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Objectives The impact of age on outcomes of acute type A aortic dissection remains controversial. We sought to investigate 30–day and follow–up outcomes of acute type A aortic dissection repair in elderly patients. Survival anlysis was performed and independent risk factors for mortality were searched. Methods During a 21–year period (2000–2021), 102 patients of 70 years of age or older were emergently treated for acute type A aortic dissection at our institution. (mean age 75.1 ± 3.8 years, 53.9% male) Preoperative characteristics are displayed in Table I. Results Overall 30–day mortality (including operative mortality) was 21.6%. Mortality increased among patients presenting with atrial fibrillation (adjusted odds ratio 10.33, P = 0.02) and visceral malperfution (adjusted odds ratio 70.88, P = 0.005). Survival at 1, 5 and 10 years was 70.2 ± 4.6%, 50.9 ± 5.6% and 24.1 ± 5.6%, respectively (Figure 1). The need to perform concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting was the only independent risk factor for mortality during follow–up. (adjusted odds ratio 2.21, P = 0.04) Conclusions Thirty –day and follow–up mortality were extremely satisfactory in elderly patients undergoing acute type A dissection repair. We could detect significant disease and surgery–related risk factors for death. Patients presenting with atrial fibrillation or visceral malperfusion had the poorest 30–day outcome. The need to perform concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting, significantly increased the mortality during follow–up.

Intensive butanol production was carried out by immobilized cells of Clostridium acetobutylicum in a novel continuous fermentation system. The fermentation system consisted of four packed bed biofilm reactors (PBBR) connected in series. The novelty of the proposed system is: i) the use of a novel stagewise simulated moving bed (SMB) design/operational mode; ii) the integration of the reaction and the product recovery sections. The SMB operational mode was accomplished by equipping the PBBR with manifolds and time-actuated switching valves. PBBR integration with the product recovery section was also tested. An adsorption column was operated between the 3rd and 4th reactor of the series. The tuning of the PBBR system overall dilution rate (DOV) allowed to maximize: i) sugar conversion (DOV

BackgroundSystemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by a wide autoantibodies production. The traditionally concept of a B-cell driven disease has been changed in the last years due to the evidence demonstrating the crucial role of T cells in SLE pathogenesis. In particular, regulatory (Treg) and memory T cells seem act through co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory molecules, such as CD137, PD1-1 and CTLA4. The over-expression of this molecules on lymphocytes may contribute to immune system dysregulation.ObjectivesThe primary objective of the present case-control study was to evaluate the expression of CD137, PD1-1 and CTLA4 on T cell surface of SLE patients by using flow-cytometry. Secondly, we evaluated the percentage of Treg and memory T cells.MethodsWe enrolled patients SLE patients (2019 ACR/EULAR criteria) and sex/age-matched healthy subjects (HS). Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were collected in a standardized computerized electronically filled form. Disease activity was assessed by SLEDAI-2k. Each subject underwent peripheral blood sample collection. By using flow-cytometry we evaluated the expression of FOXP3, CD137, PD1-1 and CTLA4, CD45, CD25, CCR7 to determine the percentage of Treg and memory T cells.ResultsThe present analysis included 21 SLE patients [M/F 1/20 median age 48 years (IQR 17), median disease duration 144 months (IQR 204)]. The Treg percentage was significantly lower in SLE compared to HS [median 4.2 (IQR 0.32) versus 2.5 (IQR 2.44); p=0.001, Figure 1A]. Moving on effector Treg (eTreg), SLE patients with high disease activity (SLEDAI > 4) showed a significantly higher prevalence for these cells compared to patients with SLEDAI ≤ 4 [1.16 (IQR 0.51) versus 0.53 (IQR 0.8), p=0.014, Figure 1B]. Moreover, inverse correlation was found between eTreg percentage and SLEDAI-2k [p=0.029, r=-0.47 (CI 0.75 – 0.04) Figure 1C]. The evaluation of CD137 expression was significantly higher in SLE patients compared to HS on CD3+ cells [median 5.32 (IQR 6.11) versus 3.3 (IQR 1.7), p=0.001, Figure 1F]. On CD4+ cells, CD137 expression positively correlated with disease activity [p=0.0082, r=0.58 (CI 0.15-0.82)]. Finally, when analysing memory T cells subpopulations, inverse correlation has been found between effector memory T cells (TEM, CD45RA-CCR7-) and SLEDAI-2k when considering CD3+ [p=0.029, r=-0.56 (CI 0.81 – 0.12)] and CD4+ cells [p=0.016, R=-0.54 (CI -0.80 - -0.1)]. Of note, CD137 expression on T central memory cells (TCM, CD45RA-CCR7+) positively correlated with SLEDAI-2k [(p=0.019, r=0.52 (CI 0.09 – 0.79)].Figure 1.A) Comparison of the percentage of Treg in HS and SLE patients. B) Comparison of the percentage of eTreg in SLE patients with high disease activity and low disease activity C) Correlation between % eTreg and SLEDAI-2k. D) Comparison of the percentage of CD3+CD137+ cells in HS and SLE patients. E) Comparison of % of CD4+CD137+ cells in SLE patients with high disease activity and low disease activity F) Correlation between % of CD4+CD137+ cells and SLEDAI-2k.ConclusionOur results suggest a possible role of CD137-CD137L axis in SLE pathogenesis. The stimulatory role of this molecule is indicated by the positive correlation between SLEDAI-2k values and surface expression of CD137. Moreover, inverse correlation between SLEDAI-2k and eTreg percentage suggests a possible Treg dysregulation in SLE.Table 1.SLE cohort featuresClinical and Laboratory FeaturesMucocutaneous80.9%Articular76.1%Serositis19.0%Kidney23.8%Haematological48.2%CNS/PNS9.5%Thrombotic events4.7%anti-dsDNA68.4%anti-SSA/anti-SSB47.6%anti-RNP19.0%anti-Sm33.0%Antiphospholipid antibodies14.2%Low C3/C457.1%Previous TherapyGlucocorticoid90.5%Hydroxychloroquine95.2%Methotrexate23.8%Mofetil Mycophenolate33.3%Ciclosporin28.5%Cyclophosphamide9.5%Azathioprine33.3%Rituximab14.3%Antiplatelet23.8%Anticoagulant therapy4.7%Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

BackgroundPsoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic, immune-mediated, inflammatory arthropathy, distinctively involving joints and enthesis. The improved understanding of PsA pathogenesis has enabled the development of biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDS) targeting specific cytokines and signalling pathways. The availability of these drugs deeply modified PsA history, by preventing disease progression and by improving quality of life. Nevertheless, bDMARDS are not effective in all the patients who may experience primary or secondary inefficacy or adverse events development.ObjectivesIn a real-life scenario, we evaluated the bDMARDs retention rate in a large PsA cohort. In detail, we compared drug survival of the first and second biological drug and we investigated the presence of factors associated with the bDMARDs treatment withdrawal.MethodsWe longitudinally evaluated adult PsA patients (2016 CASPAR criteria) treated with at least one bDMARD during disease history. For each PsA patient, the clinical and laboratory data, including demographics, past medical history with the date of diagnosis and treatments, clinical disease phenotypes, were collected in a standardized, computerized and electronically filled form. The retention rate was estimated by using the Kaplan-Meier method. Predictors for bDMARDs withdrawal were investigated in univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis, adjusted for relevant variables.ResultsThe present analysis included 223 PsA patients [M/F 91/132; median age 57 years (IQR 17); median disease duration 120 months (IQR 132)]. Adalimumab and Etanercept were the most frequently prescribed bDMARDs (41.5% and 41.0%, respectively). The retention rate of the first prescribed bDMARD as reported in Figure 1A: in detail, we found a 12-months retention rate of 79.8%. The comparison between etanercept and adalimumab showed a similar 12-months retention rate, but significantly higher for etanercept at 24 months (82.4% versus 69.5%, p=0.0034, Figure 1B). Out of 223 enrolled PsA patients, 109 (48.9%) received only one bDMARDs, while the remaining 114 (51.1%) received at least 2 drugs. When comparing these two groups of patients, drug survival at 24 months was significantly higher in patients treated with one bDMARD in comparison with those treated with at least two drugs (67.7% versus 52.2%, p=0.03, Figure 1C). Finally, female sex and anxiety-depressive disorders were significantly associated with the treatment with at least two dDMARDs (p=0.005 and p=0.01, respectively).ConclusionThe results of the present study demonstrated a higher retention rate in the first-line bDMARDs treatment in comparison with second-line. Female sex and anxiety-depressive disorders may negatively affect drug retention rate.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

BackgroundSeveral data have demonstrated the occurrence of erosive arthritis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients. However, few studies have focused on the pathogenic mechanisms involved in this feature. The implication of oral pathogens has been proved in Rheumatoid Arthritis: in particular, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), by inducing citrullination, could trigger autoimmune response.ObjectivesWe evaluated amount of Pg of the tongue in a cohort of SLE patients with arthritis, focusing on the association with the erosive phenotype.MethodsSLE patients with arthritis were enrolled. We evaluated the presence of ACPA and RF by using commercially enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. SLEDAI-2k was applied to assess disease activity and DAS28 to assess joint inflammatory status. Erosive damage was evaluated by ultrasound at level of metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeals joints. All subjects underwent a tongue cytologic swab in order to quantify the amount of Pg (real-time PCR). The bacterium expression was obtained from the ratio between the patient’s DNA amount and that obtained from healthy subjects.ResultsThe present analysis included 33 SLE patients (M/F 3/30; median age 47 years, IQR 17; median disease duration 216 months, IQR 180). Concerning activity at the time of the enrollment, we found a median DAS28 value of 3.8 (IQR 2.8) and a median SLEDAI-2k of 4 (IQR 5). Twelve patients (36.4%) showed US-detected erosive damage in at least one joint, significantly associated with ACPA positivity (pConclusionThe possible contribution of oral microbiota in SLE erosive arthritis was here evaluated for the first time, finding a significant association between erosive damage and higher expression of Pg at tongue level.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

BackgroundEfficacy and safety of belimumab (BLM) in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients with active disease have been demonstrated by RCTs [1,2] and confirmed by several observational studies [3-8]. Most of these data have been obtained by the use of BLM intravenous formulation (IV); on the contrary, very few findings are available on the use of the drug subcutaneous formulation (SC).ObjectivesEfficacy and drug survival of BLM have been assessed in a monocentric cohort of SLE patients, exploring any difference between the two routes of administration, IV or SC.MethodsA longitudinal study on SLE patients (according to ACR 1997 classification criteria [9]) candidates for treatment with BLM has been performed. Demographic, clinical-laboratory and therapeutic data - including glucocorticoid dosage in prednisone-equivalent - have been collected. Disease activity has been assessed by SLEDAI-2k [10]; in patients with inflammatory articular involvement, DAS28-PCR [11] has been used. In compliance with the study protocol, patients were assessed at baseline and at 3 and 12 months after starting treatment.ResultsA total of 85 patients treated with BLM were enrolled, most of whom were female (male/female 2/83), with a median age of 48 years (IQR 13) and a median disease duration of 127 months (IQR 151). Fifty-one patients (60%) were treated with IV formulation and the remaining 34 (40%) with SC route. BLM was prescribed due to the following clinical manifestations: joint involvement (61.2%), cutaneous manifestations (20.0%), renal involvement (for residual proteinuria, 5.9%), haematological modifications (5.9%), constitutional involvement (3.5%), pericarditis (1.2%), headache (1.2%). In both the formulations, joint involvement was the most frequent indication of BLM (IV: 64.7%, SC: 58.8%). Median treatment duration was 15 months (IQR 24). Moving on drug efficacy, after 3 and 12 months of follow-up BLM has determined a significant reduction of SLEDAI-2k median values (p=0.001, pversus 66.5%, p=ns). During the period of follow-up, 39 patients (45.9%) discontinued BLM: 38.4% of patients due to adverse events, 41% for primary or secondary inefficacy, 15% lost to follow-up, 5.1% for pregnancy. BLM withdrawal for adverse events was more frequent in the group of patients treated with IV formulation than SC one (25.9% versus 5.9%, p=0,0001). 11 patients switched from IV formulation to SC one after a median period of 40 months (IQR 20) without loss of efficacy or adverse events.ConclusionOur results confirm BLM efficacy also in a real-life setting. Notably, our data highlight a better drug survival in patients treated with SC formulation, mainly secondary to a less frequency of adverse events.References[1]Furie R et al. Arthritis Rheum. 2011;63(12):3918-3930.[2]Navarra SV et al. Lancet. 2011;377(9767):721-731.[3]Andreoli L et al. Isr Med Assoc J. 2014;16(10):651-653.[4]Hui-Yuen JS et al. J Rheumatol. 2015;42(12):2288-2295.[5]Collins CE et al. Lupus Sci Med. 2016;3(1):e000118.[6]Touma Z et al. Rheumatol Int. 2017;37(6):865-873.[7]Iaccarino L et al. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2017;69(1):115-123.[8]Gatto M et al. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2020;72(8):1314-1324.[9]Hochberg M.C. Arthritis Rheum. 1997;40:1725.[10]Gladman DD et al. J Rheumatol. 2002;29(2):288-291.[11]Prevoo ML et al. Arthritis Rheum. 1995;38(1):44-48.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

