of the mentor is formalized. If they are doctors, the task is assigned to them; this is not the case for non-medical professions. Despite this difference, a high percentage of both medical professionals and doctors said they did not feel valued for their role of tutor. However, differences emerge: physicians see their role as a paid tutor and / or recognized in their curriculum vitae. For non-medical professions, however, the only reward is a recognition of ECM (Educazione Continua in Medicina)credits. A common feature among professionals is that for both physicians and non-physician healthcare tutors, a system of evaluation is rarely reported. Another common feature is the skills that professionals would like to see improved. Both groups of professionals, in fact, would like to see improved teaching methods, communication strategies and reporting and evaluation systems. Finally, non-physician tutors report the same level of satisfaction, although the non-physician professionals are more satisfied in their relationship with colleagues. The degree of empowerment reveals perceived differences and similarities among the professionals. In fact, both professional groups reported the same levels of competence and impact, but differ in meaning and self-determination. More specifically, the non-medical professionals show high scores, while doctors get a higher score for self-determination. These results suggest that for increased attention to the system of evaluation and enhancement of the function tutorial we need not only to increase the satisfaction of those who act as tutors, but also to improve the tutorial process itself. Furthermore, the results suggest the carrying out of training projects for teaching and assessment methods that represent the issues that are most in demand by tutors. The training should include the use of tools for the governance process that project tutorial and apprenticeships. The responses indicate that these tools are already in use, although not as widespread and continuous.

Managed Aquifer Recharge in Italy: present and prospects.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossetto, Rudy

2015-04-01

On October the 3rd 2014, a one-day Workshop on Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) experiences in Italy took place at the GEOFLUID fair in Piacenza. It was organized within the framework of the EIP AG 128 - MAR Solutions - Managed Aquifer Recharge Strategies and Actions and the EU FPVII MARSOL. The event aimed at showcasing present experiences on MAR in Italy while at the same time starting a network among all the Institutions involved. In this contribution, we discuss the state of MAR application in Italy and summarize the outcomes of that event. In Italy aquifer recharge is traditionally applied unintentionally, by increasing riverbank filtration or because of excess irrigation. A certain interest for artificial recharge of aquifers arose at the end of the '70s and the beginning of the '80s and tests have been carried out in Tuscany, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. During the last years some projects on aquifer recharge were co-financed by the European Commission mainly through the LIFE program. Nearly all of them use the terminology of artificial recharge instead of MAR. They are: - TRUST (Tool for regional - scale assessment of groundwater storage improvement in adaptation to climate change, LIFE07 ENV/IT/000475; Marsala 2014); - AQUOR (Implementation of a water saving and artificial recharging participated strategy for the quantitative groundwater layer rebalance of the upper Vicenza's plain - LIFE 2010 ENV/IT/380; Mezzalira et al. 2014); - WARBO (Water re-born - artificial recharge: innovative technologies for the sustainable management of water resources, LIFE10 ENV/IT/000394; 2014). While the TRUST project dealt in general with aquifer recharge, AQUOR and WARBO focused essentially on small scale demonstration plants. Within the EU FPVII-ENV-2013 MARSOL project (Demonstrating Managed Aquifer Recharge as a Solution to Water Scarcity and Drought; 2014), a dedicated monitoring and decision support system is under development to manage recharge at a large scale riverbank filtration plant, worth 15 Mm3/year in Lucca (Tuscany; Borsi et al. 2014). In 2014, the Regional Authority of Emilia Romagna started a pilot on the Marecchia River fan using a recharge basin to alleviate water scarcity in the Rimini area as results of drought periods (Severi et al. 2014). To apply MAR techniques on a large scale is of particular interest the possibility to allow farmer's associations or drainage consortiums to play an important role in storing excess rainfall water in aquifers. Few hectares of land in rural areas may be dedicated to MAR plants, transforming a traditionally water consumer sector in one preserving it - opportunities are then linked to the provision of water related ecosystem services. Aquifer recharge is allowed in Italy only since September 2013, but still a regulatory framework is missing. Hopefully, this regulatory scheme will benefit from previous and on-going experiences. Dissemination of MAR scientific findings and technical know-how among governing authorities and the general public is crucial for the application of MAR techniques. Fundings for setting up new MAR plants may be available at national level. At the same time, lack of knowledge at intermediate governing bodies level is preventing the application of these techniques (i.e. building of small dams is favored although less convenient by several points of view in respect of MAR plants). Finally, it is of outmost importance to define which are the financial instruments to sustain these water infrastructures, so to guarantee not only their set up, but also routinely operations, opening as such a new market in the water sector. Acknowledgments This paper is co-financed within the framework of the EU FP7-ENV-2013-WATER-INNO-DEMO MARSOL (Grant Agreement n. 619120). References Borsi, I., Mazzanti, G., Barbagli, A., Rossetto, R., 2014. The riverbank filtration plant in S. Alessio (Lucca): monitoring and modeling activity within EU the FP7 MARSOL project. Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater, Vol. 3, n. 3/137 Marsala, V. (2014). LIFE+ TRUST project: tool to assist the implementation of the Framework Directive 2000/60/CE, methodology and results. Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater, Vol. 3, n. 3/137 MARSOL (2014). Demonstrating Managed Aquifer Recharge as a Solution to Water Scarcity and Drought www.marsol.eu [accessed 4 January 2015] Mezzalira, G., Niceforo, U., Gusmaroli, G. (2014). Forested infiltration areas (FIA); principles, experiences, perspectives. Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater, Vol. 3, n. 3/137 Severi, P., Bonzi, L., Ferrari, V., Pellegrino, I. (2014). Managed aquifer recharge in the Marecchia alluvial fan (Rimini - Italy), start of the test and first results. Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater, Vol. 3, n. 3/137 WARBO, 2014. WATER RE-BORN - Artificial Recharge. Innovative Technologies for the Sustainable Management of Water Resources. http://www.warbo-life.eu/ [accessed 8 August 2014

Beach morphodynamics and types of foredune erosion generated by storms along the Emilia-Romagna coastline, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armaroli, Clara; Grottoli, Edoardo; Harley, Mitchell D.; Ciavola, Paolo

2013-10-01

The objectives of this study are to examine the response of a dune and beach system on the Adriatic coastline in northern Italy to the arrival of storms, compare it with seasonal (months) and medium-term (3-year) morphodynamic change, and evaluate results predicted by the numerical model XBeach. The studied coastline stretches 4 km from the Bevano River mouth to the north of the site to the township of Lido di Classe to the south, where the beach is protected by coastal structures. Fieldwork consisted of topographic profile surveys using RTK-DGPS technology (7 times over an approx. 3-year period). 103 samples of surface sediment were collected along 20 of the cross-shore profiles at 6 distinct cross-shore positions, selected on the basis of morphological beach characteristics. Data analyses of dune and beach slopes enabled the study area to be divided into 6 separate morphological zones using the spatial (longshore and cross-shore) variation of morphologies located on the backshore and intertidal beach observed in a preliminary survey of the area. Other criteria were a spatial consistency in beach slopes and/or presence/absence of intertidal morphologies identified in the aerial photographs and Lidar data. The swash zone slope did not show any significant variability for the entire area. A weak seasonal trend in the variability of the mean foredune slope was observed, with steeper slopes typically during winter and flatter slopes during summer. Analysis of grain size revealed that the beach sediment is well-sorted fine sand tending to medium, with a decreasing trend in size from the Bevano River mouth southwards towards Lido di Classe. According to the Masselink and Short (1993) classification, the natural part of the study site has an Intermediate Barred Beach (IBB) and following the Short (1999) classification, results in a modally LBT (longshore bar-trough) or LTT (low tide terrace) with a small section being TBR (transverse bar and rip). Storms are considered the main factor controlling changes in the beach and dune slope. The most significant storm was recorded in March 2010 with a peak significant wave height of 3.91 m. Contrary to the seasonal dune trend, several foredune slopes were observed to flatten following this event, which can be attributed to the action of dune slumping from the already weakened dune state. Modelling of foredune erosion, using a process-based model (XBeach), reproduced the erosion of the upper beach and dune toe reasonably well, but is currently limited by the acceptable slope value for dune stability, which does not account for biotic factors (e.g. plant roots). The comparison between the storm impact categories of Sallenger (2000) and the DSF (Dune Stability Factor) of Armaroli et al. (2012) shows a very good correspondence between the effects of the winter 2008-2009 storms and the vulnerability of the dune system predicted using both classifications.

Passivhaus: indoor comfort and energy dynamic analysis.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guida, Antonella; Pagliuca, Antonello; Cardinale, Nicola; Rospi, Gianluca

2013-04-01

The research aims to verify the energy performance as well as the indoor comfort of an energy class A+ building, built so that the sum of the heat passive contributions of solar radiation, transmitted through the windows, and the heat generated inside the building, are adeguate to compensate for the envelope loss during the cold season. The building, located in Emilia Romagna (Italy), was built using a wooden structure, an envelope realized using a pinewood sandwich panels (transmittance U = 0.250 W/m2K) and, inside, a wool flax insulation layer and thermal window frame with low-emissivity glass (U = 0524 W/m2K). The building design and construction process has followed the guidelines set by "CasaClima". The building has been modeled in the code of dynamic calculation "Energy Plus" by the Design Builder application and divided it into homogenous thermal zones, characterized by winter indoor temperature set at 20 ° (+ / - 1 °) and summer indoor temperature set at 26 ° (+ / - 1 °). It has modeled: the envelope, as described above, the "free" heat contributions, the air conditioning system, the Mechanical Ventilation system as well as home automation solutions. The air conditioning system is an heat pump, able to guarantee an optimization of energy consumption (in fact, it uses the "free" heat offered by the external environment for conditioning indoor environment). As regards the air recirculation system, it has been used a mechanical ventilation system with internal heat cross-flow exchanger, with an efficiency equal to 50%. The domotic solutions, instead, regard a system for the control of windows external screening using reeds, adjustable as a function of incident solar radiation and a lighting management system adjusted automatically using a dimmer. A so realized building meets the requirement imposed from Italian standard UNI/TS 11300 1, UNI/TS 11300 2 and UNI/TS 11300 3. The analysis was performed according to two different configurations: in "spontaneous-state analysis" (that provides the only energy performance of the structure) and considering the "building-equipments" as a system (which provides the overall performance of the "building system"). The first analysis shows as the absence of thermal mass and the envelope super-heating prevent to incoming heat to exit, overheating the indoor environment. The analysis of the overall performance of the "building system" highlights, instead, as the thermal load is much greater during the summer than in winter; this means that, using a low inertia envelopes, the energy saved in the winter can be used to satisfy the thermal performance in the summer. This is further demonstrated by comparing the performance of indoor temperatures and the relative energy consumption of a similar building with greater thermal inertia. Further analysis involved a critical comparison between the "semisteady-state analysis" ("CasaClima" methodology) and the analysis in dynamic conditions (using "Energy Plus" software).

Asbestos quantification in track ballast, a complex analytical problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavallo, Alessandro

2016-04-01

Track ballast forms the trackbeb upon which railroad ties are laid. It is used to bear the load from the railroad ties, to facilitate water drainage, and also to keep down vegetation. It is typically made of angular crushed stone, with a grain size between 30 and 60 mm, with good mechanical properties (high compressive strength, freeze - thaw resistance, resistance to fragmentation). The most common rock types are represented by basalts, porphyries, orthogneisses, some carbonatic rocks and "green stones" (serpentinites, prasinites, amphibolites, metagabbros). Especially "green stones" may contain traces, and sometimes appreciable amounts of asbestiform minerals (chrysotile and/or fibrous amphiboles, generally tremolite - actinolite). In Italy, the chrysotile asbestos mine in Balangero (Turin) produced over 5 Mt railroad ballast (crushed serpentinites), which was used for the railways in northern and central Italy, from 1930 up to 1990. In addition to Balangero, several other serpentinite and prasinite quarries (e.g. Emilia Romagna) provided the railways ballast up to the year 2000. The legal threshold for asbestos content in track ballast is established in 1000 ppm: if the value is below this threshold, the material can be reused, otherwise it must be disposed of as hazardous waste, with very high costs. The quantitative asbestos determination in rocks is a very complex analytical issue: although techniques like TEM-SAED and micro-Raman are very effective in the identification of asbestos minerals, a quantitative determination on bulk materials is almost impossible or really expensive and time consuming. Another problem is represented by the discrimination of asbestiform minerals (e.g. chrysotile, asbestiform amphiboles) from the common acicular - pseudo-fibrous varieties (lamellar serpentine minerals, prismatic/acicular amphiboles). In this work, more than 200 samples from the main Italian rail yards were characterized by a combined use of XRD and a special SEM-EDS analytical procedure. The first step consists in the macroscopic petrographic description of the rock fragments, in order to identify and quantify the "green stones". The second step is represented by the "self-grinding" of the clasts (Los Angeles rattle test), and the powders (< 2 mm) are characterized by XRD (main rock-forming minerals) and quantitative SEM-EDS. Especially in serpentinic clasts with superficial slip-fibre chrysotile mineralizations, the "self-grinding" procedure allows to release a large part of the fibers. The third and last step consists in the total grinding of the bulk ballast sample ("self grinding" powders + remaining rock fragments), followed by quantitative SEM-EDS procedure. The most important aspects in the SEM-EDS procedure are represented by an accurate sample preparation (e.g. using ultrasound and a surfactant to avoid fiber agglomeration), as well as effective criteria for the distinction of asbestos fibers and non-asbestiform/pseudo-fibrous varieties (presence of fibril bundles, fibril diameter, splayed ends). The results show a great variability in the lithological composition of the ballast samples, and some critical issues in serpentinite-rich ballast, sometimes exceeding the legal threshold of 1000 ppm. On the other hand, the presence of metabasites (prasinites, amphibolites) is much less critical, because the presence of asbestiform amphiboles (especially tremolite - actinolite) is really rare.

Contrasting perceptions of anthropogenic coastal agricultural landscape meanings and management in Italy and Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Targetti, Stefano; Sherren, Kate; Raggi, Meri; Viaggi, Davide

2016-04-01

The Anthropocene concept entails the idea that humans have become the most influential driving factor on the environment. In this context, it is useful to get insights from coastal areas that are affected by a huge impact of human activities in shaping the territory, are prone to several threats linked with climate change, and featured by interlinked economic, cultural and social systems. We compare evidence from three different methods focusing on the perceptions of coastal agricultural landscapes: i) a survey focusing on residents' perceptions of local rural landscape elements; ii) an expert-elicitation multicriteria exercise (Analytic Network Process) focusing on the relationship between economic actors, ecosystem services and local competitiveness; and iii) a Q-methodology survey to identify public discourses concerning management alternatives. The methods were applied in two coastal case studies characterized by land drainage, shoreline barriers and coastal armoring that represent high cultural heritage; created by humans they rely on active management to persist. Moreover, in both the case studies concerns have been raised about the role of agriculture in the rural development context and the perspectives of local stakeholders towards the management of the reclaimed lands. The first area is located on the southern side of the Po River Delta (Emilia Romagna, Italy). The area was reclaimed during the 19th and 20th centuries for agricultural production and is now characterized by intensive agriculture in the hinterlands, an urbanised coastal area with a developed tourism sector, and the presence of remnant wetlands which are mostly included in the Po Delta Natural Park (covering around 30% of the case study). The second area is located in the dykelands of the Bay of Fundy (Nova Scotia, Canada) whose origins go back to the 17th Century when French settlers built the first dykes to reclaim salt marshes for farmland. While some are still farmed, a range of different cultural and economic assets is present in the Dykelands including commercial and recreational infrastructures. Both case study areas are included in UNESCO World Heritage Sites ("Ferrara, City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta" and the "Landscape of Grand Pré"). In both cases evidence points to the tendency of the residents to acknowledge public goods related to recreational assets as important to manage for, whereas more pragmatic experts/educated stakeholders are more prone to rate protection-related services (e.g. flood protection) together with cultural services. Several differences were also evidenced in the two case studies. First, the importance of farming in the Dykelands was mainly a cultural/emotional attachment, whereas provision services were considered as the main valorisation factor in the Po Delta area. Secondly, second-home dwellers in the Po Delta showed a higher interest on local landscape elements, non residents in the Dykelands showed a higher interest in governance of the territory than on management of specific traditional landscape elements such as dykelands or wetlands. These results outline the need to consider different management perspectives and options and the critical role of awareness concerning local environmental threats and challenges in the two case study areas.

The «Natural Hazard WIKISAURUS»: explanation and understanding of natural hazards to build disaster resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rapisardi, Elena; Di Franco, Sabina; Giardino, Marco

2013-04-01

In the Internet and Web 2.0 era, the need of information is increased. Moreover, recent major and minor disasters highlighted that information is a crucial element also in emergency management. Informing the population is now the focal point of any civil protection activity and program. Risk perception and social vulnerability become widely discussed issues "when a disaster occurs": a "day-after" approach that should be replaced by a "day-before" one. Is that a cultural problem? Is it a communication issue? As a matter of fact, nowadays academics, experts, institutions are called to be more effective in transferring natural hazards knowledge (technical, operational, historical, social) to the public, for switching from «protection/passivity» (focused on disaster event) to «resilience» (focused on vulnerability). However, this change includes to abandon the "Elites Knowledge" approach and to support "Open Knowledge" and "Open Data" perspectives. Validated scientific information on natural hazards is not yet a common heritage: there are several cases of misleading or inaccurate information published by media. During recent Italian national emergencies [Flash Floods Liguria-Toscana 2011, Earthquake Emilia-Romagna 2012], social media registered people not only asking for news on the disaster event, but also talking trivially about scientific contents on natural hazards. By considering these facts, in the framework of a phD program in Earth Science, a joint team UNITO-NatRisk and CNR-IIA conceived the web project "Natural Hazards Wikisaurus" [NHW], combining two previous experiences: "HyperIspro" - a wiki on civil protection set up by Giuseppe Zamberletti, former Italian minister of Civil Protection - and "Earth Thesaurus", developed by CNR-IIA. The team decided to start from the «words» using both the collaboration of the wiki concept (open and participatory knowledge) and the power of explanation of a thesaurus. Why? Because a word is not enough, as a term has not a unique meaning: e.g. Mercury could stand for the Roman god, the metallic element, the planet, or Freddy the singer. Similarly the word «alert»: in the common language has a certain meaning, whilst in the civil protection framework includes regulations, responsibilities and procedures. The NHW is intended as a collaborative virtual source with validated information on geosciences to support a common understanding of natural hazards, risks and civil protection. The NHW aims to become a point of reference both for acknowledged practitioners, who will share their expertise and data, and for citizens, civil servants, media representatives, and students allowed to comment and contribute to the scientifically validated content. The NHW is a simple tool to support information and communication on natural hazards and civil protection at all levels and would set up a shared and common knowledge. Moreover, NHW could represent the first step of a further challenging programme: through the power of «linked data» NHW could develop and contribute first to a natural hazard semantic, then to a «semantic disaster resilience».

Hydrological character of the soil of a degraded area: comparison of analysis physical, chemical and floristic vegetational

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manfredi, Paolo; Cassinari, Chiara; Giupponi, Luca; Sichel, Giorgio Maria; Trevisan, Marco

2013-04-01

This work is an integral part of a project co-financed by the European Union "Environmental recovery of degraded soils and desertified land by a new technology treatment for the recovery of the land" (Life 10 ENV IT 400 "New Life"); this technology is based on a treatment (patented by m.c.m. Ecosistemi) of chemical mechanical processing of degraded soils with an initial process of disgregation of the same followed by their reconstitution incorporating soil matrices, a subsequent polycondensation with humic acids and a final restoration. The area of intervention of the New Life project lies in the municipal territory of Piacenza, where between the years 70 and 80 has been made a landfill for municipal solid waste with subsequent restoration work by placing a layer of soil cover. The first phase of the New Life project was that of a physical and chemical characterization of different cover soils of the area combined with floristic-vegetational analysis. At this stage the present study aims to compare the data related to the analysis of the vegetation with those returned by investigation of hydrological characteristics of soils performed by laboratory methods, together to confront two theoretical calculation methods for determination of hydrological parameters. The comparison of the ecological study of the vegetation with the outcomes obtained by the classical methods regarding the determination of water retention, allows you to have a picture that is as detailed as possible in describing the characteristics of the substrate. The comparison also with the two methods of calculation, which determines the hydrological character conditions in average soil condition, allows you to ascertain the actual disturbance of the soil in the area. In order to delineate the hydrological characteristics of the soils sampled, were quantified by the Maximum Water Concentration, the capacity range, the point of Withering by the method of the Tensiometric box and the Pressure Membrane Extractor (Piastre di Richards): were carried out from water retention curves and calculated the values of percolating water (water circulation) and the useful water (maximum available water) were also determined physical and chemical parameters that most affect the hydrological characteristics of the soil such as texture, organic carbon, salinity and total limestone. The same soils were subjected to a floristic and vegetational analysis with relative comparison of the biological spectrum of the site with the spectra of other territories taken in comparison (Piacenza, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy, southern Italy). The 40% of the plants of the area is represented by Therophytes, species that are adapted to live in environments disturbed by human activities or climate. The high frequency of this species does not seem motivated either by the ombrothermic diagram elaborated with the help of the climatic data of the meteorological station of Piacenza, which was observed for a brief period the appearance of water deficit, neither linked to the interference from human activities which turns out to be low. Keywords: degraded soils, hydrological character, floristic vegetation analysis

Interband cascade (IC) photovoltaic (PV) architecture for PV devices

DOEpatents

Yang, Rui Q.; Tian, Zhaobing; Mishima, Tetsuya D.; Santos, Michael B.; Johnson, Matthew B.; Klem, John F.

