Climate scenarios for coastal flood vulnerability assessments: a case study for the Ligurian coastal region

Extreme sea levels and coastal flooding are projected to be among the most uncertain and severe consequences of climate change. In response, a wide development of coastal vulnerability assessment methodologies has been observed in research to support societal resilience to future coastal flood risks. This work aims to explore the scope of application of index-based methodologies for coastal vulnerability assessment, in terms of their suitability to convey information on variations in climate variables potentially leading to sea-level changes and inundation. For this purpose, the InVEST Coastal Vulnerability model was coupled for the first time with the ERA5 reanalysis and used to develop a case study assessment of the biophysical exposure component of vulnerability to coastal flooding for Liguria, an Italian coastal region facing the Mediterranean Sea. Different scenarios of wind speed and wave power were created in order to test the sensitivity of this approach to climate data inputs. The results support the applicability of this approach to provide a preliminary grasp of local vulnerability to coastal inundation. Yet, this work also highlights how the method’s data aggregation and indicator computation processes result in its insensitivity to wind and wave variations, and therefore in its unsuitability to reproduce climate scenarios. The implications of these findings for research methodology and regarding the operationalisation of vulnerability assessment results are discussed

Social innovation and its impacts in disadvantaged rural areas: a new evaluation framework

An agreed and well-consolidated evaluation framework for the assessment of social innovation (SI) and its impacts has not been developed yet, despite tentative made by scholars (e.g., Nicholls et al. 2015). The EU funded H2020 project SIMRA \u2013 Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas (www.simra-h2020.eu) \u2013 aims to conceptualize an evaluation framework for SI initiatives in disadvantaged rural areas of Europe and non-EU Mediterranean countries. Within SIMRA, SI is defined as \u201cthe reconfiguring of social practices, in response to societal challenges, which seeks to enhance outcomes on societal well-being and necessarily includes the engagement of civil society actors\u201d (Polman et al., 2017). The evaluation framework has been co-constructed with project partners and a panel of international stakeholders in the fields of agriculture, forestry and rural development (Nijnik et al. 2019). It is structured into dimensions and sub-dimensions. It follows the phases of a SI initiative, from the trigger that generates the idea, to the reconfiguring process, and to its impacts. Eight tools for data collection have been developed, tested in pilot cases, and applied in 11 case studies. Empirical results allowed to set 166 indicators: 73 indicators describe the SI dimensions; 63 indicators analyse the process, the project and the whole SI initiative by following relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability evaluation criteria (OECD, 1991 and 2010); 30 indicators focus on the key aspects of the SI SIMRA definition. Social Network Analysis helps in visualizing the increasing collaborative network of actors involved in the SI process, from core group composed by innovators and followers, to the reconfigured network with new project partners. The approach integrates qualitative-pure methods (e.g., focus group) with quantitative ones. The proposed evaluation framework would like to contribute to current debates, both within the scientific and practitioners\u2019 communities, on evidence-based policy and self-evaluation by rural development agencies

New insights on Noonan syndrome's clinical phenotype: a single center retrospective study

Background: Noonan syndrome (NS) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder. Since its clinical phenotype is often mild and difficult to differentiate from other syndromes, its diagnosis can be challenging and its prevalence in the pediatric population is most certainly underestimated. The difficulty in identifying Noonan syndrome is also increased by the fact that genetic tests are currently not able to detect an underlying mutation in around 10% of the cases. Methods: This is a retrospective, observational study conducted at the Institute for Maternal and Child "Burlo Garofolo" in Trieste, Italy. We recruited all the patients with clinical and/or genetic diagnosis of NS who were evaluated at the Department of Pediatrics between October 2015 and October 2020. Statistical analyses were performed with IBM SPSS Statistics software. The association between discrete variables has been evaluated through chi-squared test, indicating statistically significant p with Pearson test or Fischer test for variables less than 5. Results: We recruited a total of 35 patients affected by Noonan syndrome. In 24 patients (75%) we identified an underlying genetic substrate: 17 patients had a mutation on PTPN11 (61%), 2 in SOS1, KRAS and SHOC2 (7% each) and only 1 in RAF1 (4%). 25% of the subjects did not receive a genetic confirm. As for the phenotype of the syndrome, our study identified the presence of some clinical features which were previously unrelated or poorly related to NS. For example, renal and central nervous system abnormalities were found at a higher rate compared to the current literature. On the contrary, some features that are considered very suggestive of NS (such as lymphatic abnormalities and the classical facial features) were not frequently found in our population. Conclusions: In our analysis, we focused on the main phenotypic features of NS, identifying various clinical manifestation that were not associated with this genetic condition before. This could be helpful in raising the knowledge of NS's clinical spectrum, facilitating its diagnosis

Social Innovation in the Mediterranean and how it can help to manage Mediterranean forests

This presentation specifies how social innovation initiatives can be promoted in Mediterranean forests. Furthermore, it presents the evaluation methodology proposed for analyzing these initiatives. Preliminary results are also identified and some concluding remarks proposed

IN VIVO AND IN VITRO EFFECTS OF BIDENS PILOSA L. (ASTERACEAE) LEAF AQUEOUS AND ETHANOL EXTRACTS ON PRIMED-OESTROGENIZED RAT UTERINE MUSCLE.

