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IntroductionNuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is a key regulator of immune and inflammatory responses. Glucocorticoid drugs (GC) act through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) as immunosuppressant also in pediatric patients inhibiting NF-κB activity. The long non-coding RNA GAS5 interacts with the GR, influencing GC activity. No data on the role of GAS5 on GR-dependent inhibition of NF-κB activity have been published.MethodsThis study investigated the impact of GAS5 on NF-κB activity in HeLa cells overexpressing GAS5, both under basal conditions and during GC treatment. The study used EMSA, RNA-immunoprecipitation (RIP), Western blotting, and bioinformatic analyses to assess NF-κB DNA binding, GAS5-p65 interaction, and NF-κB signaling pathway modulation.ResultsGAS5 overexpression increased NF-κB DNA binding activity in untreated cells. RNA-IP confirmed a direct interaction between GAS5 and the NF-κB subunit p65, suggesting a potential regulatory mechanism. GAS5 overexpression led to downregulation of NF-κB target genes, TNF-α, and NR3C1. GC treatment reduced NF-κB DNA binding activity in GAS5-overexpressing cells, indicating a potential synergistic effect. Furthermore, GAS5 overexpression increased IκB levels and reduced p-p65/pan-p65 levels during GC treatment.DiscussionGAS5 appears to modulate NF-κB activity in a complex manner, influencing both basal and GC-induced signaling. The interaction between GAS5, GCs, and NF-κB is multi-faceted, and further research is needed to fully elucidate the underlying mechanisms. These findings suggest that GAS5 could be a potential target for personalized therapy, particularly in pediatric patients with inflammatory conditions.

A company’s cyber defenses are based on a secure infrastructure and risk-aware behavior by employees. With rising cyber threats and normative training efforts showing limited impact, raising cyber risk awareness is emerging as a challenging effort. The review of the extant literature on awareness diagnosis shows interdisciplinary but mainly theoretical approaches to understanding attitudes and influencing risk behavior. We propose and test a novel methodology to combine and operationalize two tools, deep metaphor interviews and the IDEA risk communication model, to apply them for the first time in the context of behavioral cyber vulnerabilities. The results show a link between diagnosed attitudes and effective risk behavior in a real-life organizational setting, indicating the potential for an expanded diagnostic effort. We propose to develop a broader diagnostic and intervention set to improve cyber awareness and a toolkit to support the business practice of cyber risk management.

Introduction: Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is a key regulator of immune and inflammatory responses. Glucocorticoid drugs (GC) act through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) as immunosuppressant also in pediatric patients inhibiting NF-κB activity. The long non-coding RNA GAS5 interacts with the GR, influencing GC activity. No data on the role of GAS5 on GR-dependent inhibition of NF-κB activity have been published. Methods: This study investigated the impact of GAS5 on NF-κB activity in HeLa cells overexpressing GAS5, both under basal conditions and during GC treatment. The study used EMSA, RNA-immunoprecipitation (RIP), Western blotting, and bioinformatic analyses to assess NF-κB DNA binding, GAS5-p65 interaction, and NF-κB signaling pathway modulation. Results: GAS5 overexpression increased NF-κB DNA binding activity in untreated cells. RNA-IP confirmed a direct interaction between GAS5 and the NF-κB subunit p65, suggesting a potential regulatory mechanism. GAS5 overexpression led to downregulation of NF-κB target genes, TNF-a, and NR3C1. GC treatment reduced NF-κB DNA binding activity in GAS5-overexpressing cells, indicating a potential synergistic effect. Furthermore, GAS5 overexpression increased IκB levels and reduced p-p65/pan-p65 levels during GC treatment. Discussion: GAS5 appears to modulate NF-κB activity in a complex manner, influencing both basal and GC-induced signaling. The interaction between GAS5, GCs, and NF-κB is multi-faceted, and further research is needed to fully elucidate the underlying mechanisms. These findings suggest that GAS5 could be a potential target for personalized therapy, particularly in pediatric patients with inflammatory conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Policy Brief succinctly presents the Ecological Observing System of the Adriatic Sea (ECOAdS), aimed at integrating the ecological and oceanographic dimensions within the conservation strategy of the Natura 2000 network, and to propose a way to go for its future development and maintenance. After a definition of marine ecological observatories, we describe the current structure of ECOAdS, its key components and potential relevance in relation to the main European strategies for biodiversity and marine observation for the next decade. Finally, we suggest some actions that could be undertaken for the future development of ECOAdS, targeting possible perspectives in different regional, macro-regional, national and European strategic contexts. This Policy Brief is one of the outcomes of the Interreg Italy-Croatia Project ECOSS (ECological Observing System in the Adriatic Sea: oceanographic observations for biodiversity; https://www.italy-croatia.eu/web/ecoss), which had the main purpose to design and carry out the first steps for the establishment of ECOAdS.

