Osservazione e modellazione del deflusso sottosuperficiale laterale saturo in un ripido versante naturale

I versanti sono unità morfologiche fondamentali che governano la risposta idrologica dei bacini idrografici durante le precipitazioni più intense. Nonostante la loro riconosciuta importanza idrologica, è ancora necessario condurre approfonditi studi, sia a carattere sperimentale che teoretico, per meglio comprendere i meccanismi di generazione e trasporto del deflusso sottosuperficiale laterale saturo nei versanti. In questo contributo sono presentati i risultati di un monitoraggio di lungo periodo del flusso laterale di falda intercettato per mezzo di una trincea drenante installata su d’un ripido versante naturale nel bacino del Lago di Baratz, Sardegna. I dati raccolti vengono utilizzati per sviluppare una relazione di tipo esponenziale tra la conducibilità idraulica laterale satura (KS) e lo spessore della falda (T), valida alla scala di versante. I flussi osservati e i livelli di falda sono simulati con un modello numerico orizzontale 1D, basato sulla soluzione simultanea della legge del moto e dell’equazione di bilancio idrico, e implementato tramite uno schema risolutivo alle differenza finite. Le principali assunzioni del modello sono che nel suolo il flusso sottosuperficiale saturo sia regolato dalla legge di Darcy, e che si verifichi sempre l’istantaneo raggiungimento di un profilo di equilibrio idrostatico del carico di suzione nella zona vadosa. Il modello richiede la specifica della curva di ritenzione idrica del suolo e della relazione KS(T) ottenute sperimentalmente. I risultati della simulazione indicano che il modello è in grado di riprodurre in modo adeguato i dati osservati. Il flusso di falda è ben riprodotto, sia in termini di tempi di risposta che di portate drenate. Pertanto, il modello sviluppato può essere un utile strumento di previsione della risposta idrologica in versanti naturali a forte pendenza

SCHEMA SPERIMENTALE PER LA STIMA DELLA CONDUCIBILITÀ IDRAULICA LATERALE ALLA SCALA DI VERSANTE

La conducibilità idraulica alla saturazione, KS, è un parametro fondamentale per la simulazione del flusso idrico nel suolo. La memoria illustra un approccio sperimentale per la stima della KS laterale alla scala di versante. La metodologia proposta è stata applicata in due aree contigue ricoperte, rispettivamente, da macchia mediterranea e prato. Sono stati registrati i livelli di falda e i deflussi idrici sottosuperficiali, e queste misure sono state usate per il calcolo della KS del suolo tramite l’equazione di Darcy. Il monitoraggio è stato effettuato durante il periodo piovoso compreso tra gennaio e giugno 2014. In aprile, inoltre, sono state eseguite prove di pioggia artificiale con intensità di 30 e 70 mm h-1. Durante le precipitazioni naturali, il valore massimo di KS stimato nel prato è stato di 2870 mm h-1, mentre è stato pari a 2400 mm h-1 nel corso delle prove di saturazione artificiale. Il valore massimo di KS pari 4000 mm h-1 è stato ottenuto, nella macchia, durante le prove di pioggia artificiale. Per contro, valori minori di KS sono stati ottenuti durante le piogge naturali a causa delle basse portate sottosuperficiali registrate. La metodologia proposta è risultata idonea per la stima di valori della conducibilità idraulica rappresentativi per le aree di interesse. Tali informazioni potranno garantire una maggiore attendibilità della modellizzazione dei processi idrologici a scala di versante e di bacino

