Body size-related constraints on the movement behaviour of the arctic notostracan Lepidurus arcticus (Pallas, 1973) under laboratory conditions

The movement behaviour of individuals has long been acknowledged as a key determinant of species distribution in space and time. Information on benthic macroinvertebrates from aquatic habitats are still scant, however, and for polar species are virtually nonexistent. Here, the influence of body size on the movement behaviour of the arctic notostracan Lepidurus arcticus (Pallas) was examined under resource-free laboratory conditions. The mean step length, total path length and average speed were determined for specimens varying in body dry mass by six orders of magnitude. The scale-independent fractal dimension D was used to quantify movement path tortuosity. Among the different movement metrics considered, the body size of specimens scaled significantly only with path tortuosity; specifically, a negative relationship with a breakpoint was observed between individual body masses and the D values of the respective movement paths. The results are discussed considering similar results obtained for benthic crustaceans from temperate habitats. Additionally, their implications for future investigations explicitly considering temperature effects on movement behaviour are briefly considere

Carbon budget and national gross domestic product in the framework of the Paris Climate Agreement

Abstract In 2015 an unprecedented effort was made in Paris by the countries adhering to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to decrease the CO2 emissions due to the close relationships of greenhouse gases with global warming. Under the previous Kyoto Protocol, only advanced countries were committed to reduce greenhouse emissions while under the Paris Climate Agreement all countries were committed to fight against global warming. The urgency of real action has been prompted by extreme events like bushfires, heatwaves, and the ongoing pandemic. Given the strong commitments, it looks interesting, seen that all countries are involved, to verify if any sustainability pattern is evident. Our approach is encouraging, as the downward emission trend shows a high increase in sustainability between 2027 and 2037. Without exacerbating the climate discussion, we used the national gross domestic product (hereafter: GDP) as environmental indicator to propose for the first time an allometric ranking of countries that need to change drastically their energy policy to meet their climate commitments. Any sustainability downturn in one country, especially if advanced, might rationally bring concern about the actual prospects of other countries which are all committed to the Paris Climate Agreement. But the departure from the annual allometric model GDP−CO2 may be much greater than can be accounted for by statistical expectations, as for Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan that are entering a sustainable condition where their CO2 emissions will be lower than they would have been without the Paris Climate Agreement

The Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus spreading in the Tyrrhenian sea: evidence of an established population in the Stagnone di Marsala (Sicily, southern Italy)

The blue crab Callinectes sapidus is a portunid brachyuran native of the Atlantic coasts of America. In the last decades, the species has greatly expanded its range in invaded areas, currently including the Atlantic coasts of Morocco, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea as well as the eastern Atlantic coasts of Europe from Portugal to France, Belgium, and Germany. In the present study, several specimens of C. sapidus were collected in May, June and July 2021 in the Stagnone di Marsala, a semi-enclosed basin located in the north-western coast of Sicily (southern Italy, Mediterranean Sea) characterized by low hydrodynamics and water exchange with the adjacent open sea and high salinity conditions. Juveniles at different instar stages and ovigerous females were repeatedly captured, suggesting the presence of an established population of the blue crab, despite the peculiar environmental conditions characterizing the basin. These findings are discussed in the context of the current expansion of the species along the African coasts of the Mediterranean Sea

A Comparison of Traditional and Locally Novel Fishing Gear for the Exploitation of the Invasive Atlantic Blue Crab in the Eastern Adriatic Sea

The Atlantic Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus has been recognized as invasive in the Mediterranean Sea, where it now provides a significant contribution to artisanal fisheries. In this study, we compared the efficiency, selectivity, and productivity of American wire crab traps and traditional fyke nets for the capture of Blue Crabs in a study conducted from June to December 2019 in the Parila Lagoon (River Neretva Estuary, Croatia). A total of 7707 specimens were caught in 15 wire traps, comprising 6959 males and 749 females. The total catch using 50 traditional fyke traps was 1451 crabs, of which 1211 were males and 240 were females. In general, wire crab traps showed a higher capture selectivity and economic performance compared to fyke nets. The catch per unit effort (CPUE) was 102.76 kg for the American wire crab trap and 5.96 kg for the traditional fyke net. The CPUE of gravid female Blue Crabs was lower for the wire traps than the fyke nets. Herein, the utility of crab traps as selective fishing gear for the capture of Blue Crabs, and management tools for control of the reproductive and recruitment phases of the crab, are discussed, with the perspective of future exploitation of the species as a commercially valuable shellfish product in the Mediterranea

