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The study investigated the presence of heavy metals in the surface sediments of one of the most important wetlands in south Italy, Lake Patria, and the related environmental risk. Surface sediments were analyzed for particle size and shape, total organic carbon and As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn levels. Mean total organic carbon was high, 3.1 %, with a peak of 5.9 % near the input of freshwater channel whereas sediments appeared to be mainly composed of sand and/or gravel and significantly polluted by metals especially Cr, Cu and Zn. Data from heavy metals spatial distribution, Pearson correlation, principal component analysis and geochemical indices suggested dominant anthropogenic source for most metals. Mean I geo values of Cr, Cu and Ni were in the range of 4.6–7.3 of strongly polluted class while their relative mean enrichment factors were largely exceeding the threshold of the anthropic pollution, 1.5. A very high pollution situation was also outlined when considering the Cf indices, with Cr, Cu and Ni possessing mean values from an order of magnitude of ten to hundred times higher the very high polluted class, 6 ≤ Cf. On the overall, the integrated indices of modified contamination degree, pollution load and ecological risk revealed a serious pollution scenario. The mean comprehensive ecological hazard index was fivefold the most critical limit, ≥600, in almost all the lagoon and especially in the locations close to channel. • Sediment heavy metals richness of a Mediterranean wetland in south Italy • Pearson correlation, principal component analysis, enrichment/pollution indices assay • High enrichment of Cr, Cu and Ni hundreds times higher than the anthropic levels • Extremely worrying levels of the ecological risk of Cr, Cu and Ni [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We studied the bioaccumulation of metals and PAHs, the pathological conditions, regressive phenomena and pathogens in wild Mytilus galloprovincialis taken along the North Pier facing the former second Italian largest steelworks of Bagnoli. There was no Cd and Pb bioaccumulation with respect to the EU role 221/2002. Metal shell index decreased as follows: Pb > Ni > Zn > Cu and correlates with the pollution state. The level of BaP was up to thirtysixfold higher the EU rule 835/2011. The sum of 4 hydrocarbons, PAH4, were up to seventeen-fold the rule. PAH levels increased toward the coast. Prevalence values of tissue necrosis and inflammatory lesions were between 50 and 100%. In May animals showed lesion like granulocytomas and inflammatory capsules. Signs of atresia, necrotic oocytes and diffused cases of hermaphroditism were detected. An appropriate localization of farming to avoid contamination from sediment turbulence and risks for consumer health is needed. Highlights • Mapping of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and sources in the Gulf of Pozzuoli • Twelve diagnostic indexes for attribution of PAHs emission source • Determination of sedimentary transit axes along the seabed by grain size analysis • Outstanding levels of PAHs pollution over all the Bay of Pozzuoli • Pyrogenic nature of PAHs from Bagnoli brownfield through all Pozzuoli Gul [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Gulf of Pozzuoli includes the former second largest Italian steelworks of Bagnoli. The REE, Y, Th and Sc pollution in sediments of the Gulf of Pozzuoli was determined. Ce, La, Nd and Pr had the highest percentage distribution of rare earth elements normalized respect to chondrite with 31.19, 28.35, 19.51 and 8.41% individually. It was observed a marked enrichment of these elements, from west to the east from 26.39 to 111.04 mg/kg and from onshore to offshore from 31.67 to 217.74 mg/kg. The output of the principal component analysis revealed that the REE were mainly of anthropic origin being clearly linked to that of PAHs, metals and organic matter. This, together with their distribution patterns, highlighted the role of the former Bagnoli metallurgical plant in the pollution of the gulf. Highlights • Levels of pollution of rare earth elements in sediments of the Gulf of Pozzuoli • Significant enrichment of rare earth elements towards the Bagnoli brownfield • Main sources from submarine hydrothermal springs • Large association of rare earth elements with Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the literature reports on the impact of the former Bagnoli brownfield on the pollution of Bagnoli Bay, embedded in the Gulf of Pozzuoli (GoP). Thus, we studied concentrations, types and sources of sixteen PAHs (EPA) in sediments at 22 sites along 5 transects covering the entire area of GoP. Outstanding levels of PAHs were found, varying from 7.1 μg g − 1 to 2.5 E + 3 μg g − 1 . Sediments collected at sites far away from Bagnoli were found to be polluted to a similar extent than those facing the brownfield site, with values > 100 μg g − 1 . Total PAHs levels in the sediments of GoP were higher by thirty-eleven thousand fold than those reported by other studies from various marine sites in the world. Transit axes of fine and very fine sands and diagnostic indexes revealed a common pyrolytic PAHs pollution spreading from the Bagnoli plant to all GoP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of metals in surface sediments of Gulf of Pozzuoli (GoP), embedding the former second Italian largest integrated steelworks of Bagnoli, was studied based on sediment dispersal, quality guidelines (SQGs) and quantitative pollution indices of the respective metals. As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Zn largely exceeded the limits. Hg had a mean of 5.8 mg/kg, twentyfold higher the rule, accumulating primarily near Bagnoli site. The mean effective range quotient, m-ERM-Q, revealed a high potential for negative biological effects especially in the area nearby the Bagnoli site. The enrichment factor (EF) values were outstandingly high, > 1.5 with values which were often ≥ 100. The geoaccumulation index, Igeo, was very critical for Cr, Cu, Hg and Ni, showing an Igeo in the range of strongly polluted (4 < Igeo < 5) and very strongly polluted (Igeo > 5). The principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson's correlation matrix (CM), excluded significant contribution from weathering products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sediments of Ganga estuary, Hooghly River in India, were assayed for the effect of monsoon season on heavy metal loads over 2014–2017, a time frame never investigated before. As, Co, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, correlated with Mn, r 0.70–0.83, and Fe, r 0.70–0.76, meaning bounding to amorphous and/or crystallized iron and manganese oxyhydroxides. Pb and U were highly correlated, r of 0.86, and this may be likely linked to the important presence of the fertilizer industry. Ni instead had a negative correlation with the other metals indicating a different provenience. During the monsoon season, it was observed a significant increase in the number of metals significantly correlated with Mn, Fe, and Al, r of 0.80–0.86, due likely to weathering of transported continental detritus. All metals, except Ni, were significantly correlated with silt, r 0.73–0.83, which together with Mn, Fe and Al, is responsible for the increased transport of metals under monsoon period. Temporal trends of metals and ecological risk indexes split over two periods after the 2015 monsoon. The geo-accumulation index of As decreased from 3.82 to 1.14 and that of Ni increased from 2.74 to 3.99. On the overall the geo-accumulation index, enrichment factor, and pollution load indexes were several folds higher than those from the literature. Ni was the most threatening element for the aquatic ecosystem being above TEL and ERM quality guidelines by 100 and 98.9 %. • Study on heavy metals load and variation with the monsoon along the Hooghly Estuary • Metal enrichment assessment by multivariate analyses and pollution factor methods • Assay of potential ecological risk from metal level and monsoonal temporal variation • Dependence of heavy metals contamination on monsoon atmospheric events • Monsoons significantly impact temporal trends of metal levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multidisciplinary survey was carried out on the quality of water and sediments of a coastal protected marine area, embedded between the inputs from Bagnoli steel plant to the south and a sewage plant, Volturno River and Regi Lagni channel to the north. The study integrated chemical-sedimentological data with biological and ecotoxicological analyses to assess anthropogenic pressures and natural variability. Data reveal marked differences in anthropogenic pollution between southeastern and northwestern zone, with the north affected by both inorganic and organic flows and the south influenced by levels of As, Pb and Zn in the sediments above law limits, deriving from inputs of the Bagnoli brownfield site. Meiobenthic data revealed at south higher relative abundance of sensitive species to pollution and environmental stress to the south, i.e. Lobatula lobatula and Rosalina bradyi , whereas to the north relative abundance of stress tolerant Quinqueloculina lata , Quinqueloculina pygmaea and Cribroelphidium cuvilleri were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution, inventory, and potential risk of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), including Hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) and Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs), and their correlation with soil properties and anthropogenic factors were investigated in soils of the Campanian Plain. The total concentrations of HCHs and DDTs ranged from 0.03 to 17.3 ng/g (geometric mean: GM = 0.05 ng/g), and 0.08–1231 ng/g (GM = 14.4 ng/g), respectively. In general, the concentration of OCPs in farmland and orchards was higher than on land used for non-agricultural purposes. There are significant differences in the concentration of OCPs in the soils across the region, more specifically, the Acerra-Marigliano conurbation (AMC) and Sarno River Basin (SRB) are recognized as severely OCP-contaminated areas. The recent application of technical HCHs and DDTs in large quantities appears unlikely in light of the ratio of α -HCH/ β -HCH and p,p ′-DDT/ p,p ′-DDE, and the prohibition of the use of these chemicals in Italy nearly forty years ago. The clear correlation between the concentration of DDTs and organic carbon suggests a typical secondary distribution pattern. The mass inventory of OCPs in soils of the Campanian Plain is estimated to have a GM of 17.3 metric tons. There is no clear evidence linking the impact of geographical distribution of OCPs on the incidence of cancer, and the 95% confidence interval of total incremental lifetime cancer risk (TILCR) data falls below the internationally accepted benchmark value of 1 × 10 −5 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the use of electrochemical peroxidation, an emerging remediation technology, with direct electric current applied to steel electrode and small addition of hydrous ferric oxides to remove arsenic from contaminated aqueous solutions. Effect of hydrogen-ion concentration on arsenic adsorption by hydrous ferric oxides; Effect of current time processing.

