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Introduction: Long-term contamination of tap water and groundwater by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) has been documented in the Veneto region of northern Italy. This study aimed to assess the exposure of individuals residing in the contaminated area and to test several toxicokinetic (TK) models of varying complexities to identify an efficient method for predicting perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) concentrations in human serum using observed data.The ultimate goal is to provide public health officials with guidance on selecting the appropriate TK model for specific contexts, a reliable and rapid tool to support human bio-monitoring (HBM) studies. Methods: Two simpler empirical TK models and a more complex multi-compartment physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) model were compared with individual and aggregate data from an HBM study. In addition, the PBPK model was modified by adjusting input parameters and introducing new terms into the equations within the original model code. These modifications aimed to optimize the results compared to the original model, with some versions incorporating adjustments to account for the influence of menstruation in women. All models were evaluated to understand their strengths and weaknesses, providing guidance on the appropriate model to use according to specific scenarios. Results: The results obtained from the tested models were quite similar, with significant improvements observed only in the modified models. Simpler models also provided satisfactory results in scenarios involving low PFOS serum concentrations and recent exposure cessation. In many cases, predictions demonstrated high accuracy, particularly at the aggregate level and for women. Conclusions: These findings suggest that environmental protection agencies and health authorities may benefit from employing the tested models at the aggregate level as an initial step in HBM studies, rather than conducting more invasive and expensive screening campaigns.

Resumen: Antecedentes: La reconstrucción de defectos quirúrgicos en regiones anatómicas próximas a bordes palpebrales, fosas nasales o boca es un reto debido su tendencia a ser deformadas por la tensión del cierre directo o los colgajos cutáneos. El empleo de nuevas técnicas reconstructivas que eviten la retracción de estas zonas sensibles puede suponer un avance importante. Pacientes y métodos: Se emplean 2 nuevos diseños, el colgajo nautilus y el colgajo en muleta taurina, para la reconstrucción de defectos quirúrgicos periorificiales, realizando una recolección retrospectiva de los mismos en las zonas periparpebral, perivestibular nasal y peribucal. El colgajo nautilus se empleó en 4 pacientes con defectos periparpebrales y 2 peribucales. El colgajo en muleta taurina se utilizó para la reconstrucción de 14 defectos en ala nasal. Resultados: En los 20 pacientes se obtuvieron resultados muy satisfactorios tanto a nivel estético como funcional, sin la aparición de ectropión, colapso del vestíbulo nasal o asimetría de borde labial. No se observó necrosis en ningún caso. Conclusiones: Proponemos el colgajo nautilus y el colgajo en muleta taurina como una excelente opción reconstructiva para defectos quirúrgicos localizados en zonas periorificiales. Abstract: Background: Reconstruction of surgical defects located close to eyelid edges, nostrils, or the mouth is challenging, as tension generated by direct closure or skin flaps in these sensitive regions tends to cause distortion. New repair techniques that prevent retraction may significantly improve outcomes. Patients and methods: Retrospective study of the use of 2 novel flap designs—the nautilus flap and the bullfighter crutch flap—to repair surgical defects in the peripalpebral, perivestibular, nasal, and perioral areas. The nautilus flap was used to repair 4 peripalpebral defects and 2 perioral defects, and the bullfighter crutch flap to repair 14 nasal ala defects. Results: Cosmetic and functional outcomes were very satisfactory in all 20 patients, with no cases of ectropion, nasal vestibule collapse, or labial asymmetry. Necrosis did not occur in any of the cases. Conclusions: The nautilus and bullfighter crutch flaps appear to be excellent choices for reconstructing surgical defects in periorificial areas.

