AKI - human studies

Planktothrix rubescens in freshwater reservoirs: The Sentinel-2 potentiality for mapping phycocyanin concentration

In December 2006 blooms of Planktothrix rubescens were found in the Prizzi reservoir in Sicily. P. rubescens is sadly famous for producing microcystins (MC), which are harmful hepatotoxins. Recently (2006) P. rubescens has been found in the Pozzillo, Nicoletti, Ancipa, Prizzi and Garcia reservoirs. This paper compares the optical properties of the water of an infested reservoir and those of a clear water reservoir. Furthermore it evaluates an empirical method based on bands product to evaluate the phycocyanin cell density from MODIS, Landsat ETM+ and Sentinel-2 images. Spectroradiometric field campaigns were carried out in February/March 2008 to quantify the spectral transparencies of two w…

SIUMB guidelines and recommendations for the correct use of ultrasound in the management of patients with focal liver disease

The present document describes the SIUMB (Italian Society of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology) guidelines for the use of ultrasound in the management of focal liver disease. The aim of the paper is to provide a clinical practice guideline for Italian physicians who are approaching the ultrasound study of a focal liver lesion. In particular, these guidelines provide simple indications, recommendations and general practice advices for the correct use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in this scenario. They represent the SIUMB position of the ultrasound role in the diagnostic flow charts of the principal focal liver lesions, and are in agreement with other, previously published national…