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SUMMARY The separation of the effects of deep-seated sources of potential fields from those of shallower ones is a frequent requirement when interpreting magnetic or gravity fields. A common procedure is estimating the regional, long wavelength, component of the field by analysing the data over an area larger than that of the local feature of interest. The local components are found by subtracting the estimated regional from the observed data. These approaches may have difficulties in their application, as the dataset over large areas may not be available and other local anomalies, in the enlarged area, may prevent a reliable estimate of the regional field. We present an alternative and simple approach to the regional-residual separation problem not requiring the analysis over large areas and aiming at estimating the local, rather than the regional, component. Our method exploits the natural enhancement of short wavelengths obtainable by computing vertical derivatives of potential fields. An equivalent layer source is computed from the vertical derivative and is used to estimate the local field. The optimal differentiation order can be determined by inspecting the obtained results. This parameter may assume even fractional values, so that the method results a very versatile tool. The application to a complex synthetic case and two real data examples demonstrates the utility of this approach. In summary, our method has some peculiar characteristics making it an interesting alternative to currently used approaches to regional-residual separation: (i) it is a local method, so it can work well even when processing datasets relative to areas of limited extension; (ii) unlike most current methods, estimating a smooth regional component, our method directly produces an estimate of the local field and (iii) it is highly versatile, as the key parameter, that is the fractional differentiation order, can be finely adjusted up to obtain an optimal local field.

Magnetic method plays an important role in different fields of application. In the past decade, the introduction of drones and the development of miniaturized, lightweight magnetic sensors opened new data acquisition possibilities. In fact, the drone-borne magnetometry allows collecting magnetic datasets characterized by a uniform areal coverage and good resolution, representing an intermediate solution between the classical ground and high-altitude airborne prospections. Moreover, drones allow to reduce costs, time, and risks, with respect to other acquisition techniques, and allow performing high resolution surveys over places of difficult access. In this study, we conducted a drone-borne magnetic survey, on the southwestern slope of the Mt. Cesima ridge, northeast of Roccamonfina volcano. Here, within the active quarry of Taverna San Felice (Presenzano), we performed a magnetic mapping of an igneous dike intruded in Mesozoic carbonates. The results, integrated with field and drone-based structural data, as well as the geological mapping, helped to constrain the geometry of this magmatic dike and the distribution of its pyroclastic deposits, shedding light on an impressive example of interaction between volcanism and tectonics in the southern Apennines.

Highlights • Primary peritoneal Malignant Mixed mesodermal tumor is an extremely rare and aggressive neoplasm with only few case reported in the literature. • Recommendations for the treatment of MMMT are based on individual cases only. • Surgical excision is the most effective treatment in carcinosarcomas., Introduction Primary malignant mixed mesodermal tumor (MMMt, also called malignant mixed Mullerian tumor and designated in the WHO classification of female genital tract neoplasms as carcinosarcoma) is an infrequent tumor that develops usually in the uterus and more rarely in the ovary. Extragenital tumor, including primary peritoneal MMMt, is an extremely rare and aggressive neoplasm with only few case reported in the literature. Presentation of case We report a case of a 70-year’s old female who presented with nausea and abdominal discomfort for 6 months. Workup revealed an abdominal mass. Patient was treated with surgical removal in a general hospital. Discussion Most peritoneal carcinosarcomas originate in the pelvic peritoneum, followed by decreasing frequency in the serosal surface of the colon, retroperitoneum, anterolateral abdominal peritoneum, and omentum. Surgical excision is the most effective treatment in carcinosarcomas. A complete cytoreduction, with resection of cancer to a status of no evidence of disease by the surgeon’s unaided eye should be attempted. Conclusion Owing to the rarity of the disease, limited data regarding the management of peritoneal MMMT exists. Recommendations for the treatment of MMMT are based on individual cases only. In our case, the patient is alive with a follow-up of 15 months and she did not receive any cycle of chemotherapy.

Any inguinal hernia containing the vermiform appendix is called Amyand's hernia. Amyand hernias are very rare and even rarer is the association of Amyand hernia with acute appendicitis. Due to the rarity of this entity, it constitutes a challenging case in terms of diagnosis and treatment. The surgical management is not yet standardized and there are no clear guidelines. There are some controversies regarding whether to perform an appendectomy if appendix appears normal or whether mesh can be used for the hernia repair if appendectomy is performed. We describe a case of Amyand hernia in a 90-year old man with acute appendicitis and we review current literature regarding surgical strategy.

