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Abstract Multiparametric video-cabled marine observatories are becoming strategic to monitor remotely and in real-time the marine ecosystem. Those platforms can achieve continuous, high-frequency and long-lasting image data sets that require automation in order to extract biological time series. The OBSEA, located at 4 km from Vilanova i la Geltrú at 20 m depth, was used to produce coastal fish time series continuously over the 24-h during 2013–2014. The image content of the photos was extracted via tagging, resulting in 69917 fish tags of 30 taxa identified. We also provided a meteorological and oceanographic dataset filtered by a quality control procedure to define real-world conditions affecting image quality. The tagged fish dataset can be of great importance to develop Artificial Intelligence routines for the automated identification and classification of fishes in extensive time-lapse image sets.

Abstract The effectiveness of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is highly variable. As target recognition of mAbs relies on tight binding affinity, we assessed the affinities of five therapeutic mAbs to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of wild type (A), Delta (B.1.617.2), and Omicron BA.1 SARS-CoV-2 (B.1.1.529.1) spike using microfluidic diffusional sizing (MDS). Four therapeutic mAbs showed strongly reduced affinity to Omicron BA.1 RBD, whereas one (sotrovimab) was less impacted. These affinity reductions correlate with reduced antiviral activities suggesting that affinity could serve as a rapid indicator for activity before time-consuming virus neutralization assays are performed. We also compared the same mAbs to serological fingerprints (affinity and concentration) obtained by MDS of antibodies in sera of 65 convalescent individuals. The affinities of the therapeutic mAbs to wild type and Delta RBD were similar to the serum antibody response, indicating high antiviral activities. For Omicron BA.1 RBD, only sotrovimab retained affinities within the range of the serum antibody response, in agreement with high antiviral activity. These results suggest that serological fingerprints provide a route to evaluating affinity and antiviral activity of mAb drugs and could guide the development of new therapeutics.

The deep-sea Caribbean lobster (Metanephrops binghami) and the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) are Nephropidae species of high commercial interest. Although the first one still remains unexploited, the second is overexploited in the Mediterranean Sea. For effective fisheries management, size at sexual maturity is an essential indicator to protect immature individuals from exploitation. The estimation of this indicator can, however, be biased due to the difficulty of differentiating juveniles from adults by their size structure due to the natural process of molting. This study aims to estimate the size at sexual maturity of M. binghami and N. norvegicus females by comparing the effectiveness of the morphometric method versus the macroscopic evaluation of gonad maturity. Samples of M. binghami were collected from the Colombian Caribbean Sea in August and December 2009, March and May 2010, and August 2020 to May 2021. Samples of N. norvegicus were collected from the northwestern Mediterranean Sea from 2019 to 2022. Similar sizes at sexual maturity were found for M. binghami between the morphometric approach (ranging from 28.6 to 33.9 mm cephalothorax length, CL) and the gonadal staging approach (31.4 mm CL). Conversely, for N. norvegicus, the morphometric approach yielded higher measurements (between 27.2 and 30.4 mm CL) than the gonadal approach (26.0 mm CL). This discrepancy might stem from the intense fishing overexploitation conditions of N. norvergicus, leading to a physiological adaptation that enables earlier gonadal maturation at faster rates than morphometric adaptation. Further research is required to elucidate these discrepancies and the effect of overexploitation on physiological (i.e., mature gonads) and functional maturity (i.e., capacity to brood eggs at a larger size).

Cultured brain slices from mice spontaneously upregulate senescence-associated genes over time and reproduce the transcriptional characteristics of aged brains; prions accelerate brain aging in brain slice cultures, animal models and human patients.

The genus Sebastes is a morphologically and ecologically diverse genus of rockfish characterized by high longevity, late-maturity and low natural mortality. On the northwest Atlantic continental shelf, the Acadian redfish (Sebastes fasciatus) is the most common rockfish species above 300 m depth. This species has been widely exploited resulting in the depletion or collapse of most of its stocks. Management of long-lived species with intricate life-history characteristics is challenging and requires highly integrated biological and oceanographic monitoring, which allow the identification of environmental drivers and demographic and behavioral trends. The present study uses high-temporal resolution imaging and environmental data, acquired with an autonomous lander deployed for 10-months at the Sambro Bank Sponge Conservation Area (Scotian Shelf) to elucidate S. fasciatus temporal dynamics and behavioral trends in response to near-bed environmental conditions. S. fasciatus, mostly displayed passive locomotion and static behaviors, in common with other shelf-dwelling Sebastes species. Structural complexity provided by sponges positively influenced S. fasciatus presence. Fish used sponges to avoid being dragged by bottom currents. Hydrodynamics appear to act as a synchronizing factor conditioning its swimming behavior. S. fasciatus total counts exhibited a seasonal shift in rhythm’s phase likely reflecting changes in lifestyle requirements. This study provides new insights on S. fasciatus dynamics and behavior. Nonintrusive monitoring approaches, such as the one used in this study, will be key to monitor this threatened species populations. Especially, since it is expected that S. fasciatus will experience distribution shifts to higher latitudes due to future climate stressors.

