136 research outputs found
Does an open access journal about vegetation still make sense in 2020?
The current issue is the first one of the new version of Plant Sociology, the international peer-reviewed journal of the "SocietĂ Italiana di Scienza della Vegetazione" (SISV). The technical management of the journal has been entrusted to the editorial platform Pensoft, the Editorial Board has been largely reshaped, now including also a dedicated Social media team. Plant Sociology is focused on all aspects of vegetation from phytocoenosis to landscape level, through time and space, at different geographic and ecological scales; the journal contributes to spread around the issues related to management and conservation of plant communities and plant diversity. All the articles are freely available in Open Access (OA) with affordable article processing charge (APC). In the present Editorial, we briefly discuss the importance of opening the access to knowledge and data about vegetation. We believe that disseminating plant science might be a precious tool for understanding ecological processes, modelling future trends and supporting decision makers. The introduced technological improvement will hopefully allow a larger visibility and circulation for the papers published on Plant Sociology
Analysis of genetic structure of common reed in Italy and some implications on reed die-back syndrome.
Conservation status of Italian coastal dune habitats in the light of the 4th Monitoring Report (92/43/EEC Habitats Directive)
Coastal dunes are among habitats with the worst conservation status on a global, European and national scale. Monitoring and reporting are of strategic importance to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of Habitats Directive and to preserve the unique biodiversity heritage of the Italian dunes. In this study we show main results of the 4th National Report with specific reference to the macro-habitat “Coastal Sand Dunes and Inland Dunes”, highlighting its updated current conservation status at the national and Biogeographical level. A comprehensive Working Group of territorial experts collected, updated, validated and integrated the data available for 11 Annex I Habitats, distributed in the Alpine, Continental and Mediterranean Biogeographical Regions. The conservation status was evaluated through the following criteria: geographic range, surface area, structure, functions, pressures, threats, conservation measures and prospects. Results highlighted the dramatically bad conservation status of Italian dune Habitats: the overall assessment reported 88% of habitats in bad conservation status and the remaining 12% is in inadequate conditions. Results showed a generalised threat and a worrying conservation status both on herbaceous and wooded communities, in particular in some relevant habitats, such as the shifting dunes. Main pressures and threats were linked to residential, commercial and industrial activities, as well as alien species. Although some of the changes in distribution and trends are probably deriving from more accurate and updated data, the alarming conservation status of Italian sand dunes requires a better knowledge of pressures and threats for further management actions and monitoring plans, inside and outside protected areas
Genetic analysis of Italian patients with congenital tufting enteropathy
BACKGROUND: Congenital tufting enteropathy (CTE), an inherited autosomal recessive rare disease, is a severe diarrhea of infancy which is clinically characterized by absence of infl ammation and presence of intestinal villous atrophy. Mutations in the EpCAM gene were identified
to cause CTE. Recent cases of syndromic tufting enteropathy harboring the SPINT2 (19q13.2) mutation were described.
METHODS: Four CTE Italian patients were clinically and immunohistochemically characterized. Direct DNA sequencing of EpCAM and SPINT2 genes was performed.
RESULTS: All patients were of Italian origin. Three different mutations were detected (p.Asp219Metfs*15, Tyr186Phefs*6 and p.Ile146Asn) in the EpCAM gene; one of them is novel (p.Ile146Asn). Two patients (P1 and P2) showed compound heterozygosity revealing two mutations in separate alleles. A third patient (P3) was heterozygous for only one novel EpCAM missense mutation (p.Ile146Asn). In a syndromic patient (P4), no deleterious EpCAM mutation was found. Additional SPINT2 mutational analysis was performed. P4 showed a homozygous SPINT2 mutation (p.Y163C). No SPINT2 mutation was found in P3. CLDN7 was also evaluated as a candidate gene by mutational screening in P3 but no mutation was identifi ed.
CONCLUSIONS: This study presented a molecular characterization of CTE Italian patients, and identified three mutations in the EpCAM gene and one in the SPINT2 gene. One of EpCAM mutations was novel, therefore increasing the mutational spectrum of allelic variants of the EpCAM gene. Molecular analysis of the SPINT2 gene
also allowed us to identify a SPINT2 substitution mutation
(c.488A>G) recentl
AFLP Approach Reveals Variability in Phragmites australis: Implications for Its Die-Back and Evidence for Genotoxic Effects
A new tool to assess the occurrence of personality traits: the Phenomenological Personality Factor questionnaire
Personality traits are patterns of thoughts, feelings and actions that are usually assessed by means of psychometric questionnaires. In the present study we described the Phenomenological Personality Factor (PPF), a short questionnaire assessing the personality traits, taking into account the different interpretative models of personality
The renal resistive index, a new biomarker for the follow up of vascular modifications in Systemic Sclerosis
Robotic Monitoring of Habitats: The Natural Intelligence Approach
In this paper, we first discuss the challenges related to habitat monitoring and review possible robotic solutions. Then, we propose a framework to perform terrestrial habitat monitoring exploiting the mobility of legged robotic systems. The idea is to provide the robot with the Natural Intelligence introduced as the combination of the environment in which it moves, the intelligence embedded in the design of its body, and the algorithms composing its mind. This approach aims to solve the challenges of deploying robots in real natural environments, such as irregular and rough terrains, long-lasting operations, and unexpected collisions, with the final objective of assisting humans in assessing the habitat conservation status. Finally, we present examples of robotic monitoring of habitats in four different environments: forests, grasslands, dunes, and screes
The Association between HDL-C and Subclinical Atherosclerosis Depends on CETP Plasma Concentration:Insights from the IMPROVE Study
The impact of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) on atherosclerosis is highly debated. This study aimed to investigate the associations between plasma CETP or CETP genotypes and carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and the influence of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) on these associations. Plasma CETP and HDL-C concentrations were measured in 552 subjects free of any pharmacological treatment from the IMPROVE cohort, which includes 3711 European subjects at high cardiovascular risk. CETP single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and cIMT measures (cIMT(max); cIMT(mean-max) of bifurcations, common and internal carotids; plaque-free common carotid [PF CC]-IMTmean) were available for the full cohort. In drug-free subjects, plasma CETP correlated with HDL-C levels (r = 0.19, p < 0.0001), but not with cIMT variables. When stratified according to HDL-C quartiles, CETP positively correlated with cIMT(max) and cIMT(mean-max), but not with PF CC-IMTmean, in the top HDL-C quartile only. Positive associations between the CETP concentration and cIMT(max) or cIMT(mean-max) were found in the top HDL-C quartile, whereas HDL-C levels were negatively correlated with cIMT(max) and cIMT(mean-max) when the CETP concentration was below the median (HDL-C x CETP interaction, p = 0.001 and p = 0.003 for cIMT(max) and cIMT(mean-max), respectively). In the full cohort, three CETP SNPs (rs34760410, rs12920974, rs12708968) were positively associated with cIMT(max). rs12444708 exhibited a significant interaction with HDL-C levels in the prediction of cIMT(max). In conclusion, a significant interplay was found between plasma CETP and/or CETP genotype and HDL-C in the prediction of carotid plaque thickness, as indexed by cIMT(max). This suggests that the association of HDL-C with carotid atherosclerosis is CETP-dependent
Notulae to the Italian flora of algae, bryophytes, fungi and lichens: 3
In this contribution, new data concerning bryophytes, fungi and lichens and of the Italian flora are presented. It includes new records and confirmations for the bryophyte genera Dicranodontium, Fontinalis, Lophocoleaand Riccia, the fungal genus Diplolaeviopsis, the lichen genera Agonimia, Cladonia, Protoparmelia, Rhizocarpon, and Scytinium
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