6D) as compared to epimastigotes ( Fig  6B); only 6 5% of the epi

6D) as compared to epimastigotes ( Fig. 6B); only 6.5% of the epimastigotes treated with 2.44 μg/ml melittin were TUNEL-positive as compared to 47.8% of the trypomastigotes treated with 0.14 μg/ml melittin. Furthermore, only 8% of the epimastigotes that were treated with 1.22 μg/ml (half IC50) were TUNEL-positive as compared to 49.7% of the trypomastigotes that were treated with half LD50. The data obtained with the ultrastructural

techniques and fluorescent markers strongly suggested that the mechanisms of cell death triggered by the melittin peptide in the epimastigote and trypomastigote T. cruzi forms were autophagy and apoptosis, respectively. Natural products (such as animal venom) and their derivatives represent more than 30% of the pharmaceuticals currently on the market (Kirkpatrick, 2002) and are the major sources of innovative DAPT nmr therapeutic agents for diseases caused by bacteria, parasites and fungi (Altmann, 2001). Following this approach, animal venom has been screened as a potential agent for the treatment of neglected parasitic diseases (Gonçalves et al., 2002; Adade et al., 2011; Brand et al., 2006; Toyama et al., 2006; Passero et al., 2007; Adade et al., Src inhibitor 2012). For instance, honeybee venom has been used as a chemotherapy against arthritis (Park et al., 2004), rheumatism (Kwon et al., 2002), back pain (Chen et al., 2006) and cancerous tumors (Huh et al.,

2010; Wang et al., 2009; Park et al., 2011). Melittin is the principal toxic component in A. mellifera venom, and few studies have examined its antiparasitic effects ( Díaz-Achirica et al., 1998; Chicharro et al., 2001; Luque-Ortega et al., 2003; Alberola et al., 2004; Pérez-Cordero et al., 2011; Park and Lee, 2010). Thus far, the three studies that have investigated the lytic effects of melittin on T. cruzi only considered the epimastigote and trypomastigote forms of the parasite, without characterize the melittin effects over parasites morphology ( Azambuja et al.,

1989; Jacobs et al., 2003; Fieck et al., 2010). Our group previously published the effects of crude A. mellifera venom on all T. cruzi developmental forms, and we focused on the differences Glutamate dehydrogenase in the cell death phenotypes displayed by treated parasites ( Adade et al., 2012). Thus, the current study aimed to (i) evaluate melittin as the main component responsible for the A. mellifera venom trypanocidal activity and consequently the distinct cell death profiles observed; (ii) investigate the capacity of the isolated peptide to act on the intracellular amastigotes; and finally, (iii) investigate the toxicity of melittin against epithelial cells and mice resident macrophages, cells which were not previously tested in the literature and are important in the control of the parasite at different stages of Chagas disease, to verify the possibility of its use as a hybrid in future assays.

This can result in relatively large errors in this direction, whi

This can result in relatively large errors in this direction, which accounts for the outliers in the histogram. Ultimately, the importance of needle reconstruction accuracy lies in the effect on the dose delivered to the target and the OARs. A

number of dosimetric parameters were used to evaluate this and these are summarized in Table 1. The target doses in the US-based plan generally show only small differences relative to those determined based on the CT needle reconstruction. The doses to the OARs, however, showed some larger changes. These can be attributed almost entirely to the systematic error in the radial direction. In the optimized dose distributions, the isodose line corresponding to the maximum allowed urethral dose generally conforms very closely to the urethral structure. These dose distributions were, Trametinib chemical structure however, determined based on incorrect needle positions. When the distributions are transferred to the CT-determined

needle positions, which represent the dose that would be delivered, the distributions are shifted, Epacadostat chemical structure moving the high-dose region into the urethra. This is illustrated in Fig. 7, where Fig. 7a shows the dose planned on the basis of the US images, and Fig. 7b shows the dose that would be delivered based on the CT images. The largest change in the urethral maximum dose was an increase of 10%, with the average change being 3.8% of the prescribed dose. The changes in the doses to the rectum are negative in all cases, meaning the rectal dose is lower than the dose predicted by the US reconstruction. In this case, correcting for the systematic error

