Conservazione e gestione della naturalità negli ecosistemi marino-costieri. Il trapianto delle praterie di Posidonia oceanica

Dal 1980 ad oggi, ogni 30 minuti, si è persa un’area ricoperta di fanerogame marine equivalente ad 1 campo di calcio cioè, nel tempo di gioco di una partita, 3 campi di fanerogame marine scompaiono”. Nell’area mediterranea, le praterie di Posidonia oceanica, uno degli ecosistemi marini di maggior pregio, sono oggi in forte regressione, principalmente a causa delle diverse pressioni antropiche che insistono sulla fascia costiera. Accanto alle numerose azioni di protezione, si è ultimamente sviluppata l’idea di tutelare le praterie anche mediante interventi di trapianto, in grado sia di accelerare la lenta colonizzazione della prateria sia di favorire il ripristino dell’ecosistema degradato. Nel lavoro “Il trapianto delle praterie di Posidonia oceanica”, ISPRA presenta una rassegna delle informazioni ad oggi disponibili su tale tematica, derivanti sia dall’analisi critica della letteratura scientifica esistente e degli aspetti normativi vigenti, sia da specifiche esperienze tecniche maturate in alcuni casi studio. Tale manuale può inoltre costituire un valido strumento di supporto per tecnici e amministratori coinvolti nella gestione della fascia costiera e nella tutela degli ecosistemi ivi presenti

FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED RESEARCH ON FRESHWATER DECAPODS IN ITALY

The study group of freshwater decapods established within the Italian Association of Freshwater Ichthyologists aims at improving knowledge on the biology of both native and alien freshwater crayfish, shrimps, and crabs which currently inhabit Italian lentic and lotic waters, promoting at the same time the establishment of a network of experts that guarantees an adequate spread of correct useful and usable information, not only for management activities by the local and national competent authorities, but even by non-experts. The group deals with taxonomy, systematic, zoogeography, ecology, ethology, physiology, anatomy, genetics, conservation (of natives) and management (of aliens) of freshwater decapods in Italy. Our main aim is to update the status of freshwater decapods within the national territory, useful for monitoring programs on these species and the habitats where they inhabit. It is necessary to study all the aspects of this order because many species represent an ecological (as a keystone species), fauna (some taxa are interesting peninsular endemisms), biogeographical (the Whole order includes peculiar models of dispersion, migration and vicariance) and evolutionary (there are stimulating case studies of adaptive radiation phenomena linked to a specific ecological value) heritage. Also from an applied perspective, freshwater decapods have a peculiar double aspect linked to the conservation of aquatic environments: on the one side some species can be considered as valuable biological indicators, but on the other side many alien species are reported to be invasive and their management is mandatory, according to the new European and Italian legislations, and should be ecologically, economically and culturally examined to evaluate their effects on environment, human activities and health

Reproduction of reef-building scleractinians (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) from the Apulian coral reef: preliminary data and relationship with temperature

This contribution supplies the first description of the reproductive cycle of Phyllangia americana mouchezii and Polycyathus muellerae (Cnidaria, Anthozoa), the main builders of the Mediterranean coral reef recently described for the first time along the Apulian coasts, focusing on both the sexual and asexual reproductive activity and trying to assess the relationship between gametogenesis and seawater temperature. Sample collection was performed monthly, from December 2020 to January 2022, at depths between 35 and 45 m, and at the same time seawater temperature was measured at 1 m and 40 m of depth. At the laboratory, samples were subjected to histological procedures aimed at highlighting the presence of reproductive elements in the polyp tissues. A multiple regression analysis was then performed to test the relationship between gametogenesis in the two species, depth, and surface and deep-water temperature. On the whole, both species resulted oviparous and gonochoric, with a sex ratio between male and female colonies of 1:2.3 in P. a. mouchezii and 1:1.6 in P. muellerae. However, hermaphrodite colonies were sometimes found during the investigation, accounting for about 7% of the total reproductive colonies in the former species and 11% in the latter. In P. a. mouchezii about 32% of the colonies resulted in gametogenesis, in P. muellerae about 37%. Both species showed an irregularly cyclical trend of gametogenesis, with a greater energy investment during Summer. In general, the oogenesis was less intense during Winter and the spermatogenesis was concentrated in Spring/Summer. Statistical analysis revealed that in both species surface water temperature was a predictor for spermatogenesis, while oogenesis seemed to be less linked to water temperature fluctuations. No significant regression was observed for the other variables considered. The data provided may in the future contribute to the conservation of the Mediterranean coral reef, a peculiar and still poorly known habitat recently proposed as belonging to a real mesophotic system present along the Apulian coasts

Outcome of EGFR-mutated adenocarcinoma NSCLC patients with changed phenotype to squamous cell carcinoma after tyrosine kinase inhibitors: A pooled analysis with an additional case

The onset of a new histology is a resistant mechanism to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in lung adenocarcinoma (ADK), but this phenomenon has not yet been fully clarified. We present a pooled analysis of the outcomes of EGFR-mutated ADK patients with changed phenotype to squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) following TKI, along with the description of an additional case. A 67-year-old woman with EGFR-mutated NSCLC received gefitinib and subsequently osimertinib, due to the presence of T790 M at progression. The re-biopsy after third-generation TKI revealed SqCC histology along with the basal EGFR mutation, while T790 M disappeared. The patient rapidly progressed and died despite two chemotherapy cycles. Since this first description of SqCC transformation appearing after treatment with the third-generation TKI osimertinib, other 16 patients, with EGFR-mutated ADK developing a transformation to SqCC histology after treatment with TKIs, were up to now published. From our pooled analysis emerged that most patients were female (82%), 41% were former smokers and no current smokers were identified. Median time to SqCC onset was 11.5 months. In all cases, basal EGFR mutation was maintained, and 11 patients (65%) developed an acquired mutation on exon 20. Interestingly also 790 M mutation appeared in 8 patients (47%). The median survival after SqCC diagnosis was 3.5 months regardless the treatments received. Therefore, EGFR-mutated lung ADK destined to develop a squamous phenotype were often smokers and maintained the baseline genomic alterations. The prognosis after SqCC diagnosis was extremely poor and current treatments largely inefficacious

