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Abstract Restoration methods that seed juvenile corals show promise as scalable interventions to promote population persistence through anthropogenic warming. However, challenges including predation by fishes can threaten coral survival. Coral-seeding devices with refugia from fishes offer potential solutions to limit predation-driven mortality. In an 8-month field study, we assessed the efficacy of such devices for increasing the survival of captive-reared Acropora digitifera (spat and microfragments) over control devices (featureless and caged). Devices with fish-exclusion features demonstrated a twofold increase in coral survival, while most corals seeded without protection suffered mortality within 48 h. Overall, spat faced more grazing and higher mortality compared to microfragments, and upward-facing corals were more vulnerable than side-facing corals. Grazing-induced mortality varied by site, with lower activity in locations abundant in mat-forming cyanobacteria or Scleractinian corals. Many scraping parrotfish were found feeding on or near the seeded corals; however, bites by Scarus globiceps explained the most site-related variation in grazing. Cyanobacteria may be preferred over corals as a nutritional resource for scraping parrotfish—advancing our understanding of their foraging ecology. Incorporating side-facing refugia in seeding devices and deploying to sites with nutrient-rich food sources for fish are potential strategies to enhance coral survival in restoration programs.

Abstract Salinity poses a significant challenge to global crop productivity, affecting approximately 20% of cultivated and 33% of irrigated farmland, and this issue is on the rise. Negative impact of salinity on plant development and metabolism leads to physiological and morphological alterations mainly due to high ion concentration in tissues and the reduced water and nutrients uptake. Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), a staple food crop accounting for a substantial portion of consumed grain legumes worldwide, is highly susceptible to salt stress resulting in noticeable reduction in dry matter gain in roots and shoots even at low salt concentrations. In this study we screened a common bean panel of diversity encompassing 192 homozygous genotypes for salt tolerance at seedling stage. Phenotypic data were leveraged to identify genomic regions involved in salt stress tolerance in the species through GWAS. We detected seven significant associations between shoot dry weight and SNP markers. The candidate genes, in linkage with the regions associated to salt tolerance or harbouring the detected SNP, showed strong homology with genes known to be involved in salt tolerance in Arabidopsis. Our findings provide valuable insights onto the genetic control of salt tolerance in common bean and represent a first contribution to address the challenge of salinity-induced yield losses in this species and poses the ground to eventually breed salt tolerant common bean varieties.

Abstract Several RF and microwave radiating devices, such as horn antennas, Fabry–Perot cavity antennas, and aperture-fed focusing devices, are excited through rectangular waveguides. The impedance matching of the overall system (from the waveguide feed to the radiating aperture) is a task of crucial importance that is often addressed by means of brute-force parameter-sweep full-wave analyses or blind optimization algorithms. In both cases, a significant amount of memory and time resources are required. For this purpose, we propose here a simple, yet effective solution, which only requires a single full-wave simulation and a semi-analytical procedure. The former is used to retrieve the antenna input impedance at the end of the waveguide port excitation. The semi-analytical procedure consists in a transmission-line equivalent circuit that models two waveguide discontinuities (namely two capacitive irises) within the waveguide section, whose position and geometric features are finely tuned to obtain a satisfactory impedance matching around the working frequency. The proposed method is shown to be effective in diverse and attractive application-oriented contexts, from the impedance matching of a Fabry–Perot cavity antenna to that of a wireless near-field link between two aperture-fed focusing devices. A remarkable agreement between full-wave simulations and numerical results is found in all cases. Thanks to its versatility, simplicity, and a rather low demand of computational resources, the proposed approach may become an essential tool for the effective design of waveguide-fed antennas.