A profound transformation, in recent decades, is promoting shifts in the ways ecological science is produced and shared; as such, ecologists are increasingly encouraged to engage in dialogues with multiple stakeholders and in transdisciplinary research. Among the different forms of public engagement, citizen science (CS) has significant potential to support science-society interactions with mutual benefits. While many studies have focused on the experience and motivations of CS volunteers, scarce literature investigating the perspectives of researchers is available. The main purpose of this paper is to better understand scientists’ attitudes about CS in the context of its potential to support outcomes that extent beyond more traditional ones focused on promoting science knowledge and interest. We surveyed the scientific community belonging to the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network because ILTER is of interest to multiple stakeholders and occurs over long time scales. Via an online questionnaire, we asked ILTER scientists about their willingness to participate in different types of public engagement, their reasons for participating in CS, the associated barriers, and any impacts of these efforts on them. Our findings show that many ILTER scientists are open to participating in CS for a wide range of reasons; the dominant ones involve deeper public engagement and collaboration. The barriers of greatest concern of these respondents were the lack of institutional support to start and run a CS project and the difficulty of establishing long-term stable relationships with the public. They reported impacts of CS activities on how they pursue their work and acknowledged the benefit of opportunities to learn from the public. The emerging picture from this research is of a community willing and actively involved in many CS projects for both traditional reasons, such as data gathering and public education, and expanded reasons that activate a real two-way cooperation with the public. In the ILTER community, CS may thus become an opportunity to promote and develop partnerships with citizens, helping to advance the science-society interface and to rediscover and enhance the human and social dimension of the scientific work.

In the last decades, citizen science (CS) has experienced an increasing interest as a practice in which scientists and citizens collaborate to produce new knowledge for science, society and policy. Environmental and ecological sciences are among the most active in proposing CS activities and new models for citizen participation in research. In addition to environmental dimensions, these fields necessarily include social and cultural dimensions to confront the complex local and global environmental challenges. This is particularly evident in the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network, where the integration of social sciences has become a recognized priority. ILTER offers a valuable landscape to explore common CS features across a wide range of different cultural and socio-ecological contexts, as well as worldviews of science-society interactions. In 2020, we surveyed scientists working at ILTER sites across the globe to identify key features of CS initiatives in which they are/were involved and the levels of participation of the volunteers. We consider these features in the context of the internationally-developed “Ten Principles of Citizen Science” by examining scientific outcomes and societal/policy impact, type of volunteers’ involvement, and sharing of data/findings and feedbacks and acknowledging volunteers. Our results indicate that the ILTER community demonstrated a good predisposition toward environmentally-focused CS initiatives with diverse scientific questions including biodiversity, water quality, ecosystem services and climate change. Most of the respondents reported that the volunteers were involved mainly in collecting samples or recording data; some other activities, such as dissemination of the project conclusions and discussion and translation of the results into action, were also mentioned. Volunteers were usually trained for these initiatives and acknowledged in peer-reviewed publication, however data from the initiatives were only partially shared openly. We conclude with remarks and suggestions for expanding design and implementation of CS in the ILTER community.