Background: Reconstruction of surgical defects located close to eyelid edges, nostrils, or the mouth is challenging, as tension generated by direct closure or skin flaps in these sensitive regions tends to cause distortion. New repair techniques that prevent retraction may significantly improve outcomes. Patients and methods: Retrospective study of the use of 2 novel flap designs-the nautilus flap and the bullfighter crutch flap-to repair surgical defects in the peripalpebral, perivestibular, nasal, and perioral areas. The nautilus flap was used to repair 4 peripalpebral defects and 2 perioral defects, and the bullfighter crutch flap to repair 14 nasal ala defects. Results: Cosmetic and functional outcomes were very satisfactory in all 20 patients, with no cases of ectropion, nasal vestibule collapse, or labial asymmetry. Necrosis did not occur in any of the cases. Conclusions: The nautilus and bullfighter crutch flaps appear to be excellent choices for reconstructing surgical defects in periorificial areas. Resumen: Antecedentes: La reconstrucción de defectos quirúrgicos en regiones anatómicas próximas a bordes palpebrales, fosas nasales o boca es un reto debido su tendencia a ser deformadas por la tensión del cierre directo o los colgajos cutáneos. El empleo de nuevas técnicas reconstructivas que eviten la retracción de estas zonas sensibles puede suponer un avance importante. Pacientes y métodos: Se emplean 2 nuevos diseños, el colgajo nautilus y el colgajo en muleta taurina, para la reconstrucción de defectos quirúrgicos periorificiales, realizando una recolección retrospectiva de los mismos en las zonas periparpebral, perivestibular nasal y peribucal. El colgajo nautilus se empleó en 4 pacientes con defectos periparpebrales y 2 peribucales. El colgajo en muleta taurina se utilizó para la reconstrucción de 14 defectos en ala nasal. Resultados: En los 20 pacientes se obtuvieron resultados muy satisfactorios tanto a nivel estético como funcional, sin la aparición de ectropión, colapso del vestíbulo nasal o asimetría de borde labial. No se observó necrosis en ningún caso. Conclusiones: Proponemos el colgajo nautilus y el colgajo en muleta taurina como una excelente opción reconstructiva para defectos quirúrgicos localizados en zonas periorificiales.

Abstract The black hole weak gravity conjecture (WGC) is a set of linear inequalities on the four-derivative corrections to Einstein-Maxwell theory. Remarkably, in four dimensions, these combinations appear in the 2 → 2 photon amplitudes, leading to the hope that the conjecture might be supported using dispersion relations. However, the presence of a pole arising in the forward limit due to graviton exchange greatly complicates the use of such arguments. In this paper, we apply recently developed numerical techniques to handle the graviton pole, and we find that standard dispersive arguments are not strong enough to imply the black hole WGC. Specifically, under a fairly typical set of assumptions, including weak coupling of the EFT and Regge boundedness, a small violation of the black hole WGC is consistent with unitarity and causality. We quantify the size of this violation, which vanishes in the limit where gravity decouples and also depends logarithmically on an infrared cutoff. We discuss the meaning of these bounds in various scenarios. We also implement a method for bounding amplitudes without manifestly positive spectral densities, which could be applied to any system of non-identical states, and we use it to improve bounds on the EFT of pure photons in absence of gravity.

Abstract We bound EFT coefficients appearing in 2 → 2 photon scattering amplitudes in four dimensions. After reviewing unitarity and positivity conditions in this context, we use dispersion relations and crossing symmetry to compute sum rules and null constraints. This allows us to derive new rigorous bounds on operators with four, six, and eight derivatives, including two-sided bounds on their ratios. Comparing with a number of partial UV completions, we find that some of our bounds are saturated by the amplitudes that arise from integrating out a massive scalar or axion, while others suggest the existence of unknown amplitudes.

