1,721,055 research outputs found
Studio del campo termico in presenza di solidificazione dell'acqua nei materiali porosi
No full textIl lavoro presenta un panorama dell'approccio analitico e numerico al problema della solidificazione dell'acqua in materiali poros
Le manifestazioni neurologiche della malattia di Behcet.
No full textBehçet's disease (BD) is a multisystem inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology, associated with HLA-B51. It predominantly affects young adults, with a high prevalence along the so called "Silk Road", a geographical area extending from Eastern Asian countries to the Mediterranean basin. Among the wide spectrum of its clinical abnormalities, involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) turns out to be one of the most severe manifestations, leading to significant disability in up to one half of the patients affected. CNS involvement could he sub-grouped into two main clinical-pathological entities: a "parenchymal" pattern of involvement consists of lesions primarily originating within neural parenchyma of the CNS (neuro-Behçet); a "non-parenchymal" type of involvement is due to CNS damage secondary to pathology of the major vessels (vasculo-Behçet) whose clinical presentation is either that of intracranial hypertension, due to dural sinus venous thrombosis, or a "stroke-like" one due..
Coarse woody debris variability due to human accessibility to forest
Full text linkOriginally published in Forests (MDPI):
Behjou FK, Lo Monaco A*, Tavankar F, Venanzi R, Nikooy M, Picchio R (2018) Coarse woody debris variability as result of human accessibility to forest. Forests 9(9): article number 509 (open access)
Corresponding author: Angela Lo Monaco, [email protected]
DOI: 10.3390/f9090509
The article can be dowloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/9/509
Abstract: Coarse woody debris (CWD) plays an important role in supporting biodiversity and
assisting ecological processes. Sometimes local people intervene modifying the expected distribution
of CWD components, harvested as fuel wood. The effect of the human accessibility (HA) on the
volume and characteristics of CWD (snag, downed log and stump) was investigated in the natural
uneven-age mixed hardwood stands of the Hyrcanian forests of Iran to quantify the impact on CWD.
The HA was classified into three classes (easy, medium and difficult) on the basis of slope class,
slope direction to the nearest road and road type. As expected, a negative relationship between
the degree of accessibility was found with respect to the main qualitative and quantitative indices
referring to CWD. The results showed that the volume of CWD decreased with an increase in
human accessibility class (HAC), thus the mean volume of CWD in the difficult, medium and easy
accessibility classes were 14.87 m3 ha1, 8.84 m3 ha1 and 4.03 m3 ha1, respectively. The decrease in
CWD volume was more associated with the decreasing volume of small diameter of low decayed
downed logs. The ratio of snag volume to standing volume, the ratio of downed log volume to the
volume of trees and the ratio of CWD volume to standing volume increased with a decrease in HAC,
while the ratio of downed log volume to snag volume decreased with a decrease in HAC. No selective
behaviour on the botanical species of CWD was recorded. For ecological forest management, the effect
of HAC on CWD should be considered. A constant supply of snags and downed logs must be
preserved to assure a high level of biodiversity. To balance social needs and biodiversity requirements,
an increased level of CWD retention might be needed in areas with easy accessibility. The obtained
results may be useful when ecological and socio-economical needs have to be taken into consideration
in future policy-making decisions.
Keywords: snag; downed log; stump; forest road; uneven-agemixed hardwood stands; Hyrcanian forest
Vulnerability Assessment of Historical Churches in Banat Seismic Region, Romania
No full textRomania is a country located in Europe, with moderate seismicity and a very large number of historical churches. Banat region is the second most important seismic area in the country, located in the western part, characterized by shallow earthquakes of crustal type. In Banat area there are many historic churches, both Orthodox and Catholic. The majority of the churches are mostly with a central nave, made in masonry, with masonry vaults and complex wooden frameworks. They also present architectural-artistic details, such as paintings made by Austrian, Serbian and Romanian painters. Many of them have suffered different types of structural damages after past earthquakes. The damage types are different, depending on the type of earthquake and on the architectural conformation. The present paper investigates the seismic vulnerability for six historic churches in Banat area and presents the results of various empirical and numerical analysis and investigations. The analysis identifies the specific vulnerable points of the historic religious structures, illustrating the seismic vulnerability of the churches with central nave in Banat seismic area. Moreover, the paper brings out the importance of investigating the seismic behavior of religious buildings, as they are permanent part of each local community, and they present an important cultural value
L'impiego di forni mobili per la carbonizzazione all'imposto, un possibile valore aggiunto alle produzioni forestali
No full textHearing loss evaluation of Sjögren's syndrome using distortion product otoacoustic emissions.
No full textSjögren's syndrome (SS) is a cell-mediated immune disorder primarily affecting the exocrine glands and hearing loss may be the first otological manifestation of this autoimmune disease. In order to assess the degree of sensorineural hearing loss in SS, 22 female patients were examined by means of standard audiometric tests (pure-tone audiometry, acoustic reflexes and impedance testing) and using distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs). The results indicated that only 36.3% of the patients had mild sensorineural hearing loss. Hearing level and distortion product threshold estimates were found to be significantly correlated. No relationship was found between the duration of the disease and the DPOAE and hearing threshold variables. The data suggest that SS may not directly cause sensorineural hearing loss
Indices and indicators for sustainable managing and impact assessment inside italian and iranian beech forests
No full textInflammation and Atrial Electrical Remodelling in Patients With Embolic Strokes of Undetermined Source
No full textBackground: About one third of ischaemic strokes are classified as embolic strokes of undetermined source (ESUS). A silent atrial fibrillation (AF)may play a pathogenic role in these strokes and P wave dispersion (PWD), representing an electrocardiographic (ECG)predictor for paroxysmal AF, thereby a potential marker of covert cardioembolism, was found to be increased in cryptogenic stroke. Furthermore, current evidence links AF to inflammation: inflammatory markers, such as high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), have been related to the development and persistence of AF, possibly by promoting atrial remodelling. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a relationship between PWD and hsCRP in patients with ESUS exists, in order to highlight a possible role for inflammation in the atrial electric remodelling, that predisposes to AF. Methods: We enrolled 174 patients (91 males, 83 females; mean age 69 ± 13 years)with ESUS. All patients underwent neuroimaging examination, arterial ultrasound examination, echocardiography and ECG. P wave dispersion and hsCRP were measured in all subjects. Results: A significant positive correlation was found between hsCRP and PWD (Spearman r: 0.35, p < 0.0001). In patients with high PWD (>40 msec; n = 102), hsCRP was three-fold higher than in patients with normal PWD (≤40 msec; n = 72)(1.57 ± 2.9 vs 0.42 ± 0.4 mg/dl, p = 0.0005). Conclusions: Our results show increased hsCRP levels in cryptogenic stroke patients with high PWD. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that systemic inflammation plays a role in a fraction of patients with ESUS, by increasing AF risk via atrial electric remodelling
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