We resolve deformation at The Geysers Geothermal Field using two distinct sets of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data. The first set of observations utilize archived European Space ...Agency C‐band synthetic aperture radar data from 1992 through 1999 to image the long‐term and large‐scale subsidence at The Geysers. The peak range velocity of approximately 50 mm/year agrees with previous estimates from leveling and global positioning system observations. Data from a second set of measurements, acquired by TerraSAR‐X satellites, extend from May 2011 until April 2012 and overlap the C‐band data spatially but not temporally. These X‐band data, analyzed using a combined permanent and distributed scatterer algorithm, provide a higher density of scatterers (1122 per square kilometer) than do the C‐band data (12 per square kilometer). The TerraSAR‐X observations resolve 1 to 2 cm of deformation due to water injection into a Northwest Geysers enhanced geothermal system well, initiated on October 2011. The temporal variation of the deformation is compatible with estimates from coupled numerical modeling.
Key Points
X-band data provides improved coverage of deformation at The Geysers
The C-band deformation rate agrees with past estimates
The estimates are supported by modeling
Acquired Hemophilia Treated Using Low-Dose of Rituximab Mumoli, Nicola; Giorgi-Pierfranceschi, Matteo; Ferretti, Alessandro ...
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS),
August 2016, Letnik:
64, Številka:
8
Journal Article
Febrile seizures (FS) are usually self-limiting and cause no morbidity. Nevertheless they represent very traumatic events for families. There is a need to identify key messages that reassure carers ...and help to prevent inappropriate, anxiety-driven behaviors associated with “fever phobia.” No recommendations have been proposed to date regarding the content of such messages. Using a Delphi process, we have established a consensus regarding the information to be shared with families following a FS. Twenty physicians (child neurologists and pediatricians) from five European countries participated in a three-step Delphi process between May 2018 and October 2019. In the first step, each expert was asked to give 10 to 15 free statements about FS. In the second and third steps, statements were scored and selected according to the expert ranking of importance. A list of key messages for families has emerged from this process, which offer reassurance about FS based on epidemiology, underlying mechanisms, and the emergency management of FS should they recur. Interestingly, there was a high level of agreement between child neurologists and general pediatricians.
Conclusion
: We propose key messages to be communicated with families in the post-FS clinic setting.
What is Known:
• Febrile seizures (FS) are traumatic events for families
.
• No guidelines exist on what information to share with parents following a FS
.
What is New:
• A Delphi process involving child neurologists and pediatricians provides consensual statement about information to deliver after a febrile seizure
.
• We propose key messages to be communicated with families in the post-FS clinic setting
.
Quinidine (QND) is an old antimalarial drug that was used in the early 20th century as an antiarrhythmic agent. Currently, QND is receiving attention for its use in epilepsy of infancy with migrating ...focal seizures (EIMFS) due to potassium sodium-activated channel subfamily T member 1 (KCNT1) genetic variants. Here, we report the application of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) in pediatric patients carrying KCNT1 genetic variants and orally treated with QND for developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE). We measured plasma levels of QND and its metabolite hydroquinidine (H-QND) by using a validated method based on liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Three pediatric patients (median age 4.125 years, IQR 2.375–4.125) received increasing doses of QND. Cardiac toxicity was monitored at every dose change. Reduction in seizure frequency ranged from 50 to 90%. Our results show that QND is a promising drug for pediatric patients with DEE due to KCNT1 genetic variants. Although QND blood levels were significantly lower than the therapeutic range as an anti-arrhythmic drug, patients showed a significant improvement in seizure burden. These data underlie the utility of TDM for QND not only to monitor its toxic effects but also to evaluate possible drug–drug interactions.
Ground deformation data from GPS and differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR) techniques are analyzed to study the July–August 2001 Mount Etna eruption as well as the dynamics ...preceding and following this event. Five GPS surveys were carried out on the entire Mount Etna network or on its southeastern part, from July 2000 to October 2001. Five ERS‐2 ascending passes and three descending ones are used to form five interferograms spanning periods from a month to 1 year, before and encompassing the eruption. Numerical and analytical inversions of the GPS and DInSAR data were performed to obtain analytical models for preeruptive, syneruptive and posteruptive periods. The deformation sources obtained were from the Mogi model: (1) pressure sources located beneath the upper western flank of the volcano, inflating before the eruption onset and deflating afterward; (2) tensile dislocations to model the intrusion of a N‐S dike in the central part of the volcano; and (3) two sliding and two normal dislocations to model the eastern and southern flank dynamics. This study confirms that the lower vents of the eruption were fed by a magma stored at depth ranging from 9 to 4 km below sea level, as proposed from petrochemical and geophysical researches. The rising of the magma through the shallow crust started months before the eruption onset but accelerated on the last day; this study suggests that in the volcanic pile the path of the rising magma was driven by the volcano topography. The eastern sliding plane and the interaction between dike intrusion and flank instability have been better defined with respect to previous studies. The sliding motion abruptly accelerated with the dike intrusion, and this continued after the end of the eruption. The acceleration was accompanied by the propagation of the strain field toward the eastern periphery of the volcano.