• Osteoblastoma is a locally aggressive, benign, bone-forming tumor. • The bones of hand and foot are uncommon localizations. • Osteoblastoma of the cuboid bone is extremely rare. Osteoblastoma is a relatively rare, benign, bone-forming tumor, commonly observed in the second and third decades of life. Spine and the long tubular bones are the most common sites of involvement. Osteoblastoma is infrequently seen in other sites, including the bones of hand and foot. A rare case of a 35-year-old man that presented an osteoblastoma of the cuboid bone is reported. The patient was treated with surgical resection and grafting. After the intervention, the patient recovered with no clinical and radiological evidence of recurrence after one year of follow-up. Several cases of osteoblastoma-like variant of osteosarcoma of the cuboid have been previously reported, but, to our knowledge, this is the first case of conventional and isolated osteoblastoma involving the cuboid bone reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal concentrations in sediments of the Gulf of Pozzuoli, GoP, and northwest of the Gulf beyond Monte di Procida, MdP, were determined. The enrichment factor, EF, revealed in GoP strong pollution with peaks for Cr and Cu of 61.1 and 96.9. High EF Cr, Cu, and Ni values were observed for MDP. Geoaccumulation index, Igeo, rates GoP extremely polluted by Cr and Cu, Igeo > 5, and MdP heavily polluted by Cr, moderately to heavily polluted by Cu, and heavily to extremely polluted by Ni. Contamination factor, Cf, was high in GoP and varied: Cu > Cr > Ni > Cd > Hg > Zn > Pb > As, and those of Cr, Cu and Ni largely surpassed the thresholds in MdP. The ecological and comprehensive ecological risk placed Cr, Cu, Hg and Ni at high or serious risk level in the Gulf, with a peak of 465 for Cu and at a moderate level in MdP except for a very high risk for Ni. • EF and Igeo revealed strong accumulation of heavy metals. • PCA showed high association of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Pb, Zn due to metallurgic activity. • Ni contamination was related to shipyards of the port of Baia in W-Gulf of Pozzuoli. • As contamination links to submarine hydrothermal springs. • Pollution and ecological risk spread far beyond the Gulf of Pozzuoli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Despite good clinical outcome proposals, there has been relatively little published regarding the use of non-metallic implant for patellar fracture fixation. The purpose of the study was to perform a systematic literature review to summarize and evaluate the clinical studies that described techniques for treating patella fractures using non-metallic implants.Methods: A comprehensive literature search was systematically performed to evaluate all studies included in the literature until November 2015. The following search terms were used: patellar fracture, patella suture, patella absorbable, patella screw, patella cerclage. Two investigators independently reviewed all abstracts and the selection of these abstracts was then performed based on inclusion and/or exclusion criteria.Results: A total of 9 studies involving 123 patients were included. Patients had a mean age of 33.7 years and were followed up for a mean of 18.9 months. The most common method for fracture fixations included the use of suture material. Good clinical outcomes were reported among all studies. Thirteen patients (10.5%) presented complications, while 4 patients (3.2%) required additional surgery for implant removal.Conclusion: There is a paucity of literature focused on the use of non-metallic implant for patellar fracture fixation. However, this systematic review showed that non-metallic implants are able to deliver good clinical outcomes reducing the rate of surgical complications and re-operation. These results may assist surgeons in choosing to use alternative material such as sutures to incorporate into their routine practice or to consider it, in order to reduce the rate of re-operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) remedial technology was used for the degradation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in marine sediments taken in front of the brownfield steelwork facility of Bagnoli, Gulf of Pozzuoli, South Western Italy. PAHs levels were quite high and up to 30 μg/g for fluoranthene and 0.21 μg/g d.w. L of sediments for acenaphthene. Heavy PAHs prevailed vs light PAHs in the sediment samples before, during and after the treatment by MFCs. Different degradation rates were measured according to the complexity of each PAH, as expected. Among all PAHs, naphthalene showed after four weeks the highest degradation rate (86%), while just the 10% of Indenol[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene was degraded. MFCs achieved their