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During a survey of mushroom-beds in Apulia and Basilicata (southern Italy), several bacterial strains belonging to the fluorescent pseudomonads group have been isolated from the basidiomata of Pleurotus eryngii on account of symptoms of yellowing. On the basis of LOPAT tests, 95% of the recovered bacteria were identified as Pseudomonas fluorescens . In particular, 83% of them were recognized as P. ‘ reactans ’ because they were able to produce a white line against P. tolaasii strain NCPPB-2192. In preliminary in vitro experiments, commercial white vinegar (WV) and steam-exploded liquid waste (SELW) solution derived from Miscanthus sinensis biomass proved to have an effective antibacterial activity against P. ‘reactans’ , P. tolaasii and fluorescent pseudomonads isolates used as targets. In particular, WV induced a bacterial inhibition reaching 89% and 65% on tested P. ‘reactans’ and fluorescent pseudomonads strains, respectively. Undiluted M. sinensis SELW reached an inhibition of 20–50% against tested strains. No antibacterial effects were associated with Arundo donax and wheat straw SELWs. The bacterial suppressiveness of WV and M. sinensis SELW was subsequently studied in vivo throughout two “cardoncello” mushroom cropping cycles performed under protected environmental mushroom-bed conditions using the P. eryngii commercial strain “3065” and six Pseudomonas strains (3 belonging to P. ‘reactans ’, 2 to P. fluorescens and 1 to P. tolaasii ). Cell suspensions of the single Pseudomonas strains were sprayed as inoculum onto covering soil as soon as “cardoncello” primordia appeared. Specifically, WV with 6‰ acidity and M. sinensis SELW, were effective as antibacterial substances. In particular WV led to a 4.5–6.1, 2.2–4.3 and 3.5–4.4-fold increase in sporophore yield when sprayed: a) on the surface of substrates colonized by “cardoncello” mycelium right before casing soil distribution, b) right after casing soil distribution and c) on casing soil and basidioma surface at 3–4-day intervals. M. sinensis SELW increased the sporophore yield 6.1-fold when sprayed right after casing soil distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to determine the radon concentrations in the University Hospital of Bari, Apulia Region, Southern Italy. The monitoring took place from 2017 to 2018 for a total of 402 days and included 3492 premises. Radon environmental sampling was performed with passive dosimeters of the CR-39 type. The highest mean concentration was found in basement rooms (118.9 Bq/m 3 ), followed by ground-floor rooms (88.2 Bq/m 3 ), first-floor rooms (78.1 Bq/m 3 ), second-floor rooms (66.7 Bq/m 3 ), and third-floor rooms (68.9 Bq/m 3 ). An average radon concentration lower than the WHO recommended level of 100 Bq/m 3 was detected in 73.5% of monitored environments, while only 0.9% exceeded the reference level of 300 Bq/m 3 set by the national law (Legislative Decree 101/2020). The frequency of environments in which radon concentrations exceed 300 Bq/m 3 is significantly higher in the basement ( p -value < 0.001). As for a previous preliminary investigation in the same hospital conducted on a much smaller number of premises ( n = 401), most of the monitored environments had radon concentrations lower than the reference levels set by the new national law, and the risk to the healthcare workers' health derived from occupational exposure to radon could be considered acceptable.

Lockdown measures were initiated in Italy on March 9th after the start of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic to flatten the epidemic curve. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of restrictive measures in the Apulia Region, southern Italy, on air quality from March to April 2020. We applied a dual-track approach. We assessed citizen mobility and vehicle traffic with mobility network data and information obtained from satellite tracking, and we evaluated and compared pollutant concentration data as measured by monitoring stations maintained by the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection and Prevention of Apulia (ARPA). The results showed a decrease in the weekly mean NO 2 concentration recorded by urban traffic stations during the lockdown period. In particular, in the city of Bari, the average NO 2 concentration decreased from 62.2 μg/m 3 in March 2019 to 48.2 μg/m 3 in March 2020. Regarding PM10 levels, the average concentrations at the individual traffic stations showed no particular variation compared to those in the same months of the previous year, except for Bari-Caldarola Station in March 2019/2020 ( p -value < 0.001) and in April 2019/2020 ( p -value = 0.04). In particular the average in March 2019 was ~26.9 μg/m 3 , while that in March 2020 was ~22.9 μg/m 3 . For April, the average concentration of PM10 in 2019 was 27.9 μg/m 3 , while in 2020, the average was ~22.4 μg/m 3 . This can be explained by the fact that PM10 levels are influenced by multiple variables such as weather and climate conditions and desert dust advections., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 De Maria, Caputi, Tafuri, Cannone, Sponselli, Delfino, Pipoli, Bruno, Angiuli, Mucci, Ledda and Vimercati.)