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The impacts of floods to environmental assets are often not assessed. This communication reflects on this issue by analysing the reported environmental consequences of the 2023 Emilia-Romagna flood. The information on the environmental impacts is constructed by collecting data from reports, press releases and interviews in the aftermath of the event. The most frequently reported damages involve water resources and water-related ecosystems, with cultural and supporting ecosystem services particularly affected. Indirect effects in time and space, intrinsic recovery capacity, cascade impacts on socio-economic systems and lack of established monitoring activities appear as the most challenging aspects for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista do Instituto de Laticínios Cândido Tostes is the property of Revista do Instituto de Laticinios Candido Tostes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Can differential land-subsidence significantly alter river flooding dynamics, and thus flood risk in flood prone areas? Many studies show how the lowering of the coastal areas is closely related to an increase in the flood-hazard due to more important tidal flooding and see level rise. The literature on the relationship between differential land-subsidence and possible alterations to riverine flood-hazard of inland areas is still sparse, although several geographical areas characterized by significant land-subsidence rates during the last 50 years experienced intensification in both inundation magnitude and frequency. We investigate the possible impact of a significant differential ground lowering on flood hazard over a 77 km2 area around the city of Ravenna, in Italy. The rate of land-subsidence in the study area, naturally in the order of a few mm year−1, dramatically increased up to 110 mm year−1 after World War II, primarily due to groundwater pumping and gas production platforms. The result was a cumulative drop that locally exceeds 1.5 m. Using a recent digital elevation model (res. 5 m) and literature data on land-subsidence, we constructed a ground elevation model over the study area in 1897 and we characterized either the current and the historical DEM with or without road embankments and land-reclamation channels in their current configuration. We then considered these four different topographic models and a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model to simulate and compare the inundation dynamics associated with a levee failure scenario along embankment system of the river Montone, which flows eastward in the southern portion of the study area. For each topographic model, we quantified the flood hazard in terms of maximum water depth (h) and we compared the actual effects on flood-hazard dynamics of differential land-subsidence relative to those associated with other man-made topographic alterations, which resulted to be much more significant.

The growing concern about the possible effects of climate change on flood frequency regime is leading Authorities to review previously proposed reference procedures for design-flood estimation, such as national flood frequency models. Our study focuses on Triveneto, a broad geographical region in North-eastern Italy. A reference procedure for design flood estimation in Triveneto is available from the Italian NCR research project "VA.PI.", which considered Triveneto as a single homogeneous region and developed a regional model using annual maximum series (AMS) of peak discharges that were collected up to the 1980s by the former Italian Hydrometeorological Service. We consider a very detailed AMS database that we recently compiled for 76 catchments located in Triveneto. All 76 study catchments are characterized in terms of several geomorphologic and climatic descriptors. The objective of our study is threefold: (1) to inspect climatic and scale controls on flood frequency regime; (2) to verify the possible presence of changes in flood frequency regime by looking at changes in time of regional L-moments of annual maximum floods; (3) to develop an updated reference procedure for design flood estimation in Triveneto by using a focused-pooling approach (i.e. Region of Influence, RoI). Our study leads to the following conclusions: (1) climatic and scale controls on flood frequency regime in Triveneto are similar to the controls that were recently found in Europe; (2) a single year characterized by extreme floods can have a remarkable influence on regional flood frequency models and analyses for detecting possible changes in flood frequency regime; (3) no significant change was detected in the flood frequency regime, yet an update of the existing reference procedure for design flood estimation is highly recommended and we propose the RoI approach for properly representing climate and scale controls on flood frequency in Triveneto, which cannot be regarded as a single homogeneous region.

FOOTBALL IN THE LAND OF THE SOVIETS CARLES VINAS Translated by Luke Stobart 176pp. Pluto Press. Paperback, 14.99 [pounds sterling]. Following its invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, Russia quickly [...]

