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The measurement of the 116Sn(18O, 18Ne)116Cd double charge exchange reaction cross section at very forward angles was performed for the first time at INFN-LNS using the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer. This study, carried out at 276 MeV beam energy, provides a cross section of 34 nb ([9, 44] nb at 95% confidence level), confirming the tiny values recently obtained for the same reaction in other nuclides. This result has a major impact on the forthcoming systematic investigation of 0 ν β β decay candidates carried out by the NUMEN project, since it allows to properly tailor future experiments with high-intensity beams. The ultimate goal of this exploration is to experimentally access information about nuclear matrix elements relevant to the 0 ν β β decay rate. • 116Sn(18O,18 Ne)116Cd DCE reaction cross section was measured for the first time. • Tiny values for DCE cross-section are confirmed as found in our previous measurement. • Although the cross-section is measured for different systems, its value seems stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutual dependence and shared geographic distributions of ectomycorrhizal fungi and their hosts suggest that comigration has had an influential role in the evolution of the ectomycorrhizal symbiosis. To test the hypothesis of comigration of ectomycorrhizal symbionts we conducted a phylogeographic analysis of host specific ectomycorrhizal fungi in genus Rhizopogon sampled throughout the natural range of their Pseudotsuga (Douglas fir) hosts. Low coverage genome assemblies were sequenced for all Rhizopogon species-level clades and a novel data mining method, genome-scale sequence typing, was developed to produce a genome-scale phylogenetic dataset. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses support a single evolutionary origin of the Rhizopogon-Pseudotsuga ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in coastal western North America with a single migration into Asia and two independent migrations east into the North American Intermountain West. Our results suggest that the Rhizopogon-Pseudotsuga ectomycorrhizal symbiosis predates species radiation in Pseudotsuga and that these genera have undergone processes of comigration and codiversification. • The Rhizopogon-Pseudotsuga ectomycorrhizal symbiosis evolved once in Rhizopogon. • Genome-scale sequence typing mines phylogenetic data from unannotated genomes. • We support the hypothesis of comigration between ectomycorrhizal symbionts. • The Rhizopogon - Pseudotsuga symbiosis first occurred in western North America. • There was a single migration of the Rhizopogon-Pseudotsuga symbiosis into Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences have often been reported in the outcomes of bladder cancer (BC) patients according to gender. This study aims to provide data on patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) in a high-volume tertiary urologic center and to assess whether gender discrepancies do exist in terms of surgical options and clinical outcomes. Consecutive BC patients treated between 2016 and 2020 at a single center (Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy) were included in the study. The impact of gender on disease stage at diagnosis, overall survival (OS), and type of surgery was analyzed. The study series comprised 447 patients (85 females and 362 males). At a median follow-up of 28.3 months (IQR: 33.5), OS was 52.6% and cancer-specific survival was 67.6%. Significant differences in OS emerged for age, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), pT, and pN. OS rates were higher in patients undergoing robot-assisted surgery and in those receiving open orthotopic neobladder (ONB) (p = 0.0001). No statistically significant differences were found between male and female patients regarding surgical offer in any age group, surgical time, early postoperative complications, pathologic stage, and OS. After adjustment for pathologic tumor stage and treatment modalities, female and male patients showed similar oncologic outcomes. Further studies should be undertaken to evaluate functional results in women subjected to RC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperate forests across the globe are migrating as a result of global warming, but little is known about how changes in climate and host geographic distributions will affect the obligate symbionts of these forests. Analysis of past events can provide insight into how these symbionts have responded to previous climatic changes and inform predictions for contemporary and future climate change events. The Madrean Sky Islands Archipelago (MSIA) comprises mountain "islands" whose Pine-Oak forests appear in stark contrast to the surrounding "sea" of Sonoran Desert vegetation. The archipelago formed due to a post-Pleistocene warming climate that resulted in the expansion of the Sonoran Desert and migration of forests to fragmented, higher elevation areas. Rhizopogon (Boletales) consists of obligate ectomycorrhizal (EcM) symbionts that form truffle sporocarps and associate exclusively with Pinaceae. As such, the MSIA- Rhizopogon system represents a natural experiment of how fungal symbionts responded to climatic change and host migration. Rhizopogon was sampled from nine islands at two sites (one Pinus site and one Pseudotsuga site) per island, and diversity was characterized using the ITS rRNA gene determined from both sporocarps and bioassay-based EcM root tips derived from soil samples collected at each site. We described the biodiversity of Rhizopogon within and among sky islands of the MSIA, and tested whether symbiont species richness and community structure were determined by host association, island identity, geographic distance, or some interaction among these factors. Twenty-five OTUs at 99% similarity in the genus Rhizopogon were identified across nine sky islands with a range of 5–15 OTUs per island. While differential host association with Pinus and Pseudotsuga was a significant driver of community composition, our results supported an even stronger island effect. Furthermore, Rhizopogon communities associated with Pinus forest sites were characterized by random phylogenetic structures across sky islands and are not structured by geographic distance. Our results supported a strong isolation effect that involved historical habitat fragmentation of sky islands in response to past climate changes, and that both host association and stochastic