GESTIONE DEL BOSCO E CONSERVAZIONE DELLA BIODIVERSITA': L'ANALISI ECOPAESISTICA APPLICATA A TERRITORI BOSCATI DELLA TOSCANA MERIDIONALE

This research, developed for a wooded area of Southern Toscana with both the evergreen and deciduous broadleaves woods, aims to show the consequences of coppice management on biodiversity and to suggest a methodology useful to foster biological conservation. An analysis of landscape spatial confi guration was carried out according to principles of landscape ecology and using birds as indicators, by means of already available data describing this territory. The connection between the territory and biodiversity has been analysed at different spatial scales to understand if the perception limits of wooded land and their changes, caused by implementation of forestry strategies by a forest technician can be analogous to that of birds. Scenarios were built according to different constrains applied to management to estimate the impact of different utilisation criteria on resources spatial pattern and therefore on biodiversity. These criteria were then tested in a public estate managed according to a forest management plan. The most relevant conclusions of this research can be summarised as follows: 1. at a regional level the Colline Metallifere territory is important for establishing ecological continuity. Forestry and ecological planning should always approach the territory at different scales; 2. structural heterogeneity, for this case study, affects biodiversity in an apparently contradictory way. The management criteria adopted favour bird species linked to high forest environment but are disadvantageous to species linked to open ground. Forest policy of past decades leading to reforestation of former fi elds and pastures, rural depopulation inducing the secondary succession on abandonedfarmland and longer coppice rotations resulted in a strong reduction of open areas. These are important habitats for birds, which all over the Mediterranean area are menaced; 3. growth processes cause structural changes at the stand level and therefore mosaics originated by different stand structures can be considered as “fragile”. Changes in the landscape due to these processes increase homogeneity and therefore may act on biodiversity in a negative way; 4. several limitations adopted in building the scenarios correspond to rules already adopted in standard management plans, which do not take biodiversity specifi cally into consideration; 5. empirical data on biodiversity collected in coppices, which could support or reject these hypotheses, are lacking; fi eld research is mostly needed; 6. different behaviour of various bird species in the coppice habitat show the need to adopt strict and clear concepts regarding indicator species or umbrella species and to avoid generic statements about “fauna”, “birds” or “habitat” to evaluate biodiversity

Indicatori microscopici di pascolo per ricostruzioni di paleoeconomia e paleoambiente: polline, spore di funghi coprofili e uova di parassiti

The paper reports two study cases showing integrated analyses of microscopic records (pollen, coprophilous fungi and parasites remains) which are of basic importance to reconstruct past breeding and pastoral activities in Italy. The sites are located at Piano Locce (1225 m a.s.l., Barisciano, L’Aquila) in a depression in a mountain area and in the Bradano Valley (about 150-500 m a.s.l., Basilicata) in a hilly area rich in archaeological sites. The pollen-based palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Piano Locce provided the history of plants landscape from around 36.000 years BP. Before the Holocene, a steppe vegetation and a grassland characterized the area where wild animals freely browsed. This assumption is strongly supported by the association of spores of coprophilous fungi with intestinal parasites eggs (Dicrocoelium) and pollen clumps. The trend of coprophilous fungi and pollen assemblages including Anthropogenic Indicators shows that, after the wild animals browsing, a fairly continuous presence of domesticated animals, prevalently ovicaprines, interested the area in the Holocene. The archaeological sites of Difesa San Biagio and Altojanni in Bradano Valley showed evidences of ovicaprine-farming and cattle breeding during Hellenistic and Mediaeval periods. In particular, Cichorioideae, Chenopodiaceae and Brassicaceae pollen and spores of coprophilous fungi (such as Sordaria type, Sporormiella and Podospora type) attest the predominance of pastoral activities during the Hellenistic period at San Biagio. A greater pollen biodiversity characterizes Altojanni, where spores of the coprophilous fungi were associated with spores of fungi with a different ecology as Chaetomium and Valsaria variospora type. The environmental and microarchaeobotanical contexts are in agreement with archaeological evidences that attest the presence of domestic animals, probably cattle, maintained in this site during Middle Ages

Prokineticin 2 upregulation in the peripheral nervous system has a major role in triggering and maintaining neuropathic pain in the chronic constriction injury model