Calophyllum brasiliense is a plant from the Brazilian rain forests and has been used in folk medicine for the treatment of various diseases, including leishmaniasis. This infectious disease depends on the Leishmania sp. and the host immune response. C. brasiliense antileishmanial activity is well known, but the effects on immune response remain to be investigated. This study showed the leishmanicidal and immunomodulatory effects of a 30 μg/mL of hydroalcoholic extract of C. brasiliense in murine macrophages before and after Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis infection. The semiquantitative cytokine RNA expression was determined by RT-PCR and the anti-Leishmania activity was measured by infection index (IF). Hydroalcoholic extract of C. brasiliense reduced more than 95% of IF when used before and after Leishmania infection, with 3 and 24 h of treatment (p

We propose and investigate the reliability of simplified graphical tools, which we term Hypsometric Vulnerability Curves, HVCs, for assessing flood vulnerability and risk over large geographical areas and for defining sustainable flood-risk mitigation strategies. These curves rely on the use of inundation scenarios simulated by means of quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2-D) hydrodynamic models that reproduce the hydraulic behaviour of the floodable area outside the main embankment system of the study river reach. We present an application of HVCs constructed on the basis of land use and census data collected during the last 50 years for assessing the recent dynamics of the flood vulnerability and risk over a large floodable area along a 350 km stretch of the River Po (Northern Italy). We also compared the proposed simplified approach with a traditional approach based on simulations performed with the fully-2-D hydrodynamic model TELEMAC-2-D, a widely employed and well-known 2-D finite-element scheme. By means of this comparison, we characterize the accuracy of the proposed simplified approach (i.e. quasi-2-D model and HVCs) for flood-risk assessment over large geographical areas and different historical land-use scenarios.

HOW NOT TO RUN A FOOTBALL CLUB Protests, boycotts, court cases--the inside story of Blackpool FC NATHAN FOGG 254pp. Pitch. 16.99 [pounds sterling]. In an age when football clubs have [...]

Copyright of Revista do Instituto de Laticínios Cândido Tostes is the property of Revista do Instituto de Laticinios Candido Tostes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Scientific literature reports a plethora of numerical tools of different complexity (e.g. 1D, 2D raster-based or full 2D models) for flood hazard and flood risk evaluation. The correct identification of the appropriate model still represents a key aspect in the overall flood hazard process even though the potential of these modelling instruments are increased by the availability of high computational resources and by the amount of high-resolution topographic data provided by recent survey techniques. Given this context the present analysis investigates the effects of minor drainage networks on the estimation of flood hazard in a flood-prone area along the Enza River, close to the village of Sorbolo a Levante (RE, northern Italy). By means of a full 2D hydraulic model (Telemac-2D), the effects of the drainage system is analysed using three unstructured meshes with different degrees of complexity: (1) the minor drainage system allows the possibility to convey water outside the study area (REF); (2) the drainage system is reproduced only in terms of preferential flow-paths (REF-noFlow); (3) the drainage network is completely neglected (REF-noDN). The analysis indicates that the maximum flood extent seems not to be influenced by the mesh schematization, while water depths and the total volume are significantly related to the model schematization. Even if this analysis refers to a specific case study and further investigations are needed, it shows the fundamental role of the drainage network in controlling water depth distribution and the duration of the inundation, which should be accurately reproduced by numerical models.

The constant growth of the elderly population in Brazil and in the world is an important indication that people are living longer, but it doesn’t mean they’re living better. The aging process is linked to significant loss of a person’s abilities, both physical and functional, leading to reduced independency of the elderly. Studying the related literature, it’s possible to realize that physical exercise contributes significantly to the maintenance of physical fitness in the elderly. In this paper studies were made to look for new ways to help the elderly to exercise, taking into account the search for a resource that would be attractive and would motivate the elderly in physical activities.

This study aimed to examine correlations between academic performance and subjective wellbeing from the perspective of Positive Psychology, which helps with definitions of the construct "Subjective Well-Being", its implications on academic performance, and professional self-efficacy beliefs. Comparisons by gender were raised in this study. A sample of students from two courses of University of São Paulo, whose measuring instruments contemplated Scale Positive and Negative Affects Zanon (EAZ) and the verification of academic performance the global averages of two semesters was formed. The results showed that no correlations between mean scores of college students with positive and negative affect components of subjective well-being assessed by EAZ were found, comparing the initial hypotheses of the research. Already notes correlated with each other. Was also indicated no differences between the means, statistically, in relation to gender.

Natural catastrophic events are one of most critical aspects for health and economy all around the world. However, the impact in a poor region can impact more dramatically than in others countries. Isla Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), one of the poorest regions of the planet, has repeatedly been hit by catastrophic natural disasters that caused incalculable human and economic losses. After the catastrophic flood event occurred in the basin of River Soliette on May 24th, 2004, the General Direction for Development and Cooperation of the Italian Department of Foreign Affairs funded an international cooperation initiative (ICI) coordinated by the University of Bologna, that involved Haitian and Dominican institutions.Main purpose of the ICI was hydrological and hydraulic analysis of the May 2004 flood event aimed at formulating a suitable and affordable flood risk mitigation plan, consisting of structural and non-structural measures. In this contest, a topographic survey was necessary to realize the hydrological model and to improve the knowledge in some areas candidates to be site for mitigation measures.To overcome the difficulties arising from the narrowness of funds, surveyors and limited time available for the survey, only GPS technique have been used, both for framing aspects (using PPP approach), and for geometrical survey of the river by means of river cross-sections and detailed surveys in two areas (RTK technique). This allowed us to reconstruct both the river geometry and the DTM’s of two expansion areas (useful for design hydraulic solutions for mitigate flood-hazard risk).