BackgroundGenetic contribution to development of chronic damage have been scarcely investigated in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In fact, whereas most studies have looked for an association between genetic variants and SLE susceptibility or disease phenotypes, only few have focused on the relationship between these biomarkers and damage development.ObjectivesMoving from these premises, we firstly analyzed the distribution of organ damage in a cohort of SLE patients and secondly we evaluate the role of clinical and genetic factors in determining the development of chronic damage.MethodsCaucasian SLE patients, diagnosed according with 1997 ACR criteria, were enrolled, and clinical and laboratory data were collected. Based on literature data, we selected a panel of 17 SNPs of following genes STAT4, IL10, IRAK1, HCP5, MIR146a, ATG16L1, IRGM, ATG5, MIR124, MIR1279, TNFSF4, CD40. Genotyping was performed by allelic discrimination assays. A phenotype-genotype correlation analysis was performed by evaluating specific domains of SLICC Damage Index (SDI).ResultsAmong 175 Caucasian SLE patients, 105 (60%) exhibited damage (SDI ≥1) with a median value of 1.0 (IQR 3.0). The musculoskeletal (26.2%), neuropsychiatric (24.6%) and ocular domains (20.6%) were involved most frequently. The presence of damage was associated with higher age, longer disease duration, neuropsychiatric (NP) manifestations, anti-phospholipid syndrome and the positivity of anti-dsDNA antibodies. Concerning therapies cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil and glucocorticoids resulted associated with the development of damage. The genotype/phenotype correlation analysis showed an association between renal damage, identified in 6.9% of patients, and rs2205960 of TNFSF4 (p=0.001; OR 17.0). This SNP resulted significantly associated with end-stage renal disease (p= 0.018, OR 9.68) and estimated GFRFigure 1.Association between renal damage and rs2205960 of TNFSF4 (p=0.001). In addition, this SNP resulted significantly associated with the development of two specific items of SDI renal domain: estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ConclusionWe showed the role of age, drugs, and autoantibody profile in determining chronic damage.Our data suggest a possible role of genetic background in determining the development of renal and neuropsychiatric damage, as demonstrated by the association with polymorphisms of TFNSF4 and MIR1279, respectively. These results agree with previous studies suggesting the involvement of TNFSF4 in Lupus nephritis and microRNA in neuroinflammation.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

BackgroundRheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a multifactorial, chronic, systemic, inflammatory disease that can lead to progressive joint destruction (Alamanos et al, Autoimmun Rev 2005). Positivity for Rheumatoid Factor (RF) and antibodies against citrullinated proteins (ACPA) is useful for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Nevertheless, in about 20% of patients, it is not possible to detect the presence of these autoantibodies. This has led to the identification of new antibody specificities, such as antibodies directed against carbamylated proteins (Mastrangelo A et al, J Immunol Res 2015) and, more recently, against homocysteinylated alpha 1 antitrypsin (anti-HATA) (Colasanti T et al, J Autoimmun 2020).ObjectivesTo evaluate the prevalence of anti-HATA in a large cohort of patients with RA and their correlation with serological, clinical and erosive bone damage assessed by musculo-skeletal ultrasound (US).MethodsConsecutive outpatients with RA, diagnosed according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria, were enrolled. Demographic and clinical-laboratory data were recorded, including FR and ACPA determination. Disease activity was assessed by DAS28. The presence of anti-HATA antibodies was investigated by homemade ELISA using native alpha 1 antitrypsin modified in vitro to obtain homocysteinylated alpha 1 antitrypsin. US assessment was performed at the level of bilateral metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints; the presence of erosions and inflammatory features was identified according to OMERACT definitions (Wakefield RJ et al, J Rheumatol 2005).ResultsThe present analysis included 91 RA patients (M/F 22/69; mean age 62 years; mean disease duration 12.5 years). Overall, the prevalence of anti-HATA was 69.2%. Anti-HATA antibodies were found in 63/91 (69.2%) of the entire patient cohort, whereas 68/91 (74.3%) patients were positive for ACPA and 63/91 (69.4%) for FR. 41.4% of patients had concomitant positivity for the three autoantibodies (FR, ACPA, anti-HATA). The analysis of patients with triple positivity for related arthritis antibodies (FR, ACPA, anti-HATA) was particularly interesting: indeed, in this subgroup, 80% of patients presented erosive damage, compared to 42.1% of patients who did not present simultaneously the three autoantibodies (p=0.0001). Patients with simultaneous positivity for RF, ACPA and anti-HATA showed a more aggressive disease phenotype (p=0.0001). Finally, a positive correlation was also found between disease activity (expressed by DAS28) and total inflammatory and erosive ultrasonographic score (p=0.005 and p=0.001, respectively).ConclusionThe results of the present study confirm a high prevalence of anti-HATA in RA patients; furthermore, patients with concomitant presence of anti-HATA, ACPA and RF showed a more aggressive disease phenotype, in terms of erosive damage. Our analysis underlines as the characterization of new antibody specificities in RA could help in the early diagnosis of this disease and in the characterization of the different severity degrees.References[1]Alamanos Y, Drosos AA. Epidemiology of adult rheumatoid arthritis. Autoimmun Rev. 2005 Mar;4(3):130-6.[2]Mastrangelo A, Colasanti T, Barbati C, Pecani A, Sabatinelli D, Pendolino M, Truglia S, Massaro L, Mancini R, Miranda F, Spinelli FR, Conti F, Alessandri C. The Role of Posttranslational Protein Modifications in Rheumatological Diseases: Focus on Rheumatoid Arthritis. J Immunol Res. 2015;2015:712490;[3]Colasanti T, Sabatinelli D, Mancone C, Giorgi A, Pecani A, Spinelli FR, Di Giamberardino A, Navarini L, Speziali M, Vomero M, Barbati C, Perricone C, Ceccarelli F, Finucci A, Celia AI, Currado D, Afeltra A, Schininà ME, Barnaba V, Conti F, Valesini G, Alessandri C. Homocysteinylated alpha 1 antitrypsin as an antigenic target of autoantibodies in seronegative rheumatoid arthritis patients. J Autoimmun. 2020 Sep;113:102470.[4]Wakefield RJ, Balint PV, Szkudlarek M, et al. Musculoskeletal ultrasound including definitions for ultrasonographic pathology. J Rheumatol 2005; 32: 2485-2487.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared.

The Interandean and Subandean Zones of the central Andean fold-thrust belt in Bolivia have a complex Proterozoic to Cenozoic tectonic history. This work presents several regional structural transects constructed from field relationships, new well and seismic data, and a compilation of previously published thermochronological ages in order to better understand along-strike variations in shortening, kinematics, and tectonic inheritance of the fold-thrust belt. New seismic lines reveal evidence of Cambrian extension, early Paleozoic deformation related to the Famatinian orogeny, and Cenozoic synorogenic shortening in the central Andes. The kinematics of the Interandean and Subandean Zones can be characterized by basement tectonic wedging and duplex formation, with detachment folding as the primary mechanism that accommodates shortening of the sedimentary cover. Along-strike, large structures were formed by lateral growth and linkage of discrete structural segments. In the northern section of the study area, structures are more evolved and have accommodated more shortening (88% minimum shortening) as compared to their counterpart in the south (62% minimum shortening). These differences could be related to the north to south difference in exhumation ages in the Interandean Zone during Cenozoic shortening, or perhaps controlled by the Devonian to Silurian sedimentary thicknesses and pre-Andean basin development.

Monitoring surface water velocity during flood events is a challenging task. Techniques based on deploying instruments in the flow are often unfeasible due to high velocity and abundant sediment transport. A low-cost and versatile technology that provides continuous and automatic observations is still not available. LSPIV (large scale particle imaging velocimetry) is a promising approach to tackle these issues. Such technique consists of developing surface water velocity maps analyzing video frame sequences recorded with a camera. In this technical brief, we implement a novel LSPIV experimental apparatus to observe a flood event in the Tiber river at a cross-section located in the center of Rome, Italy. We illustrate results from three tests performed during the hydrograph flood peak and recession limb for different illumination and weather conditions. The obtained surface velocity maps are compared to the rating curve velocity and to benchmark velocity values. Experimental findings confirm the potential of the proposed LSPIV implementation in aiding research in natural flow monitoring.