in the radial direction moves the dose cloud away from the rectum. Until the recent introduction of TRUS-based planning for prostate HDR-BT, the major drawback of this modality has been the need for Obeticholic Acid a multistep procedure involving: 1. TRUS-guided needle insertion under anesthesia in the dorsal lithotomy position The multistep nature of CT-planned prostate HDR-BT prolongs the process; limits the number of cases that can be done in a day; adds discomfort and inconvenience for the patient; and, most importantly, introduces an unacceptable source of error owing to needle retraction in the caudal direction away from the base of the prostate. Mean displacements have been reported of 3–11 mm with a range up to 28 mm [1], [2], [3], [6], [7] and [8]. It is felt that any displacement greater than 3 mm should be corrected (3). Inaccuracies are inherent in the readjustment of the depth of insertion several hours postimplantation with the patient awake [1], [3], [4], [5] and [6]. TRUS-based planning allows both the procedure and treatment to be performed in a single location and under anesthesia, eliminating both the risk of needle displacement during patient transfer, and associated patient discomfort while being transferred and repositioned with the needles in place.

distractor-absent) The interaction between distractor presence a

distractor-absent). The interaction between distractor presence and electrode location was significant (F(1,11) = 6.789, p = 0.025), reflecting a reliable increase in target-elicited N2pc amplitude from Fig. 1a to b. No other effects were reliable (electrode location: F(1,11) = 4.327, p = 0.062; target location: F(1,11) = 2.686, p = 0.130; all other Fs < 1). A corresponding analysis based on peak amplitude garnered much the same pattern (electrode location: F(1,11) = 12.167, p = 0.004; distractor presence × electrode location: Palbociclib F(1,11) = 5.267, p = 0.042; all other Fs < 1). Note that here

and in subsequent analyses of peak amplitude computations are based on the amplitude of the ipsilateral and contralateral waveforms as observed at the maximum ipsilateral/contralateral difference in the 200 to 400 ms post-stimulus interval. To test whether this posterior amplitude increase/topographic shift was related to behavior, we correlated the change in target-elicited N2pc observed in trials where the colors repeated to the behavioral priming effect. We calculated an absolute measure of the increase in behavioral feature priming caused by the salient distractor priming for each subject in two steps. We first subtracted the no-swap RT from the swap RT for both distractor present and distractor absent conditions, and then further subtracted the value thus calculated for the distractor

absent condition from that for the distractor present condition. We measured the per-subject increase in N2pc amplitude from the no-swap, distractor-absent condition (Fig. 1a) to the no-swap, contralateral distractor condition (Fig. 1b) by subtracting check details the contralateral waveform from the ipsilateral waveform for each condition and subsequently subtracting the value thus calculated for the no-swap, distractor-absent condition from the value calculated for the no-swap, contralateral-distractor condition. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the early aspect of this increase in N2pc (as measured from 270 to 330 ms)

C-X-C chemokine receptor type 7 (CXCR-7) correlated with the measure of increase in behavioral feature priming (Spearman’s ρ = 0.643; permutation test p = 0.028). 2 Because the target-elicited N2pc is not evident in the ERP illustrated in Fig. 1a, which was elicited in the no-swap, distractor absent condition at posterior electrode sites roughly equivalent to PO7 and PO8 of the 10/10 electrode placement system, Fig. 3a presents the ERP elicited in the same condition as recorded at slightly more anterior electrode locations.3 The magnitude, latency, and topography of this N2pc (Fig. 3a) are quite similar to the same measures observed when the colors swapped between conditions (Fig. 3b). In statistical analysis of these components, a 3-way RANOVA with factors for electrode location, target location, and intertrial condition (based on mean amplitude from 255 to 300 ms) revealed a significant main effect of electrode location (F(1,11) = 5.197, p = 0.

For instance, Cicchillitti et al identified disulphide isomerase

For instance, Cicchillitti et al. identified disulphide isomerase ERp57 as a novel paclitaxel-resistant marker that forms a complex with TUBB3, and directs microtubule attachment to chromosomes, which is interesting given that paclitaxel targets tubulin [68]. Further studies should examine the effects of ERp57 knockdown on decreasing resistance to paclitaxel in other OvCa cell lines, as well as evaluate the potential of ERp57 to be used a marker to monitor therapy and patient outcome. Similar studies incorporated 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) coupled to ESI Q-TOF tandem

