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In this past decade, the bond between agriculture, food security, and climate change has become increasingly strong. Agriculture is recognized as one of the most endangered systems adversely affected by human activities and environmental issues. In particular, abiotic stress limits the quantity and quality of plant-based food. Heat stress, drought, and salinity impact plants at all different life stages, inducing morphological and physiological changes and provoking a reduction in their nutritional value. Accordingly, low-quality food results in a serious risk for the health of people worldwide. In this scenario, different genetic and biotechnological strategies have been investigated, including the use of New Plant Breeding Techniques (NBTs) and plant cell cultures. In this review, we describe how abiotic stresses alter the property and availability of nutritious food. In addition, we illustrate the advanced techniques that could be employed to address these issues and ameliorate the agricultural practices

As global temperatures continue to rise, high summer temperatures severely affect crop growth, reducing yield and quality. The projections of annual declines in crop yield require more in-depth multidisciplinary studies on plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. As tomato is a major crop in the Mediterranean region, its response to heat stress has become important to be addressed in order to identify those traits affecting stress tolerance. In this study, physiological and genomic analyses were performed on two heat-tolerant genotypes (LA3120 and E42) grown at high temperatures during the entire life cycle. The results showed that heat stress diversely affected gas exchange and fluorescence parameters in the two genotypes. In particular, E42 regulated the photosynthetic machinery under heat stress by modulating the electron transport chain, whereas LA3120 was less affected by the applied stress. Genotyping data obtained from a GBS (genotyping by sequencing) analysis were used to explore the genetic variability of both genotypes with the aim of identifying candidate genes that might regulate their stress response. These results further deepen our understanding of the physiological mechanisms activated in response to heat stress and allowed to select key traits that could be used in breeding program to select thermotolerant tomato genotypes.

Pelvic floor dysfunctions (PFD) are prevalent conditions that affect millions of women worldwide, encompassing a range of issues severely affecting women's quality of life. Pelvic floor muscle strength and function are fundamental to the management and prevention of PFD, and pelvic rehabilitation is a non-invasive approach that effectively improves symptoms, restores function, and prevents complications. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of pelvic floor muscle training program using weighted vaginal cones, on pelvic floor muscle function and quality of life in women with pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD). Fifty-four women aged 26-62 years, with different type of urinary incontinence, cystocele, and prolapse participated in this pre-post intervention comparative analysis. Pelvic floor muscle function was assessed using the PC test, which measures strength, endurance and fatigability, while the impact on patients' quality of life was assessed with the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire - Short Form 7 (PFIQ-7). A three-month vaginal cone training regimen was implemented, with as-sessments conducted before the intervention (T0), one month later (T1), and three months later (T2). Data analysis showed a change with significant differences between the PC test score values at the level of each parameter and at each assessment (p

One of the most crucial biological indicators in tracking long-term variations in the reproductive cycle is sexual development. Scorpaena porcus (Linnaeus, 1758), commonly known as the black scorpionfish, is a small teleost from the family Scorpaenidae. Much is known about its ecology, but data on its reproductive and defense systems are still lacking. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), such as piscidins, are integral components of the innate immune system in fish. These peptides exhibit a wide range of activity against bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa and act as the first line of host defense. This study aims to investigate the primary sexual development stages in male and female gonads of black scorpionfish, providing additional knowledge on the reproductive biology of this teleost while evaluating concomitant changes in the expression of a Piscidin-1 antimicrobial peptide. The results show a histological, morpho-structural change from the immature stage to the developing virgin stage. Immunohistochemical analyses show that germinal and somatic cells are strongly reactive to Piscidin-1 in both gonads at an early ontogeny stage. These data suggest that Piscidin-1 may play a key role in the local defense system of scorpionfish gonads at this delicate stage, which is critical for the continuation and maintenance of the species. The present findings are potentially useful for a better understanding of the reproductive cycle of this fish, improving our knowledge of the interaction between the immune system and reproduction.

Today, plant cell cultures represent a valid alternative method to produce secondary metabolites. Here, we developed a protocol to obtain callus cultures from the pulp of the Italian apple variety, named Annurca. To increase the accumulation of bioactive compounds, yeast extract was used as elicitor. This elicitor induced a remarkable increase in total polyphenol content, with chlorogenic acid, procyanidin B2, and epicatechin being the most abundant. The antioxidant potential of extracts from the callus cultures was investigated and results showed that the use of the elicitor improved the protective antioxidant effect of the extracts on UVA-stressed keratinocytes. Furthermore, the extracts from the elicited callus cultures were able to speed up the process of healing after 24 h. Our results suggest that extracts obtained from elicited apple callus cultures can represent a promising alternative to chemically synthesised bioactive compounds for their use in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetic industries.