2015-10-20

A photovoltaic (PV) device, comprising a PV interband cascade (IC) stage, wherein the IC PV stage comprises an absorption region with a band gap, the absorption region configured to absorb photons, an intraband transport region configured to act as a hole barrier, and an interband tunneling region configured to act as an electron barrier. An IC PV architecture for a photovoltaic device, the IC PV architecture comprising an absorption region, an intraband transport region coupled to the absorption region, and an interband tunneling region coupled to the intraband transport region and to the adjacent absorption region, wherein the absorption region, the intraband transport region, and the interband tunneling region are positioned such that electrons will flow from the absorption region to the intraband transport region to the interband tunneling region.

50 CFR 100.22 - Subsistence resource regions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

...) Bristol Bay Region; (5) Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region; (6) Western Interior Region; (7) Seward Peninsula Region; (8) Northwest Arctic Region; (9) Eastern Interior Region; (10) North Slope Region. (b) You may...

36 CFR 242.22 - Subsistence resource regions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...-Kuskokwim Delta Region; (6) Western Interior Region; (7) Seward Peninsula Region; (8) Northwest Arctic Region; (9) Eastern Interior Region; (10) North Slope Region. (b) You may obtain maps delineating the...

49 CFR Appendix C to Part 241 - Geographical Boundaries of FRA's Regions and Addresses of FRA's Regional Headquarters

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...) address of the Regional Administrator for Region 1 is: [email protected]gov. (2) Region 2 consists of....dot.gov. (3) Region 3 consists of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia... E-mail address of the Regional Administrator for Region 3 is: [email protected]gov. (4) Region 4...

49 CFR Appendix C to Part 241 - Geographical Boundaries of FRA's Regions and Addresses of FRA's Regional Headquarters

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...) address of the Regional Administrator for Region 1 is: [email protected]gov. (2) Region 2 consists of....dot.gov. (3) Region 3 consists of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia... E-mail address of the Regional Administrator for Region 3 is: [email protected]gov. (4) Region 4...

40 CFR 81.112 - Charleston Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Regions § 81.112 Charleston Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Charleston Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (South Carolina) consists of the territorial area encompassed by the... Quality Control Region: Region 1. 81.107Greenwood Intrastate Air Quality Control Region: Region 2. 81...

40 CFR 81.112 - Charleston Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Regions § 81.112 Charleston Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Charleston Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (South Carolina) consists of the territorial area encompassed by the... Quality Control Region: Region 1. 81.107Greenwood Intrastate Air Quality Control Region: Region 2. 81...

47 CFR 97.301 - Authorized frequency bands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

...: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements see § 97.303... Advanced Class: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements... General Class: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements...

47 CFR 97.301 - Authorized frequency bands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

...: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements see § 97.303... Advanced Class: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements... General Class: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements...

47 CFR 97.301 - Authorized frequency bands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements see § 97.303... Advanced Class: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements... General Class: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements...

47 CFR 97.301 - Authorized frequency bands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

...: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements see § 97.303... Advanced Class: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements... General Class: Wavelength band MF ITU region 1 kHz ITU region 2 kHz ITU region 3 kHz Sharing requirements...

An update on the regional organizations of the american burn association.

PubMed

Harrington, David; Holmes, James; Conlon, Kathe; Jeng, James

2014-01-01

In 1985, the American Burn Association (ABA) created 10 regions in the United States and charged the Chiefs of these regions with the development of regional disaster plans. Now more than 25 years after this mandate, the ABA's Organizational and Delivery of Burn Care Committee assessed the status of regional development. The extant region leaders were contacted by email and queried as to the activities of their region and their opinion as to the success or failure of the regionalization initiative. Several regional organizational meetings were attended at the annual ABA meeting and many phone interviews were conducted to clear up any conflicting information. The original map of the burn regions was based on the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma regions, but these have undergone significant redistricting. The organizational structure, age, and activities of the regions vary significantly. The financial costs of maintaining a regional organization and holding an annual meeting are a major concern for most regions. For the most part the regional organizations are a good source of professional networking and a cost-effective source of continuing medical education/continuing education units for burn centers. The regionalization experiment of the ABA been reasonably successful in its first 25 years, but the ABA and the regions should take this opportunity to consider the next steps for the regions in the coming 25 years.

Hybridized Kibble-Zurek scaling in the driven critical dynamics across an overlapping critical region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhai, Liang-Jun; Wang, Huai-Yu; Yin, Shuai

2018-04-01

The conventional Kibble-Zurek scaling describes the scaling behavior in the driven dynamics across a single critical region. In this paper, we study the driven dynamics across an overlapping critical region, in which a critical region (Region A) is overlaid by another critical region (Region B). We develop a hybridized Kibble-Zurek scaling (HKZS) to characterize the scaling behavior in the driven process. According to the HKZS, the driven dynamics in the overlapping region can be described by the critical theories for both Region A and Region B simultaneously. This results in a constraint on the scaling function in the overlapping critical region. We take the quantum Ising chain in an imaginary longitudinal field as an example. In this model, the critical region of the Yang-Lee edge singularity and the critical region of the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition overlap with each other. We numerically confirm the HKZS by simulating the driven dynamics in this overlapping critical region. The HKZSs in other models are also discussed.

Regional health governance: A suggested agenda for Southern African health diplomacy.

PubMed

Penfold, Erica Dale; Fourie, Pieter

2015-12-01

Regional organisations can effectively promote regional health diplomacy and governance through engagement with regional social policy. Regional bodies make decisions about health challenges in the region, for example, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the World Health Organisation South East Asia Regional Office (WHO-SEARO). The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has a limited health presence as a regional organisation and diplomatic partner in health governance. This article identifies how SADC facilitates and coordinates health policy, arguing that SADC has the potential to promote regional health diplomacy and governance through engagement with regional social policy. The article identifies the role of global health diplomacy and niche diplomacy in health governance. The role of SADC as a regional organisation and the way it functions is then explained, focusing on how SADC engages with health issues in the region. Recommendations are made as to how SADC can play a more decisive role as a regional organisation to implement South-South management of the regional social policy, health governance and health diplomacy agenda.

[Regional ecological planning and ecological network construction: a case study of "Ji Triangle" Region].

PubMed

Li, Bo; Han, Zeng-Lin; Tong, Lian-Jun

2009-05-01

By the methods of in situ investigation and regional ecological planning, the present ecological environment, ecosystem vulnerability, and ecological environment sensitivity in "Ji Triangle" Region were analyzed, and the ecological network of the study area was constructed. According to the ecological resources abundance degree, ecological recovery, farmland windbreak system, environmental carrying capacity, forestry foundation, and ecosystem integrity, the study area was classified into three regional ecological function ecosystems, i. e., east low hill ecosystem, middle plain ecosystem, and west plain wetland ecosystem. On the basis of marking regional ecological nodes, the regional ecological corridor (Haerbin-Dalian regional axis, Changchun-Jilin, Changchun-Songyuan, Jilin-Songyuan, Jilin-Siping, and Songyuan-Siping transportation corridor) and regional ecological network (one ring, three links, and three belts) were constructed. Taking the requests of regional ecological security into consideration, the ecological environment security system of "Ji Triangle" Region, including regional ecological conservation district, regional ecological restored district, and regional ecological management district, was built.

Hawaii Regional Sediment Management (RSM): Regional Sediment Budget for the West Maui Region

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

Increased sedimentation associated with loss of forest land, historical agriculture practices, stream channelization , and rapid development has...ER D C/ CH L TR -1 6- 5 Regional Sediment Management (RSM) Program Hawaii Regional Sediment Management (RSM): Regional Sediment Budget...acwc.sdp.sirsi.net/client/default. Regional Sediment Management (RSM) Program ERDC/CHL TR-16-5 June 2016 Hawaii Regional Sediment Management

Calibration of Attenuation Structure in Eurasia to Improve Discrimination and Yield

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

and travel-times over large and tectonically complicated regions. As a result regional discrimination methods (e.g., high-frequency P/S, Ms:mb) and...a poor job of predicting both regional amplitudes and travel-times over large and tectonically complicated regions. As a result regional...regions. Earthquake-explosion discrimination using high-frequency regional P/S amplitude ratios over large and tectonically complicated regions can only

Regional health governance: A suggested agenda for Southern African health diplomacy

PubMed Central

Penfold, Erica Dale; Fourie, Pieter

2015-01-01

Regional organisations can effectively promote regional health diplomacy and governance through engagement with regional social policy. Regional bodies make decisions about health challenges in the region, for example, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the World Health Organisation South East Asia Regional Office (WHO-SEARO). The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has a limited health presence as a regional organisation and diplomatic partner in health governance. This article identifies how SADC facilitates and coordinates health policy, arguing that SADC has the potential to promote regional health diplomacy and governance through engagement with regional social policy. The article identifies the role of global health diplomacy and niche diplomacy in health governance. The role of SADC as a regional organisation and the way it functions is then explained, focusing on how SADC engages with health issues in the region. Recommendations are made as to how SADC can play a more decisive role as a regional organisation to implement South–South management of the regional social policy, health governance and health diplomacy agenda. PMID:26635498

Evolutionary history of the ABCB2 genomic region in teleosts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Palti, Y.; Rodriguez, M.F.; Gahr, S.A.; Hansen, J.D.

2007-01-01

Gene duplication, silencing and translocation have all been implicated in shaping the unique genomic architecture of the teleost MH regions. Previously, we demonstrated that trout possess five unlinked regions encoding MH genes. One of these regions harbors ABCB2 which in all other vertebrate classes is found in the MHC class II region. In this study, we sequenced a BAC contig for the trout ABCB2 region. Analysis of this region revealed the presence of genes homologous to those located in the human class II (ABCB2, BRD2, ??DAA), extended class II (RGL2, PHF1, SYGP1) and class III (PBX2, Notch-L) regions. The organization and syntenic relationships of this region were then compared to similar regions in humans, Tetraodon and zebrafish to learn more about the evolutionary history of this region. Our analysis indicates that this region was generated during the teleost-specific duplication event while also providing insight about potential MH paralogous regions in teleosts. ?? 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Ecological regionalization of national cotton fiber quality in China using GGE biplot analysis method].

PubMed

Xu, Nai Yin; Jin, Shi Qiao; Li, Jian

2017-01-01

The distinctive regional characteristics of cotton fiber quality in the major cotton-producing areas in China enhance the textile use efficiency of raw cotton yarn by improving fiber quality through ecological regionalization. The "environment vs. trait" GGE biplot analysis method was adopted to explore the interaction between conventional cotton sub-regions and cotton fiber quality traits based on the datasets collected from the national cotton regional trials from 2011 to 2015. The results showed that the major cotton-producing area in China were divided into four fiber quality ecological regions, namely, the "high fiber quality ecological region", the "low micronaire ecological region", the "high fiber strength and micronaire ecological region", and the "moderate fiber quality ecological region". The high fiber quality ecological region was characterized by harmonious development of cotton fiber length, strength, micronaire value and the highest spinning consistency index, and located in the conventional cotton regions in the upper and lower reaches of Yangtze River Valley. The low micronaire value ecological region composed of the northern and south Xinjiang cotton regions was characterized by low micronaire value, relatively lower fiber strength, and relatively high spinning consistency index performance. The high fiber strength and micronaire value ecological region covered the middle reaches of Yangtze River Valley, Nanxiang Basin and Huaibei Plain, and was prominently characterized by high strength and micronaire value, and moderate performance of other traits. The moderate fiber quality ecological region included North China Plain and Loess Plateau cotton growing regions in the Yellow River Valley, and was characterized by moderate or lower performances of all fiber quality traits. This study effectively applied "environment vs. trait" GGE biplot to regionalize cotton fiber quality, which provided a helpful reference for the regiona-lized cotton growing regions in terms of optimal raw fiber production for textile industry, and gave a good example for the implementation of similar ecological regionalization of other crops as well.

regioneR: an R/Bioconductor package for the association analysis of genomic regions based on permutation tests.

PubMed

Gel, Bernat; Díez-Villanueva, Anna; Serra, Eduard; Buschbeck, Marcus; Peinado, Miguel A; Malinverni, Roberto

2016-01-15

Statistically assessing the relation between a set of genomic regions and other genomic features is a common challenging task in genomic and epigenomic analyses. Randomization based approaches implicitly take into account the complexity of the genome without the need of assuming an underlying statistical model. regioneR is an R package that implements a permutation test framework specifically designed to work with genomic regions. In addition to the predefined randomization and evaluation strategies, regioneR is fully customizable allowing the use of custom strategies to adapt it to specific questions. Finally, it also implements a novel function to evaluate the local specificity of the detected association. regioneR is an R package released under Artistic-2.0 License. The source code and documents are freely available through Bioconductor (http://www.bioconductor.org/packages/regioneR). rmalinverni@carrerasresearch.org. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

Regional Development Planning in the Slovak Republic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rentková, Katarína

2017-10-01

Regional development is very closely related to a region and its competitive advantages which affect the competitiveness of the region. The regional development is influenced by many factors that act differently depending on the region. To ensure the effective and harmonized regional development, the systematic approach is needed. Every region is unique and differs from the other by the level of economic development, living standards of its inhabitants, unemployment rate and by employment possibilities. Regional policy is a strategic investment policy which focuses on all regions and cities in the European Union. The aim is to boost economic growth and to improve the quality of people’s lives. Solidarity is the main feature of the policy, because policy focuses on support for less developed regions. A fundamental aspect of regional development is to reduce disparities between the regions and cities. The paper focuses on the analysis of regional development of Slovakia. The intention is to follow the logical continuity of the article’s parts, the correctness and the adequacy of information and data. First part is focused on the definition of the regional policy and regional development. Important task is to identify the differences between European policies - regional, structural and cohesion policy. This section is prepared by using the analytical methods - the analysis, the casual and historical analysis. This part is based on literature review. The empirical part is based on statistics and secondary analysis which were aimed to analyse the regional development and effectiveness of its planning in the Slovak Republic. The question of this article is whether it is possible to plan the regional development by application of the plan for economic and social development, called the Municipal Development Plan.

Associations between respiratory health and ambient air quality in Canakkale, Turkey: a long-term cohort study.

PubMed

Mentese, Sibel; Bakar, Coskun; Mirici, Nihal Arzu; Oymak, Sibel; Otkun, Muserref Tatman

2018-05-01

Few epidemiological studies investigating the association between air pollution and health are available in Turkey. The aim of this cohort-type study is to examine the relationships between ambient air quality, respiratory diseases, and decreases in pulmonary function over a year in three different towns in Canakkale: Canakkale Central town (region I), Lapseki town center (region II), and Can town (region III). Region III had four different sub-regions, which were Can town center (region III-A), and the villages located around Can town, namely Durali (region III-B), Kulfal (region III-C), and Yuvalar (region III-D). In the first stage of the study, a detailed questionnaire was completed by the participants (n = 1152) in face-to-face interviews and pulmonary function test (PFT) was performed. In the second stage of the study, PFT measurements were repeated 1 year after the first stage. Particulate matter, SO 2 , NO 2 , and ozone were gathered from air quality monitoring stations located in the centers of the three regions. The most polluted area was region III, while region I and region II were the least polluted areas. The risk of pulmonary function decline throughout a year was 2.1 times higher in region III, 2.4 times higher both in regions III-B and III-C, and 1.6 times higher for smokers in all regions. In the present study, ambient air quality was worse in region III (industrialized region), which influenced PFT scores and the prognostics for chronic respiratory diseases. The findings of this study should be considered for future investment plans in this region related to human and environmental health needs.

Variability of tropical cyclone in high frequent occurrence regions over the western North Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yuxing; Huang, Fei; Wang, Faming

2014-06-01

In this study, three high frequent occurrence regions of tropical cyclones (TCs), i.e., the northern South China Sea (the region S), the south Philippine Sea (the region P) and the region east of Taiwan Island (the region E), are defined with frequency of TC's occurrence at each grid for a 45-year period (1965-2009), where the frequency of occurrence (FO) of TCs is triple the mean value of the whole western North Pacific. Over the region S, there are decreasing trends in the FO of TCs, the number of TCs' tracks going though this region and the number of TCs' genesis in this region. Over the region P, the FO and tracks demonstrate decadal variation with periods of 10-12 year, while over the region E, a significant 4-5 years' oscillation appears in both FO and tracks. It is demonstrated that the differences of TCs' variation in these three different regions are mainly caused by the variation of the Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) at different time scales. The westward shift of WPSH is responsible for the northwesterly anomaly over the region S which inhibits westward TC movement into the region S. On the decadal timescale, the WPSH stretches northwestward because of the anomalous anticyclone over the northwestern part of the region P, and steers more TCs reaching the region P in the greater FO years of the region P. The retreating of the WPSH on the interannual time scale is the main reason for the FO's oscillation over the region E.

EXCESS CANCER MORTALITY IN AGRICULTURAL REGIONS OF MINNESOTA

EPA Science Inventory

Because of its unique geology, Minnesota can be divided into four agricultural regions: south-central region one (corn, soybeans); west-central region two (wheat, corn, soybeans); northwest region three (wheat, sugar beets, potatoes); and northeast region four (forested and urban...

Newton's Method and the Wada Property: A Graphical Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frame, Michael; Neger, Nial

2007-01-01

Imagine trying to paint a picture with three colors--say red, blue, and yellow--with a blue region between any red and yellow regions, a red region between any blue and yellow regions, and a yellow region between any red and blue regions, down to infinitely fine details. Regions arranged in this way satisfy what is called the Wada property. At…

49 CFR 190.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Offices are located in Trenton, NJ (Eastern Region); Atlanta, Georgia (Southern Region); Kansas City, Missouri (Central Region); Houston, Texas (Southwest Region); and Lakewood, Colorado (Western Region...

Regional economy : review and outlook for the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan Region

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-08-01

This report contains a summary of the 1998 economic gains of the New York-New Jersey metropolitan region. The table of contents lists following chapter headings: Outlook; The NY-NJ Region Up Close : 1998; Regional Employment - Regional Patterns of Gr...

Government and Governance of Regional Triple Helix Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danson, Mike; Todeva, Emanuela

2016-01-01

This conceptual paper contributes to the discussion of the role of regional government and regional Triple Helix constellations driving economic development and growth within regional boundaries. The impact of regionalism and subsidiarity on regional Triple Helix constellations, and the questions of governmentality, governance and institutional…

75 FR 28564 - Fisheries of the Northeast Region; Pacific Region

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-21

... the Northeast Region; Pacific Region AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National... Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), has determined that in the Northeast Region, Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank... to overfishing and are in an overfished condition. Also, in the Northeast Region, Southern New...

Method of operating a neutronic reactor

DOEpatents

Woods, Wallace K.

1976-05-25

1. A method of operating a reactor having an active portion of a given length between a charging end and a discharging end, a first end region of the reactor extending from the charging end for one-quarter to one-third of said given length, a second end region extending from the discharging end for one-quarter to one-third of said given length, and a middle region extending between said end regions, said method comprising the steps of inserting end to end in the active region through the charging end a first group of bodies filling the middle region and a second group of bodies filling the first end region, irradiating the first and second groups of bodies while in the middle and first end regions, removing the first group from the reactor through the second end region, shifting the second group through the middle region to the second end region, inserting new first and second groups of bodies through the charging face into the middle and first end regions of the reactor, respectively, and irradiating the original second group and the new first and second groups while in the second end, middle, and first end regions, respectively, removing the original second group and the new first group from the reactor through the second end region, shifting the new second group through the middle region to the second end region, and irradiating the new second group again, whereby the first groups of bodies are irradiated only once and the second groups are irradiated twice.