Aerosol Optical Depth of the Main Aerosol Species over Italian Cities Based on the NASA/MERRA-2 Model Reanalysis

The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) provides data at 0.5° × 0.625° resolution covering a period from 1 January 1980 to the present. Natural and anthropogenic aerosols are simulated in MERRA-2, considering the Goddard chemistry, aerosol, radiation, and transport model. This model simulates the sources, sinks, and chemistry of mixed aerosol tracers: dust, sea salt, hydrophobic and hydrophilic black carbon and organic carbon, and sulfate. MERRA-2 aerosol reanalysis is a pioneering tool for investigating air quality issues, noteworthy for its global coverage and its distinction of aerosol speciation expressed in the form of aerosol optical depth (AOD). The aim of this work was to use the MERRA-2 reanalysis to study urban air pollution at a national scale by analyzing the AOD. AOD trends were evaluated for a 30-year period (1987–2017) over five Italian cities (Milan, Rome, Cagliari, Taranto, and Palermo) in order to investigate the impacts of urbanization, industrialization, air quality regulations, and regional transport on urban aerosol load. AOD evolution predicted by the MERRA-2 model in the period 2002–2017 showed a generalized decreasing trend over the selected cities. The anthropogenic signature on total AOD was between 50% and 80%, with the largest contribution deriving from sulfate

Dissolved organic carbon content and leachability of biomass waste biochar for trace metal (Cd, Cu and Pb) speciation modelling

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) interacts with dissolved trace metal affecting their mobility and bioavailability through the formation of DOC–metal complexes. Several types of biochar (BC) produced from slow pyrolysis of wood chips (WC), lignin (LG), and digested sewage sludge at 450 and 700 °C were tested for DOC leaching via batch and up-flow percolation test methods. Trace metal (Cd, Cu, and Pb) speciation modelling in BC eluates was carried out combining measured data (i.e., DOC, ph, temperature, and dissolved trace metal concentrations) with data reported in the literature regarding fractions of DOC that are inert or active (i.e., fulvic acids (FA) and humic acids (HA)) in metal binding. BC from LG (BCLG) and WC (BCWC) at 700 °C released lower cumulative amounts of DOC compared with BC at 450 °C in the range 0.02–0.07% and 0.06–0.09% of total carbon content, respectively. For both pyrolysis temperatures, BCWC exhibited a higher tendency to release DOC compared to BCLG. Speciation modelling results showed the predominance of FA and HA complexes of Cd, Cu, and Pb in all the eluates from BCWC and BCLG irrespective of the inert fractions of DOC or the different fractions of active FA and HA considered

Abnormal salivary total and oligomeric alpha-synuclein in Parkinson's disease

In Parkinson’s disease (PD), alpha-synuclein (a-syn) can be detected in biological fluids including saliva. Although previous studies found reduced a-syn total (a-syntotal) concentration in saliva of PD patients, no studies have previously examined salivary a-syn oligomers (a-synolig) concentrations or assessed the correlation between salivary a-syntotal, a-synolig and clinical features in a large cohort of PD patients. Is well known that a-synolig exerts a crucial neurotoxic effect in PD. We collected salivary samples from 60 PD patients and 40 age- and sex-comparable healthy subjects. PD was diagnosed according to the United Kingdom Brain Bank Criteria. Samples of saliva were analyzed by specific anti-a-syn and anti-oligomeric a-syn ELISA kits. A complete clinical evaluation of each patient was performed using MDS-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Frontal Assessment Battery. Salivary a-syntotal was lower, whereas a-synolig was higher in PD patients than healthy subjects. The a-synolig/a-syntotal ratio was also higher in patients than in healthy subjects. Salivary a-syntotal concentration negatively correlated with that of a-synolig and correlated with several patients’ clinical features. In PD, decreased salivary concentration of a-syntotal may reflect the reduction of a-syn monomers (a-synmon), as well as the formation of insoluble intracellular inclusions and soluble oligomers. The combined detection of a-syntotal and a-synolig in the saliva might help the early diagnosis of P