Spatial Analysis ofLobesia botrana(Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Male Population in a Mediterranean Agricultural Landscape in Central Italy

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Contributo alla conoscenza della Macrolepidotterofauna del Molise - Bombyces et Sphinges (Heterocera)

CONTRIBUTION TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE MACROLEPIDOPTERA OF MOLISE (ITALY) - BOMBYCES AND SPHINGES (HETEROCERA) The Authors listed 134 species of Bombyces and Sphinges collected in Molise (Italy); 57 species are reported for the first time in this region. The number of Bombyces and Sphinges actually known in Molise is updated to 145 species. Key words: Lepidoptera Heterocera, faunistic reports, Molise. Sono elencate 134 specie di Bombici e Sfingi catturati nel Molise (Italia); 57 specie sono citate per la prima volta per la regione. Con le nuove segnalazioni i Bombici e Sfingi noti per il Molise assommano a 145 specie. Parole chiave: Lepidoptera Heterocera, segnalazioni faunistiche, Molise

Spatio-temporal analysis of insect pests infesting a paddy rice storage facility

The study describes the temporal and spatial distribution of the insect fauna collected in a paddy rice storage facility over two years, with major emphasis on the most abundant pests. The experiment, using 19 food-bait traps, was carried out in the county of Massaranduba, State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, from November 1997 to October 1999. During the whole survey, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), a primary pest associated to stored cereals, was the most abundant species in the storage facility (28,542 specimens captured). Other beetles were collected in remarkable numbers, both primary pests, such as Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius) (3,931 specimens), and secondary pests, such as Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) (4,075 specimens) and Oryzaephilus surinamesis (L.) (1,069 specimens). In general, various species showed very variable distribution and, depending on pest and year, all parts of the facility appeared infested. Pest populations were present both in processing area and in silos, at least in one of the two years survey. Analyzing different distributions, the various zones of the rice facility appeared to have different propensity to insect infestations, with the south-eastern silos and the grain pit with the conveyor belt as the most frequently infested. Moreover, variations between the 1st and 2nd year survey showed a strong decrease of total population numbers in the 2nd year, but in different ways, depending on the species considered. Such a result was probably due to the cleaning measures accomplished inside and outside the silos and in the processing area, including application of insecticide on the structure. O trabalho relata a ditribuição temporal e espacial da fauna entomológica coletada em um armazém com arroz em casca durante dois anos, dando ênfase às espécies mais abundantes. O experimento, utilizando 19 armadilhas tipo gaiola foi realizado em Massaranduba, SC, de novembro de 1997 a outubro de 1999. Durante as coletas, Sitophilus oryzae (L.), considerada praga primária foi coletada em maior número (28.542 espécimes); outras pragas primárias como Rhyzopertha dominica (Fabricius) (3.931 espécimes) ou pragas secundárias como Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens) (4.075 espeécimes) e Oryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) (1.069 espécimes) também tiveram grande ocorrência. Várias espécies mostraram variações na distribuição e dependendo do inseto-praga e do ano, todas as áreas foram infestadas. As populações de insetos estavam presentes tanto nas áreas de recebimento como nos silos, em um ou nos dois anos. Analisando as diferentes distribuições, as várias áreas de armazenamento de arroz apresentaram diferentes propensões de infestação de insetos, com os silos do sudoeste e a moega, que foram as áreas que apresentaram maior infestação. Além disso, as variações entre o primeiro e segundo ano mostraram acentuada redução do total da população de insetos no segundo ano, mas em diferentes locais, dependendo das espécies consideradas. Tais resultados provavelmente se devem às medidas de limpeza adotadas dentro e fora dos silos e na área de processamento, incluindo a aplicação de inseticida na estrutura

Nuovi dati sulla Macrolepidotterofauna dell’Italia meridionale (Lepidoptera)

