, 1999, Pavlakis et al., 2001 and Kingston, 2002). In these regions, large oil spills also challenge the best-laid contingency plans, as clean-up and recovery operations require a great number of specially trained emergency teams (Doerffer, 1992, De La Huz et al., 2005 and Kirby and Law, 2010). One of the most widely documented examples of the impact of oil spills on relatively confined, environmentally sensitive shorelines is the

MV Exxon Valdez accident of 1989, South Alaska ( Petterson et al., 2003). The effects of the MV Exxon Valdez on biodiversity, and on the health of the cleaning personnel, were felt in the Prince William Sound for decades after its sinking ( Palinkas et al., 1993b, Piatt and Anderson, 1996 and Petterson Small molecule library manufacturer et al., 2003). Nevertheless, the published literature chiefly refers to open-sea accidents such the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico ( Camili et al., 2010 and Kessler et al., 2011), or the MV Prestige and MV Erika oil spills in the North Atlantic Ocean ( Tronczynski et al., 2004, Franco high throughput screening et al., 2006 and Gonzalez et al., 2006). This narrow pool of information poses important constraints to emergency authorities, as

open sea accidents require emergency responses distinct from oil spills occurring in topographically confined seas. Oil spills in open seas have the potential to unfold relatively slowly, but spreading through large areas to hinder any spill containment procedures (see Galt et al., 1991 and Carson et al., 1992). In contrast, oil spills in confined marine basins will potentially reach the shoreline in just a few hours, as shown by the models in this paper, but potentially dispersing through relatively small areas. In the topographically Tenofovir research buy confined Mediterranean Sea, to quickly assess shoreline susceptibility to oil spill accidents is paramount to the management of human resources and emergency plans by civil protection

authorities. Moreover, the coordination of emergency teams in all countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea requires a swift methodology to predict oil spill spreading, dispersion and advection in sea water. This paper presents a new method to help emergency-team response to oil spills in confined marine basins, using the island of Crete as a case-study (Fig. 1a and b). The method was developed under the umbrella of European Commission’s NEREIDs project to assist local authorities operating in Crete and Cyprus, Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The method results from the urgent need to coordinate local authorities and civil protection groups in this region when of maritime and offshore platforms accidents. Such a need is particularly pressing at a time when hydrocarbon exploration and production are being equated in deep-water regions of the Eastern Mediterranean (Cohen et al., 1990 and Roberts and Peace, 2007).

, 1984, Fulwiler and Saper, 1984, Herbert et al., 1990, Jhamandas et al., 1992, Jhamandas

et al., 1996 and Norgren, 1981). Therefore, the LPBN may convey signals that ascend from AP/mNTS to the forebrain areas that regulate fluid and electrolyte balance and related behaviors like water and sodium intake. Numerous neurotransmitter systems have implicated the LPBN in the control of sodium intake. For example, bilateral LPBN injections of methysergide, a serotonergic receptor antagonist, increase hypertonic NaCl intake induced by angiotensin II (ANG II) administered intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) or into the subfornical organ Selisistat research buy (SFO), by 24 h of water deprivation, by 24 h of sodium depletion or by deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) (De Gobbi et al., 2001, Menani et al., 1996, Menani et al., 1998a, Menani et al., 2000 and Menani and Johnson, 1995). Blockade of cholecystokinin (CCK) or serotonin receptors or activation of α2-adrenergic receptors in the LPBN enhances NaCl intake by rats injected subcutaneously

with the diuretic furosemide (FURO) combined with the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor captopril (CAP) (Andrade et al., 2004, De Gobbi et al., 2001, Menani et al., 1996 and Menani et al., 1998b). The blockade of LPBN neurons with bilateral injections of the GABAA agonist muscimol induces PCI-32765 order robust ingestion of hypertonic NaCl and slight ingestion of water in fluid replete rats and increases FURO + CAP- and 24 h sodium depletion-induced sodium intake, suggesting that a GABAergic

