Assessment of spatio-temporal variability of faecal pollution along coastal waters during and after rainfall events

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Manini, E., Baldrighi, E., Ricci, F., Grilli, F., Giovannelli, D., Intoccia, M., Casabianca, S., Capellacci, S., Marinchel, N., Penna, P., Moro, F., Campanelli, A., Cordone, A., Correggia, M., Bastoni, D., Bolognini, L., Marini, M., & Penna, A. Assessment of spatio-temporal variability of faecal pollution along coastal waters during and after rainfall events. Water, 14(3), (2022): 502, https://doi.org/10.3390/w14030502.More than 80% of wastewaters are discharged into rivers or seas, with a negative impact on water quality along the coast due to the presence of potential pathogens of faecal origin. Escherichia coli and enterococci are important indicators to assess, monitor, and predict microbial water quality in natural ecosystems. During rainfall events, the amount of wastewater delivered to rivers and coastal systems is increased dramatically. This study implements measures capable of monitoring the pathways of wastewater discharge to rivers and the transport of faecal bacteria to the coastal area during and following extreme rainfall events. Spatio-temporal variability of faecal microorganisms and their relationship with environmental variables and sewage outflow in an area located in the western Adriatic coast (Fano, Italy) was monitored. The daily monitoring during the rainy events was carried out for two summer seasons, for a total of five sampling periods. These results highlight that faecal microbial contaminations were related to rainy events with a high flow of wastewater, with recovery times for the microbiological indicators varying between 24 and 72 h and influenced by a dynamic dispersion. The positive correlation between ammonium and faecal bacteria at the Arzilla River and the consequences in seawater can provide a theoretical basis for controlling ammonium levels in rivers as a proxy to monitor the potential risk of bathing waters pathogen pollution.This research was funded by WATERCARE project (Water management solutions for reducing microbial environment impact in coastal areas, project ID 10044130, https://www.italy-croatia.eu/web/watercare, accessed on 17 October 2021) funded by the European Union under the Interreg Italy–Croatia CBC Programme

Composite Electrodes of Activated Carbon and Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes Decorated with Silver Nanoparticles for High Power Energy Storage

Composite materials in electrodes for energy storage devices can combine different materials of high energy density, in terms of high specific surface area and pseudocapacitance, with materials of high power density, in terms of high electrical conductivity and features lowering the contact resistance between electrode and current collector. The present study investigates composite coatings as electrodes for supercapacitors with organic electrolyte 1.5 M TEABF4 in acetonitrile. The composite coatings contain high surface area activated carbon (AC) with only 0.15 wt% multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) which, dispersed to their percolation limit, offer high conductivity. The focus of the investigations is on the decoration of MWCNTs with silver nanoparticles, where smaller Ag crystallites of 16.7 nm grew on carboxylic group-functionalized MWCNTs, MWCNT–COOH, against 27–32 nm Ag crystallites grown on unfunctionalized MWCNTs. All Ag-decorated MWCNTs eliminate the contact resistance between the composite electrode and the current collector that exists when undecorated MWCNTs are used in the composite electrodes. Ag-decorated MWCNT–COOH tripled the power density and Ag-decorated MWCNT additive doubled the power density and increased the maximum energy density by 6%, due to pseudocapacitance of Ag, compared to composite electrodes with undecorated MWCNTs

MALIGNANT THYROID NODULES: COMPARISON BETWEEN COLOR-DOPPLER DIAGNOSIS AND HISTOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF SURGICAL SAMPLES

Malignant thyroid nodules: comparison between color Doppler diagnosis and histological examination of surgical samples. Berni A, Tromba L, Falvo L, Marchesi M, Grilli P, Peparini N. SourceSurgical Sciences Department, La Sapienza University, Rome. Abstract The aim of this study was to verify the reliability of the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant thyroid nodules on the basis of vascularization. The study was conducted on 108 patients with a scintigraphically "cold" thyroid nodule, including 54 carcinomas and 54 benign nodules. All patients underwent total thyroidectomy. Diagnosis based on histological examination of the surgical specimen was compared with ultrasonographic diagnosis obtained according to a personal classification proposed by the authors. Vascular ultrasonographic investigation produced 10 false positives, 6 false negatives and 92 correct diagnoses, with 88.8% sensitivity, 81.5% specificity, an 82.7% positive predictive value and an 88% negative predictive value. It can thus be used effectively to identify the larger nodules, while it is unable to provide any indication as to their histological type. Ultrasound vascular thyroid study is a non-invasive and low-cost method and is very reliable in the differential diagnosis of cold thyroid nodules. The best ultrasonographic modality is power Doppler. Ultrasound contrast media increase vascular definition but, due to their higher cost and the longhier duration of the examination, they should only be used in the case of small nodules. PMID: 12469461 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Capability of Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy to Predict Soil Water Retention and Related Soil Properties in an Irrigated Lowland District of Southern Italy

