The effect of conservation tillage methods on biodiversity and weed suppression in the Montepaldi Long-Term Experiment (MoLTE).

MoLTE is part of the experimental farm of Florence University, which is located in Montepaldi, San Casciano Val di Pesa, Tuscany, Central Italy, and it covers an area of about 15 ha, in a lightly slopped area, 90 m asl. The whole MoLTE experimental site is divided in ten fields of around 1,3 ha each. The MoLTE experiment started in 1992 and is currently still ongoing. The fields are surrounded by semi-natural habitats composed by natural and artificial hedge, flower strip, spontaneous bushes and grass. The experimental site is composed by differently managed systems, designed with the purpose of comparing organic and conventional management. The organic systems operate on a 4-year rotation including Maize/Sunflower – Legume -Wheat/Barley – Legume, while for the conventional one a two-year crop rotation is used in which Maize/ Sunflower follows Wheat/ Barley. The European project FertilCrop, started in 2015, will last for three years. The overall aim of FertilCrop is to develop efficient and sustainable management techniques aimed at increasing crop productivity in organic farming systems. To achieve this, one of the aims of the project is to investigate the mutual interactions of crop plants with weeds and co-cultivated plants. Our experimental design consists in studies different type of primary soil tillage operations to test this mutual interaction in two different crops: barley and sunflower. The study is based on how this tillage can affect the biodiversity quality of the agro-ecosystem in different managed systems, organic and conventional, and to investigate the response of the crop in terms of yield. The species sampling was doing within the field and the semi natural habitat. This communities are sampled using two different methods. Within the field the Raunkiær method are used and the density of the species (number of individuals expressed per unit of area) and biomass per species are assessed. Within the semi natural habitat the transect method are used, with which the presence/absence of the species are evaluated. Using numerical indexes, the biodiversity quality of the agro-ecosystem are evaluated. Furthermore additional information about primary tillage operation and the interaction with weeds could be assessed

Impact of organic and conventional management and tillage operations on soil quality and productivity in the Montepaldi Long-Term Experiment (MoLTE)

The goal of the research was to assess the impact of different management (organic and conventional) and tillage (plowing, chisel plowing, disk harrowing) on soil quality, and to investigate the response of two crops, barley and sunflower respectively, in terms of yield. The indicators used for the soil quality evaluation were: earthworm's abundance, root's density, soil compaction score obtained with spade test, bulk density, soil penetration resistance and chemical analysis. Data were collected from November 2015 to September 2017, then statistical analysis, based on ANOVA test, was performed. Main results show that conventional system is more productive than organic and there is not significant difference between plowing and reduced tillage operations regarding yield; earthworms are more abundant under reduced tillage; root's density is about 20% higher in organic soils but phosphorous decreased by about 40% in 25 years

In Vitro and In Vivo Effects of Melatonin-Containing Combinations in Human Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has poor prognosis and high mortality rates. Therefore, it is necessary to identify new targets and therapeutic strategies to improve the prognosis of patients with PDAC. Integrative therapies are increasingly being used to boost the efficacy of the known anticancer therapeutic approaches. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of a novel combination of different potential anticancer molecules, melatonin (MLT), cannabidiol (CBD), and oxygen-ozone (O2/O3) to treat PDAC using in vitro and in vivo models of human PDAC. The effect of this combination was investigated in combination with gemcitabine (GEM), the most common chemotherapeutic drug used for PDAC treatment. The combination of MLT + CBD + O2/O3 was more effective than the individual treatments in inhibiting PDAC cell viability and proliferation, inducing cell death, and modulating the RAS pathway protein levels. Moreover, different combinations of treatments reduced tumor mass in the PDAC mouse model, thus promoting the effect of GEM. In conclusion, a mixture of MLT + CBD + O2/O3 could serve as a potential adjuvant therapeutic strategy for PDAC

Circulating CD34+/CD38-/CD26+ Leukemia Stem Cells along Chronic Myeloid Leukemia progression: differences between Chronic, Accelerated and Blast Phase

In Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) patients, CD34+/CD38-/CD26+ cell population represents a “CML specific” Leukemia Stem Cell (LSC) compartment. Indeed, preliminary studies showed that the expression of CD26 discriminates bone marrow CML Leukemic Stem Cells (LSCs) from nor-mal Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) or from LSCs of other myeloid neoplasms. We were first to demonstrate that at diagnosis CD34+/CD38-/CD26+ cells are easily measurable also in Peripheral Blood (PB) and that residual circulating CD26+LSCs persist, with a fluctuating trend, in most pa-tients in optimal response during treatment with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) and even after successful TKI discontinuation. These data corroborate and confirm the possibility of using flow-cytometry CD26+ evaluation as an important diagnostic tool that, combined with molecular biology and cytogenetic, could provide a rapid diagnosis of Chronic Phase (CP) CML starting from a simple PB sample. Yet, few data are available regarding the behavior of CD26+LSCs during Accelerated Phase (AP) or Blast Phase (BP) CML and the role, if any, this peculiar staminal cell compartment may play in disease progression. In the present study we compared the presence and phenotypic characteristics of circulating CD26+LSCs in CP CML patients at diagnosis, during AP and in cases of progression to lymphoid BP, inquiring a possible role of these cells during dis-ease evolution

Genetic loci linked to Type 1 Diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis families in Sardinia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Mediterranean island of Sardinia has a strikingly high incidence of the autoimmune disorders Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Furthermore, the two diseases tend to be co-inherited in the same individuals and in the same families. These observations suggest that some unknown autoimmunity variant with relevant effect size could be fairly common in this founder population and could be detected using linkage analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To search for T1D and MS loci as well as any that predispose to both diseases, we performed a whole genome linkage scan, sequentially genotyping 593 microsatellite marker loci in 954 individuals distributed in 175 Sardinian families. In total, 413 patients were studied; 285 with T1D, 116 with MS and 12 with both disorders. Model-free linkage analysis was performed on the genotyped samples using the Kong and Cox logarithm of odds (LOD) score statistic.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In T1D, aside from the HLA locus, we found four regions showing a lod-score ≥1; 1p31.1, 6q26, 10q21.2 and 22q11.22. In MS we found three regions showing a lod-score ≥1; 1q42.2, 18p11.21 and 20p12.3. In the combined T1D-MS scan for shared autoimmunity loci, four regions showed a LOD >1, including 6q26, 10q21.2, 20p12.3 and 22q11.22. When we typed more markers in these intervals we obtained suggestive evidence of linkage in the T1D scan at 10q21.2 (LOD = 2.1), in the MS scan at 1q42.2 (LOD = 2.5) and at 18p11.22 (LOD = 2.6). When all T1D and MS families were analysed jointly we obtained suggestive evidence in two regions: at 10q21.1 (LOD score = 2.3) and at 20p12.3 (LOD score = 2.5).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This suggestive evidence of linkage with T1D, MS and both diseases indicates critical chromosome intervals to be followed up in downstream association studies.</p

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements