Trayectoria a largo plazo de algunas especies de Elasmobranquios en los mares de Toscana (Mediterráneo noroccidental) a través de 50 años de datos de captura

The time series of elasmobranch catch rates off the Tuscany coasts (NW Mediterranean) were investigated by means of min/max auto-correlation factor analysis in order to estimate variations in population abundance and evaluate the influence of environmental and anthropogenic factors. The analyses highlighted a general decreasing trend in the catch rates of sharks and skates from 1961 to the mid-1990s, mainly influenced by the increase in fishing effort. Since the 1990s, the EU Common Fishery Policy for the Mediterranean has promoted the reduction of fishing fleets through incentives to vessel demolition. The Porto S. Stefano trawl fleet has decreased by about 50%, leading to a decrease in fishing effort which seemed to be the most relevant factor affecting the increasing trend shown by the catch rates of Galeus melastomus, Scyliorhinus canicula and skates from 1991 to 2009. The elasmobranch assemblage did not undergo major shifts but the weighted frequency of occurrence shows that elasmobranchs were more frequent in the past. Particular caution should be paid in interpreting the recent rebound of some species as an early sign of recovery: trawl survey data and landing data show that over the last 50 years elasmobranch fauna have undergone a drastic decline and that recent rebounds are still far from a recovery to historical levels.Se investigaron las series históricas de datos de captura de algunas especies de Elasmobranquios en los mares de Toscana (Mediterráneo noroccidental), por medio del análisis de auto-correlación factorial MAFA, con el fin de evaluar las variaciones en la abundancia de poblaciones y la influencia de factores ambientales y antropogénicos. Los análisis permitieron poner en relieve una tendencia a la disminución, a partir de 1961 hasta la mitad de los años 1990, de las tasas de captura de las especies de tiburones y rayas demersales. Esta disminución parece ser debida principalmente al aumento del esfuerzo pesquero. Sin embargo, desde 1990 capacidad y actividad pesquera mostraron una tendencia a la disminución, como resultado de la Política Pesquera Común de la UE para el Mediterráneo. La flota de arrastre de Porto Santo Stefano disminuyó en un 50%; esta reducción parece ser el factor más importante que produjo un aumento en los indices de abundancia relativa de Galeus melastomus, Scyliorhinus canicula y de las rayas, desde 1991 a 2009. Sin embargo la composición en especies de los Elasmobranquios no ha mostrado evidentes cambios en el tiempo, a pesar de muchas especies que han sufrido una disminución en la frecuencia de occurrencia. Por lo tanto, la interpretación de estos resultados como señal de recuperación de las poblaciones de elasmobranquios, necesita de una precaución especial. De hecho durante los últimos 50 años la fauna de elasmobranquios en el Mediterráneo ha sufrido una drástica reducción y todavía no se está observando ninguna considerable señal de recuperación

Tecnica e prospettive di utilizzo della citometria a flusso per la tipizzazione linfocitaria del liquido sinoviale di cane

