Regione del Veneto

Understanding the coupling between river discharge (Q) and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is fundamental for understanding erosion, sediment connectivity, and sediment sources in a fluvial system. While direct correlation via rating curves provides a first-order approximation of the discharge-sediment relationship, it cannot capture the non-linear response of SSC to changes in Q during a hydrological event or on an annual timescale. Hysteresis process, i.e., the difference in SSC for a given Q during rising and falling limbs, is utilized for characterizing such nonlinearities in the Q and SSC relationship. While Hysteresis Loop (HL) is the graphical representation of the Q-SSC relationship, Hysteresis Index (HI) is the quantitative measure of the broadness of HL. HL and HI are frequently used to understand the time lags, sediment sources, and sediment transport capacity within river reaches. Several approaches to HI quantification are present in the literature, indicating methodological variability and data normalization techniques, whereas a systematic comparison is still required to understand the applicability of each model for specific research problems. This work presents a comprehensive review of major methodologies for calculating HI from Q and SSC data for different timescales. We employed daily Q and SSC data from the Monsoon-dominated Peninsular Indian region and Moravian-Silesian Region. Further, we used high-resolution (15-minute) Q and SSC data from the Rio Cordon catchment in the Eastern Italian Alps. The daily Q and SSC values were aggregated into mean monthly values to observe the annual-scale hysteresis patterns in Peninsular India. We developed a MATLAB toolbox, ‘Hysteresis Index Toolbox (HyInd)’, to standardize the normalization technique, rising and falling limb separation for hydrological events, and data visualization. The toolbox currently features six methods for HI calculation, which are suitable for all time scales (sub-daily, daily, or monthly). Our results suggest that data normalization is crucial for comparing sediment transport dynamics across drainage basins with varying drainage areas. Furthermore, our results also imply that quantification of the normalized area inside the HL presents the most robust result for simple to complex hysteresis processes. We also carried out sensitivity analyses to assess the influence of data noise on the quantification of HI. While sub-daily Q and SSC data inherently contain noise, we introduced stochastic perturbations into the daily and monthly average datasets. We observed that most existing HI calculation methods are not significantly affected by random noise. This study elucidates the strengths and weaknesses of each HI calculation method and provides practical guidance for selecting the proper model. Although the HyInd toolbox is primarily designed to understand the discharge-sediment hysteresis process, it can also be used to quantify hysteresis in other environmental parameters, i.e., soil moisture or water quality.

Introduction: Open defecation increases the spread of diarrhoea illnesses, especially among children under five years in Ghana. Community-led total sanitation (CLTS) is an intervention implemented by the Environmental Health and Sanitation Department (EHSD) to stop open defecation. We evaluated the objectives, attributes, and usefulness of the CLTS surveillance system in the Bongo District, Upper East Region, Ghana. Methods: Adapting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems, the CLTS system was evaluated from 2019 to 2023 using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data was collected through interviews, observations and review and summarised as frequencies, proportions and text. Results: The CLTS system was triggered in 39.3% (66/168) of communities, with 56.1% (37/66) declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). About 619 latrines were constructed over the evaluation period, with 66.7% (14/21) of stakeholders interviewed having latrines in their homes and 52.4% (11/21) having handwashing facilities. About 85.7% (18/21) of community members were aware of faeco-oral transmission of diseases. Introduction of the Basic Sanitation Information System (BaSIS) data source in 2022 did not interrupt the system’s operations. All nine key informants stated that it is easy to identify an OD and ODF community using observation. Data completeness among all seven reporting units was 89.2% (34/37), with 100% reporting. The stability of the system is compromised as it largely depends on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), coupled with a lack of computers for data storage. Triggering and ODF declaration took three to six months. Conclusion: The CLTS system was found to meet its objectives and is useful. It was acceptable, flexible, simple, with good data quality and representative. Reporting timeliness was good, with poor stability. The Government should provide budgetary support to the EHSD to effectively implement CLTS surveillance system.

Climate change is increasing forest vulnerability, and extreme disturbances such as windstorms can cause major economic and social losses. Forest recovery after such events often relies on salvage logging and extensive planting of seedlings produced in nurseries to rapidly restore forest cover. While effective, these interventions, particularly when applied over large areas, may also produce environmental impacts that are largely absent under spontaneous regeneration. Following the Vaia windstorm in northern Italy in 2018, several reforestation interventions were implemented to restore forest cover. We focused on one intervention and conducted a life cycle assessment to quantify its environmental impacts, using the planting of 800 four-year-old Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst) seedlings as the functional unit, combined with chipping on the site of forest biomass residues. The largest contributions were to global warming potential (443.91 kg CO2 eq), human toxicity (167.72 kg 1,4-DCB eq), and freshwater ecotoxicity (142.43 kg 1,4-DCB eq). Seedling production and field establishment dominated these impact categories. Among field operations, manufacturing and transporting plastic shelters for seedling protection accounted for the highest share of global warming potential.

