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The human body is colonized by trillions of microbes, that contribute to our health and well-being. Many factors influence the composition and functions of the intestinal microbiota, including the host's eating habits, which seem to have a significant effect. A healthy intestinal microbiota is essential for proper metabolic function and homeostasis. Alterations in microbial composition could dramatically cause obesity and diabetes, modifying and influencing host metabolism, homeostasis, and central appetite mechanism. Brain reward signaling is mediated by the dopaminergic mesolimbic system and plays an important role in the development of obesity. Dysregulation of the energy balance causes obesity. Obesity is a serious health problem. The composition of the intestinal microbiota influences various aspects of energy metabolism: digestion, food intake from ingested foods, food components, and accumulation of excess fat. Therefore, the microbial community can contribute significantly to the progression of obesity and its complications. A "tailored nutritional approach" and more feasible and sustainable personalized nutritional strategies must be developed to optimize the gut microbiome and improve host response.

Aim: Migration can lead to an increase in stress rates and can impact mental health, especially in certain migrant groups. Nonetheless, mental health needs and the importance of public health are not well captured in most studies using national samples. This study aimed to show the correlation between mental disorders, socio-demographic and cultural aspects among migrants. Subject and methods: One hundred nineteen migrants, applying for assessment to the Mental Health Operational Unit of the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (NIHMP) in Rome, were recruited. Results: Migrants frequently reported mood disorders (mainly women). Men reported PTSD, somatization and adjustment disorders. Conclusions: Over time, diverse factors may produce a decline in an initially healthy migrant status. The research unveils a new focus on the psychopathology of migrants accessing the NIHMP, with important implications for migrants’ mental health treatment and prevention.

An investigation regarding the Sport-Related Muscle Pain (SRMP) in athletes, with a locomotor disability reveals that, with the increased training volume, the prevalence rate of SRMP also increases. Further, the importance of a strict collaboration among physicians, coaches, and physical trainers for the well-being and the performance of the athlete are highlighted.

To assess risk factors for 28-day mortality and cost implications in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAIs).

AbstractThe study explored the sub-national implementation of the Pan-European Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for Sustainable Forest Management in Italy, based on the statistical analysis of answers to a questionnaire provided by representatives of the Italian sub-national forest administrations. The questionnaire explored the implementation of C&I in five applications and through the analytical lenses of ‘suitability of C&I to sub-national contexts’ and ‘adaptability of administrations to C&I’. The analysis of suitability and adaptability made it possible to identify and compare challenges in, and successful experiences with, the implementation of C&I, which were then used to formulate recommendations aimed at encouraging implementation and promoting academic and policy debate. The study reveals that C&I were implemented to a moderate extent. This level of implementation was determined most of all by the suitability of C&I to the Italian sub-national contexts, and less by the adaptability of administrations. Recommendations to foster implementation of and dialogue on C&I include the need for Italian sub-national administrations to transpose the Pan-European C&I into sub-national sets tailored to local circumstances by, for example, modifying existing C&I or integrating these into new customized indicator sets.

AbstractIn order to identify the distinctive traits of old-growth forests in a Mediterranean context, deadwood occurrence and forest stand structures were investigated in remote forests not subject to anthropogenic disturbance over the past few decades. Five study sites in south-central Italy were selected, and structural parameters were recorded in 1-ha plots. Living trees, deadwood, types, and decay stages were inventoried in the selected sites. Living tree volumes and amounts of deadwood indicated large variability among the investigated forest stands, ranging from 363 to 702 m3·ha−1for living trees and from 17 to 143 m3·ha−1for deadwood. Downed deadwood was the most abundant component, due to the natural mortality occurring in the stands. Stumps were the least common among the types of deadwood. All the decay classes were present in each study site. The main structural features useful for characterizing these old-growth forest stands included a multi-sized diameter distribution of living trees, the presence of small-scale gap dynamics, tree height heterogeneity, and high values of living volume and basal area. A ratio of dead to living wood not lower than 10%, downed deadwood much more abundant than standing deadwood, and a large range of deadwood size and decay classes across all the deadwood components are useful traits for tracking old-growth stages in these Mediterranean forests.

AbstractIntroductionSelf-harm is a direct, socially unacceptable,repetitive behavior that causes minor to moderate physical injury without suicidal intent. It is also a significant and growing concern among prison inmates, although it has been rarely studied. In the present study, we aimed to investigate demographic, psychosocial, and clinical variables associated to this critical bahaviour in a high risk sample of 1,555 male prisoners.MethodsPrisoners were interviewed about their history of self-mutilation, psychiatric history,and forensic history. The prisoners completed the Barratt Impulsivity Scale, Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.ResultsEighteen percent of prisoners had a history of self-harm. They more frequently reported childhood traumas, were more likely to be unmarried, previously imprisoned, tested positive for substance abuse, had a history of suicide attempt, and more likely showed violent tendencies.DiscussionSelf-harm among prisoners is common, being found in almost 20% of the subjects in our sample. Self-mutilation among prisoners appears to be multi-factorial with developmental, socio-demographic, psychiatric, and personality determinants.ConclusionSelf-harm is associated with critical behaviors such as violence, substance abuse and suicide attempts, which represent major critical problems in contention environments.