Abstract Species from genus Artemisia are widely distributed throughout temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and many cultures have a long-standing traditional use of these plants as herbal remedies, liquors, cosmetics, spices, etc. Nowadays, the discovery of new plant-derived products to be used as food supplements or drugs has been pushed by the exploitation of bioprospection approaches. Often driven by the knowledge derived from the ethnobotanical use of plants, bioprospection explores the existing biodiversity through integration of modern omics techniques with targeted bioactivity assays. In this work we set up a bioprospection plan to investigate the phytochemical diversity and the potential bioactivity of five Artemisia species with recognized ethnobotanical tradition (A. absinthium, A. alba, A. annua, A. verlotiorum and A. vulgaris), growing wild in the natural areas of the Verona province. We characterized the specialized metabolomes of the species (including sesquiterpenoids from the artemisinin biosynthesis pathway) through an LC–MS based untargeted approach and, in order to identify potential bioactive metabolites, we correlated their composition with the in vitro antioxidant activity. We propose as potential bioactive compounds several isomers of caffeoyl and feruloyl quinic acid esters (e.g. dicaffeoylquinic acids, feruloylquinic acids and caffeoylferuloylquinic acids), which strongly characterize the most antioxidant species A. verlotiorum and A. annua. Morevoer, in this study we report for the first time the occurrence of sesquiterpenoids from the artemisinin biosynthesis pathway in the species A. alba.

Abstract Pesticides are ubiquitous in the catchments of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and regularly discharge into the nearshore waters. Effective management of pesticides requires suitable water quality guideline values (WQGVs), and further ecotoxicological data for many pesticides are needed to improve the reliability of environmental risk assessments. To help address this issue, toxicity thresholds were determined to two species of tropical marine microalgae Tisochrysis lutea and Tetraselmis sp. for a suite of herbicides detected in the GBR. Photosystem II (PSII) herbicides significantly reduced growth with no effect concentration (NEC) and 10% effect concentration (EC10) values spanning two orders of magnitude from 0.60 µg L−1 for diuron to 60 µg L−1 for simazine across both species. However, growth was insensitive to the non-PSII herbicides. The NEC/EC10 thresholds for most herbicide-microalgae combinations were greater than recent WQGVs intended to protect 99% of species (PC99); however, metribuzin was toxic to T. lutea at concentrations lower than the current PC99 value, which may have to be revisited. The toxicity thresholds for alternative herbicides derived here further inform the development of national and GBR-specific WQGVs, but more toxicity data is needed to develop WQGVs for the > 50 additional pesticides detected in catchments of the GBR.

Abstract We modeled gravity data to explore Mercury’s internal structure and show the presence of crustal heterogeneities in density. We first evaluated the lithospheric flexure occurring in the spherical harmonic degree range 5–80, according to the flexural isostatic response curve. We thus estimated a mean elastic lithosphere thickness of about 30 $$\pm$$ ± 10 km and modeled the crust-mantle interface, which varies from 19 to 42 km depth, according to a flexural compensation model. The isostatic gravity anomalies were then obtained as the residual field with respect to the contributions from topography and lithospheric flexure. Isostatic anomalies are mainly related to density variations in the crust: gravity highs mostly correspond to large-impact basins suggesting intra-crustal magmatic intrusions as the main origin of these anomalies. Isostatic gravity lows prevail, instead, above intercrater plains and may represent the signature of a heavily fractured crust.

Abstract Anomalous aortic origin of the coronary artery (AAOCA) is a rare disease associated with sudden cardiac death, usually related to physical effort in young people. Clinical routine tests fail to assess the ischemic risk, calling for novel diagnostic approaches. To this aim, some recent studies propose to assess the coronary blood flow (CBF) in AAOCA by computational simulations but they are limited by the use of data from literature retrieved from normal subjects. To overcome this limitation and obtain a reliable assessment of CBF, we developed a fully patient-specific lumped parameter model based on clinical imaging and in-vivo data retrieved during invasive coronary functional assessment of subjects with AAOCA. In such a way, we can estimate the CBF replicating the two hemodynamic conditions in-vivo analyzed. The model can mimic the effective coronary behavior with high accuracy and could be a valuable tool to quantify CBF in AAOCA. It represents the first step required to move toward a future clinical application with the aim of improving patient care. The study was registered at Clinicaltrial.gov with (ID: NCT05159791, date 2021-12-16).