The new chemokine Prokineticin 2 (PROK2) and its receptors (PKR1 and PKR2) have a role in inflammatory pain and immunomodulation. Here we identified PROK2 as a critical mediator of neuropathic pain in the chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve in mice and demonstrated that blocking the prokineticin receptors with two PKR1-preferring antagonists (PC1 and PC7) reduces pain and nerve damage. PROK2 mRNA expression was upregulated in the injured nerve since day 3 post injury (dpi) and in the ipsilateral DRG since 6 dpi. PROK2 protein overexpression was evident in Schwann Cells, infiltrating macrophages and axons in the peripheral nerve and in the neuronal bodies and some satellite cells in the DRG. Therapeutic treatment of neuropathic mice with the PKR-antagonist, PC1, impaired the PROK2 upregulation and signalling. This fact, besides alleviating pain, brought down the burden of proinflammatory cytokines in the damaged nerve and prompted an anti-inflammatory repair program. Such a treatment also reduced intraneural oedema and axon degeneration as demonstrated by the physiological skin innervation and thickness conserved in CCI-PC1 mice. These findings suggest that PROK2 plays a crucial role in neuropathic pain and might represent a novel target of treatment for this disease

The Influence of Different Bleaching Protocols on Dentinal Enzymatic Activity: An In Vitro Study

This study aimed to investigate matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity in human dentin using in-situ and gelatin zymography, after at-home and in-office bleaching, related to their clinical exposure times. Dentin specimens (n = 5) were treated with 35% hydrogen peroxide (50 min per session/4 sessions), 10% carbamide peroxide (180 min/21 sessions), or no treatment. All were subjected to in-situ zymography. Dentin slices were, subsequently, obtained, covered with fluorescein-conjugated gelatin, and examined with confocal laser-scanning microscopy. The fluorescence intensity was quantified and statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni tests (α = 0.05). Furthermore, gelatin zymography was performed on protein extracts obtained from dentin powder (N = 8 teeth), treated with hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide, with different exposure times (10/50 min for hydrogen peroxide; 252/1260 min for carbamide peroxide). The results of the in-situ zymography showed no statistical differences between the bleached specimens and the control group, with a medium level of gelatinolytic activity expressed in the dentin tubules. The results of gelatin zymography showed an increased expression of pro-MMP-9 in carbamide peroxide groups. The expression of pro-MMP-2 decreased in all the experimental groups. The bleaching treatments performed on the enamel of sound teeth do not influence dentinal enzymatic activity. However, when unprotected dentin tissue is bleached, matrix metalloproteinases are more expressed, particularly when carbamide peroxide is used, proportional to the exposure time

AD-linked, toxic NH2 human tau affects the quality control of mitochondria in neurons

Functional as well as structural alterations in mitochondria size, shape and distribution are precipitating, early events in progression of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). We reported that a 20\u201322 kDa NH2-tau fragment (aka NH2htau), mapping between 26 and 230 amino acids of the longest human tau isoform, is detected in cellular and animal AD models and is neurotoxic in hippocampal neurons. The NH2htau \u2013but not the physiological full-length protein\u2013 interacts with A\u3b2 at human AD synapses and cooperates with it in inhibiting the mitochondrial ANT-1-dependent ADP/ATP exchange. Here we show that the NH2htau also adversely affects the interplay between the mitochondria dynamics and their selective autophagic clear- ance. Fragmentation and perinuclear mislocalization of mitochondria with smaller size and density are early found in dying NH2htau-expressing neurons. The specific effect of NH2htau on quality control of mitochondria is accompanied by (i) net reduction in their mass in correlation with a general Parkin- mediated remodeling of membrane proteome; (ii) their extensive association with LC3 and LAMP1 autoph- agic markers; (iii) bioenergetic deficits and (iv) in vitro synaptic pathology. These results suggest that NH2htau can compromise the mitochondrial biology thereby contributing to AD synaptic deficits not only by ANT-1 inactivation but also, indirectly, by impairing the quality control mechanism of these organelles

AD-linked, toxic NH2 human tau affects the quality control of mitochondria in neurons

