Reduction of inter- and intraspecific seed mass variability along a land-use intensification gradient

The functional response of natural patches to surrounding land-use changes is strongly related to variations in functional traits of coexisting species. To exemplify the effects on species of a general pattern of land-use intensification mountains-coastland, we investigated the variation of a key plant trait - seed mass - in small woodlots located along a land-use intensification gradient for two common species (Asparagus albus and Asparagus acutifolius) in the Mediterranean areas. Moreover, along this gradient, we also explored the relationship between seed mass variation and different environmental filters. Along the gradient, A. acutifolius seed mass decreased from natural and semi-natural to urban and artificial areas (higher to lower elevation), whereas A. albus seed mass increased along the same gradient, with heavier seed in patches located in the urban and artificial areas than in those located in natural and semi-natural areas. At intra-specific level, A. acutifolius seeds were significantly different at the extremes of the gradient (natural and semi-natural vs urban and artificial areas), while A. albus showed significant differences both between natural and semi-natural areas and urban and artificial areas, and between agricultural and urban and artificial areas, revealing more sensitiveness to land-use change. The land-use type influenced seed mass variability: in the small patches located in natural and semi-natural areas and in agricultural ones, we observed for both species a higher seed mass variability, being highest in the agricultural areas, while we observed a limited variability in urban and artificial areas, suggesting a homogenization in terms of seed mass within and across species in human-altered areas. Environmental drivers on the seed mass of the two species showed an opposite trend in relation to biotic, topographic and bioclimatic variables. We observed that for two common Mediterranean species, land-use type influenced one of the most important plant functional traits (i.e., seed mass), leading to a reduction of intraspecific variability in artificial context. Understanding how and why these relations occur could improve our capacity to find adaptive strategies for environmental management

First record of Ozognathus cornutus (LeConte, 1859) (Coleoptera Ptinidae) from Sardinia, Italy.

Ozognathus cornutus (LeConte, 1859) is recorded on the invasive alien tree Robinia pseudocacia L. (Fabaceae) in an urban area in Italy. The species has already been reported in two other Italian regions, but this is the first record for the Sardinian fauna. Due to the great adaptability of this alien species and the increasingly cosmopolitan trend, we suggest monitoring it with caution for early detection and to plan an appropriate rapid management response

Hypergastrinemia and enterochromaffin-like cell hyperplasia.

The enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells, the most frequent endocrine cells of the oxyntic mucosa of the stomach, are under the trophic stimulus of gastrin. These cells undergo a hyperplastic increase in variety of hypergastrinemic diseases. The most widely accepted nomenclature for the description of hyperplastic proliferation has been retrospectively arranged in a sequence presumed to reflect a temporal evolution of the proliferative process. A comparative, prospective study aimed to verify, in human hypergastrinemic diseases such as atrophic body gastritis (ABG), Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES) and antral gastrin cell hyperfunction (AGCH), the effect of exposure of ECL cells to different pattern of gastrin hypersecretion, is lacking. To this purpose, we studied a series of consecutive patients with ABG, ZES and AGCH at the time of first diagnosis. Material and Methods: The patients included in this study (124 ABG, 18 ZES and 10 AGCH) were selected on the basis of two previously performed screening studies aimed to diagnose these diseases. All patients at the time of diagnosis underwent gastroscopy, with multiple biopsies of the gastric body mucosa for the evaluation of qualitative pattern of ECL cells hyperplasia, and basal fasting gastrin determination. A sample of hypergastrinemic patients from each group was further investigated by meal-stimulation of gastrin secretion and quantitative morphometry for CgA positive gastric body endocrine cells. Results: AGCH patients showed only the normal or simple hyperplasia pattern. In the ZES group, simple and linear grades accounted for 38.4 percent and 46.1 percent, respectively. MEN-I patients showed only these two patterns. The majority of ABG patients showed the presence of micronodular pattern (59.7 percent). A correlation analysis between fasting gastrin levels and grade of hyperplasia (r = 0.5580, p < 0.0001), indicates that the greater the gastrin levels, the higher is the degree of severity of ECL hyperplasia pattern. In conclusion, our data support the role of gastrin as the selective contributor to the progression of ECL cell hyperplasia in humans

An unknown hotspot of plant diversity in the heart of the Central Apennine. Flora and vegetation outline of Mt. Pozzoni-St. Rufo valley (Cittareale, Rieti)

Surprisingly enough, Italy still has some botanically unexplored areas; among these there are some territories between Lazio, Umbria and Abruzzo not included in any protected area. The study area, ranging for 340 ha, includes the mountainous area of Mt. Pozzoni-Mt. Prato-St. Rufo valley, which forms the upper part of the river Velino basin, located in the territory of the municipality of Cittareale (Rieti, Lazio), at an elevation from 1150 to 1903 m a.s.l. The substrate is mainly made of marly limestone of the MesoCenozoic Umbria-Marche sedimentary succession. The climate is Temperate and comprises vegetation belts from the montane to sub-alpine. Land cover is dominated by pastures and deciduous forests, with only a few hay meadows. 794 entities have been detected: 16% are considered rare or very rare for the regional territory with several floristic novelties for the regional flora, 6% of the total was found to be endemic to Italy and only eight taxa were aliens. Four taxa are new for the regional flora of Lazio: Arum cylindraceum, Alopecurus pratensis subsp. pratensis, Hieracium bupleuroides and Trinia glauca subsp. glauca. Forest vegetation is represented by beech forests, while dry grasslands are the most widespread vegetation type. The greatest phytocoenotic diversity was found within the secondary pastures. Particularly interesting is the plant community with Iris marsica, which suggests that limestone mountain ledges can represent a primary habitat for this endemic species of the Central Apennine. The presence of several habitats listed in the EU Habitat Directive indicates how the lack of detailed territorial knowledge can lead to the non-designation of conservation sites in areas of high naturalistic value. These findings showed that botanical explorations in territories which are still not known could contribute significantly to the identification of areas of high interest in conserving plant diversity

The prevalence of pancreatic cystic lesions in patients with liver cirrhosis is double that in controls

Background and aims: Pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs) are commonly diagnosed incidentally and are often preneoplastic. Their presence may influence the management of patients with chronic diseases such as liver cirrhosis (LC). This study evaluated the prevalence and nature of PCLs in LC patients. Methods: The images of 192 LC patients and 192 controls who underwent either computed tomography scan or nuclear magnetic resonance were reviewed for the presence and nature of PCLs. The prevalence of PCLs in both groups and differences between LC patients with and without PCLs were analysed. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to investigate factors associated with PCLs. Results: Thirty-five of 192 LC patients (18%) and 19/192 controls (10%) had PCLs (p =.027). The prevalence of presumptive intraductal pancreatic mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) was double in LC patients compared with controls (14% vs 7%; p =.065). In multivariate analysis, age, LC and having undergone a magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography were factors associated with PCLs and IPMNs. LC patients with PCLs were older at the time of imaging and had a longer history of liver disease (67 vs. 43 months; p = 0.039) compared with LC patients without PCLs. Conclusions: PCLs are more common in LC patients than in controls, and most are IPMNs. The occurrence of PCLs in LC patients seems to be related to age and disease duration

Focusing on the role of abiotic and biotic drivers on cross-taxon congruence

Diversity patterns can show congruence across taxonomic groups. Consistent diversity patterns allow the identification of indicator surrogates potentially representative of unobserved taxa or the broader biodiversity patterns. However, the effective use of biodiversity surrogates depends on underlying mechanisms driving the strength of the relationship among taxonomic groups. Here, we explored congruence patterns in community composition among taxa occupying different trophic levels, accounting for abiotic and biotic factors: vascular plants and six groups of ground-dwelling arthropods (pseudoscorpions, spiders, darkling beetles, rove beetles, ground beetles and ants) were chosen as potential indicator surrogates. We evaluated the cross-taxon relationships using Mantel test; subsequently, we investigated if these relationships could partially depend on abiotic drivers, using partial Mantel tests; then, we evaluated the partial contributions of abiotic and biotic drivers in explaining these relationships through a series of variation partitioning analyses. Our results showed that a consistent cross-taxon congruence pattern was evident across almost all group pairs: pseudoscorpions, spiders, ground beetles and vascular plants showed the largest number of significant correlations with other taxa. Environmental gradients resulted as drivers of cross-taxon congruence, shaping composition patterns. However, they were not the only ones. Biotic drivers account for part of cross-taxon congruence among vascular plants and arthropod predators (i.e., pseudoscorpions and spiders, but also ground beetles), as well as among taxa at high trophic levels. Almost all strictly predatory taxa, known as biological control agents, emerged as the best predictors of plant community composition even when the role of environmental factors was considered. Spiders/ants and spiders/ground beetles showed close relationships and congruent composition patterns, irrespective of environmental parameters. Relationships among taxa might be driven by several complex biotic interactions (e.g., non-trophic and trophic interactions, direct and indirect interactions). Bottom-up and top-down forces, consumptive and non-consumptive interactions may play a role in influencing the community composition of taxa and driving the observed relationships. Future studies should broaden knowledge about the role of these forces and interactions in determining the congruence across taxa. The multi-trophic perspective in cross-taxon studies can be promising for identifying biodiversity surrogates and their application in conservation planning