We retrospectively collected data of 100 consecutives elective Longo's procedures for third- and fourth-degree simptomatic haemorroids, classified ASA grade I and II. All patients stayed overnight, because discharge was scheduled the day after the operation. 98 were discharged the day after the operation. Two patients were not discharged the day after because mild and severe bleeding respectively occurred during the first night after the operation which settled conservatively. All the patients were discharged on oral NSAID and stool softeners. None required rehospitalisation. Our retrospective study, pointing out that, in general patients did not require active intervention on the first postoperative night, represents an encouragement to introduce day-case stapled procedure for haemorroids.

For long time the traditional surgical treatment for lower limb varicose veins has been high ligation of sapheno-femoral junction and stripping of great saphenous vein. Surgery, however, has been frustrated by postoperative pains, discomfort and recurrences so that it has been challenged by minimally invasive endovenous techniques such as laser treatment and radiofrequency ablation. The aim of the article is to assess the feasibility of a combined approach to greater saphenous vein reflux: high ligation of sapheno-femoral junction and thermal treatment of the great saphenous vein.A retrospective analysis on 95 patients treated with high ligation and thermal ablation at our institution was performed, assessing duration of surgery, post-operative pain and analgesics requirements, early complications and resumption of activities.Two patients (5,4%), in the laser group experienced skin burns in the course of the GSV. Moderate ecchymosis, by laser fibre-Romainduced perforation of the vein wall, were observed in another two patients (5.4%). Four limbs (10.8%) in the EVLT group developed transient paraesthesias. Analgesic requirement on POD 3 was nil for RFA group; conversely half of the EVLT patients did take analgesics, either 2 or 3 tabs were required. On POD 7, the patients of RFA group continued to not ask for any analgesics, but the same half of the patients in EVLT group still needed 1-2 tabs to carry out their normal activities smoothly. On POD 15, no patient did require analgesics. Resumption of routine activities was earlier for RFA group patients than for those in the EVLT group. The RFA group resumed their activities within 3 days, whereas EVLT group in 8-9 days. High ligation of the SFJ didn't add too much time or morbidities.High ligation of saphenous femoral arc combined with catheter delivered thermal energies for saphenous ablation, even when combined with high ligation of saphenous femoral arc, demonstrated to be minimally invasive, easy to learn and easy to perform, with early resumption and return to normal activity. EVLT achieved similar results to RFA and both techniques were considered equally effective and safe; the results we obtained were not statistically significant but RFA showed less pain, ecchymosis and haematomas, as well as provided better short-term quality of life.

This retrospective study, of a single surgeon's experience, evaluates the role of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) for total thyroidectomy, in a low-volume district general hospital. 128 patients with normal preoperative vocal fold function underwent thyroid surgery with routine use of nerve monitoring. Patients were followed for 6 months after surgery, and postoperative Romanerve function was determined by fiberoptic laryngoscopy. One (0,8%) patient was found to have a unilateral vocal fold paralysis, but after 6 months this patient had regained vocal fold motion. The technique of intraoperative neuromonitoring in thyroid surgery is safe and reliable in excluding postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy; it has high accuracy, specificity, sensitivity and negative predictive value. Neuromonitoring is useful to identify the recurrent laryngeal nerve and it can be a useful adjunctive technique for reassuring surgeons of the functional integrity of the nerve. Its application can be particularly recommended for low-volume thyroid operation centres.

The tissue tropism and possible correlation with liver disease of the TT virus (TTV) as well as its prevalence and genotype distribution remain undefined. TTV-DNA was investigated in paired sera and tissue samples from 144 patients, and sera and cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) from additional six subjects. Of the 144 tissue samples, 128 were liver biopsy specimens from subjects with hepatic disease while 16 were surgically obtained nonliver specimens from patients with extrahepatic disease. TTV cloning, sequencing and genotype analyses were performed on isolates from sera, tissue specimens and peripheral blood mononuclear cells of two patients with hepatic and four patients with extrahepatic pathologies, as well as from sera and CSFs of two subjects. TTV was found in 100% of the examined tissues and in 60.1 and 50% of sera from patients with hepatic and extrahepatic pathologies, respectively. Moreover, TTV was detected in four of the six CSFs analysed but only in two correspondent sera. Genotyping revealed the coexistence of multiple TTV genotypes and genetic variants in each infected individual, and the analysis of TTV mRNA showed the presence of transcripts in all the six different tissues studied. These results indicate that the entire adult population in our area is more likely infected by TTV, although several subjects are not viraemic and that TTV infects many different human tissues and is able to invade the central nervous system.