MS/MS or MALDI-TOF MS in the analysis of A2780 and SKOV3 platinum and taxane-sensitive and -resistant cell lines, and identified STA-9090 nmr numerous potential markers of resistant OvCas

for personalized cancer therapy [69], [70] and [71]. However, additional evaluation of these proteins in large clinical validation studies is required to elucidate their potential as predictive markers of chemoresistance. Further examination on the role of these proteins in the development of platinum resistance using knockout mouse models will determine their value as potential therapeutic targets. Other cell line model systems of chemoresistance, such as IGROV1 (sensitive) and IGROV1-R10 (resistant) cells have also been employed in the quest to find altered proteomic signatures of resistance, which have been followed up with a kinetic analysis [72] and [73]. Through this analysis, Le Moguen et al. identified time and concentration-dependent

Tacrolimus (FK506) LDK378 purchase changes in protein levels associated with pathways linked to stress, oxidative stress response, glycolysis, and cell communication [73]. Overall, these initial studies have unravelled potential molecular pathways that become disrupted during chemoresistance. Using this knowledge, specific experiments may be conducted to elucidate the mechanisms underlying resistance, as the above approaches only provided a global snapshot of platinum-resistance associated proteins. The studies highlighted above employed a qualitative approach to identifying markers of chemoresistance. In order to achieve more accurate protein quantification between different conditions, a few studies have applied labelling techniques as a means to quantify protein expression changes. For instance, isotope labelling via isotope-coded affinity tag (ICAT) and isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) has also been incorporated into comparative proteomic studies as it allows for easy quantification of proteins between different conditions, which is often completed in fewer MS runs compared to non-labelling approaches. In particular, Shetty et al.

Fig 3 and Fig 5) The values of the background potential energy

Fig. 3 and Fig. 5). The values of the background potential energy perturbation are also comparable between the simulations with M2M2, with a difference at the end of the simulated time period of only

10% in the constrained case compared to approximately 50%50% in the unconstrained case, Fig. 8 and Fig. 10. Most crucially, once again, both the background potential energy and Froude number show improved performance with simulations that use M2M2 over those that use M∞M∞, Fig. 10 and Fig. 11. In Özgökmen et al. (2007), see more the two-dimensional lock-exchange is used to investigate the performance of different sub-grid-scale (SGS) models in large eddy simulations (LES) using a non-hydrostatic formulation. With this approach, the larger-scale eddies in the flow are computed IDH inhibitor and the SGS

model represents the effect of smaller-scale eddies. The SGS models are found to improve the results for a given mesh resolution. As a part of the study, simulations without the SGS models are performed at a range of resolutions and the highest resolution values are taken as the benchmark solution. Following Özgökmen et al. (2007), two Reynolds numbers Re=2800Re=2800 and 4300 are considered, where Re=ubh/νRe=ubh/ν, and ubub is the buoyancy velocity, h   the domain half height and ν¯¯=νI¯¯ is the kinematic viscosity, cf. Table 1. A Prandtl number Pr=7Pr=7 is used, where Pr=ν/κPr=ν/κ, where κ¯¯=κI¯¯ is the thermal diffusivity which is reinstated for the comparison. The values of ubub and h   are as in Table 1 and the values of νν and κκ are then determined from the values of Re   and Pr  . The domain used is shortened to be 0.5 m long to match the aspect ratio of 5 used in Özgökmen et al. (2007) and the bottom boundary condition is also changed from a no-slip to a free-slip, no normal

flow condition. The adaptive mesh solution field weights are as in simulation M2M2-mid, Table 5. To quantitatively assess the diapycnal mixing in the flow, Özgökmen et al. (2007) divide the temperature field into three classes, light, mixed and heavy, and compare the volume fraction of fluid in each class. Here, the mixed class is compared between the different simulations and, in the Fluidity-ICOM simulations, corresponds to fluid with temperature perturbation -1/6⩽T-T0<1/6-1/6⩽T-T0<1/6, Fig. 12. In general, Metalloexopeptidase the spread of values across resolutions and SGS methods reported by Özgökmen et al. (2007) is larger for Re=4300Re=4300 than Re=2800Re=2800. At Re=2800Re=2800, the M2M2-mid mixed water mass volume fractions behaves most like the (second) mid-resolution (1.728×1051.728×105 degrees of freedom) benchmark case from Özgökmen et al. (2007) with generally comparable or smaller values than this case. At Re=4300Re=4300, the values for M2M2-mid are more similar to the Özgökmen et al. (2007) high-resolution (2.7×1052.7×105 degrees of freedom) benchmark case at early times and the Özgökmen et al.