Biomarker Sensors and Method for Multi-Color Imaging and Processing of Single-Molecule Life Signatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wade, Lawrence A. (Inventor); Collier, Charles Patrick (Inventor)

2013-01-01

The invention is a device including array of active regions for use in reacting one or more species in at least two of the active regions in a sequential process, e.g., sequential reactions. The device has a transparent substrate member, which has a surface region and a silane material overlying the surface region. A first active region overlies a first portion of the silane material. The first region has a first dimension of less than 1 micron in size and has first molecules capable of binding to the first portion of the silane material. A second active region overlies a second portion of the silane material. The second region has a second dimension of less than 1 micron in size, second molecules capable of binding to the second portion of the active region, and a spatial distance separates the first active region and the second active region.

FUNCTIONAL NETWORK ARCHITECTURE OF READING-RELATED REGIONS ACROSS DEVELOPMENT

PubMed Central

Vogel, Alecia C.; Church, Jessica A.; Power, Jonathan D.; Miezin, Fran M.; Petersen, Steven E.; Schlaggar, Bradley L.

2013-01-01

Reading requires coordinated neural processing across a large number of brain regions. Studying relationships between reading-related regions informs the specificity of information processing performed in each region. Here, regions of interest were defined from a meta-analysis of reading studies, including a developmental study. Relationships between regions were defined as temporal correlations in spontaneous fMRI signal; i.e., resting state functional connectivity MRI (RSFC). Graph theory based network analysis defined the community structure of the “reading-related” regions. Regions sorted into previously defined communities, such as the fronto-parietal and cingulo-opercular control networks, and the default mode network. This structure was similar in children, and no apparent “reading” community was defined in any age group. These results argue against regions, or sets of regions, being specific or preferential for reading, instead indicating that regions used in reading are also used in a number of other tasks. PMID:23506969

[Chromosomal variation in Chironomus plumosus L. (Diptera, Chironomidae) from populations of Bryansk region, Saratov region (Russia), and Gomel region (Belarus)].

PubMed

Belyanina, S I

2015-02-01

Cytogenetic analysis was performed on samples of Chironomus plumosus L. (Diptera, Chironomidae) taken from waterbodies of various types in Bryansk region (Russia) and Gomel region (Belarus). Karyotypes of specimens taken from stream pools of the Volga were used as reference samples. The populations of Bryansk and Gomel regions (except for a population of Lake Strativa in Starodubskii district, Bryansk region) exhibit broad structural variation, including somatic mosaicism for morphotypes of the salivary gland chromosome set, decondensation of telomeric sites, and the presence of small structural changes, as opposed to populations of Saratov region. As compared with Saratov and Bryansk regions, the Balbiani ring in the B-arm of chromosome I is repressed in populations of Gomel region. It is concluded that the chromosome set of Ch. plumosus in a range of waterbodies of Bryansk and Gomel regions is unstable.

The Main Sequence of Explosive Solar Active Regions: Comparison of Emerging and Mature Active Regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Falconer, David; Moore, Ron

2011-01-01

For mature active regions, an active region s magnetic flux content determines the maximum free energy the active region can have. Most Large flares and CMEs occur in active regions that are near their free-energy limit. Active-region flare power radiated in the GOES 1-8 band increases steeply as the free-energy limit is approached. We infer that the free-energy limit is set by the rate of release of an active region s free magnetic energy by flares, CMEs and coronal heating balancing the maximum rate the Sun can put free energy into the active region s magnetic field. This balance of maximum power results in explosive active regions residing in a "mainsequence" in active-region (flux content, free energy content) phase space, which sequence is analogous to the main sequence of hydrogen-burning stars in (mass, luminosity) phase space.

Environmental management on the basis of Complex Regional Indicators Concept: case of the Murmansk region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozlov, A.; Gutman, S.; Zaychenko, I.; Rytova, E.; Nijinskaya, P.

2015-09-01

The article presents an approach to sustainable environmental development of the Murmansk region of the Russian Federation based on the complex regional indicators as a transformation of a balance scorecard method. The peculiarities of Murmansk region connected with sustainable environmental development are described. The complex regional indicators approach allows to elaborate the general concept of complex regional development taking into consideration economic and non-economic factors with the focus on environmental aspects, accumulated environmental damage in particular. General strategic chart of sustainable environmental development of the Murmansk region worked out on the basis of complex regional indicators concept is composed. The key target indicators of sustainable ecological development of the Murmansk region are presented for the following strategic chart components: regional finance; society and market; industry and entrepreneurship; training, development and innovations. These charts are to be integrated with international environmental monitoring systems.

Regional demand and supply projections for outdoor recreation

Treesearch

Donald B. K. English; Carter J. Betz; J. Mark Young; John C. Bergstrom; H. Ken Cordell

1993-01-01

This paper develops regional recreation supply and demand projections, by combining coefficients from the national 1989 RPA Assessment models with regional regressor values. Regional recreation opportunity estimates also are developed, based on regional travel behavior. Results show important regional variations in projections of recreation opportunities, trip supply,...

Returning "Region" to World Regional Geography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rees, Peter W.; Legates, Margaret

2013-01-01

World regional geography textbooks rarely focus on the process of region formation, despite frequent calls to reincorporate a regional approach to teaching global geography. An instructional strategy using problem-based learning in a small honors section of a large world regional geography course is described. Using a hypothetical scenario…

A regional method for craniofacial reconstruction based on coordinate adjustments and a new fusion strategy.

PubMed

Deng, Qingqiong; Zhou, Mingquan; Wu, Zhongke; Shui, Wuyang; Ji, Yuan; Wang, Xingce; Liu, Ching Yiu Jessica; Huang, Youliang; Jiang, Haiyan

2016-02-01

Craniofacial reconstruction recreates a facial outlook from the cranium based on the relationship between the face and the skull to assist identification. But craniofacial structures are very complex, and this relationship is not the same in different craniofacial regions. Several regional methods have recently been proposed, these methods segmented the face and skull into regions, and the relationship of each region is then learned independently, after that, facial regions for a given skull are estimated and finally glued together to generate a face. Most of these regional methods use vertex coordinates to represent the regions, and they define a uniform coordinate system for all of the regions. Consequently, the inconsistence in the positions of regions between different individuals is not eliminated before learning the relationships between the face and skull regions, and this reduces the accuracy of the craniofacial reconstruction. In order to solve this problem, an improved regional method is proposed in this paper involving two types of coordinate adjustments. One is the global coordinate adjustment performed on the skulls and faces with the purpose to eliminate the inconsistence of position and pose of the heads; the other is the local coordinate adjustment performed on the skull and face regions with the purpose to eliminate the inconsistence of position of these regions. After these two coordinate adjustments, partial least squares regression (PLSR) is used to estimate the relationship between the face region and the skull region. In order to obtain a more accurate reconstruction, a new fusion strategy is also proposed in the paper to maintain the reconstructed feature regions when gluing the facial regions together. This is based on the observation that the feature regions usually have less reconstruction errors compared to rest of the face. The results demonstrate that the coordinate adjustments and the new fusion strategy can significantly improve the craniofacial reconstructions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

23 CFR 940.9 - Regional ITS architecture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... Architecture shall be used as a resource in the development of the regional ITS architecture. The regional ITS... 23 Highways 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Regional ITS architecture. 940.9 Section 940.9 Highways... INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE AND STANDARDS § 940.9 Regional ITS architecture. (a) A regional...

29 CFR 42.20 - Regional Farm Labor Coordinated Enforcement Committee.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... representatives of ESA, OSHA, ETA (the Regional MSFW Monitor Advocate), and the Office of the Regional Solicitor... is reviewed by the National Committee and appropriately revised, the regional offices of ESA, ETA... level working group in each region consisting of regional staff representatives from ESA, ETA, OSHA, the...

Regional Patterns of Communication in the United States: A Theoretical Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andersen, Peter A.; And Others

1987-01-01

Provides the rationale for a systematic study of regional patterns of communication in the United States. Conceptualizes regionalism, appraises regional influences on communication, and establishes their significance. Describes regional development of the U.S. and proposes a program of regional research on U.S. communication. Examines deficiencies…

32 CFR 1605.7 - Region Manager.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Region Manager. 1605.7 Section 1605.7 National... ORGANIZATION Region Administration § 1605.7 Region Manager. (a) Subject to the direction and control of the Director of Selective Service, the Region Manager of Selective Service for each region shall be in...

Linear electronic field time-of-flight ion mass spectrometers

DOEpatents

Funsten, Herbert O.

2010-08-24

Time-of-flight mass spectrometer comprising a first drift region and a second drift region enclosed within an evacuation chamber; a means of introducing an analyte of interest into the first drift region; a pulsed ionization source which produces molecular ions from said analyte of interest; a first foil positioned between the first drift region and the second drift region, which dissociates said molecular ions into constituent atomic ions and emits secondary electrons; an electrode which produces secondary electrons upon contact with a constituent atomic ion in second drift region; a stop detector comprising a first ion detection region and a second ion detection region; and a timing means connected to the pulsed ionization source, to the first ion detection region, and to the second ion detection region.

Tampered Region Localization of Digital Color Images Based on JPEG Compression Noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wei; Dong, Jing; Tan, Tieniu

With the availability of various digital image edit tools, seeing is no longer believing. In this paper, we focus on tampered region localization for image forensics. We propose an algorithm which can locate tampered region(s) in a lossless compressed tampered image when its unchanged region is output of JPEG decompressor. We find the tampered region and the unchanged region have different responses for JPEG compression. The tampered region has stronger high frequency quantization noise than the unchanged region. We employ PCA to separate different spatial frequencies quantization noises, i.e. low, medium and high frequency quantization noise, and extract high frequency quantization noise for tampered region localization. Post-processing is involved to get final localization result. The experimental results prove the effectiveness of our proposed method.

Health region development from the perspective of system theory - an empirical cross-regional case study.

PubMed

Volgger, Michael; Mainil, Tomas; Pechlaner, Harald; Mitas, Ondrej

2015-01-01

Governments are increasingly establishing health regions to deal with current challenges of public health service. These regions are seen as instruments to balance public and private stakeholders, and offer health care to regional citizens as well as to medical/health tourists. However, it is still unclear how the development of such health regions as well as their governance may be conceptualized. We apply Luhmann's system theory approach in the context of a cross-regional case study that compares health region developments in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol (Italy) with particular regard to the Eastern Dolomites and in the province of Zeeland (the Netherlands). We suggest that Luhmann's system theory provides a useful set of criteria to evaluate and judge health region development. Fully developed health regions can be understood as auto-poietic systems. By emphasizing programs, personnel, and communication channels, these case studies illustrate the suitability of the system theory toolset to analyze the governance and spatial embeddedness of health regions. Additionally, the study contributes to literature by indicating that health regions are closely related to identity issues and to decision making in regions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Complete Census of the ~7000 Milky Way HII Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armentrout, William Paul; Anderson, Loren Dean; Wenger, Trey; Bania, Thomas; Balser, Dana; Dame, Thomas; Dickey, John M.; Dawson, Joanne; Jordan, Christopher H.; McClure-Griffiths, Naomi M.; Andersen, Morten

2018-01-01

HII regions are the archetypical tracers of high-mass star formation. Because of their high luminosities, they can be seen across the entire Galactic disk from mid-infrared to radio wavelengths. A uniformly sensitive survey of Galactic HII regions would allow us to constrain the properties of Galactic structure and star formation. We have cataloged over 8000 HII regions and candidates in the WISE Catalog of Galactic HII Regions (astro.phys.wvu.edu/wise), but only 2000 of these are confirmed HII regions to date.To bring us closer to a complete census of high-mass star formation regions in the Milky Way, we have several ongoing observational campaigns. These efforts include (1) Green Bank Telescope radio recombination line (RRL) observations as part of the HII Region Discovery Survey (HRDS); (2) Australia Telescope Compact Array observations of southern HII region candidates in the Southern HII Region Discovery Survey (SHRDS); (3) Green Bank and Gemini North Telescope observations of star formation regions thought to reside at the edge of the star forming disk in the Outer Scutum-Centaurus Arm (OSC); and (4) Very Large Array continuum observations of the faintest HII region candidates in the second and third Galactic quadrants.Together, these observations will detect the RRL emission from all Galactic HII regions with peak cm-wavelength flux densities > 60mJy, establish the outer edge of Galactic high-mass star formation, and determine the number of HII regions in the Galaxy. The HRDS and SHRDS surveys have more than doubled the known population of Galactic HII regions. We use the OSC observations to determine the properties of high-mass star formation in the extreme outer Galaxy and our VLA observations to determine how many of our faint candidates are indeed HII regions. We combine the completeness limits we obtain through these HII region surveys with an HII region population synthesis model to estimate the total number of Galactic HII regions. From this, we predict nearly 7000 HII regions in the Milky Way created by a central star of type B2 or earlier.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rabello-Soares, M. Cristina; Bogart, Richard S.; Scherrer, Philip H., E-mail: cristina@fisica.ufmg.br

In order to quantify the influence of magnetic fields on acoustic mode parameters and flows in and around active regions, we analyze the differences in the parameters in magnetically quiet regions nearby an active region (which we call “nearby regions”), compared with those of quiet regions at the same disk locations for which there are no neighboring active regions. We also compare the mode parameters in active regions with those in comparably located quiet regions. Our analysis is based on ring-diagram analysis of all active regions observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) during almost five years. We findmore » that the frequency at which the mode amplitude changes from attenuation to amplification in the quiet nearby regions is around 4.2 mHz, in contrast to the active regions, for which it is about 5.1 mHz. This amplitude enhacement (the “acoustic halo effect”) is as large as that observed in the active regions, and has a very weak dependence on the wave propagation direction. The mode energy difference in nearby regions also changes from a deficit to an excess at around 4.2 mHz, but averages to zero over all modes. The frequency difference in nearby regions increases with increasing frequency until a point at which the frequency shifts turn over sharply, as in active regions. However, this turnover occurs around 4.9 mHz, which is significantly below the acoustic cutoff frequency. Inverting the horizontal flow parameters in the direction of the neigboring active regions, we find flows that are consistent with a model of the thermal energy flow being blocked directly below the active region.« less

An Examination of Regional Competitiveness: Early Findings from Banten, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holis, Y. M.; Syabri, I.; Prabatmojo, H.

2018-05-01

Over time, the regional development planning paradigm continues to change procedural, substantive, actor and institutional aspects. The increasing globalization and decentralized governance systems will continue to determine how a country or region can compete and even be able to take advantage of the positive value of economic globalization. This certainly provides challenges and opportunities for the renewal of regional development concepts, in particular, the concept of regional competitiveness. This concept still lacks a scientific basis and its interpretation is still in debate. To date, the clear scientific basis is the concepts of corporate and national competitiveness. Whereas, the concept of competitiveness at the meso-level, namely the competitiveness of the region, becomes very important. Regional competitiveness prepares a region and to survive in response to the more open dynamics of economic globalization and the system of decentralization of authority in Indonesia. The objective of this research is to complement the concept of competitiveness which is still at the level of microeconomics (business theory) and macroeconomy (theory of growth) with the concept of competitiveness at the regional level that focuses on (i) finding determinant factors at the regional level in Indonesia; (ii) profiling regional competitiveness in several regions; and (iii) assessing the role of local government (institutional and actor) on determinants of regional competitiveness. This research is carried out by using a mixed-methods approach with a concurrent triangulation strategy model. The research follows the stages of literature study to identify the determinant factors of regional competitiveness relevant to the purpose of research, followed by descriptive analysis of the variables and selected by statistics through Analytical Network Process (ANP) to become the determinant factor of competitiveness. In accordance with the concept and definition of regional competitiveness, this research develops five main indicators determining regional competitiveness and its 30 variables. These indicators are regional economy; manpower and human resources; productive business environment; infrastructure; natural resources and environment; and banking and financial institutions. The data used are primary and secondary data by compiling from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and questionnaires to the Regional Development Planning Agency (BAPPEDA) following by in-depth interviews with experts. This research uses the case study of Banten Province. The main reason is that Banten has varied areas, ranging from developed cities to lagging regions. It is expected to represent other areas in Indonesia. This research provides an alternative framework of competitiveness analysis methods at the regional level. The concept of regional competitiveness can be a catalyst and enabler to the development of regional specialization and networking among regions in the era of economic globalization.

2011 Atlanta, Georgia, Regional Travel Survey | Transportation Secure Data

Science.gov Websites

Center | NREL Atlanta, Georgia, Regional Travel Survey 2011 Atlanta, Georgia, Regional Travel Survey To improve regional travel demand forecasts, the 2011 Regional Travel Survey collected trip data the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), the survey was conducted by PTV NuStats, GeoStats, and PG

76 FR 12651 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of Oregon; Regional Haze State...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-08

... reasonable progress goals and the long term strategy. A. Definition of Regional Haze Regional haze is... Addressing Regional Haze Successful implementation of the Regional Haze Program will require long-term...'s long term strategy for addressing regional haze. The reasonable progress goals in the draft and...

77 FR 30454 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of Oregon; Regional Haze State...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-23

.... Determination of Reasonable Progress Goals F. Long Term Strategy G. Coordinating Regional Haze and Reasonably... Reasonable Progress Goals (RPGs) and the Long Term Strategy (LTS). A. Definition of Regional Haze Regional... implementation of the regional haze program will require long-term regional coordination among states, tribal...

Regional Test Centers | Photovoltaic Research | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Regional Test Centers Regional Test Centers Five Regional Test Centers (RTCs), established by the the bankability of new photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Photo of the Regional Test Centers The DOE Regional Test Centers help to validate PV technologies in a range of different climates. Pictured here is

Building an International Student Market: Educational-Balanced Scorecard Solutions for Regional Australian Cities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forbes, Linda; Hamilton, John

2004-01-01

There is an international student market suitable for regional Australia, but each region is different. Hence, each region must determine, target and niche market to its best potential international student customer base. For international education there remains scant, relevant, data for regional Australia, hence complete regional approaches to…

Regional Modeling and Power Spectra of Mercury's Crustal Magnetic Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plattner, A. M.; Johnson, C. L.

2018-05-01

Mercury's crustal magnetic field and magnetic power spectra for select regions show distinct patterns for regions without magnetized impact craters, regions with magnetized impact craters, and the region north of Caloris.

Creating multithemed ecological regions for macroscale ecology: Testing a flexible, repeatable, and accessible clustering method

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cheruvelil, Kendra Spence; Yuan, Shuai; Webster, Katherine E.; Tan, Pang-Ning; Lapierre, Jean-Francois; Collins, Sarah M.; Fergus, C. Emi; Scott, Caren E.; Norton Henry, Emily; Soranno, Patricia A.; Filstrup, Christopher T.; Wagner, Tyler

2017-01-01

Understanding broad-scale ecological patterns and processes often involves accounting for regional-scale heterogeneity. A common way to do so is to include ecological regions in sampling schemes and empirical models. However, most existing ecological regions were developed for specific purposes, using a limited set of geospatial features and irreproducible methods. Our study purpose was to: (1) describe a method that takes advantage of recent computational advances and increased availability of regional and global data sets to create customizable and reproducible ecological regions, (2) make this algorithm available for use and modification by others studying different ecosystems, variables of interest, study extents, and macroscale ecology research questions, and (3) demonstrate the power of this approach for the research question—How well do these regions capture regional-scale variation in lake water quality? To achieve our purpose we: (1) used a spatially constrained spectral clustering algorithm that balances geospatial homogeneity and region contiguity to create ecological regions using multiple terrestrial, climatic, and freshwater geospatial data for 17 northeastern U.S. states (~1,800,000 km2); (2) identified which of the 52 geospatial features were most influential in creating the resulting 100 regions; and (3) tested the ability of these ecological regions to capture regional variation in water nutrients and clarity for ~6,000 lakes. We found that: (1) a combination of terrestrial, climatic, and freshwater geospatial features influenced region creation, suggesting that the oft-ignored freshwater landscape provides novel information on landscape variability not captured by traditionally used climate and terrestrial metrics; and (2) the delineated regions captured macroscale heterogeneity in ecosystem properties not included in region delineation—approximately 40% of the variation in total phosphorus and water clarity among lakes was at the regional scale. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of this method for creating customizable and reproducible regions for research and management applications.

Creating multithemed ecological regions for macroscale ecology: Testing a flexible, repeatable, and accessible clustering method.