Functional as well as structural alterations in mitochondria size, shape and distribution are precipitating, early events in progression of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). We reported that a 20\u201322 kDa NH2-tau fragment (aka NH2htau), mapping between 26 and 230 amino acids of the longest human tau isoform, is detected in cellular and animal AD models and is neurotoxic in hippocampal neurons. The NH2htau \u2013but not the physiological full-length protein\u2013 interacts with A\u3b2 at human AD synapses and cooperates with it in inhibiting the mitochondrial ANT-1-dependent ADP/ATP exchange. Here we show that the NH2htau also adversely affects the interplay between the mitochondria dynamics and their selective autophagic clear- ance. Fragmentation and perinuclear mislocalization of mitochondria with smaller size and density are early found in dying NH2htau-expressing neurons. The specific effect of NH2htau on quality control of mitochondria is accompanied by (i) net reduction in their mass in correlation with a general Parkin- mediated remodeling of membrane proteome; (ii) their extensive association with LC3 and LAMP1 autoph- agic markers; (iii) bioenergetic deficits and (iv) in vitro synaptic pathology. These results suggest that NH2htau can compromise the mitochondrial biology thereby contributing to AD synaptic deficits not only by ANT-1 inactivation but also, indirectly, by impairing the quality control mechanism of these organelles

The SUCCESSO-TERRA project: A lesson of sustainability from the terramare culture, middle bronze age of the po plain (Northern Italy)

This backstory article deals with the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project (2017–2020), an interdisciplinary research program aiming at reconstructing the land-use transformations that occurred during the development of the Terramare culture in the southern-central Po Plain of Northern Italy. Topics include climate-environment changes, human impact and exploitation of natural resources that are interconnected topics in human ecology and environmental sciences. These topics can only be understood in a long-term perspective integrating archaeology, geology, botany and other sciences. The text includes the theoretical basis, the research strategy and the main methodological approaches given by geoarchaeology and palynology, the two research sides constituting the partnership of the project

Realising consilience: How better communication between archaeologists, historians and natural scientists can transform the study of past climate change in the Mediterranean

This paper reviews the methodological and practical issues relevant to the ways in which natural scientists, historians and archaeologists may collaborate in the study of past climatic changes in the Mediterranean basin. We begin by discussing the methodologies of these three disciplines in the context of the consilience debate, that is, attempts to unify different research methodologies that address similar problems. We demonstrate that there are a number of similarities in the fundamental methodology between history, archaeology, and the natural sciences that deal with the past ("palaeoenvironmental sciences"), due to their common interest in studying societal and environmental phenomena that no longer exist. The three research traditions, for instance, employ specific narrative structures as a means of communicating research results. We thus present and compare the narratives characteristic of each discipline; in order to engage in fruitful interdisciplinary exchange, we must first understand how each deals with the societal impacts of climatic change. In the second part of the paper, we focus our discussion on the four major practical issues that hinder communication between the three disciplines. These include terminological misunderstandings, problems relevant to project design, divergences in publication cultures, and differing views on the impact of research. Among other recommendations, we suggest that scholars from the three disciplines should aim to create a joint publication culture, which should also appeal to a wider public, both inside and outside of academia

NH2-truncated human tau induces deregulated mitophagy in neurons by aberrant recruitment of Parkin and UCHL-1: implications in Alzheimer's disease.

Disarrangement in functions and quality control of mitochondria at synapses are early events in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathobiology. We reported that a 20-22 kDa NH2-tau fragment mapping between 26 and 230 amino acids of the longest human tau isoform (aka NH2htau): (i) is detectable in cellular and animal AD models, as well in synaptic mitochondria and cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) from human AD subjects; (ii) is neurotoxic in primary hippocampal neurons; (iii) compromises the mitochondrial biology both directly, by inhibiting the ANT-1-dependent ADP/ATP exchange, and indirectly, by impairing their selective autophagic clearance (mitophagy). Here, we show that the extensive Parkin-dependent turnover of mitochondria occurring in NH2htau-expressing post-mitotic neurons plays a pro-death role and that UCHL-1, the cytosolic Ubiquitin-C-terminal hydrolase L1 which directs the physiological remodeling of synapses by controlling ubiquitin homeostasis, critically contributes to mitochondrial and synaptic failure in this in vitro AD model. Pharmacological or genetic suppression of improper mitophagy, either by inhibition of mitochondrial targeting to autophagosomes or by shRNA-mediated silencing of Parkin or UCHL-1 gene expression, restores synaptic and mitochondrial content providing partial but significant protection against the NH2htau-induced neuronal death. Moreover, in mitochondria from human AD synapses, the endogenous NH2htau is stably associated with Parkin and with UCHL-1. Taken together, our studies show a causative link between the excessive mitochondrial turnover and the NH2htau-induced in vitro neuronal death, suggesting that pathogenetic tau truncation may contribute to synaptic deterioration in AD by aberrant recruitment of Parkin and UCHL-1 to mitochondria making them more prone to detrimental autophagic clearance