Dinamica di popolazione di Ruditapes Decussatus (L) e insediamento di Rudutapes Philippinarum (Adams&Reeve) in Sardegna (Italia)

Ruditapes decussatus is a traditional resource of fishing activity in Sardinia Island. This species is not cultured, but fishermen picked them up from the bottom of brackish areas. The distribution and the population structure of Ruditapes decussatus were investigated in six coastal lagoons: Tortolì (OT) S. Giovanni Santa Gilla (CA), Marceddì, Corru S’ittiri (OR), Calich (SS) and in the Olbia gulf. In this last site were also studied the growth and the mortality. In the same area, during the study the settlement of the allochthonous species Ruditapes philippinarum was found, so the population structure of this bivalve mollusc was also studied. The samplings were seasonally, started in autumn 2008 and finished in summer 2009. Ruditapes were collected using a shellfish rake in different stations for each site (five repetitions for each of 29 sampling stations). In spring was also collected the sediment in all stations. With regard to Ruditapes decussatus, the analysis of density demonstrates a highly heterogeneous situation in the different sites. The maximum of density was measured at San Giovanni (CA), where it has reached 1,315 *m-2 specimens. In the same site, the maximum of density (considering the average between the repetition in each station) was reached equal to 507 * m-2 specimens in summer. This value is close to that observed in the Olbia Gulf and Corru s' Ittiri lagoon in spring. In other sites densities were lower, but the maximum always corresponded to spring or summer, except Marceddì (OR) where the maximum value was detected in the winter sampling. In this case, the excessive rainfall caused very low salinity and the death of almost all Ruditapes in the lagoon. Also the population structure was very heterogeneous in the sites. The length frequency distribution (oro-aboral length) was statistically different for at least two seasons for all comparisons (χ2 test, P<0,01). The main reason of this difference is the recruitment, very different among the sites. In all lagoons, except Calich (SS) and Marceddì (OR), the recruitment was evident in spring and often has continued even in the summer. San Giovanni (CA) was the only case where specimens of shell length below 15 mm were recorded during all year. Several nursery areas were found in different sites. A station of the Olbia Gulf presented the highest densities of juveniles found during the study (487±368 * m-2 specimens). The cause of this variability, in addiction to the different fishing effort, was the recruitment, which impacted heavily on the distribution and density of juveniles. The growth of Ruditapes decussatus in the Olbia Gulf has been studied for each station because the analysis of the entire sample did not make possible the identification of different age groups. The estimates for the Von Bertalanffy model show that growth rates were marginally different in the stations. The function obtained with the average of parameters in the different station are: K=0.68 ±0.07, L∞ =47.02±4.32 mm, to= -0.17±0.11. The shell length- high (h= 0.6805*l 0.9853) and length-thickness (s = 0.3876*l 1.1176) relationship has shown a growth not perfectly linear. The mortality function for the Ruditapes decussatus in the Olbia gulf is N(t+1)=204.27* e (-1.3509 t). The sediment in all sites was mainly sandy. The granulometry of sites was statistically different for all comparisons (χ2 test, P<0,01). A univocal correlation between density of Ruditapes decussatus and granulometry was not found while exist, in the Olbia Gulf, a strong significant negative correlation between the fraction “fine silt” and the growth constant K. Ruditapes philippinarum was found in S. Gilla lagoon and in the Olbia gulf. In this site it has reached 19% of the total number of two species. In the gulf Ruditapes philippinarum is distributed everywhere but not in all seasons; the density and the shell length are statically different in the sampling stations except in winter (Kruskall-Wallis test P<0,01). The maximum of density for station was 106±83 specimens in spring. The jouveniles below 15 mm were present mainly in spring and summer, especially in a river mouth. The research has picked out the good situation of Ruditapes decussatus in Sardinia island in respect to other countries were Ruditapes philippinarum has almost replaced Ruditapes decussatus. The settlement of Ruditapes philippinarum in some Sardinian sites need some precaution because the allochthonous species are not diffused to avoid a dangerous competition against the autochthonous species

Struttura di popolazione di vongola verace (<i>Ruditapes decussatus</i> l.) in due lagune costiere della Sardegna = Population structure of carpet shell clam (<i>Ruditapes decussatus</i> l.) in two coastal lagoons of Sardinia (Italy)