RIASSUNTO L’utilizzo della citometria a flusso, o fluorimetria, per l’immunofenotipizzazione linfocitaria è una metodica in uso in medicina umana soprattutto nel settore reumatologico, dove riveste un’importanza notevole nella comprensione dei meccanismi degenerativi cartilaginei in corso di artrite reumatoide, mentre è poco utilizzata nella più comune artrosi. In medicina veterinaria la tecnica non è a tutt’oggi utilizzata nella diagnostica collaterale dei problemi ortopedici e reumatologici. Sono disponibili solo due segnalazioni di lavori sperimentali in argomento. Sono state fatte numerose prove su campioni di liquido sinoviale di cane, prelevato sia durante la visita clinica che in sede intraoperatoria, in corso di patologie articolari diverse. Il liquido è stato sottoposto a conta cellulare con contaglobuli elettronico; per essere processato a tal fine e per l’analisi citofluorimetrica, è stato sottoposto a pretrattamento con jaluronidasi. La componente cellulare mononucleata è stata quindi separata e concentrata mediante centrifugazione in gradiente di densità su LymphoprepTM (Ficoll-Isopaque) e studiata con citofluorimetro. Contemporaneamente l’immunofenotipizzazione linfocitaria è stata condotta anche su un campione di sangue periferico. Prove successive finalizzate a rendere il campione un fluido acquoso hanno permesso di evidenziare l’assoluta necessità di pretrattare il campione con 2 gocce di jaluronidasi alla concentrazione di 150UI/ml per 0,25 cc di liquido sinoviale. La quantità di liquido prelevabile è in generale scarsa nei fatti degenerativi cronici, più abbondante nei fenomeni infiammatori acuti, e questo può rappresentare un limite nell’applicazione di questa metodica nella pratica clinica. Per ottenere una buona lettura è necessario avere infatti almeno 1cc di liquido articolare e/o almeno 1000 cellule/μl. La distribuzione delle sottopopolazioni linfocitarie CD3+ e CD21+, ed in particolare del rapporto fra i linfociti CD4+ e CD8+ nel liquido sinoviale e nel sangue, si presenta indicativamente diversa nei fenomeni prevalentemente degenerativi rispetto a quelli squisitamente infiammatori. La tipizzazione linfocitaria nel liquido sinoviale del cane può aprire la strada ad ulteriori indagini per studiare più a fondo i meccanismi eziopatogenetici alla base della condrodegenerazione e della risposta locale e sistemica nei fenomeni osteoartritici e immunitari, oltreché fornire una ausilio nell’individuazione e nel monitoraggio delle terapie. SUMMARY The use of flow cytometry, also called cytofluorimetry, for lymphocyte immunophenotyping is a technique adopted in uman medicine, especially in the rheumatoid field, where is of paramount importance to understand the cartilage degenerative mechanisms during rheumatoid arthritis, while is less used in degenerative joint disease. Till now in veterinary medicine this technique is not included in the ancillary diagnostic methods for orthopaedic and rheumatologic problems. To date only two papers are available about its experimental use. Several tests were done on canine synovial fluid samples, collected during the clinical examination or intraoperatively, in subjects with different joint diseases. The synovial fluid was submit for total cell count with electronic cell-counter; for this purpose and for cytofluorimetric examination too was pre-treated with jaluronidasis. The mononuclear cell phase was then separated and concentrated by centrifugation on LymphoprepTM (Ficoll-Isopaque) and studied with cytofluorimetry. In the mean time the lymphocyte immunophenotyping was performed also on a peripheral blood sample. Further tests aimed to transform the sample in an aqueous fluid has shown the absolute necessity to pre-treat the sample with two drops of jaluronidasis 150 UI/ml in 0,25 cc of synovial fluid. In chronic degenerative joint disease only few drops of synovial fluid can be collected from joints, while more abundant quantities could came from acute inflammatory cases, and this could represent a limit for the applications of the technique in the clinical practice. To perform a good examination we need at least 1cc of synovial fluid and/or at least 1000 cells/μl. Lymphocyte CD3+ and CD21+ subpopulation distribution, and especially CD4+/CD8+ ratio in blood and synovial fluid, shows differences in prevalently degenerative and mainly inflammatory phenomena. The lymphocyte immunophenotyping of canine synovial fluid can represent an alternative instrument to deeply analyze the aetiopathogenetic mechanisms settled at the basis of chondrodegeneration and of the local and systemic response to osteoarthritic and immunological phenomena, and to help in therapeutic choice and monitoring

Local diversity of native arbuscular mycorrhizal symbionts differentially affects growth and nutrition of three crop plant species

Intact whole native AMF communities occurring across a 100-m-long field were used for the evaluation of plant performance, as determined by the actual fungal species colonizing host roots. The soil from distinct plots within a "hot spot" field was collected to set up 54 experimental units where three different plant species were grown, in order to test whether the whole native AMF communities were able to differentially affect plant growth, to assess the genetic identity of the AMF actually colonizing the tested plants and to analyse their community composition in the different hosts. Molecular analyses revealed that plant growth and nutrition of the crop plants were differentially affected by the diverse native arbuscular mycorrhizal communities colonizing the roots of the three plants, whose performance varied depending on the identity of plant hosts and fungal symbionts, more than on a rich and diversified AMF community. Such results, improving our understanding of AMF distribution at the local scale, represent a starting point allowing the selection, isolation and characterization of the most efficient AMF assemblages to be used as inoculants in sustainable food production systems

The “discard problem” in Mediterranean fisheries, in the face of the European Union landing obligation: the case of bottom trawl fishery and implications for management

