Sustainable Development and Tourism: the Case of Lanzarote Island in the Light of the 2030 Agenda

Sustainability is an issue whose importance has steadily increased in the last decades, becoming more and more a priority than just a set of good practices. This is proved by the charts and treaties ratified since the end of the 80s, starting with the UN's Brundtland Report and its first definition of sustainable development with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development issued in 2015. A set of 17 goals that all adhering countries should pursue to assure a sustainable future for future generations. In the meanwhile, in 1995, the "Charter for sustainable tourism" was published in Lanzarote, one of the eight Canary Islands, declaring that tourism undoubtedly plays a crucial role in contributing to sustainability since it can promote destinations and offer services that pay attention to the local environment, economy, culture and society, in other words, to "heritage". It did not happen by chance that Lanzarote was chosen as the cradle of sustainable tourism: although its fame spread much later than other archipelago islands, its development was carefully planned, carried out and managed to prevent any damage to local culture and landscape. In this paper, we explore the case study of Lanzarote, to explain in details the threats that this destination managed to face (e.g. overtourism, environmental and cultural loss), along with those factors that have been crucial for the island's sustainable development: a wide range of natural and cultural features (warm climate, sea, volcanic landscape, vernacular architecture, agriculture, gastronomy and history), the involvement of local society in tourism activities, the adoption of legislative measures for the protection of natural and cultural heritage, the improvement of infrastructures and technology and the collaboration between public and private stakeholder. However, thanks to the prominent figure of the local artist C\ue9sar Manrique, all those factors were strategically linked, conceiving the idea of a network of tourist sites: the Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism (also known as CACT). This network contributed to the creation of a well-known brand whose strategy is to offer a set of "alternative tourist products", in addition to the classical model of sun, sea, sand, that is sustainable for both the environment and the local society and does not exclude existing traditional activities like farming, fishing and crafts. We compare all the characteristics introduced in this paper with the 12 sustainable tourism aims established by the World Tourism Organization and the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to check Lanzarote's sustainability degree objectively

Cultured human amniocytes express hTERT, which is distributed between nucleus and cytoplasm and is secreted in extracellular vesicles

7noopenopenRadeghieri, Annalisa; Savio, Giulia; Zendrini, Andrea; Di Noto, Giuseppe; Salvi, Alessandro; Bergese, Paolo; Piovani, GiovannaRadeghieri, Annalisa; Savio, Giulia; Zendrini, Andrea; DI NOTO, Giuseppe; Salvi, Alessandro; Bergese, Paolo; Piovani, Giovann

Inhibitory receptors of plasmacytoid dendritic cells as possible targets for checkpoint blockade in cancer

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are the major producers of type I interferons (IFNs), which are essential to mount antiviral and antitumoral immune responses. To avoid exaggerated levels of type I IFNs, which pave the way to immune dysregulation and autoimmunity, pDC activation is strictly regulated by a variety of inhibitory receptors (IRs). In tumors, pDCs display an exhausted phenotype and correlate with an unfavorable prognosis, which largely depends on the accumulation of immunosuppressive cytokines and oncometabolites. This review explores the hypothesis that tumor microenvironment may reduce the release of type I IFNs also by a more pDC-specific mechanism, namely the engagement of IRs. Literature shows that many cancer types express de novo, or overexpress, IR ligands (such as BST2, PCNA, CAECAM-1 and modified surface carbohydrates) which often represent a strong predictor of poor outcome and metastasis. In line with this, tumor cells expressing ligands engaging IRs such as BDCA-2, ILT7, TIM3 and CD44 block pDC activation, while this blocking is prevented when IR engagement or signaling is inhibited. Based on this evidence, we propose that the regulation of IFN secretion by IRs may be regarded as an "innate checkpoint", reminiscent of the function of "classical" adaptive immune checkpoints, like PD1 expressed in CD8+ T cells, which restrain autoimmunity and immunopathology but favor chronic infections and tumors. However, we also point out that further work is needed to fully unravel the biology of tumor-associated pDCs, the neat contribution of pDC exhaustion in tumor growth following the engagement of IRs, especially those expressed also by other leukocytes, and their therapeutic potential as targets of combined immune checkpoint blockade in cancer immunotherapy

