Wild food plants of popular use in Sicily

In the present work the authors report the result of their food ethnobotanical researches, which have been carried out in Sicily during the last thirty years. Data concerning 188 wild species used in the traditional Sicilian cuisine are reported. The authors underline those species that are partially or completely unknown for their culinary use and they illustrate other species that local inhabitants suggested in the prevention or treatment of symptomatologies caused by a refined diet, poor in vegetables. These data want to contribute to avoid the loss of traditional knowledge on uses and recipes concerning wild food botanicals, and to encourage further studies for those species that have not yet been sufficiently researched in their food chemical and nutritional profile. These studies may also suggest new applications for a few botanicals in medico-nutritional fields. The work includes also a short review of the seaweeds and mushrooms traditionally gathered and consumed in Sicily

DNA demethylation caused By 5-Aza-2'-Deoxycytidine induces mitotic alterations and aneuploidy

Aneuploidy, the unbalanced number of chromosomes in a cell, is considered a prevalent form of genetic instability and is largely acknowledged as a condition implicated in tumorigenesis. Epigenetic alterations like DNA hypomethylation have been correlated with cancer initiation/progression. Furthermore, a growing body of evidence suggests the involvement of epigenome-wide disruption as a cause of global DNA hypomethylation in aneuploidy generation. Here, we report that the DNA hypomethylating drug 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (DAC), affects the correct ploidy of nearly diploid HCT-116 human cells by altering the methylation pattern of the chromosomes. Specifically, we show that a DACinduced reduction of 5-Methyl Cytosine at the pericentromeric region of chromosomes correlates with aneuploidy and mitotic defects. Our results suggest that DNA hypomethylation leads to aneuploidy by altering the DNA methylation landscape at the centromere that is necessary to ensure proper chromosomes segregation by recruiting the proteins necessary to build up a functional kinetochore

Rainfall-triggered debris flows: Triggering-propagation modelling and application to an event in Southern Italy

Debris flows are high-speed and unpredictable phenomena, considered among the main sources of hazard worldwide, since they can affect structures, the economy, and human lives. Rainfall typically triggers these events, causing the flowing of the unconsolidated soil downslope. This work focuses on debris-flow events characterized by multiple triggering areas, which are extremely complex since they involve a spatial sequence of numerous triggers in a relatively small portion of the slope. Numerical modelling of this type of phenomenon can contribute to hazard and risk assessment, which is key to designing effective mitigation structures. In this article, two different models are applied for triggering and propagation, respectively. The former computes the transient pore-pressure changes and the consequent factor of safety variation caused by rainfall infiltration, inducing the triggering of the event. The latter is a depth-averaged numerical model that simulates the event runout, and whose parameters are calibrated through back-analysis. The applicability of the two combined approaches is tested through modelling of an historical event in Southern Italy, which was characterized by large mass releases from multiple triggering zones. Residential areas were hit, suffering serious consequences. Two rheologies are compared to individuate the most suitable propagation model for the study case and obtained results are commented

Burkitt's lymphoma in pregnant woman: Difficult management of a rare case

Introduction: Burkitt's lymphoma (BL), an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), is extremely rare during pregnancy. In the case of bowel localization, diagnosis can be very difficult. Moreover, signs and symptoms of the primary small intestine lymphoma are nonspecific, mostly attributable to the “mass effect” of the tumor. The most frequent symptom is abdominal cramp-like pain, associated with nausea and vomiting. Presentation of case: We report a rare case of a 37-year-old pregnant woman, at the 33rd week of gestation, with an abdominal-pelvic mass of uncertain nature. Surgical strategy consisted of a two-step procedure, which involved a cesarean section and typing of the mass: extemporaneous examination hypothesized intestinal lymphoma. The definitive histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of rare case of BL in pregnancy. Discussion: The clinical case reported, representing a rare occurrence of BL in pregnancy, was associated with difficult interpretation and complex management. Lymphoma of the small intestine is often overlooked in the early stages of the disease, due to the fact that symptoms are non-specific and consequently underestimated. In our case, based on gestational age, it was possible to perform a multidisciplinary approach, a cesarean section with surgical intestinal exploration, achieving at the same time delivery of the child and a definitive diagnosis of BL with intestinal involvement. Conclusion: The involvement of multiple professionals is undoubtedly the best way to deal with the above referred to situation, with the main point being to keep in mind the possibility of this type of occurrence

A possible relationship between the Arctic Oscillation Index and atmosphere-triggered interannual long-wavelength

A host of geophysical processes contribute to temporal variations in the low-degree zonal harmonics of the Earth’s gravity field. The present paper focuses on atmosphere-based mass redistributions using global surface pressure data from the NOAA Climate Diagnostics Center for the period 1980-2002. We computed atmosphere-triggered temporal variations of the Earth’s low-degree zonal gravitational coefficients Jl (l = 2 : 4). Such atmosphere-triggered ΔJl(t) are compared with the Arctic Oscillation Index (AOI) and with the observed ΔJl(t) computed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) so as to investigate a possible coupling. We show that there is a significant agreement between the AOI and atmosphere-triggered ΔJl(t), as well as a particularly interesting correlation between the winter ΔJl(t) series and the AOI active season series

Estimating local records for Northern and Central Italy from a sparse secular temperature network and from 1961–1990 climatologies