Further investigation is needed to improve the identification and classification of fish in underwater images using artificial intelligence, specifically deep learning. Questions that need to be explored include the importance of using diverse backgrounds, the effect of (not) labeling small fish on precision, the number of images needed for successful classification, and whether they should be randomly selected. To address these questions, a new labeled dataset was created with over 18,400 recorded Mediterranean fish from 20 species from over 1,600 underwater images with different backgrounds. Two state-of-the-art object detectors/classifiers, YOLOv5m and Faster RCNN, were compared for the detection of the ‘fish’ category in different datasets. YOLOv5m performed better and was thus selected for classifying an increasing number of species in six combinations of labeled datasets varying in background types, balanced or unbalanced number of fishes per background, number of labeled fish, and quality of labeling. Results showed that i) it is cost-efficient to work with a reduced labeled set (a few hundred labeled objects per category) if images are carefully selected, ii) the usefulness of the trained model for classifying unseen datasets improves with the use of different backgrounds in the training dataset, and iii) avoiding training with low-quality labels (e.g., small relative size or incomplete silhouettes) yields better classification metrics. These results and dataset will help select and label images in the most effective way to improve the use of deep learning in studying underwater organisms.

Summary: Conventional methods of measuring affinity are limited by artificial immobilization, large sample volumes, and homogeneous solutions. This protocol describes microfluidic antibody affinity profiling on complex human samples in solution to obtain a fingerprint reflecting both affinity and active concentration of the target protein. To illustrate the protocol, we analyze the antibody response in SARS-CoV-2 omicron-naïve samples against different SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. However, the protocol and the technology are amenable to a broad spectrum of biomedical questions.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Emmenegger et al. (2022),1 Schneider et al. (2022),2 and Fiedler et al. (2022).3 : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics.

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), due to its bioactive compounds (terpenes and cannabinoids), has gained increasing interest in different fields, including for medical purposes. The evaluation of the safety profile of hemp essential oil (EO) and its encapsulated form (nanoemulsion, NE) is a relevant aspect for potential therapeutic applications. This study aimed to evaluate the toxicological effect of hemp EOs and NEs from cultivars Carmagnola CS and Uso 31 on three cell lines selected as models for topical and inhalant administration, by evaluating the cytotoxicity and the cytokine expression profiles. Results show that EOs and their NEs have comparable cytotoxicity, if considering the quantity of EO present in the NE. Moreover, cells treated with EOs and NEs showed, in most of the cases, lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines compared to Etoposide used as a positive control, and the basal level of inflammatory cytokines was not altered, suggesting a safety profile of hemp EOs and their NEs to support their use for medical applications.

Abstract Background Cellular prion protein (PrPC) is a cell surface GPI-anchored protein, usually known for its role in the pathogenesis of human and animal prionopathies. However, increasing knowledge about the participation of PrPC in prion pathogenesis contrasts with puzzling data regarding its natural physiological role. PrPC is expressed in a number of tissues, including at high levels in the nervous system, especially in neurons and glial cells, and while previous studies have established a neuroprotective role, conflicting evidence for a synaptic function has revealed both reduced and enhanced long-term potentiation, and variable observations on memory, learning, and behavior. Such evidence has been confounded by the absence of an appropriate knock-out mouse model to dissect the biological relevance of PrPC, with some functions recently shown to be misattributed to PrPC due to the presence of genetic artifacts in mouse models. Here we elucidate the role of PrPC in the hippocampal circuitry and its related functions, such as learning and memory, using a recently available strictly co-isogenic Prnp 0/0 mouse model (Prnp ZH3/ZH3 ). Results We performed behavioral and operant conditioning tests to evaluate memory and learning capabilities, with results showing decreased motility, impaired operant conditioning learning, and anxiety-related behavior in Prnp ZH3/ZH3 animals. We also carried in vivo electrophysiological recordings on CA3-CA1 synapses in living behaving mice and monitored spontaneous neuronal firing and network formation in primary neuronal cultures of Prnp ZH3/ZH3 vs wildtype mice. PrPC absence enhanced susceptibility to high-intensity stimulations and kainate-induced seizures. However, long-term potentiation (LTP) was not enhanced in the Prnp ZH3/ZH3 hippocampus. In addition, we observed a delay in neuronal maturation and network formation in Prnp ZH3/ZH3 cultures. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that PrPC promotes neuronal network formation and connectivity. PrPC mediates synaptic function and protects the synapse from excitotoxic insults. Its deletion may underlie an epileptogenic-susceptible brain that fails to perform highly cognitive-demanding tasks such as associative learning and anxiety-like behaviors.

