Exploring the diversity of a neglected group of soil invertebrates (Chilopoda) across the South-Eastern Prealps

Despite their documented importance in maintaining ecosystem functioning, many groups of soildwelling invertebrates have been inadequately studied with regards to many facets of their biology. In this thesis, I focussed my attention on two poorly understood aspects of the diversity of soildwelling invertebrates: (i) local values of species richness and (ii) species boundaries. As a study system, I used one of the most neglected groups of soil invertebrates, i.e. the centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda), and I carried out my research in the area of the Southeastern Prealps, which are known to harbour a large amount of biodiversity. The present work is in the form of a paper collection and contains a general introduction, two chapters and a conclusive paragraph. An original research article, dealing with the aforementioned topics, is presented at the end of each chapter. In chapter I, I addressed the dearth of knowledge on the local species richness of centipede communities. I applied statistical models to estimate the actual species richness of 10 centipede communities in the Southeastern Prealps and to compare richness values between these communities. I demonstrated that up to 27-28 species of centipedes can coexist in syntopy in temperate forests of the Southeastern Prealps, and that richness values can vary significantly among communities. In chapter II, I addressed the issue of species delimitation in poorly-vagile endogeic invertebrates, for which traditional morphology-based taxonomy has proven ineffective in identifying species boundaries. In particular, I applied a rigorous integrative approach, in order to test for the existence of species boundaries in a set of populations traditionally referred to a single species of endogeic centipede, i.e., Clinopodes carinthiacus (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha). Taking advantage of the integration between different lines of evidence (sequences from three DNA loci and morphological characters) and different methods for species discovery (ABGD, GMYC, PTP and Expectation Maximisation cluster analysis with v-fold cross-validation), I found evidence for the existence of at least two candidate species within the investigated population system

Geophilus pygmaeus (Chilopoda: Geophilidae): clarifying morphology, variation and geographic distribution

Peretti, Emiliano, Bonato, Lucio (2016): Geophilus pygmaeus (Chilopoda: Geophilidae): clarifying morphology, variation and geographic distribution. Zootaxa 4139 (4): 499-514, DOI: http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4139.4.

The effect of cover plants management on soil invertebrate fauna in vineyard in Northern Italy

Cover crops are largely used in vineyard management to improve ecological services such as pest and weed control, soil protection from erosion and soil water balance. Few data are available about the effects of cover crops on soil fauna and, in particular, on important generalist predators such as Carabidae and Araneae. We compare the effects of five different cover crops treatments: Sweet Alyssum, Phacelia, Buckwheat, Faba bean and a mixture of Vetch and Oat. A three years experimental trial was developed in Northern Italy. Soil fauna was investigated using pitfall traps. Cover crops seriously affected soil fauna of most taxa. Higher abundance of predators, in particular Carabidae and Staphylinidae, was present in treatments with legumes (Faba bean and Vetch and Oat) while soil Araneae seemed not to be affected. No vineyard pests seemed to be positively affected by cover crops. We confirm the importance of cover crops in increasing soil predator abundance and consequently improving pest control

Shedding light on species boundaries in small endogeic animals through an integrative approach: species delimitation in the centipede Clinopodes carinthiacus (Chilopoda: Geophilidae) in the south-eastern Alps

Peretti, Emiliano, Cecchin, Chiara, Fusco, Giuseppe, Gregnanin, Luca, Kos, Ivan, Bonato, Lucio (2022): Shedding light on species boundaries in small endogeic animals through an integrative approach: species delimitation in the centipede Clinopodes carinthiacus (Chilopoda: Geophilidae) in the south-eastern Alps. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 196 (2): 902-923, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac008, URL: https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/196/2/902/654739

