Mobility of trace elements in a coastal contaminated site under groundwater salinization dynamics.

Water pollution is a significant issue resulting from past long-term actions. The remediation projects carried out under law constraints for industrial plants, which have been the major contributors to environmental and water pollution, are currently providing a significant amount of data about contaminated soil, surface waters, and groundwater. Most of such plants worldwide are in coastal zones.

Analyzing spatial and temporal evolution of groundwater salinization through Multivariate Statistical Analysis and Hydrogeochemical Facies Evolution-Diagram.

The growing groundwater withdrawal rates in coastal aquifers in arid/semi-arid regions exacerbate seawater intrusion and saltwater upconing by causing groundwater salinization and potential adverse and cascading effects to related groundwater-depending systems. This study aims to highlight the dynamics of groundwater salinization in time and space by comparing the efficacy of statistical (hierarchical cluster and factor analyses) and hydrogeochemical (hydrogeochemical facies evolution) methods. Multi-temporal groundwater samples collected from the monitoring well network in the study area (Salento Aquifer, Puglia region, Southern Italy) have been considered to recognize such dynamics.

Space-time LAI variability in Northern Puglia (Italy) from SPOT VGT data.

The vegetation space-time variability during 1999-2010 in the North of the Apulian region (Southern Italy) was analysed using SPOT VEGETATION (VGT) sensor data. Three bands of VEGETATION (RED, NIR and SWIR) were used to implement the vegetation index named reduced simple ratio (RSR) to derive leaf area index (LAI). The monthly average LAI is an indicator of biomass and canopy cover, while the difference between the annual maximum and minimum LAI is an indicator of annual leaf turnover.

Treatment of post-prostatectomy rectourethral fistula with fibrin sealant (Quixil™) injection: a novel application.

Rectourethral fistulas in adults is a rare but potentially devastating postoperative condition requiring complex and demanding surgery. Fibrin glue treatment has been used with some success in anal and rectovaginal fistulas, and in the case we present here this indication has been extended to a postoperative rectourethral fistula following radical prostatectomy. For the first time, to our knowledge, a fibrin sealant (Quixil) was injected into the fistula tract, and a rectal mucosal flap was used to close the internal opening.

Automatic phase correction of 2D NMR spectra by a whitening method.

A new method for the automatic phase correction of multidimensional NMR spectra is described. It is based on the whitening concept formulated as the 'maximization of the number of white pixels into a bitmap that corresponds to the spectrum'. This process of maximization can be factorized along the individual axes of the spectrum and this property makes the method robust and fast.