Search

Aedes koreicus is an invasive mosquito species which has been introduced into several European countries. Compared to other invasive Aedes mosquitoes, little is known of its biology and ecology. To determine Ae. koreicus’ vectorial capacity, it is essential to establish its feeding patterns and level of anthropophagy. We report on the blood-feeding patterns of Ae. koreicus, examining the blood meal origin of engorged females and evaluating the influence of different biotic and abiotic factors on feeding behavior. Mosquitoes were collected in 23 sites in northern Italy by manual aspiration and BG-sentinel traps; host availability was estimated by survey. The source of blood meals was identified using a nested PCR and by targeting and sequencing the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene. In total, 352 Ae. koreicus engorged females were collected between 2013 and 2020 and host blood meals were determined from 299 blood-fed mosquitoes (84.9%). Eleven host species were identified, with the highest prevalences being observed among roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (N = 189, 63.2%) and humans (N = 46, 15.4%). Blood meals were mostly taken from roe deer in forested sites and from humans in urban areas, suggesting that this species can feed on different hosts according to local abundance. Two blood meals were identified from avian hosts and one from lizard. Ae. koreicus’ mammalophilic feeding pattern suggests that it may be a potential vector of pathogens establishing transmission cycles among mammals, whereas its role as a bridge vector between mammals and birds could be negligible.

China has launched a series of talent-recruitment policies in the last years, in order to attract back Chinese nationals who stayed abroad. Yet, little is known about the effect of such policies. This paper examines whether researchers recruited in one of the Chinese flagship talent-recruitment policies—the ‘Young Thousand Talents’ policy (Y1000T)—had, in the following years after recruitment, better research performance. We compare these recipients against other Chinese nationals who got PhDs in equally prestigious non-Chinese universities but continued to work abroad (mostly in the USA). Results of difference-in-differences regressions show that returning to China has an effect of positioning returnees both at the bottom and at the very summit of the distribution of quality of publications. Nevertheless, some Y1000T researchers seem to have prioritized the quantity of outputs, arguably to the detriment of quality. This is probably due to certain research evaluation criteria in place until recent times.

This article examines the experience of international academics in mainland China. The emerging trend of foreign academics moving into long-term, full-time positions in Chinese universities is an underreported phenomenon in research. This article discusses the following questions: Who are the foreign academics in China? What motivates them to go and work there? What are their expected roles in local academia? Are they satisfied with their jobs? Are they going to stay in China? publishedVersion Non

Chevrel ternary superconductors show an intriguing coexistence of molecular aspects, large electron-phonon and electron-electron correlations, which to some extent still impedes their quantitative understanding. We present a first principles study on the prototypical Chevrel compound PbMo6S8, including electronic, structural and vibrational properties at zero and high pressure. We confirm the presence of an extremely strong electron-phonon coupling, linked to the proximity to a R¯3−P¯1 structural phase transition, which weakens as the system, upon applied pressures, is driven away from the phase boundary. A detailed description of the superconducting state is obtained by means of fully ab initio superconducting density-functional theory (SCDFT). SCDFT accounts for the role of phase instability, electron-phonon coupling with different intra- and intermolecular phonon modes, and without any empirical parameter, and accurately reproduces the experimental critical temperature and gap. This study provides the conclusive confirmation that Chevrel phases are phonon driven superconductors mitigated, however, by an uncommonly strong Coulomb repulsion. The latter is generated by the combined effect of repulsive Mo states at the Fermi energy and a band gap in close proximity to the Fermi level. This is crucial to rationalize why Chevrel phases, in spite of their extreme electron-phonon coupling, have critical temperatures below 15 K. In addition, we predict the evolution of the superconducting critical temperature as a function of the external pressure, showing an excellent agreement with available experimental data.

