Microplastics ingestion in the ephyra stage of Aurelia sp. triggers acute and behavioral responses

For the first time, we report a correspondence between microplastics (MP) ingestion and ecotoxicological effects in gelatinous zooplankton (Cnidarian jellyfish). The ephyra stage of the jellyfish Aurelia sp. was exposed to both environmental and high concentrations of fluorescent 1–4 μm polyethylene MP (0.01–10 mg/L). After 24 and 48 h, MP accumulation, acute (Immobility) and behavioral (Frequency pulsation) endpoints were investigated. MP were detected by confocal and tomographic investigations on gelatinous body and mouth, either attached on the surface or ingested. This interaction was responsible for impairing ephyrae survival and behavior at all tested concentrations after 24 h. Acute and behavioral effects were also related to mechanical disturbance, caused by MP, triggering a loss of radial symmetry. Contaminated ephyrae exposed to clean seawater showed full recovery after 72 h highlighting the organisms without the microspheres, attached on body jellyfish surface around the mouth and lappets. In conclusion, short-term exposure to MP affects ephyrae jellyfish health, impairing both their survival and behavior. Polyethylene MP temporarily affect both Immobility and Frequency of pulsation of Aurelia sp. jellyfish. This study provides a first step towards understanding and clarifying the potential impacts of MP contamination in gelatinous zooplankton

SOS - Piattaforme e Impatti Offshore Report tecnico. I Campagna oceanografica 13-19 maggio 2018

Nell’ambito della convenzione stipulata tra il Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare (MATTM) e il Dipartimento Scienze del Sistema Terra e Tecnologie per l’Ambiente del CNR (DTA), “SOS-Piattaforme & Impatti Off-Shore” è stata prevista un’indagine ambientale nell’area di interesse di 10 piattaforme off-shore ENI presenti nella zona costiera compresa tra Ravenna e Pescara. In particolare, le attività previste fanno riferimento alla sezione Macro-Attività D della convenzione. Obiettivo principale delle attività di indagine è lo studio della modalità di dispersione in mare delle acque di produzione e una caratterizzazione chimico-fisica ed ecotossicologica delle stesse e delle matrici ambientali (acqua, sedimenti, biota) che ricevono lo scarico. L’attività di ricerca prevede un approccio di analisi ‘integrato’ di tipo chimico, e fisico per lo studio degli effetti della dispersione in mare delle acque di produzione ed ecotossicologico per la valutazione di eventuali danni a organismi selezionati dopo la loro esposizione all’acqua di produzione e all’acqua di mare prelevata a diverse distanze dal punto di scarico. Inoltre, l’azione di ricerca è volta alla definizione di un approccio metodologico innovativo per le future attività di monitoraggio da effettuare attorno alle piattaforme off-shore per la verifica di processi e meccanismi di impatto sull’ambiente e l’ecosistema principalmente da parte dello scarico di acque di produzione. Questa relazione descrive le attività di campionamento e acquisizione dati effettuate durante la I Campagna Oceanografica nell’ambito della convenzione “SOS-Piattaforme & Impatti Off-Shore”. La campagna di campionamento si è svolta nel periodo 13-19 maggio 2018 a bordo del mezzo navale ROCCO UNO della Marine Consulting International e dei mezzi navali ENI KING DAVID e MARE GRIGIO

Transcribed-ultra conserved region expression is associated with outcome in high-risk neuroblastoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neuroblastoma is the most common, pediatric, extra-cranial, malignant solid tumor. Despite multimodal therapeutic protocols, outcome for children with a high-risk clinical phenotype remains poor, with long-term survival still less than 40%. Hereby, we evaluated the potential of non-coding RNA expression to predict outcome in high-risk, stage 4 neuroblastoma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed expression of 481 Ultra Conserved Regions (UCRs) by reverse transcription-quantitative real-time PCR and of 723 microRNAs by microarrays in 34 high-risk, stage 4 neuroblastoma patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>First, the comparison of 8 short- versus 12 long-term survivors showed that 54 UCRs were significantly (<it>P </it>< 0.0491) over-expressed in the former group. For 48 Ultra Conserved Region (UCRs) the expression levels above the cut-off values defined by ROC curves were strongly associated with good-outcome (OS: 0.0001 <<it>P </it>< 0.0185, EFS: 0.0001 <<it>P </it>< 0.0491). Then we tested the Transcribed-UCR (T-UCR) threshold risk-prediction model on an independent cohort of 14 patients. The expression profile of 28 T-UCRs was significantly associated to prognosis and at least 15 up-regulated T-UCRs are needed to discriminate (<it>P </it>< 0.0001) short- from long-survivors at the highest sensitivity and specificity (94.12%). We also identified a signature of 13 microRNAs differently expressed between long- and short-surviving patients. The comparative analysis of the two classes of non-coding RNAs disclosed that 9 T-UCRs display their expression level that are inversely correlated with expression of 5 complementary microRNAs of the signature, indicating a negative regulation of T-UCRs by direct interaction with microRNAs. Moreover, 4 microRNAs down-regulated in tumors of long-survivors target 3 genes implicated in neuronal differentiation, that are known to be over-expressed in low-risk tumors.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our pilot study suggests that a deregulation of the microRNA/T-UCR network may play an important role in the pathogenesis of neuroblastoma. After further validation on a larger independent set of samples, such findings may be applied as the first T-UCR prognostic signature for high-risk neuroblastoma patients.</p

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M&gt;70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0&lt;e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Assessing photosynthetic biomarkers in lichen transplants exposed under different light regimes

tThe present work is a methodological study testing alternative exposure conditions of lichen transplantsfor biomonitoring studies. We evaluated the effects of different light regime on the vitality of lichenby analysing the photosynthetic efficiency of transplanted thalli of the fruticose species Pseudeverniafurfuracea (L.) Zopf. var. furfuracea. In particular, we tested the hypothesis that shading lichen transplantsis necessary to ensure sufficient lichen vitality during the exposure time. Thalli of P. furfuracea wereexposed in a polluted area within the harbour of Genoa (N-Italy) for 4 weeks under two experimentalconditions: 5 thalli were covered with a shade cloth, whereas 5 thalli were kept in the light. We showedthat, under the same environmental conditions (i.e., climate and pollution regime), shading the thalliminimised the photoinhibition and prolonged the vitality of the lichen. Thus, we recommend shadinglichen transplants during biomonitoring surveys to better detect the effects of pollution on the lichens