The ALICE time machine Ferretti, Alessandro
EPJ Web of conferences,
01/2013, Letnik:
58
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. In such a state the normal nuclear matter could not exist: it is believed that a ...few microsecond after big-bang the matter underwent a phase transition, from a state called Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) to a hadron gas. Some of the unexplained features of the Universe could be explained by the QGP properties. One of the aims of the CERN LHC is to recreate (on a smaller scale) a QGP state, compressing and heating ordinary nuclear matter by means of ultra relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The ALICE experiment at CERN is dedicated to the study of the medium produced in these collisions : in particular, the study of the heavy quarkonia suppression pattern can give a measure of the temperature reached in these collisions, helping us to understand how close we are getting to the conditions of the starting point of the Universe.
Fibroblast growth‐factor homologous factor (FHF1) gene variants have recently been associated with developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE). FHF1 encodes a cytosolic protein that modulates ...neuronal sodium channel gating. We aim to refine the electroclinical phenotypic spectrum of patients with pathogenic FHF1 variants. We retrospectively collected clinical, genetic, neurophysiologic, and neuroimaging data of 17 patients with FHF1‐DEE. Sixteen patients had recurrent heterozygous FHF1 missense variants: 14 had the recurrent p.Arg114His variant and two had a novel likely pathogenic variant p.Gly112Ser. The p.Arg114His variant is associated with an earlier onset and more severe phenotype. One patient carried a chromosomal microduplication involving FHF1. Twelve patients carried a de novo variant, five (29.5%) inherited from parents with gonadic or somatic mosaicism. Seizure onset was between 1 day and 41 months; in 76.5% it was within 30 days. Tonic seizures were the most frequent seizure type. Twelve patients (70.6%) had drug‐resistant epilepsy, 14 (82.3%) intellectual disability, and 11 (64.7%) behavioral disturbances. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed mild cerebral and/or cerebellar atrophy in nine patients (52.9%). Overall, our findings expand and refine the clinical, EEG, and imaging phenotype of patients with FHF1‐DEE, which is characterized by early onset epilepsy with tonic seizures, associated with moderate to severe ID and psychiatric features.
Different conditions may underlie gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) in children. The estimated prevalence of GIB in children is 6.4%, with spontaneous resolution in approximately 80% of cases. ...Nonetheless, the initial approach plays a pivotal role in determining the prognosis. The priority is the stabilization of hemodynamic status, followed by a systematic diagnostic approach. GIB can originate from either upper or lower gastrointestinal tract, leading to a broad differential diagnosis in infants and children. This includes benign and self-limiting disorders, alongside serious conditions necessitating immediate treatment. We performed a nonsystematic review of the literature, in order to describe the variety of conditions responsible for GIB in pediatric patients and to outline diagnostic pathways according to patients' age, suspected site of bleeding and type of bleeding which can help pediatricians in clinical practice. Diagnostic modalities may include esophagogastroduodenoscopy and colonoscopy, abdominal ultrasonography or computed tomography and, when necessary, magnetic resonance imaging. In this review, we critically assess these procedures, emphasizing their respective advantages and limitations concerning specific clinical scenarios.
Cation−π interactions and their possible competition with other noncovalent interactions (NCI) might play a key role in both dopamine- and eumelanin-based bioinspired materials. In this contribution, ...to unravel the delicate interplay between cation−π interactions and other possible competing forces, the configurational space of noncovalent complexes formed by dopamine or eumelanin precursors (o-benzoquinone, DHI and a semiquinone dimer) and three different cations (Na+, K+, and NH4 +) is sampled by means of accurate ab initio calculations. To this end, we resort to the mp2 mod method, recently validated by us for benzene–, phenol–, and catechol–cation complexes, whose computational convenience allows for an extensive exploration of the cation–molecule interaction energy surface, by sampling a total of more than 104 arrangements. The mp2 mod interaction energy landscapes reveal that, besides the expected cation−π driven arrangements, for all considered molecule–cation pairs the most stable complexes are found when the cation lies within the plane containing the six-membered ring, thus maximizing the σ-type interaction with the oxygen’s lone pairs. Due to the loss of aromaticity, the σ-type/cation−π strength ratio is remarkably large in o-benzoquinone, where cation−π complexes seem unlikely to be formed. The above features are shared among all considered cations but are significantly larger when considering the smaller Na+. Besides delivering a deeper insight onto the NCI network established by the considered precursors in the presence of ions, the present results can serve as a reference database to validate or refine lower level methods, as, for instance, the force fields employed in classical simulations.
Refractory and super-refractory status epilepticus (RSE, SRSE) are severe conditions that can have long-term neurological consequences with high morbidity and mortality rates. The usefulness of vagus ...nerve-stimulation (VNS) implantation during RSE has been documented by anecdotal cases and in systematic reviews; however, the use of VNS in RSE has not been widely adopted. We successfully implanted VNS in two patients with genetic epilepsy admitted to hospital for SRSE; detailed descriptions of the clinical findings and VNS parameters are provided. Our patients were implanted 25 and 58 days after status epilepticus (SE) onset, and a stable remission of SE was observed from the seventh and tenth day after VNS implantation, respectively, without change in anti-seizure medication. We used a fast ramp-up of stimulation without evident side effects. Our results support the consideration of VNS implantation as a safe and effective adjunctive treatment for SRSE.
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