Giulia Marini, Emanuela Sitzia, Maria Laura Panatta, Giovanni Carlo De VincentiisDepartment of Otorhinolaryngology, IRCCS Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital, Rome, ItalyBackground: In the pediatric population, acute pharyngo-tonsillitis represents one of the most frequent causes of access to outpatient treatment and use of antibiotics. In frequent tonsillitis, the pharmacological approach is no longer effective, and, therefore, surgery becomes the treatment of choice.Methods: This study compares the prophylactic efficacy of Streptococcus salivarius K12 (Bactoblis®) in children with recurrent pharyngo-tonsillitis treated vs untreated, with a 12 -month follow-up. The primary objectives are: The incidence of recurrence of pharyngo-tonsillar episodes and the concomitant use of other drugs. Secondary objectives are: tolerability of the treatment, the effectiveness in terms of clinical improvement, days of absence from school, reduction of the use of standard therapies, and cancellation from the surgical planning list.Results: Patients belonging to group A (treated with K12 for 90 days) were 24 males and 26 females, mean age 6.6 years (SD=1.57), those belonging to group B (untreated) were 23 males and 27 females, average age 6.8 years (SD=1.72). In the follow-up, group A reported 26 inflammatory pharyngo-tonsillary episodes in the first trimester, unlike group B, who reported 72 in the second trimester. This has shown a lower incidence (3.38%) of the disease compared to group B (6.66%), for a total of 169 inflammatory pharyngo-tonsillary episodes in group A against 333 in group B. A reduction in days of school absence of 429 days in group A and 927 days in the control group (P

Neuroblastoma is a severe childhood disease, accounting for ~10% of all infant cancers. The amplification of the MYCN gene, coding for the N-Myc transcriptional factor, is an essential marker correlated with tumor progression and poor prognosis. In neuroblastoma cells, the mitotic kinase Aurora-A (AURKA), also frequently overexpressed in cancer, prevents N-Myc degradation, by directly binding to a highly conserved N-Myc region, i.e. Myc Box I. As a result, elevated levels of N-Myc, which are required for the growth of MYCN amplified cells, are observed. During the last years, it has been demonstrated that the ATP competitive inhibitors of AURKA CD532, MLN8054 and Alisertib also cause essential conformational changes in the structure of the activation loop of the kinase that prevent N-Myc binding, thus impairing the formation of the AURKA/N-Myc complex. In this study, starting from a screening of crystal structures of AURKA in complex with known inhibitors, we identified additional compounds affecting the conformation of the kinase activation loop. We assessed the ability of such compounds to disrupt the interaction between AURKA and N-Myc in vitro, using Surface Plasmon Resonance competition assays, and in tumor cell lines overexpressing MYCN, by performing Proximity Ligation Assays. Finally, their effects on N-Myc cellular levels and cell viability were investigated. Our results, identifying PHA-680626 as an amphosteric inhibitor both in vitro and MYCN overexpressing cell lines, expand the repertoire of known conformational disrupting inhibitors of the AURKA/N-Myc complex, and confirm that altering the conformation of the activation loop of AURKA with a small molecule is an effective strategy to destabilize the AURKA/N-Myc interaction in neuroblastoma cancer cells.

We investigate electron phonon coupling EPC in the charge density wave CDW phase of VSe2 by Raman spectroscopy, angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy ARPES , and ab initio calculations. Zone folding induced by the 4 4 in plane CDW phase promotes the appearance of a Raman peak at amp; 8764;170cm amp; 8722;1. The suppression of ARPES intensity in parts of the Fermi surface is also a result of CDW induced zone folding and anticrossing of the electron energy bands. The appearance of the new Raman peak is in line with the ARPES observation of a kink feature in the spectral function at the same energy. A self energy analysis yields an EPC constant of amp; 955; 0.3. Our calculations of the EPC are in excellent agreement and reveal that the kink is caused by several optical phonon branches close in energy. Our paper highlights the CDW phase as a means of inducing EPC pathways to optical phonons that directly affect its Raman spectrum

The study is focused on functional community organization of the macroinvertebrate guilds in the aquatic ecosystem complexes of the Corfu Island, including the freshwater, lagoon and marine components. The study is drawing implications on energy flows and organization of such ecosystem types extending previous investigations performed on existing data by expanding the knowledge base to functionally of different types of aquatic ecosystems through field experiments.