PubMed

Cheruvelil, Kendra Spence; Yuan, Shuai; Webster, Katherine E; Tan, Pang-Ning; Lapierre, Jean-François; Collins, Sarah M; Fergus, C Emi; Scott, Caren E; Henry, Emily Norton; Soranno, Patricia A; Filstrup, Christopher T; Wagner, Tyler

2017-05-01

Understanding broad-scale ecological patterns and processes often involves accounting for regional-scale heterogeneity. A common way to do so is to include ecological regions in sampling schemes and empirical models. However, most existing ecological regions were developed for specific purposes, using a limited set of geospatial features and irreproducible methods. Our study purpose was to: (1) describe a method that takes advantage of recent computational advances and increased availability of regional and global data sets to create customizable and reproducible ecological regions, (2) make this algorithm available for use and modification by others studying different ecosystems, variables of interest, study extents, and macroscale ecology research questions, and (3) demonstrate the power of this approach for the research question-How well do these regions capture regional-scale variation in lake water quality? To achieve our purpose we: (1) used a spatially constrained spectral clustering algorithm that balances geospatial homogeneity and region contiguity to create ecological regions using multiple terrestrial, climatic, and freshwater geospatial data for 17 northeastern U.S. states (~1,800,000 km 2 ); (2) identified which of the 52 geospatial features were most influential in creating the resulting 100 regions; and (3) tested the ability of these ecological regions to capture regional variation in water nutrients and clarity for ~6,000 lakes. We found that: (1) a combination of terrestrial, climatic, and freshwater geospatial features influenced region creation, suggesting that the oft-ignored freshwater landscape provides novel information on landscape variability not captured by traditionally used climate and terrestrial metrics; and (2) the delineated regions captured macroscale heterogeneity in ecosystem properties not included in region delineation-approximately 40% of the variation in total phosphorus and water clarity among lakes was at the regional scale. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of this method for creating customizable and reproducible regions for research and management applications.

Natal location influences movement and survival of a spatially structured population of snail kites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Martin, J.; Kitchens, W.M.; Hines, J.E.

2007-01-01

Despite the accepted importance of the need to better understand how natal location affects movement decisions and survival of animals, robust estimates of movement and survival in relation to the natal location are lacking. Our study focuses on movement and survival related to the natal location of snail kites in Florida and shows that kites, in addition to exhibiting a high level of site tenacity to breeding regions, also exhibit particular attraction to their natal region. More specifically, we found that estimates of movement from post-dispersal regions were greater toward natal regions than toward non-natal regions (differences were significant for three of four regions). We also found that estimates of natal philopatry were greater than estimates of philopatry to non-natal regions (differences were statistically significant for two of four regions). A previous study indicated an effect of natal region on juvenile survival; in this study, we show an effect of natal region on adult survival. Estimates of adult survival varied among kites that were hatched in different regions. Adults experienced mortality rates characteristic of the region occupied at the time when survival was measured, but because there is a greater probability that kites will return to their natal region than to any other regions, their survival was ultimately influenced by their natal region. In most years, kites hatched in southern regions had greater survival probabilities than did kites hatched in northern regions. However, during a multiregional drought, one of the northern regions served as a refuge from drought, and during this perturbation, survival was greater for birds hatched in the north. Our study shows that natal location may be important in influencing the ecological dynamics of kites but also highlights the importance of considering temporal variation in habitat conditions of spatially structured systems when attempting to evaluate the conservation value of habitats.

The Australian and New Zealand regional neurology training survey.

PubMed

McAulay-Powell, C; Ranta, A

2016-06-01

There is inequitably poorer access to specialist neurologists in regional areas. Recruitment could be improved if more neurology trainees chose to spend some time at regional training sites, which they currently appear to avoid for unclear reasons. We surveyed neurology advanced trainees to assess their attitudes and perceptions about regional training. Aside from innate geographical challenges, there are concerning negative perceptions of the impact of regional training on future metropolitan employment prospects. Minimisation of bias against regional trainees or even rewarding regional exposure would likely improve regional trainee and subsequent specialist recruitment. © 2016 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

[Research of regional medical consumables reagent logistics system in the modern hospital].

PubMed

Wu, Jingjiong; Zhang, Yanwen; Luo, Xiaochen; Zhang, Qing; Zhu, Jianxin

2013-09-01

To explore the modern hospital and regional medical consumable reagents logistics system management. The characteristics of regional logistics, through cooperation between medical institutions within the region, and organize a wide range of special logistics activities, to make reasonable of the regional medical consumable reagents logistics. To set the regional management system, dynamic management systems, supply chain information management system, after-sales service system and assessment system. By the research of existing medical market and medical resources, to establish the regional medical supplies reagents directory and the initial data. The emphasis is centralized dispatch of medical supplies reagents, to introduce qualified logistics company for dispatching, to improve the modern hospital management efficiency, to costs down. Regional medical center and regional community health service centers constitute a regional logistics network, the introduction of medical consumable reagents logistics services, fully embodies integrity level, relevance, purpose, environmental adaptability of characteristics by the medical consumable reagents regional logistics distribution. Modern logistics distribution systems can increase the area of medical consumables reagent management efficiency and reduce costs.

High voltage semiconductor devices and methods of making the devices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Matocha, Kevin; Chatty, Kiran; Banerjee, Sujit

A multi-cell MOSFET device including a MOSFET cell with an integrated Schottky diode is provided. The MOSFET includes n-type source regions formed in p-type well regions which are formed in an n-type drift layer. A p-type body contact region is formed on the periphery of the MOSFET. The source metallization of the device forms a Schottky contact with an n-type semiconductor region adjacent the p-type body contact region of the device. Vias can be formed through a dielectric material covering the source ohmic contacts and/or Schottky region of the device and the source metallization can be formed in the vias.more » The n-type semiconductor region forming the Schottky contact and/or the n-type source regions can be a single continuous region or a plurality of discontinuous regions alternating with discontinuous p-type body contact regions. The device can be a SiC device. Methods of making the device are also provided.« less

PUSH-PULL POWER REACTOR

DOEpatents

Froman, D.K.

1959-02-24

Power generating nuclear reactors of the homogeneous liquid fuel type are discussed. The apparatus utilizes two identical reactors interconnected by conduits through heat exchanging apparatus. Each reactor contains a critical geometry region and a vapor region separated from the critical region by a baffle. When the liquid in the first critical region becomes critical, the vapor pressure above the fuel is increased due to the rise in the temperature until it forces the liquid fuel out of the first critical region through the heat exchanger and into the second critical region, which is at a lower temperature and consequently a lower vapor pressure. The above reaction is repeated in the second critical region and the liquid fuel is forced back into the first critical region. In this manner criticality is achieved alternately in each critical region and power is extracted by the heat exchanger from the liquid fuel passing therethrough. The vapor region and the heat exchanger have a non-critical geometry and reactivity control is effected by conventional control rods in the critical regions.

High voltage semiconductor devices and methods of making the devices

DOEpatents

Matocha, Kevin; Chatty, Kiran; Banerjee, Sujit

2017-02-28

A multi-cell MOSFET device including a MOSFET cell with an integrated Schottky diode is provided. The MOSFET includes n-type source regions formed in p-type well regions which are formed in an n-type drift layer. A p-type body contact region is formed on the periphery of the MOSFET. The source metallization of the device forms a Schottky contact with an n-type semiconductor region adjacent the p-type body contact region of the device. Vias can be formed through a dielectric material covering the source ohmic contacts and/or Schottky region of the device and the source metallization can be formed in the vias. The n-type semiconductor region forming the Schottky contact and/or the n-type source regions can be a single continuous region or a plurality of discontinuous regions alternating with discontinuous p-type body contact regions. The device can be a SiC device. Methods of making the device are also provided.

Structural and functional connectional fingerprints in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease patients.

PubMed

Son, Seong-Jin; Kim, Jonghoon; Park, Hyunjin

2017-01-01

Regional volume atrophy and functional degeneration are key imaging hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), respectively. We jointly explored regional volume atrophy and functional connectivity to better characterize neuroimaging data of AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). All data were obtained from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. We compared regional volume atrophy and functional connectivity in 10 subcortical regions using structural MRI and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). Neuroimaging data of normal controls (NC) (n = 35), MCI (n = 40), and AD (n = 30) were compared. Significant differences of regional volumes and functional connectivity measures between groups were assessed using permutation tests in 10 regions. The regional volume atrophy and functional connectivity of identified regions were used as features for the random forest classifier to distinguish among three groups. The features of the identified regions were also regarded as connectional fingerprints that could distinctively separate a given group from the others. We identified a few regions with distinctive regional atrophy and functional connectivity patterns for NC, MCI, and AD groups. A three label classifier using the information of regional volume atrophy and functional connectivity of identified regions achieved classification accuracy of 53.33% to distinguish among NC, MCI, and AD. We identified distinctive regional atrophy and functional connectivity patterns that could be regarded as a connectional fingerprint.

Structural and functional connectional fingerprints in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease patients

PubMed Central

Son, Seong-Jin; Kim, Jonghoon

2017-01-01

Regional volume atrophy and functional degeneration are key imaging hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), respectively. We jointly explored regional volume atrophy and functional connectivity to better characterize neuroimaging data of AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). All data were obtained from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. We compared regional volume atrophy and functional connectivity in 10 subcortical regions using structural MRI and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). Neuroimaging data of normal controls (NC) (n = 35), MCI (n = 40), and AD (n = 30) were compared. Significant differences of regional volumes and functional connectivity measures between groups were assessed using permutation tests in 10 regions. The regional volume atrophy and functional connectivity of identified regions were used as features for the random forest classifier to distinguish among three groups. The features of the identified regions were also regarded as connectional fingerprints that could distinctively separate a given group from the others. We identified a few regions with distinctive regional atrophy and functional connectivity patterns for NC, MCI, and AD groups. A three label classifier using the information of regional volume atrophy and functional connectivity of identified regions achieved classification accuracy of 53.33% to distinguish among NC, MCI, and AD. We identified distinctive regional atrophy and functional connectivity patterns that could be regarded as a connectional fingerprint. PMID:28333946

Ionospheric research. [E region, F region, D region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Progress is reported in the following areas: D-region theory; E and F-region; wave propagation; mass spectrometer measurements; and atmospheric reactions. Various supporting operations are included: design and construction of instrumentation; and programming.

Bipolar membranes with fluid distribution passages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hitchens, G. Duncan (Inventor); Archer, Shivaun (Inventor); Tennakoon, Charles L. (Inventor); Gonzalez-Martin, Anuncia (Inventor); Cisar, Alan J. (Inventor)

1999-01-01

The present invention provides a bipolar membrane and methods for making and using the membrane. The bipolar membrane comprises a cation-selective region, an anion-selective region, an interfacial region between the anion-selective region and the cation-selective region, and means for delivering fluid directly into the interfacial region. The means for delivering fluid includes passages that may comprise a fluid-permeable material, a wicking material, an open passage disposed within the membrane or some combination thereof. The passages may be provided in many shapes, sizes and configurations, but preferably deliver fluid directly to the interfacial region so that the rate of electrodialysis is no longer limited by the diffusion of fluid through the cation- or anion-selective regions to the interfacial region.

Approximate Co-Location of Precipitation and Low-Level Westerlies in Tropical Monthly Means

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choa, Winston C.; Chen, Baode

1999-01-01

In summer monsoon regions the monthly mean precipitation regions coincide approximately well with regions of westerlies at low-levels. An included chart shows a 15-year (1979-1993) mean August 850 hPa zonal wind from NCEP/NCAR reanalysis dataset and Xie-Arkin precipitation. It shows a region of westerlies covering most of Northern Indian Ocean and extending to northwestern Pacific. This region coincides well with the region with precipitation greater than 6 mm/day. Obviously the coincidence is not exact; the region of larges; zonal wind in the Arabian Sea is in a region of relatively low precipitation and is far from the region of maximum precipitation in Bay of Bengal. Also, in a zonally averaged sense between 40E and 140E, the latitude of maximum precipitation is slightly higher than that of the maximum zonal wind. Low-level westerlies are also found in regions west of Central America and in western Africa north of the equator. These regions are also closely associated with precipitation centers. Across equator from these westerlies regions there are regions of strong easterlies. Also, on their poleward side the westerly regions are flanked by weaker easterly regions. In February, similar observation can be found in the Australian monsoon area and in South America monsoon region; again the regions of westerlies coincide well with regions of maximum precipitation. As in the northern hemisphere, the maximum precipitation is found to the cast of the maximum zonal wind. The two maxima lie almost at the same latitude with that of the westerlies slightly closer to the equator. In the non-monsoon seasons the low- level westerlies can also be found in the tropical precipitation regions, the longitudinal range of the westerlies is undiminished and the speed of the westerlies is not much weaker than that found in February. The interpretation of these observational facts is the goal of this investigation. The approach taken is numerical simulation with the Goddard Earth Observation Systems atmospheric general circulation model, and its aqua-planet version, combined with theoretical arguments.

Regional Air Pollutions in Three Different Regions of Asia From a Transcontinental Transport Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pochanart, P.; Kanaya, Y.; Komazaki, Y.; Liu, Y.; Akimoto, H.

2007-12-01

Asia is known as one of the regions with the fastest rate of growing in industrialization and urbanization. As a result, the rapid increases of large-scale air pollution in Asia emerge as a serious concern at both domestic and international levels. Apart from the problems of air quality degradation, emission control, environmental risk, and health effect in a domestic level, evidences from scientific studies indicate that by the long-range transport, Asian air pollution is becoming a global problem. Observations and model studies confirm that air pollution from Asia could be transported to North America or farther. In this work, we investigate the Asian air pollutions, in particular ozone and some other atmospheric components such as carbon monoxide and black carbon, from the ground- based observations in the three different regions, namely 1) background region of Siberia and central Asia, 2) highly anthropogenic region in eastern China, and 3) the rim region of the Asia-Pacific. In a transcontinental transport perspective, these regions are regarded as the inflow region, source region, and outflow region of Asia, respectively. From the results, it is found that the influences from large-scale emission in East Asia are observed clearly in the source region, and to the significant extent in the outflow region. For the inflow region of Asia, our data in Siberia and Kyrgyzstan indicate that air masses in this region are mostly intact from large-scale anthropogenic emission, and remain much of the global background atmospheric pollution characteristic. When the air masses are transported to source region, the air pollutants level increased sharply and frequent episodes of extremely high pollutions have been observed. Our results show good correlation between the residence time of air masses over the source region in eastern China and the observed levels of air pollutants verifying the strong enhancements by anthropogenic emissions from industrialization and urbanization. In the outflow region, air pollutants characteristics depend largely on the air mass climatology. In most cases, increases of air pollutants level are observed with the transport events directly from the source region.

Conflicts in Coalitions: A Stability Analysis of Robust Multi-City Regional Water Supply Portfolios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gold, D.; Trindade, B. C.; Reed, P. M.; Characklis, G. W.

2017-12-01

Regional cooperation among water utilities can improve the robustness of urban water supply portfolios to deeply uncertain future conditions such as those caused by climate change or population growth. Coordination mechanisms such as water transfers, coordinated demand management, and shared infrastructure, can improve the efficiency of resource allocation and delay the need for new infrastructure investments. Regionalization does however come at a cost. Regionally coordinated water supply plans may be vulnerable to any emerging instabilities in the regional coalition. If one or more regional actors does not cooperate or follow the required regional actions in a time of crisis, the overall system performance may degrade. Furthermore, when crafting regional water supply portfolios, decision makers must choose a framework for measuring the performance of regional policies based on the evaluation of the objective values for each individual actor. Regional evaluations may inherently favor one actor's interests over those of another. This work focuses on four interconnected water utilities in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina for which robust regional water supply portfolios have previously been designed using multi-objective optimization to maximize the robustness of the worst performing utility across several objectives. This study 1) examines the sensitivity of portfolio performance to deviations from prescribed actions by individual utilities, 2) quantifies the implications of the regional formulation used to evaluate robustness for the portfolio performance of each individual utility and 3) elucidates the inherent regional tensions and conflicts that exist between utilities under this regionalization scheme through visual diagnostics of the system under simulated drought scenarios. Results of this analysis will help inform the creation of future regional water supply portfolios and provide insight into the nature of multi-actor water supply systems.

A Green Bank Telescope Survey of Large Galactic H II Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, L. D.; Armentrout, W. P.; Luisi, Matteo; Bania, T. M.; Balser, Dana S.; Wenger, Trey V.

2018-02-01

As part of our ongoing H II Region Discovery Survey (HRDS), we report the Green Bank Telescope detection of 148 new angularly large Galactic H II regions in radio recombination line (RRL) emission. Our targets are located at a declination of δ > -45^\\circ , which corresponds to 266^\\circ > {\\ell }> -20^\\circ at b=0^\\circ . All sources were selected from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer Catalog of Galactic H II Regions, and have infrared angular diameters ≥slant 260\\prime\\prime . The Galactic distribution of these “large” H II regions is similar to that of the previously known sample of Galactic H II regions. The large H II region RRL line width and peak line intensity distributions are skewed toward lower values, compared with that of previous HRDS surveys. We discover seven sources with extremely narrow RRLs < 10 {km} {{{s}}}-1. If half the line width is due to turbulence, these seven sources have thermal plasma temperatures < 1100 {{K}}. These temperatures are lower than any measured for Galactic H II regions, and the narrow-line components may arise instead from partially ionized zones in the H II region photodissociation regions. We discover G039.515+00.511, one of the most luminous H II regions in the Galaxy. We also detect the RRL emission from three H II regions with diameters > 100 {pc}, making them some of the physically largest known H II regions in the Galaxy. This survey completes the HRDS H II region census in the Northern sky, where we have discovered 887 H II regions and more than doubled the size of the previously known census of Galactic H II regions.

Article, component, and method of forming an article

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lacy, Benjamin Paul; Itzel, Gary Michael; Kottilingam, Srikanth Chandrudu

An article and method of forming an article are provided. The article includes a body portion separating an inner region and an outer region, an aperture in the body portion, the aperture fluidly connecting the inner region to the outer region, and a conduit extending from an outer surface of the body portion at the aperture and being arranged and disposed to controllably direct fluid from the inner region to the outer region. The method includes providing a body portion separating an inner region and an outer region, providing an aperture in the body portion, and forming a conduit overmore » the aperture, the conduit extending from an outer surface of the body portion and being arranged and disposed to controllably direct fluid from the inner region to the outer region. The article is arranged and disposed for insertion within a hot gas path component.« less

Segmentation of remotely sensed data using parallel region growing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, J. C.; Cox, S. C.

1983-01-01

The improved spatial resolution of the new earth resources satellites will increase the need for effective utilization of spatial information in machine processing of remotely sensed data. One promising technique is scene segmentation by region growing. Region growing can use spatial information in two ways: only spatially adjacent regions merge together, and merging criteria can be based on region-wide spatial features. A simple region growing approach is described in which the similarity criterion is based on region mean and variance (a simple spatial feature). An effective way to implement region growing for remote sensing is as an iterative parallel process on a large parallel processor. A straightforward parallel pixel-based implementation of the algorithm is explored and its efficiency is compared with sequential pixel-based, sequential region-based, and parallel region-based implementations. Experimental results from on aircraft scanner data set are presented, as is a discussioon of proposed improvements to the segmentation algorithm.

Selection of USSR foreign similarity regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Disler, J. M. (Principal Investigator)

1982-01-01

The similarity regions in the United States and Canada were selected to parallel the conditions that affect labeling and classification accuracies in the U.S.S.R. indicator regions. In addition to climate, a significant condition that affects labeling and classification accuracies in the U.S.S.R. is the proportion of barley and wheat grown in a given region (based on sown areas). The following regions in the United States and Canada were determined to be similar to the U.S.S.R. indicator regions: (1) Montana agrophysical unit (APU) 104 corresponds to the Belorussia high barley region; (2) North Dakota and Minnesota APU 20 and secondary region southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan correspond to the Ural RSFSR barley and spring wheat region; (3) Montana APU 23 corresponds to he North Caucasus barley and winter wheat region. Selection criteria included climates, crop type, crop distribution, growth cycles, field sizes, and field shapes.

