USE OF SATELLITE SAR DATA FOR SEISMIC RISK MANAGEMENT: RESULTS FROM THE PRE-OPERATIONAL ASI-SIGRIS PROJECT

In the framework of the National Space Programme, and of the European GMES Programme, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) has funded several pilot projects aimed at demonstrating the full potential of Earth Observation data in the monitoring and management of natural hazards. The SIGRIS (Earth Observation System for Seismic Risk Management) pilot project has developed a hardware/software infrastructure for the generation of decision support products for the seismic risk management. A pre-operational demonstration of the SIGRIS system is being carried out since June 2009 and various products to be used by civil protection authorities in either the Knowledge & Prevention or Crisis Management phases of seismic risk management, have been generated. SIGRIS products to support the Knowledge & Prevention activities are based on the integration of satellite and ground-based observations to constrain analytical and numerical models of the tectonic strain accumulation and of its long-term effects on the earthquake source. They include crustal deformation maps from time series DInSAR and GPS, and fault models to improve the seismic hazard assessment. SIGRIS products for the Crisis Management phase are instead focused on the quick generation of value added information needed to devise damage or event scenarios, and typically consist of damage assessment maps from high resolution optical and SAR data, co-seismic displacements maps from DInSAR analysis, seismic source models, maps of earthquake-induced environmental effects (landslides, surface fractures, ecc.). For these products a near-real time capability is required and new constellations, as COSMO-SkyMed , can now provide the necessary temporal revisit to fulfil this need. The SIGRIS system is also depending on other SAR satellites to ensure a faster and better coverage of the disaster areas: ENVISAT, Radarsat, TerraSar X, ALOS. We will present examples of the SIGRIS decision support products based on the integration of Earth Observation and ground data and discuss important issues related to disaster applications, as EO data programming, fast data access, data archival

GADA titer-related risk for organ-specific autoimmunity in LADA subjects subdivided according to gender (NIRAD study 6).

CONTEXT: Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) includes a heterogeneous population wherein, based on glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody (GADA) titer, different subgroups of subjects can be identified. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate GADA titer-related risk for β-cell and other organ-specific autoimmunity in LADA subjects. METHODS: Adult-onset autoimmune diabetes subjects (n=236) and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) subjects (n=450) were characterized for protein tyrosine phosphatase (IA-2IC and IA-2(256-760)), zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8), thyroid peroxidase, (TPO), steroid 21-hydroxylase (21-OH), tissue transglutaminase (tTG), and antiparietal cell (APC) antibodies. RESULTS: High GADA titer compared to low GADA titer showed a significantly higher prevalence of IA-2IC, IA-2(256-760), ZnT8, TPO, and APC antibodies (P≤0.04 for all comparison). 21-OH antibodies were detected in 3.4% of high GADA titer. A significant decreasing trend was observed from high GADA to low GADA and to T2DM subjects for IA-2(256-760), ZnT8, TPO, tTG, and APC antibodies (P for trend≤0.001). TPO was the only antibody showing a different prevalence between gender; low GADA titer and T2DM female patients had a higher frequency of TPO antibody compared to males (P=0.0004 and P=0.0006, respectively), where the presence of high GADA titer conferred an odds ratio of 8.6 for TPO compared to low GADA titer. After subdividing high and low GADA titer subjects according to the number of antibodies, we observed that 73.3% of high GADA titer subjects were positive for at least one or more antibodies, compared to 38.3% of low GADA titer (P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In LADA subjects, high GADA titer was associated with a profile of more severe autoimmunity and, in male gender, specifically predisposed to thyroid autoimmunity. A regular screening for other antibodies is recommended in LADA patients according to GADA titer and gender

Brassica and Sinapis Seeds in Medieval Archaeological Sites:An Example of Multiproxy Analysis for Their Identification and Ethnobotanical Interpretation

The genus Brassica includes some of the most important vegetable and oil crops worldwide. Many Brassica seeds (which can show diagnostic characters useful for species identification) were recovered from two archaeological sites in northern Italy, dated from between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. We tested the combined use of archaeobotanical keys, ancient DNA barcoding, and references to ancient herbarium specimens to address the issue of diagnostic uncertainty. An unequivocal conventional diagnosis was possible for much of the material recovered, with the samples dominated by five Brassica species and Sinapis. The analysis using ancient DNA was restricted to the seeds with a Brassica-type structure and deployed a variant of multiplexed tandem PCR. The quality of diagnosis strongly depended on the molecular locus used. Nevertheless, many seeds were diagnosed down to species level, in concordance with their morphological identification, using one primer set from the core barcode site (matK). The number of specimens found in the Renaissance herbaria was not high; Brassica nigra, which is of great ethnobotanical importance, was the most common taxon. Thus, the combined use of independent means of species identification is particularly important when studying the early use of closely related crops, such as Brassicaceae