Intro: Candida auris represents a serious global health threat. Cases have been reported from over 40 countries in six continents. In Italy, the 1st case was detected in July 2019, never reported to the Ministry of Health (MoH); 2 cases were notified on January and July 2020; 277 cases occurred between November 2020 and October 2021, notified on November 2021 following specific ministerial request; 32 cases were notified November 2021-July 2022. Here we describe the outbreak to raise awareness on this growing threat. Methods: Cases were notified by the local facilities to regional health authorities and/or the MoH. We defined a confirmed case as a subject infected/colonized by C. auris isolated from any type of sample from sterile/non- sterile site. We performed descriptive analysis by R software (version 4.1.1). Findings: In 4 regions, 312 cases (66% males, median age 59, range 0-76 years) were detected in 12 healthcare facilities, including 34 (11%) deaths. The minority of patients (22%) were colonised. One had history of travel abroad. Over two third were from reanimation and intensive care units. All the environmental samples tested negative. Weekly screening of contacts and instruction of cases were performed at the facilities. Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures were applied locally. The MoH nominated a National Reference Laboratory. Two messages were posted through the Epidemic Intelligence Information System in 2021. On February 2022, rapid risk assessment declared the risk for further spread high within Italy and low to other countries. Conclusion: Awareness is crucial to identify C. auris colonisation/infection. Appropriate microbiological capacity and ability for patient isolation, prompt case information, strict adherence to IPC measures, periodic screening of contacts, chlorine-based environmental cleaning and reprocessing of medical devices or dedicated equipment, strengthened microbiological and epidemiological surveillance, and prompt notification at both regional and national level are fundamental to stop C. auris spread.

Asphalt mastics made up using bottom ash filler (BAF) from Waste-to-Energy plant of A2A Ambiente SpA were investigated, examining both hot and cold mixing processes. Filler-bitumen ratios by weight in proportions of 0.2 and 0.7 were examined: eight mastics were prepared, four of which were made using natural limestone filler (LF) and the remainder using BAF. A leaching test and an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis were performed for each filler.All the asphalt mastics prepared were mainly investigated in terms of their rheological features through an assessment of the shear complex modulus (G*), in addition to the storage modulus (G’), loss modulus (G’’) and phase angle (δ). Resistance to permanent deformations under multiple stress creep and recovery loading was investigated measuring non-recoverable creep compliance (Jnr) and percent recovery (%R) at stress levels of 0.1 and 3.2 kPa and temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 °C. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) were also carried out in order to ascertain whether the degradation process of the mastics occurred at higher-temperature mixing conditions or operating temperatures. Degradation temperatures were observed above 200 °C due to the presence of the bitumen.Rheological testing showed higher G’/G’’ values for cold asphalt mastics made up with BAF for all f/b ratios than for the corresponding solutions made with LF: average increases of 75 % were observed above 10 °C, while they increased by around 99 % above 30 °C, obtaining an 11 % lower phase angle in the latter case. It was also observed that at test temperatures over 40 °C, the mastics made up of BAF showed an overall 90 % decrease of non-recoverable creep compliance compared with the corresponding LF mastics.Leaching tests and the ecotoxicological approach also confirmed the eco-sustainability of all the mastics when subjected to a daphnia EC50 toxicity analysis and an EC50 algal growth test.

Road maintenance operations involve the preservation of the optimal functionality of the pavement. Sometimes the rehabilitation of the pavement layout does not have long lasting effects due to a lack of compliance with the constraints imposed by the technical specifications for the design of materials. The purpose of this paper is to present an efficient BIM tool to help in road maintenance operations through the management of data arising from laboratory testing of road pavement bituminous materials required for the quality control of mixtures. The database associated to the BIM model is a collection of three years of data derived from laboratory investigation on bituminous mixtures’ samples adopted for the maintenance of four main roads located in southern Italy. An algorithm that interacts with the three-dimensional road model has been implemented in order to give road administrations an easy-to-read alert signal for the road pavement structure of the road network that may present the most critical conditions due to poor mechanical and physical features.

This paper, on the one hand, aims to identify significant crash risk factors at unsignalized three-leg intersections connecting rural two-lane two-way roads and minor roads with a STOP control on the approaches (3ST) and, on the other, to make adjustments to the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) procedure, fine-tuning its Safety Performance Function (SPF) based on observation of the local context. Over an 8-year period of study, a total of 240 crashes on 35 3ST intersections were observed, with no geometric-infrastructure adjustments or changes in the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) and surrounding context noted at the intersections investigated. To obtain reliable results, the study period was divided into two groups: (a) 5 years to calibrate a new SPF, and (b) the remaining 3, not included in the first dataset, were used to validate the results. A negative binomial regression model was adopted to calibrate the new SPF. It was found that the AADT on the major and minor roads, the intersection skew angle, the co-occurrence of left and right-turn lanes on the major roads, and lighting seriously affect the crash scenario.

