La Lotta microbiologica a difesa delle sugherete. Risultati ottenuti in Sardegna

Si riporta una sintesi delle indagini condotte in sugherete della Sardegna sui principali lepidotteri defogliatori. Le specie che causano danni di un certo rilievo sono Lymantria dispar L. e Malacosoma neustria (L.), con infestazioni di tipo periodico, e Tortrix viridana L., con fluttuazioni di tipo temporaneo. La periodicità delle gradazioni di L. dispar, studiata con il conteggio delle ovature, ha avuto un’ampiezza variabile fra 11 e 5-6 anni nei diversi comprensori subericoli dell’Isola, probabilmente per le differenti condizione di conservazione degli equilibri naturali nei singoli ambienti indagati. Sono inoltre illustrati i risultati di prove di lotta microbiologica condotte contro questo defogliatore con preparati a base di Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki. Dosi superiori a 30 miliardi di U.I. per ettaro hanno determinato elevate mortalità larvali (anche superiori all’80%) mentre la distribuzione di soli 16 miliardi di U.I./ha non ha garantito un’efficace protezione della vegetazione. I preparati microbiologici saggiati nel corso di 5 anni di sperimentazione non hanno avuto nessun effetto negativo diretto sull’entomofauna utile

Designing User Experience in eHealth Applications for Young-Age Epilepsy

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases in the world. One of the problems for families with children with epilepsy is nocturnal seizures: it’s important to prevent them or to promptly intervene, as they can be life-threatening. FightTheStroke foundation supports these families with MirrorHR, a mHealth application for epilepsy self-management. This thesis aimed to analyze the user needs and pain points of parents with children with epilepsy, assess the usability of MirrorHR, and evaluate a new remote monitoring scenario for the Real-Time Monitoring feature of the application. To achieve these objectives, extensive background research was conducted, starting with the more general scope of eHealth, and then exploring in more detail the various aspects surrounding epilepsy and the state of the art of digital solutions for epilepsy self-management and seizure detection. Based on this, a study was conducted on 9 users of the application, which consisted of two semi-structured qualitative interviews, each followed by a post-interview anonymous questionnaire. From the study, user needs and pain points were formulated and divided into 4 categories: Diagnostic journey, Epilepsy management, Educational support, and Parental support; more generic pain points on epilepsy self-management applications were also found and are considered as a separate additional category; good usability of the application was found, but some difficulties encountered by some users were also noted; ultimately, a new remote monitoring scenario was identified, in which MirrorHR monitoring functionality can also be used with the devices of different caregivers and at greater distances than before. A prototype was designed and developed for this scenario. The results of the study, along with the prototype, were positively evaluated by the participants. User needs and pain points provide useful insights for MirrorHR and other epilepsy self-management applications, as well as some more generic pain points may be of value for other mHealth applications. The analysis that led to the development of the identified scenario may be useful for other mHealth application scenarios that also consider children

Biological studies on Tomicus destruens (Wollaston) (Coleoptera Curculionidae Scolytinae): phenology, voltinism and sister broods.

Biology and behaviour of Tomicus destruens were investigated in Sardinian pine forest in order to define the seasonal pattern of trunk attacks by breeding adults, the number of annual generations, and the number of sister broods produced per female. The counting of maternal galleries made each month in trap trees shows that T. destruens colonizes the pine trunk in all the months between October and May with the highest infestation intensity in autumn followed by decreasing values. Female laid ca. 80 to 95 eggs per gallery in October-November and ca. 70 in the following months. Although the bark beetle’s reproductive activity extended for a period of 7-8 months, the flight of new adults was concentrated in a much shorter time period between May and June, when ca. 95% of the emergences occurred. The experiments have ruled out the possibility of a second annual generation. Even the earliest emerging adults, originating from eggs laid in October, were unable to mature their gonads and oviposit before the summer stasis. Tomicus destruens females can make up to four sister broods and lay a total of ca. 170 eggs throughout their life, without regeneration feeding in the shoots. The new knowledge provides information useful to calibrate well-timed interventions to control this dangerous pest by means of the trap tree technique

Impiego del <i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i> Berl. nella lotta alla <i>Lymantria dispar</i> L. in boschi di<i>Quercus suber</i> L. 3: risultati della sperimentazione condotta nel 1992.

The study was carried out in a North Sardinian cork oak forest in 1992. To control the gypsy moth population three commercial preparations of B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki were applied by helicopter: Activator THK and Bactospeine at low volume and Foray 48B at ultra low volume, when 80-90% of the gypsy moth larvae were in 1st and 2nd instars. At 14d after treatment, Activator (applied at 5 l/ha) did not cause significant population reductions, while Bactospeine (applied at 32 B.I.U./ha) and Foray 48B (applied at 31.75 B.I.U./ha) caused average mortalities respectively of 40 and 53%. All preparations showed a good compatibility with the activity of the gypsy moth natural enemies. Smaller mortalities, compared with previous tests, seem to be related with the low average temperatures, between 13.9 and 16.8°C, of the post-treatment week which slowed down both feeding and metabolism of the larvae just when there was the largest amount of spores on the foliage

