Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of rice field banks and restored habitats in an agricultural area of the Po Plain (Lombardy, Italy)

An entomological investigation was carried out in an agricultural area, mainly rice fields, of the Po river plain, located in the municipalities of Lacchiarella (MI) and Giussago (PV) (Lombardy, Italy). In 2009 and 2010, ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) were sampled along rice field banks and in restored habitats, by means of pitfall traps. The area appeared as species-rich, compared to other anthropogenic habitats in the Po river pain. Most of the collected Carabids were species with a wide distribution in the Paleartic region, eurytopic and common in European agroecosystems. The assemblages were dominated by small-medium, macropterous species, with summer larvae. No endemic species were found. Species with southern distribution, rarely found north of the Po river, were also sampled. Amara littorea is recorded for the first time in Italy

Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora: 12

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1

Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora: 11

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

GIS-modelling the distribution of &lt;em&gt;Rattus norvegicus&lt;/em&gt; in urban areas using non toxic attractive baits

&lt;strong&gt;Abstract&lt;/strong&gt;&#13; GIS supplies a useful way for analysing and modelling spatial distribution of brown rats &lt;em&gt;Rattus norvegicus&lt;/em&gt; in urban areas, supplying maps that predict the occurrence of rats over larger areas. However, two alternative procedures can be used: landscape-based models, which use habitat variables derived from remote sensing satellites or other thematic maps, and interpolation techniques, which convert point samples of species abundance. The first procedure has been previously applied, while the second has never been used until now. In this study, we valued the effectiveness of the interpolating procedure by modelling the distribution of brown rats in a large urban area of northern Italy. During spring and autumn 2004, we positioned non toxic baits in 119 spots distributed over the whole urbanized area of the city and we generated maps of rat presence/absence for the two seasons. Brown rats were irregularly scattered over the city and concentrated mainly around rivers and ditches, as well in the historic centre, particularly where buildings suffer poor maintenance.&#13; Seasonal variation of rat occurrence was also detected. Brown rat occurrence may be reliably predicted by the interpolation procedure, which appeared to be a more efficient approach to rat distribution modelling compared with landscape-based procedures.&#13; &#13; &lt;strong&gt;Riassunto&lt;/strong&gt;&#13; &lt;strong&gt;Modelli GIS della distribuzione di &lt;em&gt;Rattus norvegicus&lt;/em&gt; in ambiente urbano con utilizzo di esche non tossiche.&lt;/strong&gt;&#13; I programmi GIS rappresentano un utile strumento per analizzare e modellizzare la distribuzione del ratto delle chiaviche &lt;em&gt;Rattus norvegicus&lt;/em&gt; nelle aree urbane, fornendo mappe in grado di predire la presenza di questa specie su vaste aree. A questo scopo possono essere impiegate due procedure alternative: i) modelli basati sul paesaggio, che utilizzano le caratteristiche ambientali desunte da mappe tematiche o immagini satellitari oppure ii) tecniche di interpolazione che convertono insiemi di punti di presenza accertata in stime di abbondanza. Il primo approccio è già stato utilizzato, mentre il secondo non ci risulta essere ancora stato applicato nella gestione del ratto delle chiaviche. In questo studio è valutata l’efficacia del metodo di interpolazione nel predire la distribuzione di questo roditore in una grande area urbana del nord Italia. Nel corso della primavera e dell’autunno 2004, sono state posizionate esche non tossiche in 119 punti distribuiti sull’intera area urbana. I dati così raccolti sono stati utilizzati per generare mappe di presenza/assenza della specie nelle due stagioni di indagine. I ratti delle chiaviche sono risultati irregolarmente distribuiti in città e concentrati principalmente lungo i corsi d’acqua e nel centro storico soprattutto in presenza di edifici soggetti a scarsa manutenzione. Nel corso dell’indagine sono emerse differenze nella distribuzione fra le due stagioni di ricerca. La presenza del ratto delle chiaviche può effettivamente essere predetta mediante il processo di interpolazione: questo metodo risulta essere più efficiente rispetto a quello basato sull’analisi delle sole caratteristiche ambientali

Opportunities and barriers for adoption of Sentinel-2 based agricultural services and products : policy and stakeholders' views as influencers

This research seeks to understand the potential for up taking new services and products derived from Sentinel-2 data to assist with existing water and nutrient management challenges from the perspective of a diverse range of stakeholders in key target locations in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) of Australia. Through semi-structured interviews with farmers, irrigation operators and water authorities, we found that key issues hampering uptake and adoption of Sentinel-based products and services are related to: information deluge; difficulties in translating data into decision-making; privacy issues; trust in satellite imagery; interpreting new information, and satellite data resolution and frequency -which for several services can clash with expressed needs for accessing real-time data