Two Zn-doped sol−gel glasses with the same ZnO content (5 wt %; 4% mol) but different overall composition have been synthesized and characterized, in comparison with a bioactive Zn-free reference glass. The role of ZnO in modifying the bioactivity of sol−gel glasses was investigated by soaking the glasses in a simple tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane-buffered solution (TRIS-BS), so as to maximize the solubility and to minimize back-precipitation phenomena, which will depend only on the nature and concentration of dissolved glass components. Glass dissolution/ions release in TRIS-BS was monitored by ion coupled plasma emission spectroscopy, whereas modifications of surface composition upon reaction were checked by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The deposition of a Ca−P layer and the consequent crystallization to hydroxy−apatite (HA) and/or hydroxy−carbonate−apatite (HCA) at the glass surface were investigated by X-ray diffraction and Raman, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and XPS spectroscopies. Glass dissolution rate, back-precipitation of silica gel, and formation/crystallization of an apatite-like layer on Zn-containing glasses were found to be either inhibited or delayed, according to the overall glass composition, in that the presence of the network former ZnO component enhances glass reticulation, with the consequent formation of Si−O−Zn units. The presence of a ZnO component has no effect per se, but its influence depends on the overall composition of the glass and, in particular, on the CaO/SiO2and ZnO/CaO ratios, which determine the nature/structure of Zn and Ca surface species. Glass surface features were investigated by the combined use of in situ FTIR spectroscopy and adsorption microcalorimetry. The role played by surface Ca species, thought to be the most hydrophilic sites, was found to be a decisive factor in both glass dissolution mechanism and formation of an apatite-like surface layer: (i) the scarce dissolution in aqueous media of a (non bioactive) low-Ca and high-silica glass is due to the high reticulation caused by the scarce population of Ca2+cations in the role of network modifiers; and (ii) the amount of the latter species is, instead, much larger in the corresponding (moderately bioactive) high-Ca and low-silica glass, which dissolves more, although exhibiting a larger durability in aqueous solution than the Zn-free glass.

ABSTRACTEscherichia coliis the leading cause of bloodstream infections (BSIs) caused by Gram-negative bacteria. The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant E. colistrains, particularly those producing extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), increases the odds that empirically prescribed antimicrobial therapy for these infections will be inadequate, but the economic impact of this risk has not been fully evaluated. In the present retrospective 1-year analysis of 134 consecutive E. coliBSIs in our hospital, we explored the clinical and economic impacts of (i) inadequate initial antimicrobial treatment (IIAT) (i.e., empirical treatment with drugs to which the isolate had displayed in vitroresistance) of these infections and (ii) ESBL production by the bloodstream isolate. Cost data were obtained from the hospital accounting system. Compared with the 107 (79.8%) adequately treated patients, the 27 (20.1%) who received IIAT had a higher proportion of ESBL BSIs (74.0% versus 15.8%), longer (+6 days) and more costly (+EUR 4,322.00) post-BSI-onset hospital stays, and higher 21-day mortality rates (40.7% versus 5.6%). Compared with the 97 non-ESBL infections, the 37 (27.6%) ESBL BSIs were also associated with longer (+7 days) and more costly (+EUR 5,026.00) post-BSI-onset hospital stays and increased 21-day mortality (29.7% versus 6.1%). These findings confirm that the hospital costs and mortality associated with E. coliBSIs are significantly increased by ESBL production and by IIAT.

Abstract: Within Europe the question of plant coenosis is attracting growing interest. The quality and quantity of collected information on forest resources at a global level largely depends on the capacity to collect and analyse data at national and sub-national scale in a way compatible with those at global or continental levels. In Italy the acceptance of all the international agreements and protocols on the protection of the environment and management of natural resources, requires a standardization of collected information and statistics, with the aim to produce homogeneous and integrative data at global level. This need is reflected in the following points: (1) the adoption of a classification system of land use and forest cover compatible with international hierarchical systems and definitions; (2) the identification of standard procedures in data collection and data elaboration. To classify natural resources and, in this case study, forest resources, implies to order natural and semi natural coenosis, forest and pre-forest communities, in a systematic way, according to the applied variables and to the scale detail. The solution proposed in this case study is organised according to forest management, through the adoption of the habitat approach, describing forest and pre-forest types in a synoptic way and performing a system of nomenclature in agreement with the international standards initiatives. In this way, the characterization of forest types at community level is related to the environmental planning for the protection of biodiversity.

Abstract??Forest area in the year 1990 is a figure of great interest under the Kyoto Protocol. This note is devoted to a scientific exercise for the probabilistic ex post assessment of such a figure in Italy. Estimation was performed by two-phase point sampling, which made use of historical remotely sensed imagery. In the first phase, a sample of 12?089 points was selected according to an unaligned systematic sampling and the selected points were classified in land-use categories by Landsat 5?TM imagery. In the second phase, a sample of 3000 points was selected by stratified sampling in which the strata were determined by the satellite classification and the selected points were classified by aerial photos, assumed as ground truth. A two-phase estimate of land-use coverage partitioning the Italian territory was obtained together with a conservative estimate of the sampling variance-covariance. The procedure has proved to be of relatively easy implementation and objective repeatability.

