Assessment of a Sampling Plan Based on Visual Inspection for the Detection of Anisakid Larvae in Fresh Anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus). A First Step Towards Official Validation?

The presence of anisakid larvae in fish is a public health issue, and effective risk management procedures are needed to avoid that heavily infected products reach the market. Currently, an official sampling plan for fresh fish defining sample size, inspection methods, and criteria to accept or reject the merchandise is lacking at the European and Italian level. In this study, we compared the visual inspection proposed by the sampling plan of the Lombardy Region (Italy) to the UV press method and to an optimized digestion procedure with the aim to assess its ability in detecting visible parasites. Thirty-one batches of Engraulis encrasicolus, each composed of ∼30 specimens, were collected and subsequently analyzed with the three techniques. The mean abundance (MA) was calculated after each procedure and compared on the basis of a threshold value. The results showed that the visual inspection performed similarly to the digestion method, with a sensitivity of 93 %, a specificity of 100 %, and an accuracy of 97 %. Overall, the comparison showed that, in the proposed sampling plan, the visual inspection is effective in rejecting unmarketable anchovies and in preventing the commercialization of unsafe products. This method is simple, less demanding than digestion in terms of time and equipment, and thus suitable as a standardized procedure to be routinely applied by food business operators. The hazard characterization, performed by sequencing the mtDNA cox2 gene, has identified the visible larvae as Anisakis pegreffii in 98 % of the cases, highlighting the zoonotic potential of the parasites found and the need for preventive measure

Associations between depressive symptoms and disease progression in older patients with chronic kidney disease: results of the EQUAL study

Background Depressive symptoms are associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with end-stage kidney disease; however, few small studies have examined this association in patients with earlier phases of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We studied associations between baseline depressive symptoms and clinical outcomes in older patients with advanced CKD and examined whether these associations differed depending on sex. Methods CKD patients (>= 65 years; estimated glomerular filtration rate <= 20 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) were included from a European multicentre prospective cohort between 2012 and 2019. Depressive symptoms were measured by the five-item Mental Health Inventory (cut-off <= 70; 0-100 scale). Cox proportional hazard analysis was used to study associations between depressive symptoms and time to dialysis initiation, all-cause mortality and these outcomes combined. A joint model was used to study the association between depressive symptoms and kidney function over time. Analyses were adjusted for potential baseline confounders. Results Overall kidney function decline in 1326 patients was -0.12 mL/min/1.73 m(2)/month. A total of 515 patients showed depressive symptoms. No significant association was found between depressive symptoms and kidney function over time (P = 0.08). Unlike women, men with depressive symptoms had an increased mortality rate compared with those without symptoms [adjusted hazard ratio 1.41 (95% confidence interval 1.03-1.93)]. Depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with a higher hazard of dialysis initiation, or with the combined outcome (i.e. dialysis initiation and all-cause mortality). Conclusions There was no significant association between depressive symptoms at baseline and decline in kidney function over time in older patients with advanced CKD. Depressive symptoms at baseline were associated with a higher mortality rate in men

Land use/cover shifts and wildfires as drivers of mountain forest landscape dynamics in the Apennines (Italy)

