A new index has been developed for the hydromorphological assessment of Italian rivers. The method was designed to comply with the EU Water Framework Directive requirements, but its use can be ...extended to other applications in river management. The evaluation of stream morphological quality is preceded by a phase of river segmentation, consisting of an initial division of the network into river reaches with homogeneous morphological characteristics. The evaluation procedure consists of a set of 28 indicators, which were defined to assess longitudinal and lateral continuity, channel pattern, cross section configuration, bed structure and substrate, and vegetation in the riparian corridor. These characteristics are analyzed in terms of geomorphological functionality, artificiality, and channel adjustments. Indicators, classes, and the scoring system were defined based on expert judgement. The scoring system leads to the definition of the Morphological Quality Index (MQI). Application of the method to 102 river reaches covering a wide range of physical conditions and human pressures of Italian streams enabled the testing of the overall methodology and the refinement of the indicators and scores. Limitations, strengths, and the applicability of the method are also discussed in the paper.
A
bstract
Quadratic scale-invariant gravity non minimally coupled to a scalar field provides a competitive model for inflation, characterized by the transition from an unstable to a stable fixed ...point, both characterized by constant scalar field configurations. We provide a complementary analysis of the same model in the static, spherically symmetric setting, obtaining two Schwarzschild-de Sitter solutions, which corresponds to the two fixed points existing in the cosmological scenario. The stability of such solutions is thoroughly investigated from two different perspectives. First, we study the system at the classical level by the analysis of linear perturbations. In particular, we provide both analytical and numerical results for the late-time behavior of the perturbations, proving the stable and unstable character of the two solutions. Then we perform a semi-classical, non-linear analysis based on the Euclidean path integral formulation. By studying the difference between the Euclidean on-shell actions evaluated on both solutions, we prove that the unstable one has a meta-stable character and is spontaneously decaying into the stable fixed point which is always favoured.
A methodological framework for hydromorphological assessment, analysis and monitoring (named IDRAIM) has been developed with the specific aim of supporting the management of river processes by ...integrating the objectives of ecological quality and flood risk mitigation. The framework builds on existing and up-to-date geomorphological concepts and approaches and has been tested on several Italian streams.
The framework includes the following four phases: (1) catchment-wide characterization of the fluvial system; (2) evolutionary trajectory reconstruction and assessment of current river conditions; (3) description of future trends of channel evolution; and (4) identification of management options.
The framework provides specific consideration of the temporal context, in terms of reconstructing the trajectory of past channel evolution as a basis for interpreting present river conditions and future trends. A series of specific tools has been developed for the assessment of river conditions, in terms of morphological quality and channel dynamics. These include: the Morphological Quality Index (MQI), the Morphological Dynamics Index (MDI), the Event Dynamics Classification (EDC), and the river morphodynamic corridors (MC and EMC).
The monitoring of morphological parameters and indicators, alongside the assessment of future scenarios of channel evolution provides knowledge for the identification, planning and prioritization of actions for enhancing morphological quality and risk mitigation.
•A methodological framework has been developed with the aim of supporting the management of river processes.•Some geomorphological tools have been developed to assess channel dynamics and morphological quality.•A simple conceptual framework is provided on how to use the assessment tools in order to select actions and setting priorities.
Clinical breakpoints have not been established for mold testing. Wild-type (WT) MIC distributions (organisms in a species/drug combination with no detectable acquired resistance mechanisms) were ...defined in order to establish epidemiologic cutoff values (ECVs) for five Aspergillus spp. and itraconazole, posaconazole, and voriconazole. Also, we have expanded prior ECV data for Aspergillus fumigatus. The number of available isolates varied according to the species/triazole combination as follows: 1,684 to 2,815 for A. fumigatus, 323 to 592 for A. flavus, 131 to 143 for A. nidulans, 366 to 520 for A. niger, 330 to 462 for A. terreus, and 45 to 84 for A. versicolor. CLSI broth microdilution MIC data gathered in five independent laboratories in Europe and the United States were aggregated for the analyses. ECVs expressed in μg/ml were as follows (percentages of isolates for which MICs were equal to or less than the ECV are in parentheses): A. fumigatus, itraconazole, 1 (98.8%); posaconazole, 0.5 (99.2%); voriconazole, 1 (97.7%); A. flavus, itraconazole, 1 (99.6%); posaconazole, 0.25 (95%); voriconazole, 1 (98.1%); A. nidulans, itraconazole, 1 (95%); posaconazole, 1 (97.7%); voriconazole, 2 (99.3%); A. niger, itraconazole, 2 (100%); posaconazole, 0.5 (96.9%); voriconazole, 2 (99.4%); A. terreus, itraconazole, 1 (100%); posaconazole, 0.5 (99.7%); voriconazole, 1 (99.1%); A. versicolor, itraconazole, 2 (100%); posaconazole, 1 (not applicable); voriconazole, 2 (97.5%). Although ECVs do not predict therapy outcome as clinical breakpoints do, they may aid in detection of azole resistance (non-WT MIC) due to cyp51A mutations, a resistance mechanism in some Aspergillus spp. These ECVs should be considered for inclusion in the future CLSI M38-A2 document revision.
