69 research outputs found
Allergen-specific immunoglobulin E in the skin and nasal mucosa of symptomatic and asymptomatic children sensitized to aeroallergens.
Oncocytic nonsecretory multiple myeloma. A clinicopathologic study of a case and review of the literature.
We report on a morphologic variant of multiple myeloma, identified in a 39-year-old man, with osteolytic lesions in two ribs and three lumbar vertebrae. Serum electrophoresis was normal and immunofixation of serum and urine was negative. Histologic examination of a resected rib revealed a homogeneous population of neoplastic plasma cells with granular and eosinophilic cytoplasm. Immunohistochemical stains showed monoclonality for lambda light chain and negativity for all heavy chains. At the ultrastructural level, the cytoplasm of the neoplastic plasma cells was almost totally occupied by round and elongated mitochondria, pushing the rough endoplasmic reticulum to the periphery. To the best of our knowledge, only two similar cases have been reported in the literature so far. The usefulness of obtaining a clinicopathologic correlation for the behaviour of this extremely rare variant of multiple myeloma is discussed
Inflammatory pseudotumor of soft tissues. Report of a case with double localization in lower limb muscles
Evaluating Hyperion capability for land cover mapping in a fragmented ecosystem: Pollino National Park, Italy
We analyze the capability of Hyperion spaceborne hyperspectral data for discriminating land cover in a complex natural ecosystem according to the structure of the currently used European standard classification system (CORINE Land Cover 2000). For this purpose, we used Hyperion imagery acquired over Pollino National Park (Italy).
Hyperion pre-processed data (30 m spatial resolution) were classified at the pixel level using common parametric supervised classification methods. The algorithms' performance and class level accuracy were compared with those obtained for the same area using airborne hyperspectral MIVIS data (7 m spatial resolution).
Moreover, in selected test areas characterized by heterogeneous land cover (as mapped by MIVIS classification) a Linear Spectral Unmixing (LSU) technique was applied to Hyperion data to derive the abundance fractions of land cover endmembers. The accuracy of the LSU analysis was evaluated using the Residual Error parameter, by comparing Hyperion LSU results with land cover fractional abundances achieved from reference data (i.e., MIVIS and air-photo classification).
The results show the potential of Hyperion spaceborne hyperspectral imagery in mapping land cover and vegetation diversity up to the 4th level of the CORINE legend, even at the sub-pixel level, within a fragmented ecosystem such as that of Pollino National Park. Moreover, we defined a criterion for evaluating the Hyperion accuracy in retrieving land cover abundances at the sub-pixel scale. Sub-pixel analysis allowed us to determine the optimal threshold to select the areas on which consistent fractional land cover monitoring can be achieved using the Hyperion sensor. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
COSMO SkyMed AO projects -multi-temporal SAR and optical data integrated approach for weed infested inland waters
In this paper we deal with the integrated use of time-series of SAR and MODIS images to derive the temporal behavior, the abundance and the distribution of the floating macrophytes in the Winam Gulf (Kenyan portion of the Lake Victoria). The proliferation of invasive plants and aquatic weeds is of growing concern. Starting from 1989, Lake Victoria has been interested by the highest infestation of water hyacinth with significant socio-economic impact on riparian populations. The information provided by satellite can play an important role in supporting a decision system for the management of the water resources allowing also an easy and inexpensive way of monitoring the environment response to any action that might be undertaken to contrast its degradation. This paper aims at assessing the capability of medium/high resolution (Wideregion and Stripmap) COSMO-SkyMed ScanSAR time series imagery to support/supplement optical data, frequently affected by clouds, in the knowledge of temporal macrophytes growing cycles and sustain the monitor and management of the Lake Victoria waters. © 2012 IEEE
ASSESSMENT OF THE ABNORMAL GROWTH OF FLOATING MACROPHYTES IN WINAM GULF (KENYA) BY USING MODIS IMAGERY TIME SERIES
