Climate change impact assessment on Veneto and Friuli Plain groundwater. Part I: an integrated modeling approach for hazard scenario construction.

Climate change impacts on water resources, particularly groundwater, is a highly debated topic worldwide, triggering international attention and interest from both researchers and policy makers due to its relevant link with European water policy directives (e.g. 2000/60/EC and 2007/118/EC) and related environmental objectives. The understanding of long-term impacts of climate variability and change is therefore a key challenge in order to address effective protection measures and to implement sustainable management of water resources. This paper presents the modeling approach adopted within the Life+ project TRUST (Tool for Regional-scale assessment of groUndwater Storage improvement in adaptation to climaTe change) in order to provide climate change hazard scenarios for the shallow groundwater of high Veneto and Friuli Plain, Northern Italy. Given the aim to evaluate potential impacts on water quantity and quality (e.g. groundwater level variation, decrease of water availability for irrigation, variations of nitrate infiltration processes), the modeling approach integrated an ensemble of climate, hydrologic and hydrogeologic models running from the global to the regional scale. Global and regional climate models and downscaling techniques were used to make climate simulations for the reference period 1961-1990 and the projection period 2010-2100. The simulation of the recent climate was performed using observed radiative forcings, whereas the projections have been done prescribing the radiative forcings according to the IPCC A1B emission scenario. The climate simulations and the downscaling, then, provided the precipitation, temperatures and evapo-transpiration fields used for the impact analysis. Based on downscaled climate projections, 3 reference scenarios for the period 2071-2100 (i.e. the driest, the wettest and the mild year) were selected and used to run a regional geomorphoclimatic and hydrogeological model. The final output of the model ensemble produced information about the potential variations of the water balance components (e.g. river discharge, groundwater level and volume) due to climate change. Such projections were used to develop potential hazard scenarios for the case study area, to be further applied within climate change risk assessment studies for groundwater resources and associated ecosystems. This paper describes the models' chain and the methodological approach adopted in the TRUST project and analyzes the hazard scenarios produced in order to investigate climate change risks for the case study area.

[Precancerous conditions of the oral cavity. Note I. General considerations. Critical review of the literature]. / Stati cancerizzabili del cavo orale. Nota I. Considerazioni generali. Rassegna critica della letteratura.

The authors deal with the current topic of precancerous states of the oral cavity, considering various aspects such as etiopathology, diagnosis, the clinical picture and therefore, nosological classifications. The region of the Air Passages and Superior Digestive Tract (APSDT) should be considered as a single system and it is affected by a set of genetic and environmental conditions common to the various anatomical regions of which it consists. The significance of several irritating agents, which are also habitually used (e.g. tobacco), has been demonstrated for some time, whereas, the actual harmful effects of other factors such as immunodepression in particular, are only now being evaluated and detected. The discussion concerning precancerous lesions of the oral cavity, should actually refer to lesions that do not present the histologic, biological and clinical characteristics of malignant neoplasms, but that have the objective possibility of developing them. Some lesions that traditionally belong to this pathological grouping often present dysplastic aspects, if not the actual characteristics of "carcinoma in situ". Therefore, the availability of a set of indexes is of primary importance and it should be capable of providing an orientation for diagnosis and clinical practices in a precise, standardized manner. The authors hold these indexes to be divisible into three groups as follows. The first group is composed of the "parameters of cellular kinetics" and includes the percentage of cells in phase S (LI), phase S time (Ts), cell cycle duration (Tc), and the growth fraction (GF). The second group consists in the "parameters of cellular morphology", including the nuclear content in DNA, the value of the nuclear surface and the ploidy. The third group is more specific for the existence of a pathologic mass. However, given the uncertainties of the borderlines traditionally attributed to precancerous pathology, this group is definitely useful. It is composed of the potential doubling time (Tpot) and the tumor volume doubling time (Td). Moreover, biopsy is held to be an indispensable tool and the procedure should be conducted in the various manners possible according to well-defined conditions. A correct evaluation of these parameters allows for a correct approach to precancerous pathology and the prevention of the clinical risks of "rapid proliferation" even in the diagnostic biopsy phase.

