Multidisciplinary studies on a sick-leader syndrome-associated mass stranding of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) along the Adriatic coast of Italy

Mass strandings of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) are rare in the Mediterranean Sea. Nevertheless, in 2014 a pod of 7 specimens stranded alive along the Italian coast of the Central Adriatic Sea: 3 individuals died on the beach after a few hours due to internal damages induced by prolonged recumbency; the remaining 4 whales were refloated after great efforts. All the dead animals were genetically related females; one was pregnant. All the animals were infected by dolphin morbillivirus (DMV) and the pregnant whale was also affected by a severe nephropathy due to a large kidney stone. Other analyses ruled out other possible relevant factors related to weather conditions or human activities. The results of multidisciplinary post-mortem analyses revealed that the 7 sperm whales entered the Adriatic Sea encountering adverse weather conditions and then kept heading northward following the pregnant but sick leader of the pod, thereby reaching the stranding site. DMV infection most likely played a crucial role in impairing the health condition and orientation abilities of the whales. They did not steer back towards deeper waters, but eventually stranded along the Central Adriatic Sea coastline, a real trap for sperm whales

Assistenza neonatologica e pediatrica in Lombardia : risultati dell'indagine conoscitiva - anno 2003

In the first few months of 2004, the Italian Society of Pediatrics (ISP)- Lombardy section, in collaboration with the regional section of the Italian Society of Neonatology (ISN) and the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine and Pediatric Urgency (ISEMPU), has elaborated a questionnaire with the aim of obtaining the most complete information on the activity carried out by the different OU of Neonatology, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Pediatrics of the Lombardy Region, during the year 2003. This data collection was considered indispensable in order to begin a profitable confrontation with the General Direction of Health of our Region on the main themes such as: definition of staff organigrams, limitation of the "escape from the hospital to the Territorial Primary Care Pediatrics" of the Pediatricians, eventual added Regional Study Grants, and an integration of the by now insufficient Ministerial Grants, and concrete measures of interaction between Hospital-Territorial Community Based Pediatrics

An optimization model for the sizing of the biomass plants\u2019 supply chain

The exploitation of biomass in power production systems is particularly attractive to reduce CO2emissions. However, the installation of biomass-fed power plants is not always technically and economically competitive with respect to traditional fossil fuels. This paper aims to provide a decision support system that can help the decision maker in assessing the feasibility of the plant, from a technical and economic point of view, and to provide its optimal design. The model is adapted for a plant that can produce pellets, electricity, and heat, through the gasification process. The developed model is applied to a real case study in the Alessandria Province (Italy)

Quantitative investigation by atomic force microscopy of supported phospholipid layers and nanostructures on cholesterol-functionalized glass surfaces

Understanding the interaction mechanisms of phospholipids with surfaces is crucial for the exploitation of lipid bilayers as models of the cell membrane as well as templates for biosensors. Moreover, controlling and manipulating lipid nanoparticles for the investigation of their properties by means of single-particle sensitive surface techniques require the ability to tailor the chemical properties of surfaces to achieve a stable and sparse binding of lipid particles, while keeping them from aggregating, or denaturing. Here we present a quantitative morphological and structural investigation by atomic force microscopy of supported phospholipid layers and nanostructures on cholesterol-functionalized glass surfaces, in comparison with other surfaces with different interfacial properties. We show that the functionalization of glass coverslips with cholesterol groups is a viable route for the production of optically transparent, scanning probe microscopy-compatible clean substrates for the effective immobilization of both extended single lipid bilayers and lipid nanoparticles