NEW RECORDS ON THE MACROLEPIDOPTERA OF SOUTHERN ITALY (LEPIDOPTERA) In this paper 135 species have been recognised. Seven species (Dahlica triquetrella (Hübner, 1813), Xanthorhoe designata (Hufnagel, 1767), Eupithecia inturbata (Hübner, 1817), Plusia festucae (Linnaeus, 1758), Calamia tridens (Hufnagel, 1766), Polymixis polymita (Linnaeus, 1761), Agrotis syricola Berio, 1936) are new for Southern Italy, 15 taxa were the first time recorded in Puglia, 87 in Campania, 10 in Basilicata and 20 in Calabria. The great amount of faunistic news underlines the high species richness of Southern Italy, a large amount of which is to date unknown. Key Words: Macrolepidoptera, faunistic reports, Southern Italy. Vengono riportati i dati di cattura di 135 specie delle quali sette nuove per la fauna dell’Italia meridionale (Dahlica triquetrella (Hübner, 1813), Xanthorhoe designata (Hufnagel, 1767), Eupithecia inturbata (Hübner, 1817), Plusia festucae (Linnaeus, 1758), Calamia tridens (Hufnagel, 1766), Polymixis polymita (Linnaeus, 1761), Agrotis syricola Berio, 1936), 15 nuove per la fauna pugliese, 87 per quella campana, 10 per quella lucana e 20 per quella calabrese. Le novità sottolineano ancora una volta la ricchezza della fauna dell’Italia meridionale che è ben lontana dall’essere quantificabile con una buona approssimazione. Parole chiave: Macrolepidotteri, segnalazioni faunistiche, Italia meridionale

6. Automated Assistance to the Security Assessment of API for Financial Services

This chapter presents the challenges related to the security assessment and the auto- mated synthesis of mitigation measures of APIs for financial services. The focus is on the APIs supporting the implementation of the new Payment Services Directive. It also gives an overview of an innovative approach to address these challenges by (i) the automated identification and mitigation of security misconfigurations underlying sessions based on Transport Layer Security, which is ubiquitously used to build a foundation layer of security; and (ii) the automated penetration testing and synthesis of mitigations for the functionalities provided by APIs built on top of it, both business (e.g., payments) and security (e.g., authentication or authorization). The main novelty of the proposed approach lies in the tight integration of identification and mitigation phases by means of actionable measures that allow users to significantly strengthen the security posture of the entire API ecosystem

Dark Chocolate Intake Positively Modulates Redox Status and Markers of Muscular Damage in Elite Football Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Study

Intensive physical exercise may cause increase oxidative stress and muscular injury in elite football athletes. The aim of this study was to exploit the effect of cocoa polyphenols on oxidative stress and muscular injuries induced by intensive physical exercise in elite football players. Oxidant/antioxidant status and markers of muscle damage were evaluated in 24 elite football players and 15 controls. Furthermore, the 24 elite football players were randomly assigned to either a dark chocolate (>85% cocoa) intake (n = 12) or a control group (n = 12) for 30 days in a randomized controlled trial. Oxidative stress, antioxidant status, and muscle damage were assessed at baseline and after 30 days of chocolate intake. Compared to controls, elite football players showed lower antioxidant power and higher oxidative stress paralleled by an increase in muscle damage markers. After 30 days of dark chocolate intake, an increased antioxidant power was found in elite athletes assuming dark chocolate. Moreover, a significant reduction in muscle damage markers (CK and LDH, p < 0.001) was observed. In the control group, no changes were observed with the exception of an increase of sNox2-dp, H2O2, and myoglobin. A simple linear regression analysis showed that sNox2-dp was associated with a significant increase in muscle damage biomarker release (p = 0.001). An in vitro study also confirmed that polyphenol extracts significantly decreased oxidative stress in murine myoblast cell line C2C12-derived. These results indicate that polyphenol-rich nutrient supplementation by means of dark chocolate positively modulates redox status and reduced exercise-induced muscular injury biomarkers in elite football athletes. This trial is registered with NCT03288623

Defining and Evaluating a Decision Support System (DSS) for the Precise Pest Management of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Ceratitis capitata, at the Farm Level

A Decision Support System (DSS) was developed and evaluated to control the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata (Wiedermann), by incorporating a semi-automatic pest monitoring and a precision targeting approach in multi-varietal orchards. The DSS consists of three algorithms. DSS1, based on the degree days calculation, defines when the traps should be deployed in the field initiating the medfly population monitoring. DSS2 defines the areas to be treated and the type of treatment based on the number of adult medfly captures, harvesting time, and phenological stage of the host cultivar. DSS3 defines the spraying procedure considering the technical registration properties of the selected insecticide (e.g., withholding period and efficacy duration time) and weather conditions. The DSS was tested in commercial orchard conditions near Rome, central Italy, with a randomized complete blocks experimental design, comparing DSS-assisted and conventional management. In the DSS-assisted plots, a semi-automatic adult medfly monitoring system was deployed, composed of real-time, wireless electronic traps. The output of the functioning DSS is a map of spraying recommendation, reporting the areas to be treated and the treatment type (bait or cover insecticide spraying). The farmer was left free to follow, or not, the DSS indications. The first medfly captures were observed on June 30, whereas the DD threshold was reached on July 3 when the DSS started to operate. The field test produced 29 DSS decisions from July 3 to September 1 and confirmed that medfly management using the DSS substantially reduced the number of pesticide applications, the treated area, and the volumes of pesticide utilization. No significant differences in infested fruit were observed between DSS-assisted and conventional management. The level of acceptance of the DSS by the farmer was 78%. This evidence confirmed the requirement of fully involving farmers and pest managers during the evaluation process of DSS