In this paper we describe a 25-year (1986-2010) dataset of phytoplankton cell density abundance and biovolume in Lake Candia, a eutrophic, natural, small, and shallow lake located in north-western Italy, with data that are made available through the GBIF repository. The lake belongs to the national (LTER-Italy), European (LTER-Europe) and International (ILTER) long-term ecological research (LTER) networks. Phytoplankton samples were collected approximately monthly at the maximum depth station of the lake (7.7 m) and analysed with the inverted microscope, estimating both the cell density abundance and biovolume of each taxon. The dataset includes 10,120 georeferenced occurrences related to 545 taxa. During this 25-year period, the lake underwent profound modifications mainly related to the lake biomanipulation activities addressed to the management of aquatic macrophyte and to the evolution of the trophic condition. Making this dataset available represents a contribution to the current activities of the LTER networks for defining and reconstructing spatial and temporal dynamics and to identify and compare reliable trends.

Since the adoption of the Habitats and Birds Directives by EU governments, marine Natura 2000 (N2K) sites have been established in the European Mediterranean Sea, creating one of the largest international networks of protected areas. Nevertheless, to date, marine N2K sites are generally scarcely implemented, studied and monitored, and thus their management effectiveness is weak, and their environmental status is often unknown. The Interreg Italy-Croatia ECOSS project aimed at establishing the ECOlogical observing system of the Adriatic Sea (ECOAdS), to integrate the existing research and monitoring activities in the area, and to promote data sharing at international level, for enhancing monitoring and conservation in Adriatic N2K network. In the framework of ECOSS, a conceptual model was developed and applied to selected N2K sites, to review the existing knowledge, assess site effectiveness, and suggest possible improvements in their monitoring and management based on the contribution that ECOAdS can provide to their implementation. Information on social, ecological, and oceanographic elements related to the conservation and management of these case studies was gathered by consulting the project partners involved in the management and monitoring of the sites and through a literature review. The results of this study revealed a discouraging condition with no management plan in most of the sites, while regulatory measures are generally in place but without surveillance. Monitoring activities are performed occasionally, and information on presence and status of protected species is often lacking or outdated. Although the N2K network provides a unique opportunity to advance marine conservation and achieve the 30% conservation target by 2030, the biggest challenge ahead is the proper management and monitoring of N2K sites. The proposed conceptual model may be taken as a framework to properly set up ecological observing systems in the N2K network and help overcome current limitations, integrating scientific research within the N2K conservation strategies.

Abstract Pore fabrics characterize the anisotropy of pore space in rocks and influence the direction of fluid flow. This is important in reservoir characterization, and petroleum and geothermal energy exploitation. X‐ray computed micro‐tomography (XRCT) is commonly used to analyze pore fabrics, but limited by the micron‐scale resolution for representative 1‐inch rock cores. The magnetic pore fabric (MPF) method has been proposed to capture pores down to 10 nm. Although empirical relationships between MPF and pore space properties or permeability anisotropy are available, their application is compromised by large variability. This study integrates He pycnometry and XRCT‐derived pore space models with MPFs, and provides a quantitative comparison for calcarenite (∼50 vol% porosity and complex pore structure), and molasse sandstone (10%–30% porosity and relatively homogeneous pore fabrics). The preferred orientation of pores obtained from XRCT is described by a total shape ellipsoid, calculated by summing the second‐order tensors reflecting the best‐fit ellipsoids of individual pores. This ellipsoid is then compared to the MPF magnitude ellipsoid in terms of fabric orientation, degree and shape of anisotropy. The MPF and total shape ellipsoids are generally coaxial. The MPF has a smaller anisotropy degree than the total shape ellipsoid, and their relationship depends on the ferrofluid properties. The anisotropy shapes show large variability. Nevertheless, the good agreement of principal directions in most samples makes MPFs a valuable and efficient complementary tool to analyze a large number of samples, in combination with XRCT on selected samples, for a field‐scale pore space characterization.

