A methodology for Response Gap Analysis in offshore oil spill emergency management.

In case of offshore oil spills, the success of emergency response largely depends on the meteorological and oceanographic conditions during and after the spill, which are expressed by a set of different environmental factors. A "gap" in the response may be caused by unfavourable environmental factors that could limit its effectiveness or even impede it. In this context, Response Gap Analysis (RGA) studies identify the environmental factors negatively influencing the emergency response in a given sea area and aim at assessing the percentage of time during which the response would be without success or impossible to deploy.

Testing and Modelling of Elastomeric Element for an Embedded Rail System.

Modelling of elastomeric elements of railway components, able to represent stiffness and damping characteristics in a wide frequency range, is fundamental for simulating the train-track dynamic interaction, covering issues such as rail deflection as well as transmitted forces and higher frequency phenomena such as short pitch corrugation. In this paper, a modified non-linear Zener model is adopted to represent the dependences of stiffness and damping of the rail fastening, made of elastomeric material, of a reference Embedded Rail System (ERS) on the static preload and frequency of its deformation. In order to obtain a reliable model, a proper laboratory test set-up is built, considering sensitivity and frequency response issues.

Comma sign of subscapularis tear: diagnostic performance and magnetic resonance imaging appearance.

Background: The main aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and interobserver agreement in the identification of the comma sign. The second objective was to look for a correlation between the comma sign and the detachment of the superficial fascia of the subscapularis.

Materials And Methods: Two radiologists, blinded to the arthroscopic findings, retrospectively assessed the magnetic resonance images of 110 shoulders and were asked to assess the presence of the comma sign and the intact subscapularis fascia.

Pleomorphic adenoma of parotid gland: delayed enhancement on computed tomography.

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of multiphasic CT with 8 min delayed acquisition in the differential diagnosis between pleomorphic adenomas and other parotid neoplasias.

Methods: Between January 2004 and April 2007, 62 patients with parotid enlargement were enrolled in this prospective study. The CT protocol applied included the following four acquisitions: without contrast medium and 30 s, 120 s and 8 min after intravenous injection of contrast medium.

[Sideropenic anemia and celiac disease].

Since the beginning of the use of Antigliadin Antibodies (AGA) in the screening of coeliac disease (CD) we have observed an increasing in the total number of cases diagnosed, in particular of the cases with monosymptomatic and atypical forms. Iron deficiency anemia is one of the more frequent findings that we can find in CD, either in association with other typical coeliac signs, or as an isolated expression of the disease. The first aim of our study was to determine the incidence of iron deficiency anemia in our patients affected by CD at the moment of diagnosis.

[Celiac disease in children with Down's syndrome].

The coexistence of Down's syndrome (DS) and coeliac disease (CD) has been occasionally reported and both diseases are often related to autoimmune disorders. The pathogenetic factor that links CD and DS may be an altered immune system and/or the presence of a common genetic factor. Some epidemiological investigations, performed in patients with CD, showed an increased incidence of DS compared to the natural incidence of this abnormality in the general population.

[Discordance in the onset of celiac disease in monozygotic twins].

Coeliac disease (CD) is a gluten intolerance caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors such as nutrition and infections. Monozygotic twins appear to have a concordance for CD up to 71%. This paper reports a third case of late onset of CD in monozygotic twin girls.

Scalloped duodenal folds in childhood celiac disease.

Unlike the adult form, childhood celiac disease has not hitherto been associated with a particular endoscopic pattern. The upper gastrointestinal tracts of 46 children with various stages of celiac disease and of 27 children with conditions other than celiac disease were examined by an endoscopist unaware of the clinical details of the patients. The scalloped configuration of duodenal folds was shown to have a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 87% in the diagnosis of subtotal villus atrophy.

[The adolescent celiac].

A group of 81 teenage coeliac patients were recently followed to monitor their compliance with a gluten free diet and also to correlate this with: their general wellbeing, height and weight, antigliadin and antiendomisyal antibody levels and jejunal mucosa patterns. Fifty two patients (64.1%) were on a strict gluten free diet; 18 (22.

[Celiac disease and autoimmune thyroiditis. Description of a case].

It has been known that there is a more than fortuitous association between coeliac disease and a whole range of autoimmune conditions. At present there are only very small numbers of cases reported with childhood coeliac disease and thyroiditis. The Authors refer to a seven year old girl with documented coeliac disease who developed an autoimmune thyroiditis with glandular hypofunction, an unusual feature still rarely described.

[Chronic diarrhea due to Cryptosporidium in an immunocompetent subject].

The protozoan Cryptosporidium has been described in many cases of acute self-limiting diarrhoea in immunocompetent patients and of more protracted or life threatening diarrhoea in immunocompromised patients. We found the parasite in the stools of a child with chronic diarrhoea and without deficiency of immunity. The test for common causes of chronic diarrhoea were normal.

[The diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux in childhood: a comparison between echography and pH measurement].

Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is a very common event in childhood. Therefore we must use an exact and nontraumatizing test to differentiate between physiologic and pathologic conditions. Sonography appears to be a methodology endowed with these particularities.

Syringopeptins, new phytotoxic lipodepsipeptides of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae.

