Development of a Mass Flowmeter based on the Coriolis Acceleration for Liquid, Supercritical and Superfluid Helium

Beginning in the 1980's, Coriolis meters have gained generalised acceptance in liquid applications with a worldwide installed base of over 300,000 units. To meet the demands of cryogenic applications below 20 K, off-the-shelf Coriolis meters have been used, with minor design modifications and operational changes. The meters were originally calibrated on water and tested on liquid helium at 4.5 K, supercritical helium around 5 K and superfluid helium below 2 K. The meters maintain their intrinsic robustness and accuracy of better than 1% of measured value; accuracy is independent of density and temperature

Fast Time Structure During Transient Microwave Brightenings: Evidence for Nonthermal Processes

Transient microwave brightenings (TMBs) are small-scale energy releases from the periphery of sunspot umbrae, with a flux density two orders of magnitude smaller than that from a typical flare. Gopalswamy et al (1994) first reported the detection of the TMBs and it was pointed out that the radio emission implied a region of very high magnetic field so that the emission mechanism has to be gyroresonance or nonthermal gyrosynchrotron, but not free-free emission. It was not possible to decide between gyroresonance and gyrosynchrotron processes because of the low time resolution (30 s) used in the data analysis. We have since performed a detailed analysis of the Very Large Array data with full time resolution (3.3 s) at two wavelengths (2 and 3.6 cm) and we can now adequately address the question of the emission mechanism of the TMBs. We find that nonthermal processes indeed take place during the TMBs. We present evidence for nonthermal emission in the form of temporal and spatial structure of the TMBs. The fast time structure cannot be explained by a thermodynamic cooling time and therefore requires a nonthermal process. Using the physical parameters obtained from X-ray and radio observations, we determine the magnetic field parameters of the loop and estimate the energy released during the TMBs. The impulsive components of TMBs imply an energy release rate of 1.3 x 10^22 erg/s so that the thermal energy content of the TMBs could be less than 10^24 erg.Comment: 15 pages (Latex), 4 figures (eps). ApJ Letters in press (1997

Viroid diseases in pome and stone fruit trees and Koch s postulates: a critical assessment