The SD of the y-intercepts and the mean slope were obtained from

The SD of the y-intercepts and the mean slope were obtained from anti-glucocerebrosidase antibody calibration curves. The assay cut point was determined by testing treatment-naïve patient serum samples and calculating the mean plus 1.645 standard deviation of assay values, where 1.645 is the 95th percentile of the one-sided normal t-distribution (Mire-Sluis et al., 2004). A minimum of 67 samples from individual treatment-naïve patients with Gaucher disease were tested to set the antibody-positive cut points for the screening assays for both velaglucerase alfa and imiglucerase. The test design included at least three analysts testing replicate samples using a minimum of three different

microwell plate lots over a period of at least 14 days. Two MSD instruments were used randomly for a minimum of 1170 Forskolin determinations for each assay. The assay cut points for anti-velaglucerase

alfa or anti-imiglucerase antibodies were established on the basis of raw ECL counts and estimated to be 1.67 and 3.28 ng/mL, respectively (Table 2) by interpolation on a calibration curve. The assay sensitivity was estimated as the assay cut point multiplied by the minimum sample dilution factor. The assay sensitivities were therefore calculated to be 33.4 ng/mL for anti-velaglucerase alfa antibodies and 65.6 ng/mL for anti-imiglucerase antibodies. The LOD and LOQ values were calculated from the anti-glucocerebrosidase antibody calibration curves. Of note, the assay cut point values are below or near the instrument Ibrutinib limit of detection. The assay LOD values are greater than the instrument LOD. Precision, accuracy, and sensitivity of this assay were determined

as previously described (FDA, 2001, ICH, 2005 and EMEA, 2009) and are given in Table 3. The lowest LOD and lowest LOQ were determined according to the signal-to-noise method, where a signal-to-noise Erastin mouse ratio of 3 is considered acceptable for estimating the detection limit and a signal-to-noise ratio of 10 is considered acceptable for estimating the quantitation limit (EMEA, 2009). The mouse anti-glucocerebrosidase monoclonal antibody calibration curve was used to convert the raw CPM values. It is widely accepted that the positive cut point for antibody screening assays should be selected such that a false-positive rate of 5% is anticipated with 95% confidence (Mire-Sluis et al., 2004), as described in the previous section. However, little has been discussed regarding the establishment of an appropriate antibody-positive cut point for antibody confirmatory assays. The assay cut point of this confirmatory assay was established as the mean plus 3 standard deviations of assay values obtained from treatment-naïve patient serum samples. A total of 59 samples from individual, treatment-naïve patients with Gaucher disease were tested to set the antibody-positive cut point for the radioimmunoprecipitation confirmatory assays for both velaglucerase alfa and imiglucerase.


“Figure options Download full-size image Download as Power


“Figure options Download full-size image Download as PowerPoint slide El pasado 27 de marzo nos asaltó la noticia del fallecimiento de Miguel Pérez-Mateo, que no por esperada dejó de ser un fuerte golpe para todos los que tuvimos el placer de trabajar y aprender con él. El Prof. Miguel Pérez-Mateo era jefe del servicio de Medicina Interna y Aparato Digestivo del Hospital General Universitario de Alicante y catedrático de Medicina de la Universidad Miguel Hernández. Miguel estudió medicina en la Universidad de Valencia, donde realizó su tesina de licenciatura con un trabajo sobre la epidemia de cólera que atacó la ciudad de Alicante en el año 1854. Posteriormente realizó su residencia en el Hospital

de Sant Pau de Barcelona, en el servicio de Medicina Interna y Aparato Digestivo del Prof. Vilardell, entre octubre de 1971 y junio de 1976. Allí realizó Seliciclib solubility dmso su tesis doctoral a la edad de 27

años (1975), titulada check details «Influencia de diversos estados patológicos sobre la fijación de fármacos a proteínas plasmáticas». Posteriormente realizó una estancia en París, en el Hospital Beaujon, en el servicio de Digestivo del Prof. Benhamou, dirigida a profundizar en el estudio de las enfermedades intestinales y hepáticas de origen vascular. Tras este periplo volvió a Alicante, inicialmente al servicio de Medicina Interna del Hospital General y posteriormente como jefe de sección de Medicina en el Hospital General de Elche, donde se dedicó de manera más directa a lo que era su principal área de conocimiento, las enfermedades del aparato digestivo. Al mismo tiempo desarrolló una brillante carrera académica, participando activamente