The secretory senescence in otorhinolaryngology: Principles of treatment

Atrophy or hypofunction of the salivary gland because of aging, radiotherapy or disease causes hyposalivation and impairs the quality of life of patients by compromising mastication, swallowing and speech and by leading to a loss of taste. Moreover, hyposalivation exacerbates dental caries and induces periodontal disease, and oral candidiasis. Currently, no satisfactory therapies have been established to solve salivary hypofunction. Current treatment options for atrophy or hypofunction of the salivary glands in clinical practice are only symptomatic and include saliva substitutes and parasympathetic agonists, such as pilocarpine, to stimulate salivary flow. However, parasympathomimetics have systemic side effects, so different treatment options are necessary, and research has recently focused on this. The main strategies that have been proposed to restore salivary gland atrophy and hypofunction are gene therapy by gene activation/silencing during stem cell differentiation and by the use of viral vectors, such as adenoviruses; cell-based therapy with salivary gland cells, stem cells and non-salivary gland and/ or non-epithelial cells to regenerate damaged salivary gland cells; replacement with tissue bioengineering in which organoids from pluripotent stem cells are used in the development of organ replacement regenerative therapy. Remarkable progression in this research field has been made in the last decade, but a definitive therapy for salivary gland hypofunction has not been developed due to intrinsic challenges that come with each approach. However, with research efforts in the future, a range of precision medicine therapies may become available individualized to each patient

Population Based Study of 12 Autoimmune Diseases in Sardinia, Italy: Prevalence and Comorbidity

BACKGROUND: The limited availability of prevalence data based on a representative sample of the general population, and the limited number of diseases considered in studies about co-morbidity are the critical factors in study of autoimmune diseases. This paper describes the prevalence of 12 autoimmune diseases in a representative sample of the general population in the South of Sardinia, Italy, and tests the hypothesis of an overall association among these diseases. METHODS: Data were obtained from 21 GPs. The sample included 25,885 people. Prevalence data were expressed with 95% Poisson C.I. The hypothesis of an overall association between autoimmune diseases was tested by evaluating the co-occurrence within individuals. RESULTS: Prevalence per 100,000 are: 552 rheumatoid arthritis, 124 ulcerative colitis, 15 Crohn's disease, 464 type 1 diabetes, 81 systemic lupus erythematosus, 124 celiac disease, 35 myasthenia gravis, 939 psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis, 35 systemic sclerosis, 224 multiple sclerosis, 31 Sjogren's syndrome, and 2,619 autoimmune thyroiditis. An overall association between autoimmune disorders was highlighted. CONCLUSIONS: The comparisons with prevalence reported in current literature do not show outlier values, except possibly for a few diseases like celiac disease and myasthenia gravis. People already affected by a first autoimmune disease have a higher probability of being affected by a second autoimmune disorder. In the present study, the sample size, together with the low overall prevalence of autoimmune diseases in the population, did not allow us to examine which diseases are most frequently associated with other autoimmune diseases. However, this paper makes available an adequate control population for future clinical studies aimed at exploring the co-morbidity of specific pairs of autoimmune disease

The Wikiplantbase project: the role of amateur botanists in building up large online floristic databases

The Wikiplantbase project, started in 2013, provides a framework where the full set of georeferenced floristic records of Tuscany and Sardinia can be entered, stored, updated and freely accessed through the Internet. Mainly thanks to the collaboration of amateur botanists, data have accumulated quickly. All records entered by collaborators are submitted to the project coordinators, who are enabled to accept, modify, or reject them. As of 22 November 2016, Wikiplantbase #Toscana holds 116,402 verified floristic records (90% based on published literature, 5% on unpublished herbarium specimens, 5% on field observations), and Wikiplantbase #Sardegna 40,043 (77% published literature, 18% unpublished herbarium specimens, 5% on field observations ). The records include over 90% of the specific and subspecific taxa known for Tuscany and about 70% – but rapidly growing – of those known for Sardinia. The most recorded species are Quercus ilex L. (Fagaceae) for Tuscany and Pistacia lentiscus L. (Anacardiaceae) for Sardinia. With minor software tweaking, the online platform Wikiplantbase might be adopted in other contexts, resulting in a well connected network of regional floristic databases suited to exploit the involvement – still largely untapped – of nonacademic collaborators, as advocated by citizen science