Autoantibody Response to Islet Transplantation in Type 1 Diabetes

Islet allotransplantation into patients with autoimmune type 1 diabetes represents a reexposure to autoantigen. Here, measurement of antibodies to GAD and IA-2 autoantigens before and after islet transplantation in 36 patients (33 receiving islet plus kidney grafts with cyclosporin and steroid-based immunosuppression, and 3 receiving solitary islet transplants with mycophenolate but cyclosporin-free immunosuppression) demonstrated marked rises in GAD antibodies within 7 days posttransplantation in 5 patients (3 receiving islet after kidney transplants, and 2 receiving solitary islet transplants) and within 30 days in the third patient receiving solitary islet transplantation. GAD antibodies were of the IgG1 subclass, against major autoantigenic epitopes, and in cases of islet after kidney transplants, the responses were short-lived and not accompanied by HLA antibodies. Two of these patients had subsequent marked rises of IA-2 antibodies, and an additional patient had a marked rise in IgM-GAD antibodies 3 years after transplantation. Insulin independence was not achieved in patients with autoantibody elevations and was significantly less frequent in these patients. These data are consistent with a reactivation of autoimmunity that may be dependent on immunosuppression therapy and is associated with impaired graft function

Residual peripheral blood CD26+leukemic stem cells in chronic myeloid leukemia patients during TKI therapy and during treatment-free remission

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients in sustained “deep molecular response” may stop TKI treatment without disease recurrence; however, half of them lose molecular response shortly after TKI withdrawing. Well-defined eligibility criteria to predict a safe discontinuation up-front are still missing. Relapse is probably due to residual quiescent TKI-resistant leukemic stem cells (LSCs) supposedly transcriptionally low/silent and not easily detectable by BCR-ABL1 qRT-PCR. Bone marrow Ph+ CML CD34+/CD38− LSCs were found to specifically co-express CD26 (dipeptidylpeptidase-IV). We explored feasibility of detecting and quantifying CD26+ LSCs by flow cytometry in peripheral blood (PB). Over 400 CML patients (at diagnosis and during/after therapy) entered this cross-sectional study in which CD26 expression was evaluated by a standardized multiparametric flow cytometry analysis on PB CD45+/CD34+/CD38− stem cell population. All 120 CP-CML patients at diagnosis showed measurable PB CD26+ LSCs (median 19.20/μL, range 0.27–698.6). PB CD26+ LSCs were also detectable in 169/236 (71.6%) CP-CML patients in first-line TKI treatment (median 0.014 cells/μL; range 0.0012–0.66) and in 74/112 (66%), additional patients studied on treatment-free remission (TFR) (median 0.015/μL; range 0.006–0.76). Notably, no correlation between BCR-ABL/ABLIS ratio and number of residual LSCs was found both in patients on or off TKIs. This is the first evidence that “circulating” CML LSCs persist in the majority of CML patients in molecular response while on TKI treatment and even after TKI discontinuation. Prospective studies evaluating the dynamics of PB CD26+ LSCs during TKI treatment and the role of a “stem cell response” threshold to achieve and maintain TFR are ongoing

Ruxolitinib in cytopenic myelofibrosis: Response, toxicity, drug discontinuation, and outcome

