The Karst of Salento Region (Apulia, Southern Italy): Constraints for Management

Polotok Salento je kraško območje s precejšnjim tveganjem, povezanim s površinsko in podzemno vodo. Da bi preprečili poplavljanje, so velike količine površinskih voda kanalizirali v vrtače. Zaradi tega je v zadnjih letih na večih mestih prišlo do hitrega pogrezanja in udiranja tal. »lanek obravnava dve področji, kjer je do tega prišlo.The Salento peninsula is a karstic area affected by relevant geological risk mainly due to surface water and groundwater. In particular, sinkholes have been used to convey underground large amount of surface waters (rain water, waste water, etc.) aiming to avoid the flooding of wide land surfaces. However, during the last ten years this input of surface water underground has caused several cases of rapid subsidence. In this paper, the detailed study of two areas which have been recently affected by rapid subsidence is reported

Doline di crollo (cave-collapse dinkholes) in località "Spedicaturo", Salento meridionale

ItIl 13 marzo 1996 in località Spedicaturo nei pressi di Nociglia (LE) si è verificato un fenomeno di subsidenza catastrofica che ha portato alla luce una cavità profonda 19 m e larga 20 m. Nell’area erano già presenti due doline di crollo connesse ad un complesso carsico attivo che riceve le acque di un reticolo endoreico lungo circa 14 Km. La genesi e la evoluzione delle forme carsiche presenti sono state condizionate da un limite lito-idrologico che ha favorito l’afflusso nel circuito idrico sotterraneo di acque allogeniche chimicamente aggressive. Le cause che innescano la sinkhole activity ed i meccanismi che producono il crollo della volta delle cavità sono stati posti in relazione con la circolazione idrica e la locale litostratigrafia.EnA geological and geomorphological survey has been carried out at Spedicaturo area, in the surroundings of Nociglia village (LE). In this locality, a catastrophic subsidence event occurred on the 13th March 1996, revealing the presence of a cave, about 19 m deep and 20 m wide. Two collapse sinkholes, already developed in the area, are linked to an active karstic complex fed by an endorheic drainage network, about 14 Km wide. The genesis and the evolution of these karstic landforms have been influenced by a litho-hydrological contact which promoted the flow of aggressive allogenic waters in the underground circuit. The causes producing the sinkholes activity and the processes leading to the roof cave collapse have been related to the local hydrological conditions and lithostratigraphy

Sudden death in a captive meerkat (Suricata suricatta) with arterial medial and myocardial calcification

A 1-year-old male meerkat was found dead by the owner. The animal was clinically healthy and was regularly vaccinated for distemper virus. Necropsy revealed multifocal to confluent dry white areas in the myocardium, pneumonia and congestive hepatopathy. All the other organs, including gross vessels, were macroscopically normal. The heart showed histologically large, multifocal to confluent areas of mineralization of the myocardium and the wall of small coronary artery. Vascular calcifications were also observed in the hepatic portal tracts and kidneys arteries of small/medium sizes. The arterial lumen appeared narrowed and the wall thickened due to the calcification of the tunica media. In veterinary medicine, arterial mineralization is regarded as a metastatic calcification, as the result of hypercalcemia and/or hyperphosphatemia. However, today, the pathogenesis of medial artery calcification in humans seems to be the results of an active process resembling embryonic osteogenesis, rather than a mere passive process

Tunnel configurations and seismic isolation optimization in underground gravitational wave detectors

Gravitational wave detectors like the Einstein Telescope will be built a few hundred meters under Earth's surface to reduce both direct seismic and Newtonian noise. Underground facilities must be designed to take full advantage of the shielding properties of the rock mass to maximize the detector's performance. A major issue with the Einstein Telescope design are the corner points, where caverns need to be excavated in stable, low permeability rock to host the sensitive measurement infrastructure. This paper proposes a new topology that moves the top stages of the seismic attenuation chains and Michelson beam re-combination in separate excavations far from the beam-line and equipment induced noise while the test mass mirrors remain in the main tunnels. Distributing the seismic attenuation chain components over multiple tunnel levels allows the use of arbitrarily long seismic attenuation chains that relegate the seismic noise at frequencies completely outside the low-frequency noise budget, thus keeping the door open for future Newtonian noise suppression methods. Separating the input-output and recombination optics of different detectors into separate caverns drastically improves the observatory detection efficiency and allows staged commissioning. The proposed scheme eliminates structural and instrumentation crowding while the reduced sizes of excavations require fewer support measures

cryptokarst a case study of the quaternary landforms of southern apulia southern italy