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Capability of Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy to Predict Soil Water Retention and Related Soil Properties in an Irrigated Lowland District of Southern Italy by Antonio Pasquale Leone 1,*ORCID,Guido Leone 2,Natalia Leone 3ORCID,Ciro Galeone 3ORCID,Eleonora Grilli 4,Nadia Orefice 1 andValeria Ancona 3 1 Institute for Mediterranean Agriculture and Forest System, National Research Council (ISAFoM-CNR), via Patacca, 85, 80056 Ercolano (NA), Italy 2 Department of Science and Technology (DST), University of Sannio, via dei Mulini, 82100 Benevento, Italy 3 Water Research Institute, National Research Council (IRSA-CNR), V.le F. De Blasio, 5, 70132 Bari, Italy 4 Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, Campania University Luigi Vanvitelli, via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Water 2019, 11(8), 1712; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11081712 Received: 26 June 2019 / Revised: 9 August 2019 / Accepted: 11 August 2019 / Published: 17 August 2019 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Evapotranspiration and Plant Irrigation Strategies) Download Browse Figures Versions Notes Abstract In this study, we examined the potential of vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopy, coupled with partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis, for the evaluation and prediction of soil water retention at field capacity (FC) and permanent wilting point (PWP) and related basic soil properties [organic carbon (OC), sand, silt, and clay contents] in an agricultural irrigated land of southern Italy. Soil properties were determined in the laboratory with reference to the Italian Official Methods for Soil Analysis. Vis-NIR reflectance spectra were measured in the laboratory, using a high-resolution spectroradiometer. All soil variables, with the exception of silt, evidently affected some specific spectral features. Multivariate calibrations were performed to predict the soil properties from reflectance spectra. PLSR was used to calibrate the spectral data using two-thirds of samples for calibration and one-third for validation. Spectroscopic data were pre-processed [multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), standard normal variance (SNV), wavelet detrending (WD), first and second derivative transformation, and filtering] prior to multivariate calibration. The results revealed very good models (2.0 < RPD < 2.5) for the prediction of FC, PWP and sand, and excellent (RPD > 2.5) models for the prediction of clay and OC, whereas a poor (RPD < 1.4) prediction model was obtained for silt

Capability of Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy to Predict Soil Water Retention and Related Soil Properties in an Irrigated Lowland District of Southern Italy

In this study, we examined the potential of vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopy, coupled with partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis, for the evaluation and prediction of soil water retention at field capacity (FC) and permanent wilting point (PWP) and related basic soil properties [organic carbon (OC), sand, silt, and clay contents] in an agricultural irrigated land of southern Italy. Soil properties were determined in the laboratory with reference to the Italian Official Methods for Soil Analysis. Vis-NIR reflectance spectra were measured in the laboratory, using a high-resolution spectroradiometer. All soil variables, with the exception of silt, evidently affected some specific spectral features. Multivariate calibrations were performed to predict the soil properties from reflectance spectra. PLSR was used to calibrate the spectral data using two-thirds of samples for calibration and one-third for validation. Spectroscopic data were pre-processed [multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), standard normal variance (SNV), wavelet detrending (WD), first and second derivative transformation, and filtering] prior to multivariate calibration. The results revealed very good models (2.0 < RPD < 2.5) for the prediction of FC, PWP and sand, and excellent (RPD > 2.5) models for the prediction of clay and OC, whereas a poor (RPD < 1.4) prediction model was obtained for silt

Cervico-mediastinal goiters: report of 332 cases operated.

[No abstract available

Impaired Mitochondrial Function and Marrow Failure in Patients Carrying a Variant of the <i>SRSF4</i> Gene

Serine/arginine-rich splicing factors (SRSFs) are a family of proteins involved in RNA metabolism, including pre-mRNA constitutive and alternative splicing. The role of SRSF proteins in regulating mitochondrial activity has already been shown for SRSF6, but SRSF4 altered expression has never been reported as a cause of bone marrow failure. An 8-year-old patient admitted to the hematology unit because of leukopenia, lymphopenia, and neutropenia showed a missense variant of unknown significance of the SRSF4 gene (p.R235W) found via whole genome sequencing analysis and inherited from the mother who suffered from mild leuko-neutropenia. Both patients showed lower SRSF4 protein expression and altered mitochondrial function and energetic metabolism in primary lymphocytes and Epstein–Barr-virus (EBV)-immortalized lymphoblasts compared to healthy donor (HD) cells, which appeared associated with low mTOR phosphorylation and an imbalance in the proteins regulating mitochondrial biogenesis (i.e., CLUH) and dynamics (i.e., DRP1 and OPA1). Transfection with the wtSRSF4 gene restored mitochondrial function. In conclusion, this study shows that the described variant of the SRSF4 gene is pathogenetic and causes reduced SRSF4 protein expression, which leads to mitochondrial dysfunction. Since mitochondrial function is crucial for hematopoietic stem cell maintenance and some genetic bone marrow failure syndromes display mitochondrial defects, the SRSF4 mutation could have substantially contributed to the clinical phenotype of our patient