Objective
Individual placement and support (IPS) has shown consistently better outcomes on competitive employment for patients with severe mental illness than traditional vocational rehabilitation. ...The evidence for efficacy originates from few countries, and generalization to different countries has been questioned. This has delayed implementation of IPS and led to requests for country‐specific RCTs. This meta‐analysis examines if evidence for IPS efficacy can be generalized between rather different countries.
Methods
A systematic search was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines to identify RCTs. Overall efficacy was established by meta‐analysis. The generalizability of IPS efficacy between countries was analysed by random‐effects meta‐regression, employing country‐ and date‐specific contextual data obtained from the OECD and the World Bank.
Results
The systematic review identified 27 RCTs. Employment rates are more than doubled in IPS compared with standard vocational rehabilitation (RR 2.07 95% CI 1.82–2.35). The efficacy of IPS was marginally moderated by strong legal protection against dismissals. It was not moderated by regulation of temporary employment, generosity of disability benefits, type of integration policies, GDP, unemployment rate or employment rate for those with low education.
Conclusions
The evidence for efficacy of IPS is very strong. The efficacy of IPS can be generalized between countries.
This paper addresses the problem of the erosion of salt marsh edges. Flume laboratory experiments were carried out aimed at reproducing the instability and retreat of the scarps that typically ...delimit the salt marshes under the attack of wind waves during the tidal cycle. The bank model and hydrodynamic forcing in the flume were such as to simulate the conditions observed in the field in Venice Lagoon. Experiments were conducted for the same hydrodynamic forcing in the case of two identical banks but with and without the inclusion of the vegetation. Experimental results show that bank retreat involves a variety of processes (including particle erosion, cantilever and slide failures). The effect of the vegetation was to produce a delay in the mass failures, related to a certain growth of plant roots, thus providing an overall stabilizing effect. Bank instability was related to the formation of tension cracks at the bank top and to the impulsive effects associated with wave energy dissipation.
•We observed erosion of salt marshes subjected to tidal and wind wave oscillations.•Experiments were performed with both vegetated and unvegetated salt marshes.•The formation of tension cracks on the top of the bank triggered mass failures.•Wave impact causes slides and slab/toppling failure events.•The effect of the vegetation was to delay mass failures.
A
bstract
An explicit evaluation of the double parton distribution functions (dPDFs), within a relativistic Light-Front approach to constituent quark models, is presented. dPDFs encode information on ...the correlations between two partons inside a target and represent the non-perturbative QCD ingredient for the description of double parton scattering in proton-proton collisions, a crucial issue in the search of new Physics at the LHC. Valence dPDFs are evaluated at the low scale of the model and the perturbative scale of the experiments is reached by means of QCD evolution. The present results show that the strong correlation effects present at the scale of the model are still sizable, in the valence region, at the experimental scale. At the low values of
x
presently studied at the LHC the correlations become less relevant, although they are still important for the spin-dependent contributions to unpolarized proton scattering.