Skriti kras (cryptokarst) je kras, razvit pod prepustnim, vendar netopnim pokrovom. Nastane zaradi vode, ki prenika skozi krovne plasti. V krovnih plasteh se zbira voda, se poeasi preceja skoznje in razjeda maticno kamnino. Zaradi tega nastanejo depresije, zapolnjene s pokrovnim sedimentom, in kraski stebri. Zaradi posedanja prepustnega pokrova, nastanejo na povrsju ulegnine. Ce erozija odtsrani krovnino, se razgali relief, za katerega so znacilni kraski stebri, razvalinasti relief in vrtace. Cryptokarst is a karst developed beneath a permeable and not karstifiable formation by percolating waters. The permeable rock acts as a storage of water which feeds slow seepage and infiltration enhancing the alteration of bedrock. The resulting forms consist of depressions, filled by the covering sediments, and pinnacles. The sinking of the permeable cover can produce depressions on the topographic surface. Erosion of the cover exposes a landscape characterised by pinnacles, ruinforms and dolines. In the Apulia region, cryptocorrosion surfaces are characterized by solution pipes 4-5 meters deep and with variable width (from a few centimeters to about one meter). Pipes walls are covered by a brownish carbonate crust, from a centimeter to more than 10 centimeters thick. The continental sands are only found in these depressions. The cryptocorrosion process took place late in the Middle Pleistocene on Quaternary marine abrasion terraces covered by no-carbonate sandy-silty continental deposits. The process stopped before the Last Interglacial age in response of an abrupt climatic change that induces a calcium carbonate precipitation and the formation of a carbonate crust

A case report of intrarenal epidermoid cysts in a yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta scripta)

A 7-year-old yellow-bellied slider exhibited anorexia, decreased activity, generalised wasting of skeletal muscles and oedema. Haematology examination revealed increased phosphorus and decreased calcium levels. During necropsy performed after spontaneous death, a focal nodular lesion containing tan amorphous material was found in the left kidney. Histopathology examination revealed multiple cystic lesions lined by a multilayered squamous, occasionally cuboidal, and containing keratin. Epithelial cells and keratin material were cytokeratin-positive. These findings confirmed a diagnosis of the most likely congenital intrarenal epidermoid cysts

Mean reticolocyte hemoglobin content index plays a key role to identify children who are carriers of β –thalassemia

Reticulocyte (r) and red blood cell (RBC) indices provide reliable parameters for screening and monitoring iron deficiency anemia (IDA) patients and β-thalassemia trait (BTT) carriers. The aim of this study is to identify a simple method for use to distinguish β-thalassemia trait carriers from IDA and to evaluate the correlation between BTT genetic mutation and MCV values and new discrimination index for the detection of β-thalassemia trait (DI-BTT). We analyzed CHr, MCHCr, MCVr, RBC, mean cellular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and mean cellular volume (MCV) indices among a pediatric population of IDA patients (n=90), βthalassemia trait carriers (n=72) and normal controls (NC) (n=131). Furthermore, to distinguish IDA patients from β-thalassemia trait carriers we evaluated clinical utility of new DI for the detection BTTcarriers, using the following polynomial: (RBC × MCHC × 50/MCV)/CHr. We found that CHr, MCVr and DI-BTT mean values were significantly different between βthalassemia trait carriers and IDA patients. CHr, MCVr and DI-BTT plotting curves showed exclusive distribution in β-thalassemia trait carriers. Moreover, DI-BTT was very accurate in differentiating β-thalassemia trait carriers from IDA patients. All BTT patients showed a heterozygous mutation of the β-globin gene including CD39, IVS1.110, IVS1.6 and IVS2.745, IVS2.1 and IVS1.1. The highest MCV values were displayed by those carrying the IVS1.6 mutation. Conclusions: The simultaneous measurement and plotting of CHr and MCVr indices, as well as the DI-BTT allow to distinguish β-thalassemia carriers from IDA patients