The primary structure of some new lipodepsipeptides named syringopeptins, produced by plant pathogenic strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae has been determined by a combination of chemical methods, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and FAB mass spectrometry. Two syringomycin-producing strains afforded 3-hydroxydecanoyl-Dhb-Pro-Val-Val-Ala-Ala-Val-Val-Dhb-Ala-Val-Ala- Ala-Dhb-aThr-Ser-Ala-Dhb-Ala-Dab-Dab-Tyr, with Tyr acylating a Thr to form a macrolactone ring, and smaller amounts of the 3-hydroxydodecanoyl homologue.

Structure of syringotoxin, a bioactive metabolite of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae.

The covalent structure of syringotoxin, a bioactive metabolite of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae isolates, pathogenic on various species of citrus trees, has been deduced from 1D and 2D 1H- and 13C-NMR spectra combined with extensive FAB-MS data and results of some chemical reactions. Similarly to syringomicins and syringostatins, produced by other plant pathogenic strains of P.

Immunoglobulin A antigliadin antibodies in jejunal juice: markers of severe intestinal damage in coeliac children.

Antibodies to gliadin (AGA), detected in jejunal juice by immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, have been found in 13 of 15 (87%) children with untreated coeliac disease. Jejunal AGA were also positive in 6 of the 9 (67%) coeliac children on gluten challenge, while they were consistently negative in coeliac children on a gluten-free diet and in controls. Jejunal AGA were always of immunoglobulin A (IgA) class, associated with IgM in some cases.

[When and why a celiac patient could be subjected to surgical intervention].

The authors report the case of a three year old patient who presented with coeliac disease simulating an Hirschsprung's (constipation and megacolon). She underwent surgery many times and this was due to an initial diagnosis of aganglionic megacolon. Moreover the relationship between constipation and megacolon is discussed and some pathogenetic interpretations of megacolon, a common observation in patient with coeliac disease, are presented.

Antibodies to dietary antigens in coeliac disease.

Antibodies to gliadin (AGA) were found in 77 (94%) of 82 sera from patients with active coeliac disease (untreated and after gluten challenge). Although IgG AGA had a higher nosological sensitivity than IgA AGA (88% versus 67%), their nosological specificity was lower than that of IgA antibodies (87% versus 100%). The sensitivity of antibodies to casein, beta-lactoglobulin, and ovalbumin in active coeliac disease varied from 36% to 48% without significant difference between IgG and IgA antibodies.

[Validity of antigliadin antibodies in the diagnosis of celiac disease].

Antibodies to gliadin, detected by immunofluorescence (IFL-AGA) and ELISA (ELISA-AGA), have been found in 68 of 71 (96%) sera from children with active celiac disease. AGA of IgA class were confined to celiac disease on normal diet and after gluten challenge, as all the antibodies, found in children on gluten free diet (40%) and in control gastroenterological diseases (20%), were of IgG class. Sera from 175 first-degree relatives of our celiacs were also screened for AGA.

Antibodies to gliadin detected by immunofluorescence and a micro-ELISA method: markers of active childhood and adult coeliac disease.

Antibodies to gliadin have been detected by immunofluorescence (IFL-AGA) and a micro-ELISA method (ELISA-AGA) in 45 out of 47 (96%) sera from patients with active childhood and adult coeliac disease. The two methods were more sensitive than R1-reticulin antibodies (R1-ARA) which were found only in 28 of the same patients (60%). R1-ARA were always negative in the 26 sera from patients with childhood coeliac disease and adult coeliac disease after gluten free diet, while IFL- and ELISA-AGA were respectively found in three (12%) and in four (15%) out of these patients.

R1 reticulin antibodies: markers of celiac disease in children on a normal diet and on gluten challenge.

R1 reticulin antibodies were found in sera from patients with childhood celiac disease (CCD). Although the overall sensitivity of R1 in the diagnosis of CCD was relatively low (16/43 = 37%), when only those cases in an active phase of the disease were considered, the sensitivity increased (16/24 = 67%). In spite of its low sensitivity, the R1 assay did show a high degree of specificity, as this antibody was not found in children with post-enteritis syndrome or in healthy controls.

Short stature and celiac disease: a relationship to consider even in patients with no gastrointestinal tract symptoms.

To determine the incidence of celiac disease in a group of nonselected children with short stature, duodenal biopsy was performed in 60 unselected children with short stature (below third centile) and absence of gastrointestinal tract symptoms. Examination revealed probable celiac disease in five children (8.3%).

[Neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Observations of 21 cases studied from 1977 to 1980].

We have carried out a study together with neonatologists, paediatricians, paediatric surgeons and paediatric radiologist on the etiopathogenic, clinical-statistical, therapeutical and evolutionary aspects of NEC during the period from 1977 to 1980 in the Neonatology Clinic and in the Paediatric Surgery Department University of Bologna. The most important data were as follows: a high percentage of full-term newborns, the apparently unfavourable action of artificial feeding, a little amount of infectious etiology, an absence of predisposing factors in more than half the cases, an uniform symptomatology in a lot of patients with adverse evolution in the cases of secondary colic stenosis. The mortality was 33 percent, specially among the small for gestational age infants.

Splenic function in childhood coeliac disease.

We measured splenic function using a simple, non-isotopic method in childhood coeliac disease. No patients were shown to have hyposplenism. This has important clinical and therapeutic implications.