Abstract Motivated by the importance of lattice structures in multiple fields, we numerically investigate the propagation of flexural waves in a thin reticulated plate augmented with two classes of metastructures for wave mitigation and guiding, namely metabarriers and metalenses. The cellular architecture of this plate invokes the well-known octet topology, while the metadevices rely on novel customized octets either comprising spherical masses added to the midpoint of their struts or variable node thickness. We numerically determine the dispersion curves of a doubly-periodic array of octets, which produce a broad bandgap whose underlying physics is elucidated and leveraged as a design paradigm, allowing the construction of a metabarrier effective for inhibiting the transmission of waves. More sophisticated effects emerge upon parametric analyses of the added masses and node thickness, leading to graded designs that spatially filter waves through an enlarged bandgap via rainbow trapping. Additionally, Luneburg and Maxwell metalenses are realized using the spatial modulation of the tuning parameters and numerically tested. Wavefronts impinging on these structures are progressively curved within the inhomogeneous media and steered toward a focal point. Our results yield new perspectives for the use of octet-like lattices, paving the way for promising applications in vibration isolation and energy focusing.

Introduction: Calcium flux is the master second messenger that influences the proliferation–apoptosis balance. The ability of calcium flux alterations to reduce cell growth makes ion channels interesting targets for therapy. Among all, we focused on transient receptor potential vanilloid 1, a ligand-gated cation channel with selectivity for calcium. Its involvement in hematological malignancies is poorly investigated, especially in the field of chronic myeloid leukemia, a malignancy characterized by the accumulation of immature cells.Methods: FACS analysis, Western blot analysis, gene silencing, and cell viability assay were performed to investigate the activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1, by N-oleoyl-dopamine, in chronic myeloid leukemia cell lines.Results: We demonstrated that the triggering of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 inhibits cell growth and promotes apoptosis of chronic myeloid leukemia cells. Its activation induced calcium influx, oxidative stress, ER stress, mitochondria dysfunction, and caspase activation. Interestingly, a synergistic effect exerted by N-oleoyl-dopamine and the standard drug imatinib was found.Conclusion: Overall, our results support that transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 activation could be a promising strategy to enhance conventional therapy and improve the management of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Summary: Effective public health measures against SARS-CoV-2 require granular knowledge of population-level immune responses. We developed a Tripartite Automated Blood Immunoassay (TRABI) to assess the IgG response against three SARS-CoV-2 proteins. We used TRABI for continuous seromonitoring of hospital patients and blood donors (n = 72′250) in the canton of Zurich from December 2019 to December 2020 (pre-vaccine period). We found that antibodies waned with a half-life of 75 days, whereas the cumulative incidence rose from 2.3% in June 2020 to 12.2% in mid-December 2020. A follow-up health survey indicated that about 10% of patients infected with wildtype SARS-CoV-2 sustained some symptoms at least twelve months post COVID-19. Crucially, we found no evidence of a difference in long-term complications between those whose infection was symptomatic and those with asymptomatic acute infection. The cohort of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-infected subjects represents a resource for the study of chronic and possibly unexpected sequelae.

Abstract Many efforts targeting amyloid‐β (Aβ) plaques for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease thus far have resulted in failures during clinical trials. Regional and temporal heterogeneity of efficacy and dependence on plaque maturity may have contributed to these disappointing outcomes. In this study, we mapped the regional and temporal specificity of various anti‐Aβ treatments through high‐resolution light‐sheet imaging of electrophoretically cleared brains. We assessed the effect on amyloid plaque formation and growth in Thy1‐APP/PS1 mice subjected to β‐secretase inhibitors, polythiophenes, or anti‐Aβ antibodies. Each treatment showed unique spatiotemporal Aβ clearance, with polythiophenes emerging as a potent anti‐Aβ compound. Furthermore, aligning with a spatial‐transcriptomic atlas revealed transcripts that correlate with the efficacy of each Aβ therapy. As observed in this study, there is a striking dependence of specific treatments on the location and maturity of Aβ plaques. This may also contribute to the clinical trial failures of Aβ‐therapies, suggesting that combinatorial regimens may be significantly more effective in clearing amyloid deposition.