mechanism present in LPBN is involved in the control of sodium intake (Callera et al., 2005 and De Oliveira et al., 2007). The cardiovascular, neuroendocrine and ingestive effects of ANG II acting centrally are mediated mainly by angiotensin type 1 (AT1) receptors located in different areas of the central nervous system, such as the LPBN, anterior hypothalamic area (AHA), amygdala, SFO, rostral and caudal ventrolateral medulla and NTS (Fitzsimons, 1998, Fregly and Rowland, 1991, Mckinley et al., 1996, Rowland et al., 1992 and Thunhorst and Fitts, 1994). The nonpeptide antagonist losartan selectively binds on AT1 receptors (Chiu et al., 1989). Studies using whole cell voltage-clamp Megestrol Acetate techniques have suggested that ANG II acting on AT1 receptors may modulate GABAergic synaptic transmission and produce opposite effects, depending on whether pre- or post-synaptic AT1 receptors are activated (Henry et al., 2009, Li et al., 2003, Li and Pan, 2005 and Xing et al., 2009). It has been suggested that ANG II acting on pre-synaptic AT1 receptors reduces GABA release and decreases the amplitude of evoked GABAergic inhibitory post-synaptic currents (IPSCs) (Li et al., 2003, Li and Pan, 2005 and Xing et al., 2009). In contrast, it was shown that endogenous ANG II acting on post-synaptic AT1 receptors increases IPSCs in sodium-sensitive neurons in the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) (Henry et al., 2009).

Embryos from 30 superovulated Santa Ines ewes were collected 5–7 days after laparoscopic artificial insemination. Embryos were recovered by surgical procedure (laparotomy followed by flushing of the uterus horns). The obtained morulae and blastocysts were selected and classified according to the International Society of Embryo Transfer (IETS) [32]. Grade I and II embryos were washed in Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) plus 20% fetal calf serum (PBSS), maintained

in holding medium (Holding Plus®, Vitrocell, ABT-263 concentration São Paulo, Brazil) at 36 °C and protected from light until cryopreservation or fixation. Grade I and II embryos were divided into three groups: slow freezing (n = 22), vitrification (n = 24) and control (n = 33). Embryos were randomly

distributed, but always maintaining similar Bcl 2 inhibitor numbers of blastocysts and morulae, and Grade I and II embryos in every group. Fresh embryos (control group) were immediately evaluated for mitochondrial activity and cytoskeleton structure by confocal microscopy and for ultrastructure by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Grade III embryos were not cryopreserved. Some were processed only as controls, both for mitochondrial activity and cytoskeleton structure (n = 3) and for transmission electron microscopy (n = 2). Slow freezing was performed using the protocol of Garcia-Garcia et al., [19] with a slight modification on the freezing program, which missed the third cooling ramp (0.1 °C/min from −30 to −35 °C). All cryoprotectant solutions were prepared in PBSS. Initially, embryos were equilibrated in 0.75 M EG for 10 min and then placed for a further 10 min in 1.5 M EG at 32 °C. One to four embryos were loaded into each 0.25 mL straw. Afterwards, the straws were placed in a controlled-rate freezer (Dominium K, Biocom, MG, Brazil) at 10 °C and immediately cooled

at 1 °C/min to −7 °C and then manually seeded. After 5 min at −7 °C, embryos were cooled at 0.3 °C/min to −35 °C. After Hydroxychloroquine solubility dmso 10 min at −35 °C, the straws were immersed into liquid nitrogen and stored for 2–9 months. Straws were thawed by immersion in distilled water at 32 °C for 30 s. Embryos were then transferred to a 0.25 M sucrose solution in PBSS for 10 min, and washed three times in PBSS for 5 min each. Vitrification was performed using the protocol of Dattena et al. [9] with the equilibrium time modified (1.5 min instead of 3 min). All vitrification solutions were prepared using PBSS. Embryos were exposed to 10% EG and 10% DMSO for 1 min and 30 s, and then to 20% EG, 20% DMSO and 0.5 M sucrose for 30 s, always at room temperature. The embryos were loaded into OPS according to Vajta et al. [38], by capillarity together with ∼2 μl of medium and directly immersed into liquid nitrogen and stored for 2–9 months. Embryos were warmed according to Vajta et al.

, 1998a and Behrmann et al., 1998b). A number of single case and case series studies of LBL readers have reported associated

impairments on a range of perceptual tasks involving non-orthographic stimuli. For example, Friedman and Alexander (1984) identified an LBL patient who was impaired on tasks of letter Selleckchem Buparlisib identification, object recognition and had an elevated threshold relative to controls in detecting briefly presented pictures. Furthermore, Farah and Wallace’s (1991) patient TU performed poorly on tasks involving the perception of non-orthographic stimuli under time constraints; these results were replicated by Sekuler and Behrmann (1996). More recently, Mycroft et al. (2009) found that seven LBL readers were similarly impaired for both linguistic and non-linguistic stimuli on tasks of visual search and matching, and the LBL group as a whole performed worse than the control group on a task of visual complexity. By contrast, there are documented cases of LBL readers with no discernible impairment in letter identification click here speed or the identification of rapidly displayed letters (Warrington and Langdon, 2002; Rosazza

et al., 2007) or in a range of tasks assessing visual processing, such as complex picture analysis, visual short term memory and picture

recognition from unusual views (Warrington and Shallice, 1980). However, proponents of pre-lexical theories of LBL reading tend to dismiss such cases as reflecting insufficiently sensitive assessment of visual processing skills or the use of non-reading tasks which are not making Ribose-5-phosphate isomerase demands comparable to those involved in reading (Behrmann et al., 1998a and Behrmann et al., 1998b; Patterson, 2000). Alternative accounts attribute LBL reading to an impairment of letter activation. Some accounts suggest that the critical letter processing deficits may be restricted to the identification of individual letters (e.g., Arguin and Bub, 1992 and Arguin and Bub, 1993; Reuter-Lorenz and Brunn, 1990; Behrmann and Shallice, 1995). Other accounts ascribe LBL reading to a deficit in the mechanisms responsible for rapid, parallel processing of letters, leading to the less efficient serial encoding of the component letters of a word (Patterson and Kay, 1982; Behrmann et al., 2001; Cohen et al., 2003). One such possible mechanism is the inability to use the optimal spatial frequency band for letter and word recognition, with letter confusability effects emerging at lower spatial frequencies (Fiset et al., 2006).

Subsequent follow-up on patients with a positive EarlyCDT-Lung test was then structured around the physician-described follow-up plan. Information concerning whether a patient was diagnosed with cancer was requested from physicians for all individuals regardless of test result at 6 months after the test. This timeframe

was chosen (i) because it was felt to represent a timeframe within which the immediate value of a positive test result could be assessed, (ii) it allowed time for all patients with a negative EarlyCDT-Lung test to present with lung Rigosertib cancer in order to reduce the chance of observer bias in preferentially following up individuals with a positive EarlyCDT-Lung test result. One patient with a positive test was diagnosed just outside the

6 month period: this patient has been included since they were being actively investigated during the six month period for a lesion identified on imaging as being suspicious of lung cancer. The overall percentage of individuals followed-up at six months in the positive and negative EarlyCDT-Lung groups was 99% and 93%, respectively (Table 2); these data are also further broken down by the 6AAB and 7AAB groups (Table 2). This report, therefore, focuses on the initial presentation and outcomes of all patients within 6 months following testing by EarlyCDT-Lung. Wherever possible, histology/cytology reports were reviewed and considered for diagnostic classification; some patients did not have a Olaparib cell line tissue diagnosis but were diagnosed, for example, based on imaging reports. It was decided from the start of the audit that if a physician diagnosed a lung cancer, then only in circumstances where there was specific proof to the contrary, and this

was confirmed by an external expert, would the diagnosis by the treating physician not be Megestrol Acetate accepted; this rule was applied for all patients regardless of EarlyCDT-Lung result. The EarlyCDT-Lung test performance is presented in terms of standard test characteristics, such as sensitivity (the percentage of true positives) and specificity (the percentage of true negatives). Positive predictive value (PPV; the probability of cancer given a positive test result) was also calculated. These analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel. Comparison of sensitivity and specificity of EarlyCDT-Lung for the 6AAB and 7AAB groups is also presented; these comparisons were made using chi-squared tests. Of the 1613 test results, there were 14 patients where the test result was declared ‘Invalid’ (by pre-determined criteria, as outlined in the laboratory’s standard operating procedures) on the report sent to the treating physician. There were 222 patients who tested positive (14%) and 1377 tested negative (86%) (Fig. 1). The percent positive for the 6AAB and 7AAB panels was 18% (n = 139) and 10% (n = 83), respectively.

