Search

Byline: G. Finzi, C. Silibello, M. Volta High ozone levels are regularly reached during the summer period in Italian urban areas, indicating the need for a careful design of primary pollutants emission reduction strategies. In this perspective, the CALGRID-CALMET modelling system has been applied to the Milano metropolitan area and its suburbs, a very industrialised and populated region in the Po Valley. A simulation domain of 100 x 100 kmO has been considered and a summer period, characterised by high photochemical activity, has been selected. Hourly emissions have been derived by spatially and temporally disaggregated national inventories data, while standard upper-air and ground based meteorological data have been used as inputs to the CALMET pre-processor. The modelling system has been applied for the evaluation and comparison of different emission control strategies. Since the main source of pollutants in the area is actually traffic, the impact of cleaner fuels and cleaner cars has been investigated.

COVID-19 and HHV8 first spotted together: an affair under electron microscopy Despite the publication of articles about dermatopathology of COVID-related skin lesions,1 only a few among these investigate patients with SARS-CoV-2 and other viral co-infections showing cutaneous manifestations. Finding both COVID-19 and HHV8 viruses in a patient's specimen observed under TEM3 led us to speculate the mechanisms of co-infection of these pathogens. [Extracted from the article]

Very high secondary pollution concentrations often occur in Northern Italy, due to the density of anthropogenic emissions and frequent stagnant meteorological conditions that characterise the area. In such a situation it is important to use Chemical Transport Models (CTMs), to properly describe phenomena bringing to pollution formation and accumulation. Meteorological models are one of the drivers of CTMs and, due to their complexity, require high computational costs to be run. Within the HPC-EUROPA (Pan-European Research Infrastructure on High Performance Computing) project, the meteorological fields over Northern Italy have been simulated using RAMS, creating a database for future air quality assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric aerosol particles have a great impact on the environment and on human health. Routine analysis of the particles usually involves only the mass determination. However, chemical composition and phases provide fundamental information about the particles' origins and can help to prevent health risks. For example, these particles may contain heavy metals such as Pb, Ni and Cd, which can adversely affect human health. In this work, filter samples were collected in Brescia, an industrial town located in Northern Italy. In order to identify the chemical composition and the phases of the atmospheric aerosols, the samples were analysed by means of total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometry with a laboratory instrument and X-ray microdiffraction at Synchrotron Daresbury Laboratories, Warrington (Cheshire, UK). The results are discussed and correlated to identify possible pollution sources. The novelty of this analytical approach is that filter samples for TXRF were analysed directly and did not require chemical pretreatment to leach elements from the aerosol particulates. The results of this study clearly show that TXRF is a powerful technique for the analysis of atmospheric aerosols on 'as-received' filters, thereby leaving samples intact and unaltered for possible subsequent analyses by other methods. In addition, the low detection limits for many elements (low ng/cm2) indicate that this method may hold promise in various application fields, such as nanotechnology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BD-5 monoclonal antibody reacted with tumour cells in 262 of 316 cases of gastric cancers, including 121 of 134 early, 141 of 182 advanced tumours (p less than 0.01), and 113 of 146 glandular, 72 of 83 diffuse, 22 of 25 mucoid, and 55 of 59 mixed tumours. No difference in reactivity was observed between metastatic and non-metastatic advanced tumours. Immunocytochemical techniques applied to light and electron microscopical specimens of colorectal mucosa and gastric cancer showed that BD-5 immunoreactive material occurred in the Golgi complex, in small clear, to dense cored, cytoplasmic vesicles, and in the glycocalix of the luminal and lateral membranes of normal and neoplastic cells in the glands, as well as in the peripheral membrane of dispersed neoplastic cells. Mucin granules stored in the cytoplasm of goblet cells were unreactive or poorly reactive. Ultrastructural features consistent with colorectal type differentiation were observed in many reactive tumours. Unreactive tumours showing ultrastructural patterns consistent with intestinal differentiation, especially of small bowel type, were also observed. Signs of intestinal differentiation, including BD-5 immunoreactivity, often occur in gastric cancer, irrespective of histological type and stage of disease. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Focuses on the evaluation of urban pollution abatement strategies by a photochemical dispersion model. Features of the photochemical dispersion model; Examination of impact of cleaner fuels on emission control.