Myelin is a multilamellar sheath generated by specialized glia called Schwann cells (SCs) in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which serves to protect and insulate axons for rapid neuronal signaling. In zebrafish and rodent models, we identify GPR56/ADGRG1 as a conserved regulator of PNS development and health. We demonstrate that, during SC development, GPR56-dependent RhoA signaling promotes timely radial sorting of axons. In the mature PNS, GPR56 is localized to distinct SC cytoplasmic domains, is required to establish proper myelin thickness, and facilitates organization of the myelin sheath. Furthermore, we define plectin-a scaffolding protein previously linked to SC domain organization, myelin maintenance, and a series of disorders termed "plectinopathies"-as a novel interacting partner of GPR56. Finally, we show that Gpr56 mutants develop progressive neuropathy-like symptoms, suggesting an underlying mechanism for peripheral defects in some human patients with GPR56 mutations. In sum, we define Gpr56 as a new regulator in the development and maintenance of peripheral myelin.

Supported by current socio-scientific trends, programming the global behaviour of whole computational collectives makes for great opportunities, but also significant challenges. Recently, aggregate computing has emerged as a prominent paradigm for so-called collective adaptive systems programming. To shorten the gap between such research endeavours and mainstream software development and engineering, we present ScaFi, a Scala toolkit providing an internal domain-specific language, libraries, a simulation environment, and runtime support for practical aggregate computing systems development.

No abstract available

The Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, supports a key European fishery. Stock assessments for this species are mostly based on trawling and UnderWater TeleVision (UWTV) surveys. However, N. norvegicus are burrowing organisms and these survey methods are unable to sample or observe individuals in their burrows. To account for this, UWTV surveys generally assume that “1 burrow system = 1 animal”, due to the territorial behavior of N. norvegicus. Nevertheless, this assumption still requires in-situ validation. Here, we outline how to improve the accuracy of current stock assessments for N. norvegicus with novel ecological monitoring technologies, including: robotic fixed and mobile camera-platforms, telemetry, environmental DNA (eDNA), and Artificial Intelligence (AI). First, we outline the present status and threat for overexploitation in N. norvegicus stocks. Then, we discuss how the burrowing behavior of N. norvegicus biases current stock assessment methods. We propose that state-of-the-art stationary and mobile robotic platforms endowed with innovative sensors and complemented with AI tools could be used to count both animals and burrows systems in-situ, as well as to provide key insights into burrowing behavior. Next, we illustrate how multiparametric monitoring can be incorporated into assessments of physiology and burrowing behavior. Finally, we develop a flowchart for the appropriate treatment of multiparametric biological and environmental data required to improve current stock assessment methods.

Nowadays, modern agriculture looks for valid, sustainable, and green alternatives that are able to improve and maintain soil quality and fertility over time. Recycling organic waste as fertilizer is one of the strategies for sustainable production. Recently, the use of new products derived from compost, such as compost tea (CT), is increasing due to their positive effects on crops. This perspective wants to give an updated shot at the effect of compost tea in horticulture. In addition to the classification of compost tea, with a focus on production procedures and composition, the possible effects they have both on the control of phytopathogens in horticulture and the influence they can have on the content of bioactive molecules and nutrients were highlighted. It is interesting to note that compost teas can have an effect on the final content of micro and macronutrients, thus improving the nutritional qualities and also increasing the content of bioactive compounds that may play a role in maintaining and improving human health. The combined use of compost tea with other treatments is being explored as a promising and innovative direction.

Abstract Brain-matter vacuolation is a defining trait of all prion diseases, yet its cause is unknown. Here, we report that prion infection and prion-mimetic antibodies deplete the phosphoinositide kinase PIKfyve—which controls endolysosomal maturation—from mouse brains, cultured cells, organotypic brain slices, and brains of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease victims. We found that PIKfyve is acylated by the acyltransferases zDHHC9 and zDHHC21, whose juxtavesicular topology is disturbed by prion infection, resulting in PIKfyve deacylation and rapid degradation, as well as endolysosomal hypertrophy and activation of TFEB-dependent lysosomal enzymes. A protracted unfolded protein response (UPR), typical of prion diseases, also induced PIKfyve deacylation and degradation. Conversely, UPR antagonists restored PIKfyve levels in prion-infected cells. Overexpression of zDHHC9 and zDHHC21, administration of the antiprion polythiophene LIN5044, or supplementation with the PIKfyve reaction product PI(3,5)P2 suppressed prion-induced vacuolation and restored lysosomal homeostasis. Thus, PIKfyve emerges as a central mediator of vacuolation and neurotoxicity in prion diseases.

