Hydrogen gas embrittlement and the disc pressure test

A disc pressure test has been used to study the influenced of a hydrogen gas environment on the mechanical properties of three high strength superalloys, Inconel 718, L-605 and A-286, in static and dynamic conditions. The influence of the hydrogen pressure, loading rate, temperature, mechanical and thermal fatigue has investigated. The permeation characteristics of Inconel 718 have been determined in collaboration with the French AEC. The results complemented by a fractographic study are consistent either with a stress-sorption or with an internal embrittlement type of mechanism

The diet of otters (Lutra lutra) on the Agri river system, one of the most important presence sites in Italy: A molecular approach

Background. The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) underwent a strong decline in large areas of the Central-Western part of its distribution range, during the second half of the twentieth century. In Italy, only residual fragmented nuclei survive in the Central- Southern part of the peninsula. Nowadays, the otter is one of the most endangered mammals in Italy, and increasing the knowledge about the ecology of this species is a key step in defining fitting management strategies. Here we provide information about the diet of otter on the Agri river system, one of the most important presence sites in Italy, to understand both the species' food requirements and the impact on fish communities. Methods. DNA metabarcoding and High Throughput Sequencing were used on DNA extracted from spraints. We amplified DNA with a primer set for vertebrates, focusing efforts on the bulk of the otter's diet (fishes and amphibians). Results. Our findings showed that the diet of the otter was dominated by cyprinids (97.77%, and 99.14% of fishes), while amphibians represented 0.85% of the sequences analyzed. Results are in general accordance with previous studies based on morphological characterization; however, molecular analyses allow the resolving of some morphological uncertainties. Although the study area offers a very wide range of available prey, the diet of the otters shows marked selectivity. We highlighted a variation in prey consumed, in accordance with the typology of water system (i.e., river, lake, tributary). Some of the preys found in the diet were alien species introduced by man for sport fishing. Our findings could help define strategies useful for the conservation of the otter population in Southern Italy, suggesting management actions directed at avoiding fish community alterations through illegal stockings without severe controls on their taxonomic status. These introductions could result in a general reduction in the diversity of the otter's preys, affecting its predatory behavior

Gut microbiota plasticity in insular lizards under reversed island syndrome

Animals living on small islands are more drastically exposed to environmental changes, such as food or water starvation, and rapid temperature shifts. Facing such conditions, and probably thank to adaptive plasticity mechanisms, some animals display a Reversed Island Syndrome (RIS), a suite of traits, including skin pigmentation, voracity, sexual dimorphism, showed differently from mainland relatives. Here, we analyse a so far poorly explored aspect of RIS: the effect of this on the microbiota composition of host Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus), strongly influenced by the animal's lifestyle, and conditioning the same. We compare mainland and island populations, assessing the difference between their microbial communities and their response under unexpected food, experimentally provided. Our observations showed a significant difference in microbiota communities between island and mainland groups, depended mainly from changes in relative abundance of the shared genera (difference due to decrease/increase). Exposure to experimental diet regimes resulted into significative reshaping of bacterial composition of microbiota and a greater variation in body mass only in the island population. Our results could be an evidence that gut microbial community contributes to adaptive plasticity mechanisms of island lizards under RIS to efficiently respond to unexpected changes

Unravelling the Impact of Grape Washing, {SO}2, and Multi-Starter Inoculation in Lab-Scale Vinification Trials of Withered Black Grapes

Wine quality is strongly affected by chemical composition and microbial population of grape must, which, in turn, are influenced by several post-harvest treatments, including grape withering. Different strategies have been suggested to manage the fermenting must microbiota, as it plays a central role in the outcomes of both spontaneous and guided fermentations. This study aimed at evaluating the impact of grape washing, SO2 addition, and selected starter culture inoculation on population dynamics, fermentation kinetics, and main oenological parameters in lab-scale trials, focusing on withered grapes usually used for Amarone production. Although grape washing treatment was effective in removing heavy metals and undesirable microorganisms from grape berry surface, inoculation of multi-starter cultures impacted more fermentation rates. Further, both grape washing and starter inoculation procedures had a remarkable impact on wine chemical characteristics, while 30 mg/L SO2 addition did not significantly affect the fermentation process. In summary, the best strategy in terms of limiting off-flavors and potentially reducing the need for SO2 addition in wine from withered grapes was the use of yeast starters, particularly mixed cultures composed by selected strains of Metschnikowia spp. and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Application of a washing step before winemaking showed a potential to improve organoleptic characteristics of win

First Report of Tomato Leaf Curl New Delhi Virus Causing Yellow Leaf Curl of Pepper in Europe

Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV), a bipartite begomovirus (family Geminiviridae) with two circular ssDNA genome components (DNA-A and DNA-B), is transmitted in a circulative nonpropagative manner by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius). Although it was first reported in Asia on tomato and other solanaceous crops such as eggplant, potato, and chilli pepper in the Mediterranean basin, this virus was mainly detected on cucurbits and only sporadically on tomato and on two wild solanaceous species, Datura stramonium L. and Solanum nigrum L. (Juárez et al. 2019). In 2018, separate surveys were carried out in protected cultivations of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in two Italian regions: Lazio and Campania. The greenhouses were in areas with high density of B. tabaci and where ToLCNDV outbreaks occurred on cucurbits since 2016 (Panno et al. 2019). Some plants showing symptoms of yellowing and leaf curling were found in both regions, whereas fruit symptoms were neither observed nor reported by farmers. This disease syndrome, known as yellow leaf curl disease (YLCD), can be caused in pepper by several begomoviruses, as reported recently in a review listing the viruses causing YLCD in peppers in Thailand (Chiemsombat et al. 2018). Symptomatic leaves were collected during late summer 2018 from different pepper plants as well as from the neighboring zucchini cultivations, showing the typical symptomatology induced by ToLCNDV. Total DNA was extracted (DNeasy Plant Mini kit, Qiagen, Germany), and the presence of ToLCNDV was ascertained by PCR with the specific primers ToLCNDV-CP1 and ToLCNDV-CP2 (Panno et al. 2019; Parrella et al. 2018). ToLCNDV infection was further ascertained in three symptomatic leaf samples from Campania by using specific ToLCNDV ImmunoStrips (Agdia, Elkhart, IN). Successively, one symptomatic pepper sample from each greenhouse was selected and amplified by rolling circle amplification technique (RCA; Inoue-Nagata et al. 2004). The amplicons were cloned, and the DNA-A and DNA-B were full-length sequenced. The sequences were deposited in GenBank NCBI database (MK732932 DNA-A and MK732933 DNA-B, pepper sample from Campania; MK756106 DNA-A and MK756107 DNA-B, pepper sample from Lazio). The RCA analysis was performed also on a ToLCNDV-infected zucchini sample collected in the same area in Lazio region (MK756108 DNA-A and MK756109 DNA-B). The analysis of the ToLCNDV sequences showed a low level of genetic variability between the two pepper isolates from Lazio and Campania regions (rate of substitutions: 0.016 for DNA-A and 0.023 for DNA-B). A high genetic similarity was recorded between the zucchini isolate and both the pepper isolates from Campania (0.019 for DNA-A and 0.023 for DNA-B) and Lazio (0.003 for both DNA-A and B). The three characterized isolates showed a high sequence homology also with both the DNA-A (MH577751 from a melon isolate) and DNA-B (MH577673 from a zucchini isolate) of the ToLCNDV-ES genotype (Fortes et al. 2016), which differed in 15 and 13 nucleotide substitutions from pepper sample from Lazio, 29 and 51 substitutions from Campania sample, and 10 and 5 substitutions from zucchini sample. High homology was also identified compared with the other Spanish isolates collected since the first appearance of the virus (2014) and to the Tunisian (2015) and Moroccan (2018) isolates, confirming the hypothesis that the Mediterranean population of ToLCNDV is highly conserved (Juárez et al. 2019). To our knowledge, this is the first report of ToLCNDV infection on pepper in Europe and indicates that sweet pepper could also act as a reservoir of the virus for further spread to other solanaceous plants and cucurbits

Working length transfer in the endodontic clinical practice: A comparative study

8The present paper evaluated the accuracy of two different methods for transferring working length (WL) between manual endodontic instruments and nickel–titanium (NiTi) shaping files. Thirty root canals of extracted permanent teeth were used. Root canals were divided according to canal length (CL) and canal curvature (CC). The reference cusp and the root end were flattened to provide reproducible and accurate measurements. During shaping, the WL measurements were obtained with manual k-files (KF) and transferred to WaveOne (W1) NiTi reciprocating files using the traditional method with the endodontic ruler (method I) and an alternative clinical procedure based on the comparison of the instruments side by side from tip to shank (method II). For each file and each tested method, two measures were taken by two examiners using Rhino (ver. 4.0, McNeel, Seattle, WA, USA) software for a total of 360 (30 × 3 × 2 × 2) measures. Analysis of variance was performed by taking the difference in length (Delta WL, DWL) between files used for the same canal. The difference between methods I and II for WL transfer was found to be statistically significant (df = 1; F = 71.52; p < 0.001). The DWL absolute values obtained with method II were found to be closer to 0 mm (i.e., same length as corresponding KF) than those obtained with method I. Both CL (df = 2; F = 1.27; p = 0.300) and CC (df = 1; F = 2.22; p = 0.149) did not significantly influence WL measurements. With respect to WL transfer, method II seemed to better preserve the correct WL transfer between instruments during the clinical endodontic procedures.openopenMario Alovisi; Mario Dioguardi; Massimo Carossa; Giuseppe Troiano; Maria Chiara Domini; Davide Salvatore Paolino; Giorgio Chiandussi; Elio BeruttiAlovisi, Mario; Dioguardi, Mario; Carossa, Massimo; Troiano, Giuseppe; Chiara Domini, Maria; Paolino, DAVIDE SALVATORE; Chiandussi, Giorgio; Berutti, Eli

Physical Activity Measures in the Healthy Communities Study

The risk of obesity is reduced when youth engage in recommended levels of physical activity (PA). For that reason, public health organizations in the U.S. have encouraged communities to implement programs and policies designed to increase PA in youth, and many communities have taken on that challenge. However, the long-term effects of those programs and policies on obesity are largely unknown. The Healthy Communities Study is a large-scale observational study of U.S. communities that is examining the characteristics of programs and policies designed to promote healthy behaviors (e.g., increase PA and improve diet) and determining their association with obesity-related outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to describe the methods used to measure PA in children and the personal and community factors that may influence it. The study used both self-reported and objective measures of PA, and measured personal, family, and home influences on PA via three constructs: (1) PA self-schema; (2) parental support; and (3) parental rules regarding PA. Neighborhood and community factors related to PA were assessed using three measures: (1) child perceptions of the neighborhood environment; (2) availability of PA equipment; and (3) attributes of the child’s street segment via direct observation. School influences on children’s PA were assessed via three constructs: (1) school PA policies; (2) child perceptions of the school PA environment; and (3) school outdoor PA environment. These measures will enable examination of the associations between characteristics of community PA programs and policies and obesity-related outcomes in children and youth