Actual and potential impact of air pollution on Italian forests: results from the long-term national forest monitoring networks under the ICP Forests

Actual and potential pressure and impacts of air pollution have been summarized by using the dataseries of the Italian forest monitoring networks (CONECOFOR), mostly on the basis of evaluations carried out within the LIFE project SMART4Action. Trends in air pollution shows only few important reductions (e.g.: sulphate and ozone). The impacts on forest health status, increments and standing volumes, plant diversity, soil and nutrient are discussed. Evidences of risk are also reported, mainly due to N deposition, on all the response factors

When stadium ownership meets Corporate Social Responsibility: The case of U.C. AlbinoLeffe

This article aims to understand the importance of having a stadium owned by a football club as an added value if it is designed and managed from a socially re- sponsible perspective in a context, that of Italian sport, which is still far from Eu- ropean standards in terms of infrastructure. The approach adopted focuses on the AlbinoLeffe Campus, serving as an example of how the ownership of a sports fa- cility can shape and reflect socially responsible policies and practices adopted by a football club. The study examines the distinctive characteristics of the stadium considering the logistical, infrastructural, and environmental aspects underpinning its construction to act as a strategic lever to implement Corporate Social Responsi- bility (CSR) initiatives, a prerogative of club ownership. Some important manage- rial implications emerge from the analysis: 1) the need for a sustainable manage- ment approach for the stadium considering logistical, infrastructural, and environ- mental aspects; 2) the implementation of CSR strategies aligned with the company and the stadium’s characteristics

Maximum rates of N2 fixation and primary production are out of phase in a developing cyanobacterial bloom in the Baltic Sea

Although N2-fixing cyanobacteria contribute significantly to oceanic sequestration of atmospheric CO2, little is known about how N2 fixation and carbon fixation (primary production) interact in natural populations of marine cyanobacteria. In a developing cyanobacterial bloom in the Baltic Sea, rates of N2 fixation (acetylene reduction) showed both diurnal and longer-term fluctuations. The latter reflected fluctuations in the nitrogen status of the cyanobacterial population and could be correlated with variations in the ratio of acetylene reduced to 15N2 assimilated. The value of this ratio may provide useful information about the release of newly fixed nitrogen by a cyanobacterial population. However, although the diurnal fluctuations in N2 fixation broadly paralleled diurnal fluctuations in carbon fixation, the longer-term fluctuations in these two processes were out of phase

Are Italian football clubs embracing sustainability?

The purpose of this study is to explore the approach of a sustainable governance in terms of sustainability strategies that firms have been implementing towards dif- ferent stakeholders. The study adopts the stakeholder theory lens to advance research on the area. A qualitative approach was used through semi-structured interviews with 17 participants employed in a total of 12 Italian professional football organiza- tions participating in the top division of football (Serie A). Specific themes regarding the sustainability (and CSR) strategies implemented by the 12 football clubs emerged from the in-depth interviews: a) sustainability approach (awareness), b) or- ganizational sustainability capacity in terms of human, financial and other core re- sources, networks and external relationships. This study sheds light on football clubs’ sustainability, representing a distinctive view in managerial literature

Modelling Stochastic and Deterministic Behaviours in Virus Infection Dynamics

Many human infections with viruses such as human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV--1) are characterized by low numbers of founder viruses for which the random effects and discrete nature of populations have a strong effect on the dynamics, e.g., extinction versus spread. It remains to be established whether HIV transmission is a stochastic process on the whole. In this study, we consider the simplest (so-called, 'consensus') virus dynamics model and develop a computational methodology for building an equivalent stochastic model based on Markov Chain accounting for random interactions between the components. The model is used to study the evolution of the probability densities for the virus and target cell populations. It predicts the probability of infection spread as a function of the number of the transmitted viruses. A hybrid algorithm is suggested to compute efficiently the dynamics in state space domain characterized by a mix of small and large species densities

Aspects of the reproductive biology of the marine ornamental Vagabond Butterflyfish Chaetodon vagabundus Linnaeus, 1758 (Pisces, Chaetodontidae) from Iligan Bay, Southern Philippines

The reproductive biology of ornamental fish species from coral reefs is poorly studied despite increasing demand in the aquarium trade industry. Aspects of the reproductive biology of the Vagabond butterflyfish, Chaetodon vagabundus Linnaeus, 1758, from Iligan Bay, Southern Philippines were investigated from August 2021 to August 2022. Monthly samples of 30 to 45 individuals per class size with a range of 9 to 14.1 cm (TL) were collected to examine the sex ratio, maturity stages and spawning period, gonadosomatic index (GSI), length at first maturity (L50) and the batch fecundity (BF) of the species. The sex ratio showed female dominance (1:1.42) among size classes and across months. The spawning period indicates a peak during the inter-monsoon or warm months (April and May) and extends beginning of the Southwest monsoon period (June and July). These were supported by the relatively higher gonadosomatic index (GSI) recorded during these months. Histological examination showed that the ovaries during this period had the presence of numerous tertiary vitellogenic and hydrated oocytes and post-ovulatory follicles. At the same time for testes, there are occurrences of dense spermatozoa in the lumen of tubules in testes. This served as confirmatory evidence in support of the spawning period. The length at first sexual maturity of males (10.58 cm TL) was slightly shorter than females (10.91 cm TL). Fecundity increased with the fish’s total length and weight showing a non-linear relationship that was best described by a power function. This study highlighted the valuable data produced that are required for the management of the population stock of this species

