Soil rooting depth of Italy

Soils perform several functions in delivering ecosystem services and soil thematic maps are useful for environmental modelling, landscape planning, and management optimization. This study aimed at producing the first soil rooting depth map of Italy at 1:250,000 scale based on the legacy soil maps, soil data and benchmark profiles, combined with the auxiliary data. The map highlights that moderately deep (33%) and deep (25%) soils are predominant and mainly distributed in hilly areas, while very deep soils (18%) are prevalent in the fluvial and coastal plains. The validation procedure showed that 87% of the soil rooting depth map classes fall within the same and adjacent classes of the measured soil profiles database. The soil rooting depth map of Italy at 1:250,000 scale can be a useful tool to support land management and spatial planning in terms of agro-environmental measures, making reliable assessments for ecological sustainability studies, and for environmental territorial analyses

How to render species comparable taxonomic units through deep time : a case study on intraspecific osteological variability in extant and extinct lacertid lizards

Generally, the species is considered to be the only naturally occurring taxon. However, species recognized and defined using different species delimitation criteria cannot readily be compared, impacting studies of biodiversity through Deep Time. This comparability issue is particularly marked when comparing extant with extinct species because the only available data for species delimitation in fossils are derived from their preserved morphology, which is generally restricted to osteology in vertebrates. Here, we quantify intraspecific, intrageneric, and intergeneric osteological variability in extant species of lacertid lizards using pairwise dissimilarity scores based on a data set of 253 discrete osteological characters for 99 specimens referred to 24 species. Variability is always significantly lower intraspecifically than between individuals belonging to distinct species of a single genus, which is in turn significantly lower than intergeneric variability. Average values of intraspecific variability and associated standard deviations are consistent (with few exceptions), with an overall average within a species of 0.208 changes per character scored. Application of the same methods to six extinct lacertid species (represented by 40 fossil specimens) revealed that intraspecific osteological variability is inconsistent, which can at least in part be attributed to different researchers having unequal expectations of the skeletal dissimilarity within species units. Such a divergent interpretation of intraspecific and interspecific variability among extant and extinct species reinforces the incomparability of the species unit. Lacertidae is an example where extant species recognized and defined based on a number of delimitation criteria show comparable and consistent intraspecific osteological variability. Here, as well as in equivalent cases, application of those skeletal dissimilarity values to paleontological species delimitation potentially provides a way to ameliorate inconsistencies created by the use of morphology to define species

Toll-Like Receptor 4 Modulates Small Intestine Neuromuscular Function through Nitrergic and Purinergic Pathways

Objective: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a pivotal role in the homeostatic microflora-host crosstalk. TLR4-mediated modulation of both motility and enteric neuronal survival has been reported mainly for colon with limited information on the role of TLR4 in tuning structural and functional integrity of enteric nervous system (ENS) and in controlling small bowel motility. Methods: Male TLR4 knockout (TLR4-/-, 9 \ub1 1 weeks old) and sex- and age-matched wild-type (WT) C57BL/6J mice were used for the experiments. Alterations in ENS morphology and neurochemical code were assessed by immunohistochemistry whereas neuromuscular function was evaluated by isometric mechanical activity of ileal preparations following receptor and non-receptor-mediated stimuli and by gastrointestinal transit. Results: The absence of TLR4 induced gliosis and reduced the total number of neurons, mainly nNOS+ neurons, in ileal myenteric plexus. Furthermore, a lower cholinergic excitatory response with an increased inhibitory neurotransmission was found together with a delayed gastrointestinal transit. These changes were dependent on increased ileal non-adrenergic non-cholinergic (NANC) relaxations mediated by a complex neuronal-glia signaling constituted by P2X7 and P2Y1 receptors, and NO produced by nNOS and iNOS. Conclusion: We provide novel evidence that TLR4 signaling is involved in the fine-tuning of P2 receptors controlling ileal contractility, ENS cell distribution, and inhibitory NANC neurotransmission via the combined action of NO and adenosine-5\u2032-triphosphate (ATP). For the first time, this study implicates TLR4 at regulating the crosstalk between glia and neurons in small intestine and helps to define its role in gastrointestinal motor abnormalities during dysbiosis