en el crecimiento de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Alicante, en la que ejerció como profesor titular y vicedecano, y posteriormente en el paso de esta facultad a la Universidad Miguel Hernández, donde ejerció ya como catedrático de Medicina. Miguel era un profesor brillante, dotado de una capacidad docente que le permitía transmitir con facilidad sus muchos conocimientos de medicina en oxyclozanide un lenguaje y expresividad fácilmente asimilables por sus alumnos. La docencia era una de sus pasiones, preparaba sus clases con el esmero de otra época, pensando siempre en cuál sería la mejor manera de transmitir sus enseñanzas. Durante su estancia en el Hospital General de Elche desarrolló el área de Aparato Digestivo e inició su focalización hacia el estudio de las enfermedades pancreáticas, espacio en el que es considerado una de las principales referencias nacionales. La labor investigadora fue uno de los principales empeños de su carrera, transmitió a sus compañeros y posteriormente a sus residentes la necesidad de trasladar los conceptos y observaciones de la práctica clínica al campo de la experimentación; en este sentido fue autor de más de 150 artículos, la mayoría de ellos en revistas internacionales.

03% SDS with

agitation for 1 h at 4 °C Cells were harves

03% SDS with

agitation for 1 h at 4 °C. Cells were harvested and 200 μl of cell lysate was transferred to 1.5 ml tubes and heated for 1 h at 56 °C in the presence of 30 μl of 10% BSA. A 1:1 volume of 50% TCA was added to the samples and incubated at 4 °C overnight with agitation. The precipitated protein complex was subjected to centrifugation at 12,000 × g for 15 min at 4 °C. The protein pellet was washed 2 times with ice cold 750 μl acetone. The dried pellet was dissolved with 300 μl 0.5 N NaOH and heated for 1 h at 65 °C. The total amount of [14C]-labeled protein from duplicate samples was determined using a liquid scintillation counter. 2D-PAGE analysis was performed using selleck chemical the 2-D DIGE technology as previously described [22] with some modifications. Myotubes derived from 10 NGT or 10 T2D individuals, were grown on 150 mm dishes washed 2 times with

cold PBS and once with 250 mM sucrose, and harvested in 2 ml of cold 250 mM sucrose. The cell pellet was lysed in 2-D DIGE lysis buffer (7 M urea, 2 M thiourea, 4% CHAPS pH 8.5). The myotube protein extract (50 μg portion) was incubated with 1 μl of diluted Nuclease Mix (GE Healthcare, 80-6501-42, diluted 1:8 in DIGE lysis buffer) for 30 min at RT. Following nuclease treatment, total protein concentration was determined in each sample using BSA as a standard (RC/DC kit, Bio-Rad, #500-0121). Final protein concentration was adjusted to 4.6 μg/μl selleck screening library with DIGE lysis buffer. An internal standard sample was prepared by pooling small volumes from each sample and used in all gels to control for system related result variation and therefore to minimize the gel-to-gel variation effects. A volume corresponding to 50 μg total protein of the nuclease-treated myotube protein extract was labeled with either Cy3 or Cy5 fluorescent dye, as per manufacturer’s instructions (CyDye DIGE Fluor minimal dye, GE Healthcare, RPK0272, RPK0273 & RPK0275). The nuclease-treated internal standard sample was labeled with Cy2 fluorescent dye. Myotubes from T2D and NGT patients were treated with or without insulin and randomly assigned pheromone to Cy3 or Cy5 labeling. However, data from the insulin stimulated

condition are not reported in this study due to further validation and investigation. Samples were further analyzed by single gels, as described below. Due to the possibility of inter individual variation, all samples from the same individual were processed on one gel. One complete Cy3 and one complete Cy5 labeling reaction mix was combined with an equivalent portion of the internal standard reaction mix. The total volume was adjusted to 45 μl with DIGE lysis buffer (pH 8.5). The 45 μl mixture was further diluted by addition of 40 μl of 2× IPG, DTT sample buffer (7 M urea, 2 M thiourea, 4% CHAPS, 2%, IPG buffer 3–11, and 2% (w/v) DTT). Samples were loaded onto 24 cm 3-11NL IPG strips previously rehydrated in 450 μl DeStreak solution with 0.