The ubiquitous presence of microplastics (MPs) in the environment is a major concern for the conservation of biodiversity. Numerous studies show the detrimental effects of MPs on marine species, especially because of their small size and their capacity to absorb organic contaminants from their surroundings. The bivalve mollusk Cerastoderma glaucum (Bruguière, 1789), because of its wide geographic distribution and immobile feeding habits, can be used as a sentinel and bioindicator species. By examining the presence, localization, and co-localization of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS), this study aims to evaluate the response of the internal defense system of C. glaucum to pristine MPs through the employment of confocal microscopy and bioinformatics techniques. The results show haemocytes immunoreactive to the antibodies tested; in particular, a higher number of TLR2-positive haemocytes can be observed in the group exposed to pristine MPs. These findings suggest that haemocytes can play a key biomarker role as sentinels to environmental pollutants. Furthermore, bioinformatics analyses on the antibodies tested confirmed an evolutionary conservation of these molecules. These data highlight the critical role of phagocytosis in identifying ecosystem damage and are helpful in developing biosensors with less negative effects on the environments in which they are applied.

IntroductionDNA double-strand breaks are the most toxic lesions repaired through the non-homologous and joining (NHEJ) or the homologous recombination (HR), which is dependent on the generation of single-strand tails, by the DNA end resection mechanism. The resolution of the HR intermediates leads to error-free repair (Gene Conversion) or the mutagenic pathways (Single Strand Annealing and Alternative End-Joining); the regulation of processes leading to the resolution of the HR intermediates is not fully understood.MethodsHere, we used a hydrophilic extract of a new tomato genotype (named DHO) in order to modulate the Camptothecin (CPT) DNA damage response.ResultsWe demonstrated increased phosphorylation of Replication Protein A 32 Serine 4/8 (RPA32 S4/8) protein in HeLa cells treated with the CPT in combination with DHO extract with respect to CPT alone. Moreover, we pointed out a change in HR intermediates resolution from Gene Conversion to Single Strand Annealing through the modified DNA repair protein RAD52 homolog (RAD52), DNA excision repair protein ERCC-1 (ERCC1) chromatin loading in response to DHO extract, and CPT co-treatment, with respect to the vehicle. Finally, we showed an increased sensitivity of HeLa cell lines to DHO extract and CPT co-treatment suggesting a possible mechanism for increasing the efficiency of cancer therapy.DiscussionWe described the potential role of DHO extract in the modulation of DNA repair, in response to Camptothecin treatment (CPT), favoring an increased sensitivity of HeLa cell lines to topoisomerase inhibitor therapy.

Athena (advanced telescope for high-energy astrophysics) is an ESA large-class mission, at present under a re-definition “design-to-cost” phase, planned for a prospective launch at L1 orbit in the second half of the 2030s. It will be an observatory alternatively focusing on two complementary instruments: the X-IFU (X-ray Integral Field Unit), a TES (TransitionEdge Sensor)-based kilo-pixel array which is able to perform simultaneous high-grade energy spectroscopy (~3 eV@7 keV) and imaging over 4′ FoV (field of view), and the WFI (Wide Field Imager), which has good energy spectral resolution (~170 eV@7 keV) and imaging on wide 40′ × 40′ FoV. Athena will be a truly transformational observatory, operating in conjunction with other large observatories across the electromagnetic spectrum available in the 2030s like ALMA, ELT, JWST, SKA, CTA, etc., and in multi-messenger synergies with facilities like LIGO A+, Advanced Virgo+, LISA, IceCube and KM3NeT. The Italian team is involved in both instruments. It has the co-PIship of the cryogenic instrument for which it has to deliver the TES-based Cryogenic AntiCoincidence detector (CryoAC) necessary to guarantee the X-IFU sensitivity, degraded by a primary particle background of both solar and galactic cosmic ray (GCR) origins, and by secondary electrons produced by primaries interacting with the materials surrounding the main detector. The outcome of Geant4 studies shows the necessity for adopting both active and passive techniques to guarantee the residual particle background at 5 × 10−3 cts cm−2 s−1 keV−1 level in 2–10 keV scientific bandwidth. The CryoAC is a four-pixel detector made of Si-suspended absorbers sensed by Ir/Au TESes placed at