Implementing effective marine monitoring to detect and track ecosystem shifts, biodiversity alteration, and habitat loss is one of the most crucial challenges to meet the objectives set out by the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework and by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The lack of coordinated and harmonized monitoring frameworks at different spatial scales and their weakness in accounting for ecological processes, due to incomplete sets of monitoring variables, strongly hinder the achievement of conservation objectives. Here, we propose an approach to build a coherent ecosystem-based system of monitoring variables for target marine species and habitats. The approach is designed to integrate the existing monitoring frameworks set up by the Water and the Marine Strategy Framework directives, and the Essential Ocean and Biodiversity Variables, with the aim to contribute to their harmonization and implementation. Furthermore, by embracing a holistic vision, it aims to incorporate ecological processes and socio-ecological aspects, considering the benefits of public engagement through citizen science, and of the ecosystem services approach for policies’ implementation. The study stems from the Ecological Observing System of the Adriatic Sea (ECOAdS), which was developed in the framework of the Interreg Italy-Croatia project ECOSS, using as exemplary monitoring test cases two relevant conservation targets for Natura 2000 sites of the Adriatic Sea, the common bottlenose dolphin and seagrass meadows. We test the potential of this approach in guiding the prioritization of monitoring variables under ecosystem-based criteria, and provide insights into the benefits delivered by an integrated system of observatories’ networks and monitoring frameworks to support marine conservation at both local and regional scales. The proposed approach can be transferred to other contexts and scales to help build a common knowledge and monitoring framework for conservation and management strategies, saving costs by relying on available resources and on consolidated and long-lasting approaches that might converge towards global initiatives.

The main aim of this paper is to paint an ecological picture of the phytoplankton communities of two adjacent and connected ecosystems, one transitional and one coastal marine, in the Northern Adriatic Sea: the Lagoon of Venice (LoV) and the Gulf of Venice (GoV). Based on 10 years (2011-2020) of monthly samplings, we compare the taxonomic composition, abundance and seasonal cycles of the two ecosystems. We focus on the inner zones of the LoV and on the coastal sea up to 8 nmi offshore, an area suitable for assessing the reciprocal influence of the lagoon and sea in terms of phytoplankton. Our main interest is to verify (i) whether the sea still affects the lagoon phytoplankton and (ii) whether the lagoon can provide organisms to the adjacent sea. Using a matrix composed of 466 samples, we performed various types of analysis to: (i) identify the prevalent features and seasonal patterns of abiotic factors and chlorophyll a, (ii) assess and compare taxonomic composition at each station and (iii) identify the generalist and specialist taxa. Our findings provide evidence that the prevalent structure of the communities in the selected areas of the two environments clearly differ concerning (i) seasonal succession, unimodal in the LoV (only one peak in summer) and multi-peak in the GoV (a succession of small peaks from spring to autumn), (ii) abundance and chlorophyll a, both much higher in the LoV (average: 6,009,593 cells l-1 and 4.1 µgl-1 respectively) than in the GoV (average 2,901,266 cells l-1 and 1,5 µgl-1 respectively), (iii) community composition, dominated by diatoms shared with benthic habitats (e.g. Thalassiosira, Nitzschia, Navicula) in the lagoon and by euplanktonic diatoms (e.g. Skeletonema, Chaetoceros, Pseudonitzschia) in the sea. The phytoplankton in the LoV appears to be affected by the marine phytoplankton of the adjacent sea and vice versa: the two environments share taxa that are both generalist (e.g. Skeletonema, Chaetoceros, Cyclotella, Pseudonitzschia) and specialist. Although the dominant factors in structuring the phytoplankton communities are local, dispersal rates, while not intense enough to generate transport of species that could significantly affect assemblage composition, are also at play.

A company's cyber defenses are based on a secure infrastructure and risk-aware behavior by employees. With rising cyber threats and normative training efforts showing limited impact, raising cyber risk awareness is emerging as a challenging effort. The review of the extant literature on awareness diagnosis shows interdisciplinary but mainly theoretical approaches to understanding attitudes and influencing risk behavior. We propose and test a novel methodology to combine and operationalize two tools, deep metaphor interviews and the IDEA risk communication model, to apply them for the first time in the context of behavioral cyber vulnerabilities. The results show a link between diagnosed attitudes and effective risk behavior in a real-life organizational setting, indicating the potential for an expanded diagnostic effort. We propose to develop a broader diagnostic and intervention set to improve cyber awareness and a toolkit to support the business practice of cyber risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we describe a 50-year (1965–2015) ecological database containing data collected in the northern Adriatic Sea (NAS) at one of the 25 research parent sites belonging to the Italian Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER-Italy, http://www.lteritalia.it, last access: February 2020). LTER-Italy is a formal member of the International (https://www.ilter.network, last access: February 2020) and European (http://www.lter-europe.net/, last access: February 2020) LTER networks. The NAS is undergoing a process, led by different research institutions and projects, of establishing a marine ecological observatory, building on the existing facilities, infrastructure, and long-term ecological data. During this process, the implementation of open-access and open-science principles has been started by creating an open-research life cycle that involves sharing ideas and results (scientific papers), data (raw and processed), metadata, methods, and software. The present data paper is framed within this wider context. The database is composed of observations on abiotic parameters and phytoplankton and zooplankton abundances, collected during 299 cruises in different sampling stations, in the Gulf of Venice in particular. Here we describe the sampling and analytical activities, the parameters, and the structure of the database. The database is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3516717 (Acri et al., 2019), and it was also uploaded in the DEIMS-SDR repository (Dynamic Ecological Information Management System – Site and Dataset Registry, https://deims.org/), which is the official site and data registry for the International LTER network.