The purpose of this paper is to map the structure of preferences concerning the European Union held by parliamentarians of the member states. The opinions of national politicians are relevant as they influence the governments which participate in the institutions and the decision making processes of the Union. Do they evaluate the European integration process according to a single independence-integration dimension? Or do they acknowledge the existence of multiple lines of conflict? Is the structure of preferences stable? Finally, how are national parliamentarians grouped according to their preferences and what this can tell about the future of European Integration? This paper, based on a two waves survey of national parliamentarians belonging to 16 member states, analyses their views about the “governance system” and the “policy goals” of the EU. The findings of this paper shed some new light on several old questions. Firstly, while several studies assume that the preferences about European Integration can be ordered in a one-dimensional continuum that has the “status quo” and “complete integration” as the two opposite poles, this paper shows that the preferences of national parliamentarians have a multi-dimensional structure. Secondly it moves to analyse the four main clusters of national parliamentarians which these preferences generate. And thirdly it discusses how these clusters react to different problems and challenges the EU faces today.

Many phenomena (such as attenuation and range degradation) can influence the accuracy of rainfall radar estimates. They introduce errors that increase as the distance from radar increases, thereby decreasing the reliability of radar estimates for applications that require quantitative precipitation estimation. The present paper evaluates radar error as a function of the range, in order to correct the rainfall radar estimates. The radar is calibrated utilizing data from the rain gauges. Then, the G/R ratio between the yearly rainfall amount measured in each rain gauge position during 2008 and the corresponding radar rainfall amount is calculated against the slant range. The trend of the G/R ratio shows two behaviours: a concave part due to the melting layer effect close to the radar location and an almost linear, increasing trend at greater distances. A best fitting line is used to find an adjustment factor, which estimates the radar error at a given range. The effectiveness of the methodology is verified by comparing pairs of rainfall time series that are observed simultaneously by collocated rain gauges and radar. Furthermore, the variability of the adjustment factor is investigated at the scale of event, both for convective and stratiform events. The main result is that there is not a univocal range error pattern, as it also depends on the characteristics of the considered event. On the other hand, the adjustment factor tends to stabilize itself for time aggregations of the order of one year or greater.

In order to explore future air quality in Europe at the 2030 horizon, two emission scenarios developed in the framework of the Global Energy Assessment including varying assumptions on climate and energy access policies are investigated with an ensemble of six regional and global atmospheric chemistry transport models. A specific focus is given in the paper to the assessment of uncertainties and robustness of the projected changes in air quality. The present work relies on an ensemble of chemistry transport models giving insight into the model spread. Both regional and global scale models were involved, so that the ensemble benefits from medium-resolution approaches as well as global models that capture long-range transport. For each scenario a whole decade is modelled in order to gain statistical confidence in the results. A statistical downscaling approach is used to correct the distribution of the modelled projection. Last, the modelling experiment is related to a hind-cast study published earlier, where the performances of all participating models were extensively documented. The analysis is presented in an exposure-based framework in order to discuss policy relevant changes. According to the emission projections, ozone precursors such as NOx will drop down to 30% to 50% of their current levels, depending on the scenario. As a result, annual mean O3 will slightly increase in NOx saturated areas but the overall O3 burden will decrease substantially. Exposure to detrimental O3 levels for health (SOMO35) will be reduced down to 45% to 70% of their current levels. And the fraction of stations where present-day exceedences of daily maximum O3 is higher than 120 μg m−3 more than 25 days per year will drop from 43% down to 2 to 8%. We conclude that air pollution mitigation measures (present in both scenarios) are the main factors leading to the improvement, but an additional cobenefit of at least 40% (depending on the indicator) is brought about by the climate policy.

The interaction between air quality and climate involves dynamical scales that cover a very wide range. Bridging these scales in numerical simulations is fundamental in studies devoted to megacity/hot-spot impacts on larger scales. A technique based on nudging is proposed as a bridging method that can couple different models at different scales. Here, nudging is used to force low resolution chemical composition models with a run of a high resolution model on a critical area. A one-year numerical experiment focused on the Po Valley hot spot is performed using the BOLCHEM model to asses the method. The results show that the model response is stable to perturbation induced by the nudging and that, taking the high resolution run as a reference, performances of the nudged run increase with respect to the non-forced run. The effect outside the forcing area depends on transport and is significant in a relevant number of events although it becomes weak on seasonal or yearly basis.