Bodensee-Oberschwaben. Eine erfolgreiche Region fernab der Großstädte

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danielzyk, Rainer; Köhler, Stefan; Friedsmann, Philipp

2017-09-01

Bodensee-Oberschwaben is representative of a type of region that does not receive much attention in regional research. The region is located peripherally, away from the metropolises and urban agglomeration areas. Despite seemingly poor initial conditions, the region is economically very successful. A polycentric structure of many small and medium-sized towns characterize Bodensee-Oberschwaben as well as other attributes, which do not allow for classification into traditional categories such as rural or urban. Friedrichshafen, the largest city and the industrial core of the region, contributes significantly to its prosperity. The international high technology companies, which are located here, have their origins in the activities of Graf Zeppelin in the early 20th century. Regional universities and the strong network between actors both within the region as well as between Bodensee-Oberschwaben and the neighboring regions have also had a positive impact on region's development.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lv, Zun-Ren; Ji, Hai-Ming, E-mail: jhm@semi.ac.cn; Luo, Shuai

Large signal modulation characteristics of the simultaneous ground-state (GS) and excited-state (ES) lasing quantum dot lasers are theoretically investigated. Relaxation oscillations of ‘0 → 1’ and ‘1 → 0’ in the GS lasing region (Region I), the transition region from GS lasing to two-state lasing (Region II) and the two-state lasing region (Region III) are compared and analyzed. It is found that the overshooting power and settling time in both Regions I and III decrease as the bias current increases. However, there exist abnormal behaviors of the overshooting power and settling time in Region II owing to the occurrence ofmore » ES lasing, which lead to fuzzy eye diagrams of the GS and ES lasing. Moreover, the ES lasing in Region III possesses much better eye diagrams because of its shorter settling time and smaller overshooting power over the GS lasing in Region I.« less

Organic light emitting devices for illumination

DOEpatents

Hack, Michael; Lu, Min-Hao Michael; Weaver, Michael S.

2010-02-16

An organic light emitting device is provided. The device has a plurality of regions, each region having an organic emissive layer adapted to emit a different spectrum of light. The regions in combination emit light suitable for illumination purposes. The area of each region may be selected such that the device is more efficient that an otherwise equivalent device having regions of equal size. The regions may have an aspect ratio of at least about four. All parts of any given region may be driven at the same current.

Thresholded-Rewards Decision Problems: Acting Effectively in Timed Domains

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-02

intermediate reward (score difference). 89 5.8 Regions covered by each role in each play. (a) RoboCup play. The defender’s region is colored with dark dots; the...colored with dark dots; the middle defender’s region is colored with a light checkerboard pattern, and the front defender’s region is colored with...defender’s region is colored with dark dots; the supporter’s region is colored with diagonal lines. The attacker’s region is the entire field. (b

Associations of Region-Specific Foot Pain and Foot Biomechanics: The Framingham Foot Study

PubMed Central

Hagedorn, Thomas J.; Dufour, Alyssa B.; Hannan, Marian T.

2015-01-01

Background. Specific regions of the foot are responsible for the gait tasks of weight acceptance, single-limb support, and forward propulsion. With region foot pain, gait abnormalities may arise and affect the plantar pressure and force pattern utilized. Therefore, this study’s purpose was to evaluate plantar pressure and force pattern differences between adults with and without region-specific foot pain. Methods. Plantar pressure and force data were collected on Framingham Foot Study members while walking barefoot at a self-selected pace. Foot pain was evaluated by self-report and grouped by foot region (toe, forefoot, midfoot, or rearfoot) or regions (two or three or more regions) of pain. Unadjusted and adjusted linear regression with generalized estimating equations was used to determine associations between feet with and without foot pain. Results. Individuals with distal foot (forefoot or toes) pain had similar maximum vertical forces under the pain region, while those with proximal foot (rearfoot or midfoot) pain had different maximum vertical forces compared to those without regional foot pain (referent). During walking, there were significant differences in plantar loading and propulsion ranging from 2% to 4% between those with and without regional foot pain. Significant differences in normalized maximum vertical force and plantar pressure ranged from 5.3% to 12.4% and 3.4% to 24.1%, respectively, between those with and without regional foot pain. Conclusions. Associations of regional foot pain with plantar pressure and force were different by regions of pain. Region-specific foot pain was not uniformly associated with an increase or decrease in loading and pressure patterns regions of pain. PMID:25995291

23 CFR 940.9 - Regional ITS architecture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE AND STANDARDS § 940.9 Regional ITS architecture. (a) A regional... ITS project for that region advancing to final design. (d) The regional ITS architecture shall include...

23 CFR 940.9 - Regional ITS architecture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE AND STANDARDS § 940.9 Regional ITS architecture. (a) A regional... ITS project for that region advancing to final design. (d) The regional ITS architecture shall include...

23 CFR 940.9 - Regional ITS architecture.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE AND STANDARDS § 940.9 Regional ITS architecture. (a) A regional... ITS project for that region advancing to final design. (d) The regional ITS architecture shall include...

Marine Corps Installations National Capital RegionRegional Contracting Office Generally Implemented Recommendations

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-29

Corps Installations National Capital Region–Regional Contracting Office Generally Implemented Recommendations J U LY 2 9 , 2 0 1 6 Report No...Installations National Capital Region–Regional Contracting Office Generally Implemented Recommendations Objective We determined whether the Marine...Corps Regional Contracting Office–National Capital Region implemented the recommendations in Report No. DODIG-2015-095, “Small Business Contracting

Eighteen Years of the Great Lakes Regional Counseling Psychology Conference: Revisiting the Need for Regional Conferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delgado-Romero, Edward A.; Bowman, Sharon L.; Gerstein, Lawrence H.

2006-01-01

The Great Lakes Regional Conference on Counseling Psychology is the only conference to continuously fulfill the 1987 mandate issued by Division 17 for regional counseling conferences. The rationale for regional conferences is reviewed, and the 18-year history of the Great Lakes Regional Conference is examined. The authors conclude by noting the…

Measuring Polycentricity of Mega-City Regions in China Based on the Intercity Migration Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mu, Xiaoyan; Yeh, Anthony G. O.

2016-06-01

This paper uses the intercity migration flows to examine relations between Chinese cities, identify the important mega-city regions and measure each region's polycentricity from an interaction perspective. Data set contains the long-term residential migration trajectories of three million Sina weibo users across 345 cities. Cities with close connectivity deployed around one or several mega cities are identified as mega-city regions. Features of the mega-city regions are characterized by the strength of migration flows, density of connections, and regional migration patterns. The results show that the disparities exist in different mega-city regions; most mega-city regions are lack of polycentricity.

Incorporating Edge Information into Best Merge Region-Growing Segmentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilton, James C.; Pasolli, Edoardo

2014-01-01

We have previously developed a best merge region-growing approach that integrates nonadjacent region object aggregation with the neighboring region merge process usually employed in region growing segmentation approaches. This approach has been named HSeg, because it provides a hierarchical set of image segmentation results. Up to this point, HSeg considered only global region feature information in the region growing decision process. We present here three new versions of HSeg that include local edge information into the region growing decision process at different levels of rigor. We then compare the effectiveness and processing times of these new versions HSeg with each other and with the original version of HSeg.

Predicting human age using regional morphometry and inter-regional morphological similarity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xun-Heng; Li, Lihua

2016-03-01

The goal of this study is predicting human age using neuro-metrics derived from structural MRI, as well as investigating the relationships between age and predictive neuro-metrics. To this end, a cohort of healthy subjects were recruited from 1000 Functional Connectomes Project. The ages of the participations were ranging from 7 to 83 (36.17+/-20.46). The structural MRI for each subject was preprocessed using FreeSurfer, resulting in regional cortical thickness, mean curvature, regional volume and regional surface area for 148 anatomical parcellations. The individual age was predicted from the combination of regional and inter-regional neuro-metrics. The prediction accuracy is r = 0.835, p < 0.00001, evaluated by Pearson correlation coefficient between predicted ages and actual ages. Moreover, the LASSO linear regression also found certain predictive features, most of which were inter-regional features. The turning-point of the developmental trajectories in human brain was around 40 years old based on regional cortical thickness. In conclusion, structural MRI could be potential biomarkers for the aging in human brain. The human age could be successfully predicted from the combination of regional morphometry and inter-regional morphological similarity. The inter-regional measures could be beneficial to investigating human brain connectome.

Genome-wide identification and characterisation of HOT regions in the human genome.

PubMed

Li, Hao; Liu, Feng; Ren, Chao; Bo, Xiaochen; Shu, Wenjie

2016-09-15

HOT (high-occupancy target) regions, which are bound by a surprisingly large number of transcription factors, are considered to be among the most intriguing findings of recent years. An improved understanding of the roles that HOT regions play in biology would be afforded by knowing the constellation of factors that constitute these domains and by identifying HOT regions across the spectrum of human cell types. We characterised and validated HOT regions in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and produced a catalogue of HOT regions in a broad range of human cell types. We found that HOT regions are associated with genes that control and define the developmental processes of the respective cell and tissue types. We also showed evidence of the developmental persistence of HOT regions at primitive enhancers and demonstrate unique signatures of HOT regions that distinguish them from typical enhancers and super-enhancers. Finally, we performed a dynamic analysis to reveal the dynamical regulation of HOT regions upon H1 differentiation. Taken together, our results provide a resource for the functional exploration of HOT regions and extend our understanding of the key roles of HOT regions in development and differentiation.

Sports participation, physical activity, and health in the European regions.

PubMed

Lera-López, Fernando; Marco, Rocio

2018-08-01

In a context of stagnation of the level of health-enhancing physical activity in Europe, this study examines the geographical stratification of sports participation and physical activity (PA) at the regional level in 28 European countries. While previous research has focused on the national approach, this study considers the regional level across 208 European regions. Individual survey data from the Eurobarometer 80.2 is combined with a regional-level approach to the 208 regions to quantify sports participation and PA at the regional level. The results show important differences and a geographical stratification of sports participation and PA among the European regions, albeit following different patterns. In particular, a north-south gap is identified in terms of PA rates and an east-west gap is detected in terms of sports participation levels. Applying the cluster technique, a taxonomy of four different European regions is developed considering both types of indicators. Finally, the existence of sports spatial spillovers among regions is verified, obtaining a positive autocorrelation among neighbouring regions for being involved in PA and sporting activities. The results may have significant implications in terms of policy measures to improve health through PA and sports participation at the regional level in Europe.

Strong influence of variable treatment on the performance of numerically defined ecological regions.

PubMed

Snelder, Ton; Lehmann, Anthony; Lamouroux, Nicolas; Leathwick, John; Allenbach, Karin

2009-10-01

Numerical clustering has frequently been used to define hierarchically organized ecological regionalizations, but there has been little robust evaluation of their performance (i.e., the degree to which regions discriminate areas with similar ecological character). In this study we investigated the effect of the weighting and treatment of input variables on the performance of regionalizations defined by agglomerative clustering across a range of hierarchical levels. For this purpose, we developed three ecological regionalizations of Switzerland of increasing complexity using agglomerative clustering. Environmental data for our analysis were drawn from a 400 m grid and consisted of estimates of 11 environmental variables for each grid cell describing climate, topography and lithology. Regionalization 1 was defined from the environmental variables which were given equal weights. We used the same variables in Regionalization 2 but weighted and transformed them on the basis of a dissimilarity model that was fitted to land cover composition data derived for a random sample of cells from interpretation of aerial photographs. Regionalization 3 was a further two-stage development of Regionalization 2 where specific classifications, also weighted and transformed using dissimilarity models, were applied to 25 small scale "sub-domains" defined by Regionalization 2. Performance was assessed in terms of the discrimination of land cover composition for an independent set of sites using classification strength (CS), which measured the similarity of land cover composition within classes and the dissimilarity between classes. Regionalization 2 performed significantly better than Regionalization 1, but the largest gains in performance, compared to Regionalization 1, occurred at coarse hierarchical levels (i.e., CS did not increase significantly beyond the 25-region level). Regionalization 3 performed better than Regionalization 2 beyond the 25-region level and CS values continued to increase to the 95-region level. The results show that the performance of regionalizations defined by agglomerative clustering are sensitive to variable weighting and transformation. We conclude that large gains in performance can be achieved by training classifications using dissimilarity models. However, these gains are restricted to a narrow range of hierarchical levels because agglomerative clustering is unable to represent the variation in importance of variables at different spatial scales. We suggest that further advances in the numerical definition of hierarchically organized ecological regionalizations will be possible with techniques developed in the field of statistical modeling of the distribution of community composition.

The examination of biophysical parameters of skin (transepidermal water loss, skin hydration and pH value) in different body regions of normal cats of both sexes.

PubMed

Szczepanik, Marcin P; Wilkołek, Piotr M; Adamek, Lukasz R; Pomorski, Zbigniew J H

2011-04-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate transepidermal water loss (TEWL), skin hydration and skin pH in normal cats. Twenty shorthaired European cats of both sexes were examined in the study. Measurements were taken from five different sites: the lumbar region, the axillary fossa, the inguinal region, the ventral abdominal region and the left thoracic region. In each of the regions, TEWL, skin hydration and skin pH were measured. The highest TEWL value was observed in the axillary fossa (18.22g/h/m(2)) and the lowest in the lumbar region (10.53g/h/m(2)). The highest skin hydration was found in the inguinal region (18.29CU) and the lowest in the lumbar region (4.62CU). The highest skin pH was observed in the inguinal region (6.64) and the lowest in the lumbar region (6.39). Statistically significant differences in TEWL were observed between the lumbar region and the left side of the thorax region (P=0.016), the axillary fossa (P=0.0004), the ventral region (P=0.005), and the inguinal region (P=0.009). There were significant differences in skin hydration between the lumbar region and the left thorax (P=0.000003), the axillary fossa (P=0.002), the ventral abdomen (P=0.03), and the inguinal region (P=0.0003) as well as between the thorax and the ventral abdomen (P=0.005). TEWL was higher in females (15g/h/m(2)) than in males (4.57g/h/m(2)). Skin hydration was higher in females (13.89CU) than in males (12.28CU). Significant differences were not found between males and females for TEWL and skin hydration. Skin pH was higher in males (6.94) than in females (6.54), which was significant (P=0.004). Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Site Area Boundaries

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This dataset consists of site boundaries from multiple Superfund sites in U.S. EPA Region 8. These data were acquired from multiple sources at different times and were combined into one region-wide layer. Thus far the sources include:1. California Gulch (Irrigated Meadows) - ESAT Contractor.2. Manning Canyon - U.S. EPA Region 8; ESAT Contractor.3. Rapid City Small Arms Range - U.S. EPA Region 8; ESAT Contractor.4. Animas River/Cement Creek - U.S. EPA Region 8; ESAT Contractor.5. Monticello Mill Tailings (USDOE) - USDOE; ESAT Contractor.6. Pinon Canyon - USDOD.7. Rock Flats Industrial Park - U.S. EPA Region 8.8. Bountiful/Woods Cross - U.S. EPA Region 8.9. Lincoln Park - U.S. EPA Region 8.10. Marshall Landfill - U.S. EPA Region 8.11. U.S. Magnesium - Pacific Western Technologies Inc.

Comparison of DMSP and SECS region-1 and region-2 ionospheric current boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weygand, J. M.; Wing, S.

2016-06-01

The region-1 and region-2 boundary has traditionally been identified using data from a single spacecraft crossing the auroral region and measuring the large scale changes in the cross track magnetic field. With data from the AUTUMN, CANMOS, CARISMA, GIMA, DTU MGS, MACCS, McMAC, STEP, THEMIS, and USGS ground magnetometer arrays we applied a state-of-art technique based on spherical elementary current system (SECS) method developed by Amm and Viljanen (1999) in order to calculate maps of region-1 and region-2 current system over the North American and Greenland auroral region. Spherical elementary current (SEC) amplitude (proxy for vertical currents) maps can be inferred at 10 s temporal resolution, ~1.5° geographic latitude (Glat), and 3.5° geographic longitude (Glon) spatial resolution. We compare the location of the region-1 and region-2 boundary obtained by the DMSP spacecraft with the region-1 and region-2 boundary observed in the SEC current amplitudes. We find that the boundaries typically agree within 0.2°±1.3°. These results indicate that the location of the region-1 and region-2 boundary can reasonably be determined from ground magnetometer data. The SECS maps represent a value-added product from the magnetometer database and can be used for contextual interpretation in conjunction with other missions as well as help with our understanding of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanisms using the ground arrays and the magnetospheric spacecraft data.

A comparison of regional and national values for recovering threatened and endangered marine species in the United States.

PubMed

Wallmo, Kristy; Lew, Daniel K

2016-09-01

It is generally acknowledged that willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates for environmental goods exhibit some degree of spatial variation. In a policy context, spatial variation in threatened and endangered species values is important to understand, as the benefit stream from policies affecting threatened and endangered species may vary locally, regionally, or among certain population segments. In this paper we present WTP estimates for eight different threatened and endangered marine species estimated from a stated preference choice experiment. WTP is estimated at two different spatial scales: (a) a random sample of over 5000 U.S. households and (b) geographically embedded samples (relative to the U.S. household sample) of nine U.S. Census regions. We conduct region-to-region and region-to-nation statistical comparisons to determine whether species values differ among regions and between each region and the entire U.S. Our results show limited spatial variation between national values and values estimated from regionally embedded samples, and differences are only found for three of the eight species. More variation exists between regions, and for all species there is a significant difference in at least one region-to-region comparison. Given that policy analyses involving threatened and endangered marine species can often be regional in scope (e.g., ecosystem management) or may disparately affect different regions, our results should be of high interest to the marine management community. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Comparison of DMSP and SECS region-1 and region-2 ionospheric current boundary✩

PubMed Central

Weygand, J.M.; Wing, S.

2017-01-01

The region-1 and region-2 boundary has traditionally been identified using data from a single spacecraft crossing the auroral region and measuring the large scale changes in the cross track magnetic field. With data from the AUTUMN, CANMOS, CARISMA, GIMA, DTU MGS, MACCS, McMAC, STEP, THEMIS, and USGS ground magnetometer arrays we applied a state-of-art technique based on spherical elementary current system (SECS) method developed by Amm and Viljanen (1999) in order to calculate maps of region-1 and region-2 current system over the North American and Greenland auroral region. Spherical elementary current (SEC) amplitude (proxy for vertical currents) maps can be inferred at 10 s temporal resolution, ~1.5° geographic latitude (Glat), and 3.5° geographic longitude (Glon) spatial resolution. We compare the location of the region-1 and region-2 boundary obtained by the DMSP spacecraft with the region-1 and region-2 boundary observed in the SEC current amplitudes. We find that the boundaries typically agree within 0.2° ± 1.3°. These results indicate that the location of the region-1 and region-2 boundary can reasonably be determined from ground magnetometer data. The SECS maps represent a value-added product from the magnetometer database and can be used for contextual interpretation in conjunction with other missions as well as help with our understanding of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanisms using the ground arrays and the magnetospheric spacecraft data. PMID:29056861

Comparison of DMSP and SECS region-1 and region-2 ionospheric current boundary.

PubMed

Weygand, J M; Wing, S

2016-06-01

The region-1 and region-2 boundary has traditionally been identified using data from a single spacecraft crossing the auroral region and measuring the large scale changes in the cross track magnetic field. With data from the AUTUMN, CANMOS, CARISMA, GIMA, DTU MGS, MACCS, McMAC, STEP, THEMIS, and USGS ground magnetometer arrays we applied a state-of-art technique based on spherical elementary current system (SECS) method developed by Amm and Viljanen (1999) in order to calculate maps of region-1 and region-2 current system over the North American and Greenland auroral region. Spherical elementary current (SEC) amplitude (proxy for vertical currents) maps can be inferred at 10 s temporal resolution, ~1.5° geographic latitude (Glat), and 3.5° geographic longitude (Glon) spatial resolution. We compare the location of the region-1 and region-2 boundary obtained by the DMSP spacecraft with the region-1 and region-2 boundary observed in the SEC current amplitudes. We find that the boundaries typically agree within 0.2° ± 1.3°. These results indicate that the location of the region-1 and region-2 boundary can reasonably be determined from ground magnetometer data. The SECS maps represent a value-added product from the magnetometer database and can be used for contextual interpretation in conjunction with other missions as well as help with our understanding of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanisms using the ground arrays and the magnetospheric spacecraft data.

Solar heating and cooling diode module

DOEpatents

Maloney, Timothy J.

1986-01-01

A high efficiency solar heating system comprising a plurality of hollow modular units each for receiving a thermal storage mass, the units being arranged in stacked relation in the exterior frame of a building, each of the units including a port for filling the unit with the mass, a collector region and a storage region, each region having inner and outer walls, the outer wall of the collector region being oriented for exposure to sunlight for heating the thermal storage mass; the storage region having an opening therein and the collector region having a corresponding opening, the openings being joined for communicating the thermal storage mass between the storage and collector regions by thermosiphoning; the collector region being disposed substantially below and in parallel relation to the storage region in the modular unit; and the inner wall of the collector region of each successive modular unit in the stacked relation extending over the outer wall of the storage region of the next lower modular unit in the stacked relation for reducing heat loss from the system. Various modifications and alternatives are disclosed for both heating and cooling applications.