In Queensland, Australia, a new senior Earth and Environmental Science (EES) syllabus has been approved for first implementation in 2019. Given the natural alignment between EES and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), this study employs document analysis to investigate the extent to which the intended curriculum reflects the tenets of ESD. An exploratory content analysis examined the frequency of keywords to identify any prominent sustainability themes that might underpin the syllabus, while a curriculum key guided a deeper analysis according to four tenets of ESD: "Learning content"; "Pedagogy and learning environments"; "Societal transformation"; and "Learning outcomes." These analyses found that the ESD tenets reflected in the syllabus is limited chiefly to sustainability learning content, while broader notions of ESD, like the promotion of transformative learning, are marginalised or absent. Instead, the syllabus reflects a technical orientation to curriculum, underpinned by a neoliberal agenda. It is argued that the Queensland EES syllabus represents a missed opportunity to engage students with ESD. In a policy climate where achievement and accountability dominate educational discourse, there is an inherent risk that ESD will fall by the wayside, given it is not prioritised in the intended curriculum. Implications for curriculum development are also discussed.

Objective: The scientific community has recently directed its attention towards investigating the role of androgens in female sexuality. This narrative review aims to elucidate the central and peripheral androgen-mediated mechanisms involved in female sexual health and function. Additionally, the current state of androgen therapeutic options is discussed. Mechanism: We searched several scientific literature databases, including EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and Scopus, utilizing keywords, index terms, and MeSH terms, such as “androgen*”, “female sexuality”, “female sexual function”, “women’s sexual dysfunctions”, “androgen therapy in women”, and various combinations thereof. Findings in Brief: Progesterone or estrogens are commonly prescribed as first-line treatments for female sexual dysfunctions. However, these medications may frequently lead to therapeutic failure and cause harm by increasing sex-hormone-binding-globulin plasma levels and decreasing testosterone plasma concentrations. Currently, there are limited androgen therapies available for women, and the evidence for their effectiveness and safety is still limited. Conclusions: The knowledge of neuroendocrine interactions that underlie sexual arousal and pleasure is rapidly expanding, and ongoing research is striving to develop more appropriate clinical practices for managing sexual dysfunctions in women.

Abstract Background Due to global warming, the search for new sources for heat tolerance and the identification of genes involved in this process has become an important challenge as of today. The main objective of the current research was to verify whether the heat tolerance determined in controlled greenhouse experiments could be a good predictor of the agronomic performance in field cultivation under climatic high temperature stress. Results Tomato accessions were grown in greenhouse under three temperature regimes: control (T1), moderate (T2) and extreme heat stress (T3). Reproductive traits (flower and fruit number and fruit set) were used to define heat tolerance. In a first screening, heat tolerance was evaluated in 219 tomato accessions. A total of 51 accessions were identified as being potentially heat tolerant. Among those, 28 accessions, together with 10 accessions from Italy (7) and Bulgaria (3), selected for their heat tolerance in the field in parallel experiments, were re-evaluated at three temperature treatments. Sixteen tomato accessions showed a significant heat tolerance at T3, including five wild species, two traditional cultivars and four commercial varieties, one accession from Bulgaria and four from Italy. The 15 most promising accessions for heat tolerance were assayed in field trials in Italy and Bulgaria, confirming the good performance of most of them at high temperatures. Finally, a differential gene expression analysis in pre-anthesis (ovary) and post-anthesis (developing fruit) under heat stress among pairs of contrasting genotypes (tolerant and sensitive from traditional and modern groups) showed that the major differential responses were produced in post-anthesis fruit. The response of the sensitive genotypes included the induction of HSP genes, whereas the tolerant genotype response included the induction of genes involved in the regulation of hormones or enzymes such as abscisic acid and transferases. Conclusions The high temperature tolerance of fifteen tomato accessions observed in controlled greenhouse experiments were confirmed in agronomic field experiments providing new sources of heat tolerance that could be incorporated into breeding programs. A DEG analysis showed the complex response of tomato to heat and deciphered the different mechanisms activated in sensitive and tolerant tomato accessions under heat stress.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a metabolic disease that can affect placental villous maturation and villous vascularity. The main effects of GDM on placental growth are a delay of villous maturation (DVM) and decreased formation of vasculo-syncytial membranes (VSM). Human equilibrative nucleoside transporter-1 (hENT1) is an adenosine transporter expressed in the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human placental microvascular endothelium cells (hPMEC). Its role is crucial in maintaining physiological fetal adenosine levels during pregnancy, and its reduction has been described in GDM. Twenty-four placentas from pregnancies with a confirmed diagnosis of GDMd and twenty-four matched non-GDM placentas (controls) were retrospectively analyzed to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of hENT1 in HUVEC and hPMEC. The study included the quantitative evaluation of VSM/mm2 in placental tissue and the immunohistochemical quantitative evaluation of Ki-67, PHH3, and p57 in villous trophoblast. hENT1 expression was higher in all the vascular districts of the control cases compared to the GDMd placentas (p < 0.0001). The VSM/mm2 were lower in the GDMd cases, while the Ki-67, PHH3, and p57 were higher when compared to the control cases. To our knowledge, this is the first report of hENT1 expression in the human placentas of GDM patients. The absence/low expression of hENT1 in all the GDMd patients may indicate a potential role in microvascular adaptative mechanisms. The trophoblasts’ proliferative/antiapoptotic pattern (high Ki-67, high PHH3, and high p57 count) may explain the statistically significant lower number of VSM/mm2 found in the GDMd cases.