Summary: The B.1.1.529 (omicron) variant has rapidly supplanted most other SARS-CoV-2 variants. Using microfluidics-based antibody affinity profiling (MAAP), we have characterized affinity and IgG concentration in the plasma of 39 individuals with multiple trajectories of SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or vaccination. Antibody affinity was similar against the wild-type, delta, and omicron variants (KA ranges: 122 ± 155, 159 ± 148, 211 ± 307 μM-1, respectively), indicating a surprisingly broad and mature cross-clade immune response. Postinfectious and vaccinated subjects showed different IgG profiles, with IgG3 (p-value = 0.002) against spike being more prominent in the former group. Lastly, we found that the ELISA titers correlated linearly with measured concentrations (R = 0.72) but not with affinity (R = 0.29). These findings suggest that the wild-type and delta spike induce a polyclonal immune response capable of binding the omicron spike with similar affinity. Changes in titers were primarily driven by antibody concentration, suggesting that B-cell expansion, rather than affinity maturation, dominated the response after infection or vaccination.

Ocean observatories collect large volumes of video data, with some data archives now spanning well over a few decades, and bringing the challenges of analytical capacity beyond conventional processing tools. The analysis of such vast and complex datasets can only be achieved with appropriate machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. The implementation of AI monitoring programs for animal tracking and classification becomes necessary in the particular case of deep-sea cabled observatories, as those operated by Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), where Petabytes of data are now collected each and every year since their installation. Here, we present a machine-learning and computer vision automated pipeline to detect and count sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria), a key commercially exploited species in the N-NE Pacific. We used 651 hours of video footage obtained from three long-term monitoring sites in the NEPTUNE cabled observatory, in Barkley Canyon, on the nearby slope, and at depths ranging from 420 to 985 m. Our proposed AI sablefish detection and classification pipeline was tested and validated for an initial 4.5 month period (Sep 18 2019-Jan 2 2020), and was a first step towards validation for future processing of the now decade-long video archives from Barkley Canyon. For the validation period, we trained a YOLO neural network on 2917 manually annotated frames containing sablefish images to obtain an automatic detector with a 92% Average Precision (AP) on 730 test images, and a 5-fold cross-validation AP of 93% (± 3.7%). We then ran the detector on all video material (i.e., 651 hours from a 4.5 month period), to automatically detect and annotate sablefish. We finally applied a tracking algorithm on detection results, to approximate counts of individual fishes moving on scene and obtain a time series of proxy sablefish abundance. Those proxy abundance estimates are among the first to be made using such a large volume of video data from deep-sea settings. We discuss our AI results for application on a decade-long video monitoring program, and particularly with potential for complementing fisheries management practices of a commercially important species.

Scientific, industrial and societal needs call urgently for the development and establishment of intelligent, cost-effective and ecologically sustainable monitoring protocols and robotic platforms for the continuous exploration of marine ecosystems. Internet Operated Vehicles (IOVs) such as crawlers, provide a versatile alternative to conventional observing and sampling tools, being tele-operated, (semi-) permanent mobile platforms capable of operating on the deep and coastal seafloor. Here we present outstanding observations made by the crawler “Wally” in the last decade at the Barkley Canyon (BC, Canada, NE Pacific) methane hydrates site, as a part of the NEPTUNE cabled observatory. The crawler followed the evolution of microhabitats formed on and around biotic and/or abiotic structural features of the site (e.g., a field of egg towers of buccinid snails, and a colonized boulder). Furthermore, episodic events of fresh biomass input were observed (i.e., the mass transport of large gelatinous particles, the scavenging of a dead jellyfish and the arrival of macroalgae from shallower depths). Moreover, we report numerous faunal behaviors (i.e., sablefish rheo- and phototaxis, the behavioral reactions and swimming or resting patterns of further fish species, encounters with octopuses and various crab intra- and interspecific interactions). We report on the observed animal reactions to both natural and artificial stimuli (i.e., crawler’s movement and crawler light systems). These diverse observations showcase different capabilities of the crawler as a modern robotic monitoring platform for marine science and offshore industry. Its long deployments and mobility enable its efficiency in combining the repeatability of long-term studies with the versatility to opportunistically observe rarely seen incidents when they occur, as highlighted here. Finally, we critically assess the empirically recorded ecological footprint and the potential impacts of crawler operations on the benthic ecosystem of the Barkley Canyon hydrates site, together with potential solutions to mitigate them into the future.