Adjuvants in earlier development phases are described in Chapter 6 – Vaccines of the future. Novel water-in-oil emulsions have recently been developed for use in both therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines. Montanide™ ISA51 is a water-in-oil emulsion containing mineral oil and mannide-mono-oleate as an emulsifier. These emulsions

are used as adjuvants with epidermal growth factor (EGF) as antigen in ongoing Phase III studies against cancer. Montanide™ adjuvants induce a strong immune response with an improved safety profile compared with Freund’s water-in-oil emulsion, but mild-to-severe local reactions are still observed in about half of the subjects in clinical trials. For this reason the Montanide™ adjuvants are applied mainly in immunotherapy. this website A non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

vaccine containing Montanide™ ISA51 as an adjuvant was recently registered in Cuba and Chile. Microbial DNA contains intrinsic immunostimulatory sequences (ISS) which act as ligands of intracellular TLRs, such as TLR9. When recognised by TLRs, ISS can lead to amplification of the adaptive immune response, in particular cell-mediated immunity. Several ISS with distinct biological activities have been characterised and preliminary clinical data show that the use of these sequences in vaccines can enhance humoral and cellular immune responses to the vaccine antigens. One example of an ISS is CpG 7909 (Figure 4.9), an agonist of TLR9 and an inducer of proinflammatory cytokines. CpG refers to a group of synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides Idelalisib cell line derived from bacterial DNA containing unmethylated CpG motifs. CpG 7909 stimulates TLR9, induces Th1 immunity and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses in animals, and is currently in Phase III clinical trials as part of an adjuvanted HBV vaccine (Cooper et al., 2004). AS01 combines the effects Janus kinase (JAK) of three components: liposome, MPL (TLR4

agonist) and QS21. QS21 is a triterpene glycoside derived from a saponin extracted from the bark of the South American tree Quillaja saponaria ( Figure 4.10). Saponins are used widely as emulsifiers in cosmetics as well as in the food and drink industry. The crude extract, known as Quil A, was first limited to use as an adjuvant for veterinary vaccines due to its local reactogenicity. The purified QS21 fraction derived from Quil A has potent ability to enhance antigen presentation to APCs, especially to induce cytotoxic T-lymphocyte production when tested in animals ( Newman et al., 1997). It has been shown that QS21 as a surfactant can be used to facilitate penetration of proteins through cell membranes, thus inducing intracellular immune responses. QS21 has shown an acceptable tolerability profile for use in human candidate vaccines when properly formulated with ISCOM™ (immune-stimulating complex consisting of cholesterol and phospholipids), or liposomes.

5% each) venoms ( Laing et al., 2004; Rojas et al., 2005; Theakston and Warrell, 1991). Besides neutralizing the most severe toxic effects induced by envenomation involving snakes from the antigenic pool, ( Laing et al., 2004; Rojas et al., 2005) the preclinical assessment of anti-venom’s efficacy against venoms from other medically important species would be useful in Latin America for improving anti-venom production ( Gutierrez et al., 2009). This work describes

the preclinical evaluation of the neutralizing capacity of PABA against lethality, hemorrhagic, proteolytic, and PLA2 effects of Bothrops andianus’ venom. B. andianus is a venomous snake found in the southern mountains of Peru and Bolivia and its venom is not included in PABA production. In Peru, B. andianus is found in the areas (departments) of Cuzco and Puno, at elevations of 1800–3300 m ( Ministério Selleck Enzalutamide de Salúd Peru, 2004). Its geographical distribution overlaps Machu Picchu area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site ( UNESCO, 2012), which is an important touristic attraction and receives more

than 600,000 tourists per year, increasing the risks of accidents involving this snake. In Peru, the snakes of genus Bothrops are responsible for 80% of accidents and approximately 6.5% of these accidents are registered in the Cuzco and Puno Departments ( Ministério RGFP966 de Salúd Peru, 2004). For the experiments, male and female Swiss mice (18–22 g) were maintained in

the Centro de Bioterismo of Instituto de Ciências Biológicas of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil. All animals received water and food ad libitum under controlled environmental conditions. The experimental protocols were approved by the Ethics Committee in Animal Experimentation (CETEA/UFMG). PABA, crude venoms from B. andianus, and antigenic pool species were provided by INS. Venoms were kept at −20 °C and anti-venom at 4 °C temperature as indicated on their prescription. The protein content in crude venoms and anti-venoms were determined according to Bradford’s method (1976) using BSA (Sigma Chemicals) as standard. Lethality of B. andianus venom was assessed by the intra-peritoneal (i.p.) route. Groups Thiamine-diphosphate kinase of four mice were injected with increasing amounts of venom (34.6 μg–72 μg/mouse), dissolved in 0.5 ml of PBS–BSA 0.01% solution, pH 7.4. Twenty four hours later, deaths were counted and LD50 was calculated using Probit analysis (95% confidence) ( Finney, 1971). The hemorrhagic activity was assayed as described in Kondo et al. (1960) and modified by Gutierrez et al. (1985). Five different doses (3.72 μg; 5.2 μg; 7.29 μg; 10.2 μg; 14.28 μg) of crude venom were inoculated subcutaneously into dorsal shaved skin of mice in 0.