The global nitrogen (N) cycle at the beginning of the 21st century has been shown to be strongly influenced by the inputs of reactive nitrogen (Nr) from human activities, including combustion-related ...NOx, industrial and agricultural N fixation, estimated to be 220 Tg N yr−1 in 2010, which is approximately equal to the sum of biological N fixation in unmanaged terrestrial and marine ecosystems. According to current projections, changes in climate and land use during the 21st century will increase both biological and anthropogenic fixation, bringing the total to approximately 600 Tg N yr−1 by around 2100. The fraction contributed directly by human activities is unlikely to increase substantially if increases in nitrogen use efficiency in agriculture are achieved and control measures on combustion-related emissions implemented. Some N-cycling processes emerge as particularly sensitive to climate change. One of the largest responses to climate in the processing of Nr is the emission to the atmosphere of NH3, which is estimated to increase from 65 Tg N yr−1 in 2008 to 93 Tg N yr−1 in 2100 assuming a change in global surface temperature of 5 °C in the absence of increased anthropogenic activity. With changes in emissions in response to increased demand for animal products the combined effect would be to increase NH3 emissions to 135 Tg N yr−1. Another major change is the effect of climate changes on aerosol composition and specifically the increased sublimation of NH4NO3 close to the ground to form HNO3 and NH3 in a warmer climate, which deposit more rapidly to terrestrial surfaces than aerosols. Inorganic aerosols over the polluted regions especially in Europe and North America were dominated by (NH4)2SO4 in the 1970s to 1980s, and large reductions in emissions of SO2 have removed most of the SO42− from the atmosphere in these regions. Inorganic aerosols from anthropogenic emissions are now dominated by NH4NO3, a volatile aerosol which contributes substantially to PM10 and human health effects globally as well as eutrophication and climate effects. The volatility of NH4NO3 and rapid dry deposition of the vapour phase dissociation products, HNO3 and NH3, is estimated to be reducing the transport distances, deposition footprints and inter-country exchange of Nr in these regions. There have been important policy initiatives on components of the global N cycle. These have been regional or country-based and have delivered substantial reductions of inputs of Nr to sensitive soils, waters and the atmosphere. To date there have been no attempts to develop a global strategy to regulate human inputs to the nitrogen cycle. However, considering the magnitude of global Nr use, potential future increases, and the very large leakage of Nr in many forms to soils, waters and the atmosphere, international action is required. Current legislation will not deliver the scale of reductions globally for recovery from the effects of Nr deposition on sensitive ecosystems, or a decline in N2O emissions to the global atmosphere. Such changes would require substantial improvements in nitrogen use efficiency across the global economy combined with optimization of transport and food consumption patterns. This would allow reductions in Nr use, inputs to the atmosphere and deposition to sensitive ecosystems. Such changes would offer substantial economic and environmental co-benefits which could help motivate the necessary actions.
Several members of the order Mucorales (subphylum Mucoromycotina) are important agents of severe human infections. The identification of these fungi by using standard mycologic methods is often ...difficult and time consuming. Frequently, the etiological agent in clinical cases is reported either as a Mucor sp., which is not the most frequent genus of zygomycetes, or only as a member of the MUCORALES: For this reason, the actual spectrum of species of zygomycetes and their incidences in the clinical setting is not well known. The goals of this study were to compare the results of the molecular identification of an important set of clinical isolates, received in a mycological reference center from different regions of the United States, with those obtained by using the traditional morphological methods and to determine the spectrum of species involved. We tested 190 isolates morphologically identified as zygomycetes by using sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA. Molecular identification revealed that Rhizopus oryzae represented approximately half (44.7%) of these isolates. The remainder was identified as Rhizopus microsporus (22.1%), Mucor circinelloides (9.5%), Mycocladus corymbifer (formerly Absidia corymbifera) (5.3%), Rhizomucor pusillus (3.7%), Cunninghamella bertholletiae (3.2%), Mucor indicus (2.6%), Cunninghamella echinulata (1%), and Apophysomyces elegans (0.5%). The most common anatomic sites for clinically significant zygomycetes, as determined by isolates sent to the Fungus Testing Laboratory for identification and/or susceptibility testing and included in this study, were the sinuses, lungs, and various cutaneous locations, at 25.8%, 26.8%, and 28%, respectively. These sites represented approximately 80% of the isolates evaluated. A high level of correlation (92.6%) between morphological and molecular identifications was found.
Some species in the polyphyletic fungal genus Acremonium are important opportunist pathogens. Determining the actual spectrum of species and their incidence in the clinical setting, however, has long ...been hampered because of the difficulties encountered in phenotypic species-level identification. The goal of this study was to re-identify a large number of clinical isolates morphologically and to confirm the identifications by comparing sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region of the rRNA gene of these isolates to those of type or reference strains of well-known Acremonium species. Of the 119 isolates referred to a United States reference laboratory under the name Acremonium, only 75 were identified morphologically as belonging to that genus. The remainder (44 isolates) were identified as belonging to other morphologically similar genera. The Acremonium clinical isolates were related to species of Hypocreales, Sordariales, and of an incertae sedis family of ascomycetes, Plectosphaerellaceae. A total of 50 of the 75 Acremonium isolates (67%) could be identified by molecular means, the prevalent species being Acremonium kiliense (15 isolates), A. sclerotigenum-A. egyptiacum (11 isolates), A. implicatum (7 isolates), A. persicinum (7 isolates), and A. atrogriseum (4 isolates). One of the most interesting findings of our study was that we identified several species among this large collection of clinical isolates that had not previously been reported from human infections, and we failed to confirm other Acremonium species, such as A. potronii, A. recifei, and A. strictum, that had been considered significant. The most common anatomic sites for Acremonium isolates were the respiratory tract (41.3%), nails (10.7%), and the eye (9.3%). Antifungal susceptibility testing demonstrated high MICs for all agents tested, except for terbinafine. Since numerous isolates could not be identified, we concluded that the list of opportunistic Acremonium species is far from be complete and that a considerable number of additional species will be discovered.
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