The Wikiplantbase project: the role of amateur botanists in building up large online floristic databases

The Wikiplantbase project, started in 2013, provides a framework where the full set of georeferenced floristic records of Tuscany and Sardinia can be entered, stored, updated and freely accessed through the Internet. Mainly thanks to the collaboration of amateur botanists, data have accumulated quickly. All records entered by collaborators are submitted to the project coordinators, who are enabled to accept, modify, or reject them. As of 22 November 2016, Wikiplantbase #Toscana holds 116,402 verified floristic records (90% based on published literature, 5% on unpublished herbarium specimens, 5% on field observations), and Wikiplantbase #Sardegna 40,043 (77% published literature, 18% unpublished herbarium specimens, 5% on field observations ). The records include over 90% of the specific and subspecific taxa known for Tuscany and about 70% – but rapidly growing – of those known for Sardinia. The most recorded species are Quercus ilex L. (Fagaceae) for Tuscany and Pistacia lentiscus L. (Anacardiaceae) for Sardinia. With minor software tweaking, the online platform Wikiplantbase might be adopted in other contexts, resulting in a well connected network of regional floristic databases suited to exploit the involvement – still largely untapped – of nonacademic collaborators, as advocated by citizen science

Association of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis with Multiple Sclerosis in Sardinian Patients

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection is highly spread in the ruminant herds of Sardinia, in the Western Mediterranean. The objective of this study was to investigate prevalence of MAP infection in association with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) using clinical specimen from patients and controls. We analyzed samples for the presence of MAP specific DNA and to demonstrate humoral response to a MAP protein (MAP2694), a predicted homologue of the T-cell receptor gamma-chain/complement component 1 of the host. We found presence of MAP DNA in 42% of the MS patients and an extremely significant humoral immune response revealed by the MS patients against the MAP protein. In our opinion, this is the first report that significantly associates MAP infection with MS. Further studies will be required to confirm if MAP could be one of the triggers of MS, according to the molecular mimicry theory, in susceptible (and genetically at risk) individuals

The brief international cognitive assessment for multiple sclerosis (BICAMS): Normative values with gender, age and education corrections in the Italian population

Background: BICAMS (Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis) has been recently developed as brief, practical and universal assessment tool for cognitive impairment in MS subjects. It includes the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), the California Verbal Learning Test-2 (CVLT2) and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R) . In this study we aimed at gathering regression based normative data for the BICAMS battery in the Italian population.Methods: Healthy subjects were consecutively recruited among patient friends and relatives. Corrections for demographics were calculated using multivariable linear regression models. Test-retest reliability was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient.Results: The BICAMS battery was administered to 273 healthy subjects (180 women, mean age 38.9 ± 13.0 years, mean education 14.9 ± 3.0 years). Test-retest reliability was good for all the tests.Conclusions: The study provided normative data of the BICAMS for the Italian population confirming good test-retest reliability which can facilitate the use of the battery in clinical practice, also for longitudinal patient assessments

The Italian Multiple Sclerosis Register

The past decade has seen extraordinary increase in worldwide availability of and access to several large multiple sclerosis (MS) databases and registries. MS registries represent powerful tools to provide meaningful information on the burden, natural history, and long-term safety and effectiveness of treatments. Moreover, patients, physicians, industry, and policy makers have an active interest in real-world observational studies based on register data, as they have the potential to answer the questions that are most relevant to daily treatment decision-making. In 2014, the Italian MS Foundation, in collaboration with the Italian MS clinical centers, promoted and funded the creation of the Italian MS Register, a project in continuity with the existing Italian MS Database Network set up from 2001. Main objective of the Italian MS Register is to create an organized multicenter structure to collect data of all MS patients for better defining the disease epidemiology, improving quality of care, and promoting research projects in high-priority areas. The aim of this article is to present the current framework and network of the Italian MS register, including the methodology used to improve the quality of data collection and to facilitate the exchange of data and the collaboration among national and international groups