917-97 Decreased Resistance Against Oxidation of LDL from Patients with Homozigous Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) was the first genetic disorder recognized to cause myocardial infarction. Homozigotes (H) inherit two mutant genes at the low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor locus, and as a result of the increased levels and prolonged residence time of LDL in plasma, there is a strong tendency toward accumulation of LDL in the arterial wall, causing early atherogenesis. It has been shown that LDL might undergo oxidation before it can be taken up by macrophages and it become foam cells. Thus, one additional explanation for atherogenesis in FH may be the extent to which LDL is susceptible to oxidation. We selected 8 homozigous FH pts (mean total-cholesterol 825±70mg/dl) matched with 8 healthy subjects to investigate the LDL oxidizability. Skin fibroblast cultures showed that one patient was receptor negative, while others were receptor-defective. LDL were isolated from serum by ultracentrifugations in KBr. Purified LDL was exposed to oxygen radicals generated by the xanthine/xanthine oxidase reaction (2mM and 100mU, respectively for 18hs at 37°C). Malonildihaldehyde (MDAI content was evaluated by the thiobarbiturate method. LDL analysis was carried on polyacrylamide (PAGE; 5 to 16% gradient) and agarose gel electrophoresis (0.8% in Tris-HCL buffer). No significant increase was observed in the basal concentration of MDA between LDL from H and controls (0.8±0.12 and 0.9±0.15nmoles of MDAlmg of protein, respectively). Instead, afteroxidation MDAwas 35.1±4.5* nmoles/mg of protein LDL from H, and 23.5±4.1 in controls (*p<0.05). PAGE confirmed the purity of LDL, present as an intact apolipoprotein B100(apo-B100). When oxidized LDL was run on PAGE an extensive apo-B100fragmentation, replaced by lower fragments ranging from 97.400 to 205.000 m.w., was only observed in LDL from H but not in controls in our experimental conditions. MDA content after oxidation of LDL correlated well with the loss of intact apo-B100. Finally, the relative LDL mobility on agarose gel was evaluated. This assay allows to detect changes in electric charge induced by oxidation. Basal LDL from H and controls migrated as homogeneous bands to 1.2±0.2 and 1.1±0.2cm from the origin. In contrast, oxidized LDL from H migrated to 2.1±0.3*cm from the origin while those of controls migrated to 1.5±0.2 (*p<0.05). Thus, in FH LDL appear to be more susceptible to oxidationin vitro; the indices for LDL oxidizability were all significantly different from those of controls. This phenomenon may be an important additional mechanism of atherogenesis in homozigous FH

Burden and viral aetiology of influenza-like illness and acute respiratory infection in intensive care units

The purpose of this investigation was to study the viral aetiology of influenza-like illness (ILI) and acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) among patients requiring intensive care unit admission.A cross-sectional retrospective study was carried out in Sicily over a 4-year period. A total of 233 respiratory samples of patients with ILI/ARTI admitted to intensive care units were molecularly analyzed for the detection of a comprehensive panel of aetiologic agents of viral respiratory infections.About 45% of patients was positive for at least one pathogen. Single aetiology occurred in 75.2% of infected patients, while polymicrobial infection was found in 24.8% of positive subjects. Influenza was the most common aetiologic agent (55.7%), especially among adults. Most of patients with multiple aetiology (76.9%) were adults and elderly. Mortality rates among patients with negative or positive aetiology did not significantly differ (52.4% and 47.6%, respectively).Highly transmissible respiratory pathogens are frequently detected among patients with ILI/ARTI admitted in intensive care units, showing the occurrence of concurrent infections by different viruses. The knowledge of the circulation of several types of microorganisms is of crucial importance in terms of appropriateness of therapies, but also for the implication in prevention strategies and hospital epidemiology

Autoptic findings of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in patients with arrhythmogenic ventricular cardiomiopathy (AVC) from left ventricle and biventricular involvement.