Comprehensive flood risk assessment studies should quantify the global uncertainty in flood hazard estimation, for instance by mapping inundation extents together with their confidence intervals. This appears of particular importance in the case of flood hazard assessments along dike-protected reaches, where the possibility of occurrence of dike failures may considerably enhance the uncertainty. We present a methodology to derive probabilistic flood maps in dike-protected flood prone areas, where several sources of uncertainty are taken into account. In particular, this paper focuses on a 50 km reach of River Po (Italy) and three major sources of uncertainty in hydraulic modelling and flood mapping: uncertainties in the (i) upstream and (ii) downstream boundary conditions, and (iii) uncertainties in dike failures. Uncertainties in the definition of upstream boundary conditions (i.e. design-hydrographs) are assessed through a copula-based bivariate analysis of flood peaks and volumes. Uncertainties in the definition of downstream boundary conditions are characterised by uncertainty in the rating curve with confidence intervals which reflect discharge measurement and interpolation errors. The effects of uncertainties in boundary conditions and randomness of dike failures are assessed by means of the Inundation Hazard Assessment Model (IHAM), a recently proposed hybrid probabilistic-deterministic model that considers three different dike failure mechanisms: overtopping, piping and micro-instability due to seepage. The results of the study show that the IHAM-based analysis enables probabilistic flood hazard mapping and provides decision-makers with a fundamental piece of information for devising and implementing flood risk mitigation strategies in the presence of various sources of uncertainty.

The growth of the elderly population in recent days is an important indicator of longevity. The aging process is linked to important losses in several physical capabilities, which lead to decreased functional capacity and independence of the elderly In studies in the literature, it is observed that these changes put at risk the quality of life of these people, by limiting their ability to perform, with vigor, their daily activities and put in greater vulnerability to your health. The physical exercise contributes significantly to the maintenance of physical fitness of the elderly, influencing both in their health and in their functional capabilities. However, the physical exercises may present some limitations, due to physiological changes imposed on the aging process. An application was developed in this work to provide a resource for people of old age, so that they can exercise safely with some control over what is happening during this practice. This feature also shows a great attraction for these people, making good use of technology focused on health, in addition to promoting safety, easy physiological monitoring during physical activity.

Al Huwaysah 010 is an ungrouped achondrite meteorite, recently referred to as a brachinite‐like meteorite. This meteorite, showing a fine‐grained assemblage of low‐Ca pyroxene and opaque phases, is strongly reduced in comparison to other reduced brachinites. The occurrence of some tiny plates of graphite and oldhamite in this meteorite suggests that a partial melt residue has experienced a further reduction process. Olivine, the most abundant phase, is compositionally homogeneous (Fo83.3) as well as the clinopyroxene (En45.5Fs10.8Wo43.7) and the plagioclase (Ab69.5). Orthopyroxene (En85.4Fs13.9Wo0.7) also occurs but only in a fine intergrowth. Other accessory phases are Fe metal grains (Ni‐free or Cr‐bearing Fe‐Ni alloy), troilite, chlorapatite, pentlandite (as inclusions in chromite). The sample shows two different closure temperatures: the highest (≈900°C) is determined via the olivine–chromite intercrystalline geothermometer and the lowest temperature (≈520°C) is determined via the pyroxene‐based intracrystalline geothermometer. These temperatures may represent, respectively, the closure temperature associated with the formation and a subsequent impact event excavating the sample from the parental body. The visible to near‐infrared (VNIR) reflectance spectra of Al Huwaysah 010 exhibit low reflectance, consistent with the presence of darkening components, and weak absorptions indicative of olivine and pyroxene. Comparing the spectral parameters of Al Huwaysah 010 to potential parent bodies characterized by olivine–pyroxene mineralogy, we find that it falls within the field previously attributed to the SIII type asteroids. These results lead us to classify the Al Huwaysah 010 meteorite as the most reduced brachinite, whose VNIR spectral features show strong affinities with those of SIII asteroids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]