First description of partial atrioventricular septal defect in a rabbit

Congenital heart diseases have rarely been described in rabbits. The purpose of the present case report is to describe the clinical, radiographic, echocardiographic, and pathological features of a partial atrioventricular septal defect in a pet rabbit. A 3-month-old, 380-g male vaccinated pet rabbit was presented for decreased activity, increased respiratory rate and effort, anorexia, and decreased fecal output of 2 days duration. Total body radiographic images revealed severe cardiomegaly associated with enlarged caudal pulmonary vessels and increased interstitial to alveolar lung pattern. Echocardiographic imaging showed evidence of distended heart chambers, abnormal flow through the atria, and mitral valve regurgitation. The rabbit was treated with furosemide and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor but rapidly deteriorated and died. Necropsy confirmed the dilation of both ventricles and the presence of a partial atrioventricular septal defect associated with an ostium primum atrial septal defect just over the tricuspid valve and the mitral valve

Enhanced Antiproliferative and Apoptotic Response of HT-29 Adenocarcinoma Cells to Combination of Photoactivated Hypericin and Farnesyltransferase Inhibitor Manumycin A

Several photodynamically-active substances and farnesyltransferase inhibitors are currently being investigated as promising anticancer drugs. In this study, the combined effect of hypericin (the photodynamically-active pigment from Hypericum perforatum) and selective farnesyltransferase inhibitor manumycin (manumycin A; the selective farnesyltransferase inhibitor from Streptomyces parvulus) on HT-29 adenocarcinoma cells was examined. We found that the combination treatment of cells with photoactivated hypericin and manumycin resulted in enhanced antiproliferative and apoptotic response compared to the effect of single treatments. This was associated with increased suppression of clonogenic growth, S phase cell cycle arrest, elevated caspase-3/7 activity and time-dependent total cleavage of procaspase-3 and lamin B, cleavage of p21Bax into p18Bax and massive PARP cleavage. Moreover, we found that the apoptosis-inducing factor is implicated in signaling events triggered by photoactivated hypericin. Our results showed the relocalization of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) to the nuclei after hypericin treatment. In addition, we discovered that not only manumycin but also photoactivated hypericin induced the reduction of total Ras protein level. Manumycin decreased the amount of farnesylated Ras, and the combination treatment decreased the amount of both farnesylated and non-farnesylated Ras protein more dramatically. The present findings indicate that the inhibition of Ras processing may be the determining factor for enhancing the antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of combination treatment on HT-29 cells

INCB84344-201: Ponatinib and steroids in frontline therapy for unfit patients with Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors have improved survival for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, prognosis for old or unfit patients remains poor. In the INCB84344-201 (formerly GIMEMA LAL 1811) prospective, multicenter, phase 2 trial, we tested the efficacy and safety of ponatinib plus prednisone in newly diagnosed patients with Ph+ ALL 6560 years, or unfit for intensive chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. Forty-four patients received oral ponatinib 45 mg/d for 48 weeks (core phase), with prednisone tapered to 60 mg/m2/d from days-14-29. Prophylactic intrathecal chemotherapy was administered monthly. Median age was 66.5 years (range, 26-85). The primary endpoint (complete hematologic response [CHR] at 24 weeks) was reached in 38/44 patients (86.4%); complete molecular response (CMR) in 18/44 patients (40.9%) at 24 weeks. 61.4% of patients completed the core phase. As of 24 April 2020, median event-free survival was 14.31 months (95% CI 9.30-22.31). Median overall survival and duration of CHR were not reached; median duration of CMR was 11.6 months. Most common treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were rash (36.4%), asthenia (22.7%), alanine transaminase increase (15.9%), erythema (15.9%), and \u3b3-glutamyltransferase increase (15.9%). Cardiac and vascular TEAEs occurred in 29.5% (grade 653, 18.2%) and 27.3% (grade 653, 15.9%), respectively. Dose reductions, interruptions, and discontinuations due to TEAEs occurred in 43.2%, 43.2%, and 27.3% of patients, respectively; 5 patients had fatal TEAEs. Ponatinib and prednisone showed efficacy in unfit patients with Ph+ ALL; however, a lower ponatinib dose may be more appropriate in this population. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01641107