Contribution of anthropogenic consolidation processes to subsidence phenomena from multi-temporal DInSAR: a GIS-based approach

The paper introduces an approach based on the combination of multi-temporal Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and geographical information systems analysis to investigate and separate several contributions to subsidence phenomena over the municipality of Ravenna (Emilia Romagna, Italy). In particular, the relationship between displacements detected over built environment and consolidation processes after construction was assessed and filtered out from the subsidence map to quantify the local overestimation of subsidence phenomena due to the mentioned processes. It requires descriptive attributes related to the age of construction and intended uses. The outcomes of the present study highlight ground consolidation processes that seem to be active over areas settled in the last 30 years with a component contributing to vertical rates up to 3 mm/yr. Such contribution represents the 20% of the cumulative displacements reported for coastal villages where different sources of subsidence increase the vulnerability to coastal erosion. We discuss the contribution of consolidation processes over a couple of recently settled areas to separate among contributions and avoid the misinterpretation of effects due to other anthropogenic sources of subsidence

Stamp technique: an explorative SEM analysis

Background: Achieving correct tooth anatomy and saving time at the dental chair are some of the goals of modern restorative dentistry. Stamp technique has gained acceptance in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this technique in terms of microleakage, voids, overhangs and marginal adaptation of Class I restorations, and to analyse the operative times in comparison with traditional restorative procedures. Methods: Twenty extracted teeth were divided into 2 groups. Ten teeth in the study group (SG) were Class I prepared and restored using stamp technique, and ten teeth in the control group (CG) were Class I restored traditionally. SEM analysis was performed to evaluate voids, microleakage, overhangs, and marginal adaptation, and operative times were recorded. A statistical analysis was performed. Results: There were no significant differences in microleakage, marginal adaptation and filling defects between the two groups, however, the stamp technique seems to facilitate the formation of large overflowing margins that require a careful finishing phase. Conclusions: Stamp technique does not seem to have any critical aspects in terms of restoration durability and it can be performed in a short time

Simposio per Immagini. Sesto Simposio Internazionale Il monitoraggio costiero mediterraneo: problematiche e tecniche di misura

Il volume è un appendice del VI Simposio "Il Monitoraggio Costiero Mediterraneo: problematiche e tecniche di misura" ed è curato da Gianni Fasano e Alessandro Materassi Vengono illustrate le attività scientifico-culturali svolte in concomitate dell'Evento Nel Volume sono presenti contributi di Paola Baldari, Antonio Raschi, Alessandra Potenti, Laura Pellegrino, Matteo De Vincenzi, Francesca Giampaolo

The BciAi4SLA Project: Towards a User-Centered BCI

The brain–computer interfaces (BCI) are interfaces that put the user in communication with an electronic device based on signals originating from the brain. In this paper, we describe a proof of concept that took place within the context of BciAi4Sla, a multidisciplinary project involving computer scientists, physiologists, biomedical engineers, neurologists, and psychologists with the aim of designing and developing a BCI system following a user-centered approach, involving domain experts and users since initial prototyping steps in a design–test–redesign development cycle. The project intends to develop a software platform able to restore a communication channel in patients who have compromised their communication possibilities due to illness or accidents. The most common case is the patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this paper, we describe the background and the main development steps of the project, also reporting some initial and promising user evaluation results, including real-time performance classification and a proof-of-concept prototype

Knowledge and use of e-cigarettes among nursing students: results from a cross-sectional survey in north-eastern Italy

Data on electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among health professional students, who can play a central role in promoting healthy habits and smoking cessation, are sparse. Moreover, the association between e-cigarettes and smoking habits is still debated. The present study aimed to investigate the diffusion of e-cigarette use among nursing students in north-eastern Italy and explore its association with tobacco smoking

Artificial Intelligence Application to Screen Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Using Computed tomography Angiography

The aim of our study is to validate a totally automated deep learning (DL)-based segmentation pipeline to screen abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in computed tomography angiography (CTA) scans. We retrospectively evaluated 73 thoraco-abdominal CTAs (48 AAA and 25 control CTA) by means of a DL-based segmentation pipeline built on a 2.5D convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture to segment lumen and thrombus of the aorta. The maximum aortic diameter of the abdominal tract was compared using a threshold value (30 mm). Blinded manual measurements from a radiologist were done in order to create a true comparison. The screening pipeline was tested on 48 patients with aneurysm and 25 without aneurysm. The average diameter manually measured was 51.1 ± 14.4 mm for patients with aneurysms and 21.7 ± 3.6 mm for patients without aneurysms. The pipeline correctly classified 47 AAA out of 48 and 24 control patients out of 25 with 97% accuracy, 98% sensitivity, and 96% specificity. The automated pipeline of aneurysm measurements in the abdominal tract reported a median error with regard to the maximum abdominal diameter measurement of 1.3 mm. Our approach allowed for the maximum diameter of 51.2 ± 14.3 mm in patients with aneurysm and 22.0 ± 4.0 mm in patients without an aneurysm. The DL-based screening for AAA is a feasible and accurate method, calling for further validation using a larger pool of diagnostic images towards its clinical use

A fully automated micro‑CT deep learning approach for precision preclinical investigation of lung fibrosis progression and response to therapy