Abstract Underwater Television (UWTV) surveys provide fishery-independent stock size estimations of the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), based directly on burrow counting using the survey assumption of “one animal = one burrow”. However, stock size may be uncertain depending on true rates of burrow occupation. For the first time, 3055 video transects carried out in several Functional Units (FUs) around Ireland were used to investigate this uncertainty. This paper deals with the discrimination of burrow emergence and door-keeping diel behaviour in Nephrops norvegicus, which is one of the most commercially important fisheries in Europe. Comparisons of burrow densities with densities of visible animals engaged in door-keeping (i.e. animals waiting at the tunnel entrance) behaviour and animals in full emergence, were analysed at time windows of expected maximum population emergence. Timing of maximum emergence was determined using wave-form analysis and GAM modelling. The results showed an average level of 1 visible Nephrops individual per 10 burrow systems, depending on sampling time and depth. This calls into question the current burrow occupancy assumption which may not hold true in all FUs. This is discussed in relation to limitations of sampling methodologies and new autonomous robotic technological solutions for monitoring.

Competitive interactions come in a variety of forms and may be modulated by the size and number of individuals involved, and/or the resources available. Here, intra- and interspecific competitive behaviours for food (i.e., foraging/food search and feeding/food ingestion) were experimentally characterized and quantified in four co-existing deep-sea benthic species. Three sea stars (Ceramaster granularis, Hippasteria phrygiana, and Henricia lisa) and one gastropod (Buccinum scalariforme) from the bathyal Northwest Atlantic were investigated using video trials in darkened laboratory conditions. A range of competitive or cooperative behaviours occurred, depending on species (conspecific or heterospecific), comparative body size, and the number of individuals involved. Contrary to expectations, small individuals (or smaller species) were not always outcompeted by larger individuals (or larger species) when foraging and feeding. Moreover, faster species did not always outcompete slower ones while scavenging. Overall, this study sheds new light on scavenging strategies of co-existing deep-sea benthic species in food-limited bathyal environments, based on complex behavioural inter- and intraspecific relationships.

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive malignant tumor overall and remains an incurable neoplasm with a median survival of 15 months. Since 2005, the gold standard treatment for glioblastoma has remained unchanged, and it is a common goal of the scientific community to work towards a better prognosis and improved survival for glioblastoma patients. Herein, we report a case of glioblastoma multiforme in a patient with a poor prognosis who, following partial removal of the neoplasm, refused conventional therapy consisting of a combination of radiotherapy and temozolomide-based chemotherapy due to personal serious side effects. The patient started an unconventional therapeutic path by alternating periods of oxygen–ozone therapy with concomitant administration of legal medical cannabis products (Bedrocan and Bedrolite) and melatonin. This approach resulted in a complete and durable remission of the disease and long survival. Indeed, the patient is still alive. The exceptional result obtained here encourages us to share and carefully investigate this unconventional treatment as a possible future direction in the management of glioblastoma.

Chlorophyll pigments are thought to be responsible for the highly appreciated green color of unfermented Castelvetrano-style table olives, but no studies have considered the effects of a controlled addition of copper during storage or packaging at the industrial level. For this purpose, chlorophyll derivatives were analyzed in Nocellara cultivar table olives debittered industrially using the Castelvetrano method, via means of HPLC and MS analyses, following the addition of copper in alkaline brines stored at 4 °C for 3 months in 220 L barrels, and during the subsequent storage in acid brines in commercial 400 g packages at 4 °C for up to 18 months. The presence of copper in storage or in packaging brines both contributed significantly to maintaining the green color of the olives, which was associated with a specific pattern of chlorophyll derivatives, as evidenced by principal component analysis. Notably, re-greening was rapidly achievable also for olives that had yellowed for 18 months at a copper concentration below the limit of EU legislation. Finally, by means of PCA, we also demonstrated that a short-term thermic treatment can work as an accelerated predictive tool in determining the fate of chlorophyll derivatives.

Clay minerals are historically among the most used materials with a wide variety of applications. In pharmaceutical and biomedical fields, their healing properties have always been known and used in pelotherapy and therefore attractive for their potential. In recent decades, the research has therefore focused on the systematic investigation of these properties. This review aims to describe the most relevant and recent uses of clays in the pharmaceutical and biomedical field, especially for drug delivery and tissue engineering purposes. Clay minerals, which are biocompatible and non-toxic materials, can act as carriers for active ingredients while controlling their release and increasing their bioavailability. Moreover, the combination of clays and polymers is useful as it can improve the mechanical and thermal properties of polymers, as well as induce cell adhesion and proliferation. Different types of clays, both of natural (such as montmorillonite and halloysite) and synthetic origin (layered double hydroxides and zeolites), were considered in order to compare them and to assess their advantages and different uses.

