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Simple Summary: Living organisms may be simultaneously exposed to several stressors. Trout are a clear example of this scenario, being usually exposed to chemical contaminants and parasites. Moreover, it is also an intensely farmed fish, often caught for human consumption. Thus, trout may be considered a sentinel species, and the related evidence is a matter of importance. We looked at a sample of wild brown trout from a protected area of Southern Italy. Different numbers of gastro-intestinal helminths and concentrations of organochlorine pollutants were detected among sample units. In particular, a negative correlation between the presence of parasites and the concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls was assessed, suggesting that these organochlorine pollutants can affect parasite survival. Our results provide a contribution to the advancement of the knowledge of the interplay among environment, parasites, and host. We investigated the occurrence of organochlorine pollutants (OCs) in the muscle of brown trout and evaluated their potential modulation of parasite infection. The toxicological risk for consumer health was assessed, too. Trout were collected from the Sila National Park (Calabria region, South of Italy). The highest concentrations emerged for the sum of the 6 non-dioxin-like (ndl) indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (Σ6ndl-PCBs), followed by the 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-di(4-chlorophenyl)-ethane (DDT), dioxin-like PCBs, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and dieldrin. Measured on lipid weight (LW), the mean value of Σ6ndl-PCBs amounted to 201.9 ng g−1, that of ΣDDTs (the sum of DDT-related compounds) to 100.2 ng g−1, with the major contribution of the DDT-metabolite p,p'-DDE which was detected in all sample units (97.6 ng g−1 on average). Among dioxin-like congeners, PCB 118 showed the highest mean concentration (21.96 ng g−1 LW) and was detected in all sample units. Regression analysis of intestinal parasites on OC concentration was performed, controlling for two potential confounding factors, namely sex and sexual stage. The results evidenced the existence of interactions between the dual stressors in the host-parasite system in the wild. A negative and statistically significant correlation was estimated, suggesting that OCs may decrease parasite infection degree. Regarding the toxicological risk evaluation, OC concentrations were consistently below the current European Maximum Residue Limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposes an approach to evaluate the landslide risk from observed data by means of synchronization effects of nonlinear motions, forming a judgment on the linkage between two physical phenomena, slope failure and synchronization motion. Phase synchronization of spatial motion is an essential prerequisite for the landslide occurrence, and the connection between phase synchronization behaviors associated with the triggering factor at different points, as a definite mark, constitutes the sufficient criterion to forecast the coming of the landslide risk. Both of them can be obtained through phase synchronization analysis based on the method of empirical mode decomposition, Hilbert transform and order parameter description of phase synchronization. Direct action of the triggering factor can cause a generalized synchronization behavior, and otherwise the connection between different synchronization behaviors must be searched from three movement patterns as follows: damage spread up the slope, damage spread down the slope and damage spread up and down the slope. The first one shows orderly appearing of the peak phase values at different points up the slope, the second has a connection that the phase lock values vary in the same rhythm for a longer time period, and the last is the combination of the first two cases. Investigations of Vaiont landslide occurred on October 9, 1963, in Italy, and Xintan landslide occurred on June 12, 1985, in China, examined the effectiveness of the proposed approach, and also, as examples, provided a possible principle and effective measures to put it into practice for the early warning of landslide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports the results of aflatoxins B/G monitoring in food of vegetal origin, imported in Southern Italy from extra-European Union countries. From 2017 to 2020, we analyzed 1675 samples using an accredited HPLC method with fluorescence detection. We found out 295 samples (17.6%) were contaminated by aflatoxin B1, 204 by aflatoxins B/G (12.2%), while 75 (4.5%) resulted non-compliant to maximum limits set by the European Union law. Most of the batches tested were unprocessed food; the distribution of contamination levels, incidence of non-compliant samples, inference for different kinds of food are reported. The study focuses on the food more susceptible to contamination by aflatoxins; nuts are the food more controlled, showing the higher number of non-compliant samples. Our study confirms that pistachio nuts, hazelnuts and almonds are the major sources of exposure for consumers. Still, other products, such as chili pepper and Brazil nuts, need to get more information about their contamination levels. The study's findings are discussed in the perspective of the last opinion by EFSA about chronic exposure to aflatoxins. A case study to evaluate not compliance of a composed food to the European Union law is reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hereditary breast and ovarian cancers are mainly linked to variants in BRCA1 /2 genes. Recently, data has shown that identification of BRCA variants has an immediate impact not only in cancer prevention but also in targeted therapeutic approaches. This prospective observational study characterized the overall germline BRCA variant and variant of uncertain significance (VUS) frequency and spectrum in individuals affected by breast (BC) or ovarian cancer (OC) and in healthy individuals at risk by sequencing the entire BRCA genes. Of the 363 probands analyzed, 50 (13.8%) were BRCA1/2 mutated, 28 (7.7%) at BRCA1 and 23 (6.3%) at BRCA2 gene. The variant c.5266dupC p.(Gln1756Profs) was the most frequent alteration, representing 21.4% of the BRCA1 variants and 12.0% of all variants identified. The variant c.6313delA p.(Ile2105Tyrfs) of BRCA2 was the most frequent alteration observed in 6 patients. Interestingly, two new variants were identified in BRCA2 . In addition, 25 different VUS were identified; two were reported for the first time in BRCA1 and two in BRCA2 . The number of triple-negative BCs was significantly higher in patients with the pathogenic BRCA1/2 -variant (36.4%) than in BRCA1/2 VUS (16.0%) and BRCA1/2 wild-type patients (10.7%) ( p < 0.001). Our study reveals that the overall frequency of BRCA germline variants in the selected high-risk Italian population is about 13.8%. We believe that our results could have significant implications for preventive strategies for unaffected BRCA -carriers and effective targeted treatments such as PARP inhibitors for patients with BC or OC.

Occupational solar radiation exposure is a relevant heath risk in the fishing sector. Our aim was to provide a detailed evaluation of individual UV exposure in three different fishing activities in Italy, with personal UV dosimeters and a simple formula to calculate the fraction of ambient erythemal UV dose received by the workers. The potential individual UV exposure of the fishermen was between 65 and 542 Joules/m 2 . The percentages of the ambient exposure were estimated between 2.5% and 65.3%. Workers' UV exposure was mainly influenced by the characteristics of the work activity, the postures adopted, and the type of boats. Overall, our data showed that 43% of the daily measurements could result largely above the occupational limits of 1-1.3 standard erythemal dose (i.e., 100 Joules/m 2 ) per day, in case of exposure of uncovered skin areas. Measurements of individual UV exposure are important not only to assess the risk but also to increase workers' perception and stimulate the adoption of preventive measures to reduce solar UV risk. Furthermore, the simple method proposed, linking ambient erythemal UV dose to the workers' exposure, can be a promising tool for a reliable assessment of the UV risk, as time series of environmental UV dose are widely available.

To evaluate BPA's potential risk to health, it is important to know human daily intake. This study describes a simple but effective method to estimate the levels of human BPA intake among four different populations based on urinary concentration data. Nationally, of the 30 countries examined, the top ten countries for adult intake were Italy, Sweden, Denmark, France, Cyprus, Australia, Israel, Ghana, Jamaica, and Belgium. When the urinary excretion sample size was large enough and over 1000, it was found that the national estimated BPA daily intakes in the child group among countries, showed a good linear relationship with those of their corresponding adult group. Except the infant group with limited data, the global estimated BPA daily intakes for children and pregnant women were 2 and 1.4 times that of the adult group. Although the national and global estimated BPA daily intakes were generally below the temporary tolerable daily intake (tTDI) recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), but some normal individuals' daily intakes exceeded the tTDI., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)