Fluctuaciones estacionales de algunas características biológicas de la invasora Caprella scaura en el Mar Piccolo de Taranto (mar Jónico, sur de Italia).

Caprella scaura is an epifaunal amphipod crustacean that originates in the western Indian Ocean and has spread throughout the world, but very little is known about fundamental aspects of its biology. This paper is the first presentation of its life history traits in an invaded region. The study was conducted in the Mar Piccolo basin (southern Italy, Ionian Sea), over a one-year period. All biological parameters showed a strong seasonal pattern, breeding peaked twice during the year and the number of eggs in the ventral brood pouch ranged from 5 to 72. The sex ratio was generally close to 1:1. A strong correlation between total length of ovigerous females and number of eggs was observed. The mean length of both mature males and mature females was 10.63 and 7.70 mm, respectively. The results of this study showed that the population dynamics of this species was not dissimilar to that of other caprellids or marine epifaunal Crustacea. This caprellid has given rise to a stable population in the Mar Piccolo; it was present all year round in the study area but its density suggests that it is not yet a strong invader.Caprella scaura es un crustáceo anfípodo originario del Océano Índico occidental, que se ha extendido por todo el mundo. Sin embargo, poco se conoce sobre la biología de la especie. Este artículo es un primera presentación de algunas características de la especie en una región invadida. El estudio se realizó en la cuenca del Mar Piccolo (sur de Italia, Mar Jónico) durante un año. Todos los parámetros biológicos mostraron un patrón estacional con picos reproductivos en dos ocasiones durante el año y con un número de huevos entre 5 y 72. La proporción de sexos estuvo en torno 1:1. Se observó una fuerte correlación entre la longitud total de hembras ovígeras y el número de huevos. La longitud media de las hembras y los machos maduros fue 10.63 y 7.70 respectivamente. Los resultados de este estudio mostraron que la dinámica poblacional de esta especie no es muy distinta al resto de crustáceos caprélidos. Se puede hablar de una población estable en el Mar Piccolo, ya que estuvo presente durante todo el año en el área estudiada, sin embargo su densidad sugiere que no parece ser un invasor fuerte aún

Effects of commercial formulations of glyphosate on marine crustaceans and implications for risk assessment under temperature changes.

Abstract Glyphosate-based formulations are the most commonly used herbicides worldwide with the risk of potential contamination of aquatic bodies. The present study assessed the response of four marine crustaceans to three different brands of herbicides Roundup®Platinum, Efesto® and Taifun® MK CL.T, under two selected temperatures of 20 °C and 30 °C. The harpacticoid copepod Tigriopus fulvus, the anostracan Artemia franciscana, the amphipod Corophium insidiosum and the isopod Sphaeroma serratum were chosen as testing organisms. Effects of herbicides and temperatures were assessed by estimating lethal concentrations. The results showed that the high temperature rises the toxicity of glyphosate with an increase of mortality of all the tested species. This is an important aspect for future risk assessments of pesticides under global climate change scenarios. Efesto® resulted the most toxic brand, showing C. insidiosum the most sensitive with 96 h-LC50 values of 3.25 mg/L acid equivalent (a.e.) at 30 °C and 7.94 mg/L a.e. at 20 °C followed by T. fulvus while A. franciscana and S. serratum were the less sensitive. This study provides important information for assessing the toxic effects of three different brands of glyphosate-based herbicides on non-target marine organisms suggesting that they should be carefully managed to minimize any negative impact on marine organisms

Multi-endpoint effects of derelict tubular mussel plastic nets on Tigriopus fulvus

Microplastic debris from direct and indirect human activities is considered a major threat to the marine biodiversity mainly due to its abundance, durability, persistence, and ability to accumulate contaminants from the environment. Derelict tubular plastic nets of various colours (blue (BN), yellow (YN), green (GN), pink (PN), and white (WN) net), used to distinguish mussel farming owners, were collected by scuba-dive from the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea). All nets were made of polypropylene. Investigations looked for potential acute (mortality) and sub-chronic (mortality, larval development and moult release number, and adult percentage after 5–9 days) effects on Tigriopus fulvus nauplii considering both whole plastics (microplastic (MP), 50 mg/L) and leachates (12.5–100%). Acute test determined a median lethal concentration (LC50) only for BN for both MPs (107 mg/L) and leachates (50.1%). The prolonged exposure (5 days) to microplastics did not affect the T. fulvus survival. After 9 days, YN and BN decreased of approximately 100% larval development

Lessons learned from COVID-19 pandemic in Italy

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Italy has been one of the most affected countries in Europe and the second for number of deaths. In this commentary, we discuss some lessons that we learned as healthcare providers working in a large public hospital during the pandemic, with a special focus on the importance of infection containment and early diagnosis, the role of swab, serological tests, home isolation and individual protection devices,  and the available therapies and management indications to better face a possible new outbreak in the near future. These comments should stimulate a more diffused, efficient and efficacious management of COVID-19 patients, also reducing the number of accesses to hospital emergency departments and the related spread of the infection

