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The ISOBatA project, funded by the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA), aims to optimize underway bathymetric data collection in the Antarctic region. This initiative supports the Seabed2030 and the International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean (IBCSO) projects by allocating dedicated ship time of the R/V Laura Bassi to navigate (1) along designated corridors in uncharted regions of the Southern Ocean, including the Emerald Fracture Zone and the Macquarie Triple Junction, and (2) among yearly monitored locations of the Ross Sea. ISOBatA emphasizes the reuse of existing datasets using the IBCSO coverage map and metadata from prior PNRA expeditions. It also aims to establish best practices and workflows for high-quality bathymetric data acquisition, processing, analysis, and archiving. Bathymetric data collected over the last three PNRA expeditions were integrated with other datasets (e.g., magnetometric, sub-bottom profiling, and oceanographic data) to create maps and validate the approach. Significant discrepancies (up to 1200 meters) were found along the Emerald Fracture Zone in an area where the IBCSO contains only predicted satellite bathymetry, highlighting gaps in our understanding of geodynamic processes. In the Ross Sea, various submarine landforms were detected, revealing the extent of processes shaping the recent evolution of the Antarctic margin (from bottom currents to ice retreat during the last deglaciation). The ISOBatA experience, dataset and findings underscore the importance of collaboration among institutions and research groups to share data and resources and how the application of FAIR principles and practices to underway data collection is critical to expand seafloor coverage, especially in remote areas like the Antarctic region.

Morphobathymetry, a versatile and invaluable hydrographic resource, enriches scientific investigations and deepens our understanding of the Antarctic region across a range of scientific disciplines. Its use benefits scientific disciplines such as geophysics and geodynamics, integrating with other fields of research, revealing complex relationships between the seabed and oceanographic and biological phenomena. The interconnections between seafloor shape, ocean-atmosphere dynamics, and biogeochemical interactions unveil indeed a new dimension of understanding. Despite data quality does not often meet IHO standards, often due to vessel speed, and the challenges of collecting high-quality data during transits, we emphasize the value of these efforts. ISOBATA's data from Laura Bassi's recent Antarctic expeditions, although insufficient for a comprehensive mapping, effectively fills critical bathymetric gaps in areas typified by remarkable and previously unknown tectonic features. The ISOBatA project, funded by the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA), spanned a two-year period with the aim of optimizing data collection on board the Italian icebreaker Laura Bassi during its transits in the Southern Ocean. The project focused on the acquisition of acoustic and magnetometric data, with an emphasis on morphobathymetry. ISOBatA used ship time to reduce the vessel’s speed and travel along preferential corridors designated to survey unexplored areas. Additionally, ISOBATA extensively leveraged metadata from previous PNRA expeditions and the IBCSO coverage map, enhancing research efficiency and increasing the amount, quality, and scientific value of gathered data. New insights from preliminary results of the ISOBATA project include: 1) In the Emerald FZ, data indicates depth differences of up to 1200 meters compared to the IBCSO map. 2) In the areas near the Italian moorings sites (Ross Sea), metadata from previous PNRA surveys were largely used in planning data co

The experience of the PNRA ISOBatA (Italian Southern Ocean Bathymetry from consistent exploitation of opportunistic seafloor datasets in Antarctic region and surrounding areas) project, over the past two years, has shown the importance of collecting underway bathymetric data by exploiting the transit time between the Italian Mario Zucchelli Station in the Ross Sea and New Zealand, during Antarctic expeditions. Mapping the Antarctic seafloor is a challenging goal in terms of critically advancing our knowledge of seabed morphology, especially when strategically coupled with field observations. High-resolution mapping of the Southern Ocean seafloor may offer valuable insights into tectonic and volcanic processes of plate boundaries in this remote environment. The ISOBatA project collected in particular underway bathymetric data on board the Italian R/V Laura Bassi at the Macquarie Triple Junction and crossing the Emerald Fracture Zone, where also magnetic data were obtained. From a methodological point of view, the ISOBatA project developed dedicated procedures to ensure robust multibeam data quality during the acquisition, processing and archiving phases, to also provide a data sharing policy according to FAIR principles. The expeditions in the Southern Ocean revealed critical problems mainly related to environmental conditions associated to the working area (i.e.: ice-populated waters and/or adverse weather conditions) but at the same time promoted the implementation of appropriate best practices and workflows, also defined according to the geomorphological context of the working sectors. Our main objective is to promote common and shared procedures for the management of multibeam bathymetric data acquisition during transit times, and to support the current scientific effort that all interested countries are undertaking to achieve a systematic exploration of the seafloor, especially for remote areas such as the Arctic, the Southern or the equatorial Atlantic Oceans.

