Occurrence of hyperostotic pterygiophores in the silver scabbardfish, Lepidopus caudatus (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Trichiuridae)

Background. Hyperostosis is a productive change characterized by an increase of the periosteal ossification combined with resorption of the bony tissue. It is common in several fish species. Its presence has been report- ed in the silver scabbardfish, Lepidopus caudatus (Euphrasen, 1788). The aim of the presently reported study is to improve the k nowledge on the presence of hyperostotic pterygiophores in L. caudatus. Materialsandmethods. In total, 50 specimens of Lepidopus caudatus, captured off the coast of Messina (Sicily, Italy) were examined by radiography. Deformed pterygiophores were decalcified and processed for histopatho- logical examination, and the sections obtained were stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Results. Forty (80%) of the 50 specimens examined showed skeletal deformities exclusively o n the pterygio- phores of the dorsal fin. In total, 433 deformities were observed. Histological examination showed slight expan- sion of the bone tissue, which was poor in cells and characterised by thin layers of compact bone tissue. Macroscopic, radiographic, and histological findings were consistent with diagnosis of hyperostosis. Conclusion. Hyperostosis of L. caudatus does not affect its consumption. However, it may be a complication for filleting t echniques as the presence of hyperostosis along the longitudinal axis of teleosts does not allow a com- plete and repeatable filleting technique. This could increase the possibility of bacterial contamination, loss of muscle tissue, and imperfections in cutting and trimming

INFN ScienzaPerTutti: an overview of the annual contest for schools

ScienzaPerTutti, literally ScienceForAll, is the web portal dedicated to Physics education and popularization of science curated by INFN Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics’ researchers. The contents are mainly addressed to High School students and teachers and are designed to engage the audience with the main topics of modern research in particle and nuclear physics, theoretical and astroparticle physics. The missions are to promote public awareness of science, to raise interest towards the importance of discoveries along with the applications in everyday life, to support teaching/learning of modern physics using innovative methods. The portal, created in 2002, has evolved through the years including different multimedia products like didactic units, research materials, columns, infographics, videos, interviews, book reviews, and podcasts, and expanding the reachability that has currently an average of 3000 entries every day. After an introduction to the leading sections of ScienzaPerTutti web site, this contribution will present the development of the annual contest addressed to Middle and High-School students that, in 2023, arrived at its XVIII edition. Every year the contest is devoted to a different topic and participants are asked to design and realize a multimedia product to share their work. In 2023 the contest was centered on the Physics of sports, students have to choose a sport and describe the Physics beyond it. In particular, High School students were also asked to imagine the same sport played on another planet or in condition out of the ordinary to invent a new sport. 299 teams from 95 Italian schools applied for the 2023 competition and we will here report about the works and the outcomes

A Real-Time PCR Screening Assay for Rapid Detection of Listeria Monocytogenes Outbreak Strains

From January 2015 to March 2016, an outbreak of 23 human cases of listeriosis in the Marche region and one human case in the Umbria region of Italy was caused by Listeria monocytogenes strains showing a new pulsotype never described before in Italy. A total of 37 clinical strains isolated from patients exhibiting listeriosis symptoms and 1374 strains correlated to the outbreak were received by the Italian National Reference Laboratory for L. monocytogenes (It NRL Lm) of Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise (IZSAM) for outbreak investigation. A real-time PCR assay was purposely designed for a rapid screening of the strains related to the outbreak. PCR-positive strains were successively typed through molecular serogrouping, pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). Applying the described strategy, based on real-time PCR screening, we were able to considerably reduce time and costs during the outbreak investigation activities