Three region steam drum model for a nuclear power plant simulator (BRENDA). Technical report 1 Oct 80-May 81. [LMFBR

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Slovik, G.C.

1981-08-01

A new three region steam drum model has been developed. This model differs from previous works for it assumes the existence of three regions within the steam drum: a steam region, a mid region (assumed to be under saturation conditions at steady state), and a bottom region (having a mixed mean subcooled enthalpy).

Geohydrological Implications of Climate Change on Water Resource Development

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-05-01

Region 16 - Great Basin ............................... 130 11. Region 17 - Pacific Northwest......................... 135 18. Region 18 - California...Great Basin Region. 131 51. Location and drainage of the Pacific Northwest Region. 135 52. Distribution of major aquifers in the Pacific Northwest 139...individual stations within the Great Basin Region. 26. Estimated ratios of Q scenario/Q present for average temp- 133 eratures and precipitation within the

Regional aerosol emissions and temperature response: Local and remote climate impacts of regional aerosol forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewinschal, Anna; Ekman, Annica; Hansson, Hans-Christen

2017-04-01

Emissions of anthropogenic aerosols vary substantially over the globe and the short atmospheric residence time of aerosols leads to a highly uneven radiative forcing distribution, both spatially and temporally. Regional aerosol radiative forcing can, nevertheless, exert a large influence on the temperature field away from the forcing region through changes in heat transport or the atmospheric or ocean circulation. Moreover, the global temperature response distribution to aerosol forcing may vary depending on the geographical location of the forcing. In other words, the climate sensitivity in one region can vary depending on the location of the forcing. The surface temperature distribution response to changes in sulphate aerosol forcing caused by sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission perturbations in four different regions is investigated using the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM). The four regions, Europe, North America, East and South Asia, are all regions with historically high aerosol emissions and are relevant from both an air-quality and climate policy perspective. All emission perturbations are defined relative to the year 2000 emissions provided for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5. The global mean temperature change per unit SO2 emission change is similar for all four regions for similar magnitudes of emissions changes. However, the global temperature change per unit SO2 emission in simulations where regional SO2 emission were removed is substantially higher than that obtained in simulations where regional SO2 emissions were increased. Thus, the climate sensitivity to regional SO2 emissions perturbations depends on the magnitude of the emission perturbation in NorESM. On regional scale, on the other hand, the emission perturbations in different geographical locations lead to different regional temperature responses, both locally and in remote regions. The results from the model simulations are used to construct regional temperature potential (RTP) coefficients, which directly link regional aerosol or aerosol precursor emissions to the temperature response in different regions. These RTP coefficients can provide a simplified way to perform an initial evaluation of climate impacts of e.g. different emission policy pathways and pollution abatement strategies.

Trends in Regionalization of Care for ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

PubMed

Hsia, Renee Y; Sabbagh, Sarah; Sarkar, Nandita; Sporer, Karl; Rokos, Ivan C; Brown, John F; Brindis, Ralph G; Guo, Joanna; Shen, Yu-Chu

2017-10-01

California has led successful regionalized efforts for several time-critical medical conditions, including ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), but no specific mandated protocols exist to define regionalization of care. We aimed to study the trends in regionalization of care for STEMI patients in the state of California and to examine the differences in patient demographic, hospital, and county trends. Using survey responses collected from all California emergency medical services (EMS) agencies, we developed four categories - no, partial, substantial, and complete regionalization - to capture prehospital and inter-hospital components of regionalization in each EMS agency's jurisdiction between 2005-2014. We linked the survey responses to 2006 California non-public hospital discharge data to study the patient distribution at baseline. STEMI regionalization-of-care networks steadily developed across California. Only 14% of counties were regionalized in 2006, accounting for 42% of California's STEMI patient population, but over half of these counties, representing 86% of California's STEMI patient population, reached complete regionalization in 2014. We did not find any dramatic differences in underlying patient characteristics based on regionalization status; however, differences in hospital characteristics were relatively substantial. Potential barriers to achieving regionalization included competition, hospital ownership, population density, and financial challenges. Minimal differences in patient characteristics can establish that patient differences unlikely played any role in influencing earlier or later regionalization and can provide a framework for future analyses evaluating the impact of regionalization on patient outcomes.

The feasibility study of small long-life gas cooled fast reactor with mixed natural Uranium/Thorium as fuel cycle input

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ariani, Menik; Su'ud, Zaki; Waris, Abdul

2012-06-06

A conceptual design study of Gas Cooled Fast Reactors with Modified CANDLE burn-up scheme has been performed. In this study, design GCFR with Helium coolant which can be continuously operated by supplying mixed Natural Uranium/Thorium without fuel enrichment plant or fuel reprocessing plant. The active reactor cores are divided into two region, Thorium fuel region and Uranium fuel region. Each fuel core regions are subdivided into ten parts (region-1 until region-10) with the same volume in the axial direction. The fresh Natural Uranium and Thorium is initially put in region-1, after one cycle of 10 years of burn-up it ismore » shifted to region-2 and the each region-1 is filled by fresh natural Uranium/Thorium fuel. This concept is basically applied to all regions in both cores area, i.e. shifted the core of i{sup th} region into i+1 region after the end of 10 years burn-up cycle. For the next cycles, we will add only Natural Uranium and Thorium on each region-1. The calculation results show the reactivity reached by mixed Natural Uranium/Thorium with volume ratio is 4.7:1. This reactor can results power thermal 550 MWth. After reactor start-up the operation, furthermore reactor only needs Natural Uranium/Thorium supply for continue operation along 100 years.« less

Home - National Site for the Regional IPM Centers

Science.gov Websites

Region Northeastern Region Southern Region Western Region United States Department of Agriculture - National Institute of Food and Agriculture Website managed by the Southern IPM Center. Design adapted from of Food and Agriculture. Last update: May 19, 2016.

Developing Regionalized Models of Lithospheric Thickness and Velocity Structure Across Eurasia and the Middle East from Jointly Inverting P-Wave and S-Wave Receiver Functions with Rayleigh Wave Group and Phase Velocities

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

lithospheric velocity structure for a wide variety of tectonic regions throughout Eurasia and the Middle East. We expect the regionalized models will improve...constructed by combining the 1D joint inversion models within each tectonic region and validated through regional waveform modeling. The velocity models thus...important differences in lithospheric structure between the cratonic regions of Eastern Europe and the tectonic regions of Western Europe and the

Magnetic Causes of Solar Coronal Mass Ejections: Dominance of the Free Magnetic Energy Over the Magnetic Twist Alone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Falconer, D. A.; Moore, R. L.; Gary, g. A.

2006-01-01

We examine the magnetic causes of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) by examining, along with the correlations of active-region magnetic measures with each other, the correlations of these measures with active-region CME productivity observed in time windows of a few days, either centered on or extending forward from the day of the magnetic measurement. The measures are from 36 vector magnetograms of bipolar active regions observed within -30" of disk center by the Marshal Space Flight Center (MSFC) vector magnetograph. From each magnetogram, we extract six whole-active-region measures twice, once from the original plane-of-the-sky magnetogram and again a h r deprojection of the magnetogram to disk center. Three of the measures are alternative measures of the total nonpotentiality of the active region, two are alternative measures of the overall twist in the active-region's magnetic field, and one is a measure of the magnetic size of the active region (the active region's magnetic flux content). From the deprojected magnetograms, we find evidence that (1) magnetic twist and magnetic size are separate but comparably strong causes of active-region CME Productivity, and (2) the total free magnetic energy in an active region's magnetic field is a stronger determinant of the active region's CME productivity than is the field's overall twist (or helicity) alone. From comparison of results from the non-deprojected magnetograms with corresponding results from the deprojected magnetograms, we find evidence that (for prediction of active-region CME productivity and for further studies of active-region magnetic size as a cause of CMEs), for active regions within approx.30deg of disk center, active-region total nonpotentiality and flux content can be adequately measured from line-of-sight magnetograms, such as from SOH0 MDI.

Future Earth, Global Science and Regional Programs: Building regional integrated science capacities in a global science organization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tewksbury, J.

2016-12-01

Future Earth has emerged from the more than 30-year history of Global Change Research Programs, including IGBP, DIVERSITAS and IHDP. These programs supported interdisciplinary science in service of societies around the world. Now, their focus on building a greater understanding of changing Earth systems and their couplings with society has passed to Future Earth - with an important addition: Future Earth was also established to focus global change efforts around key societal challenges. The implications for the structure of Future Earth are large. Many challenges within topics, such as the water, energy, food nexus or the future of cities, are manifested within local, national, and regional contexts. How should we organize globally to most effectively confront these multi-scale challenges? The solution proposed in the framing of Future Earth was the formation of regional as well as national committees, as well as the formation of regional centers and offices. Regional Committees serve to both advocate for Future Earth in their regions and to advocate for regional interests in the global Future Earth platform, while regional Centers and offices are built into the Future Earth secretariat to perform a parallel regional implementation function. Implementation has not been easy, and the process has placed regionally-focused projects in an awkward place. Programs such as the Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS), the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI), and the South/Southeast Asia Research Initiative (SARI) represent some of the best global change communities in the world, but by design, their focus is regional. The effective integration of these communities into the Future Earth architecture will be critical, and this integration will require the formation of strong regional committees and regional centers.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Q; Han, H; Xing, L

Purpose: Dictionary learning based method has attracted more and more attentions in low-dose CT due to the superior performance on suppressing noise and preserving structural details. Considering the structures and noise vary from region to region in one imaging object, we propose a region-specific dictionary learning method to improve the low-dose CT reconstruction. Methods: A set of normal-dose images was used for dictionary learning. Segmentations were performed on these images, so that the training patch sets corresponding to different regions can be extracted out. After that, region-specific dictionaries were learned from these training sets. For the low-dose CT reconstruction, amore » conventional reconstruction, such as filtered back-projection (FBP), was performed firstly, and then segmentation was followed to segment the image into different regions. Sparsity constraints of each region based on its dictionary were used as regularization terms. The regularization parameters were selected adaptively according to different regions. A low-dose human thorax dataset was used to evaluate the proposed method. The single dictionary based method was performed for comparison. Results: Since the lung region is very different from the other part of thorax, two dictionaries corresponding to lung region and the rest part of thorax respectively were learned to better express the structural details and avoid artifacts. With only one dictionary some artifact appeared in the body region caused by the spot atoms corresponding to the structures in the lung region. And also some structure in the lung regions cannot be recovered well by only one dictionary. The quantitative indices of the result by the proposed method were also improved a little compared to the single dictionary based method. Conclusion: Region-specific dictionary can make the dictionary more adaptive to different region characteristics, which is much desirable for enhancing the performance of dictionary learning based method.« less

Assessment of a correlation between Canine Atopic Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index (CADESI-03) and selected biophysical skin measures (skin hydration, pH, and erythema intensity) in dogs with naturally occurring atopic dermatitis.

PubMed

Zając, Marcin; Szczepanik, Marcin P; Wilkołek, Piotr M; Adamek, Łukasz R; Pomorski, Zbigniew J H; Sitkowski, Wiesław; Gołyński, Marcin

2015-04-01

Atopic dermatitis is a common allergic skin disease in dogs. The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of a correlation between biophysical skin variables: skin hydration (SH), skin pH, and erythema intensity measured in 10 different body regions and both total Canine Atopic Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index (CADESI-03) and CADESI measured in a given region (CADESI L). The study was conducted using 33 dogs with atopic dermatitis. The assessment of the biophysical variables was done in 10 body regions: the lumbar region, right axillary fossa, right inguinal region, ventral abdominal region, right lateral thorax region, internal surface of the auricle, interdigital region of right forelimb, cheek, bridge of nose, and lateral site of antebrachum. Positive correlations were found between SH and CADESI L for the following regions: the inguinal region (r = 0.73) and the interdigital region (r = 0.82), as well as between total CADESI and SH on digital region (r = 0.52). Also, positive correlations were reported for skin pH and CADESI L in the lumbar region (r = 0.57), the right lateral thorax region (r = 0.40), and the lateral antebrachum (r = 0.35). Positive correlations were found in the interdigital region between erythema intensity and the total CADESI-03 (r = 0.60) as well as the CADESI L (r = 0.7). The results obtained suggest that it may be possible to use skin hydration, pH, and erythema intensity to assess the severity of skin lesion but positive correlation was only found in < 13.3% of possible correlations and usage of these measures in dogs is limited.

Assessment of a correlation between Canine Atopic Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index (CADESI-03) and selected biophysical skin measures (skin hydration, pH, and erythema intensity) in dogs with naturally occurring atopic dermatitis

PubMed Central

Zając, Marcin; Szczepanik, Marcin P.; Wilkołek, Piotr M.; Adamek, Łukasz R.; Pomorski, Zbigniew J.H.; Sitkowski, Wiesław; Gołyński, Marcin

2015-01-01

Atopic dermatitis is a common allergic skin disease in dogs. The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of a correlation between biophysical skin variables: skin hydration (SH), skin pH, and erythema intensity measured in 10 different body regions and both total Canine Atopic Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index (CADESI-03) and CADESI measured in a given region (CADESI L). The study was conducted using 33 dogs with atopic dermatitis. The assessment of the biophysical variables was done in 10 body regions: the lumbar region, right axillary fossa, right inguinal region, ventral abdominal region, right lateral thorax region, internal surface of the auricle, interdigital region of right forelimb, cheek, bridge of nose, and lateral site of antebrachum. Positive correlations were found between SH and CADESI L for the following regions: the inguinal region (r = 0.73) and the interdigital region (r = 0.82), as well as between total CADESI and SH on digital region (r = 0.52). Also, positive correlations were reported for skin pH and CADESI L in the lumbar region (r = 0.57), the right lateral thorax region (r = 0.40), and the lateral antebrachum (r = 0.35). Positive correlations were found in the interdigital region between erythema intensity and the total CADESI-03 (r = 0.60) as well as the CADESI L (r = 0.7). The results obtained suggest that it may be possible to use skin hydration, pH, and erythema intensity to assess the severity of skin lesion but positive correlation was only found in < 13.3% of possible correlations and usage of these measures in dogs is limited. PMID:25852229

Psychosocial and demographic determinants of regional differences in the prevalence of obesity.

PubMed

Halkjaer, Jytte; Sørensen, Thorkild I A

2004-03-01

Differences in the prevalence of obesity between adjacent regions are quite common, but usually unexplained. This study examined whether birth place, selective migration, intelligence or education--which are both inversely and possibly causally related to obesity--are determinants of such differences. This population-based case-control study (case-cohort design) took place in the greater Copenhagen area (region 1) and surrounding provincial areas of Zealand (region 2), Denmark. A total of 2948 men with a median age of 19 years from two draft board regions during 1966-1977 were examined. The odds ratio (OR) for being obese (defined as body mass index > or = 31 kg/m2) was investigated using multiple logistic regression analyses. The OR for being obese in region 2 compared with region 1 was 1.74 (1.50-2.03). Adjustment for birth place, intelligence test score and educational level reduced the OR to 1.42 (1.10-1.82). The OR for being obese for those born in region 2 compared with region 1 was 1.71 (1.46-2.01). Adjustments for intelligence test score, educational level and examination region reduced this OR to 1.13 (0.87-1.46). Irrespective of birth place, men examined in region 2 had a higher OR for being obese than those examined in region 1; this effect was most pronounced for those born in region 2 and examined in either region 1 or 2, with an OR of 1.06 (0.71-1.57) and 1.87 (1.58-2.22) respectively. In conclusion, the regional differences in the prevalence of obesity could not be explained by birth place or later selective migration, but educational level and intelligence test score did explain some of the difference.

[A process of aquatic ecological function regionalization: The dual tree framework and conceptual model].

PubMed

Guo, Shu Hai; Wu, Bo

2017-12-01

Aquatic ecological regionalization and aquatic ecological function regionalization are the basis of water environmental management of a river basin and rational utilization of an aquatic ecosystem, and have been studied in China for more than ten years. Regarding the common problems in this field, the relationship between aquatic ecological regionalization and aquatic ecological function regionalization was discussed in this study by systematic analysis of the aquatic ecological zoning and the types of aquatic ecological function. Based on the dual tree structure, we put forward the RFCH process and the diamond conceptual model. Taking Liaohe River basin as an example and referring to the results of existing regionalization studies, we classified the aquatic ecological function regions based on three-class aquatic ecological regionalization. This study provided a process framework for aquatic ecological function regionalization of a river basin.

Dividing the common pond: regionalizing EU ocean governance.

PubMed

Maier, Nina; Markus, Till

2013-02-15

EU ocean policies increasingly incorporate regional measures. Under the long standing Common Fisheries Policy, such measures aim at improving and reforming existing policy, either by taking into account region specific social or ecologic requirements or by establishing procedures and institutions to achieve a regional fit. By contrast, the EU's emerging integrated Marine Environmental Policy was designed to draw heavily on regional procedural and institutional mechanisms from the outset. The developing regional measures raise the question whether they contribute to improving institutional structures governing the use and conservation of EU waters. This article analyzes the existing and future regional measures of the two policies and their varying purposes and scopes. It develops a typology for categorizing the regional aspects and examines the effects of regional measures on EU institutions and the theoretical EU integration debate. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regional Logistics Information Resources Integration Patterns and Countermeasures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Hui; Shangguan, Xu-ming

Effective integration of regional logistics information resources can provide collaborative services in information flow, business flow and logistics for regional logistics enterprises, which also can reduce operating costs and improve market responsiveness. First, this paper analyzes the realistic significance on the integration of regional logistics information. Second, this paper brings forward three feasible patterns on the integration of regional logistics information resources, These three models have their own strengths and the scope of application and implementation, which model is selected will depend on the specific business and the regional distribution of enterprises. Last, this paper discusses the related countermeasures on the integration of regional logistics information resources, because the integration of regional logistics information is a systems engineering, when the integration is advancing, the countermeasures should pay close attention to the current needs and long-term development of regional enterprises.

Effect of Naturally Occurring nif Reiterations on Symbiotic Effectiveness in Rhizobium phaseoli

PubMed Central

Romero, David; Singleton, Paul W.; Segovia, Lorenzo; Morett, Enrique; Bohlool, B. Ben; Palacios, Rafael; Dávila, Guillermo

1988-01-01

Most naturally occurring strains of Rhizobium phaseoli possess reiteration of the nif genes. Three regions contain nitrogenase structural genes in strain CFN42. Two of these regions (a and b) have copies of nifH, nifD, and nifK, whereas the third region (c) contains only nifH. Strains containing mutations in either nif region a or nif region b had significantly diminished symbiotic effectiveness compared with the wild-type strain on the basis of nodule mass, total nitrogenase activity per plant, nitrogenase specific activity, total nitrogen in the shoot, and percentage of nitrogen. A strain containing mutations in both nif region a and nif region b was totally ineffective. These data indicate that both nif region a and nif region b are needed for full symbiotic effectiveness in R. phaseoli. PMID:16347593

Spatio-temporal characteristics of the extreme precipitation by L-moment-based index-flood method in the Yangtze River Delta region, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Yixing; Chen, Haishan; Xu, Chong-Yu; Xu, Wucheng; Chen, Changchun; Sun, Shanlei

2016-05-01

The regionalization methods, which "trade space for time" by pooling information from different locations in the frequency analysis, are efficient tools to enhance the reliability of extreme quantile estimates. This paper aims at improving the understanding of the regional frequency of extreme precipitation by using regionalization methods, and providing scientific background and practical assistance in formulating the regional development strategies for water resources management in one of the most developed and flood-prone regions in China, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. To achieve the main goals, L-moment-based index-flood (LMIF) method, one of the most popular regionalization methods, is used in the regional frequency analysis of extreme precipitation with special attention paid to inter-site dependence and its influence on the accuracy of quantile estimates, which has not been considered by most of the studies using LMIF method. Extensive data screening of stationarity, serial dependence, and inter-site dependence was carried out first. The entire YRD region was then categorized into four homogeneous regions through cluster analysis and homogenous analysis. Based on goodness-of-fit statistic and L-moment ratio diagrams, generalized extreme-value (GEV) and generalized normal (GNO) distributions were identified as the best fitted distributions for most of the sub-regions, and estimated quantiles for each region were obtained. Monte Carlo simulation was used to evaluate the accuracy of the quantile estimates taking inter-site dependence into consideration. The results showed that the root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) were bigger and the 90 % error bounds were wider with inter-site dependence than those without inter-site dependence for both the regional growth curve and quantile curve. The spatial patterns of extreme precipitation with a return period of 100 years were finally obtained which indicated that there are two regions with highest precipitation extremes and a large region with low precipitation extremes. However, the regions with low precipitation extremes are the most developed and densely populated regions of the country, and floods will cause great loss of human life and property damage due to the high vulnerability. The study methods and procedure demonstrated in this paper will provide useful reference for frequency analysis of precipitation extremes in large regions, and the findings of the paper will be beneficial in flood control and management in the study area.