, 1997). All experiments were performed INCB024360 ic50 at room temperature (24–26 °C). In brief, freely moving rats were kept in a plexiglass recording chamber (5 L) that was flushed continuously with a mixture of 79% nitrogen and 21% oxygen (unless otherwise required by the protocol) at a rate of 1 L/min. The concentrations of O2 and CO2 in the chamber were monitored on-line

using a fast-response O2/CO2 monitor (ADInstruments, NSW, Australia). The pressure signal was amplified, filtered, recorded, and analyzed off-line using Powerlab software (Powerlab 16/30, ML880/P, ADInstruments, NSW, Australia). The values of fR and VT analyzed were those recorded for 2 min before the exposure to the stimulus and for 2 more min at the end of each stimulus, when breathing stabilized. Changes in the fR, VT, and minute ventilation ( V˙E) (fR × VT; ml/min/kg) were averaged and

expressed as means ± SEM. The mean arterial pressure, the discharge of the phrenic and splanchnic nerves and the tracheal O2 and CO2 were recorded as previously described (Moreira et al., 2006 and Moreira et al., 2007). Before starting the experiments, the ventilation was adjusted to have the ETCO2 at 3–4% at steady-state (60–80 cycles/s; tidal volume 1–1.2 ml/100 g). This condition was selected because 3–4% end-expiratory CO2 was below the threshold of the PND. Variable amounts

of pure CO2 were added to the breathing mixture to adjust Metformin ETCO2 to the desired level. All analog data (ETCO2, sSND, PND and MAP) were stored on a computer via a micro1401 digitizer (Cambridge Electronic Design) and were processed off-line using version 6 of the Spike 2 software (Cambridge Electronic Design) as described previously (Takakura et al., 2006 and Takakura et al., 2011). The integrated phrenic nerve discharge (iPND) and the integrated splanchnic nerve discharge Florfenicol (iSND) were obtained after the rectification and smoothing (τ = 0.015 and 2 s, respectively) of the original signal, which was acquired with a 30–300 Hz bandpass. Neural minute × volume (mvPND, a measure of the total phrenic nerve discharge per unit of time) was determined by averaging the iPND over 50 s and normalizing the result by assigning a value of 0 to the dependent variable recorded at the low levels of end-expiratory CO2 (below threshold) and a value of 1 at the highest level of PCO2PCO2 investigated (between 9.5 and 10%). The iSND was normalized for each animal by assigning the value of 100 to the resting SNA and the value of 0 to the minimum value recorded either during the administration of a dose of phenylephrine that saturated the baroreflex (5 μg/kg, i.v.) or after the ganglionic blockade (hexamethonium; 10 mg/kg, i.v.).

Paleoindians relied very heavily on species of the palms Astrocaryum, Attalea, C59 wnt price Oenocarpus, Maximiliana, and occasionally, in Colombia, on the long-lived palm M. flexuosa (all Arecaceae). The palms whose seeds are hyper-abundant in Paleoindian sites are among those whose distribution is thought to be greatly influenced by people ( Henderson, 1995:17–20, 88–251). They are important foods sources for rural Amazonians today ( Goulding and Smith, 2007, Peters et al., 1989 and Smith

et al., 2007:38–91). Indigenous wetland foragers in the Orinoco used the abundant starch and sap from Moriche’s stout trunk as staples, supplemented with fish and fruits ( Heinen, 1988). Its fallen, rotting trunk becomes a source of plump, storable fatty beetle grubs. Also very common in the Brazilian Paleoindian food remains are the seeds of the tree legume, Hymenaea (Fabaceae), whose pod has an edible sweet, pungent aril. Brazilian Paleoindians also favored the fruits of Sacoglottis guianensis