highest performance in terms of Power Density (PD) after two weeks, with values ranging between 20.4 mW/m2 and 3.17 mW/m2 of anodic surface. CD values were normalized to the anodic surface as well, falling within a maximum of 204.8 mA/m2 and a minimum of 9.5 mA/m2. Even though the dynamics of PAHs degradation in MFCs and the influence of other pollutants (like metals) on MFCs performance as well as the potential mobilization of pollutants in consequence of microbial activity have to be ascertained, our preliminary results prove the high potentialities of MFCs for in-situ marine sediments remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Massive rotator cuff tears are common in the aging population. The incidence of failed rotator cuff repairs is still quite high, especially in the treatment of full-thickness tears or revision repairs. In this context, natural and synthetic meshes can be used as augmentation scaffolds or as devices to close the gap between a retracted tendon and the bone. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the ultimate tensile strength of different tendon-patch joints in order to consider their use in the treatment of massive cuff tears.Materials and Methods: Porcine tendons and a synthetic low-density polypropylene mesh have been used. A preliminary study on the tensile strength of tendons and patches has been performed. Different patch-tendon joints have been studied by modifying the number and the layout of the sutures. For every joint, the tensile test, performed through an electromechanical machine, has been repeated at least twice to obtain reliable data.Results: Experimental tensile tests on tendons and patches have given good results with very low dispersion data. Mean values of the calculated ultimate tensile stresses are, respectively, about 34 MPa and 16 MPa for tendons and patches. As regards the sutures arrangement, the staggered layout gave, for all joints, a higher tensile strength than the regular (aligned) one. Different ultimate tensile stress values, depending on the sutures number and layout, have been calculated for the joints.Conclusion: Synthetic patches could be an interesting option to repair massive cuff tears and to improve, in a significant way, pain, range of motion and strength at time 0, so reducing the rehabilitation time. Obtained results demonstrated that joints with a suitable number and layout of sutures could ensure very good mechanical performances. The failure load of the tendon-patch joint, in fact, is higher than the working load on a healthy tendon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hydrogeological and hydrogeochemical survey in the Cumae archaeological site (Phlegraean Fields, southern Italy) together with radon levels determination in groundwater have been carried out. The study was motivated by the fact that the site is often submerged by the outcrop of groundwater, threatening the integrity of ruins, and hence by the need to preserve such important archaeological park. The hydrostratigraphic and hydrogeological data revealed the presence of a multi-layered aquifer system, formed by a shallow unconfined and a deep semiconfined aquifer. The groundwater flow appeared to be strongly influenced by vertical and lateral lithological heterogeneity of volcanic-sedimentary deposits, as well as by groundwater pumping and drainage by surface micro-channel system. The dominant hydrochemical facies were Cl − -SO 4 2 − -Na + -K + , HCO 3 − -Ca 2 + -Mg 2 + and HCO 3 − Na + -K + types. These facies were affected by: i) dissolution and chemical weathering, ion exchange with volcanic-sedimentary deposits, ii) localized rise along faults and fractured zones of deep magmatic fluids highly mineralized, with outstanding levels of F − , 6.4 mg L − 1 in deep water and 3.3 mg L − 1 in shallow water, and 222 Rn, 31,500 Bq m − 3 in deep water and 5400 Bq m − 3 in shallow water; iii) freshwater-saltwater interactions, induced by groundwater pumping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The levels of six non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs 28, 52, 101, 138, 153, and 180) were determined in the liver of 84 loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) stranded along the coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Campania Region (Southern Italy), from 2017 to 2021. The average value of the sum (∑ 6 PCB IND) was 28.0 ± 52.2 ng/g (w.w.). The hexachlorobiphenyls PCB 153 and PCB 138 and the heptachlorobiphenyl PCB 180 were the main contributors to the ∑ 6 PCB IND. A weak positive correlation was found between CCL and highly chlorinated PCBs, with adult females having lower PCB concentrations than juvenile females and adult males. This study provides more comprehensive information on the levels of NDL - PCB in Mediterranean loggerhead turtles and sets the basis for assessing anthropogenic impacts on this species. [Display omitted] • C. Caretta from the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea accumulated highly chlorinated PCBs. • Correlations between PCBs concentration and sex, age and size were evaluated. • Concentrations of NDL-PCBs in liver tissues were analyzed using HRGC-HRMS. • Adult females had lower PCB concentrations than juvenile females and adult males. • Contamination levels were much lower than those found in other geographic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]