Objectives: To evaluate autoptic histopathological findings of arrhythmogenic ventricular cardiomyopathy (AVC) as major cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young adults. Background: According to Heart Rhythm Society (HRS)'s international consensus, histological criteria for AVC diagnosis include a progressive myocardial atrophy of the right ventricle characterized by a transmural fatty or fibrofatty replacement in a segmental or diffuse pattern (residual myocytes <60 % vs 60–75 % by morphometric analysis) explaining the electrical instability with increased risk of SCD. However, there is increasing evidence for atypical patterns of localizations and percentage of fibrofatty replacement suggesting the need to update histopathological features of AVC. Methods: Histology examination of ventricles, atria, and septum was performed on 10 autopsy of SCD due to AVC. Staining with hematoxylin-eosin and PicroSirius Red/Fast Green were performed on the heart samples to identify specific fibrofatty patterns. Results: Our analysis showed that: 1) myocardial replacement by a diffuse segmental fatty or fibro-fatty tissue characterized right and left ventricles as well as atrial walls; 2) the degree of fibrofatty tissue replacement was less than 40 % both in left ventricle (n = 4, 40 %) and biventricular (n = 6, 60 %) localization; 3) perivascular fibrosis, inflammatory infiltrate, areas of hypertrophy and/or areas of coagulative necrosis as signs of hypoxic damage in the first stage. Conclusions: We confirmed prior evidence for fibrofatty replacement both in biventricular and septal localizations. Importantly, we observed a less degree (<40 %) of fibrofatty replacement as compared to current guidelines. This supports the need to further explore the histological patterns of fibrofatty infiltration in a larger study population to improve the histological diagnostic criteria of AVC

Generating and Instantiating Abstract Workflows with QoS User Requirements

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IGHV mutational status of nodal marginal zone lymphoma by NGS reveals distinct pathogenic pathways with different prognostic implications

The precise B cell of origin and molecular pathogenesis of nodal marginal zone lymphoma (NMZL) remain poorly defined. To date, due to the rarity of NMZL, the vast majority of already-published studies have been conducted on a limited number of samples and the technical approach to analyze the immunoglobulin genes was of amplifying rearranged variable region genes with the classical direct sequencing of the PCR products followed by cloning. Here, we studied the B cell Ig heavy-chain repertoires by next-generation sequencing (NGS) in 30 NMZL cases. Most of the cases were mutated (20/28; 71.5%) with homologies to the respective germ line genes ranging from 85 to 97, 83%, whereas 8/28 (28.5%) were unmutated. In addition, our results show that NMZL cases have a biased usage of specific immunoglobulin heavy-chain variable (IGHV) region genes. Moreover, we documented intraclonal diversity in all (100%) of the mutated cases and ongoing somatic hypermutations (SHM) have been confirmed by hundreds of reads. We analyzed the mutational pattern to detect and quantify antigen selection pressure and we found a positive selection in 4 cases, whereas in the remaining cases there was an unspecific stimulation. Finally, the disease-specific survival and the progression-free survival were significantly different between cases with mutated and unmutated IGHV genes, pointing out mutational status as a possible new biomarker in NMZL

p63 Promotes Cell Survival through Fatty Acid Synthase

There is increasing evidence that p63, and specifically ΔNp63, plays a central role in both development and tumorigenesis by promoting epithelial cell survival. However, few studies have addressed the molecular mechanisms through which such important function is exerted. Fatty acid synthase (FASN), a key enzyme that synthesizes long-chain fatty acids and is involved in both embryogenesis and cancer, has been recently proposed as a direct target of p53 family members, including p63 and p73. Here we show that knockdown of either total or ΔN-specific p63 isoforms in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC9) or immortalized prostate epithelial (iPrEC) cells caused a decrease in cell viability by inducing apoptosis without affecting the cell cycle. p63 silencing significantly reduced both the expression and the activity of FASN. Importantly, stable overexpression of either FASN or myristoylated AKT (myr-AKT) was able to partially rescue cells from cell death induced by p63 silencing. FASN induced AKT phosphorylation and a significant reduction in cell viability was observed when FASN-overexpressing SCC9 cells were treated with an AKT inhibitor after p63 knockdown, indicating that AKT plays a major role in FASN-mediated survival. Activated AKT did not cause any alteration in the FASN protein levels but induced its activity, suggesting that the rescue from apoptosis documented in the p63-silenced cells expressing myr-AKT cells may be partially mediated by FASN. Finally, we demonstrated that p63 and FASN expression are positively associated in clinical squamous cell carcinoma samples as well as in the developing prostate. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that FASN is a functionally relevant target of p63 and is required for mediating its pro-survival effects