(Humiriaceae), Talisia esculenta (Sapindaceae), Mouriri apiranga (Melastomataceae), Coccoloba pixuna (Polygonaceae), and forest Muruci (Byrsonima crispa, Malpighiaceae), which are collected and sometimes planted by indigenous and peasant communities in Amazonia ( Cavalcante, 1991 and Smith et al., 2007). More rare were Brazil nut kernels (Bertholletia excelsa [Lecythidaceae]), found only in the Brazilian sites. In one Colombian Carfilzomib mouse Thiamet G late Paleoindian site, paleobotanists also identified phytoliths of arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea, Marantaceae) and bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria, Cucurbitaceae), but these were in layers intersected by a late prehistoric intrusive pit ( Mora, 2003:126–127). Excavators also recovered seeds of the delectable

piquia fruit (Caryocar, Caryocaraceae), avocado pits (Persea, Lauraceae), and seeds of Podocarpus (Podocarpaceae), a now-rare conifer valued both for fruit and timber nowadays. That Paleoindians worked wood is shown by the heavy cutting tools they cached at some sites ( Gnecco and Mora, 1997:685, Fig. 2; Roosevelt et al., 1996:377–378, Fig. 6I). Paleoindians used forest plants that are sources of drugs or tools. A plant genus used for hallucinogens, Virola (Myristicaceae), was found in Colombian sites, and another, Vitex (Verbenaceae), used for fish bait, was identified at the early Brazilian site. The carbonized plant remains are well-dated evidence that the Paleoindians began a close relationship with numerous tree species that continue to dominate anthropic forests in Amazonia today. And their strong reliance on small fish for the bulk of their faunal diet in Brazil is a pattern that would continue through the entire indigenous human sequence in Amazonia. As a prelude to systematic agriculture, early Amazonian foragers eventually settled down at places favorable for intensive fishing and shell-fishing, especially at high land near rivers and wetlands.

More intense urban and agricultural land uses have gone along with the occlusion of road-ditches and field-ditches, or their substitution with pipes. The water system networks of the past have often been demolished or modified by numerous small-scale (and often illegal) local actions (Rusconi, 1991 and Regione Veneto, 2007). One of the major consequences of these changes is the more frequent flooding

of the artificial reclamation networks, in particular ditches and canals, after small but intense rainfall events (D’Alpaos, 2006). In 2010, after several days of intense rain (500 mm in 48 h) (Barbi et al., 2007) the drainage system of the region failed, and several rivers overflowed, producing a flood (Fig. 1a and b) that hit about 130 municipalities, and caused damages AZD6244 in vivo to 500,000 people (Structure of the Extraordinary Commission for Recovering from the Flooding, 2011). More recently, in 2012 (Fig. 2c and d), 2013 (Fig. 2e and f) and again in the early 2014 (Fig. 2g and h)

the Veneto drainage network came under criticism in different locations. The present Cilengitide cell line study, considering this background context, focus mainly on the analysis of the network Drainage Density (the ratio of the total network length to the area under analysis), and the network Storage Capacity (the volume of water in m3/ha that can be stored inside the channels). Drainage/reclamation service criteria, in fact, determine the requirements for the design of drainage channels and pumping stations (Malano and Hofwegen, 1999 and Cazorzi

et al., 2013). In the Veneto floodplain, the water in the drainage network is mechanically drained, therefore the analysis of these two parameters is critical, expecially considering that the flooding hazard can be exhacerbated simply by the interruption of the pumping services (Adige-Euganeo Land Reclamation Consortium, 2011). Storage of water is, moreover, the key principle at the basis of any water management selleck kinase inhibitor strategy, and scientific and engineering researches, and practical manuals have routinely underlined the provisioning of storage volumes, even when temporary and within the network, as a measure to mitigate the effects of land-use changes on flood discharge (i.e. Hough, 1984, Hall et al., 1993, Wheater and Evans, 2009, Crooks et al., 2000 and D.G.R. 1322/2006, 2006). The study area is a small area mechanically drained, about 2.7 km2 wide, located in the southern part of the province of Padova (Veneto, Italy) (Fig. 3). The southern province of Padova was one of the most involved during the 2010 flood, with about 190 M€ of damages, and as a matter of fact, for a profitable land use and planning, it requires a correct management of the artificial drainage system (Piani Territoriali di Coordinamento Provinciale, 2009).