A morphometric model of the Aeolian Islands (Italy)

A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the Aeolian Islands (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) is presented, with a 5 m horizontal resolution, derived from photograms at a relative medium scale of 1:35000, collected during an aerophotogrammetric flight in 1994-5. The seada tacome from ah ydrographic survey (1996-1997) of the seabed topography, carried out in accordance with present international standards. The sounding density of the bathymetric survey varies: it is more accurate near the coasts and in areas of structural interest. Previous bathymetric surveys, when available, were limited to small areas. The present DEM is enclosed in arecta ngle with limits of longitude 14◦16�'32"-15◦22'51"E and latitude 38◦20'55"-38◦53'50"N. The DEM of the islands and of the seabed, merged together, is presented here for the first time. The shadowed raster images of the DEM clearly outline the structural and volcanological features of the archipelago

Sailing for Science: on board experiences for transferring knowledge on Historical Oceanography for Future Innovation

Smart, sustainable and inclusive Blue Growth means also knowing past technology and the paths followed by ancients in order to understand and monitor marine environments. In general, history of Science is a matter that is not enough explored and explained or promoted in high schools or university official programmes, and, usually, scientist do not consider it as an important part of their curricula. However, bad or good ideas, abandoned or forgotten beliefs, concepts, opinions, do still have a great potential for inspiring present and future scientists, no matter in which historical period they may have been formulated: they should be always be taken into consideration, critically examined and observed by a very close point of view, not just as part of the intellectual framework of some obsolete ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ with limited access except for the chosen few. Moreover, history of Science should be transmitted in a more practical way, with hands-on labs showing the limits and challenges that prior generations of ocean explorers, investigators and seafarers had to face in order to answer to crucial questions as self-orientation in open sea, understanding main currents and waves, predicting meteorological conditions for a safe navigation. Oceanography is a relatively young branch of science, and still needs further approvals and knowledge (National Science Foundation, 2000). The Scientific Dissemination Group (SDG) “La Spezia Gulf of Science” – made up by Research Centres, Schools and Cultural associations located in La Spezia (Liguria, Italy) - has a decadal experience in initiatives aimed at people and groups of people of all ages, who are keen on science or who can be guided in any case to take an interest in scientific matters (Locritani et al., 2015). Amongst the SDG activities, the tight relationship with the Historical Oceanography Society, the Italian Navy and the Naval Technical Museum (that collects a rich heritage of civilization, technology and culture witnesses, related to the naval history of seamanship from the origins up to nowadays), allowed the creation of a special educational format based on Historical Oceanography, for university and high school students as an integration for their curriculum. The Historical Oceanography Society has provided the major knowledges included in the ancient volumes of its archive, thanks to the availability of its members that also held theoretical and practical lessons during the course. The present paper will describe the one-week special course (about 60 hours of theory and practice with technical visits to Research centres and Museums) that has been planned to be carried out on board of the Italian Training Navy Ship (A. Vespucci) and has been organized in order to give the hints about on board life, as well as theoretical lessons on modern and historical oceanography, hands-on labs on oceanographic instruments from public and private collections, physiology of diving techniques and astronomy. The general aim of this course has been, hence, to give to excellent students all those technological but also creative and imaginative features of our past.PublishedVienna1TM. Formazion

Data Descriptor: high resolution multibeam and hydrodynamic datasets of tidal channels and inlets of the Venice Lagoon

Tidal channels are crucial for the functioning of wetlands, though their morphological properties, which are relevant for seafloor habitats and flow, have been understudied so far. Here, we release a dataset composed of Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) extracted from a total of 2,500 linear kilometres of high-resolution multibeam echosounder (MBES) data collected in 2013 covering the entire network of tidal channels and inlets of the Venice Lagoon, Italy. The dataset comprises also the backscatter (BS) data, which reflect the acoustic properties of the seafloor, and the tidal current fields simulated by means of a high-resolution three-dimensional unstructured hydrodynamic model. The DTMs and the current fields help define how morphological and benthic properties of tidal channels are affected by the action of currents. These data are of potential broad interest not only to geomorphologists, oceanographers and ecologists studying the morphology, hydrodynamics, sediment transport and benthic habitats of tidal environments, but also to coastal engineers and stakeholders for cost-effective monitoring and sustainable management of this peculiar shallow coastal system

Last century seabed morphodynamics of the Magra River estuary (Western Mediterranean Sea)

