ROLE OF BEHAVIOUR IN MARINE ORGANISMS: POTENTIAL EFFECTS UNDER FUTURE OCEAN CONDITIONS.

Over the last 250 years, the intensive burning of fossil fuels along with industrial processes and land uses (e.g. clearing forests and agriculture) has contributed to an increase in atmospheric CO2 from approximately 280 to 410 ppm, with a further increase (from 730 to 1020 ppm) projected by the end of this century. About 30% of the anthropogenic CO2 has been absorbed by the ocean, with a consequent decrease of the ocean’s surface pH causing a phenomenon better known as Ocean Acidification (OA). The average pH of the surface ocean has declined from 8.2 by 0.1 units since pre-industrial times as a result of CO2 emissions and a further reduction of 0.3–0.5 pH units is expected to occur by the 2100. This increased concentration of atmospheric CO2 has driven an increase in atmospheric and oceanic temperatures enhanced at a rate of ~ 0.2˚C per decade in the past 30 years. These rapid changing ocean conditions in pCO2 and temperature are considered two of the major threats to marine biodiversity, leading to changes in the distribution, physiology and behaviour of marine organisms, with potential consequences in community and ecosystem functioning and structure. Despite the increasing interest and amount of literature on this topic, the effects of OA and ocean warming (OW) on marine fauna is difficult to predict, especially because a wide range of impacts have been found across different life stages-and species suggesting that tolerance thresholds to such stressors can vary among life stages experienced by an organism or even between species. In this regard, an increased number of studies has been conducted to better understand the mechanisms by which species can cope with these rapid environmental changes. The first response of animals to a changing environment is predominantly through modification of their behaviour. To date, only a few climate change biology studies have considered behavioural plasticity as a way that animals can adjust their performance under rapid climate change, especially for marine ectotherms. The general objective of this thesis was to evaluate the effects of ocean warming and acidification on different aspects of behaviour in marine ectotherms. To achieve this aim I investigated the behavioural responses of two marine fish and one invertebrate, through field-based and laboratory experiments

The Centenary of Immune Thrombocytopenia-Part 2: Revising Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approach

Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is the most common cause of thrombocytopenia in children and adolescents and can be considered as a paradigmatic model of autoimmune disease. This second part of our review describes the clinical presentation of ITP, the diagnostic approach and overviews the current therapeutic strategies. Interestingly, it suggests an algorithm useful for differential diagnosis, a crucial process to exclude secondary forms of immune thrombocytopenia (IT) and non-immune thrombocytopenia (non-IT), which require a different therapeutic management. Advances in understanding the pathogenesis led to new therapeutic targets, as thrombopoietin receptor agonists, whose role in treatment of ITP will be discussed in this work

Plastic adjustments of biparental care behavior across embryonic development under elevated temperature in a marine ectotherm

Phenotypic plasticity in parental care investment allows organisms to promptly respond to rapid environmental changes by potentially benefiting offspring survival and thus parental fitness. To date, a knowledge gap exists on whether plasticity in parental care behaviors can mediate responses to climate change in marine ectotherms. Here, we assessed the plasticity of parental care investment under elevated temperatures in a gonochoric marine annelid with biparental care, Ophryotrocha labronica, and investigated its role in maintaining the reproductive success of this species in a warming ocean. We measured the time individuals spent carrying out parental care activities across three phases of embryonic development, as well as the hatching success of the offspring as a proxy for reproductive success, at control (24℃) and elevated (27℃) temperature conditions. Under elevated temperature, we observed: (a) a significant decrease in total parental care activity, underpinned by a decreased in male and simultaneous parental care activity, in the late stage of embryonic development; and (b) a reduction in hatching success that was however not significantly related to changes in parental care activity levels. These findings, along with the observed unaltered somatic growth of parents and decreased brood size, suggest that potential cost-benefit trade-offs between offspring survival (i.e., immediate fitness) and parents' somatic condition (i.e., longer-term fitness potential) may occur under ongoing ocean warming. Finally, our results suggest that plasticity in parental care behavior is a mechanism able to partially mitigate the negative effects of temperature-dependent impacts. -- Keywords : Behavioral plasticity ; Brood size ; Global warming ; Hatching success ; Invertebrates ; Parental investment

LE VASCULITI PRIMITIVE COME URGENZA IMMUNO-REUMATOLOGICA. DESCRIZIONE DELLE CARATTERISTICHE DI ACCESSO, PROGNOSI ED OUTCOME DI UN GRUPPO DI PAZIENTI AFFETTI DA VASCULITE PRIMITIVA AMMESSI NEL DIPARTIMENTO DI EMERGENZA ED URGENZA.