Orthetrum brunneum

&lt;p&gt;Orthetrum brunneum (Fonscolombe, 1837)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Native status&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;R&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conservation status&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;erl: LC; irl: LC&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Notes&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Flight period: II May - I October&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; In the study area, the species is found mainly in the lowlands and hills, up to ca. 475 m a.s.l. At these elevations, &lt;i&gt;O. brunneum&lt;/i&gt; is rather widespread throughout the three provinces in a broad variety of lotic habitats. Records between 600 and ca. 1250 m a.s.l. are probably referring to dispersing individuals.&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Bazzi, Gaia, Galimberti, Andrea, Foglini, Claudio, Bani, Luciano, Bazzi, Lionello, Bonvicini, Piero, Brembilla, Roberto, Brigo, Massimo, Cavenaghi, Alberto, Colombo, Giuseppe, Della Pieta, Cesare, Galliani, Carlo, Guarnaroli, Ettore, Larroux, Nicola, Monti, Alessandro, Orioli, Valerio, Ornaghi, Francesco, Pilon, Nicola, Pirotta, Giuliana, Radaelli, Giovanni, Tessa, Giulia &amp; Assandri, Giacomo, 2023, Odonate diversity of a highly urbanised region: An annotated checklist of the damselflies and dragonflies (Insecta, Odonata) of Lario and Brianza (Lombardy, N Italy), pp. 111358 in Biodiversity Data Journal 11&lt;/i&gt; on page 111358, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e11135

Libellula quadrimaculata Linnaeus 1758

&lt;p&gt;Libellula quadrimaculata Linnaeus, 1758&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Native status&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;R&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conservation status&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;erl: LC; irl: LC&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Notes&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Flight period: III April - I September&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Widespread in the Como and Lecco Provinces, from the lowlands up to 1900 m a.s.l. Rarer in Monza and Brianza, where it is confined to the Parco delle Groane and its surroundings. It occurs mostly in mature marshlands, small lakes and ponds and watering ponds.&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Bazzi, Gaia, Galimberti, Andrea, Foglini, Claudio, Bani, Luciano, Bazzi, Lionello, Bonvicini, Piero, Brembilla, Roberto, Brigo, Massimo, Cavenaghi, Alberto, Colombo, Giuseppe, Della Pieta, Cesare, Galliani, Carlo, Guarnaroli, Ettore, Larroux, Nicola, Monti, Alessandro, Orioli, Valerio, Ornaghi, Francesco, Pilon, Nicola, Pirotta, Giuliana, Radaelli, Giovanni, Tessa, Giulia &amp; Assandri, Giacomo, 2023, Odonate diversity of a highly urbanised region: An annotated checklist of the damselflies and dragonflies (Insecta, Odonata) of Lario and Brianza (Lombardy, N Italy), pp. 111358 in Biodiversity Data Journal 11&lt;/i&gt; on page 111358, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e11135

Crocothemis erythraea

&lt;p&gt;Crocothemis erythraea (Brull&eacute;, 1832)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Native status&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;R&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Conservation status&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;erl: LC; irl: LC&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Notes&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Flight period: III April - III October&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Very common in the study area, it is widespread up to ca. 400 m a.s.l., with a few records up to ca. 940 m a.s.l. The species occupies a wide range of lentic and lotic habitats, both mature and newly established also in degraded and rather urbanised areas.&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Bazzi, Gaia, Galimberti, Andrea, Foglini, Claudio, Bani, Luciano, Bazzi, Lionello, Bonvicini, Piero, Brembilla, Roberto, Brigo, Massimo, Cavenaghi, Alberto, Colombo, Giuseppe, Della Pieta, Cesare, Galliani, Carlo, Guarnaroli, Ettore, Larroux, Nicola, Monti, Alessandro, Orioli, Valerio, Ornaghi, Francesco, Pilon, Nicola, Pirotta, Giuliana, Radaelli, Giovanni, Tessa, Giulia &amp; Assandri, Giacomo, 2023, Odonate diversity of a highly urbanised region: An annotated checklist of the damselflies and dragonflies (Insecta, Odonata) of Lario and Brianza (Lombardy, N Italy), pp. 111358 in Biodiversity Data Journal 11&lt;/i&gt; on page 111358, DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e11135