Abstract Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics has recently attracted the attention from forensic pathologists. This work is the first report of the development of a shotgun bottom-up proteomic approach based on rapid protein extraction and nano-liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry applied to full-thickness human skin for the differential analysis of normal and ecchymotic tissues to identify new biomarkers for bruise characterization and dating. We identified around 2000 proteins from each pooled extract. The method showed excellent precision on independent replicates, with Pearson correlation coefficients always higher than 95%. Glycophorin A, a known biomarker of vital wounds from immunochemical studies, was identified only in ecchymotic tissues, as confirmed by Western blotting analysis. This finding suggests that this protein can be used as a MS-detectable biomarker of wound vitality. By focusing on skin samples from individuals with known wound dating, besides Glycophorin A, other proteins differentially expressed in ecchymotic samples and dependant on wound age were identified, although further analysis on larger datasets are needed to validate these findings. This study paves the way for an in-depth investigation of the potential of MS-based techniques for wound examination in forensic pathology, overcoming the limitations of immunochemical assays.

Abstract Natural regeneration of degraded reefs relies on the recruitment of larvae to restore populations. Intervention strategies are being developed to enhance this process through aquaculture production of coral larvae and their deployment as spat. Larval settlement relies on cues associated with crustose coralline algae (CCA) that are known to induce attachment and metamorphosis. To understand processes underpinning recruitment, we tested larval settlement responses of 15 coral species, to 15 species of CCA from the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). CCA in the family Lithophyllaceae were overall the best inducer across most coral species, with Titanoderma cf. tessellatum being the most effective species that induced at least 50% settlement in 14 of the coral species (mean 81%). Taxonomic level associations were found, with species of Porolithon inducing high settlement in the genus Acropora; while a previously understudied CCA, Sporolithon sp., was a strong inducer for the Lobophyllidae. Habitat-specific associations were detected, with CCA collected from similar light environment as the coral inducing higher levels of settlement. This study revealed the intimate relationships between coral larvae and CCA and provides optimal coral-algal species pairings that could be utilized to increase the success of larval settlement to generate healthy spat for reef restoration.

Abstract Adult mosquito females, through their bites, are responsible for the transmission of different zoonotic pathogens. Although adult control represents a pillar for the prevention of disease spread, larval control is also crucial. Herein we characterized the effectiveness of a suitable tool, named “MosChito raft”, for the aquatic delivery of a Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) formulate, a bioinsecticide active by ingestion against mosquito larvae. MosChito raft is a floating tool composed by chitosan cross-linked with genipin in which a Bti-based formulate and an attractant have been included. MosChito rafts (i) resulted attractive for the larvae of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, (ii) induced larval mortality within a few hours of exposure and, more importantly, (iii) protected the Bti-based formulate, whose insecticidal activity was maintained for more than one month in comparison to the few days residual activity of the commercial product. The delivery method was effective in both laboratory and semi-field conditions, demonstrating that MosChito rafts may represent an original, eco-based and user-friendly solution for larval control in domestic and peri-domestic aquatic habitats such as saucers and artificial containers in residential or urban environments.