The use of marine cabled video observatories with multiparametric environmental data collection capability is becoming relevant for ecological monitoring strategies. Their ecosystem surveying can be enforced in real time, remotely, and continuously, over consecutive days, seasons, and even years. Unfortunately, as most observatories perform such monitoring with fixed cameras, the ecological value of their data is limited to a narrow field of view, possibly not representative of the local habitat heterogeneity. Docked mobile robotic platforms could be used to extend data collection to larger, and hence more ecologically representative areas. Among the various state-of-the-art underwater robotic platforms available, benthic crawlers are excellent candidates to perform ecological monitoring tasks in combination with cabled observatories. Although they are normally used in the deep sea, their high positioning stability, low acoustic signature, and low energetic consumption, especially during stationary phases, make them suitable for coastal operations. In this paper, we present the integration of a benthic crawler into a coastal cabled observatory (OBSEA) to extend its monitoring radius and collect more ecologically representative data. The extension of the monitoring radius was obtained by remotely operating the crawler to enforce back-and-forth drives along specific transects while recording videos with the onboard cameras. The ecological relevance of the monitoring-radius extension was demonstrated by performing a visual census of the species observed with the crawler’s cameras in comparison to the observatory’s fixed cameras, revealing non-negligible differences. Additionally, the videos recorded from the crawler’s cameras during the transects were used to demonstrate an automated photo-mosaic of the seabed for the first time on this class of vehicles. In the present work, the crawler travelled in an area of 40 m away from the OBSEA, producing an extension of the monitoring field of view (FOV), and covering an area approximately 230 times larger than OBSEA’s camera. The analysis of the videos obtained from the crawler’s and the observatory’s cameras revealed differences in the species observed. Future implementation scenarios are also discussed in relation to mission autonomy to perform imaging across spatial heterogeneity gradients around the OBSEA.

The healing process of chronic wounds continues to be a current clinical challenge, worsened by the risk of microbial infections and bacterial resistance to the most frequent antibiotics. In this work, non-antibiotic nanohybrids based on chlorhexidine dihydrochloride and clay minerals have been developed in order to design advanced therapeutic systems aimed to enhance wound healing in chronic lesions. To prepare the nanohybrids, two methodologies have been compared: the intercalation solution procedure and the spray-drying technique, the latter as a one-step process able to reduce preparation times. Nanohybrids were then fully studied by solid state characterization techniques. Computational calculations were also performed to assess the interactions between the drug and the clays at the molecular level. In vitro human fibroblast biocompatibility and antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were assessed to check biocompatibility and potential microbicidal effects of the obtained nanomaterials. The results demonstrated the effective organic/inorganic character of the nanohybrids with homogeneous drug distribution into the clayey structures, which had been confirmed by classical mechanics calculations. Good biocompatibility and microbicidal effects were also observed, especially for the spray-dried nanohybrids. It was suggested that it could be due to a greater contact area with target cells and bacterial suspensions.

Rapeseed meal (RSM), a by-product of rapeseed oil extraction, is currently used for low-value purposes. With a biorefinery approach, rapeseed proteins may be extracted and recovered for high-end uses to fully exploit their nutritional and functional properties. This study reports the application of RSM protein isolate, the main output of a biorefining process aimed at recovering high-value molecules from rapeseed meal, as a supplement to texture-modified (TM) food designed for elderly people with mastication and dysphagia problems. The compositional (macronutrients by Official Methods of Analyses, and mineral and trace element profiles using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry ICP-OES), nutritional and sensory evaluations of TM chicken breast, carrots and bread formulated without and with RSM protein supplementation (5% w/w) are hereby reported. The results show that the texture modification of food combined with rapeseed protein isolate supplementation has a positive impact on the nutritional and sensory profile of food, meeting the special requirements of seniors. TM chicken breast and bread supplemented with RSM protein isolate showed unaltered or even improved sensory properties and a higher nutrient density, with particular regard to proteins (+20–40%) and minerals (+10–16%). Supplemented TM carrots, in spite of the high nutrient density, showed a limited acceptability, due to poor sensory properties that could be overcome with an adjustment to the formulation. This study highlights the potentialities of RSM as a sustainable novel protein source in the food sector. The application of RSM protein proposed here is in line with the major current challenges of food systems such as the responsible management of natural resources, the valorization of agri-food by-products, and healthy nutrition with focus on elderly people.