3), so the mechanisms for climatic effects remain uncertain We w

3), so the mechanisms for climatic effects remain uncertain. We were limited in our analysis

to using climate variables based on monthly data and, therefore, could not assess storminess which may better relate to allochthonous sediment transfer. Although it is widely known that short-term rainfall events can be a more dominant control on sedimentation, the data constrained us to only explore the potential influence of long term precipitation change which XL184 supplier would largely control cumulative runoff at coarse temporal scales. Process-based studies of lake catchments are needed to understand the mechanisms of how climate-driven changes may affect sedimentation and to differentiate between autochthonous production and allochthonous inputs. The lack sediment source discrimination is a major limitation of our study. The Spicer (1999) analyses for Vancouver Island and central to eastern Interior Plateau lakes included systematic, LOI-based estimates of organic content. Regression models by Spicer (1999) yielded better fits between land use and inorganic sedimentation,

suggesting that forestry activities may have elevated mineralogenic sediment delivery. It is important to note, however, that changing organic fractions could also influence composition trends and that organic sediment sources can be aquatic or terrestrial based. Significantly more sediment analyses would be needed for any possible attempt of such discrimination. Inconsistent LOI measurements from our other regional records showed that organic matter tended to increase up core. Such a trend could be associated with increased Y-27632 chemical structure Pregnenolone autochthonous production or allochthonous inputs over time, both of which could be related to land use by nutrient or debris transfer. Alternatively, diagenesis could be influencing some of the sediment composition trends (e.g. decomposition of organics over time). To account for the potential effect of diagenesis or some other unknown linear control over time on the sediment records (Fig. 4) (e.g. a bias associated with the sampling or dating methods), we tried adding a

standardized time variable (interval year) as a fixed and random effect to our best models. For both the complete inventory and the Foothills-Alberta Plateau subset models, estimates of land use and temperature fixed effects were greatly reduced, although most remained as positive coefficients. Even with this addition of a linear trend in time, the continued inclusion of all fixed effect variables continued to yield better overall models (based on AIC), than with any combination removed. This could further support the land use and climate relations with sedimentation; however, those environmental changes are correlated with time and multicollinearity inhibited model interpretation. We noted that model fits were significantly improved with time included, suggesting that a highly time correlated process or methodological artifact remains undefined.

75 vs 0 80 in Cazorzi et al , 2013) We deemed, therefore, approp

75 vs 0.80 in Cazorzi et al., 2013). We deemed, therefore, appropriate to apply the same width-area class definition considered by the authors (0.4 m2 cross-sectional

areas for widths lower than 2 m, 0.7 m2 for widths up to 3 m and 1.5 m2 for sections larger than 3 m). In addition to the agricultural network storage capacity, we also considered the urban drainage system, adding the storage capacity of the culverts. The major concerns for the network of the study area arise for frequent rainfall events having high intensity. We decided therefore to provide a climatic selleck chemicals llc characterization of the area, focusing on a measure of the aggressivity and irregularity of the rainfall regime, to quantify the incidence of intense rainfall events on the yearly amount of precipitation. This climatic characterization is accomplished by the use of a precipitation Concentration Index (or CI) according to Martin-Vide (2004). This index evaluates the varying weight of daily precipitation, that is the contribution of the days of greatest rainfall to the total amount. The CI is based on the computation of a concentration curve that relates the accumulated percentages

of precipitation contributed by the accumulated percentage of days on which it took place, and it considers the relative separation between this concentration curve and an ideal case (represented by the bisector of the quadrant, or equidistribution line) where the distribution Ribonucleotide reductase of the daily precipitation learn more is perfect (Fig. 5). The area enclosed by the equidistribution line and the actual concentration curve, in fact, provides a measure of the concentration itself, because the greater the area, the greater is the concentration. The concentration curve can be represented according to the formulation equation(1) y=a⋅x⋅ebxy=a⋅x⋅ebxwhere y is the accumulated amount of precipitation and x is the accumulated number of days with precipitation, and a and b are two constants that are computed by means of the least square method ( Martin-Vide,

2004). Once the concentration curve is evaluated, it is possible to evaluate the area under the curve, as the definite integral of the curve itself between 0 and 100. The area compressed between the curve and the equidistribution line is then the difference between 5000 (the area under the equidistribution line) and the area under the curve. Finally, the Concentration Index (CI) is computed as the ratio between the area enclosed by the equidistribution line and the actual concentration curve, and 5000. To evaluate the concentration curve, we considered cumulative rainfall data that are available publicly (ISPRA, 2012) for the station of Este, located about 10 km from the study area, whose rainfall measurements cover the years from 1955 up to 2012.