SNOWFALL ANALYSIS OVER PENINSULAR ITALY IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SYNOPTIC CIRCULATION: FIRST RESULTS

The time series of snow data for a sample of Italian meteorological stations have been analyzed taking into account, for the time series, an acceptable continuity and quality of meteorological data. The data set is that of the Italian Meteorological Service (UGM), and refer to the period 1982–2004. The Slovenian station of Kredarica, located in the Julian Alps, has been added for convenience. The study is composed of two different parts: - Climatologic analysis of the snow parameters during the last 20 years. In particular, the height of the fresh snow and the number of days with permanence of snow at the ground have been analyzed. - Evidence of the synoptic situations in which snowfalls are observed with at least a thickness of 10 cm in at least a third of the total number of analyzed stations in Central, Southern and insular Ital

Validation of a method for the determination of the sensible-heat flux with Sodar data in free convection cases

A simple method to determine the value of the ground sensible-heat flux using Sodar data is presented and validated. The measurement of the variance of the wind velocity components gives us an estimate of the intensity of the atmospheric turbulence; the local value of variance of the vertical wind velocity s2w depends on the efficiency of thermal and mechanical turbulence production. The portion of the atmospheric boundary layer, where turbulent kinetic energy is prevalently produced by buoyancy forces, is characterised by profiles of s3w Oz and of (sensible-) heat flux which decrease linearly with height. The extrapolation to the ground of the former profile gives an estimate of the value of sensible-heat flux at the surface. The validation of the results is performed by comparison of the energy involved in the development of convective episodes calculated, over the same time interval, from sensible-heat flux at the surface with that derived from potential temperature profiles relative to two successive radio soundings. When perturbative processes like, for example, rise up of breezes, are absent, the estimates of energies are in excellent agreement, being the angular coefficient of regression line 1.01 and the linear correlation coefficient 0.93

THE ROLE OF IMMUNITY SUPPRESSION IN TREATMENT OF MYOCARDITIS

Regardless the common consensus on the benefits of immunity suppression in eosinophilic, granulomatous, giant cell and lymphocyte myocarditis, associated with systemic connective tissue diseases, and in rejection of transplanted heart, role of immune suppression therapy (IST) in treatment of lymphocyte inflammatory cardiomyopathy remains controversial. Previous retrospective studies revealed clinical improvement in 90% of patients with virus-negative inflammatory cardiomyopathy and absence of response or worsening of heart function in 85% of virus-positive inflammatory cardiomyopathy after immunity suppression. Other studies identified the enhanced expression of HLA in cardiomyocytes as an additional indicator of sensitivity of inflammatory cardiomyopathy to IST. Recently, the singlecenter randomized study was performed with double blind application of prednisone and azatioprin as addition to maintenance therapy in 85 patients with virus-negative inflammatory cardiomyopathy. The results of the study showed significant improvement of the left ventricle ejection fraction and decrease of the left ventricle dimensions in 88% patients among 43 of treated comparing to 42 patients on placebo demonstrated worsening of cardiac functioning in 83% cases (the TIMIC study). This data confirms the efficacy of immunity suppression in virus-negative inflammatory cardiomyopathy. Insufficiency of response in 12% cases undermines existence of non-revealed viruses and mechanisms of damage and inflammation, non-sensitive to immunity suppression. Restoring of cardiac function in patients actively responded to immunity suppression, was determined by inhibition of cardiomyocytes death and increase of cells proliferation with ad novo synthesized contractile material

SNOWFALL ANALYSIS OVER PENINSULAR ITALY IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SYNOPTIC CIRCULATION: FIRST RESULTS

The time series of snow data for a sample of Italian meteorological stations have been analyzed taking into account, for the time series, an acceptable continuity and quality of meteorological data. The data set is that of the Italian Meteorological Service (UGM), and refer to the period 1982–2004. The Slovenian station of Kredarica, located in the Julian Alps, has been added for convenience. The study is composed of two different parts: - Climatologic analysis of the snow parameters during the last 20 years. In particular, the height of the fresh snow and the number of days with permanence of snow at the ground have been analyzed. - Evidence of the synoptic situations in which snowfalls are observed with at least a thickness of 10 cm in at least a third of the total number of analyzed stations in Central, Southern and insular Ital

Physical and chemical mechanisms involved in adhesion of orthodontic bonding composites: in vitro evaluations

BackgroundBond strength of orthodontic composite is strongly influenced by molecular and structural mechanisms. Aim of this in vitro study was to compare bond strength of light-cure orthodontic composites by measuring debonding forces and evaluating locations of bond failure. Investigations on chemical compositions clarified adhesive behaviors and abilities, exploring effects of ageing processes in this junction materials.MethodsTwelve enamel discs, from human premolars, were randomly coupled to one orthodontic adhesive system (Transbond XT (TM) 3 M UNITEK, USA, Light-Cure Orthodontic Paste, LEONE, Italy and Bisco Ortho Bracket Paste LC, BISCO, Illinois) and underwent to Shear Bond Strength test. Metallic brackets were bonded to twenty-seven human premolar, with one of the adhesive systems, to quantify, at FE-SEM magnifications, after debonding, the residual material on enamel and bracket base surfaces. Raman Spectroscopy analysis was performed on eight discs of each composites to investigate on chemical compositions, before and after accelerated aging procedures in human saliva and sugary drink.ResultsOrthodontic adhesive systems showed similar strength of adhesion to enamel. The breakage of adhesive-adherent bond occurs in TXT at enamel-adhesive interface while in Bisco and Leone at adhesive-bracket interface. Accelerated in vitro aging demonstrated good physical-chemical stability for all composites, Bisco only, was weakly contaminated with respect to the other materials.ConclusionA similar, clinically adequate and acceptable bond strength to enamel for debonding maneuvers was recorded in all orthodontic adhesive systems under examination. No significant chemical alterations are recorded, even in highly critical situations, not altering the initial mechanical properties of materials