Le vasculiti primitive sono patologie sistemiche ad eziologia autoimmunitaria che possono presentarsi al loro esordio con un quadro di urgenza/emergenza. Per il medico che lavoro nell'urgenza esse rappresentano una difficile sfida. In una discreta percentuale di casi possono presentarsi con impegno multiorgano severo che implica talvolta, la necessità di ricorrere alla terapia intensiva. Una diagnosi precoce ed una tempestiva terapia permettono di ridurre significativamente i decessi e i danni d'organo permanenti. Data la possibile diagnosi differenziale con patologie infettive, risulta fondamentale escludere tale eziologia per poter eseguire una adeguata terapia immunosoppressiva. La finalità di questo studio è descrivere le caratteristiche di esordio delle vasculiti primitive in un contesto di urgenza/emergenza al fine di ridurre al minimo i casi di diagnosi mancate e migliorare la prognosi dei pazienti. Date le modalità con le quali esordiscono, è necessario che soprattutto i medici d’urgenza e di terapia intensiva conoscano la loro presentazione clinica, per arrivare precocemente alla diagnosi e alla terapia, anche mediante il coinvolgimento dello specialista immunologo/reumatologo. Lo studio, inoltre, evidenzia come il semplice sospetto clinico di tali patologie possa aumentare significativamente il numero di diagnosi permettendo così un miglior outcome per i pazienti

Ruolo dell'accoppiamento elettro-meccanico atriale nella predizione di recidiva di fibrillazione atriale dopo ablazione transcatetere.

La fibrillazione atriale (FA) determina un rimodellamento elettrico e strutturale degli atri la cui entità è associata a un tasso di recidiva più elevato dopo l'ablazione transcatetere. Recentemente, è stato introdotto un nuovo parametro ecocardiografico derivato dal Doppler tissutale (TDI), chiamato PA-TDI, utilizzato per valutare il tempo di attivazione atriale totale come surrogato non invasivo della fibrosi e del rimodellamento atriale. Lo scopo dello studio è quello di indagare il ruolo dell'intervallo PA-TDI come predittore di rischio di recidiva della aritmia dopo procedura di ablazione. Nel nostro studio sono stati prospetticamente arruolati pazienti consecutivi con FA persistente e parossistica non responsivi alla terapia medica indirizzati presso il nostro centro per eseguire procedure di ablazione con radiofrequenze o crioablazione, in accordo con le Linee Guida contemporanee. In tali pazienti è stato eseguito un esame ecocardiografico transtoracico completo, con inclusa la valutazione dell’intervallo PA-TDI, prima della procedura e una rivalutazione di tale parametro post-procedura. Da ottobre 2018 a Maggio 2020, sono stati arruolati 222 pazienti (età media 60 anni, 74% maschi, BSA medio 1,96, BMI medio 26,4, Frazione di Eiezione media 60,1%) sintomatici per FA, sottoposti a procedura di ablazione (prima procedura o re-do). In 168 di essi è stato misurato il PA-TDI laterale post-procedura di ablazione. Durante il follow-up (media 16 mesi), il 25% dei pazienti ha presentato recidiva della aritmia al di fuori del periodo di blanking. Confrontando con i pazienti che non hanno avuto recidiva, i pazienti con recidiva presentano mediante un intervallo PA-TDI post-procedurale tendenzialmente più lungo (139,6msec vs 153,9msec rispettivamente). Alla analisi multivariabile solo il PA-TDI post-procedura e gli interventi re-do sono risultati essere predittori indipendenti di recidiva di FA

Different behavioral strategies of two sympatric seahorses: habitat availability and increased density of Hippocampus guttulatus alter the behavior of Hippocampus hippocampus

In the light of future ocean warming scenarios and habitat fragmentation, coastal fishes must adjust their physiological and behavioral traits to face the combined effect of global warming and ecological interactions. Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) are charismatic fishes with peculiar life cycle traits, which make them vulnerable to several anthropic pressures and natural disturbances. In this study, we investigated the behavior of two sympatric seahorse species, the long-snouted Hippocampus guttulatus (Cuvier, 1829) and the short-snouted Hippocampus hippocampus (Linnaeus, 1758). Specifically, we carried out two manipulative experiments to assess (i) the effect of temperature and habitat availability on both H. hippocampus and H. guttulatus behavior and (ii) the effect of temperature and an increased density of H. guttulatus (by 3x) on the activity level of congeneric species H. hippocampus. Our results showed that +3 & DEG;C warming did not affect seahorse behavior in both experiments, suggesting greater behavioral tolerance to thermal variation. However, a significant reduction of the active behavior of H. hippocampus was observed when the artificial habitat was introduced in the tank, while H. guttulatus maintained its activity. Furthermore, a significant decrease of the H. hippocampus activity was observed with an increased relative dominance of H. guttulatus. Our results suggest that both increased density of H. guttulatus and habitat availability, but not ocean warming, will affect the behavior of H. hippocampus. Therefore, different interspecific behavioral strategies may occur, thus affecting the distribution of the two species among shallow habitats when they occur in sympatry.LA/P/0101/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Seawater carbonate chemistry and nest guarding behaviour of a temperate wrasse