Lockdown measures adopted in Italy to contain the diffusion of Covid-19 altered many variables influencing the anthropogenic pressure on marine ecosystems. Public reactions included surprise at how quickly changes in human activity seemingly improved natural recovery and, at the same time, a generalized anxiety to restart economic activities. In this situation several Institutions from the Italian National Research Council (CNR) made a joint effort to quantify the effects of the unprecedented experimental conditions induced by the reduction of many anthropogenic pressures. The resulting project was conceived with a holistic, interdisciplinary approach, geared to combine scientific, economic and cultural observations to promote collective actions suitable to the governance of socio-ecological systems, reconciling respect for the environment with human activities and wellbeing, and thus grounding an ethical approach to marine resources. Alongside collecting considerable amount of scientific observations, the project is working to complement samplings and analyses with the non-formal knowledge carried by the inhabitants of a set of coastal zones, thus enriching the generated knowledge and widening inclusion and pluralism in defining the challenges at stake; simultaneously it focuses on stimulating a reflection in the research community over the process of knowledge co-construction, its meaning, role and responsibility in the societal context. After a brief contextualization of this activity, we present here the perspective adopted by researchers to build a responsible marine research plan, inclusive on the grounds of both involved actors and knowledge sources. We comment the process- and community-related features, explore limits and opportunities, and propose a set of recommendations, based on a preliminary review of our experience and oriented to promote the development of a shared Ocean ethics.

Social media usage has grown rapidly in recent years, and with it companies’ interest in interacting with their customers on these platforms. It is, however, not yet clear whether customers welcome more intense relationships on social media and what drives this acceptance in more detail. Our research aims at understanding how age, gender, geography, usage, type of platform, personality, and current insurance provider impact customers’ attitudes towards interacting with insurance companies in the Swiss market. We find that age and frequency of use, in particular, impact acceptance, with younger customers much more open to interactions and insurance presence more welcome on more frequently used tools. This is an encouraging result for insurers, as customers tend to welcome them where customers are already frequently present. In addition, insurers can look forward to increasing interaction as younger individuals, who are more open to social media, age into core customers. Social context, on the other hand, plays only a minor role in customer preferences. The current insurance provider plays no significant role, in spite of insurance companies in the sample following widely different approaches to digital offerings and communication. This may be due to the early stage of development of the industry.

Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) and Biological and Ecosystem Essential Ocean Variables (BioEco EOVs) are two cooperative conceptual frameworks which help harmonize and process multi-source marine biodiversity observations into robust indexes, in order to measure progress toward policy conservation goals. Long-term monitoring networks are encouraged to contribute to these frameworks by mobilizing historical times series which are suitable for detecting impacts of management policies. In this paper, we identify specific recommendations for increasing reuse in the EV frameworks of the biodiversity historical data collected and maintained by the Gulf of Venice (GOV) site, i.e., the monitoring facility that is selected as case study in the Italian Long-Term Ecological Research network (LTER-Italy). The recommendations are obtained through a practical approach comprising two phases. In the first phase, a literature review helps extract the guidelines for implementing the principles representing the most recent attempt to unify management of EBV and BioEco EOV data, i.e., Benson’s tenets. In the second phase, we compare the guidelines to the data management practices enacted by the selected monitoring site in order to recommend curation interventions. The outputs of the analysis are discussed in order to verify if the approach and the recommendations are general enough to be replicated in the marine component of monitoring networks to coordinate the LTER data contribution to the EV frameworks.

