Migration and Settlement in Italy

This paper examines synthetically the demographic evolution of Italy from 1900 until 1975. It is concerned with the analysis of fertility, mortality and internal migration patterns in the twenty regions which constitute the territorial administrative disaggregation of the Italian Republic. The paper is part of IIASA's comparative study of migration and settlement patterns in its member nations

Food-Borne Viruses in Shellfish: Investigation on Norovirus and HAV Presence in Apulia (SE Italy)

Shellfish are an important vehicle for transmission of food-borne pathogens including norovirus (NoV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV). The risks related with consumption of shellfish are greater if these products are eaten raw or slightly cooked. As molluscs are filter-feeding organisms, they are able to concentrate pathogens dispersed in the water. Data on shellfish viral contamination are therefore useful to obtain a background information on the presence of contamination in the environment, chiefly in shellfish production areas and to generate a picture of the epidemiology of viral pathogens in local populations. From January 2013 to July 2015, 253 samples of bivalve molluscs collected in harvesting areas from a large coastal tract (860 km) of Southern Italy were screened for HAV and NoV of genogroups GI and GII, using real-time reverse transcription qualitative PCR. The RNA of HAV was not detected in any of the analyzed samples. In contrast, the RNA of NoV was identified in 14.2% of the samples with a higher prevalence of NoVs of genogroup GII (12.2%) than genogroup GI (1.6%). Upon sequence analysis of a short diagnostic region located in capsid region, the NoV strains were characterized as GII.2, GII.4 Sydney 2012, GII.6, GII.13, GI.4, and GI.6, all which were circulating in local populations in the same time span. These data confirm that consumption of mussels can expose consumers to relevant risks of infection. Also, matching between the NoV genotypes circulating in local population and detected in molluscs confirms the diffusion in the environment of NoVs

Food-Borne Viruses in Shellfish: Investigation on Norovirus and HAV Presence in Apulia (SE Italy)

Shellfish are an important vehicle for transmission of food-borne pathogens including norovirus (NoV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV). The risks related with consumption of shellfish are greater if these products are eaten raw or slightly cooked. As molluscs are filter-feeding organisms, they are able to concentrate pathogens dispersed in the water. Data on shellfish viral contamination are therefore useful to obtain a background information on the presence of contamination in the environment, chiefly in shellfish production areas and to generate a picture of the epidemiology of viral pathogens in local populations. From January 2013 to July 2015, 253 samples of bivalve molluscs collected in harvesting areas from a large coastal tract (860 km) of Southern Italy were screened for HAV and NoV of genogroups GI and GII, using real-time reverse transcription qualitative PCR. The RNA of HAV was not detected in any of the analyzed samples. In contrast, the RNA of NoV was identified in 14.2% of the samples with a higher prevalence of NoVs of genogroup GII (12.2%) than genogroup GI (1.6%). Upon sequence analysis of a short diagnostic region located in capsid region, the NoV strains were characterized as GII.2, GII.4 Sydney 2012, GII.6, GII.13, GI.4, and GI.6, all which were circulating in local populations in the same time span. These data confirm that consumption of mussels can expose consumers to relevant risks of infection. Also, matching between the NoV genotypes circulating in local population and detected in molluscs confirms the diffusion in the environment of NoVs

Short communication: Isolation of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in raw milk and mozzarella cheese in southern Italy

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The Sensitivity of the Redshift Distribution to Galaxy Demographics

Photometric redshifts are commonly used to measure the distribution of galaxies in large surveys. However, the demands of ongoing and future large-scale cosmology surveys place very stringent limits on the redshift performance that are difficult to meet. A new approach to meet this precision need is forward modelling, which is underpinned by realistic simulations. In the work presented here, we use simulations to study the sensitivity of redshift distributions to the underlying galaxy population demographics. We do this by varying the redshift evolving parameters of the Schechter function for two galaxy populations, star-forming and quenched galaxies. Each population is characterised by eight parameters. We find that the redshift distribution of shallow surveys, such as SDSS, is mainly sensitive to the parameters for quenched galaxies. However, for deeper surveys such as DES and HSC, the star-forming parameters have a stronger impact on the redshift distribution. Specifically, the slope of the characteristic magnitude, $a_\mathrm{M}$, for star-forming galaxies has overall the strongest impact on the redshift distribution. Decreasing $a_\mathrm{M}$ by 148 per cent (its given uncertainty) shifts the mean redshift by ${\sim} 45$ per cent. We explore which combination of colour and magnitude measurements are most sensitive to $a_\mathrm{M}$ and we find that each colour-magnitude pair studied is similarly affected by a modification of $a_\mathrm{M}$