Abstract Background The cloud is a promising resource for data sharing and computing. It can optimize several legacy processes involving different units of a company or more companies. Recently, cloud technology applications are spreading out in the healthcare setting as well, allowing to cut down costs for physical infrastructures and staff movements. In a public environment the main challenge is to guarantee the patients’ data protection. We describe a cloud-based system, named ReportFlow, developed with the aim to improve the process of reporting and delivering electroencephalograms. Methods We illustrate the functioning of this application through a use-case scenario occurring in an Italian hospital, and describe the corresponding key encryption and key management used for data security guarantee. We used the X2 test or the unpaired Student t test to perform pre-post comparisons of some indexes, in order to evaluate significant changes after the application of ReportFlow. Results The results obtained through the use of ReportFlow show a reduction of the time for exam reporting (t = 19.94; p

Prosystemin is a 200-amino acid precursor expressed in Solanaceae plants which releases at the C-terminal part a peptidic hormone called Systemin in response to wounding and herbivore attack. We recently showed that Prosystemin is not only a mere scaffold of Systemin but, even when deprived of Systemin, is biologically active. These results, combined with recent discoveries that Prosystemin is an intrinsically disordered protein containing disordered regions within its sequence, prompted us to investigate the N-terminal portions of the precursor, which contribute to the greatest disorder within the sequence. To this aim, PS1-70 and PS1-120 were designed, produced, and structurally and functionally characterized. Both the fragments, which maintained their intrinsic disorder, were able to induce defense-related genes and to protect tomato plants against Botrytis cinerea and Spodoptera littoralis larvae. Intriguingly, the biological activity of each of the two N-terminal fragments and of Systemin is similar but not quite the same and does not show any toxicity on experimental non-targets considered. These regions account for different anti-stress activities conferred to tomato plants by their overexpression. The two N-terminal fragments identified in this study may represent new promising tools for sustainable crop protection.

The composition of polyphenols, chlorophylls and carotenoids of eight extracts of Convolvulus althaeoides L. leaves, harvested in two different seasons, winter and spring, and extracted by hot extraction method using four solvents (dichloromethane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethanol) with increasing polarity, were evaluated along with their antioxidant and antifungal activities. Qualitative and quantitative variations were observed in the composition based on two different high performance liquid chromatography systems, liquid chromatography-photodiode array detection coupled to either atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry or to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, permitting the identification of 22 polyphenols, 11 chlorophyll derivatives and 10 carotenoid compounds. Polyphenolic compounds were predominant in extracts from leaves collected in winter, whereas pigments were predominant in the spring collections. Antioxidant activities of the extracts were determined by DPPH radical scavenging method, revealing a half inhibition concentration (IC50) ranging from 0.1369 ± 0.0272 mg g−1 to 0.432 ± 0.0018 mg g−1, with no correlation to seasonal fluctuation. Concerning antifungal assays, ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts have been shown to be the most active against dermatophytes (T. rubrum, T. menthagrophytes, M. canis), with inhibiting percentages reaching 100% with 50 mg mL−1. Moreover, ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts showed a maximum inhibition potential with minimum inhibitory/fungicidal concentrations ranging from 0.78 to 6.25 mg mL−1 on Candida spp. cultures. The winter collect of these extracts showed an inhibitory effect of 90% on Candida albicans germ tubes formation, at a concentration of 3.1 mg mL−1. In conclusion, seasonality seems to influence the quality and the quantity of natural substances from leaves of C. althaeoides L., which have major importance on the antioxidant and the antifungal effectiveness.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a worldwide distributed hereditary red cell disorder characterized by recurrent acute vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs and anemia). Gold standard treatments are hydroxycarbamide (HC) and/or different red blood cell (RBC) transfusion regimens to limit disease progression. Here, we report a retrospective study on 1,579 SCD patients (median age 23 years; 802 males/777 females), referring to 34 comprehensive Italian centers for hemoglobinopathies. Although we observed a similar proportion of Caucasian (47.9%) and African (48.7%) patients, Italian SCD patients clustered into two distinct overall groups: children of African descent and adults of Caucasian descent. We found a subset of SCD patients requiring more intensive therapy with a combination of HC plus chronic transfusion regimen, due to partial failure of HC treatment alone in preventing or reducing sickle cell-related acute manifestations. Notably, we observed a higher use of acute transfusion approaches for SCD patients of African descent when compared to Caucasian subjects. This might be related to (i) age of starting HC treatment; (ii) patients' low social status; (iii) patients' limited access to family practitioners; or (iv) discrimination. In our cohort, alloimmunization was documented in 135 patients (8.5%) and was more common in Caucasians (10.3%) than in Africans (6.6%). Alloimmunization was similar in male and female and more frequent in adults than in children. Our study reinforces the importance of donor-recipient exact matching for ABO, Rhesus, and Kell antigen systems for RBC compatibility as a winning strategy to avoid or limit alloimmunization events that negatively impact the clinical management of SCD-related severe complications.Clinical Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT03397017.