Monitoring surface water velocity during flood events is a challenging task. Techniques based on deploying instruments in the flow are often not feasible due to high velocity and abundant sediment transport. As a consequence, flow measurement campaigns are infrequent and stream velocity observations during major floods are scarce or absent. In the last few years, large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) was proposed to overcome some of these drawbacks (Fujita et al. 1997). The novelty of LSPIV should be sought in its capacity of extracting desired kinematic information from a video of the surface streamflow. The general implementation of LSPIV can be summarized in three main sequential steps: video recording, image pre-processing, and image analysis. The video recording is the simplest phase, as it can be executed with a low-cost sport camera at a standard sampling frequency (30–60 frames per second – fps) and at full-HD image resolution (1920 × 1080 pixels). An image pre-processing step is necessary for treating video frames before the image analysis. Typical pre-processing includes pixel calibration, frame correction and frame matching, to compensate for distortions and undesired mechanical vibrations. The treated frame sequence is ultimately processed through standard PIV algorithms that return the sought velocity maps. PIV (Adrian 1991) is based on the cross-correlation of pairs of consecutive frames, in which each frame is subdivided into interrogation windows that are translated on a pixel grid. In this context, we have recently proposed a novel apparatus (Tauro et al. 2015), that includes a low-cost camera (GoPro Hero 3) installed on a telescopic hollow aluminium bar to maintain its axis orthogonal to the water surface. Its main novelty with respect to current LSPIV implementations is the use of two lasers that are installed at the ends of a 1-m pole connected to the bar. Such lasers create reference points in the field of view that are crucial for pixel calibration, which would otherwise require surveying through GPS or total stations. In this work, the experimental apparatus is utilized to study 10-year return period flood events in the Tiber River in Rome, Italy. Three tests were executed in different illumination and weather conditions, from a bridge in the centre of Rome, where the historical hydrological Ripetta crosssection is located (Fig. 1(c)). Videos were recorded at full-HD resolution and 60 fps for two minutes duration each, and they were subsequently reduced to VGA resolution and resampled to 30 fps, so that the resulting 3600 consecutive frames were spaced in time by 0.033 s. The LSPIV algorithm was applied on a sequence of 500 frames, which was extracted to guarantee a sufficient transit of floating material. Figure 1(c) illustrates the velocity maps obtained from the three tests. Velocity values of each node represent the average of velocity values estimated on the available 499 pairs of consecutive frames. The most satisfactory results are those in the middle panel of Fig. 1(c), where homogenous velocity vectors are obtained and the kinematics around and before the bridge pier are well reproduced. This should be attributed to the favourable illumination and weather conditions of Test2 and to the fact that the field of view was well centred within the river. The least satisfactory velocity map is the one corresponding to Test1 and reported in the top panel of Fig. 1(c). Test1 was performed in the evening and during rainfall. Notably, the velocities

Enzymatic reactive absorption has been investigated in the last decade as novel strategy to develop environmental friendly technology for post-combustion CO2 capture [1, 2]. The process is based on CO2 absorption in aqueous solutions, the absorption rate is enhanced by the catalytic action of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase (E.C. 4.2.1.1). At temperature lower than 40°C, CO2 hydration reaction is the slowest reaction (10-2 s-1) among those occurring during CO2 reactive absorption in conventional alkaline and amine solvents: hydroxylation rate at pH 10 ranges between 10-1 and 1 s-1 and carbamate formation rate at 3M MEA is about 103 s-1. Carbonic anhydrase is the ubiquitous enzyme devoted to CO2 hydration catalysis in Nature. Depending on enzyme form, about 10-5 M carbonic anhydrase are able to speed up CO2 hydration to bicarbonate so that first order rate constant results between 1 and 103 s-1 [1]. The present contribution reports survey of recent results on the development of CO2 capture processes based on enzymatic reactive absorption from lab to pilot scale. Main investigated issues were: kinetics of thermostable carbonic anhydrase [4], development of solid biocatalyst for industrial application through carbonic anhydrase immobilization [3], proposed reactor configurations for CO2 enzymatic reactive absorption [1, 2], theoretical models CO2 enzymatic reactive absorption unit [5].

