Etn@ref: a geodetic reference frame for Mt. Etna GPS networks

In volcanology, one of the most important instruments for scientific community interested in modelling the physical processes related to magma movements in the shallow crust is geodetic data. Since the end of the 1980s, GPS surveys and Continuous GPS stations (CGPS) have greatly improved the possibility to measure such movements with high time and space resolution. However, physical modelling requires that any external influence on the data, not directly related to the investigated quantity, must be filtered. One major tricky factor in determining a deformation field using GPS displacement vectors and velocities is the correct choice of a stable reference frame. In this work, using more than a decade of GPS measurements, we defined a local reference frame in order to refer the Mt. Etna ground deformation pattern to a rigid block. In particular, we estimated the Euler pole for the rigid block by minimizing, with a weighted least squares inversion, the adjustments to two horizontal components of GPS velocity at 13 “fiducial” sites located within 350 km around Mt. Etna. The inversion inferred an Euler pole located at 38.450° N and -107.702° E and a rotation rate of 0.263 deg/Myr

Monocyte to HDL ratio: a novel marker of resistant hypertension in CKD patients

Background: Inflammation, oxidative stress (OS), atherosclerosis and resistant hypertension (RH) are common features of chronic kidney disease (CKD) leading to a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease. These effects seem to be modulated by impaired anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and reverse cholesterol transport actions of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). HDL prevents and reverses monocyte recruitment and activation into the arterial wall and impairs endothelial adhesion molecule expression. Recently, monocyte count to HDL-cholesterol ratio (MHR) has emerged as a potential marker of inflammation and OS, demonstrating to be relevant in CKD. Our research was aimed to assess, for the first time, its reliability in RH. Methods: We performed a retrospective study on 214 patients with CKD and arterial hypertension who were admitted between January and June 2019 to our Department, 72 of whom were diagnosed with RH. Results: MHR appeared inversely related to eGFR (ρ = − 0.163; P = 0.0172). MHR was significantly higher among RH patients compared to non-RH ones (12.39 [IQR 10.67–16.05] versus 7.30 [5.49–9.06]; P < 0.0001). Moreover, MHR was significantly different according to the number of anti-hypertensive drugs per patient in the whole study cohort (F = 46.723; P < 0.001) as well as in the non-RH group (F = 14.191; P < 0.001). Moreover, MHR positively correlates with diabetes mellitus (ρ = 0.253; P = 0.0002), white blood cells (ρ = 0.664; P < 0.0001) and C-reactive protein (ρ = 0.563; P < 0.0001). Conclusions: MHR may be a reliable biomarker due to the connection between HDL and monocytes. Our study suggests that MHR is linked with the use of multiple anti-hypertensive therapy and resistant hypertension in CKD patients, and can be a useful ratio to implement appropriate treatment strategies

Gender differences in instep soccer kicking biomechanics, investigated through a 3D human motion tracker system

BACKGROUND: This study aims at describing and comparing each other male and female soccer players kicking instep a stationary ball. The different measures we collected by the 3D motion capture system Movit G1 and the High-Speed Camera (240 fps) were considered as dependent variables, whereas the gender was considered as the independent one.METHODS: Twenty soccer well trained non-professional players: 10 men (age: 25.3 +/- 6.5 yrs: height 1.80 +/- 0.07 m; body mass 76.9 +/- 13.2 kg) and 10 women (age: 19 +/- 3.34 yrs; height 1.64 +/- 0.07 m; body mass 58.2 +/- 7.2 kg) volunteered to participate in the study.RESULTS: Gender differences were found, with a statistical significance (P&lt;0.05) or interesting magnitude (Cohen d&gt;0.5). The most relevant ones were the differences in hip extension of the kicking leg when the foot of the supporting one touches the ground, just before the impact on the ball (independent sample t-Test P=0.03; Cohen d=1.64) and the speed of the ball, reached immediately after kicking (P&lt;0.001; d=1.23).CONCLUSIONS: These results, together with the greater pelvic acceleration shown by men compared to women, highlight the need to develop a gender-differentiated training model, in order to customize the kicking technique in women and to reduce the likelihood, currently higher than for men, of kicking related injuries

Present-day kinematics and deformation processes in the southern Tyrrhenian region: New insights on the northern Sicily extensional belt

We performed a new analysis of updated and accurate sets of seismic and GNSS data relative to the southern Tyrrhenian region. Detailed velocity field and crustal strain distribution coming from integration of episodic and continuous measurements at more than 160 geodetic sites (spanning the 1994-2015 period) have been evaluated together with the spatial distribution of recent seismicity and an updated catalogue of waveform inversion fault-plane solutions relative to the period 1976-2014. In agreement with previous investigations, we have found that the kinematics of the study area is quite homogeneous except for the north-eastern corner of Sicily which moves almost coherently with southern Calabria in response to the SEward rollback of the Ionian slab. The rest of the study region shows a NNW-trending velocity field in agreement with the direction of the Nubia-Eurasia convergence and it is mainly interested by a major compressive domain. NNW-oriented compression is particularly highlighted by seismic data along the E-W trending seismic belt located in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. In the framework of such compressive regime, the E-W trending extensional domain of northern Sicily is also clearly depicted both by seismic and geodetic data. The cause of this extensional domain framed inside a mainly compressive one represents an open question in the recent scientific debate. Comparisons between our results and literature information on regional geology and crustal structure led us to investigate whether the extension could occur as local response to the thrusting dynamics of the southern Tyrrhenian belt, favoured by the presence of pre-existing weakness zones. We then propose a first attempt to evaluate such a possible causal relationship by means of Finite Element Method (FEM) and Coulomb Stress Change (CSC) modelling. In particular, we adopted a FEM approach to investigate the deformation pattern produced by thrust faulting of southern Tyrrhenian belt, along a 2D profile crossing both the compressive belt and the extensional one in northern Sicily. We also estimated the CSC due to the thrust faulting on normal receiving faults fairly reproducing pre-existing structures of northern Sicily. Modelling results indicate that the thrust faulting activity along the Southern Tyrrhenian compressive margin could be effective in promoting extensional processes in northern Sicily. We have so shown that the local response to thrust faulting activity may concur, even in combination with other processes, to generate the crustal stretching of northern Sicily

