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Abstract: Modelling habitat suitability of semi-aquatic vertebrates for large scale conservation purposes is a particularly challenging task, due to the fine-scale linearity of riverine habitats, and to the ecological continuum represented by the riparian and the aquatic ecosystems, on one side, and by a river and its tributaries, on the other. We advocate that habitat suitability models (HSMs) should represent the fine-scale complexity of the riparian and aquatic ecosystems at the drainage basin scale, which is the most relevant spatial unit for planning conservation strategies for semi-aquatic vertebrates. Hence, we developed a 3-step GIS-based modelling approach, and applied it to otter Lutra lutra in Italy to illustrate its potential applications for designing a nation-wide conservation strategy. First, we built a deductive HSM (resolution: 1:250,000, grain: 100m×100m) of the riparian (100m buffer around each river bank) and of the back-riparian (500m buffer) areas along rivers. After, we created a synthetic index S i summarising this information within the cells of a 5km×5km grid superimposed to the whole country, thus obtaining a nation-wide overview of habitat suitability. Both HSM and S i were validated by using data on otter distribution, by performing a sensitivity analysis. Finally, we scaled-up the information provided by S i to obtain a suitability index within each drainage basin (S b ). By overlapping a layer representing the basins occupied by otters to S b we obtained an effective tool to identify basins to be prioritised for the conservation and expansion of existing populations, for rejoining isolated sub-populations, and for habitat restoration. The methodology developed here helps filling the gap between the urgent conservation needs of semi-aquatic species, and the inadequacy of traditional modelling approaches for species inhabiting one of the world''s most endangered ecosystems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Understanding agro-ecosystems implies acknowledging its complexity and its heterogeneity. Complexity refers to different hierarchical levels at which agriculture can be described; heterogeneity refers to the variability recorded within each hierarchical level considered. When dealing with valuation aimed at sustainability it is essential to assess multi-criteria and multi-scale descriptions and to find a way to bridge them. For this reason and to support the decision processes, it is fundamental to understand the role of households in this system. Here we suggest a multivariate statistical approach to the definition of household types with a case study of five rural villages in Hubei province, China. In each village, 50 random households were sampled and interviewed. Results show five distinct household types, differing in size and composition, economic activities, technical development, cereal productivity, food sufficiency, education and overall income. However, the analysis pointed out a recent and still on-going process of polarisation as equality seems still the main feature of Chinese society. Severe constraints existing in the socio-economic boundary conditions could provide very limited possibilities for rural farmers to emerge from poverty. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Prior antibiotic therapy (pATB) is known to impair efficacy of single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), potentially through the induction of gut dysbiosis. Whether ATB also affects outcomes to chemo-immunotherapy combinations is still unknown. In this international multicentre study, we evaluated the association between pATB, concurrent ATB (cATB) and overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with first-line chemo-immunotherapy at eight referral institutions. Among 302 patients with stage IV NSCLC, 216 (71.5%) and 61 (20.2%) patients were former and current smokers, respectively. Programmed death-ligand 1 tumour expression in assessable patients (274, 90.7%) was ≥50% in 76 (25.2%), 1%-49% in 84 (27.9%) and <1% in 113 (37.5%). Multivariable analysis showed pATB-exposed patients to have similar OS {hazard ratio (HR) = 1.42 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.91-2.22]; P = 0.1207} and PFS [HR = 1.12 (95% CI: 0.76-1.63); P = 0.5552], compared to unexposed patients, regardless of performance status. Similarly, no difference with respect to ORR was found across pATB exposure groups (42.6% versus 57.4%, P = 0.1794). No differential effect was found depending on pATB exposure duration (≥7 versus <7 days) and route of administration (intravenous versus oral). Similarly, cATB was not associated with OS [HR = 1.29 (95% CI: 0.91-1.84); P = 0.149] and PFS [HR = 1.20 (95% CI: 0.89-1.63); P = 0.222] when evaluated as time-varying covariate in multivariable analysis. In contrast to what has been reported in patients receiving single-agent ICIs, pATB does not impair clinical outcomes to first-line chemo-immunotherapy of patients with NSCLC. pATB status should integrate currently available clinico-pathologic factors for guiding first-line treatment decisions, whilst there should be no concern in offering cATB during chemo-immunotherapy when needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Globally, vibrios represent an important and well-established group of bacterial foodborne pathogens. The European Commission (EC) mandated the Comite de European Normalisation (CEN) to undertake work to provide validation data for 15 methods in microbiology to support EC legislation. As part of this mandated work programme, merging of ISO/TS 21872–1:2007, which specifies a horizontal method for the detection of V. parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae , and ISO/TS 21872–2:2007, a similar horizontal