Sulfonated styrene–butadiene–styrene (SSBS) triblock copolymer was cross-linked through condensation of sulfonic acid groups with bis(4-aminophenyl)sulfone to form sulfonamide linkages using a coupling agent (carbonyldiimidazole). Intact and clear light brown membranes were obtained when cast from solution, and cross-linking was established by measuring percent water uptake, determined gravimetrically and by near-IR (NIR) spectroscopy, and percent sulfonation by titration. The cross-linked SSBS membranes were found to absorb less water, showed higher resistance to thermal degradation and, when not highly cross-linked, showed better membrane integrity when immersed in water for extended periods. The percent sulfonation of the cross-linked SSBS membranes was found to be 2–10% lower than the non-cross-linked membranes.

Recently, several new cell separators have become available for high platelet low WBC contamination thrombocytapheresis. In their original configuration, these apparatuses can only collect plasma along with platelets, while no concurrent red cell collection can be carried out. In this study, we present the preliminary results of plasma and/or erythrothrombocytapheresis after the adaptation of the lines of two different cell separators, namely the Fresenius AS 204 and the Baxter Health Care Amicus. In addition, the preliminary results of multicomponent collection using the Dideco Excel will be presented; in the latter a system of plasma recirculation was introduced, to increase the purity and quality of the platelet product. The results of these studies show that erythrothrombocytapheresis can be carried out with all these apparatuses, but only with Dideco-Excel and the Fresenius AS 204 the procedure is totally automated. There are marginal differences in the quality of the RBC product in terms of percent hematocrit, from 65% with the Excel and AS 204 to ∼ 75% with the Amicus and in terms total content of hemoglobin which averages 58 g per RBC concentrate when RBC collection is carried out during the processing of ∼ 420 ml of whole blood. In terms of platelet collection, the differences are presently moderate, as the platelet yield and WBC contamination are not affected by the concurrent RBC collection. The average platelet yield was 3.98-4.1, and 4.01x1011 and the total WBC contamination was 1.2-2.9, and 1.9X105 rerspectively with the Amicus, the AS 204 and the Excel. These represent a new step in the direction of total apheresis for blood and blood component procurement.

1995 has brought several novelties into the field of thrombocytapheresis. The most important is the presentation by Baxter of the Amicus CFC apparatus that, in a two-vein collection time of 51-53 min, collects 3.93-4.13 x 10(11) platelets contaminated by 0.2 x 10(6) white blood cells (WBC) with an efficiency of 72-74%. Similar results are obtained in 55 min, in single-needle procedures, with a collection efficiency of 70.7%, a total yield of 4.3 x 10(11) and a contamination of 0.9 x 10(6) WBC. Presently the machine cannot collect red blood cells (RBC), along with platelets, as does the DFC Haemonetics MCS3p. With this machine in mandatory single-needle procedures lasting 80-85 min, approximately 4.5 x 10(11) platelets can be collected with a WBC contamination of 3.1 x 10(6). Along with the platelet cells (PC), with the SDP PRC protocol at the end of each pass it is possible to collect aliquots of plasma red blood cells (PRBC) (10-50 mL) with a haematocrit of 65%. Depending on the number of passes and on the donor's body weight (BW), from 1 and 2 U/PRBC containing approximately 55 g of haemoglobin (Hb) each can be obtained. This method not only costs less but also immunological and viral risks for the patients are more efficiently addressed since it is possible to reduce the number of allogeneic exposures in the same transfusion event. PRBC can also be collected with the Fresenius AS104 and the Dideco Excel apparatuses. Dideco is presently using the "Genova" separation chamber, which can collect an average of 4.8 x 10(11) platelets contaminated with 0.5 x 10(6) WBC, in approximately 55 min. The ACD-A-to-blood ratio may be as low as 1/20 since the very last belts and lines are coated with non-thrombogenic substances. Therefore, there is no alteration of the quality of the platelets as evaluated with monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) anti-CD 62, 63, 36 and 51, no extra haemorrhagic risk for the donors and citrate reactions and microaggregate formation are totally eliminated. In 1995 there has also been some rejuvenation of the older cell separators. The CS3000+ uses the TN6/PLT 30 combination of separation collection chambers. Platelets are collected in only 30 mL of plasma, and non-plasma solutions containing acetate can be used for their resuspension. The Fresenius AS204 is ready for better-quality combined platelet collection, and RBC-PC collection with Cobe Spectra is under evaluation along with the leucocyte reduction system that apparently brings leucocyte contamination down to 0.35 x 10(5). This interest in thrombocytapheresis is also the result of the challenge that thrombopoietin phase I and II trials have promoted.