[EN] Composed of a naked circular non-protein-coding genomic RNA, counting only a few hundred nucleotides, viroids¿the smallest infectious agents known so far¿are able to replicate and move systemically in herbaceous and woody host plants, which concomitantly may develop specific diseases or remain symptomless. Several viroids have been reported to naturally infect pome and stone fruit trees, showing symptoms on leaves, fruits and/or bark. However, Koch¿s postulates required for establishing on firm grounds the viroid etiology of these diseases, have not been met in all instances. Here, pome and stone fruit tree diseases, conclusively proven to be caused by viroids, are reviewed, and the need to pay closer attention to fulfilling Koch¿s postulates is emphasized. View Full-TextThis project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Scientific Exchange Program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 734736. This publication reflects only the authors' view. The Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.Di Serio, F.; Ambros Palaguerri, S.; Sano, T.; Flores Pedauye, R.; Navarro, B. (2018). Viroid diseases in pome and stone fruit trees and Koch s postulates: a critical assessment. Viruses. 10(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/v101106121011Diener, T. O. (1971). Potato spindle tuber «virus». Virology, 45(2), 411-428. doi:10.1016/0042-6822(71)90342-4Flores, R., Minoia, S., Carbonell, A., Gisel, A., Delgado, S., López-Carrasco, A., … Di Serio, F. (2015). Viroids, the simplest RNA replicons: How they manipulate their hosts for being propagated and how their hosts react for containing the infection. Virus Research, 209, 136-145. doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2015.02.027López-Carrasco, A., & Flores, R. (2016). Dissecting the secondary structure of the circular RNA of a nuclear viroid in vivo: A «naked» rod-like conformation similar but not identical to that observed in vitro. RNA Biology, 14(8), 1046-1054. doi:10.1080/15476286.2016.1223005López-Carrasco, A., & Flores, R. (2017). The predominant circular form of avocado sunblotch viroid accumulates in planta as a free RNA adopting a rod-shaped secondary structure unprotected by tightly bound host proteins. Journal of General Virology, 98(7), 1913-1922. doi:10.1099/jgv.0.000846Flores, R., Hernández, C., Alba, A. E. M. de, Daròs, J.-A., & Serio, F. D. (2005). Viroids and Viroid-Host Interactions. Annual Review of Phytopathology, 43(1), 117-139. doi:10.1146/annurev.phyto.43.040204.140243Di Serio, F., Flores, R., Verhoeven, J. T. J., Li, S.-F., Pallás, V., Randles, J. W., … Owens, R. A. (2014). Current status of viroid taxonomy. Archives of Virology, 159(12), 3467-3478. doi:10.1007/s00705-014-2200-6Di Serio, F., Li, S.-F., Matoušek, J., Owens, R. A., Pallás, V., … Randles, J. W. (2018). ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Avsunviroidae. Journal of General Virology, 99(5), 611-612. doi:10.1099/jgv.0.001045Diener, T. O., Smith, D. R., & O’Brien, M. J. (1972). Potato spindle tuber viroid. Virology, 48(3), 844-846. doi:10.1016/0042-6822(72)90166-3Diener, T. O. (1972). Potato spindle tuber viroid. Virology, 50(2), 606-609. doi:10.1016/0042-6822(72)90412-6Semancik, J. S. (1970). Properties of the Infectious Forms of Exocortis Virus of Citrus. Phytopathology, 60(4), 732. doi:10.1094/phyto-60-732Semancik, J. S., Morris, T. J., & Weathers, L. G. (1973). Structure and conformation of low molecular weight pathogenic RNA from exocortis disease. Virology, 53(2), 448-456. doi:10.1016/0042-6822(73)90224-9Bos, L. (1981). Hundred years of Koch’s Postulates and the history of etiology in plant virus research. Netherlands Journal of Plant Pathology, 87(3), 91-110. doi:10.1007/bf01976645Schumacher, J., Randles, J. W., & Riesner, D. (1983). A two-dimensional electrophoretic technique for the detection of circular viroids and virusoids. Analytical Biochemistry, 135(2), 288-295. doi:10.1016/0003-2697(83)90685-1Flores, R., Duran-Vila, N., Pallas, V., & Semancik, J. S. (1985). Detection of Viroid and Viroid-like RNAs from Grapevine. Journal of General Virology, 66(10), 2095-2102. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-66-10-2095Serio, F. D., Malfitano, M., Alioto, D., Ragozzino, A., Desvignes, J. C., & Flores, R. (2001). Apple dimple fruit viroid: Fulfillment of Koch’s Postulates and Symptom Characteristics. Plant Disease, 85(2), 179-182. doi:10.1094/pdis.2001.85.2.179Pallas, V., Navarro, A., & Flores, R. (1987). Isolation of a Viroid-like RNA from Hop Different from Hop Stunt Viroid. Journal of General Virology, 68(12), 3201-3205. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-68-12-3201Navarro, B., & Flores, R. (1997). Chrysanthemum chlorotic mottle viroid: Unusual structural properties of a subgroup of self-cleaving viroids with hammerhead ribozymes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 94(21), 11262-11267. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.21.11262De la Pena, M., Navarro, B., & Flores, R. (1999). Mapping the molecular determinant of pathogenicity in a hammerhead viroid: A tetraloop within the in vivo branched RNA conformation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 96(17), 9960-9965. doi:10.1073/pnas.96.17.9960Bellamy, A. R., & Ralph, R. K. (1968). [104] Recovery and purification of nucleic acids by means of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. Nucleic Acids, Part B, 156-160. doi:10.1016/0076-6879(67)12125-3Codoñer, F. M., Darós, J.-A., Solé, R. V., & Elena, S. F. (2006). The Fittest versus the Flattest: Experimental Confirmation of the Quasispecies Effect with Subviral Pathogens. PLoS Pathogens, 2(12), e136. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.0020136Hashimoto, J., & Koganezawa, H. (1987). Nucleotide sequence and secondary structure of apple scar skin viroid. Nucleic Acids Research, 15(17), 7045-7052. doi:10.1093/nar/15.17.7045Zhu, S. F., Hadidi, A., & Hammond, R. W. (1998). AGROINFECTION OF PEAR AND APPLE WITH DAPPLE APPLE VIROID RESULTS IN SYSTEMIC INFECTION. Acta Horticulturae, (472), 613-616. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1998.472.81OSAKI, H., KUDO, A., & OHTSU, Y. (1996). Japanese Pear Fruit Dimple Disease Caused by Apple Scar Skin Viroid (ASSVd). Japanese Journal of Phytopathology, 62(4), 379-385. doi:10.3186/jjphytopath.62.379Ito, T., & Yoshida, K. (1998). REPRODUCTION OF APPLE FRUIT CRINKLE DISEASE SYMPTOMS BY APPLE FRUIT CRINKLE VIROID. Acta Horticulturae, (472), 587-594. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1998.472.78Hadidi, A., & Yang, X. (1990). Detection of pome fruit viroids by enzymatic cDNA amplification. Journal of Virological Methods, 30(3), 261-269. doi:10.1016/0166-0934(90)90068-qKyriakopoulou, P. E., & Hadidi, A. (1998). NATURAL INFECTION OF WILD AND CULTIVATED PEARS WITH APPLE SCAR SKIN VIROID IN GREECE. Acta Horticulturae, (472), 617-626. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1998.472.82Ambros, S., Desvignes, J. C., Llacer, G., & Flores, R. (1995). Pear blister canker viroid: sequence variability and causal role in pear blister canker disease. Journal of General Virology, 76(10), 2625-2629. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-76-10-2625Sano, T., Hataya, T., Terai, Y., & Shikata, E. (1989). Hop Stunt Viroid Strains from Dapple Fruit Disease of Plum and Peach in Japan. Journal of General Virology, 70(6), 1311-1319. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-70-6-1311Flores, R., Hernández, C., Desvignes, J. C., & Llácer, G. (1990). Some properties of the viroid inducing peach latent mosaic disease. Research in Virology, 141(1), 109-118. doi:10.1016/0923-2516(90)90060-vMalfitano, M., Di Serio, F., Covelli, L., Ragozzino, A., Hernández, C., & Flores, R. (2003). Peach latent mosaic viroid variants inducing peach calico (extreme chlorosis) contain a characteristic insertion that is responsible for this symptomatology. Virology, 313(2), 492-501. doi:10.1016/s0042-6822(03)00315-5Puchta, H., Luckinger, R., Yang, X., Hadidi, A., & S�nger, H. L. (1990). Nucleotide sequence and secondary structure of apple scar skin viroid (ASSVd) from China. Plant Molecular Biology, 14(6), 1065-1067. doi:10.1007/bf00019406KOGANEZAWA, H. (1985). Transmission to apple seedlings of a low molecular weight RNA extracted from apple scar skin diseased trees. Japanese Journal of Phytopathology, 51(2), 176-182. doi:10.3186/jjphytopath.51.176Koganezawa, H. (1986). FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR VIROID ETIOLOGY OF APPLE SCAR SKIN AND DAPPLE APPLE DISEASES. Acta Horticulturae, (193), 29-34. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1986.193.2Yamaguch, A., & Yanase, H. (1976). POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CAUSAL AGENT OF DAPPLE APPLE AND SCAR SKIN. Acta Horticulturae, (67), 249-254. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1976.67.31Desvignes, J. C., Grasseau, N., Boyé, R., Cornaggia, D., Aparicio, F., Di Serio, F., & Flores, R. (1999). Biological Properties of Apple Scar Skin Viroid: Isolates, Host Range, Different Sensitivity of Apple Cultivars, Elimination, and Natural Transmission. Plant Disease, 83(8), 768-772. doi:10.1094/pdis.1999.83.8.768Walia, Y., Dhir, S., Bhadoria, S., Hallan, V., & Zaidi, A. A. (2011). Molecular characterization of Apple scar skin viroid from Himalayan wild cherry. Forest Pathology, 42(1), 84-87. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0329.2011.00723.xDi Serio, F., Aparicio, F., Alioto, D., Ragozzino, A., & Flores, R. (1996). Identification and molecular properties of a 306 nucleotide viroid associated with apple dimple fruit disease. Journal of General Virology, 77(11), 2833-2837. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-77-11-2833Di Serio, F., Giunchedi, L., Alioto, D., Ragozzino, A., & Flores, R. (1998). IDENTIFICATION OF APPLE DIMPLE FRUIT VIROID IN DIFFERENT COMMERCIAL VARIETIES OF APPLE GROWN IN ITALY. Acta Horticulturae, (472), 595-602. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1998.472.79Roumi, V., Gazel, M., & Caglayan, K. (2017). First report of Apple dimple fruit viroid in apple trees in Iran. New Disease Reports, 35, 3. doi:10.5197/j.2044-0588.2017.035.003He, Y.-H., Isono, S., Kawaguchi-Ito, Y., Taneda, A., Kondo, K., Iijima, A., … Sano, T. (2010). Characterization of a new Apple dimple fruit viroid variant that causes yellow dimple fruit formation in ‘Fuji’ apple trees. Journal of General Plant Pathology, 76(5), 324-330. doi:10.1007/s10327-010-0258-xChiumenti, M., Torchetti, E. M., Di Serio, F., & Minafra, A. (2014). Identification and characterization of a viroid resembling apple dimple fruit viroid in fig (Ficus carica L.) by next generation sequencing of small RNAs. Virus Research, 188, 54-59. doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2014.03.026ITO, T., KANEMATSU, S., KOGANEZAWA, H., TSUCHIZAKI, T., & YOSHIDA, K. (1993). Detection of a Viroid Associated with Apple Fruit Crinkle Disease. Japanese Journal of Phytopathology, 59(5), 520-527. doi:10.3186/jjphytopath.59.520Sano, T., Yoshida, H., Goshono, M., Monma, T., Kawasaki, H., & Ishizaki, K. (2004). Characterization of a new viroid strain from hops: evidence for viroid speciation by isolation in different host species. Journal of General Plant Pathology, 70(3), 181-187. doi:10.1007/s10327-004-0105-zNakaune, R., & Nakano, M. (2008). Identification of a new Apscaviroid from Japanese persimmon. Archives of Virology, 153(5), 969-972. doi:10.1007/s00705-008-0073-2Hernandez, C., Elena, S. F., Moya, A., & Flores, R. (1992). Pear Blister Canker Viroid is a Member of the Apple Scar Skin Subgroup (apscaviroids) and also has Sequence Homology with Viroids from other Subgroups. Journal of General Virology, 73(10), 2503-2507. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-73-10-2503Lemoine, J. (1986). PROBLEMS REGARDING THE DETECTION OF GRAFT TRANSMITTED PEAR CANKER. Acta Horticulturae, (193), 251-260. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1986.193.43Ambrós, S., Llácer, G., Desvignes, J. C., & Flores, R. (1995). PEACH LATENT MOSAIC AND PEAR BLISTER CANKER VIROIDS: DETECTION BY MOLECULAR HYBRIDIZATION AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH SPECIFIC MALADIES AFFECTING PEACH AND PEAR TREES. Acta Horticulturae, (386), 515-521. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1995.386.74Flores, R., Hernandez, C., Llacer, G., & Desvignes, J. C. (1991). Identification of a new viroid as the putative causal agent of pear blister canker disease. Journal of General Virology, 72(6), 1199-1204. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-72-6-1199Desvignes, J. C., Cornaggia, D., Grasseau, N., Ambrós, S., & Flores, R. (1999). Pear Blister Canker Viroid: Host Range and Improved Bioassay with Two New Pear Indicators, Fieud 37 and Fieud 110. Plant Disease, 83(5), 419-422. doi:10.1094/pdis.1999.83.5.419SASAKI, M., & SHIKATA, E. (1977). On Some Properties of Hop Stunt Disease Agent, a Viroid. Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Ser. B: Physical and Biological Sciences, 53(3), 109-112. doi:10.2183/pjab.53.109Ohno, T., Takamatsu, N., Meshi, T., & Okada, Y. (1983). Hop stunt viroid: molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence of the complete cDNA copy. Nucleic Acids Research, 11(18), 6185-6197. doi:10.1093/nar/11.18.6185Kofalvi, S. A., Pall√°s, V., Marcos, J. F., Candresse, T., & Ca√±izares, M. C. (1997). Hop stunt viroid (HSVd) sequence variants from Prunus species: evidence for recombination between HSVd isolates. Journal of General Virology, 78(12), 3177-3186. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-78-12-3177Amari, K., Gomez, G., Myrta, A., Di Terlizzi, B., & Pallás, V. (2001). The molecular characterization of 16 new sequence variants of Hop stunt viroid reveals the existence of invariable regions and a conserved hammerhead-like structure on the viroid molecule The sequences described in this work have been deposited in the EMBL database and received accession numbers AJ297825 to AJ297840. Journal of General Virology, 82(4), 953-962. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-82-4-953SANO, T., HATAYA, T., TERAI, Y., & SHIKATA, E. (1986). Association of a viroid-like RNA from plum dapple disease occurring in Japan. Proceedings of the Japan Academy. Ser. B: Physical and Biological Sciences, 62(3), 98-101. doi:10.2183/pjab.62.98Hernandez, C., & Flores, R. (1992). Plus and minus RNAs of peach latent mosaic viroid self-cleave in vitro via hammerhead structures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 89(9), 3711-3715. doi:10.1073/pnas.89.9.3711Ambros, S. (1998). In vitro and in vivo self-cleavage of a viroid RNA with a mutation in the hammerhead catalytic pocket. Nucleic Acids Research, 26(8), 1877-1883. doi:10.1093/nar/26.8.1877Ambrós, S., Hernández, C., & Flores, R. (1999). Rapid generation of genetic heterogeneity in progenies from individual cDNA clones of peach latent mosaic viroid in its natural host The data reported in this paper are in the EMBL nucleotide sequence database and assigned the accession nos AJ241818–AJ241850. Journal of General Virology, 80(8), 2239-2252. doi:10.1099/0022-1317-80-8-2239Fekih Hassen, I., Massart, S., Motard, J., Roussel, S., Parisi, O., Kummert, J., … Jijakli, M. H. (2007). Molecular features of new Peach Latent Mosaic Viroid variants suggest that recombination may have contributed to the evolution of this infectious RNA. Virology, 360(1), 50-57. doi:10.1016/j.virol.2006.10.021DUBÉ, A., BOLDUC, F., BISAILLON, M., & PERREAULT, J.-P. (2011). Mapping studies of the Peach latent mosaic viroid reveal novel structural features. Molecular Plant Pathology, 12(7), 688-701. doi:10.1111/j.1364-3703.2010.00703.xBussière, F., Ouellet, J., Côté, F., Lévesque, D., & Perreault, J. P. (2000). Mapping in Solution Shows the Peach Latent Mosaic Viroid To Possess a New Pseudoknot in a Complex, Branched Secondary Structure. Journal of Virology, 74(6), 2647-2654. doi:10.1128/jvi.74.6.2647-2654.2000FLORES, R., DELGADO, S., RODIO, M.-E., AMBRÓS, S., HERNÁNDEZ, C., & SERIO, F. D. (2006). Peach latent mosaic viroid: not so latent. Molecular Plant Pathology, 7(4), 209-221. doi:10.1111/j.1364-3703.2006.00332.xDesvignes, J. C. (1976). THE VIRUS DISEASES DETECTED IN GREENHOUSE AND IN FIELD BY THE PEACH SEEDLING GF 305 INDICATOR. Acta Horticulturae, (67), 315-323. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1976.67.41DESVIGNES, J. C. (1986). PEACH LATENT MOSAIC AND ITS RELATION TO PEACH MOSAIC AND PEACH YELLOW MOSAIC VIRUS DISEASES. Acta Horticulturae, (193), 51-58. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1986.193.6Flores, R., & Llácer, G. (1989). ISOLATION OF A VIROID-LIKE RNA ASSOCIATED WITH PEACH LATENT MOSAIC DISEASE. Acta Horticulturae, (235), 325-332. doi:10.17660/actahortic.1989.235.47Rodio, M.-E., Delgado, S., Flores, R., & Serio, F. D. (2006). Variants of Peach latent mosaic viroid inducing peach calico: uneven distribution in infected plants and requirements of the insertion containing the pathogenicity determinant. Journal of General Virology, 87(1), 231-240. doi:10.1099/vir.0.81356-0Rodio, M.-E., Delgado, S., De Stradis, A., Gómez, M.-D., Flores, R., & Di Serio, F. (2007). A Viroid RNA with a Specific Structural Motif Inhibits Chloroplast Development. The Plant Cell, 19(11), 3610-3626. doi:10.1105/tpc.106.049775Navarro, B., Gisel, A., Rodio, M. E., Delgado, S., Flores, R., & Di Serio, F. (2012). Small RNAs containing the pathogenic determinant of a chloroplast-replicating viroid guide the degradation of a host mRNA as predicted by RNA silencing. The Plant Journal, 70(6), 991-1003. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313x.2012.04940.xWang, L., He, Y., Kang, Y., Hong, N., Farooq, A. B. U., Wang, G., & Xu, W. (2013). Virulence determination and molecular features of peach latent mosaic viroid isolates derived from phenotypically different peach leaves: A nucleotide polymorphism in L11 contributes to symptom alteration. Virus Research, 177(2), 171-178. doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2013.08.005Zhang, Z., Qi, S., Tang, N., Zhang, X., Chen, S., Zhu, P., … Wu, Q. (2014). Discovery of Replicating Circular RNAs by RNA-Seq and Computational Algorithms. PLoS Pathogens, 10(12), e1004553. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1004553Serra, P., Messmer, A., Sanderson, D., James, D., & Flores, R. (2018). Apple hammerhead viroid-like RNA is a bona fide viroid: Autonomous replication and structural features support its inclusion as a new member in the genus Pelamoviroid. Virus Research, 249, 8-15. doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2018.03.001Messmer, A., Sanderson, D., Braun, G., Serra, P., Flores, R., & James, D. (2017). Molecular and phylogenetic identification of unique isolates of hammerhead viroid-like RNA from ‘Pacific Gala’ apple (Malus domestica) in Canada. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology, 39(3), 342-353. doi:10.1080/07060661.2017.1354334Wu, Q., Wang, Y., Cao, M., Pantaleo, V., Burgyan, J., Li, W.-X., & Ding, S.-W. (2012). Homology-independent discovery of replicating pathogenic circular RNAs by deep sequencing and a new computational algorithm. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(10), 3938-3943. doi:10.1073/pnas.1117815109Hadidi, A., Flores, R., Candresse, T., & Barba, M. (2016). Next-Generation Sequencing and Genome Editing in Plant Virology. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.0132