Con questa tesi di dottorato sono state studiate le dinamiche di paesaggio dell’Italia peninsulare legate a processi di cambiamento di copertura/uso del suolo e ai recenti incendi, nel contesto del cambiamento climatico in atto. I cambiamenti di uso del suolo sono stati analizzati principalmente nelle aree montane dell’intero arco appenninico, mentre gli effetti sul paesaggio di due recenti e rilevanti stagioni di incendi sono stati analizzati estendendo l’area di studio all’Italia peninsulare e alle due isole maggiori (Sardegna e Sicilia). In primo luogo, abbiamo ritenuto appropriato l’utilizzo di una meta-analisi come strumento preliminare di sintesi di dinamiche eterogenee evidenziate da molteplici casi di studio situati su un’ampia area geografica, poiché la ricerca in materia adotta solitamente un approccio basato sul singolo caso di studio nell’analisi del cambiamento. Dopo aver selezionato 51 articoli pubblicati e 57 relativi casi di studio, abbiamo esaminato i dati e standardizzato la metodologia di trattamento degli stessi per ottenere una nuova serie di dati omogenei per un’analisi comparativa delle dinamiche di paesaggio. Il passo successivo è stato quello di adottare una metodologia standard di campionamento di repliche di paesaggi per quantificare i cambiamenti a scala regionale. Abbiamo selezionato 10 siti rappresentativi lungo l’Appennino e studiato i cambiamenti di copertura e di struttura del mosaico paesaggistico confrontando diverse esposizioni (Nord-est vs Sud-ovest) e fasce altitudinali (bassa vs alta quota) e analizzando i fattori principali che influenzano le dinamiche bosco/non-bosco. I recenti cambiamenti di uso/copertura del suolo e del clima presso tutto il bacino del Mediterraneo hanno stanno alterando il regime storico di incendi e portando all’aumento della loro frequenza, superfice e severità. Nell’ultimo capitolo, abbiamo creato un database di grandi incendi forestali (> 100 ha) attraverso tecniche di telerilevamento e specifici criteri di selezione, al fine di studiare le caratteristiche, la severità e gli effetti sul paesaggio di due rilevanti stagioni di incendi forestali (2007 e 2017) nell’Italia peninsulare e principali isole. I risultati preliminari ottenuti offrono un quadro comparativo delle caratteristiche di grandi incendi di annate particolarmente siccitose, che si stima saranno sempre più frequenti nel contesto del cambiamento climatico in atto.This research aimed to study landscape dynamics along the Italian peninsula, due to land use/cover shifts and recent wildfires, within the contest of climate change. Land use changes were mainly focused on the mountain areas along the whole Apennines range, whereas the landscape effects of two recent and extreme fire seasons were assessed along the Italian peninsula and the two major islands (Sardinia and Sicily). Firstly, we considered a meta-analysis an appropriate and preliminary tool for summarizing general patterns and heterogeneous findings from several case-studies over a large geographic area, since land-use science usually adopts the case-study approach to investigate landscape changes. Out of 51 published articles and different databases that referred to 57 case-studies, we explored heterogeneous data sets and standardized the processing methods to obtain a new set of homogeneous data for a comparative landscape change analysis. Secondly, we used a replicate landscape approach and a systematic sampling design for quantifying changes at regional scale. We selected 10 representative sites located along the Apennines and investigated land-cover changes and landscape configurational shifts comparing different slope aspects (North-East vs South-West slopes) and altitudinal zones (low elevation vs high elevation) and assessing the main drivers of the non-forest/forest dynamics. Recent changes of land use/cover and climate in the Mediterranean basin altered historical fire regimes and led to an increase of the frequency, area and severity of wildfires. In the last chapter, we created a dataset of large wildfires (>100 ha) using remote sensing techniques and adopting specific selection criteria in order to study the occurrence, the severity and the landscape effects of two major forest fire seasons (2007 and 2017) in peninsular Italy and Sicily and Sardinia islands. Preliminary results offer a comparative picture of large fire features in dry years which are expected to occur more frequently in a climate change scenario

70 Years of Land Use/Land Cover Changes in the Apennines (Italy): A Meta-Analysis

Land use science usually adopts a case study approach to investigate landscape change processes, so we considered a meta-analysis an appropriate tool for summarizing general patterns and heterogeneous findings across multiple case studies over a large geographic area. Mountain landscapes in the Apennines (Italy) have undergone significant variations in the last century due to regional and national socio-economic changes. In this work, we reviewed 51 manuscripts from different databases and examined 57 case studies. We explored heterogeneous data sets, adopting a stepwise approach to select the case studies: Step 1, a general overview of the main studies; Step 2, an analysis of the features of the study sites and of land-use/cover transitions; Step 3, a landscape pattern analysis. We standardized the processing methods to obtain a new set of homogeneous data suitable for comparative analysis. After some pre-processing of the selected paper due to the broad heterogeneity of the data, we calculated common landscape metrics ex novo. We obtained digital images used to perform automatic segmentation with eCognition Developer 64 software. Our review indicated that most case studies were in Central and Southern Italy, 83% were examined at local scale, 77% carried out change detection, but only 38% included both change detection and landscape spatial pattern analysis. The results revealed a clear trend of forest expansion (+78%) and the reduction of croplands (−49%) and grasslands (−19%). We did not find significant changes in the landscape spatial patterns

Tree-ring and remote sensing analyses uncover the role played by elevation on European beech sensitivity to late spring frost

Extreme climate events such as late spring frosts (LSFs) negatively affect productivity and tree growth in temperate beech forests. However, detailed information on how these forests recover after such events are still missing. We investigated how LSFs affected forest cover and radial growth in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) populations located at different elevations at four sites in the Italian Apennines, where LSFs have been recorded. We combined tree-ring and remote-sensing data to analyse the sensitivity and recovery capacity of beech populations to LSFs. Using daily temperature records, we reconstructed LSF events and assessed legacy effects on growth. We also evaluated the role played by elevation and stand structure as modulators of LSFs impacts. Finally, using satellite images we computed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and LAI (Leaf Area Index) to evaluate the post-LSF canopy recovery. The growth reduction in LSF-affected trees ranged from 36 % to 84 %. We detected a negative impact of LSF on growth only during the LSF year, with growth recovery occurring within 1-2 years after the event. LSF-affected stands featured low vegetation indices until late June, i.e. on average 75 days after the frost events. We did not find a clear relationship between beech forest elevation and occurrence of LSFs defoliations. Our results indicate a high recovery capacity of common beech and no legacy effects of LSFs