La ricerca di base e applicata sui decapodi dulcicoli in Italia

Il gruppo di studio dei decapodi d’acqua dolce istituito all’interno dell’Associazione Italiana Ittiologi Acque Dolci ha il principale obiettivo di studiare e migliorare la conoscenza di tutti gli aspetti della biologia di gamberi, gamberetti e granchi d’acqua dolce nativi e alieni, che attualmente vivono negli ambienti lentici e lotici italiani, promuovendo allo stesso tempo la costituzione di una rete di esperti che garantisca un’adeguata diffusione di corrette informazioni utili e fruibili non solo per le attività gestionali dalle autorità competenti locali e nazionali, ma anche dai non addetti al settore. Il gruppo si occupa di tassonomia, sistematica, zoogeografia, ecologia, etologia, fisiologia, anatomia, genetica, conservazione (delle native) e gestione (delle aliene) dei decapodi dulciacquicoli presenti in Italia. Il principale obiettivo di questo contributo è di fornire un aggiornamento dello stato attuale dei decapodi d’acqua dolce sul territorio nazionale che possa rappresentare un untile strumento di monitoraggio per queste specie e per gli habitat dove vivono. L’esigenza di approfondire la conoscenza di questo ordine in ogni suo aspetto nasce dalla consapevolezza che molte specie rappresentano un patrimonio ecologico (in quanto specie chiave di habitat bentonici), faunistico (alcuni taxa sono interessanti casi di endemismo peninsulare), biogeografico (l’intero ordine presenta singolari modelli di dispersione, migrazione e vicarianza) ed evolutivo (sono presenti stimolanti casi-studio di fenomeni di radiazione adattativa legati ad una particolare valenza ecologica). I decapodi dulciacquicoli presentano un particolare doppio aspetto legato alla conservazione degli ambienti acquatici: se da un lato alcune specie possono essere considerate come valenti indicatori biologici, dall’altro possiamo annoverare molte specie aliene invasive, la cui gestione è obbligatoria secondo le recenti normative europee e nazionali e richiede un’attenta analisi ecologica, economica e culturale, per valutare gli effetti di queste specie su ambiente, attività economiche e salute umana

Be-TeaM: An Italian real-world observational study on second-line therapy for EGFR-mutated NSCLC patients

Molecular diagnostics and care of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are continuously evolving. Few data document the current strategies to manage advanced NSCLC patients beyond progression in clinical practice

A proposito di spazio, limite, reinvenzione

Qusto libro include 60 profili di artiste nell'area romana e non solo; contributi critici di 15 fra studiose e studiosi di discipline storico-artistiche, filosofiche, sociologiche, antropologiche, psicologiche. Questi sono i numeri di FEMM[E]: un progetto - e un libro - nato sotto la denominazione e l'intento di una "ricerca sulla specificità (eventuale) dell'arte femminile", realizzata dal 2016 al 2018 su iniziativa e cura della storica dell'arte Anna Maria Panzera e dell'artista Veronica Montanino. Il mio testo parla del tema dell'abitazione e in specifico di «casa» che è riccorente nelle opere di artiste in tutto il mondo. Dopo gli esempi conosciuti della storia dell'arte contemporanea, il testo prosegue con le storie degli artisti con cui l'autrice ha collaborato sul tema di "Casa"

Ecosystem vulnerability to alien and invasive species: a case study on marine habitats along the Italian coast

1. Spread of alien species (AS) is a serious threat to marine habitats and analysis of principal descriptors of their occurrence is pivotal to set reliable conservation strategies. 2. In order to assess the susceptibility of marine habitats to biological invasions, a dataset was gathered of the occurrence of 3899 species from 29 phyla, taken from 93 marine sites located along the Italian coast in the period 2000\u20132012. 3. In total, 61 AS belonging to 11 phyla have been recorded. Invertebrates were the most represented (63%). Alien species were found in all the habitats examined (EUNIS, level 2), although they showed highest abundance in benthic habitats. Most of the AS were associated with a single EUNIS habitat, while some of them were present in more than one habitat. Trans-habitat occurrence suggests the potential invasiveness of AS. 4. According to statistical analysis, AS recorded could have been more numerous, since some of the marine habitats seemed to be still unsaturated. The model that best describes the spread of AS takes account of both native species richness (Rn) and EUNIS habitat type as explanatory variables. The number of observed AS was directly related to Rn and it was highest in rocky circalittoral and infralittoral habitats. 5. The results of this macro-ecological study focus on the importance of performing large-scale studies, since adopting ecosystem approaches to marine invasion management seems especially fruitful. 6. The results, moreover, highlight the importance of AS monitoring of different habitats, from those subjected to anthropogenic pressure, historically considered to be hubs of introduction of AS, to the most biologically rich and diverse marine habitats. Indeed, it is necessary to set monitoring strategies to detect the introduction, the distribution and persistence of AS over time. These recommendations are especially significant in the light of the strategic plans currently under formulation in Mediterranean countries with regard to AS monitorin