Bradyrhizobium japonicum senses iron through the status of haem to regulate iron homeostasis and metabolism

The Irr protein from the bacterium Bradyrhizobium japonicum is expressed under iron limitation to mediate iron control of haem biosynthesis. The regulatory input to Irr is the status of haem and its precursors iron and protoporphyrin at the site of haem synthesis. Here, we show that Irr controls the expression of iron transport genes and many other iron-regulated genes not directly involved in haem synthesis. Irr is both a positive and negative effector of gene expression, and in at least some cases the control is direct. Loss of normal iron responsiveness of those genes in an irr mutant, as well as a lower total cellular iron content, suggests that Irr is required for the correct perception of the cellular iron status. Degradation of Irr in iron replete cells requires haem. Accordingly, control of Irr-regulated genes by iron was aberrant in a haem-defective strain, and iron replete mutant cells behave as if they are iron-limited. In addition, the haem mutant had an abnormally high cellular iron content. The findings indicate that B. japonicum senses iron via the status of haem biosynthesis in an Irr-dependent manner to regulate iron homeostasis and metabolism

Prelamin A mediates myocardial inflammation in dilated and HIV-associated cardiomyopathies

Cardiomyopathies are complex heart muscle diseases that can be inherited or acquired. Dilated cardiomyopathy can result from mutations in LMNA, encoding the nuclear intermediate filament proteins lamin A/C. Some LMNA mutations lead to accumulation of the lamin A precursor, prelamin A, which is disease causing in a number of tissues, yet its impact upon the heart is unknown. Here, we discovered myocardial prelamin A accumulation occurred in a case of dilated cardiomyopathy, and we show that a potentially novel mouse model of cardiac-specific prelamin A accumulation exhibited a phenotype consistent with inflammatory cardiomyopathy, which we observed to be similar to HIV-associated cardiomyopathy, an acquired disease state. Numerous HIV protease therapies are known to inhibit ZMPSTE24, the enzyme responsible for prelamin A processing, and we confirmed that accumulation of prelamin A occurred in HIV+ patient cardiac biopsies. These findings (a) confirm a unifying pathological role for prelamin A common to genetic and acquired cardiomyopathies; (b) have implications for the management of HIV patients with cardiac disease, suggesting protease inhibitors should be replaced with alternative therapies (i.e., nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors); and (c) suggest that targeting inflammation may be a useful treatment strategy for certain forms of inherited cardiomyopathy

Prelamin A mediates inflammation in dilated and HIV associated cardiomyopathies

Cardiomyopathies are complex heart muscle diseases that can be inherited or acquired. Dilated cardiomyopathy can result from mutations in LMNA, encoding the nuclear intermediate filament proteins lamin A/C. Some LMNA mutations lead to accumulation of the lamin A precursor, prelamin A, which is disease causing in a number of tissues yet its impact upon the heart is unknown. Here we discovered myocardial prelamin A accumulation occurred in a case of dilated cardiomyopathy and show that a novel mouse model of cardiac specific prelamin A accumulation exhibited a phenotype consistent with ‘inflammatory cardiomyopathy’ which we observed to be similar to HIV associated cardiomyopathy, an acquired disease state. Numerous HIV protease therapies are known to inhibit ZMPSTE24, the enzyme responsible for prelamin A processing, and we confirmed that accumulation of prelamin A occurred in HIV+ patient cardiac biopsies. These findings: (1) confirm a unifying pathological role for prelamin A common to genetic and acquired cardiomyopathies; (2) have implications for the management of HIV patients with cardiac disease suggesting protease inhibitors should be replaced with alternative therapies i.e. non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors; and (3) suggest that targeting inflammation may be a useful treatment strategy for certain forms of inherited cardiomyopathy

Myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccine: incidence, presentation, diagnosis, pathophysiology, therapy, and outcomes put into perspective. A clinical consensus document supported by the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the ESC Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases

Over 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines based on RNA technology, viral vectors, recombinant protein, and inactivated virus have been administered worldwide. Although generally very safe, post-vaccine myocarditis can result from adaptive humoral and cellular, cardiac-specific inflammation within days and weeks of vaccination. Rates of vaccine-associated myocarditis vary by age and sex with the highest rates in males between 12 and 39 years. The clinical course is generally mild with rare cases of left ventricular dysfunction, heart failure and arrhythmias. Mild cases are likely underdiagnosed as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is not commonly performed even in suspected cases and not at all in asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients. Hospitalization of symptomatic patients with electrocardiographic changes and increased plasma troponin levels is considered necessary in the acute phase to monitor for arrhythmias and potential decline in left ventricular function. In addition to evaluation for symptoms, electrocardiographic changes and elevated troponin levels, CMR is the best non-invasive diagnostic tool with endomyocardial biopsy being restricted to severe cases with heart failure and/or arrhythmias. The management beyond. guideline-directed treatment of heart failure and arrhythmias includes non-specific measures to control pain. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and corticosteroids have been used in more severe cases, with only anecdotal evidence for their effectiveness. In all age groups studied, the overall risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection-related hospitalization and death are hugely greater than the risks from post-vaccine myocarditis. This consensus statement serves as a practical resource for physicians in their clinical practice, to understand, diagnose, and manage affected patients. Furthermore, it is intended to stimulate research in this area