salluting a new biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma

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Implementation and validation of a coastal forecasting system for wind waves in the Mediterranean Sea

A coastal forecasting system was implemented to provide wind wave forecasts over the whole Mediterranean Sea area, and with the added capability to focus on selected coastal areas. The goal of the system was to achieve a representation of the small-scale coastal processes influencing the propagation of waves towards the coasts. The system was based on a chain of nested wave models and adopted the WAve Model (WAM) to analyse the large-scale, deep-sea propagation of waves; and the Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) to simulate waves in key coastal areas. Regional intermediate-scale WAM grids were introduced to bridge the gap between the large-scale and each coastal area. Even applying two consecutive nestings (Mediterranean grid → regional grid → coastal grid), a very high resolution was still required for the large scale WAM implementation in order to get a final resolution of about 400 m on the shores. In this study three regional areas in the Tyrrhenian Sea were selected, with a single coastal area embedded in each of them. The number of regional and coastal grids in the system could easily be modified without significantly affecting the efficiency of the system. The coastal system was tested in three Italian coastal regions in order to optimize the numerical parameters and to check the results in orographically complex zones for which wave records were available. Fifteen storm events in the period 2004–2009 were considered

Fate of river Tiber discharge investigated through numerical simulation and satellite monitoring

The aim of this study was to determine the dispersion of passive pollutants associated with the Tiber discharge into the Tyrrhenian Sea using numerical marine dispersion models and satellite data. Numerical results obtained in the simulation of realistic discharge episodes were compared with the corresponding evolution of the spatial distributions of MODIS diffuse light attenuation coefficient at 490 nm (K490), and the results were discussed with reference to the local climate and the seasonal sub-regional circulation regime. The numerical model used for the simulation of the sub-tidal circulation was a Mediterranean sub-regional scale implementation of the Princeton Ocean Model (POM), nested in the large-scale Mediterranean Forecasting System. The nesting method enabled the model to be applied to almost every area in the Mediterranean Sea and also to be used in seasons for which imposing climatological boundary conditions would have been questionable. Dynamical effects on coastal circulation and on water density due to the Tiber discharge were additionally accounted for in the oceanographic model by implementing the river estuary as a point source of a buoyant jet. A Lagrangian particle dispersion model fed with the POM current fields was then run in order to reproduce the effect of the turbulent transport of passive tracers mixed in the plume with the coastal flow. Two significant episodes of river discharge in both winter and summer conditions were discussed in this paper. It was found that the winter regime was characterized by the presence of a strong coastal jet flowing with the ambient current. In summer the prevailing wind regime induced coastal downwelling conditions, which tended to confine the riverine waters close to the shore. In such conditions sudden wind reversals due to local weather perturbations, causing moderate local upwelling, proved to be the only effective way to disperse the tracers offshore, moving the plume from the coast and detaching large pools of freshwater

Exploring Sick Leave in Integrative Care - Retrospective Observations and Future Study Recommendations

© 2019, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2019. To describe and contrast the prevalence and trends of sick leave in patients with pain or stress disorders referred to inpatient care that integrates conventional and complementary therapies, that is, integrative care (IC). Methods: County council and social insurance data were used to retrospectively observe cross-sectional sick leave prevalence at four time points: 1 year before the first registered inpatient visit with the target diagnosis, after referral at index, and at 1 and 2 years after index. To contrast the IC findings, observations of patients with similar background characteristics referred to conventional care (CC) were used. Results: The sick leave prevalence of IC pain patients and IC stress patients increased from the preceding year to peak at index, where after it decreased back toward preindex levels over 2 years. Overall sick leave prevalence was higher in IC than in CC, where analogous but lower prevalence trends of sick leave changes were observed. Conclusions: Observed sick leave prevalences, which were higher in IC than in CC, gradually decreased over time following IC or CC referral. While natural recovery or other reasons for change of sick leave cannot be excluded, future prospective and randomized clinical trials are recommended

Female volatiles as sex attractants in the invasive population of Vespa velutina nigrithorax

Due to its huge invasion potential and specialization in honeybee predation, the invasive hornet Vespa velutina nigrithorax represents a high-concern species under both an ecological and economical perspective. In light of the development of specific odorant attractants to be used in sustainable control strategies, we carried out both behavioural assays and chemical analyses to investigate the possibility that, in the invasive population of V. velutina nigrithorax, reproductive females emit volatile pheromones to attract males, as demonstrated in a Chinese non-invasive population. We focused on the secretions produced by sternal and venom glands; because of the volatility and complexity of their composition, both of them could potentially allow an attraction and a species-specific response, decreasing therefore non-target species by-catches. Results of chemical analyses and behavioural assays showed that venom volatiles, although population-specific, are unlikely candidates as male attractants since they do not differ in composition or in quantity between reproductive females and workers and do not attract males. Conversely, sternal gland secretion differs between female castes for the presence of some ketoacids exclusive of gynes already reported as sex pheromones for the non-invasive subspecies V. velutina auraria. Despite such a difference, males are attracted by the sternal gland secretion of both workers and gynes. These results provide a first step to understand the reproductive biology of V. velutina nigrithorax in its invasive range and to develop effective and sustainable management strategies for the species