Bidens pilosa L. is an Asteraceae growing in tropical zones, and traditionally utilized worldwide in herbal medicine. The present work is based on its traditional use during child birth as a labour facilitator. In vivo tests of acute toxicity showed a weak toxic effect for both extracts but the toxicity of the ethanol extract (LD50=6.15g/kg) was upper than that of the aqueous extract (LD50=12.30g/kg). The three-days uterotrophic assay on immature mice showed body weight gain followed by a concentration-dependent decrease up to 4mg/g and a concentration dependent uterine wet weight increase. The ethanol extract exhibited the higher body weight gain representing 22.8±0.7%, (P0.001), at the concentration of 500µg/g/day, while the aqueous extract was significantly more efficient on the uterine wet weight gain of 0.24±0.001% (P0.05), at the concentration of 1000µg/g/day. In vitro isometric contraction measurement of oestrogen-primed rat uterine strips showed a significant high aqueous extract-induced contractile effect from 0.03-1.97mg/ml: on the amplitude of contraction (EC50 = 0.44±0.10mg/ml, P0.05), and on the rate (1.21±0.25mg/ml, P0.05). Inspite of the higher effect of the aqueous extract on the tonus (57.23±23%), the ethanol extract showed a high effect (EC50= 0.34±0.09mg/ml, P0.05). The weak toxicity, the estrogenic-like and the oxytocic-like activities observed could explain the empirical use of Bidens pilosa leaf aqueous extract as an uterotonic preparation to enhance labour, probably due to the presence of biologically active compound(s) which act directly on the uterine muscle

Enhancing the Study of Quantal Exocytotic Events: Combining Diamond Multi-Electrode Arrays with Amperometric PEak Analysis (APE) an Automated Analysis Code

MicroGraphited-Diamond-Multi Electrode Arrays ({\mu}G-D-MEAs) can be successfully used to reveal, in real time, quantal exocytotic events occurring from many individual neurosecretory cells and/or from many neurons within a network. As {\mu}G-D-MEAs arrays are patterned with up to 16 sensing microelectrodes, each of them recording large amounts of data revealing the exocytotic activity, the aim of this work was to support an adequate analysis code to speed up the signal detection. The cutting-edge technology of microGraphited-Diamond-Multi Electrode Arrays ({\mu}G-D-MEAs) has been implemented with an automated analysis code (APE, Amperometric Peak Analysis) developed using Matlab R2022a software to provide easy and accurate detection of amperometric spike parameters, including the analysis of the pre-spike foot that sometimes precedes the complete fusion pore dilatation. Data have been acquired from cultured PC12 cells, either collecting events during spontaneous exocytosis or after L-DOPA incubation. Validation of the APE code was performed by comparing the acquired spike parameters with those obtained using Quanta Analysis (Igor macro) by Mosharov et al

Can the Prechtl method for the qualitative assessment of general movements be used to predict neurodevelopmental outcome, at eighteen months to three years, of infants born preterm?

Background: Preterm infants are more at risk of atypical neurodevelopment and diagnosis of impairment often occurs later in life. The Prechtl method for the qualitative assessment of general movements has been found to predict neurodevelopmental outcome in full term infants. Despite this, it is not clear whether the Prechtl assessment is predictive of neurodevelopmental outcome when used for preterm infants. Objectives: To review the literature regarding the use of the Prechtl method for the qualitative assessment of general movements in predicting neurodevelopmental outcome, at eighteen months to three years, of infants born preterm. Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, Science Citation Index, PsycINFO, Science Direct, Scopus, Social Sciences Index, Education Source, ERIC, SPORTDiscus, SciELO and SocINDEX was conducted in November 2015. The methodological quality of the included studies was critically appraised using a modified version of the Downs and Black quality index. Results: Five articles met the inclusion criteria. The Prechtl method of assessment was found to be predictive of both neuromotor and cognitive impairments at eighteen months to three years. The writhing period was found to have higher sensitivity but lower specificity and correlation to neurodevelopmental outcomes compared to the fidgety period. Combining both periods of assessment led to higher predictive power. The assessment was also found to be more predictive of severe impairment as opposed to minor impairment. Conclusions: The results of this systematic review suggest that Prechtl method of assessment can be used to predict neurodevelopmental outcome in preterm infants