Lane, pecore e pastori in Puglia fra Tardoantico e Medioevo: novità dai dati archeozoologici

This paper deals with the bioarchaeological researches on ovine transhumance in Apulia from the Late Antiquity to the Medieval Age, with particular regard to the contribution of the zooarchaeological researches. By integrating historical, epigraphic, archaeological and bioarchaeological data it is now possible to re-enact the development and the characters of the sheep/goat movements and the transhumance products, such as wool and milk, from the 4th to the 15th c. A.D. Archaeobotanical and archaeoantropological data indicate that Apulian landscape was characterized by uncultivated areas (woods, marshlands or pasture) from Roman to the Late Antique Ages; zooarchaeological analysis propose the continuity of sheep/goat breeding until the Middle Ages, in spite of some changes, with a prevalent and continuous wool production activity. In this way the study of faunal remains can integrate the knowledge by new evaluation elements such as the mortality and the periodical slaughtering, with regard to the identification of the species in a specific territorial context and the breeding purposes. Besides the mortality data also the sexual distinction is important; a constant element is the ovine prevalence in the sheep/goat flock composition. Taking into consideration the pastoral practice from the Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages it is possible to pick out some elements that are compatible with a transhumant management of the flocks, such as a general staging post of the size on medium-big one and the above average recorded in other Italian and European sites

Fixation of genetic variation and optimization of gene expression: The speed of evolution in isolated lizard populations undergoing Reverse Island Syndrome

The ecological theory of island biogeography suggests that mainland populations should be more genetically divergent from those on large and distant islands rather than from those on small and close islets. Some island populations do not evolve in a linear way, but the process of divergence occurs more rapidly because they undergo a series of phenotypic changes, jointly known as the Island Syndrome. A special case is Reversed Island Syndrome (RIS), in which populations show drastic phenotypic changes both in body shape, skin colouration, age of sexual maturity, aggressiveness, and food intake rates. The populations showing the RIS were observed on islets nearby mainland and recently raised, and for this they are useful models to study the occurrence of rapid evolutionary change. We investigated the timing and mode of evolution of lizard populations adapted through selection on small islets. For our analyses, we used an ad hoc model system of three populations: wild-type lizards from the mainland and insular lizards from a big island (Capri, Italy), both Podarcis siculus siculus not affected by the syndrome, and a lizard population from islet (Scopolo) undergoing the RIS (called P. s. coerulea because of their melanism). The split time of the big (Capri) and small (Scopolo) islands was determined using geological events, like sea-level rises. To infer molecular evolution, we compared five complete mitochondrial genomes for each population to reconstruct the phylogeography and estimate the divergence time between island and mainland lizards. We found a lower mitochondrial mutation rate in Scopolo lizards despite the phenotypic changes achieved in approximately 8,000 years. Furthermore, transcriptome analyses showed significant differential gene expression between islet and mainland lizard populations, suggesting the key role of plasticity in these unpredictable environments

Cognitive stimulation induces differential gene expression in octopus vulgaris: The key role of protocadherins

Octopuses are unique invertebrates, with sophisticated and flexible behaviors controlled by a high degree of brain plasticity, learning, and memory. Moreover, in Octopus vulgaris, it has been demonstrated that animals housed in an enriched environment show adult neurogenesis in specific brain areas. Firstly, we evaluated the optimal acclimatization period needed for an O. vulgaris before starting a cognitive stimulation experiment. Subsequently, we analyzed differential gene expression in specific brain areas in adult animals kept in tested (enriched environment), wild (naturally enriched environment), and control conditions (unenriched environment). We selected and sequenced three protocadherin genes (PCDHs) involved in the development and maintenance of the nervous system; three Pax genes that control cell specification and tissue differentiation; the Elav gene, an earliest marker for neural cells; and the Zic1 gene, involved in early neural formation in the brain. In this paper, we evaluated gene expression levels in O. vulgaris under different cognitive stimulations. Our data shows that Oct-PCDHs genes are upregulated in the learning and lower motor centers in the brain of both tested and wild animals (higher in the latter). Combining these results with our previous studies on O. vulgaris neurogenesis, we proposed that PCDH genes may be involved in adult neurogenesis processes, and related with their cognitive abilities