Urgent endovascular revascularization in acute on chronic critical limb ischemia

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate early and one-year outcomes of urgent endovascular treatment in patients with acute on chronic critical limb ischemia (CLI). Methods: Between January 2012 and December 2013 104 patients with acute on chronic CLI (Rutherford class 4-6) were referred to two tertiary hospitals. In all cases the urgent endovascular revascularization was considered the first therapeutic option. Twenty-seven patients (26%) were excluded from this approach (long occlusion >30 cm of the femoro-popliteal tract and/or massive gangrene with abscess/osteomyelitis/necrotizing fasciitis). Results: Seventy-seven out of 104 patients received an urgent endovascular treatment. They were predominantly male (43, 55.8%) with a mean age of 76.5 years (range 47-94). In 67 cases (87%) the patients had leg/foot lesions (54, 70.1%, Rutherford class 5, and 13, 16.9%, Rutherford class 6). During the follow-up (mean duration 6.2 months, range 1-24 months) the healing of the lesions and the relief of rest pain were obtained in 46 cases (59.7%). Estimated one-year primary patency, primary assisted patency, secondary patency, and limb salvage rates were 63.6%, 68.3, 69%, and 84.1%, respectively. At uni- and multivariate analysis patients in Rutherford class 6 showed poor results in terms of primary patency, primary assisted patency, secondary patency, and limb salvage (P<0.001). Conclusions: Urgent endovascular treatment in selected patients with acute on chronic CLI represents a safe and effective option with good results in terms of healing of the ischemic lesions, relief of rest pain, and limb salvage. Patients in Rutherford class 6 showed fewer benefits with this approach

Second-line therapy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients with germline BRCA1-2 pathogenic variants (gBRCA1-2pv)

BackgroundPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) harbouring germline BRCA1-2 pathogenic variants (gBRCA1-2pv) is a distinct nosological entity. Information on second-line therapy (2LT) outcome in this setting is lacking. MethodsData of gBRCA1-2pv metastatic PDAC patients treated with chemotherapy were collected. A primary analysis of 2LT RECIST response, median progression-free survival (mPFS(2)) and overall survival (mOS(2)), was performed. A secondary analysis addressed the impact of timing of platinum introduction on the outcome of patients receiving at least a first-line combination chemotherapy (1LT). ResultsEighty-four gBRCA1-2pv metastatic PDAC patients were enrolled. The primary analysis, including 43 patients, highlighted a significant improvement of mPFS(2) and a doubled response rate, in the platinum-based 2LT subgroup as compared to the platinum-free (8.8 versus 3.7 months, p = 0.013). Seventy-seven patients were included in the secondary analysis. Median PFS1 of 3- and 4-drug platinum-based 1LT significantly outperformed both platinum-free combinations and platinum-based doublets (11.4 versus 6.4 versus 7.9 months, p = 0.01). Albeit still immature, data on mOS paralleled those on mPFS. ConclusionsThis study highlighted the beneficial role of platinum agents in gBRCA1-2pv PDAC patients also in second-line treatment setting. However, our data suggest that early use of 3- and 4-drug platinum-based chemotherapy combinations provides a survival outcome advantage

Potential role of cardiac calsequestrin in the lethal arrhythmic effects of cocaine

BACKGROUND: Cocaine-related deaths are continuously rising and its overdose is often associated with lethal cardiotoxic effects. METHODS AND RESULTS: Our approach, employing isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and light scattering in parallel, has confirmed the significant affinity of human cardiac calsequestrin (CASQ2) for cocaine. Calsequestrin (CASQ) is a major Ca(2+)-storage protein within the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of both cardiac and skeletal muscles. CASQ acts as a Ca(2+) buffer and Ca(2+)-channel regulator through its unique Ca(2+)-dependent oligomerization. Equilibrium dialysis and atomic absorption spectroscopy experiments illustrated the perturbational effect of cocaine on CASQ2 polymerization, resulting in substantial reduction of its Ca(2+)-binding capacity. We also confirmed the accumulation of cocaine in rat heart tissue and the substantial effects cocaine has on cultured C2C12 cells. The same experiments were performed with methamphetamine as a control, which displayed neither affinity for CASQ2 nor any significant effects on its function. Since cocaine did not have any direct effect on the Ca(2+)-release channel judging from our single channel recordings, these studies provide new insights into how cocaine may interfere with the normal E-C coupling mechanism with lethal arrhythmogenic consequences. CONCLUSION: We propose that cocaine accumulates in SR through its affinity for CASQ2 and affects both SR Ca(2+) storage and release by altering the normal CASQ2 Ca(2+)-dependent polymerization. By this mechanism, cocaine use could produce serious cardiac problems, especially in people who have genetically-impaired CASQ2, defects in other E-C coupling components, or compromised cocaine metabolism and clearance