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A Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) was performed to estimate the expected number of listeriosis cases due to the consumption, on the last day of shelf life, of 20 000 servings of multi-ingredient sandwiches produced by a medium scale food producer in Italy, by different population strata, defined by infection susceptibility (healthy, susceptible, transplant recipients and total population).

The transdifferentiation of epithelial cells toward a mesenchymal condition (EMT) is a complex process that allows tumor cells to migrate to ectopic sites. Cadherins are not just structural proteins, but they act as sensors of the surrounding microenvironment and as signaling centers for cellular pathways. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these signaling functions remain poorly characterized. Cadherin-6 (CDH6) is a type 2 cadherin, which drives EMT during embryonic development and it is aberrantly re-activated in cancer. We recently showed that CDH6 is a TGFβ target and an EMT marker in thyroid cancer, suggesting a role for this protein in the progression of this type of tumor. Papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) are usually indolent lesions. However, metastatic spreading occurs in about 5% of the cases. The identification of molecular markers that could early predict the metastatic potential of these lesions would be strategic to design more tailored approaches and reduce patients overtreatment. In this work, we assessed the role of CDH6 in the metastatic progression of thyroid cancer. We showed that loss of CDH6 expression profoundly changes cellular architecture, alters the inter-cellular interaction modalities and attenuates EMT features in thyroid cancer cells. Using a yeast two-hybrid screening approach, based on a thyroid cancer patients library, we showed that CDH6 directly interacts with GABARAP, BNIP3 and BNIP3L, and that through these interactions CDH6 restrains autophagy and promotes re-organization of mitochondrial network through a DRP1-mediated mechanism. Analysis of the LIR domains suggests that the interaction with the autophagic machinery may be a common feature of many cadherin family members. Finally, the analysis of CDH6 expression in a unique cohort of human PTCs showed that CDH6 expression marks specifically EMT cells. and it is strongly associated with metastatic behavior and worse outcome of PTCs.

“Active complete cannibalism” is described for the first time among adult individuals of the non-piscivorous gobioid fish Knipowitschia panizzae. Although the data represent preliminary observations, they demonstrate that female aggressiveness with respect to conspecifics is enhanced during pre-spawning courtship and male choice for nest construction, particularly in times of food shortage. In fact, the number of attacks and instances of cannibalism increased a few days before egg deposition. The role of starvation, energy requests, and intrinsic aggressiveness during captivity rearing is discussed with respect to the different phases which characterize the behavioural sequence of cannibalism: motivation, prey detection, approach, capture, ingestion. In addition, the possibility that intraspecific predation would occur in natural populations of K. panizzae is also hypothesized in relation to the particular ecological conditions that influence the goby densities in the Po delta coastal lagoons. Survival of a limited number of adults during benthos shortage due to summer dystrophic events could be correlated to the induction of intraspecific piscivory.

Sub-second GRBs have been identified as a separate class of gamma ray transients. However, despite recent advances in the field, sub-second GRB counterparts have yet to be found successfully. In order to explore the nature of these fast transients an on-line procedure is to be implemented at the BeppoSAX Scientific Operation Centre. The main objectives are the identification of true events and rapid position determination of their X-ray counterparts.

The BeppoSAX Narrow Field Instruments observed the region of sky containing GRB 971227 14 hours after the initial burst. A faint source (1SAXJ1257.3+5924) is detected in a position consistent with the BeppoSAX Wide Field Camera position, and disappears during the second half of the observation. In contrast to some other GRBs observed by BeppoSAX no optical and radio afterglows were unambiguously observed.

The BeppoSAX satellite opened a new era in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) astronomy thanks to the capability of its Wide Field Cameras to accurately and promptly localize GRBs and of its X-ray telescopes to detect their fading X-ray counterparts. This led to the detection of counterparts at other wavelengths and to the determination of the GRB distance scale. However, the BeppoSAX instrumentation was not designed on this scope, and it is therefore not optimized to it. This could result in an inhomogeneous sample of events. In this paper we analyze the potential selection effects that can affect the sample of GRBs simultaneously detected in the Gamma Ray Burst Monitor and in the Wide Field Cameras, due to the characteristics of this BeppoSAX instrumentation.