Survey of the Ridracoli Dam: UAV – Based Photogrammetry and Traditional Topographic Techniques in the Inspection of Vertical Structures*

The inspection of strategic works such as dams is of vital importance both for their maintenance and for the safety of downstream populations. The reduced accessibility, both for uptake needs and for their strategic nature, and the large time needed for an inspection by traditional method do not facilitate the investigation of this type of structures. The new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, equipped with high-performance cameras, allows for rapid photographic coverage of the whole dam system. Apart from the placement on the structure of a high number of markers, the correct geo-referencing and validation of the model also requires an important terrestrial topographic campaign by total station, Global Positioning System and laser scanner. Punctual, linear and surface analysis shows the high accuracy of the drone acquiring technique. The product is suitable for a detailed survey of the conservation status of the materials and the complete metric reconstruction of the dam system and the adjacent land. The present work explains firstly a UAV acquisition and then the first dense point cloud validation procedure of a concrete arch gravity dam. The Ridracoli dam is the object of the survey, located in the village of Santa Sofia in central Italy

Terpene arms race in the Seiridium cardinale - Cupressus sempervirens pathosystem

The canker-causing fungus Seiridium cardinale is the major threat to Cupressus sempervirens worldwide. We investigated the production of terpenes by canker-resistant and susceptible cypresses inoculated with S. cardinale, the effect of these terpenes on fungal growth, and the defensive biotransformation of the terpenes conducted by the fungus. All infected trees produced de novo terpenes and strongly induced terpenic responses, but the responses were stronger in the cankerresistant than the susceptible trees. In vitro tests for the inhibition of fungal growth indicated that the terpene concentrations of resistant trees were more inhibitory than those of susceptible trees. The highly induced and de novo terpenes exhibited substantial inhibition (more than a fungicide reference) and had a high concentration-dependent inhibition, whereas the most abundant terpenes had a low concentration-dependent inhibition. S. cardinale biotransformed three terpenes and was capable of detoxifying them even outside the fungal mycelium, in its immediate surrounding environment. Our results thus indicated that terpenes were key defences efficiently used by C. sempervirens, but also that S. cardinale is ready for the battle

Heterogeneity of Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) as Characterized by Brain Perfusion Techniques. Towards New Ways of Syndrome Characterization

Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) syndrome is an autoimmune condition that affects the way that blood cells in humans bind together. Though the cause of APS is unclear, researchers believe that many factors have an impact on developing this pathological condition. Phospholipids (PLs) play numerous central roles in biological systems, and processes of biological systems regulation act through the liberation of a vast amount of different signalling molecules, which are also involved in the modulation of cell proliferation, inflammation, oxidative stress, neurotransmission and many other processes.A global landmark, holistic, is required to evaluate different phenotypes in APS. All thecriteria validated for the APS diagnosislead to an extremely heterogeneous landmark of the pathology and related to several manifestations in different systems. Heterogeneity also characterizes the SPECT acquisition of the patients and it is connected to several neurological and underestimates symptoms of the pathology. We present some examples to highlight the connection between heterogeneity in SPECT and APS markers of pathology indicating the needs to approach to the Syndrome in a holistic way. At the end of the paper we suggested the multidisciplinary approach that we are tuning for our analysis, approach based on Imaging, Metabolomic and Clinical evaluation, including mental health test for a neuropsychiatric characterization of the pathology

Occurrence of Fatal and Nonfatal Adverse Outcomes after Heart Transplantation in Patients with Pretransplant Noncytotoxic HLA Antibodies

HLA antibodies (HLA ab) in transplant candidates have been associated with poor outcome. However, clinical relevance of noncytotoxic antibodies after heart transplant (HT) is controversial. By using a Luminex-based HLA screening, we retested pretransplant sera from HT recipients testing negative for cytotoxic HLA ab and for prospective crossmatch. Out of the 173 consecutive patients assayed (52±13y; 16% females; 47% ischemic etiology), 32 (18%) showed pretransplant HLA ab, and 12 (7%) tested positive against both class I and class II HLA. Recipients with any HLA ab had poorer survival than those without (65±9 versus 82±3%; P=0.02), accounting for a doubled independent mortality risk (P=0.04). In addition, HLA-ab detection was associated with increased prevalence of early graft failure (35 versus 15%; P=0.05) and late cellular rejection (29 versus 11%; P=0.03). Of the subgroup of 37 patients suspected for antibody mediated rejection (AMR), the 9 with pretransplant HLA ab were more likely to display pathological AMR grade 2 (P=0.04). By an inexpensive, luminex-based, HLA-screening assay, we were able to detect non-cytotoxic HLA ab predicting fatal and nonfatal adverse outcomes after heart transplant. Allocation strategies and desensitization protocols need to be developed and prospectively tested in these patients

Clot characterization by multidisciplinary approach: biochemical and imaging parameters in a hypocoagulative setting. A pilot study.