Since the first introduction of the landing obligation (a.k.a. Discard ban) in 2015, the EU Mediterranean fisheries are facing some unforeseen challenges. The demersal bottom trawl fisheries, being the most significant contributors to the so-called 'discard problem', are confronted with the greatest challenges. Data from the Italian and the Greek fleet, spanning over two decades (1995–2015), were analysed with the intention of revealing the diversity and heterogeneity of the discard problem, especially for regulated species. Species composition of discards, as well as discarding rates, were shown to be irregular, fluctuating among areas, depth strata, seasons and years. Although fish dominated the discarded gross catch in weight, benthic invertebrates (other than commercial cephalopods and crustaceans) were the taxa discarded almost exclusively. The established minimum conservation reference size was largely ignored by fishers. From a management point of view, the present investigation suggests that the recently established Discard Management Plans lack scientific evidence (given the high intrinsic variability of the parameters and confusion regarding the rules) and provide exemptions from the landing obligation that will in practice allow the average Mediterranean bottom trawl vessel to continue business as usual. Moreover, detecting if these rules are actually respected is an almost impossible task for the Mediterranean control and enforcement authorities. Incentivizing the adoption of fishing technologies and practices that reduce pre-harvest mortality and post-harvest discards, while avoiding damage to sensitive marine species and habitats, seems the only way to move forward, rather than dealing with the problem after it has occurred

Reducción de los descartes en la pesca con trasmallo: resultados experimentales utilizando trasmallo con “faldón” en la pesca artesanal del camarón, Penaeus kerathurus, en el mar Ligur (Mediterráneo Occidental)

This study aimed to test the effectiveness of a “guarding net”, a device placed at the bottom of a trammel net, for reducing unwanted catches in the caramote prawn trammel net fishery of the Ligurian Sea. This specialized and profitable fishery is affected by unwanted catches that generate high discard rates and damage to the nets, with environmental impacts and costs for fishermen. The experimental study consisted in comparing the catches of a standard trammel net (STN) with those of two “experimental” trammel nets, e.g. STNs provided with a guarding net of 19 cm (TGN20) and 24 cm height (TGN25), respectively. The guarding net, a strip of gillnet placed at the bottom of the net, can be considered a by-catch reducer device (BRD). Some fishermen of the investigated fishery have been using this device for several years. The results of the 15 experimental fishing trials performed from June to July 2016 indicate that the guarding nets significantly reduce discards (e.g. crabs and other invertebrates); the biomass of the unwanted species caught was 75% lower than that produced by the STN. The catch rates of the target species obtained with TGN20 and TGN25 were also significantly lower than those of the STN, though of a lesser amount. Nonetheless, this economic loss can be compensated by the decrease in sorting time and material and labour costs that can be achieved using the guarding net.El objetivo de este trabajo fue testar los efectos de un “faldón”, una red colocada en la parte inferior de un trasmallo, para reducir los descartes en la pesquería del camarón del mar Ligur. Se trata de una pesquería especializada y rentable, afectada por capturas no deseadas, que generan descartes y daños a las redes, con impacto ambiental y costes para los pescadores. Se llevaron a cabo pescas experimentales, para comparar la captura de un trasmallo estándar (STN) con la de dos trasmallos “experimentales”, construidos a partir de un trasmallo estándar, con el ajuste de un faldón de 19 cm de altura (TGN20), y de un faldón de 24 cm (TGN25). Este faldón, una banda de red de enmalle, se puede considerar como un dispositivo reductor de capturas accesorias (BRD). Algunos pescadores de la pesquería investigada ya utilizan este dispositivo desde hace algunos años. Los resultados de las quince pruebas experimentales, realizadas de junio a julio 2016, muestran que el faldón de red de enmalle contribuye significativamente a reducir los descartes (cangrejos y otros invertebrados), con una reducción de la biomasa de las especies descartadas hasta el 75%, respecto al trasmallo estándar. Al mismo tiempo, también las tasas de captura de las especies objetivo obtenidas con TGN20 y TGN25 fueron significativamente más bajas que las del STN, aunque de menor magnitud. Sin embargo, esta pérdida económica puede ser compensada por la disminución del tiempo de trabajo, de los costes del material y de la mano de obra, que se pueden lograr utilizando un trasmallo con “faldón”

Patrón de abundancia espacio-temporal de la gamba de altura, Parapenaeus longirostris, y de la cigala, Nephrops norvegicus, en las aguas mediterráneas europeas