Ruditapes decussatus L. (Bivalvia) is a traditional resource for fishing activity in Sardinia Island. This species is not cultured, but fishermen pick them up from the bottom of brackish areas. The distribution and the population structure of R. decussatus were investigated in two coastal lagoons: S. Giovanni (CA) and Calich (SS). The samplings were performed seasonally from autumn 2008 to summer 2009

Survey of the genetic variability of populations of <i>Ruditapes philippinarum</i> from tre Gulf of Olbia (N-E Sardinia) by microsatellites = Indagine sulla variabilità genetica di popolazioni di <i>Ruditapes philippinarum</i> provenienti dal golfo di Olbia (N-E Sardegna)

Genetic variability was investigated at six microsatellite loci of the Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum (Adams &amp; Reeve, 1850) (Bivalvia) from the Gulf of Olbia (N-E Sardinia) and Sacca di Goro (N Adriatic Sea). We found no significant differentiation among Sardinian samples and between those and the Adriatic one, which suggests the absence of a founder effect in Sardinian population

Interaction between <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i>, <i>Mycobacterium bovis</i>, <i>Mycobacterium avium</i> subspecies <i>paratuberculosis</i> with the enteric glia and microglial cells

Background We investigated the interaction of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, M. bovis and M. tuberculosis and different glial cells (enteric glial and microglial cells) in order to evaluate the infecting ability of these microorganisms and the effects produced on these cells, such as the evaluation of cytokines expression. Results Our experiments demonstrated the adhesion of M. paratuberculosis to the enteroglial cells and the induction of IL-1A and IL-6 expression; M. tuberculosis and M. bovis showed a good adhesive capability to the enteric cell line with the expression of the following cytokines: IL-1A and IL-1B, TNF-α, G-CSF and GM-CSF; M. bovis induced the expression of IL-6 too. The experiment performed with the microglial cells confirmed the results obtained with the enteroglial cells after the infection with M. tuberculosis and M. bovis, whereas M. paratuberculosis stimulated the production of IL-1A and IL-1B. Conclusion Enteroglial and microglial cells, could be the target of pathogenic mycobacteria and, even if present in different locations (Enteric Nervous System and Central Nervous System), show to have similar mechanism of immunomodulation

Tuberculosis in Sardinia: An investigation into the relationship between natives and immigrants

AbstractObjective/background: Tuberculosis (TB) has had a recrudescence in the last few decades in Italy as a result of many factors, among which migration from countries where TB is endemic is one of them. In Sardinia, a major island of Italy, there was no knowledge of the mechanisms of transmission of TB in the immigrant subpopulation and the impact it may have on the native subpopulation and on the community as a whole. Therefore, a molecular epidemiological study was carried out to get a clearer picture of the number and genetic features of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated from immigrants and from natives in Sardinia. Methods: Two groups of clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis, one collected from immigrants and the other one from Sardinians, were analyzed in this study. The genotyping was executed through the variable number tandem repeat-mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units technique and a first-line antimycobacterial drug-susceptibility test was also carried out. Results: Thirty-six clinical isolates from immigrants and 25 from Sardinians were analyzed. Variable number tandem repeat-mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units technique showed that all of them belonged to different strains and there was a quite high allelic diversity among them. Moreover, data collected allowed the finding of, with a good approximation, the phylogenetic relations among the strains isolated and the best-known phylogenetic groups. Conclusion: The study pointed out that since every strain is different, there was no TB transmission in any of the subpopulations and between immigrants and natives. This showed that the presence of immigrants was not a risk factor for contracting TB in the community

Convolutional Neural Network for Seizure Detection of Nocturnal Frontal Lobe Epilepsy

The Nocturnal Frontal Lobe Epilepsy (NFLE) is a form of epilepsy in which seizures occur predominantly during sleep. In other forms of epilepsy, the commonly used clinical approach mainly involves manual inspection of encephalography (EEG) signals, a laborious and time-consuming process which often requires the contribution of more than one experienced neurologist. In the last decades, numerous approaches to automate this detection have been proposed and, more recently, machine learning has shown very promising performance. In this paper, an original Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architecture is proposed to develop patient-specific seizure detection models for three patients affected by NFLE. The performances, in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, exceed by several percentage points those in the most recent literature. The capability of the patient-specific models has been also tested to compare the obtained seizure onset times with those provided by the neurologists, with encouraging results. Moreover, the same CNN architecture has been used to develop a cross-patient seizure detection system, resorting to the transfer-learning paradigm. Starting from a patient-specific model, few data from a new patient are enough to customize his model. This contribution aims to alleviate the task of neurologists, who may have a robust indication to corroborate their clinical conclusions

Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Properties of the Essential Oil of Myrtus communis L. against Clinical Strains of Mycobacterium spp.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the etiological agent of tuberculosis. The World Health Organization has estimated that 8 million of people develop active TB every year and the situation is complicated by an increase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains resistant to drugs used in antitubercular therapy: MDR and XDR-TB. Myrtle leaf extracts, used as an antiseptic in Sardinian traditional medicine, have strong antibacterial activity as several investigations showed. In this study we investigated the antimicrobial properties of the essential oil of Myrtus communis against clinical strains of M. tuberculosis and M. paratuberculosis

Interaction between Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis with the enteric glia and microglial cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We investigated the interaction of <it>Mycobacterium avium </it>subspecies <it>paratuberculosis, M. bovis </it>and <it>M. tuberculosis </it>and different glial cells (enteric glial and microglial cells) in order to evaluate the infecting ability of these microorganisms and the effects produced on these cells, such as the evaluation of cytokines expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our experiments demonstrated the adhesion of <it>M. paratuberculosis </it>to the enteroglial cells and the induction of IL-1A and IL-6 expression; <it>M. tuberculosis </it>and <it>M. bovis </it>showed a good adhesive capability to the enteric cell line with the expression of the following cytokines: IL-1A and IL-1B, TNF-α, G-CSF and GM-CSF; <it>M. bovis </it>induced the expression of IL-6 too.</p> <p>The experiment performed with the microglial cells confirmed the results obtained with the enteroglial cells after the infection with <it>M. tuberculosis </it>and <it>M. bovis</it>, whereas <it>M. paratuberculosis </it>stimulated the production of IL-1A and IL-1B.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Enteroglial and microglial cells, could be the target of pathogenic mycobacteria and, even if present in different locations (Enteric Nervous System and Central Nervous System), show to have similar mechanism of immunomodulation.</p

Levels of different cytokines in women and men with asymptomatic genital infection caused by Chlamydia.

Introduction: Immune response to genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection is involved in both immunity and pathology. The cytokine profile during infection has been implicated in the disease outcome, either resolution or severe sequelae. Methodology: In total, 3900 patients were analyzed for presence of genital infections caused by Chlamydia using molecular assays. Interleukins (IL) IL-10, IL-17, IL-6, IL-2 and chemokine IP-10 were estimated by ELISA in urine, cervical swabs and semen samples. Statistical analysis was performed using the T student test. Results: A total of 47 out of 3900 samples (1.2%) were found to be positive for Chlamydia trachomatis based on the Real Time (RT) PCR results. Statistical analysis revealed that the differences between Chlamydia trachomatis positive and negative samples regarding levels of cytokines were not significant. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that no significant difference in cytokine concentrations exists in Chlamydia trachomatis infected patients when compared to healthy controls. In further study, we aim to test on a greater number of positive samples a greater number of cytokines involved in the immune response to Chlamydia trachomatis infections

Performance Comparison of Machine Learning Disruption Predictors at JET

Reliable disruption prediction (DP) and disruption mitigation systems are considered unavoidable during international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) operations and in the view of the next fusion reactors such as the DEMOnstration Power Plant (DEMO) and China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). In the last two decades, a great number of DP systems have been developed using data-driven methods. The performance of the DP models has been improved over the years both for a more appropriate choice of diagnostics and input features and for the availability of increasingly powerful data-driven modelling techniques. However, a direct comparison among the proposals has not yet been conducted. Such a comparison is mandatory, at least for the same device, to learn lessons from all these efforts and finally choose the best set of diagnostic signals and the best modelling approach. A first effort towards this goal is made in this paper, where different DP models will be compared using the same performance indices and the same device. In particular, the performance of a conventional Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network (MLP-NN) model is compared with those of two more sophisticated models, based on Generative Topographic Mapping (GTM) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), on the same real time diagnostic signals from several experiments at the JET tokamak. The most common performance indices have been used to compare the different DP models and the results are deeply discussed. The comparison confirms the soundness of all the investigated machine learning approaches and the chosen diagnostics, enables us to highlight the pros and cons of each model, and helps to consciously choose the approach that best matches with the plasma protection needs