The objective of this research study is to assess the capability of time-series of MODIS imagery to provide information suitable for enhancing the understanding of the temporal cycles shown by the abnormal growth of the floating macrophytes in order to support monitoring and management action of Lake Victoria water resources. The proliferation of invasive plants and aquatic weeds is of growing concern. Starting from 1989, Lake Victoria has been interested by the high infestation of water hyacinth with significant socio-economic impact on riparian populations. In this paper, we describe an approach based on the time-series of MODIS to derive the temporal behaviour, the abundance and distribution of the floating macrophytes in the Winam Gulf (Kenyan portion of the Lake Victoria) and its possible links to the concentrations of the main water constituencies. To this end, we consider the NDVI values computed from the MODIS imagery time-series from 2000 to 2009 to identify the floating macrophytes cover and an appropriate bio-optical model to retrieve, by means of an inverse procedure, the concentrations of chlorophyll a, coloured dissolved organic matter and total suspended solid. The maps of the floating vegetation based on the NDVI values allow us to assess the spatial and temporal dynamics of the weeds with high time resolution. A floating vegetation index (FVI) has been introduced for describing the weeds pollution level. The results of the analysis show a consistent temporal relation between the water constituent concentrations within the Winam Gulf and the FVI, especially in the proximity of the greatest proliferation of floating vegetation in the last 10 years that occurred between the second half of 2006 and the first half of 2007.The adopted approach will be useful to implement an automatic system for monitoring and predicting the floating macrophytes proliferation in Lake Victoria
Age-related changes assessed by peripheral QCT in healthy Italian women
The purpose of this study was to describe the normal cross-sectional pattern of radial bone loss associated with aging in healthy women and to generate a normative database using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT). Subjects with suspected conditions affecting bone metabolism or receiving any drugs affecting bone mineralization were excluded. The trabecular bone mineral density (BMD) and the total bone density of the ultradistal radius at the nondominant forearm was measured using the Norland-Stratec XCT-960 pQCT scanner in 386 healthy pre-, peri-, and postmenopausal females aged 15-81 years. The long-term in vivo precision error was 1.6% CV (coefficient of variation) for trabecular and 0.8% CV for total BMD measurements. The highest value of trabecular and total BMD measured was observed at the age group 15-39 years. Beyond these ages both trabecular and total BMD showed a linear decline with aging, decreasing by an overall slope of -1.28 and -0.55 mg/cm3 per year for total and trabecular BMD measurements, respectively. The test of parallelism between the regression slopes of the peri- and postmenopausal women showed a statistically significant difference for total BMD measurement (p = 0.003). Measurement of total and trabecular BMD was not influenced by weight, height or body mass index, but it was correlated with natural logarithm of years since menopause. We conclude that pQCT of the ultradistal radius is a precise method for measuring the true volumetric BMD and for detecting age-related bone loss in the trabecular and total bone of female subjects encompassing the adult age range and menopausal status
Remote Sensing water observation for supporting Lake Victoria weed management
This paper aims to assess the suitability of remote sensing for enhancing the management of water body resources and for providing an inexpensive way to gather, on a wide area, weed infestation extent and optical parameter linked to the water body status. Remotely sensed satellite images and ancillary ground true data were used to produce land cover maps, trough classification techniques, and water compounds maps, applying radiative transfer models. The study proposed within the framework of the cooperation between Italian Foreign Affair Ministry (through the University of Rome) and Kenyan Authorities has been carried out on the Kenyan part of the Lake Victoria. This lake is one of the largest freshwater bodies of the world where, over the last few years environmental challenges and human impact have perturbed the ecological balance affecting the biodiversity. The objective of this research study is to define the thematic products, retrievable from satellite images, like weed abundance maps and water compound concentrations. These products, if provided with an appropriate time frequency, are useful to identify the preconditions for the occurrence of hazard events like abnormal macrophyte proliferation and to develop an up-to-date decision support system devoted to an apprised territory, environment and resource management
I MENINGIOMI:ANALISI CLINICO-PATOLOGICA E ISTOLOGICA DELLA CASISTICA DELL'IRCCS-OSPEDALE"CASA SOLLIEVO DELLA SOFFERENZA"DI SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO NEL CORSO DI 16 ANNI DI ATTIVITà
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