Distribution of Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla (Sonder) Verlaque, Huisman & Procaccini in the Mediterranean Sea

The Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla (Sonder) Verlaque, Huisman & Procaccini has been reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea along the coast of South Turkey. This NIS is actively expanding into the Eastern and Western Mediterranean Sea. In this paper, we present an overview of the current distribution of this alga in the Mediterranean Sea, based on relevant scientific publications, grey literature and personal observations. New records from the Sicilian coast (Italy) are also reported. Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla was found over a wide range of environmental conditions (depth, light and substratum), suggesting a broad ecological plasticity of this alga which makes it a poten- tial threat for the Mediterranean benthic communities. In this respect, artificial structures, often linked to harbours and maritime traffic, seem to provide suitable habitats for this NIS. Since maritime traffic is intense in the Mediterranean Sea, further expansion of C. taxifolia var. distichophylla in this region is to be expected. For this reason, it is very important to build up an overview on the current distribution of the species and its possible pattern of colonisation in relation to environmental conditions, as well as in view of future climate change scenarios

Hyperthyroidism and cardiovascular complications: a narrative review on the basis of pathophysiology

Cardiovascular complications are important in hyperthyroidism because of their high frequency in clinical presentation and increased mortality and morbidity risk. The cause of hyperthyroidism, factors related to the patient, and the genetic basis for complications are associated with risk and the basic underlying mechanisms are important for treatment and management of the disease. Besides cellular effects, hyperthyroidism also causes hemodynamic changes, such as increased preload and contractility and decreased systemic vascular resistance causes increased cardiac output. Besides tachyarrythmias, impaired systolic ventricular dysfunction and diastolic dysfunction may cause thyrotoxic cardiomyopathy in a small percentage of the patients, as another high mortality complication. Although the medical literature has some conflicting data about benefits of treatment of subclinical hyperthyroidism, even high-normal thyroid function may cause cardiovascular problems and it should be treated. This review summarizes the cardiovascular consequences of hyperthyroidism with underlying mechanisms

L’ITALIANO DELLE INTELLIGENZE ARTIFICIALI GENERATIVE

  I chatbot basati su modelli linguistici di grandi dimensioni sono un tipo di intelligenza artificiale in grado di interagire con gli utenti rispondendo con un testo coerente e contestualmente rilevante a un ampio numero di richieste. Si tratta di una tecnologia in rapido sviluppo, che promette di cambiare il modo in cui alcuni tipi di informazioni sono confezionati e diffusi: sempre più spesso ci si troverà a leggere un testo composto da una macchina. Questo articolo evidenzia alcuni aspetti essenziali dell’italiano delle intelligenze artificiali generative, attraverso l’analisi dei testi prodotti dai principali chatbot disponibili nella nostra lingua: ChatGPT, Bard e Bing Chat. In particolare, dopo aver sondato il ruolo dell’italiano nei database che permettono il loro funzionamento, l’attenzione è stata rivolta alle strategie comunicative destinate a simulare una personalità umana e alle caratteristiche linguistiche e stilistiche di alcuni testi di argomento scientifico composti dai chatbot. I risultati mostrano la capacità dei modelli linguistici di riprodurre i tratti più tipici dei testi che sono chiamati a emulare; tuttavia, sono emersi anche importanti limiti dal punto di vista informativo e comunicativo. Il confronto con le risposte composte in lingua inglese ha dimostrato come alcuni di questi difetti siano correlati alla qualità dei corpora di addestramento. Altri, però, sembrano effetti indesiderati di quella stessa struttura statistica che rende il funzionamento delle intelligenze artificiali possibile.   The Italian of Generative Artificial Intelligences Chatbots based on large language models are a type of artificial intelligence capable of interacting with users by providing coherent and contextually relevant text responses to a wide range of requests. This is a rapidly advancing technology which promises to change the way certain types of information are generated and transmitted: it will soon become increasingly common to encounter machine-generated text. This article highlights the essential aspects of the Italian used by generative artificial intelligences, through the analysis of the texts produced by leading chatbots available in the language: ChatGPT, Bard and Bing Chat. Specifically, after examining the role of Italian in the databases enabling their operation, attention is directed toward communicative strategies employed to simulate a human personality and on the linguistic and stylistic characteristics of some scientific texts composed by chatbots. The results demonstrate the models' abilities to replicate the most typical features of the texts they are tasked to emulate. Nonetheless, significant limitations have also emerged from an informational and communicative perspective. A comparison with responses generated in English has revealed that some of these shortcomings are linked to the quality of the training corpora. Others, however, appear to be unintended consequences of the same statistical structure that makes the functioning of artificial intelligences possible

The relationship between calcium metabolism, insulin-like growth factor-1 and pulse pressure in normotensive, normolipidaemic and non-diabetic patients