Inhibition of Class I Histone Deacetylase Activity Blocks the Induction of TNFAIP3 Both Directly and Indirectly via the Suppression of Endogenous TNF-α

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs) are promising drugs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. However, their therapeutical exploitation is slowed down by severe adverse manifestations that can hardly be foreseen, mainly due to incomplete knowledge of how HDIs impact the delicate balance of inflammatory mediators. In this work, we characterized the effects of the HDI trichostatin A (TSA) on the expression of TNFAIP3, which is a crucial inhibitor of the classical NF-kB pathway and an LPS-induced negative feedback regulator. The accumulation of TNFAIP3 mRNA after LPS stimulation showed biphasic behavior, with one wave within the first hour of stimulation and a second wave several hours later, which were both reduced by TSA. By using inhibition and knockdown approaches, we identified two temporally and mechanistically distinct modes of action. The first wave of TNAIP3 accumulation was directly blunted by the histone deacetylase (HDAC) blockade. By contrast, the second wave was decreased mainly because of the lack of endogenous TNF-α induction, which, in turn, depended on the intact HDAC activity. In both cases, class I HDACs appeared to play a nonredundant role, with HDAC3 required, but not sufficient, for TNF-α and TNFAIP3 induction. In addition to TNFAIP3, TNF-α is known to induce many response genes that orchestrate the inflammatory cascade. Thus, suppression of TNF-α may represent a general mechanism through which HDIs regulate a selected set of target genes

Accumulation of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn in sediment, chironomids and fish from a high-mountain lake: First insights from the Carnic Alps

Though mountain lakes are generally much less influenced by human activities than other habitats, anthropogenic threats can still alter their natural condition. Amajor source of global environmental pollution inmountain ecosystems is trace element contamination. For this studywe investigated for the first time the accumulation of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn in sediment, Diptera Chironomidae (prey), and bullhead Cottus gobio (predator) in a typical high-mountain lake (Dimon Lake) in the Carnic Alps. Significant differences in trace element levels were observed between sediment, Diptera Chironomidae, and C. gobio liver and muscle samples (Kruskal-Wallis test; p b .03 for all elements). As and Pb levels were highest in sediment, Cd and Zn levels were highest in Diptera Chironomidae, and the lowest values for all elementswere measured in C. gobio muscle and liver. Bioaccumulation factor values weremuch higher in Diptera Chironomidae than fish muscle and liver, with the highest values recorded for Cd (5.16) and Zn (4.37). Trophic transfer factor valueswere very lowfor all elements in fish muscle and liver, suggesting a biodilution effect along the food chain. Further studies are needed to expand on these first findings that provide useful insights to inform environmental monitoring and policy in remote high-mountain lakes

A phase II study on the role of gemcitabine plus romidepsin (GEMRO regimen) in the treatment of relapsed/refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma patients

Background: There is no consensus regarding optimal treatment for peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL), especially in relapsed or refractory cases, which have very poor prognosis and a dismal outcome, with 5-year overall survival of 30 %. Methods: A multicenter prospective phase II trial was conducted to investigate the role of the combination of gemcitabine plus romidepsin (GEMRO regimen) in relapsed/refractory PTCL, looking for a potential synergistic effect of the two drugs. GEMRO regimen contemplates an induction with romidepsin plus gemcitabine for six 28-day cycles followed by maintenance with romidepsin for patients in at least partial remission. The primary endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR); secondary endpoints were survival, duration of response, and safety of the regimen. Results: The ORR was 30 % (6/20) with 15 % (3) complete response (CR) rate. Two-year overall survival was 50 % and progression-free survival 11.2 %. Grade >= 3 adverse events were represented by thrombocytopenia (60 %), neutropenia (50 %), and anemia (20 %). Two patients are still in CR with median response duration of 18 months. The majority of non-hematological toxicities were mild and transient. No treatment-related death occurred and no toxicity led to treatment interruption. Conclusions: GEMRO combination regimen shows efficacy data similar to those of single-agent romidepsin with additional hematologic toxicities. Synergy observed in preclinical phase did not turn into ability to improve clinical outcomes