Coronary artery-pulmonary artery fistula: case report

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery fistulas are rare congenital or acquired coronary artery anomalies that can originate from any of the three major coronary arteries and drain in all the cardiac chambers and great vessels. CASE PRESENTATION: An 11-year-old boy was referred for evaluation of an exertional dyspnoea. He reported recent history of few episodes of shortness of breath associated with moderate entity physical activity. At physical examination a mild continuous murmur could be heard mainly at the level of the second intercostal space of the left parasternal area. A transthoracic echocardiogram showed a continuous flow at color Doppler analysis in the high parasternal short axis view, originating from a small entry site on the wall of the main pulmonary artery. A selective left coronary angiography revealed a fistula connecting the proximal portion of the left anterior descending coronary artery with the main pulmonary artery. CONCLUSION: A combination like the one described in the present case is unusual since fistulas originate from the left coronary artery in about 35% of cases and drainage into the pulmonary artery occurs in only 17%

Assessing land take by urban development and its impact on carbon storage: Findings from two case studies in Italy

Land take due to urbanization triggers a series of negative environmental impactswith direct effects on quality of life for people living in cities. Changes in ecosystem services are associated with land take, among which is the immediate C loss due to land use conversion. Land use change monitoring represents the first step in quantifying land take and its drivers and impacts. To this end, we propose an innovative methodology for monitoring land take and its effects on ecosystem services (in particular, C loss) undermulti-scale contexts. The devised approach was tested in two areas with similar sizes, but different land take levels during the time-span 1990–2008 in Central Italy (the Province of Rome and theMolise Region). The estimates of total coverage of built up areaswere calculated using point sampling. The area of the urban patches including each sampling point classified as built up areas in the year 1990 and/or in the year 2008 is used to estimate total abundance and average area of built up areas. Biophysical and economic values for carbon loss associated with land take were calculated using InVEST. Although land take was 7–8 times higher in the Province of Rome (from 15.1% in 1990 to 20.4% in 2008) than in Molise region, our findings show that its relative impact on C storage is higher in the latter,where the urban growth consistently affects not only croplands but also semi-natural land uses such as grasslands and other wooded lands. The total C loss due to land take has been estimated in 1.6 million Mg C, corresponding to almost 355 million €. Finally, the paper discusses the main characteristics of urban growth and their ecological impact leading to risks and challenges for future urban planning and land use policies

Modelling goods and services from cork oak forests

Forest ecosystems provide multiple essential ecosystem services (ES) for ecological and human well-being. In forest management, understanding of the services and functions distribution, interactions and assessing the economic value of forest ES represent an important future challenge to balancing tradeoffs among them. In this study we consider three ES related to cork oak forest management: (i) carbon storage and sequestration, (ii) water yield, and (iii) cork production

The E-Cultural Adaption Framework (E-CAF) : adapting the local travel interface for Egyptian consumers

Although the Internet has become a global medium, which companies use to access individuals worldwide, it is argued in this thesis that cultural issues still need to be taken into account when designing Web sites. In fact, international marketers agree that culture in terms of consumers‘ values and beliefs remains a significant constraint for reaching international consumers. Professional analysts and designers generally agree that well-designed user interfaces improve the performance and appeal of the Web and help in reaching large numbers of consumers across cultures. Therefore, one way of improving the user-interface is by paying attention to users' culture, which means developing culturally adapted Web sites. The Web localisation literature addresses the users' ultural concerns by utilising some of the popular cultural models like those of Hofstede and Hall; however these tools are not appropriate for handling the cultural values affecting the online behaviour of consumers. Effective Web localisation can be achieved through an appropriate cultural framework that incorporates the cultural values that affect the online behaviour of consumers. This thesis introduces the electronic cultural adaption framework or E-CAF, as a structure for adapting local Web interfaces. The E-CAF, constructed for the travel domain, uses six cultural dimensions derived from the observation of behaviour and identifies unique cultural variables that affect online consumer behaviour. The E-CAF is constructed using grounded theory methodology and is then evaluated as a tool for adapting local Web interfaces. This includes discussing the applicability of the E-CAF as a tool for identifying online marketing strategies suitable for targeting consumers across cultures and using the E-CAF to assess and evaluate the cultural adaptation of three Egyptian local travel interfaces. Finally, the E-CAF is utilized as a means for developing questions that can help designers to collect the clients' designing requirements. This helps the designers to build an effective local interface based on an understanding of each client‘s special design requirements.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Monitoring land take by point sampling: pace and dynamics of urban expansion in the Metropolitan City of Rome

Land take due to the rapid growth of urban areas is an issue of global concern. It calls for sound monitoring methodologies to quantify the phenomenon, with a view to verify the effectiveness of urban growth management strategies. To this end, we propose an integrated statistical approach, coupling point sampling and mapping techniques, to estimate the number and size of urban areas, in a given territory, on successive occasions. Urban areas classification is based on all land cover classes contributing to urban structure, and is more comprehensive than assessments based on sealed surfaces only. The devised approach is here tested to quantify land take by urban expansion during 1990-2008 in the Metropolitan City of Rome (Central Italy). Urban areas coverage increased from 15.4% in 1990 to approximately 20.4% in 2008. During this period, 11,000. ha, mainly agricultural land, were taken by urban sprawl in Rome's municipality. This occurred despite the fact that population had remained stable. Our findings also indicate that the average land take per-capita in Rome municipality is about four times higher than the average value of urban residential area per capita of mid-to-large European cities. We therefore discuss the potential of the proposed method for a reliable monitoring of urban expansion, in order to support sustainable urban management and to highlight factors underpinning unregulated urban development. © 2015 Elsevier B.V

Precision forestry

Il recente sviluppo delle tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione ha favorito l’applicazione al settore forestale di nuove strategie e metodologie gestionali note come Precision Forestry. Questa nota presenta una rassegna commentata delle tecnologie disponibili per il raggiungimento degli obiettivi di miglioramento e dell’efficienza della filiera foresta-legno nel settore forestale