Individual and combined effects of amoxicillin and carbamazepine to the marine copepod Tigriopus fulvus

: Pharmaceuticals can be considered a global threat to aquatic ecosystems due to their pseudo-persistence and their potential toxicity towards non-target species. Amoxicillin (AMX) and carbamazepine (CBZ) and their mixture (1:1) were investigated on the marine copepod Tigriopus fulvus (Fischer, 1860) considering both acute and chronic endpoints. While acute and chronic exposure did not directly affect survival, reproductive endpoints were affected like the mean egg hatching time that was significantly longer than the negative control for treatments with AMX (0.789 ± 0.079 μg/L), CBZ (8.88 ± 0.89 μg/L), and AMX and CMZ as a mixture (1.03 ± 0.10 μg/L and 0.941 ± 0.094 μg/L), in that order

Cubic and Hexagonal Mesophases for Protein Encapsulation: Structural Effects of Insulin Confinement

Monoolein-based cubic and hexagonal mesophases were investigated as matrices for insulin loading, at low pH, as a function of temperature and in the presence of increasing amounts of oleic acid, as a structural stabilizer for the hexagonal phase. Synchrotron small angle X-ray diffraction, rheological measurements, and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to study the effects of insulin loading on the lipid mesophases and of the effect of protein confinement in the 2D-and 3D-lipid matrix water channels on its stability and unfolding behavior. We found that insulin encapsulation has only little effects both on the mesophase structures and on the viscoelastic properties of lipid systems, whereas protein confinement affects the response of the secondary structure of insulin to thermal changes in a different manner according to the specific mesophase: in the cubic structure, the unfolding toward an unordered structure is favored, while the prevalence of parallel β-sheets, and nuclei for fibril formation, is observed in hexagonal structures

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in pediatrics. FASD and the pediatrician

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a complex and malformative condition due to the teratogenic effect of alcohol consumed during pregnancy. Several epidemiological studies have shown that maternal alcohol use during pregnancy is the most common preventable cause of mental retardation in childhood. The effects of alcohol on the fetus range from abortion to a spectrum of clinical manifestations called Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) that includes partial FAS (PFAS), neonatal Alcohol Related Birth Defects (ARBD) and Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ARND) up to the most severe disease which is the so-called FAS

Lessons learned from COVID-19 pandemic in Italy – A commentary

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Italy has been one of the most affected countries in Europe and the second for number of deaths. In this commentary, we discuss some lessons that we learned as health-care providers working in a large public hospital during the pandemic, with a special focus on the importance of infection containment and early diagnosis, the role of swab, serological tests, home isolation and individual protection  devices, and the available therapies and management indications to better face a possible new outbreak in the near future. These comments should stimulate a more diffused, efficient, and efficacious management of COVID-19 patients, also reducing the number of admissions to hospital emergency departments and the related spread of the infection

The Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) Mission

The Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) mission will map hydrogen enrichments within permanently shadowed regions at the lunar south pole using a miniature neutron spectrometer. While hydrogen enrichments have been identified regionally from previous orbital missions, the spatial extent of these regions are often below the resolution of the neutron instruments that have flown on lunar missions. LunaH-Map will enter into an elliptical, low altitude perseline orbit which will enable the mission to spatially isolate and constrain the hydrogen enrichments within permanently shadowed regions. LunaH-Map will use a solid iodine ion propulsion system, X-Band radio communications through the NASA Deep Space Network, star tracker, C&DH and EPS systems from Blue Canyon Technologies, solar arrays from MMA Designs, LLC, mission design and navigation by KinetX. Spacecraft systems design, integration, qualification, test and mission operations are performed by Arizona State University

LunaH-Map: Revealing Lunar Water with a New Radiation Sensor Array

A new type of neutron and gamma-ray spectrometer called the Miniature Neutron Spectrometer (Mini-NS) has been developed, assembled, qualified and delivered as part of the Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper (LunaH-Map) cubesat mission. The LunaH-Map spacecraft is currently manifested as a secondary payload on the Space Launch System (SLS) Artemis-1 rocket. LunaH-Map will deploy from Artemis-1 and enter a low altitude perilune elliptical orbit around the Moon. The Mini-NS will measure the lunar epithermal neutron albedo, and measurements around perilune will be used to produce maps of hydrogen enrichments and depletions across the lunar South Pole region including both within and outside of permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). The Min-NS was designed to achieve twice the epithermal neutron count rate of the Lunar Prospector Neutron Spectrometer (LP-NS). The instrument response was characterized through the collection of pre-flight neutron counting data with a Cf-252 neutron source at Arizona State University across hundreds of power cycles, as well as across the expected temperature range. The instrument spatial response was characterized at the Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) Neutron Free In-Air Facility. The LunaH-Map Mini-NS was designed to fit within the cubesat form-factor and uses two detectors with eight sensor heads that can be operated independently. For future missions with different science goals that can be achieved with epithermal neutron detection, the number of Mini-NS sensor heads can easily be modified without requiring a complete re-design and re-qualification