: Micro-computed tomography (µCT)-based imaging plays a key role in monitoring disease progression and response to candidate drugs in various animal models of human disease, but manual image processing is still highly time-consuming and prone to operator bias. Focusing on an established mouse model of bleomycin (BLM)-induced lung fibrosis we document, here, the ability of a fully automated deep-learning (DL)-based model to improve and speed-up lung segmentation and the precise measurement of morphological and functional biomarkers in both the whole lung and in individual lobes. µCT-DL whose results were overall highly consistent with those of more conventional, especially histological, analyses, allowed to cut down by approximately 45-fold the time required to analyze the entire dataset and to longitudinally follow fibrosis evolution and response to the human-use-approved drug Nintedanib, using both inspiratory and expiratory μCT. Particularly significant advantages of this µCT-DL approach, are: (i) its reduced experimental variability, due to the fact that each animal acts as its own control and the measured, operator bias-free biomarkers can be quantitatively compared across experiments; (ii) its ability to monitor longitudinally the spatial distribution of fibrotic lesions, thus eliminating potential confounding effects associated with the more severe fibrosis observed in the apical region of the left lung and the compensatory effects taking place in the right lung; (iii) the animal sparing afforded by its non-invasive nature and high reliability; and (iv) the fact that it can be integrated into different drug discovery pipelines with a substantial increase in both the speed and robustness of the evaluation of new candidate drugs. The µCT-DL approach thus lends itself as a powerful new tool for the precision preclinical monitoring of BLM-induced lung fibrosis and other disease models as well. Its ease of operation and use of standard imaging instrumentation make it easily transferable to other laboratories and to other experimental settings, including clinical diagnostic applications

Clinical impact of first-line bevacizumab plus chemotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer of mucinous histology: a multicenter, retrospective analysis on 685 patients

In metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC), mucinous histology has been associated with poor response rate and prognosis. We investigated whether bevacizumab combined with different chemotherapy regimens may have an impact on clinical outcomes of MCRC patients with mucinous histology

Biological and clinical effects of abiraterone on anti-resorptive and anabolic activity in bone microenvironment

Abiraterone acetate (ABI) is associated not only with a significant survival advantage in both chemotherapy-naive and -treated patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), but also with a delay in time to development of Skeletal Related Events and in radiological skeletal progression. These bone benefits may be related to a direct effect on prostate cancer cells in bone or to a specific mechanism directed to bone microenvironment. To test this hypothesis we designed an in vitro study aimed to evaluate a potential direct effect of ABI on human primary osteoclasts/osteoblasts (OCLs/OBLs). We also assessed changes in bone turnover markers, serum carboxy-terminal collagen crosslinks (CTX) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), in 49 mCRPC patients treated with ABI.Our results showed that non-cytotoxic doses of ABI have a statistically significant inhibitory effect on OCL differentiation and activity inducing a down-modulation of OCL marker genes TRAP, cathepsin K and metalloproteinase-9. Furthermore ABI promoted OBL differentiation and bone matrix deposition up-regulating OBL specific genes, ALP and osteocalcin. Finally, we observed a significant decrease of serum CTX values and an increase of ALP in ABI-treated patients.These findings suggest a novel biological mechanism of action of ABI consisting in a direct bone anabolic and anti-resorptive activity

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and adenosine receptors modulate prostaglandin E2 and cytokine production in human osteoarthritic synovial fibroblasts

Objective. Synovial fibroblasts (SFs) contribute to the development of osteoarthritis (OA) by the secretion of a wide range of pro-inflammatory mediators, including cytokines and lipid mediators of inflammation (1). Previous studies show that electromagnetic fields (EMFs) may represent a potential therapeutical approach to limit cartilage degradation and to control inflammation associated to OA, and that they may act through the adenosine pathway (2). On this basis the aim of this study was to investigate if EMFs might modulate inflammatory activities of human SFs derived from OA patients (OASFs) and the possible involvement of adenosine receptors (ARs) in mediating EMF effects. Design. SFs obtained from OA patients, undergoing total hip joint replacement surgery, were exposed to EMFs (1.5 mT; 75 Hz) for 24 hours. In control and EMF-exposed cells, ARs were evaluated by western blotting, quantitative real-time RT-PCR and saturation binding experiments and cAMP levels were measured by a specific assay. In the absence and in the presence of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), used as a pro-inflammatory stimulus, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), cytokine and matrix degrading enzyme production was evaluated in OASFs exposed to EMFs and treated with selective adenosine receptor agonists and antagonists. Results. EMF exposure induced a selective increase in A2A and A3 ARs. These increases were associated to changes in cAMP levels, indicating that ARs were functionally active in EMF-exposed cells. In IL-1β-treated OASFs, functional data obtained in the presence of  A2A and A3 adenosine agonists and antagonists showed that EMFs inhibit the release of (PGE2) and of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8), whilst stimulate the release of interleukin-10 (IL-10), an antinflammatory cytokine. Further, results show that these effects appear to be mediated by the EMF-induced upregulation of A2A and A3 ARs. No effects of EMFs or ARs have been observed on matrix degrading enzymes production. Conclusions: EMFs display anti-inflammatory effects in human OASFs and these EMF-induced .ffects are in part mediated by the adenosine pathway, specifically by the A2A and A3 ARs activation. Taken together, these results suggest that SFs could represent potential therapeutic targets cells for EMF treatment and open new clinical perspectives to the control of inflammation associated to joint diseases. 1. Martel-Pelletier J et al. Eklem Hastalik Cerrahisi. 2010; 21(1):2-14. 2. De Mattei M et al. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2009; 17(2):252-262