The marine science community is engaged in the exploration and monitoring of biodiversity dynamics, with a special interest for understanding the ecosystem functioning and for tracking the growing anthropogenic impacts. The accurate monitoring of marine ecosystems requires the development of innovative and effective technological solutions to allow a remote and continuous collection of data. Cabled fixed observatories, equipped with camera systems and multiparametric sensors, allow for a non-invasive acquisition of valuable datasets, at a high-frequency rate and for periods extended in time. When large collections of visual data are acquired, the implementation of automated intelligent services is mandatory to automatically extract the relevant biological information from the gathered data. Nevertheless, the automated detection and classification of streamed visual data suffer from the “concept drift” phenomenon, consisting of a drop of performance over the time, mainly caused by the dynamic variation of the acquisition conditions. This work quantifies the degradation of the fish detection and classification performance on an image dataset acquired at the OBSEA cabled video-observatory over a one-year period and finally discusses the methodological solutions needed to implement an effective automated classification service operating in real time.

Behavioral rhythms are a key aspect of species fitness, since optimize ecological activities of animals in response to a constantly changing environment. Cabled observatories enable researchers to collect long-term biological and environmental data in real-time, providing relevant information on coastal fishes’ ecological niches and their temporal regulation (i.e., phenology). In this framework, the platform OBSEA (an EMSO Testing-Site in the NW coastal Mediterranean) was used to monitor the 24-h and seasonal occurrence of an ecologically iconic (i.e., top-predator) coastal fish species, the common dentex (Dentex dentex). By coupling image acquisition with oceanographic and meteorological data collection at a high-frequency (30 min), we compiled 8-years’ time-series of fish counts, showing daytime peaks by waveform analysis. Peaks of occurrence followed the photophase limits as an indication of photoperiodic regulation of behavior. At the same time, we evidenced a seasonal trend of counts variations under the form of significant major and minor increases in August and May, respectively. A progressive multiannual trend of counts increase was also evidenced in agreement with the NW Mediterranean expansion of the species. In GLM and GAM modeling, counts not only showed significant correlation with solar irradiance but also with water temperature and wind speed, providing hints on the species reaction to projected climate change scenarios. Grouping behavior was reported mostly at daytime. Results were discussed assuming a possible link between count patterns and behavioral activity, which may influence video observations at different temporal scales.

The oceans are a fundamental source for climate balance, sustainability of resources and life on Earth, therefore society has a strong and pressing interest in maintaining and, where possible, restoring the health of the marine ecosystems. Effective, integrated ocean observation is key to suggesting actions to reduce anthropogenic impact from coastal to deep-sea environments and address the main challenges of the 21st century, which are summarized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Blue Growth strategies. The European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory (EMSO), is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), with the aim of providing long-term observations via fixed-point ocean observatories in key environmental locations across European seas from the Arctic to the Black Sea. These may be supported by ship-based observations and autonomous systems such as gliders. In this paper, we present the EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM), a deployment ready multi-sensor instrumentation module, designed to measure physical, biogeochemical, biological and ecosystem variables consistently, in a range of marine environments, over long periods of time. Here, we describe the system, features, configuration, operation and data management. We demonstrate, through a series of coastal and oceanic pilot experiments that the EGIM is a valuable standard ocean observation module, which can significantly improve the capacity of existing ocean observatories and provides the basis for new observatories. The diverse examples of use included the monitoring of fish activity response upon oceanographic variability, hydrothermal vent fluids and particle dispersion, passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals and time series of environmental variation in the water column. With the EGIM available to all the EMSO Regional Facilities, EMSO will be reaching a milestone in standardization and interoperability, marking a key capability advancement in addressing issues of sustainability in resource and habitat management of the oceans.

Sensory neuronal circuits adapt during maturation when animals start to actively interact with the external world. The authors reveal structural and functional rearrangements of the input cortical interneurons receive around the time the animals start active sensation.

Abstract Prion immunotherapy may hold great potential, but antibodies against certain PrP epitopes can be neurotoxic. Here, we identified > 6,000 PrP‐binding antibodies in a synthetic human Fab phage display library, 49 of which we characterized in detail. Antibodies directed against the flexible tail of PrP conferred neuroprotection against infectious prions. We then mined published repertoires of circulating B cells from healthy humans and found antibodies similar to the protective phage‐derived antibodies. When expressed recombinantly, these antibodies exhibited anti‐PrP reactivity. Furthermore, we surveyed 48,718 samples from 37,894 hospital patients for the presence of anti‐PrP IgGs and found 21 high‐titer individuals. The clinical files of these individuals did not reveal any enrichment of specific pathologies, suggesting that anti‐PrP autoimmunity is innocuous. The existence of anti‐prion antibodies in unbiased human immunological repertoires suggests that they might clear nascent prions early in life. Combined with the reported lack of such antibodies in carriers of disease‐associated PRNP mutations, this suggests a link to the low incidence of spontaneous prion diseases in human populations.