In the landscape ecological literature, a number of measures have been proposed for quantifying landscape fragmentation based on distinct objectives and motivations. However, none seems to be generally preferred. The main reason for this disagreement is that, from a statistical viewpoint, by mapping fragmentation into a single scalar, information is necessarily lost and no ideal function is able to uniquely characterize all aspects of landscape fragmentation. A more complete summarization of fragmentation is possible if, instead of one single index, a parametric index family is applied whose members have varying sensitivities to the presence of large and small landscape patches. While traditional indices supply point descriptions of fragmentation, according to a parametric fragmentation family Hα, there is a continuum of possible fragmentation measures that differ in their sensitivity to the presence of large and small patches as a function of the scaling parameter α. Therefore, changing α allows for vector description of fragmentation. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a parametric generalization of Shannon’s entropy to summarize landscape fragmentation. A small set of artificial landscapes is used to clarify our proposal.In the landscape ecological literature, a number of measures have been proposed for quantifying landscape fragmentation based on distinct objectives and motivations. However, none seems to be generally preferred. The main reason for this disagreement is that, from a statistical viewpoint, by mapping fragmentation into a single scalar, information is necessarily lost and no ideal function is able to uniquely characterize all aspects of landscape fragmentation. A more complete summarization of fragmentation is possible if, instead of one single index, a parametric index family is applied whose members have varying sensitivities to the presence of large and small landscape patches. While traditional indices supply point descriptions of fragmentation, according to a parametric fragmentation family Hα, there is a continuum of possible fragmentation measures that differ in their sensitivity to the presence of large and small patches as a function of the scaling parameter α. Therefore, changing α allows for vector description of fragmentation. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a parametric generalization of Shannon’s entropy to summarize landscape fragmentation. A small set of artificial landscapes is used to clarify our proposal.

Rice blast, caused by the fungus Pyricularia grisea(Cooke) Sacc., is a serious rice (Oryza sativaL.)disease causing considerable economic damage worldwide. DNA markers for rice blast resistance have been developed, but most are not suitable for routine use in a marker‐assisted selection breeding program involving large numbers of progeny. After identifying candidate microsatellite markers from public database sources, we have mapped these markers near the blast resistance genes Pi‐b, Pi‐k, and Pi‐ta2on rice chromosomes 2, 11, and 12, respectively, using segregation information from hundreds of progeny in several crosses. Two microsatellite markers, RM208 and RM224, were found to cosegregate with the Pi‐band Pi‐kgenes, respectively, while additional microsatellites were found to closely flank these two genes and the Pi‐ta2gene. The new markers are polymorphic in the narrow crosses characteristic of applied breeding programs and appear to be ideally suited for marker assisted selection for blast resistance in rice because of their tight linkage with resistance genes and ease of use through analysis of amplification products. A dominant marker indicating the presence of the Pi‐bgene, Pibdom, has also been developed on the basis of the sequence of the cloned Pi‐bgene. These markers should facilitate the introgression and pyramiding of these three blast resistance genes into new rice cultivars and elite lines.

A large 3600 MW-thermal European sodium fast reactor (ESFR) concept has been studied in a European Horizon-2020 project since September 2017, following an earlier European project. In the paper, we describe new ESFR core safety measures focused on prevention and mitigation of severe accidents. In particular, we propose a new core configuration for reducing the sodium void effect, introduce passive shutdown systems, and implement special paths in the core for facilitation of molten fuel discharge in order to avoid recriticalities after a hypothetical severe accident. We describe and assess the control and shutdown system, and consider options for burning minor actinides.

Introduction Treatment options for macular edema include intravitreal corticosteroids. Traditionally, an injectable suspension of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) had been employed off-label; in recent years, authorities have approved sustained-release drug delivery systems (DDSs) for corticosteroids. This review aims to compare the quality of the evidence on efficacy and safety of three different formulations of intravitreal corticosteroids: the dexamethasone (DEX) implant, the fluocinolone acetonide (FA) implant, and the preservative-free injectable suspensions of TA, in the management of two retinal pathologies: diabetic macular edema (DME) and macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO).Methods A search of clinical trials on MEDLINE from 01/01/2000 to 12/16/2015 was performed. Studies were included in the analysis if they met the following criteria: i) related to at least one of the preparations of interest in patients with DME or macular edema secondary to RVO; ii) included a control group treated with placebo, observation, sham procedures or conventional treatments; and iii) included visual acuity, retinal thickness and/or safety parameters as outcomes. Results were summarized in a narrative manner.Results Twenty-five publications from 19 RCTs were included. We observed increased attention of researchers towards TA compared to DEX and FA; however, studies for TA are less robust. Scientific publications related to DEX and FA implants are of higher quality, especially in terms of randomization and masking procedures.Discussion Although trials on TA are numerous, evidence on DEX and FA implants is more robust. Since their introduction, these relatively new DDSs have been included in the main guidelines for the management of macular edema.