Traditional Free-Ranging Livestock Farming as a Management Strategy for Biological and Cultural Landscape Diversity: A Case from the Southern Apennines

Mediterranean mountain landscapes are undergoing a widespread phenomenon of abandonment. This brings, as a consequence, the loss of traditional land use practices, such as transhumant pastoralism, as well as shrub and wood encroachment, with repercussions on the biodiversity associated with semi-open, human-managed landscapes. In this study, we focus on a mountain pasture from the Southern Apennines (Italy), where free-ranging transhumant grazing is still carried out, to quantify the effects of grazing presence and exclusion on arthropod diversity, and to qualitatively characterize the plant communities of grazed and ungrazed areas. Using field sampling, remote sensing, and semi-structured interviews, we assessed the validity of traditional cattle farming as a landscape management tool. Indeed, high diversity grasslands excluded from grazing were characterized by significantly less even and more dominated arthropod communities, as well as fewer plant species and families. Moreover, in areas that have been consistently grazed over the years, we found no forest encroachment from 1955 to 2019. However, rural communities are experiencing difficulties in keeping local traditions alive, even with current agri-environmental schemes. Thus, traditional livestock grazing can be a valuable management tool to maintain high biological and cultural diversity, even if stronger cooperation and attention to local needs is necessary

Gut microbiota plasticity in insular lizards under reversed island syndrome

Animals living on small islands are more drastically exposed to environmental changes, such as food or water starvation, and rapid temperature shifts. Facing such conditions, and probably thank to adaptive plasticity mechanisms, some animals display a Reversed Island Syndrome (RIS), a suite of traits, including skin pigmentation, voracity, sexual dimorphism, showed differently from mainland relatives. Here, we analyse a so far poorly explored aspect of RIS: the effect of this on the microbiota composition of host Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus), strongly influenced by the animal's lifestyle, and conditioning the same. We compare mainland and island populations, assessing the difference between their microbial communities and their response under unexpected food, experimentally provided. Our observations showed a significant difference in microbiota communities between island and mainland groups, depended mainly from changes in relative abundance of the shared genera (difference due to decrease/increase). Exposure to experimental diet regimes resulted into significative reshaping of bacterial composition of microbiota and a greater variation in body mass only in the island population. Our results could be an evidence that gut microbial community contributes to adaptive plasticity mechanisms of island lizards under RIS to efficiently respond to unexpected changes

Prostate Cancer Treatment-Related Toxicity: Comparison between 3D-Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) Techniques

Objective: This paper illustrates the results of a mono-institutional registry trial, aimed to test whether gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) toxicity rates were lower in localized prostate cancer patients treated with image-guided volumetric modulated arc therapy (IG-VMAT) compared to those treated with IG-3D conformal radiation therapy (IG-3DCRT). Materials and Methods: Histologically proven prostate cancer patients with organ-confined disease, treated between October 2008 and September 2014 with moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy, were reviewed. Fiducial markers were placed in the prostate gland by transrectal ultrasound guide. The prescribed total dose was 70 Gy in 28 fractions. The mean and median dose volume constraints for bladder and rectum as well as total volume of treatment were analyzed as potentially prognostic factors influencing toxicity. The Kaplan–Meier method was applied to calculate survival. Results: Overall, 83 consecutive patients were included. Forty-two (50.6%) patients were treated with 3D-CRT and 41 (49.4%) with the VMAT technique. The median follow-up for toxicity was 77.26 months for the whole cohort. The VMAT allowed for a dose reduction to the rectum and bladder for the large majority of the considered parameters; nonetheless, the only parameter correlated with a clinical outcome was a rectal dose limit V66 > 8.5% for late GI toxicity G ≥ 2 (p = 0.045). Rates of G ≥ 2 toxicities were low among the whole cohort of these patients treated with IGRT. The analysis for rectum dose volume histograms (DVHs) showed that a severe (grade ≥ 2) late GI toxicity was related with the rectal dose limit V66 > 8.5% (p = 0.045). Conclusions: This study shows that moderate hypofractionation is feasible and safe in patients with intermediate and high-risk prostate cancer. Daily IGRT may decrease acute and late toxicity to organs at risk and improve clinical benefit and disease control rate, cutting down the risk of PTV geographical missing. The adoption of VMAT allows for promising results in terms of OAR sparing and a reduction in toxicity that, also given the small sample, did not reach statistical significance