Etn@ref: a geodetic reference frame for Mt. Etna GPS networks

In volcanology, geodetic data are one of the most important instruments for the scientific community interested in modeling physical processes related to magma movements in the shallow crust. Since the end of the 1980s, GPS surveys and continuous GPS stations have greatly improved the possibility of measuring such movements with high time and space resolution. However, physical modeling requires that any external influence on the data that is not directly related to the investigated quantity must be filtered. One major tricky factor in determining a deformation field using GPS displacement vectors and velocities is the correct choice of a stable reference frame. In this study, we defined a local reference frame using more than a decade of GPS measurements, to refer the Mt. Etna ground deformation pattern to a rigid block. In particular, we used a weighted least-squares inversion to estimate the Euler pole for the rigid block by minimizing the adjustments to two horizontal components of GPS velocity at 13 &lt;&lt; fiducial &gt;&gt; sites located within a 350-km radius of Mt. Etna. The inversion inferred a Euler pole located at 38.450 degrees N and - 107.702 degrees E, and a rotation rate of 0.263 deg/Myr

Kidney biopsy in type 2 diabetic patients: Critical reflections on present indications and diagnostic alternatives

Roughly 3% of patients worldwide with a new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) already have an overt nephropathy at diagnosis and about 20–30% of the remaining ones develop a complication of this kind later in life. The early identification of kidney disease in diabetic patients is important as it slows its progression, which is important not only because this reduces the need for renal replacement therapy, but also because it decreases the high rate of mortality and morbidity associated with a reduction in kidney function. The increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes and the consequent greater probability of finding different types of kidney diseases in diabetic patients frequently gives rise to overlapping diagnoses, a definition encompassing the differential diagnosis between diabetic and non-diabetic kidney disease. The issue is made more complex by the acknowledgement of the increasing frequency of presentations of what is termed “diabetic kidney disease” without relevant proteinuria, in particular in T2DM patients. Distinguishing between diabetes related and non-diabetes related forms of kidney disease in diabetic patients is not only a semantic question, as different diseases require different clinical management. However, while the urologic and macrovascular complications of diabetes, as well as overlapping parenchymal damage, can be diagnosed by means of imaging studies, often only a kidney biopsy will make a differential diagnosis possible. In fact, the coexistence of typical diabetic lesions, such as nodular glomerulopathy or glomerulosclerosis, with different glomerular, vascular and tubulo-interstitial alterations has been extensively described, and an analysis of the dominant histological pattern can contribute to determining what therapeutic approach should be adopted. However, due to the high frequency of kidney diseases, and to the fact that T2DM patients are often affected by multiple comorbidities, a kidney biopsy is not generally performed in T2DM patients. What follows is a review aiming to discuss the diagnostic work-up, on the base of clinical, laboratory and imaging criteria, and evaluate the present indications and alternatives to renal biopsy

Report on the methodology applied by EFSA to provide a quantitative assessment of pest-related criteria required to rank candidate priority pests as defined by Regulation (EU) 2016/2031

In agreement with Article 6(2) of the Regulation (EU) 2016/2031 on protective measures against pestsof plants, the European Commission has been tasked by the Council and European Parliament toestablish a list of Union quarantine pests which qualify as priority pests. The prioritisation is based onthe severity of the economic, social and environmental impact that these pests can cause in the Unionterritory. The Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) is in charge of developing a methodologybased on a multi-criteria decision analysis and composite indicators. In this context, EFSA has providedtechnical and scientific data related to these pests, in particular: (i) the potential host range anddistribution of each of these pests in the Union territory at the level of NUTS2 regions; (ii) parametersquantifying the potential consequences of these pests, e.g. crop losses in terms of yield and quality,rate of spread and time to detection. Expert knowledge elicitation methodology has been applied byEFSA in order to provide those parameters in a consistent and transparent manner

Transcription factors PRE3 and WOX11 are involved in the formation of new lateral roots from secondary growth taproot in A. thaliana

The spatial deployment of lateral roots determines the ability of a plant to interact with the surrounding environment for nutrition and anchorage. This paper shows that besides the pericycle, the vascular cambium becomes active in Arabidopsis thaliana taproot at a later stage of development and is also able to form new lateral roots. To demonstrate the above, we implemented a two-step approach in which the first step leads to development of a secondary structure in A.&nbsp;thaliana taproot, and the second applies a mechanical stress on the vascular cambium to initiate formation of a new lateral root primordium. GUS staining showed PRE3, DR5 and WOX11 signals in the cambial zone of the root during new lateral root formation. An advanced level of wood formation, characterized by the presence of medullar rays, was achieved. Preliminary investigations suggest the involvement of auxin and two transcription factors (PRE3/ATBS1/bHLH135/TMO7 and WOX11) in the transition of some vascular cambium initials from a role as producers of xylem/phloem mother cells to founder cells of a new lateral root primordium