Monitoring surface water velocity during flood events is a challenging task. Techniques based on deploying instruments in the flow are often unfeasible due to high velocity and abundant sediment transport. A low-cost and versatile technology that provides continuous and automatic observations is still not available. Among remote methods, large-scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) is an optical method that computes surface water velocity maps from videos recorded with a camera. Here, we implement and critically analyze findings obtained from a recently introduced LSPIV experimental configuration during a flood event in the Tiber River at a cross section located in the center of Rome, Italy. We discuss the potential of LSPIV observations in challenging environmental conditions by presenting results from three tests performed during the hydrograph flood peak and recession limb of the event for different illumination and weather conditions. The obtained surface velocity maps are compared to the rating curve velocity and to benchmark velocity values. Experimental findings show that optical methods should be preferred in extreme conditions. However, their practical implementation may be associated with further hurdles and uncertainties.

Soil salinity is a major cause of plant stress leading to economic losses in world agriculture. The aim of this study is to provide information about the effects of salinity on the growth of young olive trees (Olea europaea L. ‘Barnea’ and ‘Arbequina’) and to identify some of the underlying physiological mechanisms. One-year-old plants were planted in 30-L pots, using a sand, perlite, peat (1:1:1) soil substrate. Each treatment was drip irrigated with a NaCl solution: 4 dS/m (25 mg NaCl); 6 dS/m (37.8 mg NaCl); 8 dS/m (50 mg NaCl) and a control treatment of 2 dS/m (no NaCl added). Growth in both cultivars decreased after a period of exposure to salinity, ‘Barnea’ being the most affected cultivar. In both cultivars leaf water potentials were reduced when NaCl concentrations were increased. The osmotic potential became more negative when salt concentrations increased, thus indicating that both cultivars perform osmotic adjustment. The relative water content (RWC) did not change with the different saline treatments, suggesting that both cultivars present mechanisms to maintain water content even under stress conditions. On the other hand, high salinity levels induce ionic imbalance given higher Na+ and Cl- concentration in leaves and roots. As a result of the accumulation of these ions, the K+ concentration decreased resulting in a low ratio of K+/Na+. Both cultivars showed symptoms of toxicity in leaves and shoots which indicates that they accumulate toxic ions in the youngest leaves. ‘Arbequina’ showed higher Cl- concentrations in their root tissues over the concentrations in leaves, suggesting that there is a mechanism of Cl- compartmentalization at stem or root level that prevents entry and accumulation of Cl- in the leaf. ‘Barnea’ leaves were more damaged than those of ‘Arbequina’ and accumulated higher Cl- concentration, indicating that ‘Barnea’ is less resistant to salinity.

Eight-month old WAG/Rij rats, which developed spontaneous occurring absence seizures, showed a reduced function of mGlu1 metabotropic glutamate receptors in the thalamus, as assessed by in vivo measurements of DHPG-stimulated polyphosphoinositide hydrolysis, in the presence of the mGlu5 antagonist MPEP as compared to age-matched non-epileptic control rats. These symptomatic 8-month old WAG/Rij rats also showed lower levels of thalamic mGlu1I± receptors than age-matched controls and 2-month old (pre-symptomatic) WAG/Rij rats, as detected by immunoblotting. Immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization analysis indicated that the reduced expression of mGlu1 receptors found in symptomatic WAG/Rij rats was confined to an area of the thalamus that excluded the ventroposterolateral nucleus. No mGlu1 receptor mRNA was detected in the reticular thalamic nucleus. Pharmacological manipulation of mGlu1 receptors had a strong impact on absence seizures in WAG/Rij rats. Systemic treatment with the mGlu1 receptor enhancer SYN119, corresponding to compound RO0711401, reduced spontaneous spike and wave discharges spike-wave discharges (SWDs) in epileptic rats. Subcutaneous doses of 10 mg/kg of SYN119 only reduced the incidence of SWDs, whereas higher doses (30 mg/kg) also reduced the mean duration of SWDs. In contrast, treatment with the non-competitive mGlu1 receptor antagonist, JNJ16259685 (2.5 and 5 mg/kg, i.p.) increased the incidence of SWDs. These data suggest that absence epilepsy might be associated with a reduction of mGlu1 receptors in the thalamus, and that compounds that amplify the activity of mGlu1 receptors might be developed as novel anti-absence drugs. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Trends in Neuropharmacology: In Memory of Erminio Costa'. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.