The main characteristics concerning the distribution of two of the most important decapod crustaceans of commercial interest in the Mediterranean Sea, the deep-water rose shrimp, Parapenaeus longirostris, and the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, are studied in the European Mediterranean waters. The study is based on data collected under the MEDITS trawl surveys from 1994 to 2015 from the Gibraltar Straits to the northeastern Levantine Basin (Cyprus waters). The observed differences can be interpreted as different responses to environmental drivers related to the differing life history traits of the two species. In fact, N. norvegicus is a long-living, benthic burrowing species with low growth and mortality rates, while P. longirostris is an epibenthic, short-living species characterized by higher rates of growth and mortality.Se investigaron las características de la distribución de dos de los crustáceos decápodos más importantes a nivel comercial del mar Mediterráneo, la gamba de altura, Parapenaeus longirostris y la cigala, Nephrops norvegicus, en aguas mediterráneas europeas. El presente estudio se basa en datos recopilados en las campañas de pesca experimental de arrastre MEDITS, relizadas de 1994 a 2015 desde el estrecho de Gibraltar hasta la cuenca levantina nororiental (aguas de Chipre). Las diferencias observadas en el patrón de distribución se pueden interpretar como distintas respuestas a factores ambientales relacionados con los diferentes rasgos del ciclo vital de las dos especies. De hecho, N. norvegicus es una especie bentónica de vida larga, con bajas tasas de crecimiento y mortalidad, mientras que P. longirostris es una especie epibentónica de vida corta, caracterizada por tasas más altas de crecimiento y de mortalidad

Sardines at a junction: seascape genomics reveals ecological and oceanographic drivers of variation in the {NW} Mediterranean Sea

By evaluating genetic variation across the entire genome, one can address existing questions in a novel way while raising new ones. The latter includes how different local environments influence adaptive and neutral genomic variation within and among populations, providing insights into local adaptation of natural populations and their responses to global change. Here, under a seascape genomic approach, ddRAD data of 4609 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 398 sardines (Sardina pilchardus) collected in 11 Mediterranean and one Atlantic site were generated. These were used along with oceanographic and ecological information to detect signals of adaptive divergence with gene flow across environmental gradients. The studied sardines constitute two clusters (FST = 0.07), a pattern attributed to outlier loci, highlighting putative local adaptation. The trend in the number of days with sea surface temperature above 19°C, a critical threshold for successful sardine spawning, was crucial at all levels of population structuring with implications on the species' key biological processes. Outliers link candidate SNPs to the region's environmental heterogeneity. Our findings provide evidence for a dynamic equilibrium in which population structure is maintained by physical and ecological factors under the opposing influences of migration and selection. This dynamic in a natural system warrants continuous monitoring under a seascape genomic approach that might benefit from a temporal and more detailed spatial dimension. Our results may contribute to complementary studies aimed at providing deeper insights into the mechanistic processes underlying population structuring. Those are key to understanding and predicting future changes and responses of this highly exploited species in the face of climate change

Il Fenomeno delle Dipendenze nella Regione Abruzzo. Rapporto Anno 2009

Report on the state of legal and illegal substances use in the territory of Abruzzo RegionIl Report analizza il fenomeno delle dipendenze nella Regione Abruzzo. La descrizione del fenomeno si sviluppa intorno all\u27analisi degli indicatori individuati dall\u27Osservatorio Europeo delle Dipendenze di Lisbona (OEDT): 1-uso di sostanze nella popolazione generale (questo indicatore va a rilevare i comportamenti nei confronti di alcol e sostanze psicoattive da parte della popolazione generale); 2-prevalenza d\u27uso problematico delle sostanze psicoattive; 3-domanda di trattamento degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 4-mortalit? degli utilizzatori di sostanze; 5-malattie infettive. Altri due importanti indicatori che si stanno sviluppando, e che vengono qui illustrati, sono l\u27analisi delle Schede di Dimissione Ospedaliera (SDO) e gli indicatori relativi alle conseguenza sociali dell\u27uso di droghe (criminalit? droga correlata). Inoltre sono state applicate diverse metodologie standard di stima sia per quantificare la quota parte sconosciuta di utilizzatori di sostanze che non afferiscono ai servizi, sia per identificarne alcune caratteristiche