method for the detection of potentially pathogenic vibrios other than V. cholerae and V. parahaemolyticus was proposed. Both parts of ISO/TS 21872 utilized classical culture-based isolation techniques coupled with biochemical confirmation steps. The work also considered simplification of the biochemical confirmation steps. In addition, because of advances in molecular based methods for identification of human pathogenic Vibrio spp. classical and real-time PCR options were also included within the scope of the validation. These considerations formed the basis of a multi-laboratory validation study with the aim of improving the precision of this ISO technical specification and providing a single ISO standard method to enable detection of these important foodborne Vibrio spp.. To achieve this aim, an international validation study involving 13 laboratories from 9 countries in Europe was conducted in 2013. The results of this validation have enabled integration of the two existing technical specifications targeting the detection of the major foodborne Vibrio spp., simplification of the suite of recommended biochemical identification tests and the introduction of molecular procedures that provide both species level identification and discrimination of putatively pathogenic strains of V. parahaemolyticus by the determination of the presence of theromostable direct and direct related haemolysins. The method performance characteristics generated in this have been included in revised international standard, ISO 21872:2017, published in July 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Data are limited regarding bone metastases from colorectal cancer (CRC). The objective of this study was to survey the natural history of bone metastasis in CRC. Patients and methods This retrospective, multicenter, observational study of 264 patients with CRC involving bone examined cancer treatments, bone metastases characteristics, skeletal-related event (SRE) type and frequency, zoledronic acid therapy, and disease outcomes. Results Most patients with bone metastases had pathologic T3/4 disease at CRC diagnosis. The spine was the most common site involved (65%), followed by hip/pelvis (34%), long bones (26%), and other sites (17%). Median time from CRC diagnosis to bone metastases was 11.00 months; median time to first SRE thereafter was 2.00 months. Radiation and pathologic fractures affected 45% and 10% of patients, respectively; 32% of patients had no reported SREs. Patients survived for a median of 7.00 months after bone metastases diagnosis; SREs did not significantly affect survival. Subgroup analyses revealed that zoledronic acid significantly prolonged median time to first SRE (2.00 months versus 1.00 month, respectively, P = 0.009) and produced a trend toward improved overall survival versus no zoledronic acid. Conclusion This study illustrates the burden of bone metastases from CRC and supports the use of zoledronic acid in this setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence and pathogenicity of vibrios in bathing water were investigated along the Conero Riviera (Adriatic Sea, Central Italy). Vibrio spp. enumeration was performed on thiosulfate-citrate-bile-salts-sucrose-agar by the membrane filter method, and identification was done through a biochemical protocol. All isolates were tested for the presence of cytotoxicity, protease, lipase, elastase, gelatinase, urease, haemolytic activity, ctx, tdh and trh genes by conventional methods. In all, 200 vibrios were isolated from 132 samples that were analysed. Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio alginolyticus were the species most frequently recovered. All strains were cytotoxic and some of them showed protease, gelatinase, lipase, elastase, urease and haemolytic activity. One isolate of V. alginolyticus and one of V. harveyi had the trh gene, while another strain of V. harveyi and one of Vibrio parahaemolyticus had the ctx gene. These results demonstrate the presence of potentially pathogenic vibrios in the Conero Riviera and the risk of infection due to bathing water exposure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A total of 3879 samples of foodstuffs were examined for the presence of Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 (VTEC O157). The survey was conducted by 9 of the 10 Italian Veterinary Public Health Laboratories. Samples were collected between May 2000 and September 2001 in 14 regions and comprised 931 minced beef specimens and 2948 dairy products (DP) with less than 60 days of ripening. The DP included 657 pasteurised and 811 unpasteurised bovine DP, 477 pasteurised and 502 unpasteurised ovine DP, and 501 water-buffalo''s milk mozzarella cheese. Samples were collected at retail level, from plants processing minced beef and dairy plants and from farms directly manufacturing cheeses. All the samples were tested using a sensitive procedure based on ISO/DIS 16654:1999 (later ISO 16654:2001), which includes an immunomagnetic separation step. A preliminary inter-laboratory trial was organised with artificially contaminated samples to assess the ability of all the participating laboratories to isolate E. coli O157 by the established procedure.VTEC O157 was isolated from four (0.43%) of the minced beef samples, collected in four different regions and during different months, but was not detected in any of the dairy products. E. coli O157 VT-eae+ was isolated from one raw cow''s milk cheese. This survey provided national data on the presence of VTEC O157 in foodstuffs, demonstrating a low prevalence of the organism. The survey also encouraged updating of knowledge and procedures on VTEC O157 in laboratories with official responsibility for microbiological testing of foods of animal origin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]