We discuss the capability of current state-of-the-art chemistry and transport models to reproduce air quality trends and interannual variability. Documenting these strengths and weaknesses on the basis of historical simulations is essential before the models are used to investigate future air quality projections. To achieve this, a coordinated modelling exercise was performed in the framework of the CityZEN European Project. It involved six regional and global chemistry-transport models (BOLCHEM, CHIMERE, EMEP, EURAD, OSLOCTM2 and MOZART) simulating air quality over the past decade in the Western European anthropogenic emissions hotspots. Comparisons between models and observations allow assessing the skills of the models to capture the trends in basic atmospheric constituents (NO2, O3, and PM10). We find that the trends of primary constituents are well reproduced (except in some countries – owing to their sensitivity to the emission inventory) although capturing the more moderate trends of secondary species such as O3 is more challenging. Apart from the long term trend, the modelled monthly variability is consistent with the observations but the year-to-year variability is generally underestimated. A comparison of simulations where anthropogenic emissions are kept constant is also investigated. We find that the magnitude of the emission-driven trend exceeds the natural variability for primary compounds. We can thus conclude that emission management strategies have had a significant impact over the past 10 yr, hence supporting further emission reductions.

Hydrological models are the basis of operational flood-forecasting systems. The accuracy of these models is strongly dependent on the quality and quantity of the input information represented by rainfall height. Finer space-time rainfall resolution results in more accurate hazard forecasting. In this framework, an optimum raingauge network is essential in predicting flood events. This paper develops an entropy-based approach to evaluate the maximum information content achievable by a rainfall network for different sampling time intervals. The procedure is based on the determination of the coefficients of transferred and nontransferred information and on the relative isoinformation contours. The nontransferred information value achieved by the whole network is strictly dependent on the sampling time intervals considered. An empirical curve is defined, to assess the objective of the research: the nontransferred information value is plotted versus the associated sampling time on a semi-log scale. The curve has a linear trend. In this paper, the methodology is applied to the high-density raingauge network of the urban area of Rome.

Flash flood events are floods characterised by a very rapid response of basins to storms, often resulting in loss of life and property damage. Due to the specific space-time scale of this type of flood, the lead time available for triggering civil protection measures is typically short. Rainfall threshold values specify the amount of precipitation for a given duration that generates a critical discharge in a given river cross section. If the threshold values are exceeded, it can produce a critical situation in river sites exposed to alluvial risk. It is therefore possible to directly compare the observed or forecasted precipitation with critical reference values, without running online real-time forecasting systems. The focus of this study is the Mignone River basin, located in Central Italy. The critical rainfall threshold values are evaluated by minimising a utility function based on the informative entropy concept and by using a simulation approach based on radar data. The study concludes with a system performance analysis, in terms of correctly issued warnings, false alarms and missed alarms.

In small and medium-sized basins or in rivers characterized by intermittent discharges, with low or negligible/null observed values for long periods of the year, the correct representation of the discharge regime is important for issues related to water management and to define the amount and quality of water available for irrigation, domestic and recreational uses. In these cases, only one index as a statistical metric is often not enough; it is thus necessary to introduce Flow Duration Curves (FDC). The aim of this study is therefore to combine a stochastic index flow model capable of reproducing the FDC record period of a river, regardless of the persistence and seasonality of the series, with the theory of total probability in order to calculate how often a river is dry. The paper draws from preliminary analyses, including a study to estimate the correlation between discharge indicators Q95, Q50 and Q1 (discharges exceeding 95%, 50% or 1% of the time, respectively) and some fundamental characteristics of the basin, as well as to identify homogeneous regions in the target area through the study of several geo-morphological features and climatic conditions. The stochastic model was then applied in one of the homogeneous regions that includes intermittent rivers. Finally, the model was regionalized by means of regression analysis in order to calculate the FDC for ungauged basins; the reliability of this method was tested using jack-knife validation.