The estimation of morphological and volumetric changes of the delta system at the mouth of the Magra River is presented in this paper using bathymetric and sedimentological data. The data series were collected during several hydro-oceanographic surveys carried out from 1882 to 2014, processed following the hydrographic international standards and stored in the Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute database. In particular, bathymetric data characterized by the same standard and accuracy were collected using different devices such as sounding lines, single-beam and multi-beam acoustic system. This research compares Digital Terrain Models (DTMs), derived from highly accurate bathymetric data and covering different time scales (secular, half-century and decade) in order to assess and quantify the seabed morphodynamics in relation with the river sedimentary budget. The methodology and data exploitation consist mainly in the production of DTMs to study the elevation change, two-dimensional and three dimensional maps, cross-sections of the seabed, difference surfaces and computation of net volumes as well as an historical sedimentological map. These products are also an useful contribution to the aim of EU RISC-KIT Project. The results of the analysis highlight changes in the geometry of the Magra River mouth, of the coastal profile and bottom features primarily due to variations of the sedimentary budget and secondarily to wave dynamics. This behaviour is characterized by evident river mouth and coastal retreat, beach erosion and sediment bars decay and net accretion under periods of high river sediment discharge and elongate bar formation during relatively fair conditions. In the last century the main change is constituted by the disappearance of the typical constructive seabed delta morphology and the transformation into the current small estuary, with microtidal condition. This small estuary has an upper sector where river processes, sediments and bedforms dominate, a lower sector near the mouth, where wave and tidal processes and marine sediments dominate, and a middle sector, where tidal currents dominate and both river and marine sediments are present

Digital differential expression analysis of early embryonic de novo assembled sexed transcriptomes of Ceratitis capitata, a world-wide agricultural pest, to identify new sex-specific and sex-biased genes.

The agricultural pest Ceratitis capitata, also known as the Mediterranean fruit fly or Medfly, belongs to the Tephritidae family, which includes a large number of damaging pest species. The knowledge of the life-cycle and of the biology of pest species opens new chances to develop eco-sustainable control strategies, alternative to pesticides. Reproduction and sex determination are at the same time crucial aspects to understand insect biology and optimal targets to limit their population growth and diffusion. In the Medfly, where XY (males) and XX (females) sexual chromosomes are present, the primary signal of sex determination, constituted by a dominant factor linked to the Y-chromosome, is still uknown. To identify this factor and to search for new early sex-biased genes we applied Illumina sequencing to RNA from 8-10 hours and 23-25 hours after egg laying (AEL) embryos of C. capitata, leading to define about 20,000 novel unique reconstructed transcripts. We utilized short reads mapping and counting, using BOWTIE and SAMTOOLS software, and the EdgeR software to evaluate and compare the expression levels of the reconstructed transcripts between sexed embryonic samples and stages. We identified about 3000 male-biased and about 1000 female-biased transcripts at 8-10h AEL. Selected candidate transcripts are under validation by qPCR expression analyses and RNAi functional analyses

397P R-IMMUNE interim analysis: A phase Ib/II study to evaluate safety and efficacy of atezolizumab combined with radio-chemotherapy in a preoperative setting for patients with localized rectal cancer

Background Radiotherapy association with immunotherapy has a strong rationale. This study evaluates this combination before surgery in locally advanced rectal cancer (RC). Methods R-IMMUNE (NCT03127007), a multicentric phase Ib/II prospective trial includes patients with stage II/III RC treated with a preoperative combination of radio-chemotherapy (45-50 Gy/25 fractions, 5FU 225 mg/m2/d, 5d/w from week 1-5) + atezolizumab 1200 mg/infusion (ATZ). The phase Ib had a 3+3 design with a safety period up to surgery and evaluated a single infusion of ATZ at week 3. The phase II, in progress, evaluates 4 infusions of ATZ at weeks 3, 6, 9 and 12. Surgery is planned at week 15. Primary objectives are safety and efficacy based on pathological complete response rate (pCR). Based on a 2-stage Simon design, 36 patients are needed in the phase II to detect a pCR rate increase from 15% to 35% (α = 0.1 and β = 0.1). At least 4 pCRs must be observed among 19 patients treated in the 1st stage to move the 2nd stage. Results This analysis concerns 26 patients treated with the study treatment (median age 66 y-old, 48% male, 88% stage III). Safety was evaluated in 6 patients from phase Ib and 20 from phase II. Overall, 151 AEs were reported and 20 (13%) were grade 3-4 on 9/26 patients, including 2/20 (10%) anastomotic leakage/infections, 4/20 (20%) urinary infections, 1/20 (5%) renal function impairment and 1/20 (5%) immune thrombocytopenia. Three grade 2 immune endocrine disorders were observed. Efficacy was evaluable on 25/26 patients after 1 exclusion for inclusion criteria deviation. Four among 19 patients included in the 1st stage of phase II had a pCR. Overall, 6/25 (24%) pCRs were observed. Conclusions R-IMMUNE interim analysis reveals an acceptable safety profile. Observed pCR rate until now supports the pursuit of the trial. Clinical trial identification NCT03127007