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The paper gives a brief overview of the most important phraseological studies and dictionaries published in Italy since the 1980s, when Italian phraseology took the first steps as an independent linguistic discipline. It deals with fundamental theoretical contributions and describes major dictionaries of idioms and proverbs published in the last 40 years. It points also to new trends in Italian phraseography and presents some interesting current projects based on new corpus methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We currently lack a predictive understanding of how soil archaeal communities may respond to climate change, particularly in Alpine areas where warming is far exceeding the global average. Here, we characterized the abundance, structure, and function of total (by metagenomics) and active soil archaea (by metatranscriptomics) after 5-year experimental field warming (+1°C) in Italian Alpine grasslands and snowbeds. Our multi-omics approach unveiled an increasing abundance of Archaea during warming in snowbeds, which was negatively correlated with the abundance of fungi (by qPCR) and micronutrients (Ca and Mg), but positively correlated with soil water content. In the snowbeds transcripts, warming resulted in the enrichment of abundances of transcription and nucleotide biosynthesis. Our study provides novel insights into possible changes in soil Archaea composition and function in the climate change scenario., (© 2023 The Authors. Environmental Microbiology Reports published by Applied Microbiology International and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background and Objectives : The constantly increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the advent of new treatment options have made management of T2DM patients more demanding. We aimed to (a) estimate the familiarity of general practitioners with novel T2DM treatment options, (b) determine whether a digital tool can aid in their treatment decisions and (c) demonstrate that an evidence-based digital clinical support tool can be made using an existing digital platform. Materials and methods : This proof-of-concept study consisted of two parts: We first conducted a simple online survey among general practitioners of three European countries to estimate their familiarity with novel T2DM treatment options and to determine whether they believe that a digital tool can aid in their T2DM treatment decisions. We then proceeded to develop a new digital tool that provides quick, evidence-based support for treatment of patients with T2DM using an existing digital platform. Results : The online survey was completed by 129/5278 physicians (94 from Italy, 22 from Czech Republic and 13 from Slovenia). Only 30.7% of all general practitioners reported to be either very or extremely familiar with novel T2DM treatments; the vast majority of participating general practitioners (82.8%) reported that they would find a digital clinical decision support tool for treating T2DM patients either very or extremely useful. A digital tool which features the characteristics deemed most important by the polled physicians was subsequently developed. Conclusions : The results of the online survey showed that familiarity of general practitioners with novel T2DM treatment options is relatively low and that there is a need for digital clinical decision support tools intended to facilitate treatment decisions in T2DM patients. We demonstrated that such a tool can easily be developed using an existing digital platform.

Background and Purpose: Functional motor disorders (FMDs) are frequent and highly disabling conditions. Despite the substantial advances in FMDs diagnosis, mechanisms and treatments, their tangible application to care of patients with FMDs is yet to be established. We aimed to identify the main real-life gaps and barriers in FMDs care, faced by both patients and physicians, in two different European countries, Italy and Czechia., Methods: A cross-cultural study was performed., Results: Both patients and physicians are face practical difficulties and pay a high price for the poor management of FMDs as a result of outdated classifications and insufficient education. This, in turn, has led to inadequate access to care and the existence of common misbeliefs regarding symptom severity or even suspicion of malingering. FMDs need to be integrated into national healthcare systems and in research priorities so that substantial cost savings can be achieved and appropriate care provided to patients., Conclusions: We found multiple serious real-life unmet needs in FMD care, ranging from terminology and classification to poor recognition in national healthcare priorities. Based on these findings, we intend to mark the beginning of a collaborative project among researchers even in other different European settings to promote coordinated development efforts and goals in the evolving field of FMDs in clinical and research practice., (© 2021 European Academy of Neurology.)