The design and establishment of Marine Ecological Observatories (MEOs) are fostered at the European level. MEOs should adopt a holistic view, integrating and harmonizing long-term oceanographic and ecological research and monitoring, and increasing conservation strategies effectiveness according to the ecological connectivity concept. The data and knowledge collected and made available through MEOs should inform policies dealing with conservation and management of the marine environment. We present and discuss these issues in the Adriatic Sea context, where the transnational ecological observatory “ECOAdS” is under development in the framework of the Interreg Italy-Croatia project ECOSS (Observing System in the Adriatic Sea: oceanographic observations for biodiversity), which aims to support Natura 2000 network implementation and cross-border coordination of multiple monitoring initiatives. We analyse the main EU directives that deal with marine conservation, notably the Habitats and Birds directives, the Water Framework Directive, and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, as they are the primary instruments that can guide the development of the observatory while strengthening cooperation at the basin scale. We bring out the synergies and discrepancies among these legal instruments, and build on them ECOAdS as a monitoring platform that may respond and contribute to their requirements, boosting the synergies and overcoming the weaknesses. Finally, we provide some hints for the further development of this transnational MEO as a collector of the existing monitoring efforts aimed at harmonizing their approaches and incorporating the ecological connectivity to foster an ecosystem-based approach to conservation management.

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The conceptual framework of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) aims to capture the major dimensions of biodiversity change by structuring biodiversity monitoring and by ruling data collection amongst different providers. Amongst the research infrastructures adopting and implementing the EBV framework, LTER-Europe - the European node of ILTER (International Long-Term Ecological Research) - follows the approach to compare site-based biodiversity observations within and across its networks. However, a synoptic overview of their contributions with EBVs-relevant data is still missing, since data are not made available for several reasons. In this paper, we assess the capacity of LTER-Italy, one of the richest and heterogeneous networks of LTER sites in Europe, to provide data to “Species Distribution” and “Species Abundance” EBVs without inspecting and downloading their contents. To this aim, we mine the EBVs information which is publicly structured and shared by LTER site managers through DEIMS-SDR, the LTER-Europe online metadata repository. We classify the sites according to two types of contributions: (i) the actual contribution, based on metadata of datasets and (ii) the potential contribution, based on metadata of sites. Through these assessments, we investigate if LTER-Italy monitoring activities can provide EBVs measures and which sites currently provide datasets. By comparing the two contributions, we pinpoint the factors hampering the accessibility of LTER-Italy data and suggest solutions to increase the discoverability and reusability of LTER-Italy EBVs measurements. The research provides the first overview of EBVs monitored in LTER-Italy and the corresponding data management practices, as well as an evaluation of the interoperability of this network with respect to other research organisations for legal and technical aspects.

This work presents a practical case study of the Open Science principles applied to the valorization of a long-term marine dataset collected in the Northern Adriatic Sea, one of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites of the LTER-Italy network. The dataset covers a temporal range of 50 years (1965–2015), and it is composed of abiotic, and phyto- and zooplankton data, for a total of 21 parameters. The case study involved many actions, which will be described here, distinguishing between the ones affecting the whole research project workflow and those acting more specifically on the dataset. We evaluate strengths, weaknesses, and possible improvements for each action. The present study pointed out that, despite the initial and still some remaining mistrust, opening research projects is more than a best practice. It is (i) important because it improves research transparency (increasing researchers’ credibility, replicability of science, and products reuse), (ii) required by many international initiatives and regulations, and (iii) enriching because it encourages cooperation between scientists across different fields and laboratories.

Based on the last decade of activities at the Italian Long Term Ecological Research network (LTER-Italy), I describe and highlight here some major outcomes and challenges, by picturing different voices, which we are listening to and we are talking with. Organisms, ecosystems, methodologies, data, researchers, stakeholders and citizens: their “voices” - which we receive, interpret and express - create our experience and knowledge, which we share with and convey to our contemporaries and future generations. One of the main narrator’s voices will be that of plankton: how we “listen” to them, describe and share long-term data and researches, also with the wide public. Through the “voices from the water” I will report and discuss experiences, which have been relevant also to open up the views on the role that science is challenged to play in a world of rapid change, characterized by complexity and contradictions. In particular I will consider: (i) the voices coming from various LTER aquatic sites, mainly addressing the comparison among them, (ii) how to make the voices most harmonized and audible through the open science approach, and (iii) how to put the LTER voices in an effective dialogue with society. Finally I will share some thoughts about the necessity and the possibility to open the purely scientific cognitive approach to other forms of knowledge.

