Don't judge a book by its cover. factitious disorder imposed on children-report on 2 cases

Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA), also known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP) is a very serious form of child abuse. The perpetrator, usually the mother, invents symptoms or causes real ones in order to make her child appear sick. Usually this is due to a maladaptive disorder or to an excessive of attention-seeking on her part. We report here two new cases of FDIA. The first one is a 9-year-old boy with a history of convulsive episodes, reduced verbal production, mild psychomotor disorder and urological problems who underwent several invasive procedures and hospitalizations before a diagnosis of FDIA was made. The second is a 12 year-old girl with headache, abdominal pain, lipothymic episodes, seizures and a gait impairment, who was hospitalized in several hospitals before an FDIA was diagnosed

Long-term changes in the structure of a polychaete community on artificial habitats

A mediterranean polychaete community was studied for 10 years since the first settlement to examine community dynamics and to compare it with the model proposed by Hughes (1984) for benthic invertebrates. Cluster analysis (Q-mode) pointed out the presence of four main periods during the colonization process in agreement with edaphic changes produced by the colonization and disappearance of mussels. During this time the pattern of species abundance changed from a log series distribution (with few dominant species) towards a truncated log normal distribution (with many rare species) characteristic of a more complex community structure

Growth and reproduction of <i>Xyrichthys novacula</i> (Pisces: Labridae) in the Mediterranean Sea

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A PRECLINICAL INVESTIGATIVE PLATFORM SETUP, AS A TOOL FOR EVALUATING THE EFFICACY OF CETUXIMAB IN ADDITION TO THE STANDARD HUMAN MALIGNANT MESOTHELIOMA CHEMOTHERAPY PROTOCOL.

Mesothelioma is a malignant tumour that arises from mesothelial cells lining the serosal cavities; in most cases it originates in the pleura and in very few cases in the peritoneum; other sites of origin (pericardium and tunica vaginalis of the testis) are extremely rare. The tumour itself is rare with regard to spontaneous occurrence, however it is universally recognized that exposure to asbestos fibres is harmful to human health, since as well as causing an occupational illness known for many years, asbestosis, it also causes malignant pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma as well pulmonary carcinoma, as proven in many epidemiological studies published since the early 1960s. The purposes of the overall PhD program were on the one hand 1) to set up a preclinical investigative platform screening the efficacy of anticancer drugs in human malignant mesothelioma cell lines, based on the integration of data from in vitro and in vivo activities, and on the other hand 2) to adopt this platform investigating the potential benefit of an anticancer monoclonal antibody (cetuximab) in the treatment of human malignant mesothelioma, both as single agent or in adjunct to the standard first line chemotherapy protocol with folate antimetabolite (pemetrexed) and platinum (cisplatin) compounds. At the end of the entire PhD program, it is important to acknowledge the value of having set up a preclinical diagnostic platform to use in screening molecules potentially effective against tumours (i.e. human malignant mesothelioma) strictly connected with the possibility of carrying out experimental preclinical investigations based on a step-wise approach, with a well-defined rationale that brings together the information obtained at different times, from early studies that can be conducted quickly and tend to be less costly in less complex cell systems, to studies in more complex animal models, with consequent time-saving and use of fewer animals

Exploring the effects of seismicity on landslides and catchment sediment yield: An Italian case study

Recent studies showed that contemporary average catchment sediment yields (SY, [t km− 2 y− 1]) at regional and continental scales are often strongly correlated to spatial patterns of seismic activity. Nonetheless, we currently have little insights into the mechanisms that explain these correlations. We investigated how spatial patterns of SY in Italy are linked to patterns of seismic activity. For a dataset of 103 Italian catchments with average SY measured over a period of years to decades, we extracted tectonic and none-tectonic variables that potentially explain observed differences in SY. These include proxies for vertical uplift rates and cumulative seismic moments (CSM) associated with historic earthquakes of different ranges of magnitude. Results showed that also across Italy, SY is significantly correlated to seismicity. However, SY showed much stronger correlations with proxies of seismicity relating to small but frequent earthquakes (2 ≤ Mw < 4) than with proxies relating to tectonic uplift or large, potentially landslide-triggering earthquakes (Mw ≥ 4). Analyses of a dataset of about 500,000 landslides across Italy showed very comparable trends: spatial patterns of landslides within similar lithological units generally show a significant positive correlation with CSM of weak but frequent seismicity and generally not with CSM of large earthquakes. These results suggest that, on a decadal time scale and at a regional/continental spatial scale, frequent but relatively weak seismicity may exert a more important geomorphic impact than large earthquake events or tectonic uplift. © 2016 Elsevier B.V

Multi-Directional Detection of Scratches in Digitized Images

Publication in the conference proceedings of EUSIPCO, Glasgow, Scotland, 200

Identification and mapping of recent rainfall-induced landslides using elevation data collected by airborne Lidar