At CNR-IMAA, an aerosol lidar system has operated since May 2000 in the framework of EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network), the first lidar network for tropospheric aerosol study on a continental scale. High quality multi-wavelength measurements make this system a reference point for the validation of data products provided by CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations), the first satellite-borne lidar specifically designed for aerosol and cloud study. Since 14 June 2006, dedicated measurements have been performed at CNR-IMAA in coincidence with CALIPSO overpasses. For the first time, results on 1-year comparisons between ground-based multi-wavelength Raman lidar measurements and corresponding CALIPSO lidar Level 1 profiles are presented. A methodology for the comparison is presented and discussed in detail. Night-time cases are considered to take advantage from Raman capability of the ground based lidar. Cases with the detection of cirrus clouds in CALIPSO data are separately analysed for taking into account multiple scattering effects. For cirrus cloud cases, few cases are available to draw any conclusions. For clear sky conditions, the comparison shows good performances of the CALIPSO on-board lidar: the mean relative difference between the ground-based and CALIPSO Level 1 measurements is always within its standard deviation at all altitudes, with a mean difference in the 3–8 km altitude range of (−2±12)%. At altitude ranges corresponding to the typical PBL height observed at CNR-IMAA, a mean difference of (−24±20)% is observed in CALIPSO data, probably due to the difference in the aerosol content at the location of PEARL and CALIPSO ground-track location. Finally, the mean differences are on average lower at all altitude ranges for the closest overpasses (at about 40 km) respect to the 80-km overpasses.

Conventional radars, used for atmospheric remote sensing, usually operate at a single polarization and frequency to estimate storm parameters such as rainfallrate and water content. Because of the high variability of the drop size distribution conventional radars do not succeed in obtaining detailed information because they just use horizontal reflectivity. The potentiality of the dual-polarized weather radar is investigated, in order to reject the ground-clutter, using differential reflectivity. In this light, a radar meteorology campaign was conducted over the city of Rome (Italy), collecting measurements by the polarimetric Doppler radar Polar 55C and by a raingauge network. The goodness of the results is tested by comparison of radar rainfall estimates with raingauges rainfall measurements.

In order to estimate the rainfall fields over an entire basin raingauge, pointwise measurements need to be interpolated and the small-scale variability of rainfall fields can lead to biases in the rain rate estimation over an entire basin, above all for small or medium size mountainous and urban catchments. For these reasons, several raingauges should be installed in different places in order to determine the spatial rainfall distribution during the evolution of the natural phenomena over the selected area. In technical applications, many empirical relations are used in order to deduce heavy areal rainfall, when just one raingauge is available. In this work, we studied the areal reduction factor (ARF) using radar reflectivity maps collected with the Polar 55C, a C-band Doppler dual polarized coherent weather radar with polarization agility and with a 0.9° beamwidth. The radar rainfall estimates, for an area of 1 km2, were integrated for heavy rainfall with an upscaling process, until we had rainfall estimate for an area of 900 km2. The results obtained for a significant amount of data by using this technique are compared with the most important relations of the areal reduction factor reported in the literature.

Since raingauges give pointwise measurements the small scale variability of rainfall fields leads to biases on the estimation for the rainfall over the whole basin. In this context meteorological radars have several advantages since a single site is able to obtain coverage over a wide area with high temporal and spatial resolution. The purpose of this study is to compare the capability of the two different measurement systems in order to give correct input to drive rainfall-runoff models. Therefore a geomorphological model was calibrated, using firstly raingauge data and secondly radar rainfall estimates, for the Treja river basin. In this way it is possible to determine different sets of parameters and the influence of measurement system in hydrological modelling. The results shown that radar rainfall data is able to improve significantly hydrographs reconstructions.

The impaired condition of agriculture, and of periurban agricultural areas in particular, necessarily requires a switch in the direction imposed by the contemporary metropolitan model, using the opportunities offered by social participation, meant as territorial government ruled by citizenship, as turning point. On the basis of this statement, the Granada metropolitan area, and in particular the irrigated plane (la Vega) that gives it sense and landscape identity, is approached through participatory projects trying to identify conflicts, values and perspectives of a sustainable future for these territories.