Tracked Active Region Patches for MDI and HMI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turmon, Michael; Hoeksema, J. Todd; Bobra, Monica

2014-06-01

We describe tracked active-region patch data products that have been developed for HMI (HMI Active Region Patches, or HARPs) and for MDI (MDI Tracked Active Region Patches, or MDI TARPs). Both data products consist of tracked magnetic features on the scale of solar active regions. The now-released HARP data product covers 2010-present (>2000 regions to date). Like the HARPs, the MDI TARP data set is a catalog of active regions (ARs), indexed by a region ID number, analogous to a NOAA AR number, and time. The TARPs contain 6170 regions spanning 72000 images taken over 1996-2010, and will be availablein the MDI resident archive (RA).MDI TARPs are computed based on the 96-minute synoptic magnetograms and intensitygrams. As with the related HARP data product, the approximate threshold for significance is 100G. Use of both image types together allows faculae and sunspots to be separated out as sub-classes of activity, in addition to identifying the overall active region that they are in. After being identified in single images, the magnetically-active patches are grouped and tracked from image to image. Merges among growing active regions, as well as faint active regions hovering at the threshold of detection, are handled automatically. Regions are tracked from their inception until they decay within view, or transit off the visible disk. For each active region and for each time, a bitmap image is stored containing the precise outline of the active region. Also, metadata such as areas and integrated fluxes are stored for each AR and for each time. Because there is a cross-calibration between the HMI and MDI magnetograms (Liu et al. 2012), it is straightforward to use the same classification and tracking rules for the HMI HARPs and the MDI TARPs. We show results demonstrating region correspondence, region boundary agreement, and agreement of flux metadata using the approximately 140 regions in the May 2010-October 2010 time period. We envision several uses for these data products, including data subsetting and per-active-region studies such as the relation between AR structure and energetic events like flares. Also, the combined HARP/MDI-TARP catalog can enable extended studies, such as solarirradiance, across cycles 23 and 24, and allow analyses that had been confined to just a handful of ARs to be extended to a larger set.

7 CFR 23.9 - General.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... development programs and policies. (d) Regional Programs will be consonant with all rural development... Secretary of Agriculture STATE AND REGIONAL ANNUAL PLANS OF WORK Regional Program § 23.9 General. (a... “Regional Programs.” (b) The Regional Programs shall develop and provide knowledge essential to assist and...

10 CFR 1.47 - NRC Regional Offices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... NRC Regional Offices. Each Regional Administrator executes established NRC policies and assigned... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false NRC Regional Offices. 1.47 Section 1.47 Energy NUCLEAR... response within Regional boundaries set out in § 1.5(b) of this part. ...

10 CFR 1.47 - NRC Regional Offices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... NRC Regional Offices. Each Regional Administrator executes established NRC policies and assigned... 10 Energy 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false NRC Regional Offices. 1.47 Section 1.47 Energy NUCLEAR... response within Regional boundaries set out in § 1.5(b) of this part. ...

32 CFR 1605.7 - Region Manager.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM... immediate charge of the Region Headquarters and shall be responsible for carrying out the region functions of the Selective Service System in the various States assigned to the region. (b) The Region Manager...

32 CFR 1605.7 - Region Manager.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM... immediate charge of the Region Headquarters and shall be responsible for carrying out the region functions of the Selective Service System in the various States assigned to the region. (b) The Region Manager...

32 CFR 1605.7 - Region Manager.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM... immediate charge of the Region Headquarters and shall be responsible for carrying out the region functions of the Selective Service System in the various States assigned to the region. (b) The Region Manager...

32 CFR 1605.7 - Region Manager.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM... immediate charge of the Region Headquarters and shall be responsible for carrying out the region functions of the Selective Service System in the various States assigned to the region. (b) The Region Manager...

40 CFR 81.89 - Metropolitan Cheyenne Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.89 Section 81.89 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.89 Metropolitan Cheyenne Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Cheyenne Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (Wyoming) consists of the territorial area...

40 CFR 81.101 - Metropolitan Dubuque Interstate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.101 Section 81.101 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.101 Metropolitan Dubuque Interstate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Dubuque Interstate Air Quality Control Region (Illinois-Iowa-Wisconsin) consists of the...

40 CFR 81.106 - Greenville-Spartanburg Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.106 Section 81.106 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.106 Greenville-Spartanburg Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Greenville-Spartanburg Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (South Carolina) consists of the territorial...

40 CFR 81.101 - Metropolitan Dubuque Interstate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.101 Section 81.101 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.101 Metropolitan Dubuque Interstate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Dubuque Interstate Air Quality Control Region (Illinois-Iowa-Wisconsin) consists of the...

40 CFR 81.106 - Greenville-Spartanburg Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.106 Section 81.106 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.106 Greenville-Spartanburg Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Greenville-Spartanburg Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (South Carolina) consists of the territorial...

40 CFR 81.89 - Metropolitan Cheyenne Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.89 Section 81.89 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.89 Metropolitan Cheyenne Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Cheyenne Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (Wyoming) consists of the territorial area...

40 CFR 81.62 - Northeast Mississippi Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.62 Section 81.62 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.62 Northeast Mississippi Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Alabama-Mississippi-Tennessee Interstate Air Quality Control Region has been renamed the Northeast...

40 CFR 81.78 - Metropolitan Portland Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.78 Section 81.78 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.78 Metropolitan Portland Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Portland Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (Maine) consists of the territorial area...

9 CFR 94.10 - Swine from regions where classical swine fever exists.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...-defined EU CSF region is a single region of low-risk for CSF. (c) Except as provided in § 94.24 for the APHIS-defined EU CSF region, no swine that are moved from or transit any region where classical swine...

The Southern HII Region Discovery Survey: The Bright Catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wenger, Trey V.; Dickey, John M.; Jordan, Christopher H.; Balser, Dana; Armentrout, William Paul; Anderson, Loren; Bania, Thomas; Dawson, Joanne; McClure-Griffiths, Naomi M.; Shea, Jeanine

2018-01-01

HII regions, the zones of ionized gas surrounding recently formed high-mass stars, are the archetypical tracers of Galactic structure. The census of Galactic HII regions in the Southern sky is vastly incomplete due to a lack of sensitive radio recombination line (RRL) surveys. The Southern HII Region Discovery Survey (SHRDS) is a 900-hour Australia Telescope Compact Array cm-wavelength RRL and continuum emission survey of hundreds of third and fourth quadrant Galactic HII region candidates. These candidates are identified in the Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Catalog of Galactic HII Regions based on coincident 10 micron (WISE) and 20 cm (Southern Galactic Plane Survey) emission. The SHRDS is an extension of HII Region Discovery Surveys in the Northern sky with the Green Bank Telescope and Arecibo Telescope which discovered ~800 new HII regions. In the first 500 hours of the SHRDS, we targeted the 249 brightest HII region candidates and 33 previously known HII regions. We discuss the data reduction, analysis, and preliminary results from this first stage of the survey.

Correlation approach to identify coding regions in DNA sequences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ossadnik, S. M.; Buldyrev, S. V.; Goldberger, A. L.; Havlin, S.; Mantegna, R. N.; Peng, C. K.; Simons, M.; Stanley, H. E.

1994-01-01

Recently, it was observed that noncoding regions of DNA sequences possess long-range power-law correlations, whereas coding regions typically display only short-range correlations. We develop an algorithm based on this finding that enables investigators to perform a statistical analysis on long DNA sequences to locate possible coding regions. The algorithm is particularly successful in predicting the location of lengthy coding regions. For example, for the complete genome of yeast chromosome III (315,344 nucleotides), at least 82% of the predictions correspond to putative coding regions; the algorithm correctly identified all coding regions larger than 3000 nucleotides, 92% of coding regions between 2000 and 3000 nucleotides long, and 79% of coding regions between 1000 and 2000 nucleotides. The predictive ability of this new algorithm supports the claim that there is a fundamental difference in the correlation property between coding and noncoding sequences. This algorithm, which is not species-dependent, can be implemented with other techniques for rapidly and accurately locating relatively long coding regions in genomic sequences.

Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program of the US Geological Survey; bibliography, 1978-86

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weeks, J.B.; Sun, Ren Jen

1987-01-01

The Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program of the U.S. Geological Survey was initiated in 1978. The purpose of this program is to define the regional geohydrology and establish a framework of background information on geology, hydrology, and geochemistry of the Nation 's important aquifer systems. This information is needed to develop an understanding of the Nation 's major groundwater flow systems and to support better groundwater resources management. As of 1986, investigations of 28 regional aquifer systems were planned, investigations of 9 regional aquifer systems were completed, and 11 regional aquifer systems were being studied. This report is a bibliography of reports completed under the Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program from 1978 through 1986. The reports resulting from each regional aquifer-system study are listed after an introduction to the study. During 1978-86, 488 reports were completed under the Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program, and 168 reports which were partially funded by the Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program were completed under the National Research Program. (Author 's abstract)

Transmission Reinforcements in the Central American Regional Power System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elizondo, Marcelo A.; Vallem, Mallikarjuna R.; Samaan, Nader A.

The Central American regional interconnected power system (SER) connects the countries members of the Central American regional electricity market (MER): Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. The SER was a result of a long term regional effort, and was initially conceived to transfer 300 MW between countries. However, the current transfer limits between countries range from 70 MW to 300 MW. Regional entities, like CRIE (Regional Commission of Electrical Interconnection), EOR (Central American Regional System Operator), and CDMER (Board of Directors of the Central American Market) are working on coordinating the national transmission expansion plans with regionalmore » transmission planning efforts. This paper presents experience in Central America region to recommend transmission reinforcements to achieve 300 MW transfer capacity between any pair of member countries of the Central American regional electricity market (MER). This paper also provides a methodology for technical analysis and for coordination among the regional and national entities. This methodology is unique for transmission systems of these characteristics.« less

Regional Solutions for Regional Problems: East Timor and Solomon Islands

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-21

concludes that the key factors underpinning effective regional solutions are: a regional state willing to take a leadership role and committed to achieving...a regional state willing to take a leadership role and committed to achieving a successful outcome; legitimacy through host nation request and/or an...effective international action often turns on the political will of coalitions of countries that comprise regional or international institutions

The Constrained Vapor Bubble Experiment - Interfacial Flow Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kundan, Akshay; Wayner, Peter C., Jr.; Plawsky, Joel L.

2015-01-01

Internal heat transfer coefficient of the CVB correlated to the presence of the interfacial flow region. Competition between capillary and Marangoni flow caused Flooding and not a Dry-out region. Interfacial flow region growth is arrested at higher power inputs. 1D heat model confirms the presence of interfacial flow region. 1D heat model confirms the arresting phenomena of interfacial flow region Visual observations are essential to understanding.

Reducing leakage current in semiconductor devices

DOEpatents

Lu, Bin; Matioli, Elison de Nazareth; Palacios, Tomas Apostol

2018-03-06

A semiconductor device includes a first region having a first semiconductor material and a second region having a second semiconductor material. The second region is formed over the first region. The semiconductor device also includes a current blocking structure formed in the first region between first and second terminals of the semiconductor device. The current blocking structure is configured to reduce current flow in the first region between the first and second terminals.

Enhanced spatial resolution on figures versus grounds.

PubMed

Hecht, Lauren N; Cosman, Joshua D; Vecera, Shaun P

2016-07-01

Much is known about the cues that determine figure-ground assignment, but less is known about the consequences of figure-ground assignment on later visual processing. Previous work has demonstrated that regions assigned figural status are subjectively more shape-like and salient than background regions. The increase in subjective salience of figural regions could be caused by a number of processes, one of which may be enhanced perceptual processing (e.g., an enhanced neural representation) of figures relative to grounds. We explored this hypothesis by having observers perform a perceptually demanding spatial resolution task in which targets appeared on either figure or ground regions. To rule out a purely attentional account of figural salience, observers discriminated targets on the basis of a region's color (red or green), which was equally likely to define the figure or the ground. The results of our experiments showed that targets appearing on figures were discriminated more accurately than those appearing in ground regions. In addition, targets appearing on figures were discriminated better than those presented in regions considered figurally neutral, but targets appearing within ground regions were discriminated more poorly than those appearing in figurally neutral regions. Taken together, our findings suggest that when two regions share a contour, regions assigned as figure are perceptually enhanced, whereas regions assigned as ground are perceptually suppressed.

Study on embodied CO2 transfer between the Jing-Jin-Ji region and other regions in China: a quantification using an interregional input-output model.

PubMed

Chen, Mengmeng; Wu, Sanmang; Lei, Yalin; Li, Shantong

2018-05-01

Jing-Jin-Ji region (i.e., Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei) is China's key development region, but it is also the leading and most serious air pollution region in China. High fossil fuel consumption is the major source of both carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and air pollutants. Therefore, it is important to reveal the source of CO 2 emissions to control the air pollution in the Jing-Jin-Ji region. In this study, an interregional input-output model was applied to quantitatively estimate the embodied CO 2 transfer between Jing-Jin-Ji region and other region in China using China's interregional input-output data in 2010. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in the production-based CO 2 emissions in China, and furthermore, the Jing-Jin-Ji region and its surrounding regions were the main regions of the production-based CO 2 emissions in China. Hebei Province exported a large amount of embodied CO 2 to meet the investment, consumption, and export demands of Beijing and Tianjin. The Jing-Jin-Ji regions exported a great deal of embodied CO 2 to the coastal provinces of southeast China and imported it from neighboring provinces.

Regional variation in health care utilization in Sweden - the importance of demand-side factors.

PubMed

Johansson, Naimi; Jakobsson, Niklas; Svensson, Mikael

2018-06-04

Differences in health care utilization across geographical areas are well documented within several countries. If the variation across areas cannot be explained by differences in medical need, it can be a sign of inefficiency or misallocation of public health care resources. In this observational, longitudinal panel study we use regional level data covering the 21 Swedish regions (county councils) over 13 years and a random effects model to assess to what degree regional variation in outpatient physician visits is explained by observed demand factors such as health, demography and socio-economic factors. The results show that regional mortality, as a proxy for population health, and demography do not explain regional variation in visits to primary care physicians, but explain about 50% of regional variation in visits to outpatient specialists. Adjusting for socio-economic and basic supply-side factors explains 33% of the regional variation in primary physician visits, but adds nothing to explaining the variation in specialist visits. 50-67% of regional variation remains unexplained by a large number of observable regional characteristics, indicating that omitted and possibly unobserved factors contribute substantially to the regional variation. We conclude that variations in health care utilization across regions is not very well explained by underlying medical need and demand, measured by mortality, demographic and socio-economic factors.

Bank vole immunoheterogeneity may limit Nephropatia Epidemica emergence in a French non-endemic region.

PubMed

Dubois, A; Castel, G; Murri, S; Pulido, C; Pons, J-B; Benoit, L; Loiseau, A; Lakhdar, L; Galan, M; Marianneau, P; Charbonnel, N

2018-03-01

Ecoevolutionary processes affecting hosts, vectors and pathogens are important drivers of zoonotic disease emergence. In this study, we focused on nephropathia epidemica (NE), which is caused by Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) whose natural reservoir is the bank vole, Myodes glareolus. We questioned the possibility of NE emergence in a French region that is considered to be NE-free but that is adjacent to a NE-endemic region. We first confirmed the epidemiology of these two regions and we demonstrated the absence of spatial barriers that could have limited dispersal, and consequently, the spread of PUUV into the NE-free region. We next tested whether regional immunoheterogeneity could impact PUUV chances to circulate and persist in the NE-free region. We showed that bank voles from the NE-free region were sensitive to experimental PUUV infection. We observed high levels of immunoheterogeneity between individuals and also between regions. Antiviral gene expression (Tnf and Mx2) reached higher levels in bank voles from the NE-free region. During experimental infections, anti-PUUV antibody production was higher in bank voles from the NE-endemic region. These results indicated a lower susceptibility to PUUV for bank voles from this NE-free region, which might limit PUUV persistence and therefore, the risk of NE.

The Limit of Magnetic-Shear Energy in Solar Active Regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Ronald; Falconer, David; Sterling, Alphonse

2012-01-01

It has been found previously, by measuring from active-region magnetograms a proxy of the free energy in the active region's magnetic field, (1) that there is a sharp upper limit to the free energy the field can hold that increases with the amount of magnetic field in the active region, the active region's magnetic flux content, and (2) that most active regions are near this limit when their field explodes in a coronal mass ejection/flare eruption. That is, explosive active regions are concentrated in a main-sequence path bordering the free-energy-limit line in (flux content, free-energy proxy) phase space. Here, we present evidence that specifies the underlying magnetic condition that gives rise to the free-energy limit and the accompanying main sequence of explosive active regions. Using a suitable free-energy proxy measured from vector magnetograms of 44 active regions, we find evidence that (1) in active regions at and near their free-energy limit, the ratio of magnetic-shear free energy to the non-free magnetic energy the potential field would have is of the order of one in the core field, the field rooted along the neutral line, and (2) this ratio is progressively less in active regions progressively farther below their free-energy limit. Evidently, most active regions in which this core-field energy ratio is much less than one cannot be triggered to explode; as this ratio approaches one, most active regions become capable of exploding; and when this ratio is one, most active regions are compelled to explode.

A genome-wide activity assessment of terminator regions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae provides a ″terminatome″ toolbox.

PubMed

Yamanishi, Mamoru; Ito, Yoichiro; Kintaka, Reiko; Imamura, Chie; Katahira, Satoshi; Ikeuchi, Akinori; Moriya, Hisao; Matsuyama, Takashi

2013-06-21

The terminator regions of eukaryotes encode functional elements in the 3' untranslated region (3'-UTR) that influence the 3'-end processing of mRNA, mRNA stability, and translational efficiency, which can modulate protein production. However, the contribution of these terminator regions to gene expression remains unclear, and therefore their utilization in metabolic engineering or synthetic genetic circuits has been limited. Here, we comprehensively evaluated the activity of 5302 terminator regions from a total of 5880 genes in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by inserting each terminator region downstream of the P TDH3 - green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene and measuring the fluorescent intensity of GFP. Terminator region activities relative to that of the PGK1 standard terminator ranged from 0.036 to 2.52, with a mean of 0.87. We thus could isolate the most and least active terminator regions. The activities of the terminator regions showed a positive correlation with mRNA abundance, indicating that the terminator region is a determinant of mRNA abundance. The least active terminator regions tended to encode longer 3'-UTRs, suggesting the existence of active degradation mechanisms for those mRNAs. The terminator regions of ribosomal protein genes tended to be the most active, suggesting the existence of a common regulator of those genes. The ″terminatome″ (the genome-wide set of terminator regions) thus not only provides valuable information to understand the modulatory roles of terminator regions on gene expression but also serves as a useful toolbox for the development of metabolically and genetically engineered yeast.

GUM 48d: AN EVOLVED H II REGION WITH ONGOING STAR FORMATION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Karr, J. L.; Ohashi, N.; Manoj, P.

2009-05-20

High-mass star formation and the evolution of H II regions have a substantial impact on the morphology and star formation history of molecular clouds. The H II region Gum 48d, located in the Centaurus Arm at a distance of 3.5 kpc, is an old, well evolved H II region whose ionizing stars have moved off the main sequence. As such, it represents a phase in the evolution of H II regions that is less well studied than the earlier, more energetic, main-sequence phase. In this paper, we use multiwavelength archive data from a variety of sources to perform a detailedmore » study of this interesting region. Morphologically, Gum 48d displays a ring-like faint H II region associated with diffuse emission from the associated photodissociation region, and is formed from part of a large, massive molecular cloud complex. There is extensive ongoing star formation in the region, at scales ranging from low to high mass, which is consistent with triggered star formation scenarios. We investigate the dynamical history and evolution of this region, and conclude that the original H II region was once larger and more energetic than the faint region currently seen. The proposed history of this molecular cloud complex is one of multiple, linked generations of star formation, over a period of 10 Myr. Gum 48d differs significantly in morphology and star formation from the other H II regions in the molecular cloud; these differences are likely the result of the advanced age of the region, and its different evolutionary status.« less

Regions of pollution with particulate matter in Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rawicki, Kacper; Czarnecka, Małgorzata; Nidzgorska-Lencewicz, Jadwiga

2018-01-01

The study presents the temporal and spatial variability of particulate matter concentration in Poland in the calendar winter season (December-February). The basis for the study were the hourly and daily values of particulate matter PM10 concentration from the period 2005/06 - 2014/15, obtained from 33 air pollution monitoring stations. In Poland, the obligation to monitor the concentration of the finer fraction of particles smaller than 2.5µm in aerodynamic diameter was introduced only in 2010. Consequently, data on PM2.5 concentration refer to a shorter period, i.e. 2009/10 - 2014/15, and were obtained from 23 stations. Using the cluster analysis (k-means method), three regions of comparable variability of particulate matter concentration were delineated. The largest region, i.e. Region I, comprises the northern and eastern central area of Poland, and its southern boundary is along the line Gorzów Wlkp-Bydgoszcz-Konin-Łódź-Kielce-Lublin. Markedly smaller Region II is located to the south of Region I. By far the smallest area was designated to Region III which covers the south west area of Poland. The delineated regions show a marked variability in terms of mean concentration of both PM fractions in winter (PM10: region I - 33 µg·m-3, region II - 55 µg·m-3, region III - 83 µg·m-3; PM2,5: region I - 35 µg·m-3, region II - 50 µg·m-3, region III - 60 µg·m-3) and, in the case of PM10, the frequency of excessive daily limit value.

