Corsican pine (Pinus laricio Poiret) stand management: Medium and long lasting effects of thinning on biomass growth

With the aim of acquiring better comprehension of the ecological and productive aspects of the management of pine forests, we monitored logging damage and evaluated the effects of thinning on stand growth 20 years after the treatment in a Pinus laricio Poiret stand in central Italy. The objectives of the present study were to estimate the injury levels to the remaining trees after thinning; to assess logging damage in the long-term by monitoring residual trees at the end of thinning; to evaluate the effect of damage on the radial growth of trees; to assess the stand dynamics in relation to injury levels and the treatment applied in a twenty-year range; to understand a possible treatment return time; and to evaluate the existence of the "thinning shock". The results were that 20 years after treatment, the stand dynamics showed a complete recovery; logging damage did not affect the radial growth of P. laricio over time; a second treatment seem to be sustainable starting from the fifteenth year after the previous treatment; and the thinning shock can be clearly evaluated in the first six to seven years after the treatment

Coarse woody debris variability due to human accessibility to forest

Originally published in Forests (MDPI): Behjou FK, Lo Monaco A*, Tavankar F, Venanzi R, Nikooy M, Picchio R (2018) Coarse woody debris variability as result of human accessibility to forest. Forests 9(9): article number 509 (open access) Corresponding author: Angela Lo Monaco, [email protected] DOI: 10.3390/f9090509 The article can be dowloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/9/9/509 Abstract: Coarse woody debris (CWD) plays an important role in supporting biodiversity and assisting ecological processes. Sometimes local people intervene modifying the expected distribution of CWD components, harvested as fuel wood. The effect of the human accessibility (HA) on the volume and characteristics of CWD (snag, downed log and stump) was investigated in the natural uneven-age mixed hardwood stands of the Hyrcanian forests of Iran to quantify the impact on CWD. The HA was classified into three classes (easy, medium and difficult) on the basis of slope class, slope direction to the nearest road and road type. As expected, a negative relationship between the degree of accessibility was found with respect to the main qualitative and quantitative indices referring to CWD. The results showed that the volume of CWD decreased with an increase in human accessibility class (HAC), thus the mean volume of CWD in the difficult, medium and easy accessibility classes were 14.87 m3 ha1, 8.84 m3 ha1 and 4.03 m3 ha1, respectively. The decrease in CWD volume was more associated with the decreasing volume of small diameter of low decayed downed logs. The ratio of snag volume to standing volume, the ratio of downed log volume to the volume of trees and the ratio of CWD volume to standing volume increased with a decrease in HAC, while the ratio of downed log volume to snag volume decreased with a decrease in HAC. No selective behaviour on the botanical species of CWD was recorded. For ecological forest management, the effect of HAC on CWD should be considered. A constant supply of snags and downed logs must be preserved to assure a high level of biodiversity. To balance social needs and biodiversity requirements, an increased level of CWD retention might be needed in areas with easy accessibility. The obtained results may be useful when ecological and socio-economical needs have to be taken into consideration in future policy-making decisions. Keywords: snag; downed log; stump; forest road; uneven-agemixed hardwood stands; Hyrcanian forest

third caesarean section in patient with myasthenia gravis

Abstract Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease, characterised by muscle weakness and fatigability of the voluntary muscles, it affects young women in the second and third decade of life. We report a case of 30 years old multigravida woman with myasthenia gravis submitted to third iterative caesarean section with no adverse neonatal and maternal outcome. The course myathenia is highly variable and unpredictable during gestation and can change in subsequent pregnancies. Delivery specially, through caesarean section is very stressful and may cause severe myasthenic crisis. Although pregnancy and delivery represent particular events, that require more attention in these patients, they are not associated, in most cases, with higher risks of complications compared to normal pregnancy, delivery and postpartum period. According our experiences, in the management of myasthenic pregnant woman is necessary cooperation in a multidisciplinary team between obstetricians, neurologist, anaesthetist, and neonatologist for ensure an optimum outcome

Mitochondrial-Derived Vesicles as Candidate Biomarkers in Parkinson's Disease: Rationale, Design and Methods of the EXosomes in PArkiNson Disease (EXPAND) Study

The progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the nigro-striatal system is a major trait of Parkinson's disease (PD), manifesting clinically as motor and non-motor symptoms. Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress are alleged pathogenic mechanisms underlying aggregation of misfolded α-synuclein that in turn triggers dopaminergic neurotoxicity. Peripheral processes, including inflammation, may precede and contribute to neurodegeneration. Whether mitochondrial dyshomeostasis in the central nervous system and systemic inflammation are linked to one another in PD is presently unclear. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are delivery systems through which cells can communicate or unload noxious materials. EV trafficking also participates in mitochondrial quality control (MQC) by generating mitochondrial-derived vesicles to dispose damaged organelles. Disruption of MQC coupled with abnormal EV secretion may play a role in the pathogenesis of PD. Furthermore, due to its bacterial ancestry, circulating mitochondrial DNA can elicit an inflammatory response. Therefore, purification and characterisation of molecules packaged in, and secreted through, small EVs (sEVs)/exosomes in body fluids may provide meaningful insights into the association between mitochondrial dysfunction and systemic inflammation in PD. The EXosomes in PArkiNson Disease (EXPAND) study was designed to characterise the cargo of sEVs/exosomes isolated from the serum of PD patients and to identify candidate biomarkers for PD

Millstones as indicators of relative sea-level changes in northern Sicily and southern Calabria coast lines, Italy

New data are presented for late Holocene relative sea-level changes in two coastal sites of Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy. Reconstructions are based on precise measurements of submerged archaeological remains that are valuable indicators of past sea-level position. The archaeological remains are millstone quarries carved on sandstone coastal rocks and nowadays partially submerged which, to the authors’ knowledge, are used for the first time as sea-level markers. Millstones of similar typology are located on the coast of Capo d’Orlando (northern Sicily) and Capo dell’Armi (southern Calabria). When the archeologically-based sea-level position is compared with the shoreline elevation provided by geological markers (Holocene beachrock, Late Pleistocene marine terraces), a refined understanding of relative sea-level changes and rates of vertical tectonic movements for these coastline locations is gained

School Bike Sharing Program: Will it Succeed?

Encouraging active and sustainable transport modes in order to limit the excessive use of cars, as well as reducing pollutant emissions and creating livable urban environments, has become one of the priorities for policymakers in recent years. The introduction of innovative systems increasingly being introduced in modern cities, such as bike sharing, can certainly contribute to the spread of cycling and thus allow a radical change in the mobility habits of their citizens. This can be especially true for high-school students who are often otherwise accompanied by their parents with private cars. This article aims to assess the influence that a bike sharing program for students has on modal share and on city mobility. As a case study, the city of Palermo was chosen, where the use of the car for home-school trips is prevalent. The "Go2School" project, which involves the creation of a bike sharing program for four schools, with the construction of cycle docks and cycle paths in the nearby areas, will soon become a reality. Thanks to appropriate surveys and questionnaires, a multinomial logit model was calibrated to estimate the modal share towards bike sharing for the students and evaluate the demand for this transport mode

Gender may be related to the side of the motor syndrome and cognition in idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

Abstract Background and Sex and cognitive profile may be related to the laterality of motor symptoms in idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Introduction Parkinson's disease (PD) is well recognised as an inherently asymmetric disease with unilateral onset of motor symptoms. The laterality of motor symptoms may be linked to sex, clinical and demographic variables, and neuropsychological disorders. However, the available data are inconsistent. This study aimed to explore the potential association between the laterality of motor symptoms and clinical and demographic variables and deficits in specific cognitive domains. Material and methods We retrospectively recruited 97 participants with idiopathic PD without dementia; 60 presented motor symptoms on the left side and 37 on the right side. Both groups were comparable in terms of age, age at disease onset, disease duration, and severity of the neurological deficits according to the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale and the Hoehn and Yahr scale. Results Participants with left-side motor symptoms scored lower on the Schwab and England Activities of Daily Living scale. Our sample included more men than women (67% vs. 33%). Both sexes were not equally represented in the 2 groups: there were significantly more men than women in the group of patients with left-side motor symptoms (77% vs. 23%), whereas the percentages of men and women in the group of patients with right-side motor symptoms were similar (51% vs. 49%). Both groups performed similarly in all neuropsychological tasks, but women, independently of laterality, performed better than men in the naming task. Conclusion We found a clear prevalence of men in the group of patients with left-side motor symptoms; this group also scored lower on the Schwab and England Scale. Female sex was predictive of better performance in the naming task. Sex should always be considered in disorders that cause asymmetric involvement of the brain, such as PD