Long-term monitoring and microbiological control programs against lepidopteran defoliators in Sardinian cork oak forests (Italy)

The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.), and the tent caterpillar, Malacosoma neustrium (L.), are the main cork oak, Quercus suber L., pests in the Mediterranean area and cause complete defoliation in large forest districts. In order to control infestations, large scale aerial applications of insecticides based on Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki (Btk) have been carried out in Sardinia (Italy) since 2001. This paper evaluated the frequency of outbreaks in forest districts with varying homogeneity of land use, forest areas annually exposed to defoliation and the effectiveness of control programs based on Btk insecticide applications.The volume of areas annually exposed to defoliation depends on forest homogeneity, as infestations are more frequent in cork oak areas with a lower than 25% canopy cover rate. The microbiological control programme efficiently protected cork oaks from lepidopteran defoliators and caused an overall annual mean mortality of over 60%, with maximum rates of 89.9 and 98.0% for L. dispar and M. neustrium, respectively. To date, approximately 180,000 hectares of cork oak forests have been protected by spraying Btk-based insecticides

Self-assembly of silver nanoparticles and bacteriophage

Biohybrid nanostructured materials, composed of both inorganic nanoparticles and biomolecules, offer prospects for many new applications in extremely diverse fields such as chemistry, physics, engineering, medicine and nanobiotechnology. In the recent years, Phage display technique has been extensively used to generate phage clones displaying surface peptides with functionality towards organic materials. Screening and selection of phage displayed material binding peptides has attracted great interest because of their use for development of hybrid materials with multiple functionalities. Here, we present a self-assembly approach for the construction of hybrid nanostructured networks consisting of M13 P9b phage clone, specific for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, selected by Phage display technology, directly assembled with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), previously prepared by pulsed laser ablation. These networks are characterized by UV–vis optical spectroscopy, scanning/transmission electron microscopies and Raman spectroscopy. We investigated the influence of different ions and medium pH on self-assembly by evaluating different phage suspension buffers. The assembly of these networks is controlled by electrostatic interactions between the phage pVIII major capsid proteins and the AgNPs. The formation of the AgNPs-phage networks was obtained only in two types of tested buffers at a pH value near the isoelectric point of each pVIII proteins displayed on the surface of the clone. This systematic study allowed to optimize the synthesis procedure to assembly AgNPs and bacteriophage. Such networks find application in the biomedical field of advanced biosensing and targeted gene and drug delivery. Keywords: Phage display, Silver nanoparticles, Self-assembly, Hybrid architecture, Raman spectroscop

Giant endobronchial hamartoma resected by fiberoptic bronchoscopy electrosurgical snaring

Less than 1% of lung neoplasms are represented by benign tumors. Among these, hamartomas are the most common with an incidence between 0.025% and 0.32%. In relation to the localization, hamartomas are divided into intraparenchymal and endobronchial

Investigating the inhibition of FTSJ1 a tryptophan tRNA-specific 2’-O-methyltransferase by NV TRIDs, as a mechanism of readthrough in nonsense mutated CFTR

Abstract: Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive genetic disease caused by mutations in the CFTR gene, coding for the CFTR chloride channel. About 10% of the CFTR gene mutations are "stop" mutations, which generate a Premature Termination Codon (PTC), thus synthesizing a truncated CFTR protein. A way to bypass PTC relies on ribosome readthrough, which is the ri-bosome’s capacity to skip a PTC, thus generating a full-length protein. “TRIDs” are molecules exerting ribosome readthrough; for some, the mechanism of action is still under debate. We in-vestigate a possible mechanism of action (MOA) by which our recently synthesized TRIDs, namely NV848, NV914, and NV930, could exert their readthrough activity by in silico analysis and in vitro studies. Our results suggest a likely inhibition of FTSJ1, a tryptophan tRNA-specific 2’-O-methyltransferase

Readthrough Approach Using NV Translational Readthrough-Inducing Drugs (TRIDs): A Study of the Possible Off-Target Effects on Natural Termination Codons (NTCs) on TP53 and Housekeeping Gene Expression

Nonsense mutations cause several genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, β-thalassemia, and Shwachman–Diamond syndrome. These mutations induce the formation of a premature termination codon (PTC) inside the mRNA sequence, resulting in the synthesis of truncated polypeptides. Nonsense suppression therapy mediated by translational readthrough-inducing drugs (TRIDs) is a promising approach to correct these genetic defects. TRIDs generate a ribosome miscoding of the PTC named “translational readthrough” and restore the synthesis of full-length and potentially functional proteins. The new oxadiazole-core TRIDs NV848, NV914, and NV930 (NV) showed translational readthrough activity in nonsense-related in vitro systems. In this work, the possible off-target effect of NV molecules on natural termination codons (NTCs) was investigated. Two different in vitro approaches were used to assess if the NV molecule treatment induces NTC readthrough: (1) a study of the translational-induced p53 molecular weight and functionality; (2) the evaluation of two housekeeping proteins’ (Cys-C and β2M) molecular weights. Our results showed that the treatment with NV848, NV914, or NV930 did not induce any translation alterations in both experimental systems. The data suggested that NV molecules have a specific action for the PTCs and an undetectable effect on the NTCs