Conservative treatment for hypervascularised placental polyp with secondary haemoperitoneum: A case report

Objective: We describe the first case to our knowledge of hypervascularised placental polyp (HPP) presenting with acute pelvic pain and hemoperitoneum. Case Report: A 33 years-old woman with a history of medical abortion three months earlier came to our attention complaining acute pelvic pain and vaginal bleeding. Transvaginal (TV) and transabdominal (TA) ultrasound (US) demonstrated a highly vascular intrauterine lesion and intra-abdominal free fluid consistent with a diagnosis of haemoperitoneum. Emergency laparoscopy yielded no intra-abdominal bleeding and was followed by bilateral selective embolization of the uterine arteries due to persistent vaginal bleeding. Hysteroscopy and pathology findings were consistent with a final diagnosis of HPP. Conclusion: HPP may occur months or years after pregnancy or abortion and the clinical picture of abnormal vaginal bleeding associated with acute abdominal pain and haemoperitoneum should warrant to consider HPP among the differential diagnosis. Clinical and imaging findings need to be considered when planning the conservative management of HPP. Our experience suggests that uterine artery embolization is a safe and effective for the conservative treatment of highly vascularized HPP. (www. actabiomedica.it)

The energetics of the gradual phase

Reseachers compare results with those in the chapter by Moore et al. (1980), who reached five main conclusions about the gradual phase: (1) the typical density of the soft X-ray emitting plasma is between 10 to the 11th power and 10 to the 12th power cm-3 for compact flares and between 10 to the 10th power and 10 to the 11th power cm-3 for a large-area flare; (2) cooling is by conduction and radiation in roughly equal proportions; (3) continual heating is needed in the decay phase of two-ribbon flares; (4) continual heating is probably not needed in compact events; (5) most of the soft-X-ray-emitting plasma results from chromospheric evaporation. The goal was to reexamine these problems with the data from the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) and other supporting instruments as well as to take advantage of recent theoretical advances. SMM is capable of measuring coronal temperatures more accurately and with a better cadence than has been possible before. The SMM data set is also unique in that the complete transit of an active region was observed, with soft X-ray and UV images being taken every few minutes. Researcher's were therefore able to establish the pre-flare conditions of the region and see whether anything has changed as a result of the flare. The assumptions made in attempting to determine the required plasma parameters are described. The derived parameters for the five prime flares are presented, and the role of numerical simulations is discussed

Proanthocyanidins and where to find them: A meta-analytic approach to investigate their chemistry, biosynthesis, distribution and effect on human health