The conservation of biodiversity is fundamental to ensure the ecosystem stability, functions and services. Transitional waters (TWs) support a remarkable biodiversity but the growing of anthropogenic pressures threats their ecosystem health, induces to act new conservation strategies and biomonitoring plans. So that new genomic approaches are also emerging as strategic and useful tools for the assessment of ecological status. Macroinvertebrates are good ecological indicators for TWs, but very few studies have highlighted that both descriptors and ecological indicators can depend by sampling method and effort. The bioassessment with macroinvertebrates is time consuming and requires high costs. Moreover the use of more than one sampling technique can be require to collect both bottom and vagile fauna. Our research aims to evaluate the influence of sampling methods - box-corer and litterbag, and of habitat type - prairie and unvegetated, on descriptors and indicators. The experiment was run in a protected Mediterranean shallow lagoon dominated by marine waters. Biodiversity and ecological indicators of macroinvertebrates were measured and compared among sampling techniques and habitats and the relevance of using more than one sampling technique to obtain a better description of biodiversity and ecological status was highlighted. Anyway the transferring of this methodology to biomonitoring programmes is highly limited by time consuming and costs. The future goal of our research is to apply molecular tools to record the entire biodiversity of macroinvertebrates in Southern-Italy aquatic ecosystems, both in reference and perturbed conditions. In particular, we will use DNA barcoding and eDNA analysis for this purpose.

Physicians have to get a “specific” diploma attending a threeyear training course provided by each regional health service in order to practice as General Practitioners in Italy. In the last years, there has been an ongoing debate about the need to evolve the specific regional courses into integrated specialization training courses, organized and managed by universities with the contribution of regional health services. The Italian Junior Doctors Association and the Giotto Movement carried out a national survey with the aim to identify strengths and weaknesses of the specific regional training courses. Three-hundred-two junior General Practitioners in training (61,2% females) answered to a web administered questionnaire. Only about half of the recruited trainees has defined as at least “sufficient” the training provided by the regional courses. The survey documented in the Italian General Practitioners trainees the need to satisfy an educational demand in order to implement their primary care and general practice skills. In conclusion, this cross-sectional study provided sufficient evidences supporting the evolution of the regional training courses into general practice and primary care specialization schools.