Soil enzymatic activity was assessed in the Stelvio Pass area (Italian Central Alps) aiming to define the possible effects of climate change on microbial functioning. Two sites at two different elevations were chosen, a subalpine (2239 m) and an alpine belt (2604-2624 m), with mean annual air temperature differing by almost 3 °C, coherent with the worst future warming scenario (RCP 8.5) by 2100. The lower altitude site may represent a proxy of the potential future situation at higher altitude after the upward shift of subalpine vegetation due to climate change. Additionally, hexagonal open top chambers (OTCs) were installed at the upper site, to passively increase by about 2 °C the summer inner temperature to simulate short term effects of warming before the vegetation shift takes place. Soil physicochemical properties and the bacterial and fungal abundances of the above samples were also considered. The subalpine soils showed a higher microbial activity, especially for hydrolytic enzymes, higher carbon, ammonium and hydrogen (p < 0.001) contents, and a slightly higher PO 4 content (p < 0.05) than alpine soils. Bacterial abundance was higher than fungal abundance, both for alpine and subalpine soils. On the other hand, the short term effect, which increased the mean soil temperature during the peak of the growing season in the OTC, showed to induce scarcely significant differences for edaphic parameters and microbial biomass content among the warmed and control plots. Using the manipulative warming experiments, we demonstrated that warming is able to change the enzyme activity starting from colder and higher altitude sites, known to be more vulnerable to the rising temperatures associated with climate change. Although five-years of experimental warming does not allow us to make bold conclusions, it appeared that warming-induced upwards vegetation shift might induce more substantial changes in enzymatic activities than the short-term effects, in the present vegetation context., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The final version of the paper was approved by all co-authors. All co-authors declare that there are no competing interests., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A new pediatric fixed combination of beclometasone dipropionate (BDP) 50 μg and formoterol fumarate (FF) 6 μg via pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) (CHF1535, Chiesi, Italy) was investigated. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over study, a single CHF1535 administration using AeroChamber Plus™ spacer device (2 actuations, total dose BDP 100 μg/FF 12 μg) was compared to the same pMDI free combination in 56 asthmatic children aged ≥ 5 and < 12 years. Primary efficacy variable was forced expiratory volume during the first second (FEV 1 ) area under the curve corrected by time over 12 h following morning dose (AUC 0-12h ). Further CHF1535 doses (50 μg/6 μg, 100 μg/12 μg, and 200 μg/24 μg) were also explored. Adverse events, electrocardiogram, and vital signs were monitored for safety. CHF1535 was non-inferior to free combination [adjusted mean difference (95% CI) 0.004 L (- 0.050, 0.041] with lower confidence limit greater than the limit set at 0.1 L. FEV 1 AUC 0-12h of each CHF1535 dose vs placebo were 0.037 L (p = 0.160), 0.119 L (p < 0.001), and 0.094 (p < 0.001) for 50/6, 100/12, and 200/24, respectively. No safety signals were found.Conclusion: CHF1535 was as effective as free combination BDP/FF, with a trend towards a dose-related response. All treatments were safe.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01584492 What is Known: •Inhaled pressurized metered-dose solutions (pMDI) are the preferred treatment for pediatric asthma. •Combination therapy of inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting β 2 - agonists is a well-established approach to control airway inflammation and airway obstruction also in pediatric patients. What is New: •A novel pediatric pMDI fixed combination of beclomethasone dipropionate 50 μg and formoterol fumarate 6 μg (CHF 1535) was non-inferior to the free combination at the same dose in pulmonary function over the 12-h post-dose period in asthmatic children, with trend towards a dose-related response.

One of the possible ways to improve the operation efficiency of constructed wetlands and to prevent their clogging is the application of earthworms. They have already been successfully applied for vermicomposting and for sludge dewatering and treatment. A few studies have already examined the effect of earthworms on the treatment of wastewater by vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs), but none of them have provided a yearlong research result from an open-air system or compared the effect that different seasons in a temperate climate area can have on these invertebrates. The goal of this research was to estimate the effect that earthworms and plants have on VFCW's operation. Four mesocosms (a filter, a filter with earthworms, a VFCW and a VFCW with earthworms) were built and their influent and effluent water quality was monitored for a period of 1 year. They were fed with wastewater coming from a building of the University of Bologna (Italy). The results have shown that the presence of earthworms in this specific system did not reduce the organic matter content of the substrate, but it has positively influenced plants' growth. However, since neither earthworms nor plants had a statistically significant effect on the effluent quality, it can be concluded that the integration of these invertebrates cannot improve wastewater treatment of vertical flow filters or constructed wetlands.

