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There is not a welfare protocol for horses reared for meat production in semi-extensive systems. The aims of the study were to develop a specific welfare protocol suitable to be applied at pasture and on stable; and to evaluate whether the welfare items were influenced by the farming system (pasture vs stable). 52 non-animal-based measures (N-ABMs) and 14 animal-based measures (ABMs), classified into 6 thematic areas (training, feeding, facilities, ABMs, biosecurity, health management) were selected by a focus group. The protocol was applied on a total of 429 Catria horses located across 26 pastures during the warm seasons and on 7 stables during the cold seasons. Differences obtained within each horse-unit were calculated by using the diversity index (VARNC) and the distance from the ideal (dfi) index. Chi-square test was used for comparing the relative frequencies (%) of the answers (pasture vs stable). Most the welfare items were classified as adequate in both pasture and stable, yet differences were found within ‘training’ (p = 0.02) and ‘feeding’ (p

In the past decades the impact of natural events in industrial plants have triggered a number of technological accidents. Accidents may be followed by the release of relevant quantities of hazardous substances, with relevant consequences for the population and for the environment. Technological accidents triggered by natural events are very common in the industrial facilities, although only recently their specificity was recognized and they are now indicated as Natech (natural-technological) events. In particular, lightning strikes are a recognized hazard that causes the loss of large quantities of product and compromise the safety for chemical and oil industries. Past accident analysis evidenced that the most vulnerable installations to lightning strike are oil tank terminals of oil refineries. Since there is general agreement that a total protection from lighting hazard is impossible, quantitative risk assessment is needed to assess the possibility of technological accidents caused by lightning strike. The aim of the present study was the development of a dedicated methodology for the quantitative assessment of risk due to technological accidents triggered by lightning strikes in chemical and process industries. In particular the accidental scenarios have been identified and the frequencies for every scenario have been calculated. The method developed was applied to assess the risk reduction that can be achieved by the installation of air terminals to protect storage tanks in lightning prone zones. Different solutions are compared in order to select the best protection system for different storage tanks and lay-outs.

Natural events impacting on process plants may lead to severe technological accidents. These events are usually defined as NaTech events (Natural Hazard Triggering Technological Disasters). In order to derive the frequencies of accident scenarios associated to NaTech events for QRA (Quantitative Risk Assessment) implementation, a critical issue is the availability of equipment vulnerability models. The aim of the present study was to present a vulnerability model for the assessment of failure probability of atmospheric vessels involved in flooding events. The vulnerability model was based both on the severity of the natural event and on the construction features of the equipment. In order to explore the model features and its potentialities, the application to case-studies was carried out analysing an actual industrial layout. The results obtained confirmed that NaTech scenarios caused by floods may have an important influence on risk assessment and management of industrial facilities.

In recent years, severe natural events raised the concern for the so-called NaTech (natural-technological) accident scenarios: technological accidents caused by the impact of a natural event on an industrial facility or infrastructure. Severe scenarios typical of the process industry, as fires, explosions, toxic releases, and water pollution were reported as the consequence of natural events in industrial areas. The historical analysis of accidental scenarios triggered by lightning shows that the impact of a lightning on an atmospheric storage tank might be the initiating event of a severe accident. The analysis of past accident evidences that several alternative damage mechanisms and accident scenarios may follow lightning impact. Although lightning hazard is well known and is usually considered in the risk analysis of chemical and process plants, well accepted quantitative procedures to assess the contribution of accidents triggered by lightning to industrial risk are still lacking. In particular, the approaches to the assessment of accident scenarios following lightning strike are mostly based on expert judgment. In the present study, a detailed methodology is presented for the assessment of quantified event trees following lightning impact on an atmospheric tank. Different damage mechanisms have been considered in order to assess the frequencies of loss of containment due to lightning strikes. The results were used in a case study to assess the overall risk due to lightning impact scenarios in typical lay-outs of tank farms of oil refineries.

Several accidents that occurred in the last decades evidenced that the impact of natural events in industrial plants may trigger accidental scenarios involving the release of relevant quantities of hazardous substances. Severe scenarios typical of the process industry, as fires, explosions, toxic releases, and water pollution were reported as the consequence of natural events in industrial areas. The specific features of technological accidents triggered by natural events were recently recognized, and these scenarios are now indicated as NaTech (natural-technological) accidents. The screening of past accident databases points out that NaTech scenarios are quite common in industrial facilities. Past accident analysis evidences that lightning is one of the most common initiator event for fires in oil refineries and tank farms. In most facilities, simple lightning protection measures, such as grounding or lighting rods, are implemented to reduce the risk due to lightning strikes. However, several accidents suggest that these measures may not be sufficient to retain the structural integrity of the equipment. In the present study a procedure for the determination of the mitigation effect due to lightning rods on storage tank farms is proposed. A statistical method was developed to evaluate the failure frequency of tanks due to lightning strikes. The model includes both the assessment of lightning impact probability and of tank damage conditional probability given the lightning impact. The method then considers the effect of lightning rods placed at given distances from the equipment items and calculates the reduction of the failure frequency due to attraction competition between the rods and the equipment. The procedure was implemented in a GIS-based software tool for the calculation of individual and societal risk. The method allows the assessment of the effect of lightning protection in terms of individual risk reduction.

