Beneficial effects on water management of simple hydraulic structures in wetland systems: the Vallevecchia case study, Italy

Conflicting water uses in coastal zones demand integrated approaches to achieve sustainable water resources management, protecting water quality while allowing those human activities which rely upon aquatic ecosystem services to thrive. This case study shows that the creation and simple management of hydraulic structures within constructed wetlands can markedly reduce the non-point pollution from agriculture and, simultaneously, benefit agricultural activities, particularly during hot and dry periods. The Vallevecchia wetland system is based on a reclaimed 900 ha-large drainage basin in Northern Italy, where droughts recently impacted agriculture causing water scarcity and saltwater intrusion. Rainwater and drained water are recirculated inside the system to limit saltwater intrusion, provide irrigation water during dry periods and reduce the agricultural nutrient loads discharged into the bordering, eutrophic Adriatic Sea. Monitoring (2003-2009) of water quality and flows highlights that the construction (ended in 2005) of a gated spillway to control the outflow, and of a 200,000 m3 basin for water storage, dramatically increased the removal of nutrients within the system. Strikingly, this improvement was achieved with a minimal management effort, e.g., each year the storage basin was filled once: a simple management of the hydraulic structures would greatly enhance the system efficiency, and store more water to irrigate and limit saltwater intrusion.     

Mesencephalic participation in the control of sexual behavior in the female rat.

In 2 experiments with 78 female albino rats, electric stimuli applied to both pudendal nerves evoked field potentials, unit responses, and multiunit responses in the ventrolateral midbrain, in and around the peripeduncular nucleus. Bilateral lesions placed in this region suppressed sexual behavioral responses (lordosis and courting behavior) of ovariectomized Ss primed with 5, 10, 100, and 1,000 μg of estradiol benzoate and 2 mg/kg progesterone. It is proposed that the region in question represents a relay station for the integration of sensory and endocrine information concerned in the control of receptive sexual behavior in the female rat. (54 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wünderlich syndrome caused by metastatic gastric sarcoma in the kidney. Report of a case

Two of the most important biochemical hepatic pathways in the liver are those that synthesize methionine and S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) through the methylation of homocysteine. This article reviews some recent findings in this laboratory, which demonstrate that ethanol feeding to rats impairs one of these pathways involving the enzyme methionine synthetase (MS), but by way of compensation increases the activity of the enzyme betaine:homocysteine methyl transferase (BHMT), which catalyzes the second pathway in methionine and SAM biosynthesis. It has been shown that despite the inhibition of MS, the enhanced BHMT pathway utilizes hepatic betaine pools to maintain levels of SAM. Subsequent to the above findings, it has been shown that minimal supplemental dietary betaine at the 0.5% level generates SAM twofold in control animals and fivefold in ethanol-fed rats. Concomitant with the betaine-generated SAM, ethanol-induced hepatic fatty infiltration was ameliorated. In view of the fact that SAM has already been used successfully in the treatment of human maladies, including liver dysfunction, betaine, shown to protect against the early stages of alcoholic liver injury as well as being a SAM generator, may become a promising therapeutic agent and a possible alternative to expensive SAM in the treatment of liver disease and other human maladies.     

Alternative time-marching schemes for elastodynamic analysis with the domain boundary element method formulation

This work presents alternative time-marching schemes for performing elastodynamic analysis by the Boundary Element Method. The use of the static fundamental solution and the maintenance of the domain integral associated to the accelerations characterize the formulation employed in this work. It is called D-BEM, D meaning domain. Time response is obtained by employing step-by-step time-marching procedures similar to those adopted in the Finite Element Method. Among all integration procedures, Houbolt scheme became the most popular used to march in time with D-BEM formulation, in spite of the presence of a high numerical damping. In order to improve the integration, this work presents alternative schemes that can be used to perform elastodynamic analysis by the BEM with a better damping control. In order to verify the accuracy of the proposed scheme, three examples are presented and discussed at the end of this work.     

Dynamic analysis of Timoshenko beams by the boundary element method

A Boundary Element Method formulation is developed for the dynamic analysis of Timoshenko beams. Based on the use of not time dependent fundamental solutions a formulation of the type called as Domain Boundary Element Method arises. Beside the typical domain integrals containing the second order time derivatives of the transverse displacement and of the rotation of the cross-section due to bending, additional domain integrals appear: one due to the loading and the other two due to the coupled differential equations that govern the problem. The time-marching employs the Houbolt method. The four usual kinds of beams that are pinned–pinned, fixed–fixed, fixed–pinned and fixed–free, under uniformly distributed, concentrated, harmonic concentrated and impulsive loading, are analyzed. The results are compared with the available analytical solutions and with those furnished by the Finite Difference Method.     

A time-stepping scheme based on numerical Green’s functions for the domain boundary element method: The ExGA-DBEM Newmark approach

The present paper focuses on the development of a novel ExGA-based time-marching scheme applied to the scalar wave equation. The formulation of the domain boundary element method (D-BEM), characterized by the use of static fundamental solutions, preserves the domain integral of inertial terms giving rise to an equation similar to that provided by the finite element method after space discretization is carried out. This equation can be solved in time using time-stepping algorithms, such as Newmark or Houbolt methods. However, in this work Green’s functions are explicitly calculated and then incorporated into a time-marching procedure, whose results show good accuracy and stability. Two typical examples are presented to illustrate the accuracy and stability of this approach.     

Scalar wave equation by the boundary element method: a D-BEM approach with non-homogeneous initial conditions

This work is concerned with the development of a D-BEM approach to the solution of 2D scalar wave propagation problems. The time-marching process can be accomplished with the use of the Houbolt method, as usual, or with the use of the Newmark method. Special attention was devoted to the development of a procedure that allows for the computation of the initial conditions contributions. In order to verify the applicability of the Newmark method and also the correctness of the expressions concerned with the computation of the initial conditions contributions, four examples are presented and the D-BEM results are compared with the corresponding analytical solutions.     

Allergens in indoor air: environmental assessment and health effects

It has been suggested that the increase in morbidity and mortality for asthma and allergies, may also be due to an increase in exposure to allergens in the modern indoor environment. Indoor allergen exposure is recognised as the most important risk factor for asthma in children. House dust mites, pets, insects, plants, moulds and chemical agents in the indoor environment are important causes of allergic diseases. House dust mites and their debris and excrements that contain the allergens are normally found in the home in beds, mattresses, pillows, carpets and furniture stuffing, but they have also been found in office environments. Domestic animals such as cats, dogs, birds and rodents may cause allergic asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis. The exposure usually occurs in homes, but also in schools and kindergartens where domestic animals are kept as pets or for education; moreover, cat and dog owners can bring allergens to public areas in their clothes. Allergy to natural rubber latex has become an important occupational health concern in recent years, particularly among healthcare workers; when powdered gloves are worn or changed, latex particles get into the air and workers are exposed to latex aerosolised antigens. To assess the environmental risk to allergen exposure or to verify if there is a causal relationship between the immunologic findings in a patient and his/her environmental exposure, sampling from the suspected environment may be necessary.