Background: Managing medical professionals is challenging because professionals tend to adhere to a set of professional norms and enjoy autonomy from supervision. The aim of this paper is to study the interplay of physicians' professional identity, their organizational identity, and the role of professional autonomy in these processes of social identification., Methods: We test hypotheses generated according to social identity theory using a survey of physicians working in public hospitals in Italy in 2013., Results: Higher degrees of organizational and economic professional autonomy are correlated with higher organizational identification. Identification with the profession is positively correlated with identification with the organization., Conclusions: Although the generalizability of our results is limited, this study suggests that organizations should support the organizational and economic autonomy of their physicians to project an organizational identity that preserves the continuity of a doctor's self-concept and that is evaluated as positive by doctors. As a result, organizations will be able to foster organizational identification, which is potentially capable of inducing pro-social organizational behavior.

Background: Soluble mesothelin-related peptide (SMRP) is a promising diagnostic biomarker for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), but various confounders hinder its usefulness in surveillance programmes. We previously showed that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within the 3'untranslated region (3'UTR) of the mesothelin ( MSLN ) gene could affect the levels of SMRP., Objectives: To focus on SNPs located within MSLN promoter as possible critical genetic variables in determining SMRP levels., Methods: The association between SMRP and SNPs was tested in 689 non-MPM subjects and 70 patients with MPM. Reporter plasmids carrying the four most common haplotypes were compared in a dual luciferase assay, and in silico analyses were performed to investigate the putative biological role of the SNPs., Results: We found a strong association between serum SMRP and variant alleles of rs3764247, rs3764246 (in strong linkage disequilibrium with rs2235504) and rs2235503 in non-MPM subjects. Inclusion of the genotype information led to an increase in SMRP specificity from 79.9% to 85.5%. Although not statistically significant, the group with MPM showed the same trend of association. According to the in vitro luciferase study, rs3764247 itself had a functional role. In silico approaches showed that the binding sites for transcription factors such as Staf and ZNF143 could be affected by this SNP. The other SNPs were shown to interact with each other in a more complex way., Conclusions: These data support the suggestion that SMRP performance is affected by individual (ie, genetic) variables and that MSLN expression is influenced by SNPs located within the promoter regulatory region., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

The removal of aged hydrophobic contaminants from fine-textured soils is a challenging issue in remediation. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of augmentation treatments to that of biostimulation in terms of total aliphatic hydrocarbon (TAH) and toxicity removal from a historically contaminated clay soil and to assess their impact on the resident microbial community. To this aim, Pleurotus ostreatus, Botryosphaeria rhodina and a combination of both were used as the inoculants while the addition of a sterilized lignocellulose mixture to soil (1:5, w/w) was used as a biostimulation approach. As opposed to the non-amended control soil, where no changes in TAH concentration and residual toxicity were observed after 60days, the activation of specialized bacteria was found in the biostimulated microcosms resulting in significant TAH removal (79.8%). The bacterial community structure in B. rhodina-augmented microcosms did not differ from the biostimulated microcosms due to the inability of the fungus to be retained within the resident microbiota. Best TAH removals were observed in microcosms inoculated with P. ostreatus alone (Po) and in binary consortium with B. rhodina (BC) (86.8 and 88.2%, respectively). In these microcosms, contaminant degradation exceeded their bioavailability thresholds determined by sequential supercritical CO2 extraction. Illumina metabarcoding of 16S rRNA gene showed that the augmentation with Po and BC led to lower relative abundances of Gram(+) taxa, Actinobacteria in particular, than those in biostimulated microcosms. Best detoxification, with respect to the non-amended incubation control, was found in Po microcosms where a drop in collembola mortality (from 90 to 22%) occurred. At the end of incubation, in both Po and BC, the relative abundances of P. ostreatus sequences were higher than 60% thus showing the suitability of this fungus in bioaugmentation-based remediation applications., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)