Introduction: Recent evidence suggests an interaction between bone metabolism and blood pressure (BP) regulation. The aim of our study was to evaluate endocrinological and metabolic factors related to pulse pressure (PP) in normotensive, normolipidaemic, non-smoker subjects. Material and methods: We consecutively enrolled 156 adults (37 males, 119 females) in summer 2009. The BP and body mass index (BMI) were recorded, and serum samples were taken for 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25-OHD), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), growth hormone (GH), parathormone (PTH), calcium, albumin, phosphorus, glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Results: In the postmenopausal group, PP was significantly associated with age and BMI, while in premenopausal patients it was inversely related to ionized calcium. In men, a reverse relationship was present between GH and IGE-1 levels and PP. Conclusions: The PP was predicted by different parameters in different genders and these predictors change even in the same gender before and after menopause. Well-known predictors of PP such as age and BMI were more pronounced in postmenopausal women, but none of the groups showed a relationship between PP and 25-OHD or PTH

The cold chain and the COVID-19 pandemic: an unusual increase in histamine content in fish samples collected in Southern Italy during lockdown

Objectives We analysed 900 samples of fresh (250) and processed (650) fish products collected in Sicily (Southern Italy) in 2020 during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic (hereafter: COVID-19). Materials and methods The samples were divided temporally based on five phases relating to the various restrictions imposed by the Italian government in this period. The validated method of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) combined with a diode array detector (DAD) was then employed for the analysis. Results The samples collected during the Phase I lockdown period and after it had ended (Phase II) revealed significant increases in the mean histamine levels: 41.89±87.58 mg/kg -1 and 24.91±76.76 mg/kg -1, respectively. The 11 (1.3% of the total) fresh fish samples that were identified as being non-compliant with EC Reg. 2073/2005 were only found during these two periods. All the processed samples were always compliant. The histamine values decreased as the restrictions eased, achieving a mean value of 11.16±9.3 mgkg -1 (Phase III). Conclusions There was an increase in the incidence of fish samples that were non-compliant with EC Reg. 2073/2005 compared to previous surveillance data. These results provide a first report on the effect of lockdown measures on food safety and the cold chain. Our findings must cause food safety operators to intensify their controls over fresh fish products in such periods to safeguard consumer health. Further studies are required to evaluate whether the same trend would be observed with other food contaminants

Analysis and Acoustic Correction of a Contemporary Italian Church

Abstract Nowadays, architects and designers build new churches primarily considering the architectural shape to emphasize the iconographic message without sufficiently investigating the acoustic climate. In many cases, designers propose elliptical or irregular geometries for the shapes of these buildings and, in addition, the furniture of indoor surfaces have unsuitable absorption and diffusivity coefficients. Thereby, it can be observed the arise of serious acoustical problems such as standing waves, flutter echo, sound focusing and intensive late reflections (greater than 100 ms) which seriously decrease speech intelligibility and diminish the effectiveness of the early sound energy. This paper presents the results of an acoustic survey on the Catholic Church "Invaluable Blood of Jesus", situated in Ragusa (Italy), which is characterized by many problems mentioned above. During last years, some refurbishment interventions have attempted to reduce the acoustic discomfort, but an uncorrected approach has completely compromised the speech intelligibility, especially during liturgical functions. Recently, the authors have been involved to propose suitable interventions for improving the acoustic quality of this environment. Preliminarily, a measurement survey was conducted to evaluate the main acoustic indices (RT60, STI, EDT, C80, D50) and portray the current acoustic climate. After that, it was developed an acoustic computer simulation on a 3D model of the church, in order to calibrate the model comparing measured and simulated data. This procedure allowed testing the reliability and accuracy of the model. Finally, We propose two different interventions of acoustic correction. Globally it is possible to obtain an improvement of RT60 from 7.3 to 2.5 s at 1 kHz and STI increases from 33% to 40%, at 1000 Hz

Unraveling pathophysiology of Takotsubo syndrome. the emerging role of the oxidative stress's systemic status

Takotsubo Syndrome (TTS) is usually triggered by emotional or physical stressors, thus suggesting that an increased sympathetic activity, leading to myocardial perfusion abnormalities and ventricular dysfunction, plays a major pathogenetic role. However, it remains to be elucidated why severe emotional and physical stress might trigger TTS in certain individuals but not others. Clinical research has been focused mainly on mechanisms underlying the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the occurrence of myocardial ischemia in TTS. However, scientific evidence shows that additional factors might play a pathophysiologic role in the condition's occurrence. In this regard, a significant contribution arrived from metabolomics studies that followed the systemic response to TTS. Specifically, preliminary data clearly show that there is an interplay between inflammation, genetics, and oxidative status which might explain susceptibility to the condition. This review aims to sum up the established pathogenetic factors underlying TTS and to appraise emerging mechanisms, with particular emphasis on oxidative status, which might better explain susceptibility to the condition