The paper presents monthly 30-arc-second-resolution Northern and Central Italy temperature climatologies and discusses the procedure we adopt to superimpose the information of temperature secular records onto these climatologies. The climatologies are obtained by means of a step-wise linear regression method which aims at determining the temperature dependence on geographical and morphological variables. Such a method is applied to a database of about 800 monthly 1961–1990 temperature normals. In the first regression (temperature vs. elevation) the recorded data are considered; the further regressions concern the residuals obtained after taking into account the effect of each variable, in order of importance. An estimated secular anomaly record can be obtained for each point of the climatology grid by means of a distance-weighted average of the temperature anomaly records of the stations surrounding the grid point

Bats in a Farming Landscape Benefit from Linear Remnants and Unimproved Pastures

Schemes designed to make farming landscapes less hostile to wildlife have been questioned because target taxa do not always respond in the expected manner. Microbats are often overlooked in this process, yet persist in agricultural landscapes and exert top-down control of crop pests. We investigated the relationship between microbats and measures commonly incorporated into agri-environment schemes, to derive management recommendations for their ongoing conservation. We used acoustic detectors to quantify bat species richness, activity, and feeding in 32 linear remnants and adjacent fields across an agricultural region of New South Wales, Australia. Nocturnal arthropods were simultaneously trapped using black-light traps. We recorded 91,969 bat calls, 17,277 of which could be attributed to one of the 13 taxa recorded, and 491 calls contained feeding buzzes. The linear remnants supported higher bat activity than the fields, but species richness and feeding activity did not significantly differ. We trapped a mean 87.6 g (±17.6 g SE) of arthropods per night, but found no differences in biomass between land uses. Wider linear remnants with intact native vegetation supported more bat species, as did those adjacent to unsealed, as opposed to sealed roads. Fields of unimproved native pastures, with more retained scattered trees and associated hollows and logs, supported the greatest bat species richness and activity. We conclude that the juxtaposition of linear remnants of intact vegetation and scattered trees in fields, coupled with less-intensive land uses such as unimproved pastures will benefit bat communities in agricultural landscapes, and should be incorporated into agri-environment schemes. In contrast, sealed roads may act as a deterrent. The "wildlife friendly farming" vs "land sparing" debate has so far primarily focussed on birds, but here we have found evidence that the integration of both approaches could particularly benefit bats.Financial support was provided by a “Science Grant” from The Paddy Pallin Foundation in partnership with the Royal Zoological Society of NSW (http://www.paddypallinfoundation.org.au/index.php/current/sciencegrants), a WildCountry Science Council student top-up (http://www.wilderness.org.au/campaigns/wildcountry/wild-country-science-council-members), the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education Australian Postgraduate Award to PL (http://www.innovation.gov.au/research/researchblockgrants/pages/australianpostgraduateawards.aspx), and a CSIRO student top-up scholarship to PL (http://www.csiro.au/Portals/Careers/Work-experience-and-scholarships/Postgraduate-scholarships/Flagship-Postgrad-Scholarships.aspx). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Implementation of a webGIS service platform for high mountain climate research: the SHARE GeoNetwork project

The implementation of a webGIS service platform dedicated to the management and sharing of climatological data acquired by high elevation stations is the core of the Station at High Altitude for Research on the Environment (SHARE) GeoNetwork project, promoted by the Ev-K2 CNR Committee. The web platform basically will provide three types of services: structured metadata archive, data and results from high-altitude environments research and projects; access to high-altitude Ev-K2 CNR stations and creation of a network of existing stations; dedicated webGIS for geo-referenced data collected during the research. High elevation environmental and territorial data and metadata are catalogued in a single integrated platform to get access to the information heritage of the SHARE project, using open-source tools: Geonetwork for the metadata catalogue and webGIS resources, and the open-source Weather and Water Database (WDB), developed by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, for the database information system implementation. The information system is designed to have a main node, with the possibility to install relocated subsystems based on the same technology, named focal point of SHARE, which will contain metadata and data connected to the main node. In this study, a new structure of metadata for the description of the climatological stations is proposed and WDB adaptation and data preprocessing are described in detail, giving code and script samples

Performance of Pheromone-Baited Traps to Monitor the Seasonal Abundance of Tortrix Moths in Chestnut Groves.

(1) Background: Pammene fasciana (L.), Cydia fagiglandana (Zeller), and C. splendana (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) are considered key moth pests of chestnut in Europe. (2) Methods: Investigations were performed in 2018–2019 in northern Italy. Sticky traps and commercially available pheromones were used for monitoring; moreover, two experimental pheromone blends were tested. All specimens were identified according to male genitalia and molecular analyses. Newly formed chestnut husks and fruits were randomly collected to evaluate the presence of larvae and/or feeding damage, by comparing it to trap catches. (3) Results: P. fasciana was present in all the sites, whereas Cydia species were recorded in three sites of six, with differences in abundance related to pheromone blends studied. Several non-target species, such as Oegoconia novimundi (Busck) and Cydia ilipulana (Walsingham), were present. Data about the seasonal flight activity are provided. (4) Conclusions: This research contributes to ascertaining the presence and abundance of tortrix moths in Italian chestnut groves, and the presence of non-target species highlights the risk of overestimating catches. Fruit damage recorded did not always reflect catches made by pheromone traps, suggesting that monitoring may underestimate the real size of moths’ populations. All of the data acquired are important for planning specific control measures