Unpublished Mediterranean and Black Sea records of marine alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species

To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized a dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus, Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020–2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia).peer-reviewe

Smell as a Disease Marker in Multiple Sclerosis

Existing data suggest that people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) are at an elevated risk for experiencing olfactory impairment. We investigated if smell dysfunction can be used as an MS disease marker. This is a cross-sectional, case–control study. All data were collected prospectively from 171 participants, 115 pwMS and 56 controls (age and sex stratified and matched to the patients), who reported smell, taste, and nasal breathing, and completed the Greek-validated questionnaires for nasal obstruction (NOSE), nasal-symptoms QoL (SNOT-22), and olfaction-associated QoL (QOD). The smell was assessed with the “Sniffin’ sticks” (odor threshold (OT), discrimination (OD), identification (OI) test, and total TDI). We recorded the pwMS disease characteristics (Expanded Disability Status Scale-EDSS, the disease type and duration), cognitive function, emotional status, fatigue, and impact of MS in everyday activities. A TDI < 30.75 (hyposmia) was detected in 30.8% of the patients. The patients’ OD and TDI scores were significantly lower than the controls’ (p = 0.005, and 0.015, respectively). The hyposmia correlated with disease severity and duration. The EDSS score correlated negatively with OD (r = −0.299, p = 0.001) and TDI (r = −0.242, p = 0.01). The disease duration correlated negatively with OD (r = −0.305, p = 0.001, OI (r = −0.253, p = 0.008) and TDI (r = −0.3, p = 0.001). The information processing speed (SDMT) correlated with OD, OT, and TDI (r = 0.302, p = 0.002; r = 0.242, p = 0.016; r = 0.326, p = 0.001). The olfactory function is changing in MS in accordance with disease progression

Unpublished Mediterranean and Black Sea records of marine alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species

To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized a dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus, Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020–2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia)