Mathematical model investigation of long-term transport of ocean-dumped sewage sludge related to remote sensing

An existing, three-dimensional, Eulerian-Lagrangian finite-difference model was modified and used to examine the transport processes of dumped sewage sludge in the New York Bight. Both in situ and laboratory data were utilized in an attempt to approximate model inputs such as mean current speed, horizontal diffusion coefficients, particle size distributions, and specific gravities. The results presented are a quantitative description of the fate of a negatively buoyant sewage sludge plume resulting from continuous and instantaneous barge releases. Concentrations of the sludge near the surface were compared qualitatively with those remotely sensed. Laboratory study was performed to investigate the behavior of sewage sludge dumping in various ambient density conditions

Studying the coincidence excess between EXPLORER and NAUTILUS during 1998

The coincidences between EXPLORER and NAUTILUS during 1998 (Astone et al. 2001) are more deeply studied. It is found that the coincidence excess is greater in the ten-day period 7-17 September 1998 and it occurs at the sidereal hour 4, when the detectors axes are perpendicular to the Galactic Disk. The purpose of this paper is to bring our results with the GW detectors to the attention of scientists working in the astrophysical field, and ask them whether are they aware of any special phenomenon occurring when EXPLORER and NAUTILUS showed a coincidence excess.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, submitted to A &

Seismic Vulnerability and Risk Assessment of Historic Constructions: The Case of Masonry and Adobe Churches in Italy and Chile

Nowadays, disasters in seismic-prone areas such as Italy and Chile, continue to cause dramatic human and economic consequences and affecting, among others, very ancient and historical churches, due to their high seismic vulnerability and probably due to the lack of risk management plans for the conservation of cultural property. This paper focuses on rapid seismic risk assessment by applying two simplified methods, based on expert judgement and observed damage, in old masonry churches, which aim to identify the most vulnerable elements and correlated threats that would act as site effects under the seismic action, for establishing intervention priority lists and for planning preventive conservation projects. The case studies are: the church of Sant’Agostino, built in stone masonry and located in Matera, an area with moderate seismicity in southern Italy; the church of San Francisco de Chiu Chiu, built in adobe and located in Calama, an area with average seismicity in the Andean northern Chile; and the church of San Francisco Barón, built in adobe and brick masonry, and located in Valparaíso, an area with high seismicity on the central coast of Chile

The ACEF score: a simple but powerful predictor of short-term mortality in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Background: several clinical risk scores are available for the risk stratification of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), such as the CADILLAC, GRACE, PAMI, TIMI, and Zwolle, but all are complex to use and there is uncertainty on the best one. The age-creatinine-ejection fraction (ACEF) score, has been recently proven effective and proficient as a risk score in cardiac surgery despite its user-friendliness. We thus aimed to compare the performance of the ACEF score in comparison to the other available risk scores in patient with STEMI. Methods: subjects with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention at our Institution from 2001 to 2009 were enrolled. The primary end-point was in-hospital all-cause death, whereas long-term all-cause death, long-term cardiac death were appraised as secondary outcomes. ACEF, CADILLAC, GRACE, PAMI, TIMI, and Zwolle risk scores were compared with receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curves with areas under the curve (AUC), and binary multivariable logistic regression analysis with odds ratios (OR), plus 95% confidence intervals

Analysis of 3 years of data from the gravitational wave detectors EXPLORER and NAUTILUS

We performed a search for short gravitational wave bursts using about 3 years of data of the resonant bar detectors Nautilus and Explorer. Two types of analysis were performed: a search for coincidences with a low background of accidentals (0.1 over the entire period), and the calculation of upper limits on the rate of gravitational wave bursts. Here we give a detailed account of the methodology and we report the results: a null search for coincident events and an upper limit that improves over all previous limits from resonant antennas, and is competitive, in the range h_rss ~1E-19, with limits from interferometric detectors. Some new methodological features are introduced that have proven successful in the upper limits evaluation.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure

PICKING THE BEST NOVEL ORAL ANTICOAGULANT FOR ATRIAL FIBRILLATION: EVIDENCE FROM A WARFARIN-CONTROLLED NETWORK META-ANALYSIS

Warfarin is a mainstay atrial ibrillation (AF) treatment, yet it has a narrow therapeutic window. Novel agents have been successfully tested against warfarin, yet no direct comparison among them is available. We thus performed a pair-wise and warfarin-adjusted network metaanalyses of novel oral anticoagulants for AF

Postnatal Changes in K+/Cl- Cotransporter-2 Expression in the Forebrain of Mice Bearing a Mutant Nicotinic Subunit Linked to Sleep-Related Epilepsy

ABSTRACT The Na+/K+/Cl- cotransporter-1 (NKCC1) and the K+/Cl- cotransporter-2 (KCC2) set the transmembrane Cl- gradient in the brain, and are implicated in epileptogenesis. We studied the postnatal distribution of NKCC1 and KCC2 in wild-type (WT) mice, and in a mouse model of sleep-related epilepsy, carrying the mutant \u3b22-V287L subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). In WT neocortex, immunohistochemistry showed a wide distribution of NKCC1 in neurons and astrocytes. At birth, KCC2 was localized in neuronal somata, whereas at subsequent stages it was mainly found in the somatodendritic compartment. The cotransporters\u2019 expression was quantified by densitometry in the transgenic strain. KCC2 expression increased during the first postnatal weeks, while the NKCC1 amount remained stable, after birth. In mice expressing \u3b22-V287L, the KCC2 amount in layer V of prefrontal cortex (PFC) was lower than in the control littermates at postnatal day 8 (P8), with no concomitant change in NKCC1. Consistently, the GABAergic excitatory to inhibitory switch was delayed in PFC layer V of mice carrying \u3b22-V287L. At P60, the amount of KCC2 was instead higher in mice bearing the transgene. Irrespective of genotype, NKCC1 and KCC2 were abundantly expressed in the neuropil of most thalamic nuclei since birth. However, KCC2 expression decreased by P60 in the reticular nucleus, and more so in mice expressing \u3b22-V287L. Therefore, a complex regulatory interplay occurs between heteromeric nAChRs and KCC2 in postnatal forebrain. The pathogenetic effect of \u3b22-V287L may depend on altered KCC2 amounts in PFC during synaptogenesis, as well as in mature thalamocortical circuits

The imbalance between dynamic and stable microtubules underlies neurodegeneration induced by 2,5-hexanedione

Exposure to environmental toxins, including hydrocarbon solvents, increases the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. An emergent hypothesis considers microtubule dysfunction as one of the crucial events in triggering neuronal degeneration in Parkinson's disease. Here, we used 2,5-hexanedione (2,5-HD), the toxic metabolite of n-hexane, to analyse the early effects of toxin-induced neurodegeneration on the cytoskeleton in multiple model systems. In PC12 cells differentiated with nerve growth factor for 5 days, we found that 2,5-HD treatment affected all the cytoskeletal components. Moreover, we observed alterations in microtubule distribution and stability, in addition to the imbalance of post-translational modifications of \u3b1-tubulin. Similar defects were also found in vivo in 2,5-HD-intoxicated mice. Interestingly, we also found that 2,5-HD exposure induced significant changes in microtubule stability in human skin fibroblasts obtained from Parkinson's disease patients harbouring mutations in PRKN gene, whereas it was ineffective in healthy donor fibroblasts, suggesting that the genetic background may really make the difference in microtubule susceptibility to this environmental Parkinson's disease-related toxin. In conclusion, by showing the imbalance between dynamic and stable microtubules in hydrocarbon-induced parkinsonism, our data support the crucial role of microtubule defects in triggering neurodegeneration