Background: Patients with cytopenic myelofibrosis (MF) have more limited therapeutic options and poorer prognoses compared with patients with the myeloproliferative phenotype. Aims and methods: Prognostic correlates of cytopenic phenotype were explored in 886 ruxolitinib-treated patients with primary/secondary MF (PMF/SMF) included in the RUX-MF retrospective study. Cytopenia was defined as: leukocyte count &lt;4&nbsp;×&nbsp;109 /L and/or hemoglobin &lt;11/&lt;10&nbsp;g/dL (males/females) and/or platelets &lt;100&nbsp;×&nbsp;109 /L. Results: Overall, 407 (45.9%) patients had a cytopenic MF, including 249 (52.4%) with PMF. In multivariable analysis, high molecular risk mutations (p&nbsp;=&nbsp;.04), intermediate 2/high Dynamic International Prognostic Score System (p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.001) and intermediate 2/high Myelofibrosis Secondary to Polycythemia Vera and Essential Thrombocythemia Prognostic Model (p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.001) remained associated with cytopenic MF in the overall cohort, PMF, and SMF, respectively. Patients with cytopenia received lower average ruxolitinib at the starting (25.2&nbsp;mg/day vs. 30.2&nbsp;mg/day, p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.001) and overall doses (23.6&nbsp;mg/day vs. 26.8&nbsp;mg/day, p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.001) and achieved lower rates of spleen (26.5% vs. 34.1%, p&nbsp;=&nbsp;.04) and symptom (59.8% vs. 68.8%, p&nbsp;=&nbsp;.008) responses at 6&nbsp;months compared with patients with the proliferative phenotype. Patients with cytopenia also had higher rates of thrombocytopenia at 3&nbsp;months (31.1% vs. 18.8%, p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.001) but lower rates of anemia (65.6% vs. 57.7%, p&nbsp;=&nbsp;.02 at 3&nbsp;months and 56.6% vs. 23.9% at 6&nbsp;months, p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.001). After competing risk analysis, the cumulative incidence of ruxolitinib discontinuation at 5&nbsp;years was 57% and 38% in patients with cytopenia and the proliferative phenotype (p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.001), whereas cumulative incidence of leukemic transformation was similar (p&nbsp;=&nbsp;.06). In Cox regression analysis adjusted for Dynamic International Prognostic Score System score, survival was significantly shorter in patients with cytopenia (p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;.001). Conclusions: Cytopenic MF has a lower probability of therapeutic success with ruxolitinib as monotherapy and worse outcome. These patients should be considered for alternative therapeutic strategies

USE OF SATELLITE SAR DATA FOR SEISMIC RISK MANAGEMENT: RESULTS FROM THE PRE-OPERATIONAL ASI-SIGRIS PROJECT

In the framework of the National Space Programme, and of the European GMES Programme, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) has funded several pilot projects aimed at demonstrating the full potential of Earth Observation data in the monitoring and management of natural hazards. The SIGRIS (Earth Observation System for Seismic Risk Management) pilot project has developed a hardware/software infrastructure for the generation of decision support products for the seismic risk management. A pre-operational demonstration of the SIGRIS system is being carried out since June 2009 and various products to be used by civil protection authorities in either the Knowledge & Prevention or Crisis Management phases of seismic risk management, have been generated. SIGRIS products to support the Knowledge & Prevention activities are based on the integration of satellite and ground-based observations to constrain analytical and numerical models of the tectonic strain accumulation and of its long-term effects on the earthquake source. They include crustal deformation maps from time series DInSAR and GPS, and fault models to improve the seismic hazard assessment. SIGRIS products for the Crisis Management phase are instead focused on the quick generation of value added information needed to devise damage or event scenarios, and typically consist of damage assessment maps from high resolution optical and SAR data, co-seismic displacements maps from DInSAR analysis, seismic source models, maps of earthquake-induced environmental effects (landslides, surface fractures, ecc.). For these products a near-real time capability is required and new constellations, as COSMO-SkyMed , can now provide the necessary temporal revisit to fulfil this need. The SIGRIS system is also depending on other SAR satellites to ensure a faster and better coverage of the disaster areas: ENVISAT, Radarsat, TerraSar X, ALOS. We will present examples of the SIGRIS decision support products based on the integration of Earth Observation and ground data and discuss important issues related to disaster applications, as EO data programming, fast data access, data archival.PublishedBergen, NO1.10. TTC - Telerilevamentoope

Incidence and prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus in a district of north Italy.

The objective of this study was to investigate the incidence and the prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in an area of northeast Italy. We retrospectively examined all patients of 16 years and older of native Italian origin and resident in Ferrara district either admitted to hospital or referred to our outpatient clinic with a diagnosis of SLE determined between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2002. SLE subjects were identified both by a search of hospital discharge code 710.0 according to the international classification of diseases-9 codes, and using a computerized search for this pathology code in the national health care system. Incidence and prevalence rates were calculated as number of cases per 100 000 inhabitants. Population data were based on the 2002 National Census. A total of 299 cases of SLE were identified. After a review of all cases by one experienced investigator, 98 were excluded because did not satisfied the 1982 revised criteria of the American College Rheumatology. Therefore, 201 patients had a definite diagnosis of SLE. The prevalence of SLE in the district was 57.9/100 000. The mean age at diagnosis was 41 years, the average duration of the disease from symptoms onset to diagnosis was 4.8 years and the female/male ratio 9:1. Annual incidence in 2000 was 2.01/100000, in 2001 1.15/100000 and in 2002 2.6/100000. This is the first study dealing with prevalence and incidence of SLE in an Italian district. Data obtained concerning prevalence, incidence, age at diagnoses and female predominance are in agreement with those published in literature