Objective: From a psychosexual point of view sexuality is the result of an integration of the biological and the erotical body. A complex integration that justify the complexity of human sexual life and his prowess to sexual malfunction. When sexuality is disturbed and no biological cause is found a specific psycho sexological and clinical methodology is required. Design and Method: Our approach is centered on a sexodynamic methodology and involves a careful investigation of the sexual objective behavior as well sexual fantasies and the imaginative world. We also compare the actual sexual behavior with the inner sexual erotic map. The sexual manifest reality is usually easily grasped from the individual and/or couple history. More cumbersome and tricky is the access to the inner emotional and reality. Through the investigation of sexual and dream fantasies as well as their potential development and a focus on gender identity, sexual attitude and relationship to the other and the other sex, the patient, in many cases, is able to better define the boundaries of his personal sexual likes and dislikes and to correlate them with his actual sexual behavior. In this way he can verify his willingness and possibility to go or not beyond his personal and sexual limits. Results: Our approach in very interesting and often allow us to cast a light where others approach seems to have more limitations. Conclusions: Our method allows to confront the problems difficult to investigate with other sexological approaches. In particular, allows the access to the intrapsychic mechanisms with profound impact on sexuality.

Objective: The connection between art and sexuality has always been considered to be solid. Even Freud once said to turn to poets to better understand human sexuality. While in classical Freudian orthodox psychoanalysis is used to understand and explain artworks, we think that the observation of erotic art can be useful in the understanding of human sexuality. Design and Method: Several painters and their erotic production are object of our reflections. Their artistic creations (paintings, drawings, sculptures, collages etc.) are sometimes direct and explicit, other times conceptual and symbolic. Results: The encounter of the artistic work stimulates, in most cases and in the majority of the viewers, an emotional response. People reactions correlate not only to their personal sexual inner world but also to specific erotic themes. Conclusions: The observation and study of erotic art can be useful in our understanding of sexuality and develop our capacity to relate to our sexuality.

In potential field inversion problems we usually solve underdetermined systems and this leads to a very shallow solution, typically known as minimum length solution. This may be avoided introducing a depth weighting function in the objective function (Li and Oldenburg, 1996). In this paper we derive invariance rules for either the minimum norm minimization and for the regularized inversion with depth weighting and positivity constraints. For a given source class, corresponding to a specific structural index N, the invariance rule assures that the same solution is obtained inverting the magnetic (or gravity) field or any of its nth order vertical derivatives. Although we demonstrate mathematically this invariance rule for the minimum norm minimization only, it is shown to occur also for the regularized inversion with depth weighting and positivity constraints. In this case, a source-class invariant form of depth weighting is derived, referring to that of the magnetic field, in the magnetic case, and to the 1st derivative of the gravity field, in the gravity case. We also illustrate how the combined effect of regularization parameter and depth weighting influences the estimated source model depth in the regularized inversion with depth weighting and positivity constraints.

An efficient way to deal with the inherent ambiguity in potential fields interpretation is to determine some model parameters common to classes of models fitting the data. One of these approaches is to determine the maximum depth to sources, for example by the well known Bott-Smith rules. These rules involve only the maximum of the field and of its horizontal gradient and are independent from the density contrast. Thanks to the direct relationship between structural index and depth to sources we work out a simple and fast strategy to obtain the same results by using the DEXP method. It consists in varying the structural index, related to the scaling exponent of the DEXP transformation, and selecting as the maximum depth the one obtained for the highest allowable value of the structural index. We tested our approach on synthetic models against the results obtained by the classical Bott-Smith formulas and the results are in fact very similar, confirming the validity of this method. The same approach could be valid also for other semi-automated methods, such as Euler deconvolution, demonstrating that this class of methods have potentialities still not fully exploited.

Downward continuation is a useful transformation, mainly used to enhance the measured field. Known limitations regard its instability and are theoretical, because the continuation level should not be deeper than the source depth. Despite of this downward continuation was used in several papers to recover source parameters with different methods here referred to as Normalized Full Gradient methods. These studies show that downward continuation may be applied to quasi-harmonic regions, i.e., volumes containing one-point isolated singularities. We modify the Normalized Full Gradient by using statistically meaningful normalizations and find improved, more resolved depth estimations. We show also that methods defined theoretically in the harmonic region, an still be meaningful when applied to downward continued fields within quasi-harmonic regions.