Risk factors for liver decompensation and hcc in hcv-cirrhotic patients after daas: A multicenter prospective study

Background: Prospective studies on predictors of liver-related events in cirrhotic subjects achieving SVR after DAAs are lacking. Methods: We prospectively enrolled HCV cirrhotic patients in four Italian centers between November 2015 and October 2017. SVR and no-SVR cases were compared according to the presence or absence of liver-related events during a 24-month follow-up. Independent predictors of liver-related events were evaluated by Cox regression analysis. Results: A total of 706 subjects started DAAs therapy. SVR was confirmed in 687 (97.3%). A total of 61 subjects (8.9%) in the SVR group and 5 (26.3%) in the no-SVR group had liver-related events (p &lt; 0.03). The incidence rate x 100 p/y was 1.6 for HCC, 1.7 for any liver decompensation, and 0.5 for hepatic death. Baseline liver stiffness (LSM) ≥ 20 kPa (HR 4.0; 95% CI 1.1–14.1) and genotype different from 1 (HR 7.5; 95% CI 2.1–27.3) were both independent predictors of liver decompensation. Baseline LSM &gt; 20 KPa (HR 7.2; 95% CI 1.9–26.7) was the sole independent predictor of HCC. A decrease in liver stiffness (Delta LSM) by at least 20% at the end of follow-up was not associated with a decreased risk of liver-related events. Conclusion: Baseline LSM ≥ 20 kPa identifies HCV cirrhotic subjects at higher risk of liver-related events after SVR

Sarcopenia is associated with reduced survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing sorafenib treatment

Background: Sarcopenia has been associated with poor outcomes in patients with cirrhosis and solid tumours. Objective: Analyse the influence of sarcopenia on survival and treatment duration in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with sorafenib. Methods: We conducted a multicentre, retrospective study on 96 patients with advanced HCC treated with sorafenib, all with available abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan within 30 days from treatment start. Anthropometric, laboratory, treatment and follow-up data were collected. Sarcopenia was defined by reduced skeletal muscle index calculated from an L3 section CT image. Results: Sarcopenia was present in 49% of patients. Patients were divided into two groups according to sarcopenia: age was significantly higher in the sarcopenic group (SG) (66 years (31–87) versus 72 years (30–84), p = 0.04], with no difference in other baseline characteristics. The SG showed shorter overall survival (OS) (39 (95% confidence interval (CI) 26–50) versus 61 (95% CI 47–77) weeks (p = 0,01)) and shorter time on treatment (12.3 (95% CI 8–19) versus 25.9 (95% CI 15–33) weeks (p = 0.0044)). At multivariate analysis, sarcopenia was independently associated to reduced OS (p = 0.03) and reduced time on treatment (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Sarcopenia is present in almost half of patients with advanced HCC, and is associated with reduced survival and reduced duration of oral chemotherapy

Cross Taxon Congruence Between Lichens and Vascular Plants in a Riparian Ecosystem

Despite that congruence across taxa has been proved as an effective tool to provide insights into the processes structuring the spatial distribution of taxonomic groups and is useful for conservation purposes, only a few studies on cross-taxon congruence focused on freshwater ecosystems and on the relations among vascular plants and lichens. We hypothesized here that, since vascular plants could be good surrogates of lichens in these ecosystems, it would be possible to assess the overall biodiversity of riparian habitats using plant data only. In this frame, we explored the relationship between (a) species richness and (b) community composition of plants and lichens in a wetland area located in central Italy to (i) assess whether vascular plants are good surrogates of lichens and (ii) to test the congruence of patterns of species richness and composition among plants and lichens along an ecological gradient. The general performance of plant species richness per se, as a biodiversity surrogate of lichens, had poor results. Nonetheless, the congruence in compositional patterns between lichens and vascular plants varied across habitats and was influenced by the characteristics of the vegetation. In general, we discussed how the strength of the studied relationships could be influenced by characteristics of the data (presence/absence vs. abundance), by the spatial scale, and by the features of the habitats. Overall, our data confirm that the more diverse and structurally complex the vegetation is, the more diverse are the lichen communities it hosts