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: ObjectivesTo describe the operative technique of a new, Y-shaped, ileal neobladder and report the clinical and functional outcomes to add a contribution to the most discussed issues about orthotopic neobladders, in particular related to the problem of the prevention of strictures of ureteral-neobladder anastomoses.: MethodsBetween January 1999 and June 2002, 50 patients (41 men and 9 women) underwent radical cystectomy and Y-shaped orthotopic neobladder reconstruction. The following parameters were considered: operative time, complications, and functional outcomes (evaluated with voiding chart and a questionnaire analyzing continence). Urodynamic studies were performed in the first 20 patients.: ResultsThe operative time for neobladder reconstruction was 15 to 20 minutes. No severe complications or significant metabolic complications were recorded. Only 1 case of unilateral stricture of the ureteral-neobladder anastomosis was recorded (1% of renal units); the stricture was easily treated with a retrograde endoscopic approach. Daytime and nighttime continence was good or satisfactory in 90% and 85% of patients, respectively. One year after surgery, the average maximal neobladder capacity was 390 mL, and the average pressure at maximal capacity was 15 cm H2O.: ConclusionsThe ileal Y-shaped orthotopic neobladder had good functional outcomes comparable to most popular orthotopic neobladders. Moreover, the surgical technique of the Y-neobladder is easy, rapid, and reliable. In particular, the Y-neobladder seemed to reduce, in our experience, the occurrence of strictures at the ureteral-neobladder anastomosis, because it permits a perfectly aligned anastomosis without mobilization of the ureters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since NiMH and NiCd batteries are still used in the electronic devices market, a treatment and recycling plant has many advantages both from the environmental and the economic points of view. Unfortunately, there is no relationship between shape, size and chemical composition of spent batteries, consequently the characterization and the leaching method of the starting material becomes an important step of the overall treatment process in choosing the best conditions for the selective separation of the metals by hydrometallurgy. Leaching at 20°C with H2SO4 2M for about 2h seems to be a good solution in terms of cost and efficiency for both battery types. The hydroxide compounds can be readily leached while Ni present as metallic form requires more aggressive conditions due to kinetic constraints. In this paper, the characterization of NiMH and NiCd spent batteries and the results of leaching tests in different conditions are reported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Messinian pre-evaporitic seep carbonates outcropping in the Tuscan-Romagna area share a common upward stratigraphic trend: massive seep carbonates rich in large lucinids, modiolids and planktonic foraminifera pass upward to horizontally laminated carbonates free of macrofauna and foraminifera. A transitional macrofauna-free facies marks the passage in some sections, sometimes with faint lamination. Thin section petrography, SEM-EDS analyses, and X-ray diffraction revealed a high textural and mineralogical variability between the studied sections and facies. In general, the upward facies transition is associated with a switch from massive packstone/grainstone with complex carbonate mineralogy to laminated mudstone microfacies with monomineralic, mostly dolomitic, carbonate composition. The δ13C values of all facies indicate domination of methane-derived carbon, thus demonstrating a methane-charged sedimentary setting with precipitation of authigenic carbonates induced by anaerobic oxidation of methane. The transitional and laminated facies contain several structures typical of microbial sediments, such as peloids, filamentous features, clotted micrite, fibrous cement, and frequent fenestrae; web-like structures are remnants of cyanobacterial mats and resemble Entophysalidaceae thriving at the bottom of the Messinian sea. The distinctive depositional and biotic switch (abrupt disappearance of macrofauna and planktonic foraminifera, predominance of dolomite over calcite, absence of aragonite, presence of horizontal lamination) reflects important environmental changes taking place in the basin. The rise of δ18O from the massive, through transitional, to the laminated facies suggests either a drop of bottom-water temperature or an increase of salinity. Nevertheless, other paleoenvironmental changes must have co-occurred in order to account for the dramatic facies shift observed. We hypothesize that this change could reflect the development of water-column stratification with respect to both salinity and oxygen concentration shortly before the Messinian Salinity Crisis. • Seep carbonates preceding the Messinian evaporites record the transition from marine to stressed evaporitic conditions. • The transition from seep massive to laminated carbonates is marked by loss of macrofauna and dolomite prevailing over calcite. • Microbial fabrics in Messinian seep-carbonates indicate that cyanobacterial communities were crucial in arbonate