We interpreted selected profiles of the Gravity Bouguer anomalies in Southern Apennines by a two-step procedure. First, a high resolution boundary analysis is performed by using the MDA technique, based on the Enhanced Horizontal Derivative function (Fedi and Florio 2001). This analysis applied to Southern Italy Bouguer gravity map gave detailed information on the shallow and deep structural setting. The second step is the interpretation, by DEXP method, of the gravity field linked to a EHD lineament of interest. With Depth from Extreme Points method we can retrieve a rather effective information about the sources, namely their horizontal boundaries, depth and structural index.

In this paper we will explore the performances of the joint inversion, through the Euler reduced equations, of more ridges converging to the same source (Euler deconvolution for a multiridge set). The application to the total field due to synthetic sources demonstrate the improvements in the source parameters estimation with respect to the single ridge inversion even in the case of the simultaneous estimation of two parameters. The method yields a good clustering of the solutions and could not require any acceptance criterion or a-posteriori processing.

This study provides information on bathymetric and longitudinal distribution heterogeneity of the rockfish Helicolenus dactylopterus in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Data were drawn from experimental bottom trawl (1996-2002) plus bottom trap (2001-02) surveys. The frequency of occurrence and mean relative density (N/km2) and biomass (kg/km2) indexes were calculated for two survey seasons (spring and autumn), four geographic sectors and three depth strata. MANOVA was used to test fish abundance among years, sectors and strata. Analysis of the length-frequency distributions was carried out by two-way (gears and depths) ANOVA, post hoc multiple comparisons for testing differences among depths and Student’s t test for testing differences between gears. Length-weight relationship was also estimated and the allometric coefficient was tested with the Student’s t test. The results showed a significant positive bathymetric gradient of sizes both for trawl and trap surveys; at same depths, fish caught by traps were significantly longer than those caught by trawl. In spring surveys, significant differences were found among strata for both abundance indexes; in autumn surveys, significant differences between depth strata were found only for density indices. The distribution and abundance patterns of H. dactylopterus along the southern Tyrrhenian Sea was homogeneous among sectors. Length-weight relationship showed a significant positive allometric growth.

Drift-nets are known to result in high incidental catches of some cetacean species. Despite a UN moratorium on their use in the high seas and a ban in the Mediterranean by all European Union countries, including Italy (EC Reg. 1239/98), some fisheries continue to operate illegally. In 2002 and 2003 three line-transect surveys were conducted in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea around the Aeolian archipelago. These transects were designed to assess the presence, distribution and population size of cetacean species likely to be affected by accidental captures in this area. Data were only sufficient to estimate abundance for the striped dolphin. The best estimate (and first such estimate for this area) was 4030 individuals (CV=0.30, 95% CI=2239–7253) for May 2003. A rough estimate of striped dolphin by-catch, based on floating carcases, was calculated as 36 by-caught animals over a period of 12 days (CV=0.58, 95% CI=11–113). These results, although approximate, are a cause for concern. Conservation and management implications of the results are discussed.

E022 Improved SCALFUN Analysis of Potential Fields by a Criterion of Ridge–Consistency M. Fedi* (University of Napoli Federico II) G. Florio (University of Napoli Federico II) & L. Cascone (University of Napoli Federico II) SUMMARY Ridge analysis is well known in the frame of the Continuous Wavelet Transform methods and was recently proposed as a main step of the potential field interpretation method SCALFUN. The information related to more ridges converging to the same one-point source should be consistent otherwise a poor quality of the estimates of the source properties has to be expected. This can be due to an

Summary Methods based on Gravity Gradient Tensor (GGT), and on its related quantities, such as horizontal gradient, are in great development. Their interpretation allows a high resolution and non-invasive investigation of the Earth’s subsurface. GGT components may be either measured or numerically calculated from Bouguer anomaly data. Numerical algorithms to compute the GGT components are straightforward if gravity data are acquired over an approximately flat topography. When the data are instead acquired over a rugged terrain, false GGT anomalies may be created, due to the topography. This because such algorithms are based on the assumption that the measurements are referred to a flat level. To avoid those problems we propose a strategy called “Terrain Derivative Computation” (TDC). It consists of a) upward continuing the data to a flat level, b)compute gradients there, c) downward continuing the gradient to the topography surface.This methodology was first applied to synthetic data and then to a real case in Italy where it helps to reveal details of the subsurface geometry of faults and basin architecture which are not evident in the subsurface geology.