Profile and potential bioactivity of the miRNome and metabolome expressed in Malva sylvestris L. leaf and flower

Malva sylvestris L. (common mallow) is a plant species widely used in phytotherapy and ethnobotanical practices since time immemorial. Characterizing the components of this herb might promote a better comprehension of its biological effects on the human body but also favour the identification of the molecular processes that occur in the plant tissues. Thus, in the present contribution, the scientific knowledge about the metabolomic profile of the common mallow was expanded. In particular, the phytocomplex of leaves and flowers from this botanical species and the extraction capacity of different concentrations of ethanol (i.e., 95%, 70%, 50%, and 0%; v/v in ddH2O) for it were investigated by spectrophotometric and chromatographic approaches. In detail, 95% ethanol extracts showed the worst capacity in isolating total phenols and flavonoids, while all the hydroalcoholic samples revealed a specific ability in purifying the anthocyanins. HPLC–DAD system detected and quantified 20 phenolic secondary metabolites, whose concentration in the several extracts depended on their own chemical nature and the percentage of ethanol used in the preparation. In addition, the stability of the purified phytochemicals after resuspension in pure ddH2O was also proved, considering a potential employment of them in biological/medical studies which include in vitro and in vivo experiments on mammalian models. Here, for the first time, the expressed miRNome in M. sylvestris was also defined by Next Generation Sequencing, revealing the presence of 33 microRNAs (miRNAs), 10 typical for leaves and 2 for flowers. Then, both plant and human putative mRNA targets for the detected miRNAs were predicted by bioinformatics analyses, with the aim to clarify the possible role of these small nucleic acids in the common mallow plant tissues and to try to understand if they could exert a potential cross-kingdom regulatory activity on the human health. Surprisingly, our investigations revealed that 19 miRNAs out of 33 were putatively able to modulate, in the plant cells, the expression of various chromosome scaffold proteins. In parallel, we found, in the human transcriptome, a total of 383 mRNAs involved in 5 fundamental mammalian cellular processes (i.e., apoptosis, senescence, cell-cycle, oxidative stress, and invasiveness) that theoretically could be bound and regulated by M. sylvestris miRNAs. The evidence collected in this work would suggest that the beneficial properties of the use of M. sylvestris, documented by the folk medicine, are probably linked to their content of miRNAs and not only to the action of phytochemicals (e.g., anthocyanins). This would open new perspectives about the possibility to develop gene therapies based on miRNAs isolated from medicinal plants, including M. sylvestris

Mathematical models for immunology:current state of the art and future research directions

The advances in genetics and biochemistry that have taken place over the last 10 years led to significant advances in experimental and clinical immunology. In turn, this has led to the development of new mathematical models to investigate qualitatively and quantitatively various open questions in immunology. In this study we present a review of some research areas in mathematical immunology that evolved over the last 10 years. To this end, we take a step-by-step approach in discussing a range of models derived to study the dynamics of both the innate and immune responses at the molecular, cellular and tissue scales. To emphasise the use of mathematics in modelling in this area, we also review some of the mathematical tools used to investigate these models. Finally, we discuss some future trends in both experimental immunology and mathematical immunology for the upcoming years

Anabasis articulata (Forssk.) Moq. food aqueous extract triggers oxidative stress-induced senescence and reduces metastatic power in MDA-MB-231 cells

Ancient ethnobotanical practices handed down through traditional knowledge are still commonly employed to treat various pathologies, although the scientific reasons underlying their biological effects have not been clarified yet. In this contribution, the potential antitumoral activity of the aqueous extract from A. articulata (AAE) was investigated to validate the hypothesis of the Algerian folk medicine which would suggest this plant derivative as a functional food for treating breast cancer. A. articulata phytocomplex, isolated by maceration following exactly the African recipe, has been already characterized by our research group in previous works. Thus, the antiproliferative function of AAE against MDA-MB-231, a highly aggressive human breast adenocarcinoma cell line, was evaluated. Slowing down of cell growth, absence of cytotoxicity and DNA fragmentation, and cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase were observed after treatment with AAE at different doses (0.3–6 mg of dried plant material equivalent per mL of culture medium) for 24 and 48 h. Wound and transwell assays proved that AAE possessed both antimigration and antiinvasive capacities, evidence also supported by molecular analyses focused on Metalloproteases (MMP-2 and MMP-9), Vimentin and ανβ3-Integrin. These results, together with the demonstration of the activation of p53/p21WAF1/Cip1/p27Kip1 pathway and the increase of oxygen reactive species levels, suggested that AAE triggered a senescence process. The final confirmation was obtained by a specific kit staining senescent cells. All our data would explain the efficacy of the Algerian medicinal remedy based on the intake of the investigated functional plant food and would highlight the basics for developing novel natural pharmacological products based on AAE and showing preventive and therapeutic antineoplastic potentialities against highly aggressive breast cancers