Background: Butyric acid (BA) is a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) with anti-inflammatory properties, which promotes intestinal barrier function. Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), including caproic acid (CA), promote TH1 and TH17 differentiation, thus supporting inflammation.Aim: Since most SCFAs are absorbed in the cecum and colon, the measurement of BA in peripheral blood could provide information on the health status of the intestinal ecosystem. Additionally, given the different immunomodulatory properties of BA and CA the evaluation of their serum concentration, as well as their ratio could be as a simple and rapid biomarker of disease activity and/or treatment efficacy in MS.Methods: We evaluated serum BA and CA concentrations, immune parameters, intestinal barrier integrity and the gut microbiota composition in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) comparing result to those obtained in healthy controls.Results: In MS, the concentration of BA was reduced and that of CA was increased. Concurrently, the microbiota was depleted of BA producers while it was enriched in mucin-degrading, pro-inflammatory components. The reduced serum concentration of BA seen in MS patients correlated with alterations of the barrier permeability, as evidenced by the higher plasma concentrations of lipopolysaccharide and intestinal fatty acid-binding protein, and inflammation. Specifically, CA was positively associated with CD4+/IFNγ+ T lymphocytes, and the BA/CA ratio correlated positively with CD4+/CD25high/Foxp3+ and negatively with CD4+/IFNγ+ T lymphocytes.Conclusion: The gut microbiota dysbiosis found in MS is possibly associated with alterations of the SCFA/MCFA ratio and of the intestinal barrier; this could explain the chronic inflammation that characterizes this disease. SCFA and MCFA quantification could be a simple biomarker to evaluate the efficacy of therapeutic and rehabilitation procedures in MS.

Transitional waters are subject to a high degree of variability in space and time. In this study, protist plankton communities of the Lagoon of Venice were compared among four sites characterised by different environmental conditions with a metabarcoding approach. High throughput sequencing (HTS) of the V4-18S rDNA fragment in 32 samples collected on four dates, from April 2016 to February 2017, produced 1,137,113 reads, which were grouped into 4,058 OTUs at 97% similarity. Bacillariophyta and Ciliophora were the most abundant groups in the entire dataset in terms of read number (27.6% and 16.6%, respectively), followed by Dinophyta (10.9%), Cryptophyceae (9.7%), and Syndiniales (6.1%). The contribution of protist groups markedly varied across the seasons, but spatial differences were also recorded in the lagoon. In April, a higher contribution of Bacillariophyta characterized St1 and 5 (68.0% and 61.1%), whereas Sts2 and 3 showed a higher percentage of Ciliophora (18.6 and 23.4%, respectively) and dinoflagellates (10.3 and 7.7%). In July, diatom blooms occurred at Sts1, 2 and 3, with some differences in the dominant species. At St2 Dinophyta reached the highest contribution of the whole sampling period in the area (30.6%), while St5 was quite distinct, with a low contribution of diatoms and a dominance of Ciliophora (34.0%) and Trebouxiophyceae (36.4%). All the stations in November were characterized by relatively high abundance of Ciliophora (21.4-51.9%). In February, diatom contribution was relevant only at St5 (29.3%), Teleaulax acuta peaked at St3 (ca. 36%), Syndiniales at St2 (38.8%) and Dictyochophyceae at St1 (24.2%). The α-diversity indexes (observed OTUs, Shannon and Pielou evenness) showed a high variability over space and time. Overall, diversity and community composition were rather similar between the intermediate and deeper Sts2 and 3 on all sampling dates whereas they at time differed between the landward and shallow Sts1 and 5. While the most marked differences occurred over the temporal scale, the depth of the station and the relatedness with the external marine coastal environment appear to play a major role in the spatial distribution of protist communities within the lagoon.