Population genomic, olfactory, dietary, and gut microbiota analyses demonstrate the unique evolutionary trajectory of feral pigs

Domestication is an intriguing evolutionary process. Many domestic populations are subjected to strong human-mediated selection, and when some individuals return to the wild, they are again subjected to selective forces associated with new environments. Generally, these feral populations evolve into something different from their wild predecessors and their members typically possess a combination of both wild and human selected traits. Feralisation can manifest in different forms on a spectrum from a wild to a domestic phenotype. This depends on how the rewilded domesticated populations can readapt to natural environments based on how much potential and flexibility the ancestral genome retains after its domestication signature. Whether feralisation leads to the evolution of new traits that do not exist in the wild or to convergence with wild forms, however, remains unclear. To address this question, we performed population genomic, olfactory, dietary, and gut microbiota analyses on different populations of Sus scrofa (wild boar, hybrid, feral and several domestic pig breeds). Porcine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) analysis shows that the feral population represents a cluster distinctly separate from all others. Its members display signatures of past artificial selection, as demonstrated by values of FST in specific regions of the genome and bottleneck signature, such as the number and length of runs of homozygosity. Generalised FST values, reacquired olfactory abilities, diet, and gut microbiota variation show current responses to natural selection. Our results suggest that feral pigs are an independent evolutionary unit which can persist so long as levels of human intervention remain unchanged

Differential Diagnosis and Clinical Management of a Case of COVID-19 in a Patient With Stage III Lung Cancer Treated With Radio-chemotherapy and Durvalumab

none14nononeGuerini A.E.; Borghetti P.; Filippi A.R.; Bonu M.L.; Tomasini D.; Greco D.; Imbrescia J.; Volpi G.; Triggiani L.; Borghesi A.; Maroldi R.; Pasinetti N.; Buglione M.; Magrini S.M.Guerini, A. E.; Borghetti, P.; Filippi, A. R.; Bonu, M. L.; Tomasini, D.; Greco, D.; Imbrescia, J.; Volpi, G.; Triggiani, L.; Borghesi, A.; Maroldi, R.; Pasinetti, N.; Buglione, M.; Magrini, S. M

Double-stranded flanking ends affect the folding kinetics and conformational equilibrium of G-quadruplexes forming sequences within the promoter of KIT oncogene

G-quadruplexes embedded within promoters play a crucial role in regulating the gene expression. KIT is a widely studied oncogene, whose promoter contains three G-quadruplex forming sequences, c-kit1, c-kit2 and c-kit 17. For these sequences available studies cover ensemble and single-molecule analyses, although for kit 17 the latter were limited to a study on a promoter domain comprising all of them. Recently, c-kit2 has been reported to fold according to a multi-step process involving folding intermediates. Here, by exploiting fluorescence resonance energy transfer, both in ensemble and at the single molecule level, we investigated the folding of expressly designed constructs in which, alike in the physiological context, either c-kit2 or c-kit 17 are flanked by double stranded DNA segments. To assess whether the presence of flanking ends at the borders of the G-quadruplex affects the folding, we studied under the same protocols oligonucleotides corresponding to the minimal G-quadruplex forming sequences. Data suggest that addition of flanking ends results in biasing both the final equilibrium state and the folding kinetics. A previously unconsidered aspect is thereby unravelled, which ought to be taken into account to achieve a deeper insight of the complex relationships underlying the fine tuning of the gene-regulatory properties of these fascinating DNA structures