The main problem in calculating the consequences of a carbon dioxide dispersion following an accidental release is the formation of solid CO2 during the expansion to ambient pressure. The dispersion models more frequently used in the framework of quantitative risk analysis, cannot describe the carbon dioxide behaviour, in particular with respect to the calculation of the rainout fraction. Moreover, only scarce data is available for two phase CO2 releases. In the present study, a specific approach was developed to calculate the particle size distribution following the release of pressurized liquid (or supercritical) CO2. The approach combines several sub-models accounting for the different mechanisms of jet break-up and specifically addresses the possible formation of solid particles. The model was validated using experimental data available for CO2 and for the release of other pressurised, superheated liquids. The model developed can find further applications in rain-out calculations for two-phase releases of conventional substances.

The historical analysis of accidental scenarios triggered by lightning shows that the impact of a lightning on a process plant might be the initiating event of a severe accident. The analysis identifies the most common damages to the equipment as either immediate ignition of flammable atmospheres or structural damage with subsequent release. However, the available information on lighting damage to industrial equipment is fragmented and not very detailed. The aim of the present study is to define a failure model for reference equipment categories following lightning impact. Starting from the analysis of lightning damage, the possibility of equipment damage is assessed on the basis of lightning characteristics. The probability of failure is evaluated as the probability to find, in impacting lightning strikes, the minimum energy necessary to cause the loss of containment of the selected equipment. Probability distribution functions available for lightning characteristics, used together with the lightning capture frequency, allow the development of a failure probability model for reference equipment categories.

InterPro (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/interpro/) is a freely available database used to classify protein sequences into families and to predict the presence of important domains and sites. InterProScan is the underlying software that allows both protein and nucleic acid sequences to be searched against InterPro's predictive models, which are provided by its member databases. Here, we report recent developments with InterPro and its associated software, including the addition of two new databases (SFLD and CDD), and the functionality to include residue-level annotation and prediction of intrinsic disorder. These developments enrich the annotations provided by InterPro, increase the overall number of residues annotated and allow more specific functional inferences.

Background: Pramipexole is a dopamine full agonist approved for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and restless legs syndrome. Its high affinity for the D3 receptor and neuroprotective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity provides a rationale for the treatment of depression. In this paper, we review studies on the effectiveness and safety of antidepressant pramipexole augmentation in treatment-resistant depression. Methods: This comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies on pramipexole–antidepressant augmentation included patients with resistant unipolar and bipolar depression. The primary outcome measure was the treatment response, measured at the study endpoint. Results: We identified 8 studies including 281 patients overall, 57% women and 39.5% with bipolar disorder and 60.5% with major depressive disorder. The mean follow-up duration was 27.3 weeks (range 8–69). The pooled estimate of treatment response was 62.5%, without significant differences between unipolar and bipolar depression. Safety was good, with nausea and somnolence the most frequent side effects. Conclusions: The findings of this systematic review, needing further confirmation, show that off-label use of pramipexole as augmentation of antidepressant treatment could be a useful and safe strategy for unipolar and bipolar treatment-resistant depression.

Introduction. Perioperative visual loss (POVL) is a rare and unpredictable complication of non-ocular surgical procedures. Case report. Here we report a case of visual loss after a routine orthopedic procedure. After a surgical procedure of total hip arthroplasty, sudden visual loss was referred by the patient and anterior ischemic neuropathy was diagnosed. Despite treatment, the patient has not regained his sight after more than a year. Discussion. Multiple studies have tried to identify pre-existing conditions or intra-operative factors that may contribute to ischemic optic neuropathy. Age, sex, intraoperative anemia, and acute blood loss seems to predispose patients to POVL, even if no cut-off values have been defined. Preoperative anemia and peripheral vascular disease may be risk factors for this condition. Prone position and prolonged operative time are intraoperative risk factors. However, the development of POVL remains unpredictable and a multi-factorial etiology seems to be the most plausible explanation. Conclusions. POVL is a rare and unpredictable complication that can occur in patients of all ages, even in routine uncomplicated orthopedic procedures. Pathogenesis and etiology are still to be defined and no preventive or treatment guidelines had been established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) are now recognised as major determinants in cellular regulation. This white paper presents a roadmap for future e-infrastructure developments in the field of IDP research within the ELIXIR framework. The goal of these developments is to drive the creation of high-quality tools and resources to support the identification, analysis and functional characterisation of IDPs. The roadmap is the result of a workshop titled “An intrinsically disordered protein user community proposal for ELIXIR” held at the University of Padua. The workshop, and further consultation with the members of the wider IDP community, identified the key priority areas for the roadmap including the development of standards for data annotation, storage and dissemination; integration of IDP data into the ELIXIR Core Data Resources; and the creation of benchmarking criteria for IDP-related software. Here, we discuss these areas of priority, how they can be implemented in cooperation with the ELIXIR platforms, and their connections to existing ELIXIR Communities and international consortia. The article provides a preliminary blueprint for an IDP Community in ELIXIR and is an appeal to identify and involve new stakeholders.

Regional Student Groups (RSGs) of the International Society for Computational Biology Student Council (ISCB-SC) have been instrumental to connect computational biologists globally and to create more awareness about bioinformatics education. This article highlights the initiatives carried out by the RSGs both nationally and internationally to strengthen the present and future of the bioinformatics community. Moreover, we discuss the future directions the organization will take and the challenges to advance further in the ISCB-SC main mission: “Nurture the new generation of computational biologists”.