Abstract In the early stages after larval settlement, coral spat can be rapidly overgrown and outcompeted by algae, reducing overall survival for coral reef replenishment and supply for restoration programs. Here we investigated three antifouling (AF) coatings for their ability to inhibit algal fouling on coral settlement plugs, a commonly-used restoration substrate. Plugs were either fully or partially coated with the AF coatings and incubated in mesocosm systems with partial recirculation for 37 days to track fouling succession. In addition, settlement of Acropora tenuis larvae was measured to determine whether AF coatings were a settlement deterrent. Uncoated control plugs became heavily fouled, yielding only 4–8% bare substrate on upper surfaces after 37 days. During this period, an encapsulated dichlorooctylisothiazolinone (DCOIT)-coating was most effective in reducing fouling, yielding 61–63% bare substrate. Antiadhesive and cerium dioxide (CeO2−x) nanoparticle (NP) coatings were less effective, yielding 11–17% and 2% bare substrate, respectively. Average settlement of A. tenuis larvae on the three types of AF-coated plugs did not statistically differ from settlement on uncoated controls. However, settlement on the NP-coating was generally the highest and was significantly higher than settlement found on the antiadhesive- and DCOIT-coating. Furthermore, on plugs only partially-covered with AF coatings, larval settlement on coated NP- areas was significantly higher than settlement on coated antiadhesive- and DCOIT-areas. These results demonstrate that AF coatings can reduce fouling intensity on biologically-relevant timescales while preserving robust levels of coral settlement. This represents an important step towards reducing fine-scale competition with benthic fouling organisms in coral breeding and propagation.

Abstract Over 30 herbicides have been detected in catchments and waters of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and their toxicity to key tropical species, including the coral endosymbiotic algae Symbiodiniaceae, is not generally considered in current water quality guideline values (WQGVs). Mutualistic symbionts of the family Symbiodiniaceae are essential for the survival of scleractinian corals. We tested the effects of nine GBR-relevant herbicides on photosynthetic efficiency (ΔF/Fm′) and specific growth rate (SGR) over 14 days of cultured coral endosymbiont Cladocopium goreaui (formerly Symbiodinium clade C1). All seven Photosystem II (PSII) herbicides tested inhibited ΔF/Fm′ and SGR, with toxicity thresholds for SGR ranging between 2.75 and 320 µg L−1 (no effect concentration) and 2.54–257 µg L−1 (EC10). There was a strong correlation between EC50s for ΔF/Fm′ and SGR for all PSII herbicides indicating that inhibition of ΔF/Fm′ can be considered a biologically relevant toxicity endpoint for PSII herbicides to this species. The non-PSII herbicides haloxyfop and imazapic did not affect ΔF/Fm′ or SGR at the highest concentrations tested. The inclusion of this toxicity data for Symbiodiniaceae will contribute to improving WQGVs to adequately inform risk assessments and the management of herbicides in tropical marine ecosystems.

Abstract While the cultivated area of pollinator-dependent crops is increasing, pollinator availability is decreasing, leading to problems in many agroecosystems. For this reason, pollinator-dependent crop growers often rent beehives to support their pollination requirements to sustain fruit productivity. However, the efficiency of those pollination systems has not been extensively studied. Here, we compared the effect of “precision” pollination (i.e., application of pesticides coordinated with growers, audit of hives, dietary supplementation and individual distribution of hives) with conventional practices (i.e., pesticides applications without coordination with growers and no audit of hives, low maintenance of hives and hives distributed in large groups) on the mean level of pollination and fruit production and quality in blueberry crops. In nine blueberry fields, we measured bee visitation rate to flowers, fruit set, fruit firmness and fruit weight. On average, precision-pollinated plots had 70% more bee visits to flowers and produced 13% more fruits that were 12% heavier and 12% firmer than those obtained through conventional practices. These results showed that pollination efficiency could be improved if key management related to bee strength, distribution and health care are taken into account. Due to these results, we encourage growers and beekeepers to include precision pollination practices to both increase the productivity of blueberry fields and the wellbeing of honey bees within agroecosystems.