[Precancerous conditions of the oral cavity. Note II--Pathology and clinical course. Critical review of the literature]. / Stati cancerizzabili del cavo orale. Nota II--Patologia e Clinica. Rassegna critica della letteratura.

The authors examine some specific forms of precancerous states of the oral cavity, selecting them from among the 4 classes defined by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Oral Precancerous Lesions. The immunological system is given particular emphasis. In fact, as studies progress, it appears to be more and more involved not only in the increase in the incidence of such pathologies, but also in the most difficult, if not unknown, genesis of these pathologies. Highly significant examples of this involvement are: Kaposi's Sarcoma, Hairy Cell Leukoplakia, Lichen and Mycoses. Particularly significant aspects for Erythroplasia consist in the following: slow development, frequent and rapid changes in the clinical aspects and its strict connection with Bowen's Disease and Queirat's Erythroplasia. The latter lend further confirmation of its definite precancerous nature and as such, it requires radical surgical treatment. Compared to other forms, the Epidemic variety of Kaposi's sarcoma more frequently affects the oral-salivary glands and structures, the lymph nodes and the laterocervical area. Together with non-Hodgkin tumors, this represents the class of neoplasms most frequently occurring in subjects affected by AIDS. Its "atypical" aggressiveness involves the liver and pancreas and develops over much shorter time periods than the other varieties. In any case, when possible, the treatment required is the excision of the lesions. Neither radiation therapy nor polychemotherapy have yielded encouraging results as yet. In the case of Leukoplakia, it should be kept in mind that today, this pathology is defined "negatively" be exclusion that is the condition must exist that this lesion cannot be clinically or pathologically defined as another lesion. It thus follows that the clinician must maintain an extremely cautious approach in such cases. As concerns prognosis, particular attention should be given to raised, hardened, irregular and fissured forms, which manifest the greatest degenerative capacity. for the classic forms, the treatment adopted is complete exeresis, whereas the use of antiviral drugs is recommended for Hairy Cell Leukoplakia. Lichen Ruber Planus is a papuliferous eruption that is relatively common and affects the skin and mucosa often exclusively involving the oral cavity in the great majority of cases. Besides the clinical picture, the diagnosis of this disease is based on the triad consisting of hyperkeratosis, destruction of the cells of the stratum basale and subepithelial lymphocyte infiltration at distinctly low levels. In uncertain cases, however, the detection of Fluorescent Bodies grouped in large clusters near the hyaline membrane, acquires particular importance for the specification of the diagnosis.

[The use of computer-assisted stabilometry in the diagnosis of craniomandibular disorders]. / L'emploi de la stabilométrie assistée par ordinateur dans le diagnostic des troubles crânio-mandibulaires (TCM).

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the cervical region and the stomatognathic system on the balance control. We examined 35 healthy subjects and 201 balance disorder patients; of the 201 patients 60 suffered also from craniomandibular disorders (CMD) and 40 from cervical rachis disease. All cases were tested by computerized stabilometry executed in Romberg position: with closed eyes, retroflexed head and two cotton roles between the dental arches. The results show that cervical rachis disease and stomatognathic dysfunction have a significative influence on the balance control; however, this influence is smaller than that of vestibular disease; moreover, the computer stabilometry allows to measure the degree of ascending or descending correlation between the posture and stomatognathic system.

[The role of stabilometry in assessing the correlations between craniomandibular disorders and equilibrium disorders]. / Rôle de la stabilométrie dans l'évaluation des corrélations entre les troubles crânio-mandibulaires (TCM) et les troubles de l'équilibre (TE).

We examined three groups: 29 patients suffering from balance disorders and craniomandibular disorders but from vestibular disease; 21 patients suffering from balance disorders, craniomandibular disorders and vestibular disease; 26 patients suffering from craniomandibular disorders but not from vestibular disease or balance disorders. All cases were examined by the odontologist and otoneurologist and tested by computerized stabilometry; they were reexamined after six months of therapy by an occlusal stabilization splint. The static analysis of the results show a significative reduction of the postural oscillations in all patients.