Background: Clot characterization is, to the present days, a multimodal approach: scanning the clot by electron microscopy (SEM) is helpful for the visualization of fibrin structure along with laboratory parameters such as the clot waveform analysis (CWA) and thrombin generation in different settings of clot abnormalities. This study aimed to assess whether the coagulative parameters were consistent with the clot images texture acquired by SEM, and therefore to propose a more generalist and integrative approach to clots classification.Design and Methods: In this pilot study, the examined population consists of eight healthy subjects, seven patients affected by Acquired Hemophilia A (AHA) and seven patients treated with Vitamin K Antagonists (VKAs), similar for age and gender. We studied the velocity and acceleration (1st and 2nd derivative of the aPTT) of clot formation (CWA), the thrombin generation, and the clots' scanning by SEM. Images acquired with SEM were then analyzed with the MATLAB software with the "Texture Analysis" methods to perform classification. Among the various texture parameters, we reported Contrast and Energy.Results: Significant differences among healthy subjects, patients with AHA and those treated with VKAs were detected for the coagulative parameters. We found no differences between VKAs and AHA patients. Contrast and energy highlighted a significant difference among the three groups in agreement with the laboratory's parameters. We found no significant differences between VKAs and AHA patients.Conclusions: The use of SEM, CWA and thrombin generation parameters may be a starting point for studies aimed to demonstrate the general characteristics of clot formation in different clinical conditions with a multiparametric approach

Neutralizing antibodies to Omicron after the fourth SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine dose in immunocompromised patients highlight the need of additional boosters

IntroductionImmunocompromised patients have been shown to have an impaired immune response to COVID-19 vaccines.MethodsHere we compared the B-cell, T-cell and neutralizing antibody response to WT and Omicron BA.2 SARS-CoV-2 virus after the fourth dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in patients with hematological malignancies (HM, n=71), solid tumors (ST, n=39) and immune-rheumatological (IR, n=25) diseases. The humoral and T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination were analyzed by quantifying the anti-RBD antibodies, their neutralization activity and the IFN-γ released after spike specific stimulation.ResultsWe show that the T-cell response is similarly boosted by the fourth dose across the different subgroups, while the antibody response is improved only in patients not receiving B-cell targeted therapies, independent on the pathology. However, 9% of patients with anti-RBD antibodies did not have neutralizing antibodies to either virus variants, while an additional 5.7% did not have neutralizing antibodies to Omicron BA.2, making these patients particularly vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection. The increment of neutralizing antibodies was very similar towards Omicron BA.2 and WT virus after the third or fourth dose of vaccine, suggesting that there is no preferential skewing towards either virus variant with the booster dose. The only limited step is the amount of antibodies that are elicited after vaccination, thus increasing the probability of developing neutralizing antibodies to both variants of virus.DiscussionThese data support the recommendation of additional booster doses in frail patients to enhance the development of a B-cell response directed against Omicron and/or to enhance the T-cell response in patients treated with anti-CD20

Il Rilievo fotogrammetrico con il Drone alla Diga di Ridracoli

SAPR technology integrates well with other technologies for survey activities in morphologically complex areas. In this article is presented a case study carried out for the photogrammetric documentation of Ridracoli Dam (Forli Cesena) In Italy

Strategies for optimization of the production of rosmarinic acid in Salvia officinalis L. and Salvia dolomitica Codd biomass with several biotechnological approaches

Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a caffeic acid ester widely used by pharmaceutical and food industry. Its presence in several medicinal plant species and herb has been correlated with their biological activities and health beneficial effects. RA is widely used as additive to preserve foods, and because the chemical synthesis, even possible, remains time consuming and cost inefficient, there is a growing interest in development of biotechnological strategies to produce this compound. RA is abundant within the Lamiaceae family, particularly in plants belonging to genus Salvia. The use of plant tissues and cell cultures may represent an alternative strategy for the production of highly valuable plant metabolites and could be even adopted by pharmaceutical industries to develop new drugs and formulations. Protocols for shoots and calli regeneration, as well as cell cultures have been already established for Salvia officinalis and Salvia dolomitica with the aim to evaluate the content of RA in various tissues at different growth conditions. In particular, S. dolomitica Codd has been shown to be a good model for tissue culture studies due to its flexible propagation under in vitro conditions. The hydroxyphenylpyruvate reductase, SoHPPR, gene encoding a hydroxyphenylpyruvate reductase, a key biosynthetic enzyme of RA pathway, has been characterized in cell cultures of S. officinalis, representing a good target for metabolic engineering strategies

Dynamic behavior of a spring-powered micronozzle needle-free injector

Conventional injection is still the leading method to deliver macromolecular therapeutics. Needle injection is considered a low compliance administration strategy, principally due to pain and needle phobia. This has fostered the research on the development of alternative strategies to circumvent the skin barrier. Among needle-free drug delivery methods, jet injection is an old strategy with great potential not yet completely disclosed. Here, the design, engineering and dynamic behavior of a novel spring-powered micronozzle needle-free injector is presented. Fluid mechanics was first studied in air to calculate jet force and speed as well as injection duration in different conditions. Polyacrylamide gel was used to simulate a soft tissue and to investigate the jet evolution over time of different injected doses. Finally, ex vivo characterization was carried out on pig skin. Results evidenced a direct dependence of the force, velocity, and duration with the injection volume. The model material allowed individuating the different steps of jet penetration and to attempt a mechanistic explanation. A different behavior has been recorded in the skin with interesting findings for subcutaneous and/or dermal delivery. Peculiar features with respect to existing jet injectors confers to this device good potentiality for a future clinical application