The largest prehistoric mound in Europe is the Bronze-Age Hill of Udine (Italy) and legend linked its origin to Attila the Hun.

Prehistoric monuments often constitute evident landmarks and sometimes, after falling into disuse, fascinated local people enough to stimulate speculations about their origin over time. According to legend, the Hill of Udine (NE Italy) was built by Attila the Hun's soldiers, but its origin (natural or anthropogenic) has been debated until now. Our research analyzed five new 40-m long stratigraphic cores, investigating for the first time the total thickness of the hill and compared the data with the available archaeological information. Moreover, we considered other hills and mounds in northern Italy and other European regions where folklore traditions relate their origin to Attila. The geoarchaeological and ethnographic data prove that the Hill of Udine is a Bronze Age anthropogenic mound erected between 1400 and 1150 BCE and that, later, folklore has transformed the ancestral memory of its origin into legend. By measuring 30 m in height and over 400,000 m3 in volume, the flat-topped hill is the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. This discovery reveals unprecedented skills in earth construction and confirms significant anthropogenic modifications of the environment during Bronze Age.

Cefazolin tissue concentrations with a prophylactic dose administered before sleeve gastrectomy in obese patients: a single centre study in 116 patients.

BACKGROUND: In obese patients undergoing sleeve gastrectomy, the blood and fatty-tissue concentrations of cefazolin required for adequate antibiotic prophylaxis are uncertain. METHODS: This was a single centre prospective study in obese (Group A: 40≤ BMI ≤50 kg m-2) and severely obese (Group B: 50< BMI ≤65 kg m-2) patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Blood and fatty-tissue samples were collected after a cefazolin 4 g i.v. injection. The primary aim was to compare cefazolin concentrations in subcutaneous fatty tissue with a targeted tissue concentration of 4 µg g-1 according to Staphylococcus aureus resistance breakpoint. RESULTS: One hundred and sixteen patients were included: 79 in Group A and 37 in Group B. At the beginning of the surgery, cefazolin concentration in subcutaneous fatty tissue was 12.2 (5.4) µg g-1 in Group A and 12 (6.1) µg g-1 in Group B (P=0.7). At the end, cefazolin concentrations in subcutaneous fatty tissue were 9.0 (4.9) and 7.8 (4.2) µg g-1 in Groups A and B, respectively (P=0.2). The plasma concentration of free cefazolin during surgery was higher in Group A than in Group B (P<0.0001). Fatty-tissue concentrations of 95% and 83% patients in Groups A and B, respectively, were above S. aureus resistance breakpoint. CONCLUSIONS: After a 4 g dose, the concentrations of cefazolin in fatty tissue were above the 4 µg g-1 tissue concentration target, providing adequate antibiotic tissue concentrations during bariatric surgery. As cefazolin concentration in fatty tissue is a surrogate endpoint, the results should be considered in conjunction with the results on free cefazolin concentrations in subcutaneous tissue. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01537380.

[Technique, indications, and immediate complications of percutaneously implanted catheters]. / Technique, indications, complications immédiates des poses percutanées de sites implantables.

Implantation of a device for long-term venous access is a simple procedure that can often be done under local anesthesia, with potentiation if needed. The implantation technique involves puncture of a large venous trunk and creation of a subcutaneous space in which the device can be lodged. Although complications are rare, patients should receive strict surveillance both during the immediate postoperative period and throughout use of the device.

Femoral nerve blockade in children using bupivacaine.

The authors evaluated the efficacy and incidence of side effects from blockade of the femoral nerve with 0.5% bupivacaine in 14 children with fracture of the middle third of the femoral shaft. In nine of these children, a pharmacokinetic analysis was also performed. The onset of analgesia occurred in 8.0 +/- 3.5 minutes after blockade of the femoral nerve. One block failed, resulting in iv narcotics being administered to alleviate the pain. In the remaining 13 children, pain decreased to nonexistent in 11 of the children and only mild pain with movement in the remaining two children. The level of analgesia did not change when the children underwent radiographic examination (60 +/- 18 min after the femoral nerve block) and application of traction (124 +/- 19 min after femoral nerve block). The maximum bupivacaine plasma concentration was 0.89 +/- 0.37 microgram/ml, obtained 24.4 +/- 12.6 min after the end of the injection. The femoral nerve blockade with bupivacaine provides prompt, effective, and prolonged analgesia in children suffering from fractures of the femoral shaft, allowing transport, radiographic examination, and application of traction in optimal conditions. Although the sample size was small, the side effects appeared to be rare.

