Electrical and electromagnetic geophysical prospecting for the monitoring of rock glaciers in the Dolomites, northeast Italy

The monitoring of rock glaciers plays a relevant role in relation to natural hazards in high mountain environments. Due to the climate warming, mountain permafrost is thawing, and its degradation is influencing the triggering and the evolvement of processes such as rockfalls, landslides, debris flows and floods. Therefore, the study and monitoring of these periglacial forms have both a scientific and economic importance. We tested electrical and electromagnetic measurements along the same investigation lines, in two different sites of the Dolomites area (Northeast Italy). Electrical prospecting exploits the high resistivity contrast between frozen and non-frozen debris. However, these measurements have high logistic demands, considering the complex rock glaciers surface and the need of ground galvanic contact. For this reason, we tried to compare electrical measurements with electromagnetic contactless ones, that theoretically can be used to define the distribution of electrical resistivity in the first subsoil in a quicker and easier way. The obtained results show that the joint use of the two methods allows us to characterize a rock glacier subsoil with good confi-dence. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of both the techniques are discussed

First experience with the new Sorin Crown PRT bioprosthetic aortic valve: Early postoperative outcome and hemodynamic performance in 90 patients

AIM: The Crown PRT (The Phospholipid Reduction Treatment) is a new stent bovine bioprosthesis for aortic valve replacement (AVR). Aim of this paper is to report the postoperative clinical and hemodynamic results after ninety consecutive implants. METHODS: After receiving CE mark in July 2014, two European university centers implanted the new Crown PRT (Sorin Group, Burnaby, Canada) for the first time. Up to now, ninety patients underwent aortic valve replacement, in isolated or combined procedures, for aortic stenosis or insufficiency. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiogram was used to assess the prosthesis’s function. In hospital outcomes and echocardiographic parameters were recorded. RESULTS: Age and Log Euroscore were 71.8±7.9 years and 10.2%±4.5 respectively. In-hospital mortality for isolated AVR was 0%; one patient died after a multiple procedure (overall 30-days mortality 1.1%). No adverse device effects were recorded. Intensive Care Unit stay was 2±5.8 days. At discharge, echocardiogram showed no paravalvular leaks and normal postoperative gradients. CONCLUSION: Our starting results showed that the Crown PRT is safe and reliable, with excellent hemodynamic performance. Further clinical results with a larger population and long term follow-up are needed to assess the versatility and the durability of this new device

Optimal control of the Stokes equations: conforming and non-conforming finite element methods under reduced regularity

PDE-constrained optimization, Control-constraints, Finite element method, Non-conforming elements, Anisotropic mesh-grading, A priori error estimates, Stokes equations,

Erratum: Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the care of patients with acute and chronic aortic conditions (European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (2021) 59 (1096-1102) DOI: 10.1093/ejcts/ezaa452)

10.1093/ejcts/ezab314European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery603724-72

Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the care of patients with acute and chronic aortic conditions

10.1093/ejcts/ezaa452European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery5951096-110

Corrigendum to "Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the care of patients with acute and chronic aortic conditions" (European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (2021) 59 (1096-1102) DOI: 10.1093/ejcts/ezaa452)

In the original version of this article, the first name of author Vitaly Sorokin was misspelled. This has now been corrected above and in the full article