Abstract Pandemics such as the Covid-19 pandemic have shown to impact our physical and mental well-being, with particular challenges for children and families. We describe data from 43 adults (31♀, ages = 22–51; 21 mothers) and 26 children (10♀, ages = 7–17 years) including pre-pandemic brain function and seven assessment points during the first months of the pandemic. We investigated (1) changes in child and adult well-being, (2) mother–child associations of mental well-being, and (3) associations between pre-pandemic brain activation during mentalizing and later fears or burden. In adults the prevalence of clinically significant anxiety-levels was 34.88% and subthreshold depression 32.56%. Caregiver burden in parents was moderately elevated. Overall, scores of depression, anxiety, and caregiver burden decreased across the 11 weeks after Covid-19-onset. Children’s behavioral and emotional problems during Covid-19 did not significantly differ from pre-pandemic levels and decreased during restrictions. Mothers’ subjective burden of care was associated with children’s emotional and behavioral problems, while depression levels in mothers were related to children’s mood. Furthermore, meeting friends was a significant predictor of children’s mood during early restrictions. Pre-pandemic neural correlates of mentalizing in prefrontal regions preceded later development of fear of illnesses and viruses in all participants, while temporoparietal activation preceded higher subjective burden in mothers.

Abstract Apis mellifera is an important provider of ecosystem services, and during flight and foraging behaviour is exposed to environmental pollutants including airborne particulate matter (PM). While exposure to insecticides, antibiotics, and herbicides may compromise bee health through alterations of the gut microbial community, no data are available on the impacts of PM on the bee microbiota. Here we tested the effects of ultrapure Titanium dioxide (TiO2) submicrometric PM (i.e., PM1, less than 1 µm in diameter) on the gut microbiota of adult bees. TiO2 PM1 is widely used as a filler and whitening agent in a range of manufactured objects, and ultrapure TiO2 PM1 is also a common food additive, even if it has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a possible human carcinogen in Group 2B. Due to its ubiquitous use, honey bees may be severely exposed to TiO2 ingestion through contaminated honey and pollen. Here, we demonstrated that acute and chronic oral administration of ultrapure TiO2 PM1 to adult bees alters the bee microbial community; therefore, airborne PM may represent a further risk factor for the honey bee health, promoting sublethal effects against the gut microbiota.

Abstract This study investigated the effect of 4-d acute thermal treatments at 18 °C, 26 °C (control) and 34 °C on the nervous system of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) using a multidisciplinary approach based on behavioural tests and brain proteomic analysis. The behavioural variations induced by thermal treatment were investigated using five different tests, the novel tank diving, light and dark preference, social preference, mirror biting, and Y-Maze tests, which are standard paradigms specifically tailored for zebrafish to assess their anxiety-like behaviour, boldness, social preference, aggressiveness, and explorative behaviour, respectively. Proteomic data revealed that several proteins involved in energy metabolism, messenger RNA translation, protein synthesis, folding and degradation, cytoskeleton organisation and synaptic vesiculation are regulated differently at extreme temperatures. The results showed that anxiety-like behaviours increase in zebrafish at 18 °C compared to those at 26 °C or 34 °C, whereas anxiety-related protein signalling pathways are downregulated. Moreover, treatments at both 18 °C and 34 °C affect the exploratory behaviour that appears not to be modulated by past experiences, suggesting the impairment of fish cognitive abilities. This study is the continuation of our previous work on the effect of 21-d chronic treatment at the same constant temperature level and will enable the comparison of acute and chronic treatment effects on the nervous system function in adult zebrafish.

Abstract Research with coral embryos and larvae often requires laborious manual counting and sorting of individual specimens, usually via microscopy. Because many coral species spawn only once per year during a narrow temporal window, sample processing is a time-limiting step for research on the early life-history stages of corals. Flow cytometry, an automated technique for measuring and sorting particles, cells, and cell-clusters, is a potential solution to this bottleneck. Yet most flow cytometers do not accommodate live organisms of the size of most coral embryos (> 250 µm), and sample processing is often destructive. Here we tested the ability of a large-particle flow cytometer with a gentle pneumatic sorting mechanism to process and spectrally sort live and preserved Montipora capitata coral embryos and larvae. Average survival rates of mechanically-sorted larvae were over 90% and were comparable to those achieved by careful hand-sorting. Preserved eggs and embryos remained intact throughout the sorting process and were successfully sorted based on real-time size and fluorescence detection. In-line bright-field microscopy images were captured for each sample object as it passed through the flow-cell, enabling the identification of early-stage embryos (2-cell to morula stage). Samples were counted and sorted at an average rate of 4 s larva−1 and as high as 0.2 s larva−1 for high-density samples. Results presented here suggest that large-particle flow cytometry has the potential to significantly increase efficiency and accuracy of data collection and sample processing during time-limited coral spawning events, facilitating larger-scale and higher-replication studies with an expanded number of species.