This study aimed to assess the capability of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) as an alternative and green technique compared to Soxhlet extraction for the production of oils from Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) seeds originating from Yemen and Italy and Opuntia dillenii (OD) seeds from Yemen. The following parameters were used for SFE extraction: a pressure of 300 bar, a CO2 flow rate of 1 L/h, and temperatures of 40 and 60 °C. The chemical composition, including the fatty acids and tocopherols (vitamin E) of the oils, was determined using chromatographic methods. The highest yield was achieved with Soxhlet extraction. The oils obtained with the different extraction procedures were all characterized by a high level of unsaturated fatty acids. Linoleic acid (≤62% in all samples) was the most abundant one, followed by oleic and vaccenic acid. Thirty triacylglycerols (TAGs) were identified in both OFI and OD seed oils, with trilinolein being the most abundant (29–35%). Vanillin, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, vanillic acid, and hydroxytyrosol were phenols detected in both OFI and OD oils. The highest γ-tocopherol content (177 ± 0.23 mg/100 g) was obtained through the SFE of OFI seeds from Yemen. Overall, the results highlighted the potential of SFE as green technology to obtain oils suitable for functional food and nutraceutical products.

The aim of this study was to deepen our knowledge on the heritage and traditional uses of some medicinal plants of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park (Salerno province) and to evaluate their productive potential, in order to increase possible uses to recover and enhance the territory. Biometric surveys and biomass evaluation were carried out. Two types of aqueous extract were prepared using air-dried samples of six harvested species and tested for anti-germination activity on Lepidium sativum L. Hydrolates were recovered via steam distillation from aromatic species and the chemical–physical characteristics were determined. Historical evidence of industrial activity was collected in the territory of Sanza on Monte Cervati, where lavender essential oil has been distilled in the past century, and characterization of the essential oil components was carried out. The ethnobotanical uses detected mainly concerned traditional medicine and nutritional, ritual, or religious uses. The experimental results highlight that spontaneous medicinal plants could become potential sources of local economic development, with uses not only in the phytotherapeutic sector, but also in others, such as food and agriculture for weed control. Moreover, the evidence derived from industrial archeology could represent a further driving force for the enhancement of the territory’s resources.

A comprehensive chemical characterization of different lipid components, namely fatty acid composition after derivatization in fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), triacylglycerols (TAGs), phospholipids (PLs), free fatty acids (FFAs), sterols, carotenoids, tocopherols, and polyphenols in Chia seed oil, obtained by Soxhlet extraction, was reported. Reversed phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) coupled to UV and mass spectrometry (MS) detectors was employed for carotenoids, polyphenols, and TAGs determination; normal phase-LC in combination with fluorescence detector (FLD) was used for tocopherols analysis; PL and FFA fractions were investigated after a rapid solid phase extraction followed by RP-LC-MS and NanoLC coupled to electron ionization (EI) MS, respectively. Furthermore, gas chromatography (GC)-flame ionization (FID) and MS detectors were used for FAMEs and sterols analysis. Results demonstrated a significant content of bioactive compounds, such as the antioxidant tocopherols (22.88 µg mL−1), and a very high content of essential fatty acids (81.39%), namely α-linolenic (62.16%) and linoleic (19.23%) acids. In addition, for the best of authors knowledge, FFA profile, as well as some carotenoid classes has been elucidated for the first time. The importance of free fatty acids in vegetable matrices is related to the fact that they can be readily involved in metabolic processes or biosynthetic pathways of the plant itself. For a fast and reliable determination of this chemical class, a very innovative and sensitive NanoLC-EI-MS analytical determination was applied.