Il Mediterraneo è una delle regioni maggiormente interessate dal fenomeno delle invasioni biologiche, considerate una delle più gravi minacce alla biodiversità ed ai servizi ecosistemici (Wallentinus e Nyberg, 2007; Zenetos et al., 2012; Galil et al., 2015). Per comprendere le dinamiche di diffusione delle specie aliene/invasive, sono necessarie regolari campagne di monitoraggio che sono impegnative anche dal punto di vista economico. In tal senso, il cittadino può dare un contributo alla scienza fornendo informazioni che andrebbero certamente perse per limitazioni di tempo e risorse. Recenti sondaggi negli Stati membri dell’Unione Europea ci dicono che i cittadini sono notevolmente interessati all’ambiente (52%) ma ritengono che l’informazione sia scarsa e non sempre di qualità. Il cittadino, se correttamente informato, può diventare un interlocutore consapevole, sensibile e disponibile a partecipare attivamente ad iniziative a favore dell’ambiente quali i progetti di Citizen Science. Oggi internet costituisce la principale fonte di informazione scientifica. Chi appartiene al mondo della ricerca sa accedere a risorse e banche dati che non sono alla portata di tutti. Tramite i comuni motori di ricerca l’uso di parole chiave non sempre consente di accedere a dati scientificamente validi. Per avvicinare la scienza al cittadino è indispensabile che le informazioni siano facilmente reperibili e accessibili. Per verificare il livello di informazione relativamente alle specie aliene/invasive accessibili al cittadino abbiamo utilizzato il motore di ricerca più utilizzato a livello mondiale, Google. La ricerca è stata effettuata tramite l’utilizzo di parole chiave, selezionate in base alla loro frequenza su pubblicazioni scientifico/divulgative inerenti la tematica in oggetto. Le parole impiegate nella ricerca sono state: “Specie aliene”, “Specie invasive” e “Alieni”. Successivamente sono state utilizzate differenti combinazioni con la parola “Italia” e con gli acronimi dei principali centri e enti di ricerca che si occupano di specie aliene in Italia (CNR, ISPRA e ARPA) e le parole chiave “Scienza del cittadino”. In parallelo, è stata effettuata anche una ricerca utilizzando i termini inglesi delle parole chiavi impiegate: “Alien Species”, “Invasive Species”, “Aliens”, “Italy” e “Citizen Science”. Riportiamo come esempio i dati che fanno riferimento alla ricerca effettuata con “Specie Aliene” e “Specie Invasive”, estrapolando i dati relativi alle prime 10 pagine. E’ emerso chiaramente che la maggioranza dei records (80%) fa riferimento a siti web non prettamente scientifici ma divulgativi; le informazioni presenti in alcuni di questi siti richiederebbero, tra l’altro, una attenta valutazione della veridicità. Solo il 20% riguarda siti web di carattere prettamente scientifico (ad es. Aree Marine Protette, Associazioni ambientaliste, ARPA regionali, Università, ISPRA, Ministeri, SIBM e ResearchGate). La ricerca condotta con le parole chiave inglesi ha portato ad un notevole aumento della percentuale delle informazioni che si riferiscono a siti prettamente scientifici (70% circa). Per avere facile accesso ai dati scientifici occorre pertanto avere già delle conoscenze di base. Perché il cittadino si avvicini alla scienza, la comunità scientifica deve assumere un ruolo importante nella comunicazione delle informazioni fornendo al cittadino uno strumento di facile consultazione che gli garantisca una corretta informazione sulle tematiche inerenti le specie aliene/invasive. Come superare il gap informativo attualmente esistente tra scienza e cittadino? Attraverso una proposta congiunta dei principali enti ed infrastrutture di ricerca che si occupano a diversi livelli di specie aliene/invasive, da presentare al Ministero dell’Ambiente, e di cui potrebbe farsi promotrice la SIBM. La proposta prevede l’attivazione di un sito web interattivo, facilmente raggiungibile attraverso i comuni motori di ricerca, e facilmente consultabile, dove trovare i link dei principali enti di ricerca italiani che si occupano di specie aliene/invasive, notizie su congressi, manifestazioni, iniziative di Citizen Science e materiale informativo come ad es. un atlante divulgativo realizzato da tutti gli enti di ricerca coordinati dalla SIBM. Per accrescere la visibilità e la fruibilità del sito web, i social media potrebbero dare un forte contributo.

The aim of the present study was the phytochemical analysis of the leaves from three not previously studied tropical species Cordia bicolor, Cordia megalantha and Cordia dentata (Boraginaceae) collected from Panama. The genus Cordia is one of the major and most important of the family and involves a wide range of therapeutic uses in traditional medicine. Eleven known compounds allantoin (1), rosmarinic acid (2), caffeic acid (3), isoquercetin (4), rutin (5), quercetin-3-Ο-β-D-neohesperidoside (6), kaempferol 3-Ο-β-D-neohesperidoside (7), helichrysoside (8), kaempferol 3-O-(2″-O-α-L-rhamnosyl-6″trans-p-coumaroyl)-β-D-glucoside (9), quercetin 3-O-(6″ trans-p-coumaroyl)-β-D-galactoside (10), 4-hydroxyphenyl lactic acid (11), have been isolated and structurally elucidated. Compounds 6 and 7 have been isolated for the first time in Cordia genus, compounds 8-10 are reported for the first time in the Boraginaceae family, while secondary metabolite 9 is isolated as natural product for the second time. The methanolic extracts of the plants have been assayed for their antioxidant properties by free radical scavenging, reducing power, phosphomolybdenum and metal chelating assay. Enzyme inhibitory activity has been also evaluated against cholinesterases, α-amylase and α-glucosidase. C. megalantha exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity compared to the other studied Cordia species and a high inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase, which suggests that this herbal material could be used for further studies as a potential source for therapeutic applications. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.