A forensic medical description of the injuries sustained by Ukrainian servicemen who were in Russian captivity during 2022-2025 and were returned to Ukraine under the exchange program is provided. By their nature and morphological features, the injuries (scars, abrasions, deformations of the upper and lower extremities, fingers, burns, electric shocks) could have been the consequences of the action of police batons, plastic pipes, hands, feet in shoes, handcuffs, high temperature with the use of cigarettes, hot metal objects, electric current conductors – stun guns (bare end of the wire). In some cases, earlobes were cut off as a manifestation of torture. Trophic ulcers of the lower extremities with a long period of their recovery, rough scars are the consequences of improper detention, handling and lack of medical care. All the injuries we have described correspond to the list of physical evidence of torture of the "Istanbul Protocol". The aim of the study. To conduct the forensic medical evaluation of injuries to Ukrainian servicemen who were in Russian captivity during 2022-2025. Material and methods. The objects of the study were materials from 226 expert examinations of Ukrainian military personnel who were in Russian captivity and were returned to Ukraine under the exchange program (archived “Conclusions of expert examination” of the State Specialized Institution “Main Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”, State Specialized Institution “Zhytomyr Regional Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination” for 2022-2025). All forensic medical examinations were conducted using well-known methods and techniques in accordance with set out in the Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine “On the Development and Improvement of the Forensic Medical Service of Ukraine” dated 17.01. 1995 № 6. Quantitative indicators were processed using standard methods of variational statistics. Scientific research. Study is performed within scientific research of the Department of Morphology, Clinical Pathology and Forensic Medicine of the P.L. Shupyk National University of Health Sciences "Scientific substantiation of modern pathomorphological diagnostics and establishment of clinical and morphological correspondences in various diseases", state registration number 0116U007906 (2021-2025). Bioethics. Materials of the study were approved by the Bioethics Commission of the P.L. Shupyk National University of Health Sciences (№ 11/13 30.05.2025). Results. The circumstances of the criminal case and the morphological manifestations on the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers who were in Russian captivity, namely scars, abrasions, deformations of the upper and lower extremities, fingers, burns, electric shocks, trophic ulcers of the lower extremities with a long period of their recovery, are the consequences of cruel, inhumane treatment and torture and correspond to both the list of physical evidence of torture of the "Istanbul Protocol" and the "Geneva Convention". Conclusions. Forensic medical examination of Ukrainian prisoners of war who returned under the exchange program revealed numerous bodily injuries and health disorders. By their nature and morphological features, the scars, which were the result of healing of bruised wounds, abrasions, changes in the finger joint, arose from the action of a blunt object(s) with a limited traumatic surface, which could be police batons, plastic pipes, hands clenched into fists or feet in shoes, and as a result of the action of special means - handcuffs. Burn scars and electro tags arose from the local action of high temperature (high temperature using cigarettes, hot metal objects) and the action of electric current – stun guns and other sources of electric current (bare wire end). In some cases, cutting and stabbing objects (knives) were used for the purpose of torture, both as a means of psychological influence and as a traumatic factor (cutting off the earlobe). The formation of trophic ulcers on the lower extremities with a long recovery period is a consequence of improper detention, treatment and failure to provide medical care to prisoners. Injuries have been found on the bodies of Ukrainian military prisoners during their stay in Russian captivity – are clear physical manifestations of torture and ill-treatment and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in accordance with the Geneva Convention and the Istanbul Protocol.

Saltwater intrusion increasingly jeopardizes groundwater in low-lying coastal plains worldwide, where the combined effects of sea-level rise, land subsidence, and hydraulic regulation further exacerbate aquifer vulnerability and threaten the long-term sustainability of freshwater supplies. To move beyond sparse and fragmented piezometric observations, we propose “integrated coastal supersites”: wells equipped with multiparametric sensors and multilevel piezometers that couple high-resolution vertical conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) profiling with continuous hydro-meteorological time series to monitor the hydrodynamic behavior of coastal aquifers and saltwater intrusion. This study describes the installation of two supersites and presents early insights from the first monitoring period, which, despite a short observation window limited to the summer season (July–September 2025), demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. Two contrasting supersites were deployed in the coastal plain between the Brenta and Adige Rivers (Italy): Gorzone, characterized by a thick, laterally persistent aquitard, and Buoro, where the aquitard is thinner and discontinuous. Profiles and fixed sensors at both sites reveal a consistent fresh-to-saline transition in the phreatic aquifers and a secondary freshwater lens capping the confined systems. At Gorzone, the confining layer hydraulically isolates the deeper aquifer, preserving low salinity beneath a saline, tidally constrained phreatic zone. Groundwater heads oscillate by about 0.2 m, and rainfall events do not dilute salinity; instead, pressure transients—amplified by drainage regulation and inland-propagating tides—induce short-lived EC increases via upconing. Buoro shows smaller water-level variations, not always linked to rainfall, and, in contrast, exhibits partial vertical connectivity and faster dynamics: phreatic heads respond chiefly to internal drainage and local recharge, with rises rapidly damped by pumping, while salinity remains steady without episodic peaks. The confined aquifer shows buffered, delayed responses to surface forcings. Although the monitoring window is currently limited to 2025 through the summer season, these results offer compelling evidence that coastal supersites are reliable, scalable, and management-critical relevance platforms for groundwater calibration, forecasting, and long-term assessment.