Burn Severity Drivers in Italian Large Wildfires

The increase of wildfire incidence in highly populated areas significantly enhances the risk for ecosystems and human lives, activities and infrastructures. In central and southern Italy, recent decades’ fire records indicate that 2007 and 2017 were extreme years in terms of the number of fires and total burned area. Among them, we selected large fire events and explored their features and drivers of burn severity. We used a standardized extraction procedure to identify large wildfires (>100 ha) from the MODIS burned areas database and Landsat multi-spectral images. We mapped burn severity with the Relative Difference Normalized Burn Ratio index and explored the main drivers of severity using topographic, land-cover and anthropogenic predictors. We selected 113 wildfires for a collective total burned area of over 100,000 ha. Large fires were more frequent in the southern than in the central and northern regions, especially in July and August. The average fire size was about 900 ha and occurred mainly in shrublands (30.4%) and broadleaf forests (19.5%). With a random forest model, we observed that the highest severity occurred in conifer plantations and shrublands, in highly populated areas and at lower elevations. Burn severity models, at the landscape or regional scales, can be very useful tools for pre- and post-fire forest management planning

FRODI IN PRODOTTI DELLA PESCA A BASE DI MOLLUSCHI BIVALVI: IDENTIFICAZIONE MOLECOLARE DI SPECIE DEL GENERE MYTILUS

Introduzione I mitili (genere Mytilus) rappresentano un prodotto molto apprezzato dai consumatori europei. Sebbene la produzione comunitaria sia piuttosto elevata, non è tuttavia in grado di sopperire alla crescente domanda. Per tale motivo vengono importate notevoli quantità di tali prodotti, soprattutto in forma processata, da paesi terzi, primo su tutti il Cile. L’etichettatura di tali prodotti è normata dal Regolamento (UE) 1169/2011, relativo alla fornitura di informazioni sugli alimenti ai consumatori, mentre risultano esclusi dal campo d’applicazione del Regolamento (UE) n. 1379/2013, relativo all'organizzazione comune dei mercati nel settore dei prodotti della pesca e dell'acquacoltura, che stabilisce informazioni obbligatorie per i prodotti della pesca. Infatti, quest’ultimo Regolamento non si applica ai prodotti della pesca trasformati, per i quali riportare tali informazioni sull’etichetta è a discrezione dell’OSA. Lo scopo del presente lavoro di tesi è stato quello di valutare il livello di conformità alla normativa vigente in prodotti trasformati a base di cozze e di identificare la specie attraverso analisi molecolare. Summary Mussels (Mytilus genus) represent a very appreciated product by European consumers. Although EU production is quite high, it is not able to meet the growing demand. For this reason, significant quantities of these products are imported, especially in processed form, from third countries, especially from Chile. The labelling of these products is regulated by Regulation (EU) n. 1169/2011, concerning the supply of food information to consumers, while they are excluded from the field of application of Regulation (EU) n. 1379/2013, on to the common organization of the market in fishery and aquaculture products. In fact, the latter Regulation is not applied to processed fishery products, for which the information on the label are reported at the discretion of the FBO. The aim of this work was to assess the level of compliance with the current regulations in mussel-based processed products and identify the species through molecular analysis. Materiali e Metodi Sono stati analizzati 18 prodotti trasformati del genere Mytilus acquistati presso la GDO e la distribuzione etnica. E’ stato anzitutto valutato il grado di conformità dell’etichettatura alla normativa vigente ed in particolare al Reg. UE n. 1169/2011 e al Reg. UE n. 1379/2013. In quest’ultimo caso è stata valutata la presenza delle informazioni riportate su base volontaria dall’OSA. L’analisi molecolare, effettuata in collaborazione con il Centro specialistico di ittiopatologia dell’Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, ha previsto l’utilizzo di primer specificamente progettati per l’amplificazione di frammenti di lunghezza variabile del gene nucleare codificante per la Adhesive Foot Protein delle specie di Mytilus di maggior interesse economico. L’eventuale presenza di specie ibride è stata preventivamente valutata attraverso il rilevamento di una doppia banda di amplificazione mediante corsa elettroforetica. I prodotti di PCR sono stati successivamente sequenziati e le sequenze ottenute opportunamente editate e sottoposte ad analisi BLAST su GenBank per l’identificazione tassonomica. Le specie identificate attraverso l’analisi molecolare sono state quindi confrontate con quelle riportate in etichetta (laddove presenti) allo scopo di valutare il livello di mislabelling dei prodotti in esame. Risultati e Discussione Sebbene siano state riscontrate alcune irregolarità in materia di etichettatura ai sensi del Reg. (UE) N.1169/2011, è stato osservato nel complesso un elevato tasso di conformità alla luce della suddetta normativa (78%). Inoltre, gran parte dei prodotti riportavano su base volontaria le informazioni stabilite dal Reg. (UE) 1379/2013. Tutti i campioni sono stati amplificati con successo. La corsa elettroforetica dei prodotti di PCR ha messo in evidenza doppie bande riferibili ad esemplari ibridi in 2 campioni, dai quali non è stato possibile ottenere sequenze sufficientemente informative. Al contrario, l’ottenimento di sequenze leggibili in caso di bande singole, ha confermato le specie riportate in etichetta. Considerando l’ormai ampia diffusione sui mercati di individui ibridi, derivanti principalmente dal contatto tra specie affini appartenenti al Mytilus edulis complex (M. galloprovincialis, M.edulis e M. trossolus) risulta necessario sviluppare metodiche molecolari in grado di differenziare anche tali specie