Landsscape diachronic reconstruction in the Tiber Delta during historical time. A holistic approach

The sensitivity of deltas in response to evolutionary factors makes them important archives of the events that occurred in the entire river basin. Detailed knowledge of the stratigraphy and morphology, combined with a set of archaeological, palaeobotanical and historical information, make possible to reconstruct the diachronic changes of the landscape in the Tiber delta plain over the past 3000 years taking into account natural and anthropic forcing. The main factors that contributed to the delta landscape change are considered following a temporal scansion. Among the natural factors, we considered climate, sea level rise, tectonic and local subsidence. Among the human factors we considered the population density and several human activities, such as farming and breeding practices, reclamation, construction of ports, canals and salt works. To evaluate the amount of sediment involved in the delta evolution during different periods, the BQART model was used. Prior to Roman times anthropogenic forcing had a lower influence than natural forcing on the landscape evolution. During the Roman period (between third century BC-fourth century AD), the delta landscape was severely conditioned by the human activity. Throughout the Middle Ages and until the first half of the nineteenth century, a more natural landscape evolved in the delta, gradually and partially replacing the previous landscape. With the arrival of the new Italian State a new and impressive landscape change occurred. The evolution of the Tiber delta landscape appear particularly affected by anthropogenic forcing when socio-political organization allowed the control and planning of policy actions

Natural and anthropogenic forcing during the last two centuries in Ombrone Delta (Southern Tuscany - Central Italy)

This study describes advances in understanding of the recent evolution of the Ombrone River delta. Several aspects have been studied and updated: the stages of progradation and retreat of the shoreline from the Middle Ages, with particular reference to the last 200 years, have been reconstructed and the natural and/or human forcing responsible for the area’s evolution have been hypothesized. The processes that led to the formation and evolution of some small coastal lakes and the more recent evolution of the shoreline are defi ned. Monitoring of shoreline variations in the Ombrone Delta apex has been achieved by comparing aerial photos acquired in 1995, 1998, 2004, 2006 and 2010. The progressive landward migration of the shoreline has resulted in a realignment of the coast. Comparison with older erosion and progradation rates shows decreasing erosion rates along the delta apex with time: the erosion rate of the northern wing has reached peaks of around 14 m/yr (2004-2006), and then fallen to 4.5 m/yr in the latest period (2006-2010). The Ombrone River delta is characterized by the presence of beach ridges, ponds and, in the past, of a coastal lake. Morpho- bathymetric analysis and comparison with historical maps shows that during the XIX century, the historical lake preserved its geometry; only in the 1883 map seaward side presents an irregular geometry, while in the 1929 map the ponds have been represented for the fi rst time and are located seaward with respectto the XIX century beach ridge. Comparing morpho-bathymetric data of Chiaro Grande pond and submerged apical mouth, this study confi rmed the hypothesisabout Chiaro Grande pond genesis in which its formation is based on the closure of a narrow sea stretch consequent to the emergence of a bar. The independence between the genesis of ponds and lake evolution, highlighting the importance of mouth bar growth as a recurrent mechanism for confi ning narrow sea stretches. The orientation of morphological features and the prevailing wave climate suggest a sediment transport from south to north

A population-based study on myelodysplastic syndromes in the Lazio Region (Italy), medical miscoding and 11-year mortality follow-up. The Gruppo Romano-Laziale Mielodisplasie experience of retrospective multicentric registry

