Condrodisplasie e mucopolisaccaridosi.

descrizione della patogenesi, clinica e terapia delle malatti

Building a metamodel of an irrigation district distributed-parameter model

Complex decision-making problems, related to planning and management of irrigation water resources, generally preclude the use of large, distributed-parameter models, which are then commonly substituted by lumped-parameter models. This paper, with the aim of improving the quality of these latter, introduces a new approach for their design. This approach is based on metamodelling, which proposes to identify a simple, lumped-parameter model on the basis of the data produced via simulation with a distributed-parameter model. The approach proposed is tested on a real-world case study, namely the identification of a metamodel describing the water demand of the Muzza-Bassa Lodigiana irrigation district (Italy). The metamodel, which inherits the physical description of the original distributed-parameter model, is sufficiently simple to permit the resolution of an optimal control problem, i.e. the design, via stochastic dynamic programming, of the release policy of Lake Como, serving the Muzza irrigation district.Flood irrigation water management Distributed-parameter models Lumped-parameter models Metamodels Green water Blue water

The hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis does not influence the protective effects of nociceptin/orphanin FQ on the rat gastric mucosa

The participation of hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis in the gastroprotective effects of nociceptin/ orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) has been investigated. Gastric mucosal lesions were induced by intragastric administration of 50% ethanol, 1 ml/rat. Rats received N/OFQ either by the intracerebroventricular (icv) route, at 3 μg/rat, or by the intraperitoneal (ip) route, at 10 μg/kg, 30 min before ethanol administration. The protective effect of icv and ip administered N/OFQ was assessed in adrenalectomized rats and in rats pretreated with the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, mifepristone, or with the CRF receptor antagonist, α- helical CRF9–41. The damaging effect of ethanol was apparently not influenced by adrenalectomy. N/OFQ markedly reduced macroscopically and histologically assessed gastric mucosal damage. The extent of reduction by N/OFQ was comparable in adrenalectomized and in sham-operated rats, with either icv or ip route of administration. Pretreatment with mifepristone, both icv (80 μg/rat) and ip (10 mg/kg) injected, did not modify the response to icv and ip N/OFQ. Pretreatment with α-helical CRF9–41 (25 μg/rat icv or 250 μg/ kg ip), had no effect on the reduction of gastric damage produced by icv or ip N/OFQ. Present findings suggest that the gastroprotective effects of N/OFQ on ethanol-induced damage do not involve the endocrine pathway through the HPA axis