Introduction. Moderate obesity (BMI 30–35 kg/m2) affects 25% of the western population. The role of bariatric surgery in this context is currently debated, reserved for patients with comorbidity, as an alternative to conservative medical treatment. We describe our experience in moderately obese patients treated with bariatric surgery. Materials and Methods. Between September 2011 and September 2012, 25 patients with grade I obesity and comorbidities underwent bariatric surgery: preoperative mean BMI 33.2 kg/m2, 10 males, mean age 42 years. In presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) (56%), gastric bypass was performed; in cases with hypertension (64%) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) (12%), sleeve gastrectomy was performed. All operations were performed laparoscopically. Results. Mean follow-up was 12.4 months. A postoperative complication occurred: bleeding from the trocar site was resolved with surgery in local anesthesia. Reduction in average BMI was 6 points, with a value of 27.2 kg/m2. Of the 14 patients with T2DM, 12 (86%) discontinued medical therapy because of a normalization of glycemia. Of the 16 patients with arterial hypertension, 14 (87%) showed remission and 2 (13%) improvement. Complete remission was observed in patients with OSAS. Conclusions. The results of our study support the validity of bariatric surgery in patients with BMI 30–35 kg/m2. Our opinion is that, in the future, bariatric surgery could be successful in selected cases of moderately obese patients.

Calpains are Ca2+-dependent proteases able to cleave a large number of proteins involved in many biological functions. Particularly, in skeletal muscle they are involved in meat tenderizing during post mortem storage. In this report we analyzed the presence and expression of µ- and m-calpains in two skeletal muscles of the Marchigiana cattle soon after slaughter, using immunocytochemical and immunohistochemical techniques, Western blotting analysis and Casein Zymography. Therefore, the presence and the activity of these proteases was investigated until 15th day post-mortem during normal process of meat tenderizing. The results showed m- and µ-calpain immunosignals in the cytoplasm both along the Z disk/I band regions and in the form of intracellular stores. Moreover, the expression level of µ-calpain but not m-calpain decreased after 10 days of storage. Such a decrease in µ-calpain was accompanied by a gradual reduction of activity. On the contrary, m-calpain activity persisted up to 15 days of post-mortem storage. Such data indicate that expression and activity of both µ-calpain and m-calpain analyzed in the Marchigiana cattle persist longer than reported in literature for other bovines and may be related to both the type of muscle and breed examined.

Neuroendocrine cells or paraneurons are cytotypes producing biogenic amines and/or hormonal peptides, scattered in the glandular and lining epithelia of the body. In this study the presence of chromogranin A-, serotonin- and somatostatin-immunoreactive neuroendocrine cells has been described immunohistochemically in the urethro- prostatic complex and female urethra of subjects of the buffalo Bubalus bubalis. The chromogranin A- containing neuroendocrine cells resulted the most numerous cytotype, the serotonin- containing ones the most irregular in shape for the presence of dendritic-like cytoplasmic extensions and the somatostatin- containing the rarest. The role played by the amine serotonin in the genital tract has been related to the determinism of sexual climax and to the contraction of smooth muscle. The function played by the neuroendocrine genital somatostatin is unknown. Analogically to what described for the same gastrointestinal hormone, it could inhibit both exocrine and endocrine secretions.

The orexins A and B are two peptides discovered initially in the rat lateral hypothalamus involved in the regulation of some body functions such as food intake, sleep/wake cycle, arterial pressure and heart rate. They interact with two receptors defined “orexin receptors 1 and 2”, the first of which shows high selectivity for orexin A and the second binds both the peptides. In this preliminary study the presence of orexin A and orexin 1 receptor in the prostate of the buffalo Bubalus bubalis has been described utilizing the immunohistochemical avidin-biotin technique. The orexin A- and orexin 1 receptor- positive prostatic cells are very numerous and belong to the normal exocrine cytotype which makes up the glandular parenchyma. The role played by orexin A in the genital tract is poorly known. The peptide is retained to stimulate testosterone secretion and to inhibit spermatogonia proliferation in the rat testis.