An experiment on color naming of yellow flashes of variable duration.

An investigation into the stability of color appreciation after repeated testing with a light emitting diode (LED) system was undertaken. Experienced subjects viewed a LED simplon that had been set at a plateau intensity (in the photometric range), the principal variation being pulse duration (16 to 320 ms). A forced-choice color naming technique was applied. The investigation revealed a red shift for short duration exposures and an intense yellow shift for long exposures. Prolonged repeated testing produced a peculiar effect in the midrange: a loss of color, supplemented by a white effect, interpreted as a masking or tuning effect, by the achromatic channel.

[Spontaneous rupture of the spleen during the development of chronic pancreatitis. One case]. / Rupture spontanée de rate au cours de l'évolution d'une pancréatite chronique. Un cas.

Spontaneous rupture of the spleen is a relatively rare occurrence during the course of chronic pancreatitis. The physiopathology remains imprecise and mechanical factors are associated with pancreatic enzyme diffusion and vascular changes in explaining its aetiology. The diagnosis is difficult since it often mimics an acute exacerbation of pancreatitis or even actual acute pancreatitis when the existence of the pancreatic condition is not previously known. Abdominal echotomography or peritoneal puncture-lavage and, now, CAT scanning are the key factors in reaching the diagnosis.

Degrees of freedom for spherical scatterers.

The number of degrees of freedom of the field scattered by a spherical object is evaluated, in the Born approximation, by means of the eigenfunction technique.

Current views and some suggestions about mutual influences of eye dipoles as revealed by EOG.

Electro-oculographic response is recorded from a number of normal subjects: one eye becomes adapted to light, while the contralateral one persists in its dark-adapted state. The viewing eye shows the expected light-induced amplification effect. The contralateral eye shows the expected "paradoxical' curve in 12 cases; in addition, a flat curve is found in 4 cases, and a curve running parallel to that recorded from the light-exposed eye is found in 8 cases. In agreement with a previous report, found in the literature, cortical bio-electrical activity (on-going EEG) also shows a light-induced amplification after the onset of an adapting field. This latter finding is once more confirmed by us. This fact, in conjunction with some recent psychophysical findings (Lansford and Baker effect) leads to infer that interocular EOG influences are mediated by other mechanisms, in addition to spread across facial tissues.

Colour discrimination in the frame of illuminating engineering. Effects of C and high-pressure Na sources at different illuminances.

Nowadays, people are encouraged to utilize colour information. In turn, the sources employed for both indoor and outdoor installations show a variegated gamut of spectral distributions. The colour rendering factor refers to the average observer, representative of the normal, young, adult, healthy population. In order to have an idea of the deviations from this ideal case, we have been undertaking a population study. The results up-to-date obtained by the use of the high pressure Na source are now briefly reported.

Detector nonlinearity effects on the statistics of a fluctuating signal.

The effect of the detector nonlinearity on the statistics of a fluctuating signal is evaluated. The input signal is assumed to be log-normally distributed, which is of interest in the study of the laser propagation through the turbulent atmosphere. Both detector threshold and saturation effects are taken into account.

Free-space propagation of an aberrating Gaussian beam.

Approximate solutions of the wave equation are investigated, which can be considered as Gaussian beams affected by third-order spherical aberration. In practical cases, such beams are good approximations to the beams emerging from media whose square refractive index is described by a fourth-degree polynomial of the transverse coordinate. The measure of their spherical aberration could be a means for the determination of the coefficient of the fourth-order term in the expression of the square refractive index of the gradedindex medium.

Some questions concerning electroretinographic response and its variability.

Changes in retinal potential take place when the eye is adequately stimulated. This evoked response, the electroretinogram (ERG) is recorded in vivo by placing an electrode on the cornea, while the reference electrode is grounded elsewhere. In spite of a great deal of work in this field, the very meaning of ERG, in the frame of visual process, is not yet wholly understood. The present paper produces some data which show that the plot of visual performance vs. time, during the course of the day, runs parallel to that of the size of ERG. The meaning of this finding is discussed, by making reference to the electrical analog of the recording circuit, in terms of lumping approximation.