Organisms may respond to changing environmental conditions by adjusting their behaviour (i.e., behavioural plasticity). Ocean acidification (OA), resulting from anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), is predicted to impair sensory function and behaviour of fish. However, reproductive behaviours, and parental care in particular, and their role in mediating responses to OA are presently overlooked. Here, we assessed whether the nesting male ocellated wrasse Symphodus ocellatus from sites with different CO2 concentrations showed different behaviours during their breeding season. We also investigated potential re-allocation of the time-budget towards different behavioural activities between sites. We measured the time period that the nesting male spent carrying out parental care, mating and exploring activities, as well as changes in the time allocation between sites at ambient (400 μatm) and high CO2 concentrations (1000 μatm). Whilst the behavioural connectance (i.e., the number of linkages among different behaviours relative to the total amount of linkages) was unaffected, we observed a significant reduction in the time spent on parental care behaviour, and a significant decrease in the guarding activity of fish at the high CO2 sites, with a proportional re-allocation of the time budget in favour of courting and wandering around, which however did not change between sites. This study shows behavioural differences in wild fish living off volcanic CO2 seeps that could be linked to different OA levels, suggesting that behavioural plasticity may potentially act as a mechanism for buffering the effects of ongoing environmental change. A reallocation of the time budget between key behaviours may play a fundamental role in determining which marine organisms are thriving under projected OA

Prognostic impact of cardiac resynchronization therapy guided by phase analysis: a CZT study

Aims To evaluate whether phase analysis imaging may predict treatment response and long-term prognosis after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Methods and results Sixty-nine patients underwent myocardial perfusion imaging followed by CRT. Patients with ischaemic heart disease and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) were identified. Left ventricular (LV) mechanical dyssynchrony (LVMD) was assessed at phase analysis and the region of the latest mechanical activation was identified. LV pacing lead position was considered ‘concordant’ when located in the region of the latest mechanical activation, and ‘discordant’ otherwise. The ‘6 months post-CRT’/‘baseline’ ratio of LV ejection fraction was computed as a measure of CRT response. LVMD was revealed in 47/69 patients, 27 of whom (57%) had a concordant LV lead implantation. Only concordant pacing was associated with LV functional improvement (ejection fraction ratio: 1.28 ± 0.25 vs. 1.11 ± 0.32 in discordant stimulation, P = 0.028). However, this relationship persisted only in patients with NICM (P < 0.001), while it disappeared in those with ischaemic heart disease (P = NS). Twenty-eight events occurred during 30 ± 21 months follow-up. While discordant LV lead location was the major predictor of unfavourable prognosis (hazard ratio 3.29, 95% confidence interval 1.25–8.72; P = 0.016), this relationship was confirmed only in patients with NICM. Conclusions Phase analysis of myocardial perfusion imaging may guide CRT implantation, identifying patients who would most likely benefit from this procedure

Multimodality imaging for atrial fibrosis detection in the era of precision medicine

In recent years, atrial fibrillation (AF) has increasingly become a focus of attention because it represents the most encountered arrhythmia in clinical practice and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Issues underlying AF have long been debated; nevertheless, electrical, contractile, and structural remodeling is demonstrated to be the pivotal contributor to arrhythmic substrate. Fibrosis is a hallmark of arrhythmogenic structural remodeling, resulting from an accumulation of fibrillar collagen deposits, as a reparative process to replace degenerating myocardium with concomitant reactive fibrosis, which causes interstitial expansion. Although the precise role of fibrosis in AF initiation and maintenance remains to be fully elucidated, a better definition of its extent and distribution may assist in designing individually tailored ablation approaches and improving procedure outcomes by targeting the fibrotic substrates with an organized strategy employing imaging resources. A deep comprehension of the mechanisms underlying atrial fibrosis could be crucial to setting up improved strategies for preventing AF-promoting structural remodeling. Imaging modalities such as echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography, and cardiac magnetic resonance, combined sometimes with invasive electroanatomical mapping, could provide valuable information for the optimal patients’ management if their use is not limited to cardiac anatomy study but extended to characterize abnormal left atrial substrate. Although pulmonary vein isolation is usually efficacious in treating paroxysmal AF, it is not sufficient for many patients with nonparoxysmal arrhythmias, particularly those with longstanding persistent AF. Noninvasive imaging techniques play a pivotal role in the planning of arrhythmic substrates ablation and show a strong correlation with electro-anatomic mapping, whose novel multipolar mapping catheters allow nowadays a more precise comprehension of atrial substrate. This review aims to explore the impact of the various imaging modalities for the detection of atrial fibrosis and their role in the management of AF

Fish-Anemone association recorded at ambient (∼380 μatm) and high (∼850 μatm) CO2 sites off a volcanic CO2 vent in Vulcano island, Italy

Density of Gobius incognitus and Anemonia viridis quantified by scuba diving in replicated belt transects (3m long and 1m wide) positioned at 1–2 m depth on mixed sandy/rocky substrates at the ambient (∼380 μatm) and high (∼850 μatm) CO2 sites. Fish/anemone association was also recorded in the two sites under different CO2 conditions (Ambient and High CO2)