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among men in the Western World. When it is diagnosed and treated at localized stages, it has a 97 % 5-yr cancer-specific survival compared to 30 % in the metastatic setting. Recently, inhibitors of the Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARPi) were shown to be effective treatments for metastatic PC harbouring defects in the homologous recombination mechanism of DNA repair (HRR), mainly in the BRCA1/2 genes. The BRCA1/2 pathogenetic variants are currently used, in clinical setting, as predictive markers for PARP-i therapy eligibility in patients with metastatic castration-resistant PC (mCRPC). BRCA1/2 pathogenetic variants are also responsible for inherited cancer predisposition syndromes when they are detected in the germinal setting. For this reason, it is of paramount importance that germline genetic testing be triggered following the identification of BRCA somatic variants in order to implement appropriate prevention pathways for subjects with high cancer risk. To date, there are no standardised protocols for this dual path of personalized therapy and prevention through the identification of subjects at high risk of cancer. AIFET and SIURO in this paper analyse the critical points of this dual path and propose a working model.

Societal Impact Statement This study underscores the vital role of Alpine botanical gardens (ABGs) in safeguarding Europe's alpine biodiversity amid climate change and habitat loss. By acting as living laboratories and reservoirs of plant genetic resources, ABGs bridge ex situ and in situ conservation, supporting ecosystem resilience and informing restoration strategies. Our findings reveal significant opportunities for ABGs to collaborate with germplasm banks, enhance genetic diversity in collections, and refine propagation protocols. Strengthening these integrative networks not only preserves unique alpine flora but also provides adaptive tools for conservation policies and sustainable land management in mountain regions facing rapid environmental change. Summary The Alps are one of Europe's most diverse ecosystems, but their biodiversity is threatened by climate change, habitat loss, and land‐use changes. Alpine botanical gardens (ABGs) play a crucial role in preserving plant diversity in this region. This study evaluates 14 ABGs across the Alps to assess their effectiveness in preserving the region's flora, with a particular aim to investigate how ABGs can integrate with and strengthen the conservation mission of germplasm banks. We assess representation of alpine flora in the living collections of these 14 ABGs relative to the 5797 taxa of the flora of the Alps, noting cases cultivated at the infraspecific level and examining the overlap of these collections with global germplasm banks. Our findings show that 32% of the 5797 taxa of the flora of the Alps are represented in ABGs, with some species cultivated at the infraspecific level, reflecting both ecological specializations and the expertise of ABG curators. Notably, ABGs contribute significantly to ex situ conservation, although gaps exist in certain taxonomic families and species, especially endemic and policy taxa. Many species in the living collections of ABGs are still missing from global germplasm banks. These findings highlight an opportunity for these gardens to strengthen conservation by contributing seeds and helping to grow species that are difficult to propagate, including narrow endemics. Collaboration with germplasm banks could address existing gaps in genetic diversity, with ABGs acting as field‐based experimental stations to refine propagation techniques. Overall, the importance of ABGs in both ex situ and in situ conservation strategies is underscored, urging stronger collaborations with research facilities and improved propagation protocols to optimize the conservation of alpine plants.

Mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis (MTVT) is an exceedingly rare tumor. We performed a registry-based study on MTVT patient management and survival in Italy. Cases were extracted from the dataset of the Italian National Mesothelioma Registry. A descriptive analysis of patient characteristics, including asbestos exposure, clinical presentation, diagnostic work-up and therapeutic management, was performed. Overall survival was evaluated. We calculated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for selected variables by fitting univariate and multivariable Cox models. Overall, 104 patients with MTVT were included. Median age was 72 years (range 17-92). Epithelioid histotype was the most frequent. Previous asbestos exposure was identified in two thirds of cases. Data on diagnostic and therapeutic management were available for 74 patients (71%). The most frequent presentations were scrotal swelling/mass, hydrocele and inguinal pain. All patients underwent surgery, mostly with orchi-funicolectomy. Adjuvant therapy was administered to 15 patients (20%). Overall median survival was 26.2 months (95% CI 22.1-52.1); 3-, 5- and 10-year survival was 49%, 30% and 18%. Older age at diagnosis and presence of distant metastasis (HR 1.91, CI: 0.85-4.26) were negative prognostic factors. Adjuvant therapy was associated with higher mortality (HR 2.54, CI: 1.25-5.15), indicating a more advanced stage at diagnosis. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment for MTVT; adjuvant therapy in our study did not improve outcome. Data from cancer registries are essential for rare cancers, but they should be integrated routinely with additional diagnostic and therapeutic information.