Proanthocyanidins (PACs) are a class of polyphenolic compounds that are attracting considerable interest in the nutraceutical field due to their potential health benefits. However, knowledge about the chemistry, biosynthesis, and distribution of PACs is limited. This review summarizes the main chemical characteristics and biosynthetic pathways and the main analytical methods aimed at their identification and quantification in raw plant matrices. Furthermore, meta-analytic approaches were used to identify the main plant sources in which PACs were contained and to investigate their potential effect on human health. In particular, a cluster analysis identified PACs in 35 different plant families and 60 different plant parts normally consumed in the human diet. On the other hand, a literature search, coupled with forest plot analyses, highlighted how PACs can be actively involved in both local and systemic effects. Finally, the potential mechanisms of action through which PACs may impact human health were investigated, focusing on their systemic hypoglycemic and lipid-lowering effects and their local anti-inflammatory actions on the intestinal epithelium. Overall, this review may be considered a complete report in which chemical, biosynthetic, ecological, and pharmacological aspects of PACs are discussed

Spatial and temporal distribution of vertical ground movements at Mt. Vesuvius in the period 1973-2009

Since the early ’70s vertical ground movements at Mount Vesuvius area have been investigated and monitored by the Osservatorio Vesuviano (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica Vulcanologia - Osservatorio Vesuviano since 2001). This monitoring began with the installation of a high-precision leveling line in the region at medium-high elevations on the volcano. The deformation pattern and expected strain field assessment methods in the volcanic structure induced by inner sources has demanded in subsequent years the expansion of the leveling network up to cover the whole volcanic area, enclosing part of leveling lines of other institutions. As a result of this expansion, the Mt. Vesuvius Area Leveling Network (VALN) has today reached a length of about 270 km and consists of 359 benchmarks. It is configured in 21 circuits and is connected, westward, to the Campi Flegrei leveling network and, northward, to the Campania Plain leveling network. The data collected have been carefully re-analyzed for random and systematic errors and for error propagation along the leveling lines to identify the areas affected by significant ground movements. For each survey, the data were rigorously adjusted and vertical ground movements were evaluated by differentiating the heights calculated by the various measurements conducted by the Osservatorio Vesuviano from 1973 to 2009

A Feedforward Neural Network Approach for the Detection of Optically Thin Cirrus From IASI-NG

The identification of optically thin cirrus is crucial for their accurate parameterization in climate and Earth's system models. This study exploits the characteristics of the infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer-new generation (IASI-NG) to develop an algorithm for the detection of optically thin cirrus. IASI-NG has been designed for the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) polar system second-generation program to continue the service of its predecessor IASI from 2024 onward. A thin-cirrus detection algorithm (TCDA) is presented here, as developed for IASI-NG, but also in parallel for IASI to evaluate its performance on currently available real observations. TCDA uses a feedforward neural network (NN) approach to detect thin cirrus eventually misidentified as clear sky by a previously applied cloud detection algorithm. TCDA also estimates the uncertainty of "clear-sky" or "thin-cirrus" detection. NN is trained and tested on a dataset of IASI-NG (or IASI) simulations obtained by processing ECMWF 5-generation reanalysis (ERA5) data with the s-IASI radiative transfer model. TCDA validation against an independent simulated dataset provides a quantitative statistical assessment of the improvements brought by IASI-NG with respect to IASI. In fact, IASI-NG TCDA outperforms IASI TCDA by 3% in probability of detection (POD), 1% in bias, and 2% in accuracy, and the false alarm ratio (FAR) passes from 0.02 to 0.01. Moreover, IASI TCDA validation against state-of-the-art cloud products from Cloudsat/CPR and CALIPSO/Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) real observations reveals a tendency for IASI TCDA to underestimate the presence of thin cirrus (POD = 0.47) but with a low FAR (0.07), which drops to 0.0 for very thin cirrus

Modeling a coronal loop heated by MHD-turbulence nanoflares

We model the hydrodynamic evolution of the plasma confined in a coronal loop, 30000 km long, subject to the heating of nanoflares due to intermittent magnetic dissipative events in the MHD turbulence produced by loop footpoint motions. We use the time-dependent distribution of energy dissipation along the loop obtained from a hybrid shell model, occurring for a magnetic field of about 10 G in corona; the relevant heating per unit volume along the loop is used in the Palermo-Harvard loop plasma hydrodynamic model. We describe the results focussing on the effects produced by the most intense heat pulses, which lead to loop temperatures between 1 and 1.5 MK.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, journal articl