processes, e.g. , ecological drift, played a role in shaping Rhizopogon communities of the MSIA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gathering comprehensive marine biodiversity data can be difficult, costly and time consuming, preventing adequate knowledge of diversity patterns in many areas worldwide. We propose fishing ports as "natural" sinks of biodiversity information collected by fishing vessels probing disparate habitats, depths, and environments. By combining rapid environmental DNA metabarcoding (eDNA) surveys and data from public registers and Automatic Identification Systems, we show significant positive relationships between fishing fleet activities (i.e. fishing effort and characteristics of the fishing grounds) and the taxonomic fish assemblage composition in eleven Mediterranean fishing ports. Overall, we identified 160 fish and 123 invertebrate OTUs, including at least seven non-indigenous species, in some instances well beyond their known distribution areas. Our findings suggest that eDNA assessments of fishing harbours' waters might offer a rapid way to monitor marine biodiversity in unknown or under-sampled areas, as well as to reconstruct fishing catches, often underreported in several regions. • Ports work as sinks of biodiversity information collected by fishing vessels. • eDNA fish diversity estimates are correlated to fishing effort. • New large-scale fish diversity and fishery catch assessments protocols • Spatio-temporal monitoring of alien species invasion fronts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Division of Thoracic Surgery at Toronto General Hospital has a history of sustained excellence and commitment to patient care, research and innovation in Thoracic Surgery. Doctors of Thoracic Surgery (DOTSR) continues to be a leading thoracic division training surgeons who practice all over the world--impacting the treatment of patients with thoracic disease. Many leaders in our specialty worldwide have directly or indirectly trained in Toronto. At University Health Network and the University of Toronto, this academic division has continued to contribute and thrive in a highly supportive and productive research and clinical environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Marine fungi are severely understudied in the polar regions. We used molecularly identified cultures to study fungi inhabiting 50 intertidal and sea-floor logs along the North Norwegian coast. The aim was to explore the taxonomic and ecological diversity and to examine factors shaping the marine wood-inhabiting fungal communities. The 577 pure cultures analyzed clustered into 147 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) based on 97 % ITS sequence similarity. Ascomycota dominated, but OTUs belonging to Basidiomycota, Mucoromycotina and Chytridiomycota were also isolated. Nine OTUs could not be assigned to any fungal phylum. Almost half of the OTUs were considered non-marine. The western and eastern part of the Norwegian Barents Sea coast hosted different communities. Geography, substratum and site level variables contributed to shaping these communities. We characterized a previously overlooked fungal community in a poorly studied area, discovered high diversity and report many taxa for the first time from the marine environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Old-growth Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii forests produce complex environmental and spatial gradients along which biota assemble. Given this, it has been proposed that changes in the crown microenvironment are associated with different community assembly outcomes for needle fungi. Using high-throughput sequencing, the endophytic mycobiomes of needles were characterized for increasing ages of needles sampled along the boles of eight coastal Douglas-fir trees. Leveraging airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to create three-dimensional "point cloud" representations of tree crowns revealed that crown closure accounted for more fungal compositional variation than height in crown, and fungal richness and diversity were positively correlated with increasing crown closure. Supplementing the point clouds of each climbed tree with clouds from >5,000 randomly selected trees in the study area showed that fungal communities from closed portions of the crown were increasingly structured with needle age. These findings highlight the importance of the crown microenvironment in the development of foliar fungal communities for a foundation tree species. • LiDAR-derived crown closure accounts for more compositional variation than height. • The influence of crown closure on composition and richness depends on needle age. • The community structures of open and closed exposures diverge for older needles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In high-school students, prevalence of smoking is high but few studies analyzed smoking in the student population according to nicotine content of smoked cigarettes and gender. We analyzed the responses to a questionnaire, including the modified Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire (FTQ), administered to 555 students (382 males, 173 females) of a professional high school in Palermo, Italy, to assess the prevalence in both genders of: (1) smoking “light” and high nicotine (HN) cigarettes; (2) signs of nicotine dependence and (3) respiratory symptoms. Nicotine content of habitually smoked cigarettes was considered as “light” if ⩽0.8mg; as high if >0.8mg. Forty-four percent of students smoked, without differences between genders. Two-thirds of the total sample reported “light” cigarette smoking (76.7% of females vs. 62.0% of males, ). On average, “light” cigarette smoking was associated with lower pack/year and FTQ global score compared to HN smoking. However, when FTQ global score was analyzed by taking into account pack/year, no major difference was found between “light” and HN cigarette smokers. Cough with phlegm and breathlessness were more frequently reported by smoking than non-smoking students, without differences between “light” and HN cigarette smokers. About 50% of smoking students reported having tried to quit, while only 3.4% of students were ex-smokers. “Light” smoking was common in high school students, especially among females. Dependence appeared more influenced by the smoking history than by nicotine content. Respiratory symptoms were similar in “light” and HN cigarette smokers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]