Background & Aims: Split liver transplant(ation) (SLT) is still considered a challenging procedure that is by no means widely accepted. We aimed to present data on 25-year trends in SLT in Italy, and to investigate if, and to what extent, outcomes have improved nationwide during this time. Methods: The study included all consecutive SLTs performed from May 1993 to December 2019, divided into three consecutive periods: 1993–2005, 2006–2014, and 2015–2019, which match changes in national allocation policies. Primary outcomes were patient and graft survival, and the relative impact of each study period. Results: SLT accounted for 8.9% of all liver transplants performed in Italy. A total of 1,715 in situ split liver grafts were included in the analysis: 868 left lateral segments (LLSs) and 847 extended right grafts (ERGs). A significant improvement in patient and graft survival (p <0.001) was observed with ERGs over the three periods. Predictors of graft survival were cold ischaemia time (CIT) <6 h (p = 0.009), UNOS status 2b (p <0.001), UNOS status 3 (p = 0.009), and transplant centre volumes: 25–50 cases vs. <25 cases (p = 0.003). Patient survival was significantly higher with LLS grafts in period 2 vs. period 1 (p = 0.008). No significant improvement in graft survival was seen over the three periods, where predictors of graft survival were CIT <6 h (p = 0.007), CIT <6 h vs. ≥10 h (p = 0.019), UNOS status 2b (p = 0.038), and UNOS status 3 (p = 0.009). Retransplantation was a risk factor in split liver graft recipients, with significantly worse graft and patient survival for both types of graft (p <0.001). Conclusions: Our analysis showed Italian SLT outcomes to have improved over the last 25 years. These results could help to dispel reservations regarding the use of this procedure. Impact and implications: Split liver transplant(ation) (SLT) is still considered a challenging procedure and is by no means widely accepted. This study included all

Transits during oceanographic expeditions constitute a potential huge amount of acquired bathymetric data that could be systematically integrated to increase the knowledge on submarine morphology, especially for planned surveys in the equatorial Atlantic, the Arctic, the Indian and the Southern Oceans. The recent PNRA ISOBatA project aims to efficiently exploit seafloor datasets collected during transfer times within the Antarctic region and the Ross Sea. Along the route from New Zealand to the Italian Mario Zucchelli Station in the Ross Sea, the Emerald Fracture Zone and the Macquarie Triple Junction, located in the SW Pacific Ocean, represent two selected areas to test the strength of transit acquisition in remote areas, normally affected by adverse weather conditions. The ISOBatA project has the main purpose to contribute to the mapping of Antarctic waters developing best practices and dedicated workflows to implement QA in multibeam data acquisition procedures during transit times, as well as in the processing, analysis and archiving of data and metadata. The ISOBatA experience in the Southern Ocean suggests there are several critical issues associated with collection of multibeam data in remote and ice-infested waters. Operating procedures need more standardization, to avoid the acquisition of redundant data along common routes and unreliable data. Our work aims to open a discussion to address the need for standardization in data acquisition during transit times, which should include priority in accordance with the geomorphological/geographical nature of the working areas. The integration of bathymetric data acquired during research vessel transfers to remote regions could imply a common international effort for a systematic exploration of the seafloor, sharing coverage in real time to avoid redundancy.

The shortage of organs has pushed transplant surgeons to accept liver grafts with extended criteria, but severe vascular abnormalities may still discourage the use of otherwise acceptable organs. We report herein the case of a liver graft with a 64-mm aneurysm of the proper hepatic artery extended to the origin of the right and left hepatic branches. The graft was deemed unsuitable for transplant by all other centers in the region. However, liver function tests were normal, and there was no evidence of compromised arterial supply. At back table, we resected the aneurysm and anastomosed the right and left hepatic arteries to a vascular graft obtained from the distal tract of the donor's superior mesenteric artery. After portal reperfusion, we anastomosed the mesenteric graft to the recipient's hepatic artery at the origin of the gastroduodenal artery. The postoperative course and the subsequent 6-month follow-up were uneventful. In conclusion, the presence of a hepatic artery aneurysm should not be an absolute contraindication to the use of a liver graft. The present case emphasizes the possibility to utilize an organ that would have been otherwise discarded.

Data management in the marine sciences faces the complex issue of addressing contrasting cognitive models across scientific domains, meaning the various representations that different communities build for overlapping areas of interest. Each of these communities constructs an identity on a specific and personal set of inherited backgrounds, practices, and tacit knowledge, which are mirrored in how they understand the targets of their studies. From a practical point of view, this can result in mis-linking observations and usage. This paper reports on the work done within the EU FP7 SeaDataNet project to tackle such problems through an integrated discovery and data access paradigm. It is based on a flexible metadata model that allows researchers to link domain-specific metadata profiles encoded using SensorML OGC standard, the general discovery framework based on an ISO 19115/19139 profile called CDI, and the data through a common hub based on the Observations and Measurements OGC standard.