Novel framework to improve water management adaptation under climate change scenarios

The impacts of projected climate change on freshwater resources are increasingly promoting the adoption of different approaches to water management, due to the likely occurrence of reduced water supplies and early-stage drought conditions in many river basins across Southern Europe. The traditional strategy to cope with water scarcity has largely relied on hard-path measures aimed at expanding the existing supply capacity by great investments in centralized, large-scale infrastructures such as dams and distribution systems. This approach is, however, becoming more and more unsustainable, giving way to effective soft-path solutions based on improved predictive capacities, optimal decision making and drought risk management. Given the need to ensure a more sustainable and efficient water management under current and projected scenarios, the study presents a novel decision-analytic framework to assist decision-makers in designing and assessing alternative soft-path measures in order to increase the adaptation of the system to a changing climate. The framework is being developed within the SO-WATCH project and it will be demonstrated on the Lake Como river basin (Italy) by implementing a four-stage procedure as follows: i) calibration and validation of a physical model comprising three sub-models simulating, respectively, the upstream catchment processes (TOPKAPI-ETH), the lake dynamics and water releases (DISTRILAKE) and the water balance in the irrigation system downstream the lake (IDRAGRA), ii) coupling of the hydrological model with a multi-agent systems model developed to reproduce human decisions and their effects on the system dynamics (e.g. dam operations and farmers practices), iii) definition and impact assessment of hydro-climatic and socio-technoeconomic scenarios supported by the calculation of drought indicators and iv) design and evaluation of soft-path measures to improve the efficiency of the water system. Preliminary results based on different climate change projections for the time period 2096-2100 (ensemble of different Global Climate Models, Regional Climate Models and Radiative Concentration Pathways as of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report) reveal a general reduction of the lake inflows in spring and summer, with an increasing frequency of drought conditions under the business-as-usual scenario. In order to design the most effective soft-path measures, a newly developed index, the Transpiration Deficit Index (D-TDI), will be applied along with other commonly used indexes. D-TDI takes into account the transpiration deficit (i.e. difference between potential and actual transpiration) computed by the IDRAGRA model on a daily basis and cumulated over a selected time span and allows an effective identification of drought prone areas

The effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on the dopamine system

Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, is a pressing concern to global mental health. Patterns of use are changing drastically due to legalisation, availability of synthetic analogues (‘spice’), cannavaping and aggrandizements in the purported therapeutic effects of cannabis. Many of THC’s reinforcing effects are mediated by the dopamine system. Due to complex cannabinoid-dopamine interactions there is conflicting evidence from human and animal research fields. Acute THC causes increased dopamine release and neuron activity, whilst long-term use is associated with blunting of the dopamine system. Future research must examine the long-term and developmental dopaminergic effects of the drug

Iatrogenic Arteriovenous Fistula After Trans-Heel Traction Pin : A Case Report

Our observation about the appearance of an iatrogenic arteriovenous fistula following the insertion of a trans-heel traction pin is therefore an exceptional event that has never been described before. During the insertion of the pins, the surgeon had damaged posterior tibial artery and vein, giving arteriovenous fistula. The diagnosis of an arteriovenous fistula was entertained because of the vascular peripheric symptomatology on the foot (heat, pain, cyanosis, and trophic disturbances). The diagnosis was possible only with Doppler-duplex and angiography exams. Analysis of this rare event leads us to conclude that, although certainly not particularly risky in terms of the possibility of vascular damage (as shown by the absence of reports in the literature), the positioning of trans-heel, trans-skeletal traction pins should scrupulously adhere to the consolidated technical norms. Otherwise, and as in our case, the combination of a wrong position and direction together with a slight anomaly in the course of the vessels could damage the vascular fascia. Our case confirms the absolute importance of Doppler-duplex and angiography exams for the prompt diagnosis of the AV fistulas. The more adequate surgical management for the AV fistulas is the ligation of the vein and reconstruction of the arterial flow with patch

