Preliminary contribution to the knowledge of aquatic macrophytes and trophic status in the park of the Royal Palace of Caserta

La Reggia di Caserta, compresi il suo parco e i suoi giardini, è sicuramente una delle maggiori mete turistiche della Campania. Le acque del Parco hanno l'indubbia e peculiare caratteristica diarrivare al Parco attraverso un percorso quasi interamente sotterraneo di 38 km. La captazione dell’acqua avviene da numerose sorgenti rintracciate da Vanvitelli alle falde del Monte Taburno, in provincia di Benevento. Questo studio confermal'alta qualità dell'acqua, e la presenza di quattordici specie di piante, tra cui cinque fanerogame, due muschi e sette alghe.La "Reggia di Caserta" (Caserta Royal Palace) including the park and the gardens are certainly one of the major tourist destinations in Campania (Italy). The waters of the Park have the undoubted and peculiar characteristic of reaching the Parkthrough an almost entirely underground route of 38 km. The collection of water takes place from numerous springs traced by Vanvitelli at the foot of Monte Taburno, in the province of Benevento. This study confirms the high quality of the water, and the presence of fifteen plant species, including six phanerogams, two mosses and seven algae

Presence of the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia Mustelidae) in the Foce Sele-Tanagro Nature Reserve (Campania, Southern Italy)

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Presence of the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia Mustelidae) in the Foce Sele-Tanagro Nature Reserve (Campania, Southern Italy)

In Italy, the Eurasian otter, Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) (Carnivora Mustelidae), occurs with two separated populations in the southern regions and recently it has also re-colonized the north-eastern fluvial networks. Here, we present the first photographic evidence of the Eurasian otter presence along a stretch of the Calore river (Campania region, Southern Italy), where this species was generically reported in previous study. Our findings enlighten that the Calore river network might play an important role for the conservation and expansion of this species in Campania

Breeding sites of the Italian Green Toad, Bufotes balearicus (Boettger, 1880) in Naples (Italy)

Here we report the results of a longitudinal field study (2002 -2018) aimed at monitoring the presence and the breeding activity of the Italian Green Toad, Bufotes balearicus, within the area of the administrative boundaries of Naples. We identified breeding sites in five sub-areas (Bagnoli – ex sito industriale, Mostra d'Oltremare, Parco del Poggio, Scalo Ferroviario-zona orientale, Parco Massimo Troisi), one of which (Parco M. Troisi) since 2018. Only in two subareas (Mostra d’Oltremare and Parco del Poggio) the reproductive activity took place regularly, almost every year, although the development of tadpoles was often compromised by a variety of anthropogenic disturbances. However, the major potential threat to the survival of this amphibian for the entire study area is represented by the isolation of its population mainly due to the scarcity of natural and semi-natural green areas in a highly urbanized territory.We hope that our research will be helpful to plan management activity for this species in the urban area of Naples.Here we report the results of a longitudinal field study (2002 -2018) aimed at monitoring the presence and the breeding activity of the Italian Green Toad, Bufotes balearicus, within the area of the administrative boundaries of Naples. We identified breeding sites in five sub-areas (Bagnoli – ex sito industriale, Mostra d'Oltremare, Parco del Poggio, Scalo Ferroviario-zona orientale, Parco Massimo Troisi), one of which (Parco M. Troisi) since 2018. Only in two subareas (Mostra d’Oltremare and Parco del Poggio) the reproductive activity took place regularly, almost every year, although the development of tadpoles was often compromised by a variety of anthropogenic disturbances. However, the major potential threat to the survival of this amphibian for the entire study area is represented by the isolation of its population mainly due to the scarcity of natural and semi-natural green areas in a highly urbanized territory.We hope that our research will be helpful to plan management activity for this species in the urban area of Naples

Tocilizumab for patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The single-arm TOCIVID-19 prospective trial

BackgroundTocilizumab blocks pro-inflammatory activity of interleukin-6 (IL-6), involved in pathogenesis of pneumonia the most frequent cause of death in COVID-19 patients.MethodsA multicenter, single-arm, hypothesis-driven trial was planned, according to a phase 2 design, to study the effect of tocilizumab on lethality rates at 14 and 30 days (co-primary endpoints, a priori expected rates being 20 and 35%, respectively). A further prospective cohort of patients, consecutively enrolled after the first cohort was accomplished, was used as a secondary validation dataset. The two cohorts were evaluated jointly in an exploratory multivariable logistic regression model to assess prognostic variables on survival.ResultsIn the primary intention-to-treat (ITT) phase 2 population, 180/301 (59.8%) subjects received tocilizumab, and 67 deaths were observed overall. Lethality rates were equal to 18.4% (97.5% CI: 13.6-24.0, P=0.52) and 22.4% (97.5% CI: 17.2-28.3, P<0.001) at 14 and 30 days, respectively. Lethality rates were lower in the validation dataset, that included 920 patients. No signal of specific drug toxicity was reported. In the exploratory multivariable logistic regression analysis, older age and lower PaO2/FiO2 ratio negatively affected survival, while the concurrent use of steroids was associated with greater survival. A statistically significant interaction was found between tocilizumab and respiratory support, suggesting that tocilizumab might be more effective in patients not requiring mechanical respiratory support at baseline.ConclusionsTocilizumab reduced lethality rate at 30 days compared with null hypothesis, without significant toxicity. Possibly, this effect could be limited to patients not requiring mechanical respiratory support at baseline.Registration EudraCT (2020-001110-38); clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04317092)

Variable impact on mortality of AIDS-defining events diagnosed during combination antiretroviral therapy: not all AIDS-defining conditions are created equal.

Abstract Background—The extent to which mortality differs following individual acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)–defining events (ADEs) has not been assessed among patients initiating combination antiretroviral therapy. Methods—We analyzed data from 31,620 patients with no prior ADEs who started combination antiretroviral therapy. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate mortality hazard ratios for each ADE that occurred in >50 patients, after stratification by cohort and adjustment for sex, HIV transmission group, number of anti-retroviral drugs initiated, regimen, age, date of starting combination antiretroviral therapy, and CD4+ cell count and HIV RNA load at initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy. ADEs that occurred in <50 patients were grouped together to form a “rare ADEs” category. Results—During a median follow-up period of 43 months (interquartile range, 19–70 months), 2880 ADEs were diagnosed in 2262 patients; 1146 patients died. The most common ADEs were esophageal candidiasis (in 360 patients), Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (320 patients), and Kaposi sarcoma (308 patients). The greatest mortality hazard ratio was associated with non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma (hazard ratio, 17.59; 95% confidence interval, 13.84–22.35) and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (hazard ratio, 10.0; 95% confidence interval, 6.70–14.92). Three groups of ADEs were identified on the basis of the ranked hazard ratios with bootstrapped confidence intervals: severe (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy [hazard ratio, 7.26; 95% confidence interval, 5.55–9.48]), moderate (cryptococcosis, cerebral toxoplasmosis, AIDS dementia complex, disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex, and rare ADEs [hazard ratio, 2.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.76–3.13]), and mild (all other ADEs [hazard ratio, 1.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.08–2.00]). Conclusions—In the combination antiretroviral therapy era, mortality rates subsequent to an ADE depend on the specific diagnosis. The proposed classification of ADEs may be useful in clinical end point trials, prognostic studies, and patient management