Functional assessment of cancer therapy questionnaire for breast cancer (FACT-B+4): Italian version validation

BACKGROUND: Improvements in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment led to an increased incidence of survivors' rate. The healthcare system has to face new problems related not only to the treatment of the disease, but also to the management of the quality of life after the diagnosis. The aim of this study was to validate the Italian version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Breast (FACT-B+4) questionnaire and to evaluate its reliability. METHODS: The questionnaire was administered twice, with an interval of three days between each administration, to a cohort of women of the Breast Surgical Unit, PoliclincoUmberto I. Cronbach's alpha was used as a measure of the internal consistency of the Italian version. RESULTS: The Italian version of the tool was administered to 55 subjects. The Cronbach's alpha for most scores registered values >0.7, both at baseline and at the follow-up analysis, therefore the subscale showed good internal consistency. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian version of FACT-B+4 demonstrated acceptable reliability properties in the Breast Unit patients. The use of this questionnaire seemed to be effective and in line with the results derived from the English and Spanishversions. Internal consistency and validity had similar performance results

Effects of temperature and plant diversity on orthopterans and leafhoppers in calcareous dry grasslands

Abstract: In mountains, current land-use changes are altering plant communities of semi-natural grasslands with potential cascading effects on associated herbivores. Besides vegetation changes, temperature is also a key driver of insect diversity, and in the European Alps is predicted to increase by 0.25\ua0\ub0C per decade. Understanding herbivore responses to temperature and plant composition changes in mountain environments is of increasing importance. Our study aims at investigating the response to temperature and plant diversity and composition of two key herbivore groups (orthopterans and leafhoppers) belonging to contrasting feeding guilds (chewers vs. sap-feeders). We hypothesized that orthopteran diversity would be driven by temperature while leafhoppers by plant community composition. We selected 15 dry calcareous grasslands ranging from 100 to 1330\ua0m a.s.l. along two independent gradients of plant diversity and temperature. We sampled orthopteran and leafhopper species richness and abundance by sweep-netting. Consistent with their low feeding specialisation, orthopteran species richness and community composition were only driven by temperature. By contrast, leafhopper species richness was not affected by temperature nor by plant diversity but leafhopper community composition was strongly influenced by plant species composition. This response can be explained by the higher host feeding specialisation of many leafhopper species. Species rarity and mobility did not change the response of the diversity of both groups, but orthopteran abundance increased with temperature only for highly mobile species. Altogether, our results suggest that future responses of grassland herbivores to vegetation changes and temperature warming are highly variable and depend on the feeding strategy and specialisation of the focal herbivore group. Implications for insect conservation: Leafhoppers emerged to be particularly sensitive to potential management or climate-induced change in vegetation composition, while orthopterans are expected to respond directly to temperature warming due to their relaxed association with plant community diversity and composition

Impact of Ecklonia maxima Seaweed Extract and Mo foliar treatments on biofortification, spinach yield, quality and NUE

Seaweed extract (SE) application is a contemporary and sustainable agricultural practice used to improve yield and quality of vegetable crops. Plant biofortification with trace element is recognized as a major tool to prevent mineral malnourishment in humans. Mo deficiency causes numerous dysfunctions, mostly connected to central nervous system and esophageal cancer. The current research was accomplished to appraise the combined effect of Ecklonia maxima brown seaweed extract (SE) and Mo dose (0, 0.5, 2, 4 or 8 \u3bcmol L 121) on yield, biometric traits, minerals, nutritional and functional parameters, as well as nitrogen indices of spinach plants grown in a protected environment (tunnel). Head fresh weight (FW), ascorbic acid, polyphenols, N, P, K, Mg and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) were positively associated with SE treatment. Moreover, head FW, head height (H), stem diameter (SD), ascorbic acid, polyphenols, carotenoids as well as NUE indices were enhanced by Mo\u2010biofortification. A noticeable improvement in number of leaves (N. leaves), head dry matter (DM) and Mo concentration in leaf tissues was observed when SE application was combined with a Mo dosage of 4 or 8 \u3bcmol L 121. Overall, our study highlighted that E. maxima SE treatment and Mo supply can improve both spinach production and quality via the key enzyme activity involved in the phytochemical homeostasis of SE and the plant nutritional status modification resulting in an enhanced spinach Mo tolerance

Migration and Settlement: 17. Italy

This report completes the comparative analysis of national patterns of interregional migration and spatial population growth that has been carried out by an international network of scholars that have been using methodology and computer programs developed at IIASA. In it the authors focus on two multiregional disaggregations of the Italian population system, analyzing the demographics of the 5 and 20 subnational populations that comprise the national total