Reproductive performance of women with unicornuate uterus

The reproductive history of 19 women with a diagnosis of unicornuate uterus confirmed by laparoscopy or laparotomy is analyzed. The patients were followed for 2 to 10 years. One patient had a cavitary communicating rudimentary horn, four a cavitary noncommunicating rudimentary horn, seven a noncavitary rudimentary horn, and seven no rudimentary horn. Six of the patients presented with primary infertility. The other 13 women had a total of 29 pregnancies, 1 (3.4%) in a rudimentary horn determining rupture; abortions occurred in 17 (58.6%), premature labor in 3 (10.3%), and term births in 8 (27.6%), with a live birth rate of 38%. Of the 11 births, 6 (54.5%) were breech presentations, and 9 (81.8%) were cesarean sections. In five cases the rudimentary horn was removed, with associated salpingooophorectomy in three patients. Cervical cerclage was not performed in any of the patients

Assay of GTP\u3b3S binding in autoradiography

Autoradiography of radiolabeled GTP\u3b3S ([35S]GTP\u3b3S) binding is a relevant method to study the function of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), in tissue sections. Here, we describe the protocol for such a binding autoradiography, suitable to investigate the functionality of CB1receptor in tissue slices from rodent brain

Cortical neuroinflammation contributes to long-term cognitive dysfunctions following adolescent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol treatment in female rats.

Over 180 million people consume cannabis globally. Cannabis use peaks during adolescence with a trend for continued consumption by adults. Notably, several studies have shown that long-term and heavy cannabis use during adolescence can impair brain maturation and predispose to neurodevelopmental disorders, although the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this association remain largely unknown.In this study, we evaluated whether, in female rats, chronic administration of increasing doses of the psychotropic plant-derived cannabis constituent, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), during adolescence (PND 35-45) could affect microglia function in the long-term. Furthermore, we explored a possible contribution of microglia to the development of THC-induced alterations in mood and cognition in adult female rats.Present data indicate that adolescent THC administration induces a persistent neuroinflammatory state specifically localized within the adult prefrontal cortex (PFC), characterized by increased expression of the pro-inflammatory markers, TNF-\u3b1, iNOS and COX-2, and reduction of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10. This neuroinflammatory phenotype is associated with down-regulation of CB1 receptor on neuronal cells and up-regulation of CB2 on microglia cells, conversely. Interestingly, blocking microglia activation with ibudilast during THC treatment significantly attenuates short-term memory impairments in adulthood, simultaneously preventing the increases in TNF-\u3b1, iNOS, COX-2 levels as well as the up-regulation of CB2 receptors on microglia cells. In contrast, THC-induced depressive-like behaviors were unaffected by ibudilast treatment.Our findings demonstrate that adolescent THC administration is associated with persistent neuroinflammation within the PFC and provide evidence for a causal association between microglial activation and the development long-term cognitive deficits induced by adolescent THC treatment

Connectivity among wetlands matters for vulnerable amphibian populations in wetlandscapes

Wetlands have been degraded and destroyed, resulting in the decline of many wetland-dependent species populations. Many conservation efforts are based on protection of individual wetlands; however, fluxes of energy, materials and organisms between wetlands create important structural and functional connections upon which several species depend. We investigated the role of individual wetlands within a wetlandscape in sustaining an amphibian population. Wetlandscapes were represented as networks, where nodes were wetlands and links were flows of organisms described by an amphibian population model. Relationships between a wetland's connectivity to the other wetlands and the abundance of amphibians under different wetland management strategies were examined. The first finding was that wetlands within a network can be classified into sinks (where local mortality exceeds birth rate), sources (where local birth rate exceeds mortality), and pseudo-sinks (where excessive immigration maintains the population above the carrying capacity). These three wetland classes have low, medium, and high Indegree (a parameter reflecting a wetland's connectivity), respectively. The second finding was that management interventions in wetlands have different consequences according to the wetland's Indegree: wetland removal has the worst impact on amphibian populations if the wetland is a source, and wetland restoration has the best impact if the wetland is a pseudo-sink. These findings provide support for policies that managing wetlands not as independent objects but as integral parts of the wetlandscape