International audienceA high resolution Digital Elevation Model with a ground resolution of 2 m×2 m (DEM2) was obtained for the Collazzone area, central Umbria, through weighted linear interpolation of elevation points acquired by Airborne Lidar Swath Mapping. Acquisition of the elevation data was performed on 3 May 2004, following a rainfall period that resulted in numerous landslides. A reconnaissance field survey conducted immediately after the rainfall period allowed mapping 70 landslides in the study area, for a total landslide area of 2.7×105 m2. Topographic derivative maps obtained from the DEM2 were used to update the reconnaissance landslide inventory map in 22 selected sub-areas. The revised inventory map shows 27% more landslides and 39% less total landslide area, corresponding to a smaller average landslide size. Discrepancies between the reconnaissance and the revised inventory maps were attributed to mapping errors and imprecision chiefly in the reconnaissance field inventory. Landslides identified exploiting the Lidar elevation data matched the local topography more accurately than the same landslides mapped using the existing topographic maps. Reasons for the difference include an incomplete or inaccurate view of the landslides in the field, an unfaithful representation of topography in the based maps, and the limited time available to map the landslides in the field. The high resolution DEM2 was compared to a coarser resolution (10 m×10 m) DEM10 to establish how well the two DEMs captured the topographic signature of landslides. Results indicate that the improved topographic information provided by DEM2 was significant in identifying recent rainfall-induced landslides, and was less significant in improving the representation of stable slopes

Landslide hazard assessment in the Collazzone area, Umbria, Central Italy

We present the results of the application of a recently proposed model to determine landslide hazard. The model predicts where landslides will occur, how frequently they will occur, and how large they will be in a given area. For the Collazzone area, in the central Italian Apennines, we prepared a multi-temporal inventory map through the interpretation of multiple sets of aerial photographs taken between 1941 and 1997 and field surveys conducted in the period between 1998 and 2004. We then partitioned the 79 square kilometres study area into 894 slope units, and obtained the probability of spatial occurrence of landslides by discriminant analysis of thematic variables, including morphology, lithology, structure and land use. For each slope unit, we computed the expected landslide recurrence by dividing the total number of landslide events inventoried in the terrain unit by the time span of the investigated period. Assuming landslide recurrence was constant, and adopting a Poisson probability model, we determined the exceedance probability of having one or more landslides in each slope unit, for different periods. We obtained the probability of landslide size, a proxy for landslide magnitude, by analysing the frequency-area statistics of landslides, obtained from the multi-temporal inventory map. Lastly, assuming independence, we determined landslide hazard for each slope unit as the joint probability of landslide size, of landslide temporal occurrence, and of landslide spatial occurrence

Non-susceptible landslide areas in Italy and in the Mediterranean region

Abstract. We used landslide information for 13 study areas in Italy and morphometric information obtained from the 3-arcseconds shuttle radar topography mission digital elevation model (SRTM DEM) to determine areas where landslide susceptibility is expected to be negligible in Italy and in the landmasses surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The morphometric information consisted of the local terrain slope which was computed in a square 3 × 3-cell moving window, and in the regional relative relief computed in a circular 15 × 15-cell moving window. We tested three different models to classify the "non-susceptible" landslide areas, including a linear model (LNR), a quantile linear model (QLR), and a quantile, non-linear model (QNL). We tested the performance of the three models using independent landslide information presented by the Italian Landslide Inventory (Inventario Fenomeni Franosi in Italia – IFFI). Best results were obtained using the QNL model. The corresponding zonation of non-susceptible landslide areas was intersected in a geographic information system (GIS) with geographical census data for Italy. The result determined that 57.5% of the population of Italy (in 2001) was located in areas where landslide susceptibility is expected to be negligible. We applied the QNL model to the landmasses surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, and we tested the synoptic non-susceptibility zonation using independent landslide information for three study areas in Spain. Results showed that the QNL model was capable of determining where landslide susceptibility is expected to be negligible in the validation areas in Spain. We expect our results to be applicable in similar study areas, facilitating the identification of non-susceptible landslide areas, at the synoptic scale

Colonization and disappearance of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam. on an artificial habitat in the Mediterranean Sea

A Mytilus galloprovincialis population, settled on a new artificial habitat at 12 m depth in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea, was investigated for 10 years. The new substratum, located at a depth lower than the preferential range of the species, was colonized temporarily by mussels which reached very high densities and dominated the benthic community from their colonization until the third year. The length-frequency distribution analysis showed a progressively complex population structure with up to three cohorts. The yearly recruitments were observed once a year in spring. The growth curve provided a maximum length higher than that reported for shallow waters. Nevertheless, the gregarious habits of mussels and the reduced water movement caused edaphic modifications of the substratum, which was covered progressively by sediments and biodeposits (pseudofaeces). Consequently, the population structure was affected by a reduction of the newly recruited cohorts, and mussels disappeared after 5 years of colonization. This may be explained by the reduction in the substratum available for the first settlement (hydroid covering), as well as by the modification of the surface required for final settlement. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limite