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The increasing overexploitation of water resources is observed on a global scale in the previous decades; this trend involves the coastal regions of Mediterranean Basin (Van Beynen et alii, 2012). As an effect of increasing groundwater discharge from coastal aquifers, the phenomenon of seawater intrusion is becoming a serious problem for most of the coastal aquifers, especially in the Mediterranean area (COST, 2003; COST, 2005). The aim of this paper is to present the modeling of a coastal porous aquifer located in the complex plain of Sibari (Southern Italy), a plain deeply modified as an effect of reclamation works realized after thirties. The model was implemented using piezometric historical data (from thirties) to establish the effect of seawater intrusion when the well discharge was negligible (natural conditions), the modification in subsequent decades, to be used for forecasting purpose and for evaluate the evolution of groundwater resource. The area actually represents a landscape with anthropic equilibrium based on the works of a land reclamation project (1960s-1990s). Study area is about 365 km2 for a coastline of about 35 km, about which an hydrogeological conceptual model was defined. The area can be conceptualized into three hydrogeological complexes (from the top): sand complex, a clay complex and a sand and conglomerate complex, constituting the deep aquifer, the bottom of which is not well-defined. Shallow aquifer is predominantly fed by direct rainwater infiltration. Deep aquifer is fed by outflows of the mountainous aquifers as the case of limestone aquifer of Pollino Mount,and of shallow granitic aquifer of the Sila massif (Guerricchio and Melidoro, 1975). The maximum piezometric levels of the deep aquifer are equivalent to approximately 40 m asl, so in some areas it presents artesian feature. The computer codes selected for numerical groundwater modelling were MODFLOW (McDonald and Harbaugh, 1998) and SEAWAT (Guo and Langevin, 2002). This groundwater flow modelling is based on the concept of a equivalent homogeneous porous medium by which it is assumed that the real heterogeneous aquifer can be simulated as homogeneous porous media within cells or elements (Anderson, 2002). The modeled aquifer area was uniformly discretized, using Peclet number, into a finite difference grid of 97,735 cells of 240 m x 350 m. For the vertical discretization, model was divided into five layers of variable thicknesses, defined on the basis of a multi-methodological geological survey. Climatic, hydrological and agricultural data were processed to defines inputs for the numerical model based on the variable-density flow. An hydrological balance using monthly and annual of 13 thermo-pluviometric stations falling in the study area, in the time period 1930-1975, was done (Polemio and Casarano, 2008, Polemio et alii, 2013). The numerical model was calibrated with PEST code with a correlation coefficient equal to 0,90. Preliminary results of steady flow and of groundwater salinity spatial are now available and shows it is not sustainable in the case of shallow aquifer and it can be improved in the case of deep aquifer.

Time-series studies reporting associations between daily air pollution and health use pollution data from monitoring stations that vary in the frequency of recording. Within the Air Pollution and Health: A European and North American Approach (APHENA) project, we evaluated the impact of systematically missing daily measurements on the estimated effects of PM10 and ozone on daily mortality. For four cities with complete time-series data, we created patterns of systematically missing exposure measurements by deleting observations. Poisson regression-derived city-specific estimates were combined to produce overall effect estimates. Analyses based on incomplete time series gave considerably lower pooled PM10 and ozone health effects compared to those from complete data. City-specific estimates were generally lower although more variable. Systematically missing exposure data for air pollutants appears to lead to underestimation of associated health effects. Our findings indicate that the use of evidence from studies with incomplete exposure data may underestimate the impact of air pollution and highlight the advantage of having complete daily data in time-series studies. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

With many gas fields exploited in the North Adriatic sea about to get exhausted, offshore platform decommissioning is become a more and more pressing issue. On one hand, the process of decommissioning is very expensive; on the other hand there are interesting opportunities to be explored for reuse of a portion or all of the 60s offshore facilities located in front of the Emilia Romagna coasts for other purposes besides gas extraction. In the present study we present a screening environmental assessment of the re-conversion and reuse of North Adriatic offshore platforms. The analysis has been performed at two levels: The first one corresponds to what prescribed under Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) legislation (EU Directives 85/337/EEC and 97/11/EC): in this case, the analysis has been performed with specific reference to two off-shore platforms to be converted into the allegedly most profitable alternatives, namely off shore fish farming and eolic energy generation respectively. While general assessment has been performed on the basis of qualitative consideration, the issue of organic waste has been investigated by means of a spatially explicit simulation model of nutrient dispersion in the water column under different assumption about water depth, water flow speed, type and size of the feeding material. Simple guidlines to reduce or possibly avoid the impact negative of both fish farming and wind energy generation has been also produced in the current study. The second level of analysis corresponds to what recommended under the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive 2001/42/EC and the Kiev Protocol on SEA (2003): in this case, we intend to assess the aggregated impact of re-conversion of a subset of 31 platforms in the north Adriatic sea. An heuristic approach has been used to identify a set of sub-optimal alternative layout of configuration of the platforms. This methods proves to be greatly helpful to streamline the decision-making process.