formation. • The δ18O rise from massive,to laminated facies reflects either a drop of bottom water temperature or a rise of salinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We present new field data from three outcrops of Miocene methane-derived authigenic carbonates in the foredeep of the northern Apennines that contain chemosynthetic fauna and record a long history (∼1 Ma) of shallow fluid seepage linked to seafloor anaerobic oxidation of methane. The studied outcrops show similar features in terms of carbonate morphology, facies, spatial distribution and lateral and vertical contacts with the enclosing sediments. Methane-derived carbonates occur in two structural positions: 1) on the slope of the accretionary wedge in hemipelagites draping buried thrust-related anticlines, and 2) at the leading edge of the deformation front in the inner foredeep, within fault-related anticlines standing above the adjacent deep seafloor as intrabasinal ridges. We compare fossil seeps with two extensively investigated modern analogues: the Hikurangi Margin, offshore New Zealand and Hydrate Ridge, on the Cascadia margin, offshore the U.S.A. These analogues share a similar compressive structural setting and are marked by the presence of variably extensive and voluminous methane-derived carbonate bodies and chemosynthetic fauna on the present-day seafloor. The comparison allows us to propose a model for the evolution of fluid seeps on thrust-related ridges. At the deformation front, uplift and geometry of the anticlinal ridges are controlled by the growth of splay faults, mostly blind, connected to the basal detachment, favoring the migration of fluids toward the incipient anticline. Fold development generates extensional stresses in the hinge zone of the anticline, promoting the development of normal faults; fluid migration pathways and seafloor seeps shift from the forelimb toward the crest of the ridge as the structures evolve. In the slope setting, far from the deformation front, thrust faults and extensional faults in buried anticlines remain the main fluid migration pathways to sustain seepage at the seafloor. After reaching a mature stage within the wedge, the structure is less active and buried in the slope environment of the evolved prism. Highlights • We provide summary of recurring features at seep outcrops in the northern Apennines. • Fossil seeps are compared with analogues from modern compressive settings. • The onset and evolution of seeps are linked to the development of anticlinal ridges. • We propose a new evolutionary model for seeps on accretionary ridges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a systematic evaluation of the effect of dissimilar charging / discharging temperatures on the long-term performance of lithium iron phosphate / graphite based cells by using multi-factor analysis of variance. Specifically, the degradation of prototype pouch cells is presented in a range of charging and discharging temperatures from -20 °C to +30 °C, counting a total of 10 temperature combinations. In this manner, not only the effect of charging and discharging temperatures was analyzed, but also the correlations between them. Fitting of the data showed a quadratic relationship of degradation rate with charging temperature, a linear relationship with discharging temperature and a correlation between charging and discharging temperature. Cycling at the charge/discharge temperatures (+30 °C, -5 °C) produced the highest degradation rate, whereas cycling in the range from -20 °C to +15 °C, in various charge/discharge temperature combinations, created almost no degradation. It was also found that when Tc≅ 15 °C the degradation rate is independent of Td . When Tc < +15 °C, the higher degradation occurs at higher Td and at Tc > +15 °C lower degradation occurs at higher Td . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early period, even though professional photographers worked with similar techniques and products, their artistic and commercial aims determined different choices and led them to follow different, often personal, recipes. For this reason, identification of the techniques through date and name of the photographer or through some visual features like colour, tonality and surface of the image layer, often needs further investigation to be proved. Chemical characterization, carried out in a non or micro destructive way, can be crucial to provide useful information about the original composition, degradation process, realization technique, in obtaining an indirect dating of the photograph and/or to choose the most correct conservation treatment. In our case, x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis was used to confirm the chemical composition of eleven historical photographs dated between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, shot in Palermo (Sicily) by a renowned photographer of the time, and pasted on their original cardboards. The elemental identification, obtained with a non destructive approach, provided important information to distinguish among different photographic techniques in terms of distribution and characterization of chemical elements markers in the photographic surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]