A Gis-based cost distance approach to analyse the spread of Matsucoccus feytaudi in Tuscany, Italy (Coccoidea Matsucoccidae)

The Maritime pine bast scale Matsucoccus feytaudi Ducasse was introduced into south-eastern France from the Atlantic regions and since then has moved eastward to reach Tuscany, Italy, causing decay and death of thousands of hectares of pine stands. Monitoring of the pine bast scale by pheromone traps in Tuscany since 2000 has allowed us to obtain yearly data on the pest’s diffusion. The data were processed by means of the Thiessen polygons algorithm to obtain the distribution of the insect. A GIS cost distance model was adopted to simulate the spread of M. feytaudi infestation: dominant winds were used in the least accumulative distance calculation, together with Pinus pinaster presence as secondary factor. The overall accuracy of the model calculated for the years 2003 to 2008 ranged between 70.0% and 81.8%; user’s and producer’s accuracy showed greater variability, but with good performances in the majority of cases. The use of pheromone traps and spatial analysis enabled to produce annual maps for the Tuscany, with the identification of the Maritime pine forests more susceptible to M. feytaudi colonization. This cartography was an important tool for regional offices in the identification of areas requiring direct forestry management

In vitro characterization of mitochondrial function and structure in rat and human cells with a deficiency of the NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase Ndufc2 subunit

Ndufc2, a subunit of the NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, plays a key role in the assembly and activity of complex I within the mitochondrial OXPHOS chain. Its deficiency has been shown to be involved in diabetes, cancer and stroke. To improve our knowledge on the mechanisms underlying the increased disease risk due to Ndufc2 reduction, we performed the present in vitro study aimed at the fine characterization of the derangements in mitochondrial structure and function consequent to Ndufc2 deficiency. We found that both fibroblasts obtained from skin of heterozygous Ndufc2 knock-out rat model showed marked mitochondrial dysfunction and PBMC obtained from subjects homozygous for the TT genotype of the rs11237379/NDUFC2 variant, previously shown to associate with reduced gene expression, demonstrated increased generation of reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial damage. The latter was associated with increased oxidative stress and significant ultrastructural impairment of mitochondrial morphology with a loss of internal cristae. In both models the exposure to stress stimuli, such as high-NaCl concentration or LPS, exacerbated the mitochondrial damage and dysfunction. Resveratrol significantly counteracted the ROS generation. These findings provide additional insights on the role of an altered pattern of mitochondrial structure-function as a cause of human diseases. In particular, they contribute to underscore a potential genetic risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including stroke

Lipocalin-2 promotes adipose-macrophage interactions to shape peripheral and central inflammatory responses in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Objective: Accumulating evidence suggests that dysfunctional adipose tissue (AT) plays a major role in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common immune-mediated and demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. However, the contribution of adipose tissue to the etiology and progression of MS is still obscure. This study aimed at deciphering the responses of AT in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the best characterized animal model of MS. Results and methods: We observed a significant AT loss in EAE mice at the onset of disease, with a significant infiltration of M1-like macrophages and fibrosis in the AT, resembling a cachectic phenotype. Through an integrative and multilayered approach, we identified lipocalin2 (LCN2) as the key molecule released by dysfunctional adipocytes through redox-dependent mechanism. Adipose-derived LCN2 shapes the pro-inflammatory macrophage phenotype, and the genetic deficiency of LCN2 specifically in AT reduced weight loss as well as inflammatory macrophage infiltration in spinal cord in EAE mice. Mature adipocytes downregulating LCN2 reduced lipolytic response to inflammatory stimuli (e.g. TNFα) through an ATGL-mediated mechanism. Conclusions: Overall data highlighted a role LCN2 in exacerbating inflammatory phenotype in EAE model, suggesting a pathogenic role of dysfunctional AT in MS