Le risorse di petrolio e di gas naturale, in quanto fonti non rinnovabili, sono destinate all’esaurimento. E’ quindi estremamente importante affrontare il problema energetico attraverso un accurato disegno pianificatorio che tenga conto delle esigenze sociali primarie. Una componente importante e in costante aumento dei consumi energetici è quella elettrica, che, soprattutto nel nostro Paese, in buona misura si basa e si baserà per molti anni sull’utilizzo dei combustibili fossili, nonostante le possibilità non ancora sfruttate nei settori dell’energia nucleare, dell’energia idraulica, delle biomasse, dell’energia solare ed eolica. Occorre quindi sviluppare ricerche che ci consentano in tempi ragionevoli di poter disporre di nuove fonti energetiche, ma parallelamente rendere la convivenza con le fonti fossili la più sostenibile possibile, tenendo conto che la combustione degli idrocarburi genera danni importanti all’ambiente. Per conseguire tali obiettivi si devono soddisfare due requisiti irrinunciabili: un elevato livello di conoscenze diffuse sui problemi dell’energia e dell’ambiente e il ricorso a processi innovativi che consentano di sfruttare in modo più razionale e più ambientalmente compatibile il contenuto energetico delle fonti fossili: si tratta pertanto di elevare il più possibile i rendimenti dei processi di conversione dell’energia e di ridurre al minimo gli impatti ambientali.

Background: Homeopathic pathogenetic trials (provings) are fundamental to homeopathy. Since most of the data from available provings have not been statistically evaluated, it is unclear how specific reported symptoms are and how they differ from those reported by people taking placebo. Method: We combine and analyse data from two different homeopathic pathogenic trials—including 10 and 11 provers, respectively, and both including 30% placebo—to test the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the number of symptoms in placebo and verum groups. Results: The principal results were: � Placebo reported less symptoms than verum groups. � Symptom distribution according to predefined classes (common symptoms increased in intensity and/or duration-, cured, old, new and exceptional) was statistically different between placebo and verum group at a high level of significance (Po0.001). Compared to verum, placebo provers reported less new and old but more common (increased in duration or intensity) symptoms. � Within repertory categories, other differences were detected. � The two groups differ in terms of the duration of each symptom and kinetics of symptoms: most symptoms were more persistent in verum than in placebo groups and verum provers recorded a decreasing number of symptoms with time. Placebo provers did not show such a temporal pattern. Conclusions: If confirmed by other studies these results would demonstrate the nonequivalence between homeopathic medicines in high dilution and placebo and contribute to the improvement of proving methodology and evaluation. Homeopathy (2006) 95, 123–130.

Because of the nuclear accident of Chernobyl, the Radiation Protection Division of the Ispra Establishment of the J.R.C. of the Commission of the European Communities organized a task‐force for the collection, the measurement, the processing and the evaluation of all the useful and necessary elements for the correct management of a state of emergency. This extract particularly shows the measurements of the concentration of radionuclides in the air at the ground level, grass, milk, and the concentration of radioactive iodine and caesium in people of different places of origin. Results are compared to similar measurements carried out from 1960.

We report a case of severe cervical spinal stenosis due to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) whose clinical examination showed no symptoms or signs of neurological damage ("silent OPLL"). Questions about the diagnosis and the treatment of silent OPLL are discussed in the light of published data.

Relapse rates of 75 patients with previously untreated Hodgkin's disease with stages I and II nodular sclerosis were analyzed according to the mediastinal involvement. The overall relapse rate was 22.6%. The probability of relapse was much greater for patients with large mediastinal involvement (66.6%) compared with 17% for patients with small mass, and 11.7% of patients without mediastinal involvement (P less than 0.001). There was no significant difference in recurrence rates between patients without mediastinal mass and patients with a small mass, and in these patients adjuvant chemotherapy MOPP after radiotherapy showed an evident benefit in reducing the relapse rate. On the other hand, no beneficial effect of adjuvant chemotherapy was observed in patients with large mediastinal involvement. Finally, in the 17 relapsing patients, 'salvage' chemotherapy was less effective in patients with large mediastinal mass than in those with small or no mediastinal involvement.

A review of 2,092 patients who had sustained closed thoracic trauma or undergone mechanical ventilation was made in order to clarify the incidence, clinical picture, pathogenesis and prognosis of pneumomediastinum without pneumothorax or lesion of mediastinal organs. Air in the mediastinal space was observed in ten patients (0.5% of cases). Bronchial and esophageal lesions were excluded at bronchoscopy and esophagoscopy. The clinical presentation included subcutaneous emphysema of the neck, without signs of mediastinitis. No patient had pain or dyspnoea. Trauma or barotrauma were assumed to have caused sudden rise in the intrapulmonary pressure, leading to passage of air from the parahilar alveoli into the mediastinum along the peribronchial and perivascular spaces. Management was conservative and the prognosis good, with normalization of the chest radiogram usually within a week.

Percutaneous removal of renal stones is becoming an established procedure, especially for stones lying free in the renal pelvis. These techniques, which include: retrograde pyelography to facilitate a thorough understanding of caliceal anatomy and stone position in 3 dimensions; approaches for accurate placement of a nephrostomy tract for straightline access to the stone and stone removal are discussed.