Abstract Herbicide contamination of nearshore tropical marine ecosystems is widespread and persistent; however, risks posed by most ‘alternative’ herbicides to tropical marine microalgae remain poorly understood. Experimental exposures of the important but understudied microalgae Rhodomonas salina to seven individual Photosystem II (PSII) inhibitor herbicides (diuron, metribuzin, hexazinone, tebuthiuron, bromacil, simazine, propazine) led to inhibition of effective quantum yield (ΔF/Fm′) and subsequent reductions in specific growth rates (SGR). The concentrations which reduced ΔF/Fm′ by 50% (EC50) ranged from 1.71-59.2 µg L−1, while the EC50s for SGR were 4-times higher, ranging from 6.27-188 µg L−1. Inhibition of ΔF/Fm′ indicated reduced photosynthetic capacity, and this correlated linearly with reduced SGR (R2 = 0.89), supporting the application of ∆F/Fm’ inhibition as a robust and sensitive indicator of sub-lethal toxicity of PSII inhibitors for this microalga. The three non-PSII inhibitor herbicides (imazapic, haloxyfop and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D)) caused low or no toxic responses to the function of the PSII or growth at the highest concentrations tested suggesting these herbicides pose little risk to R. salina. This study highlights the suitability of including R. salina in future species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) to support water quality guideline development for the management of herbicide contamination in tropical marine ecosystems.

Abstract Mural paintings in the hypogeal environment of the Tomba degli Scudi in Tarquinia, Italy, show a quite dramatic condition: the plaster mortar lost his cohesion and a white layer coating is spread over almost all the wall surfaces. The aim of this research is to verify if the activity of microorganisms could be one of the main causes of deterioration and if the adopted countermeasures (conventional biocide treatments) are sufficient to stop it. A biocide treatment of the whole environment has been carried out before the conservative intervention and the tomb has been closed for one month. When the tomb was opened again, we sampled the microorganisms present on the frescoes and we identified four Bacillus species and one mould survived to the biocide treatment. These organisms are able to produce spores, a highly resistant biological form, which has permitted the survival despite the biocide treatment. We show that these Bacillus strains are able to produce calcium carbonate and could be responsible for the white deposition that was damaging and covering the entire surface of the frescoes. Our results confirm that the sanitation intervention is non always resolutive and could even be deleterious in selecting harmful microbial communities.

Abstract The interaction between local, anthropogenic stressors, and larger scale regional/global stressors, is often used to explain the current poor condition of many corals reefs. This form of cumulative pressure is clearly manifested by situations where dredging projects happen to coincide with marine heatwaves that have caused coral bleaching. A key pressure associated with dredging is elevated sedimentation. In this study, 3 coral species (Acropora millepora, Porites spp. and Turbinaria reniformis), representing three common morphologies (branching, massive and foliose respectively), were experimentally induced to bleach by exposure to a temperature of 31 °C for 21 d. The corals were then subjected to a range of sedimentation rates (0, 11, 22 and 40 mg cm−2 d−1), and their sediment-rejection ability quantified after 1 and 7 successive sediment deposition events. Bleached corals were less capable of removing sediments from their surfaces, and sediment accumulated 3 to 4-fold more than on normally-pigmented corals. Repeated deposition resulted in a ~3-fold increase in the amount of sediment remaining on the corals, regardless of bleaching status. These results suggest that adaptive management practices need to be developed to reduce the impacts of future dredging projects that follow or coincide with elevated sea surface temperatures and coral bleaching events.