The Limit of Magnetic-Shear Energy in Solar Active Regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Ronald L.; Falconer, David A.; Sterling, Alphonse C.

2013-01-01

It has been found previously, by measuring from active ]region magnetograms a proxy of the free energy in the active region fs magnetic field, (1) that there is a sharp upper limit to the free energy the field can hold that increases with the amount of magnetic field in the active region, the active region fs magnetic flux content, and (2) that most active regions are near this limit when their field explodes in a CME/flare eruption. That is, explosive active regions are concentrated in a main ]sequence path bordering the free ]energy ]limit line in (flux content, free ]energy proxy) phase space. Here we present evidence that specifies the underlying magnetic condition that gives rise to the free ]energy limit and the accompanying main sequence of explosive active regions. Using a suitable free energy proxy measured from vector magnetograms of 44 active regions, we find evidence that (1) in active regions at and near their free ]energy limit, the ratio of magnetic ]shear free energy to the non ]free magnetic energy the potential field would have is of order 1 in the core field, the field rooted along the neutral line, and (2) this ratio is progressively less in active regions progressively farther below their free ]energy limit. Evidently, most active regions in which this core ]field energy ratio is much less than 1 cannot be triggered to explode; as this ratio approaches 1, most active regions become capable of exploding; and when this ratio is 1, most active regions are compelled to explode.

Regional and local species richness in an insular environment: Serpentine plants in California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harrison, S.; Safford, H.D.; Grace, J.B.; Viers, J.H.; Davies, K.F.

2006-01-01

We asked how the richness of the specialized (endemic) flora of serpentine rock outcrops in California varies at both the regional and local scales. Our study had two goals: first, to test whether endemic richness is affected by spatial habitat structure (e.g., regional serpentine area, local serpentine outcrop area, regional and local measures of outcrop isolation), and second, to conduct this test in the context of a broader assessment of environmental influences (e.g., climate, soils, vegetation, disturbance) and historical influences (e.g., geologic age, geographic province) on local and regional species richness. We measured endemic and total richness and environmental variables in 109 serpentine sites (1000-m2 paired plots) in 78 serpentine-containing regions of the state. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to simultaneously relate regional richness to regionalscale predictors, and local richness to both local-scale and regional-scale predictors. Our model for serpentine endemics explained 66% of the variation in local endemic richness based on local environment (vegetation, soils, rock cover) and on regional endemic richness. It explained 73% of the variation in regional endemic richness based on regional environment (climate and productivity), historical factors (geologic age and geographic province), and spatial structure (regional total area of serpentine, the only significant spatial variable in our analysis). We did not find a strong influence of spatial structure on species richness. However, we were able to distinguish local vs. regional influences on species richness to a novel extent, despite the existence of correlations between local and regional conditions. ?? 2006 by the Ecological Society of America.

Lapse time and frequency-dependent coda wave attenuation for Delhi and its surrounding regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Rabin; Mukhopadhyay, Sagarika; Singh, Ravi Kant; Baidya, Pushap R.

2018-07-01

Attenuation of seismic wave energy of Delhi and its surrounding regions has been estimated using coda of local earthquakes. Estimated quality factor (Qc) values are strongly dependent on frequency and lapse time. Frequency dependence of Qc has been estimated from the relationship Qc(f) = Q0fn for different lapse time window lengths. Q0 and n values vary from 73 to 453 and 0.97 to 0.63 for lapse time window lengths of 15 s to 90 s respectively. Average estimated frequency dependent relation is, Qc(f) = 135 ± 8f0.96±0.02 for the entire region for a window length of 30 s, where the average Qc value varies from 200 at 1.5 Hz to 1962 at 16 Hz. These values show that the region is seismically active and highly heterogeneous. The entire study region is divided into two sub-regions according to the geology of the area to investigate if there is a spatial variation in attenuation characteristics in this region. It is observed that at smaller lapse time both regions have similar Qc values. However, at larger lapse times the rate of increase of Qc with frequency is larger for Region 2 compared to Region 1. This is understandable, as it is closer to the tectonically more active Himalayan ranges and seismically more active compared to Region 1. The difference in variation of Qc with frequencies for the two regions is such that at larger lapse time and higher frequencies Region 2 shows higher Qc compared to Region 1. For lower frequencies the opposite situation is true. This indicates that there is a systematic variation in attenuation characteristics from the south (Region 1) to the north (Region 2) in the deeper part of the study area. This variation can be explained in terms of an increase in heat flow and a decrease in the age of the rocks from south to north.

Etiology of Childhood Infectious Diarrhea in a Developed Region of China: Compared to Childhood Diarrhea in a Developing Region and Adult Diarrhea in a Developed Region.

PubMed

Wang, Xin; Wang, Jing; Sun, Hao; Xia, Shengli; Duan, Ran; Liang, Junrong; Xiao, Yuchun; Qiu, Haiyan; Shan, Guangliang; Jing, Huaiqi

2015-01-01

In China, great differences in economy, social characteristics and hygiene exist between developing and developed regions. A comparative study of infectious diarrhea between two regions was needed. Three groups of diarrheal patients were collected: children ≤5 year-olds from Beijing (developed region) and Henan Province (developing region), and adults over 18 year-olds from Beijing. A questionnaire was used to survey and feces samples were examined for 16 enteropathogens. We enrolled 1422 children and 1047 adults from developed region and 755 children from developing region. Virus positive rates were 32.98% for children and 23.67% for adults in developed region. The most prevalent pathogen for children was rotavirus whereas for adults was norovirus. Bacterial isolation rates were 13.92% for children from developed region, while 29.14% for children from the developing regions. For the greatest difference, Shigella accounted for 50.79% and was the dominant pathogen in the developing region, whereas in the developed region it was only 1.45%. There was no significant relationship between the local levels of development with diarrheogenic Escherichia coli (DEC) categories. But it was seen the notable differences between the population with different age: enteropathogenic E.coli (EPEC) and enteroaggregative E.coli (EAggEC) were the primary classes of DEC in children from both regions, whereas it was enterotoxigenic E.coli (ETEC) in adults. The symptoms of Shigella and Salmonella infection, such as bloody stools, white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells (RBC) positivity and fever were similar in children, which may lead to the misidentification. Yersinia enterocolitica and shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC) infections were firstly reported in Beijing. There was a large difference in etiology of bacterial diarrhea between children in developing and developed regions of China.

7 CFR 3570.93 - Regional Commission grants.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is authorized under the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 to... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Regional Commission grants. 3570.93 Section 3570.93... AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY PROGRAMS Community Facilities Grant Program § 3570.93 Regional Commission grants. (a...

78 FR 35149 - Addresses of Regional Offices

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-12

..., and Texas), 500 Gold Avenue SW., Room 9018 (P.O. Box 1306), Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102. (c) Midwest... 01035. (f) Mountain-Prairie Regional Office (Region 6--comprising the States of Colorado, Kansas...), Lakewood, Colorado 80228. (g) Alaska Regional Office (Region 7--comprising the State of Alaska), 1011 E...

40 CFR 81.118 - Southwest Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.118 Section 81.118 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.118 Southwest Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Southwest Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.87 - Metropolitan Boise Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.87 Section 81.87 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.87 Metropolitan Boise Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Boise Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (Idaho) consists of the territorial area encompassed...

40 CFR 81.116 - Northern Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.116 Section 81.116 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.116 Northern Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Northern Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.97 - Southwest Florida Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.97 Section 81.97 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.97 Southwest Florida Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Southwest Florida Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.104 - Central Pennsylvania Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.104 Section 81.104 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.104 Central Pennsylvania Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Central Pennsylvania Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by...

40 CFR 81.120 - Middle Tennessee Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.120 Section 81.120 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.120 Middle Tennessee Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Middle Tennessee Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by...

40 CFR 81.117 - Southeast Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.117 Section 81.117 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.117 Southeast Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Southeast Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.75 - Metropolitan Charlotte Interstate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.75 Section 81.75 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.75 Metropolitan Charlotte Interstate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Charlotte Interstate Air Quality Control Region (North Carolina-South Carolina) has been revised...

40 CFR 81.98 - Burlington-Keokuk Interstate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.98 Section 81.98 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.98 Burlington-Keokuk Interstate Air Quality Control Region. The Burlington-Keokuk Interstate Air Quality Control Region (Illinois-Iowa) is revised to consist of the...

40 CFR 81.79 - Northeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.79 Section 81.79 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.79 Northeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Tulsa Intrastate Air Quality Control Region has been renamed the Northeastern Oklahoma Intrastate...

40 CFR 81.118 - Southwest Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.118 Section 81.118 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.118 Southwest Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Southwest Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.119 - Western Tennessee Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.119 Section 81.119 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.119 Western Tennessee Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Western Tennessee Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by...

40 CFR 81.115 - Northwest Nevada Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.115 Section 81.115 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.115 Northwest Nevada Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Northwest Nevada Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.116 - Northern Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.116 Section 81.116 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.116 Northern Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Northern Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.104 - Central Pennsylvania Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.104 Section 81.104 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.104 Central Pennsylvania Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Central Pennsylvania Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by...

40 CFR 81.87 - Metropolitan Boise Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.87 Section 81.87 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.87 Metropolitan Boise Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Boise Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (Idaho) consists of the territorial area encompassed...

40 CFR 81.123 - Southeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.123 Section 81.123 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.123 Southeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Southeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.79 - Northeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.79 Section 81.79 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.79 Northeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Tulsa Intrastate Air Quality Control Region has been renamed the Northeastern Oklahoma Intrastate...

40 CFR 81.67 - Lake Michigan Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Regions § 81.67 Lake Michigan Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Menominee-Escanaba (Michigan)-Marinette (Wisconsin) Interstate Air Quality Control Region has been renamed the Lake Michigan Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (Wisconsin) and revised to consist of the territorial area...

40 CFR 81.115 - Northwest Nevada Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.115 Section 81.115 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.115 Northwest Nevada Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Northwest Nevada Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.97 - Southwest Florida Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.97 Section 81.97 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.97 Southwest Florida Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Southwest Florida Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.117 - Southeast Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.117 Section 81.117 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.117 Southeast Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Southeast Missouri Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.122 - Mississippi Delta Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.122 Section 81.122 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.122 Mississippi Delta Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Mississippi Delta Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

40 CFR 81.98 - Burlington-Keokuk Interstate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.98 Section 81.98 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.98 Burlington-Keokuk Interstate Air Quality Control Region. The Burlington-Keokuk Interstate Air Quality Control Region (Illinois-Iowa) is revised to consist of the...

Development of Regional Excel-Based Stormwater/Nutrient BMP Optimization Tool (Opti-Tool)

EPA Science Inventory

During 2014, EPA Region 1 contracted with Tetra Tech, Inc. to work with a regional technical Advisory Committee to develop an Excel-based stormwater/nutrient BMP optimization tool (Opti-Tool) using regional precipitation data and regionally calibrated BMP performance data from UN...

Final Report: Pilot Region-Based Optimization Program for Fund-Lead Sites, EPA Region III

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This report describes a pilot study for a Region-based optimization program, implemented by a Regional Optimization Evaluation Team (ROET) that was conducted in U.S. EPA Region III at Fund-lead sites with pump-and-treat (P&T) systems.

REGIONAL VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION: EVALUATION OF INTEGRATION METHODS AND ASSESSMENTS RESULTS

EPA Science Inventory

This report describes methods for quantitative regional assessment developed by the Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) program. The goal of ReVA is to develop regional-scale assessments of the magnitude, extent, distribution, and uncertainty of current and anticipated envir...

Functional Network Architecture of Reading-Related Regions across Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vogel, Alecia C.; Church, Jessica A.; Power, Jonathan D.; Miezin, Fran M.; Petersen, Steven E.; Schlaggar, Bradley L.

2013-01-01

Reading requires coordinated neural processing across a large number of brain regions. Studying relationships between reading-related regions informs the specificity of information processing performed in each region. Here, regions of interest were defined from a meta-analysis of reading studies, including a developmental study. Relationships…

9 CFR 94.10 - Swine from regions where classical swine fever exists.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Pacific Islands. (b) The APHIS-defined EU CSF region is a single region of low-risk for CSF. (c) Except as provided in § 94.24 for the APHIS-defined EU CSF region, no swine that are moved from or transit any region...

40 CFR 56.5 - Mechanisms for fairness and uniformity-Responsibilities of Regional Office employees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

...-Responsibilities of Regional Office employees. 56.5 Section 56.5 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGIONAL CONSISTENCY § 56.5 Mechanisms for fairness and uniformity—Responsibilities of Regional Office employees. (a) Each responsible official in a Regional Office...

40 CFR 56.5 - Mechanisms for fairness and uniformity-Responsibilities of Regional Office employees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...-Responsibilities of Regional Office employees. 56.5 Section 56.5 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) REGIONAL CONSISTENCY § 56.5 Mechanisms for fairness and uniformity—Responsibilities of Regional Office employees. (a) Each responsible official in a Regional Office...

17 CFR 200.27 - The Regional Directors.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false The Regional Directors. 200.27... § 200.27 The Regional Directors. Each Regional Director is responsible for executing the Commission's... matters, by the Deputy Director of the Division of Enforcement who is responsible for Regional Office...

Appalachian Regional Commission: 1987 Annual Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Jack, Ed.; And Others

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) used its $105 million appropriation for fiscal year 1987 to support three major program areas in the 13 state region: (1) creating and retaining regional jobs; (2) assisting in construction of basic facilities, particularly water and sewer systems, in the region's 90 poorest counties; and (3) working…

7 CFR 1780.48 - Regional commission grants.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 12 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Regional commission grants. 1780.48 Section 1780.48... Regional commission grants. Grants are sometimes made by regional commissions for projects eligible for RUS...) When RUS has funds in the project, no charge will be made for administering regional commission funds...

40 CFR 81.88 - Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Regions § 81.88 Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (Montana) has been renamed the Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control... to by Montana authorities as follows: Sec. 481.168Great Falls Intrastate Air Quality Control Region...

40 CFR 81.88 - Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Quality Control Regions § 81.88 Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Metropolitan Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control Region (Montana) has been renamed the Billings Intrastate Air Quality Control... to by Montana authorities as follows: Sec. 481.168Great Falls Intrastate Air Quality Control Region...

"Mature Regionalism" and the Genesis of "Functional Projects": "Educational Regionalism" in Small (and Micro-States)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jules, Tavis D.

2017-01-01

This article advances that the movement towards "deeper" Caribbean integration has generated a shift from "immature" regionalism to a "mature" form of regionalism. Thus, mature regionalism, a new governance mechanism, in regulating the institutional and legal framework of Caribbean Single Market and Economy is…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Doug Blankenship

ArcGIS Map Package with MT Station Locations, 2D Seismic Lines, Well data, Known Regional Hydrothermal Systems, Regional Historic Earthquake Seismicity, Regional Temperature Gradient Data, Regional Heat Flow Data, Regional Radiogenic Heat Production, Local Geology, Land Status, Cultural Data, 2m Temperature Probe Data, and Gravity Data. Also a detailed down-hole lithology notes are provided.

32 CFR 1605.8 - Staff of Region Headquarters for Selective Service.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Staff of Region Headquarters for Selective... SERVICE SYSTEM SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM ORGANIZATION Region Administration § 1605.8 Staff of Region..., the staff of each region for Selective Service shall consist of as many officers, either military or...

78 FR 30384 - Federal Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Hearing; Region X Regulatory Fairness Board

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-22

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Federal Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Hearing; Region X Regulatory... Regional (Region X) Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board. SUMMARY: The (SBA) Office of the National... Region X Regulatory Fairness Board must contact Jos[eacute] M[eacute]ndez by May 30, 2013 in writing, by...

Improved Phase Characterization of Far-Regional Body Wave Arrivals in Central Asia

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-09-30

developing array -based methods that can more accurately characterize far-regional (14*-29*) seismic wavefield structure. Far- regional (14*-29*) seismograms...arrivals with the primary arrivals. These complexities can be region and earthquake specific. The regional seismic arrays that have been built in the last...fifteen years should be a rich data source for the study of far-regional phase behavior. The arrays are composed of high-quality borehole seismometers

Organic light emitting devices for illumination

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hack, Michael; Lu, Min-Hao Michael; Weaver, Michael S

An organic light emitting device an a method of obtaining illumination from such a device is provided. The device has a plurality of regions, each region having an organic emissive layer adapted to emit a different spectrum of light. The regions in combination emit light suitable for illumination purposes. The area of each region may be selected such that the device is more efficient than an otherwise equivalent device having regions of equal size. The regions may have an aspect ratio of at least about four. All parts of any given region may be driven at the same current.

Trench process and structure for backside contact solar cells with polysilicon doped regions

DOEpatents

De Ceuster, Denis; Cousins, Peter John; Smith, David D

2014-03-18

A solar cell includes polysilicon P-type and N-type doped regions on a backside of a substrate, such as a silicon wafer. An interrupted trench structure separates the P-type doped region from the N-type doped region in some locations but allows the P-type doped region and the N-type doped region to touch in other locations. Each of the P-type and N-type doped regions may be formed over a thin dielectric layer. Among other advantages, the resulting solar cell structure allows for increased efficiency while having a relatively low reverse breakdown voltage.

Trench process and structure for backside contact solar cells with polysilicon doped regions

DOEpatents

De Ceuster, Denis; Cousins, Peter John; Smith, David D

2013-05-28

A solar cell includes polysilicon P-type and N-type doped regions on a backside of a substrate, such as a silicon wafer. An interrupted trench structure separates the P-type doped region from the N-type doped region in some locations but allows the P-type doped region and the N-type doped region to touch in other locations. Each of the P-type and N-type doped regions may be formed over a thin dielectric layer. Among other advantages, the resulting solar cell structure allows for increased efficiency while having a relatively low reverse breakdown voltage.

Trench process and structure for backside contact solar cells with polysilicon doped regions

DOEpatents

De Ceuster, Denis; Cousins, Peter John; Smith, David D.

2010-12-14

A solar cell includes polysilicon P-type and N-type doped regions on a backside of a substrate, such as a silicon wafer. An interrupted trench structure separates the P-type doped region from the N-type doped region in some locations but allows the P-type doped region and the N-type doped region to touch in other locations. Each of the P-type and N-type doped regions may be formed over a thin dielectric layer. Among other advantages, the resulting solar cell structure allows for increased efficiency while having a relatively low reverse breakdown voltage.

Field effect transistor and method of construction thereof

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fletner, W. R. (Inventor)

1978-01-01

A field effect transistor is constructed by placing a semi-conductor layer on an insulating substrate so that the gate region is separated from source and drain regions. The gate electrode and gate region of the layer are of generally reduced length, the gate region being of greatest length on its surface closest to the gate electrode. This is accomplished by initially creating a relatively large gate region of one polarity, and then reversing the polarity of a central portion of this gate region by ion bombardment, thus achieving a narrower final gate region of the stated configuration.

[Discussion on theory and indes system of Chinese material medical regionalization].

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaobo; Guo, Lanping; Zhou, Tao; Huang, Luqi

2010-09-01

The paper discusses the theory regarding to the Chinese material medical (CMM) regionalization. It is based on the studying of papers and practical experience in the field of CMM regionalization. The basic theories of CMM regionalization are laws of territorial differentiation and location theory. The basic principles are excellent quality of CMM, difference, similarity and practicability. The study objects are CMM resources, natural environment and social environment. The definition of CMM regionalization is that study on the laws of spatial pattern of resources and regional system in the field of CMM,then regionalize it based on this kind of spatial pattern and law. The index system is built based on the study of the theory,principle,object and index of CMM regionalization.