Data on Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) are difficult to collect by cancer registries because of the lack of reporting and the use of different classifications of the disease. In the Lazio Region, data from patients with a confirmed diagnosis of MDS, treated by a hematology center, have been collected since 2002 by the Gruppo Romano-Laziale Mielodisplasie (GROM-L) registry, the second MDS registry existing in Italy. This study aimed at evaluating MDS medical miscoding during hospitalizations, and patients' survival. For these purposes, we selected 644 MDS patients enrolled in the GROM-L registry. This cohort was linked with two regional health information systems: the Hospital Information System (HIS) and the Mortality Information System (MIS) in the 2002-2012 period. Of the 442 patients who were hospitalized at least once during the study period, 92% had up to 12 hospitalizations. 28.5% of patients had no hospitalization episodes scored like MDS, code 238.7 of the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). The rate of death during a median follow-up of 46 months (range 0.9-130) was 45.5%. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was the first cause of mortality, interestingly a relevant portion of deaths is due to cerebro-cardiovascular events and second tumors. This study highlights that MDS diagnosis and treatment, which require considerable healthcare resources, tend to be under-documented in the HIS archive. Thus we need to improve the HIS to better identify information on MDS hospitalizations and outcome. Moreover, we underline the importance of comorbidity in MDS patients' survival

Vulnerabilità all’erosione del litorale del delta del Fiume Tevere (Mar Tirreno, Italia Centrale)

Il paesaggio costiero è il risultato dell’azione combinata di processi fluviali, marini, eolici e antropici ed è caratterizzato da una morfologia estremamente variabile nel tempo. Circa il 60 % della popolazione mondiale vive a una distanza non superiore a 100 km dal mare e il 40 % delle città con più di 500.000 abitanti è situata sulle coste. Ciò è avvenuto a causa di condizioni climatiche più favorevoli rispetto alle zone interne, di maggiori possibilità di procacciarsi alimenti (risorse della pesca o sale marino), di migliori possibilità per gli insediamenti abitativi favoriti dall’assetto pianeggiante delle aree costiere, dalla disponibilità di acqua, dalla possibilità di traffici marittimi. Le aree costiere così fortemente antropizzate negli ultimi decenni hanno subito un imponente fenomeno di erosione, circa il 70 % dei litorali sabbiosi del mondo è in riduzione proprio laddove maggiore è la pressione insediativa. Lungo le coste del Mediterraneo vivono oltre il 75% degli abitanti delle nazioni rivierasche e, unitamente agli insediamenti abitativi, sono presenti tutta una serie di strutture legate a significative attività socio-economiche. Negli ultimi decenni anche le aree costiere italiane sono andate incontro ad un intensificarsi dei fenomeni erosivi: in Italia su 3950 km di spiagge il 42% è in erosione e nel Lazio su 216 km di litorali mobili la percentuale aumenta fin oltre il 54%. Ciò ha reso necessari, a partire dalla seconda metà del XX secolo, urgenti e costosi interventi di difesa, al fine di proteggere la costa. Molte sono state le opere di difesa edificate lungo tutto il litorale, ma tali opere sono state danneggiate dalle violente mareggiate invernali, rendendo necessario il ripristino delle stesse ovvero la riprogettazione di nuove tipologie di intervento. In una fascia costiera un effetto particolarmente significativo è dato dalla variazione relativa del livello del mare. Eventi di questo tipo provocano l’emersione o l’annegamento di parte della fascia costiera, inducono la migrazione della linea di riva modificando e talvolta stravolgendo il panorama della costa stessa. A questi fattori naturali si sovrappone l’azione dell’uomo che nel tempo è divenuto un importante agente morfogenetico la cui azione, oggi ovunque sensibile, diviene particolarmente efficace in ambienti altamente dinamici e particolarmente sensibili quali, appunto, quelli costieri. La costruzione di porti, moli e di dighe sui fiumi nonché l’estrazione di inerti dagli alvei fluviali hanno ridotto progressivamente l’apporto di sedimento e dunque la fonte principale di materiale utile al pascimento delle spiagge L’area oggetto di studio è l’apice deltizio del Fiume Tevere, un litorale di grande pregio storico- ambientale e fortemente urbanizzato; tale paraggio, allungato per circa 12 km, negli ultimi sessanta anni ha subìto fenomeni di erosione così marcati da rendere necessaria la messa in opera di diverse tipologie di protezione della spiaggia, dell’abitato e delle vie di comunicazione