Background: Inflammation is a key component of cardiac disease, with macrophages and T lymphocytes mediating essential roles in the progression to heart failure. Nonetheless, little insight exists on other immune subsets involved in the cardiotoxic response. Methods: Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to map the cardiac immune composition in the standard murine nonischemic, pressure-overload heart failure model. By focusing our analysis on CD45 cells, we obtained a higher resolution identification of the immune cell subsets in the heart, at early and late stages of disease and in controls. We then integrated our findings using multiparameter flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, and tissue clarification immunofluorescence in mouse and human. Results: We found that most major immune cell subpopulations, including macrophages, B cells, T cells and regulatory T cells, dendritic cells, Natural Killer cells, neutrophils, and mast cells are present in both healthy and diseased hearts. Most cell subsets are found within the myocardium, whereas mast cells are found also in the epicardium. Upon induction of pressure overload, immune activation occurs across the entire range of immune cell types. Activation led to upregulation of key subset-specific molecules, such as oncostatin M in proinflammatory macrophages and PD-1 in regulatory T cells, that may help explain clinical findings such as the refractivity of patients with heart failure to anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy and cardiac toxicity during anti-PD-1 cancer immunotherapy, respectively. Conclusions: Despite the absence of infectious agents or an autoimmune trigger, induction of disease leads to immune activation that involves far more cell types than previously thought, including neutrophils, B cells, Natural Killer cells, and mast cells. This opens up the field of cardioimmunology to further investigation by using toolkits that have already been developed to study the aforementioned immune subsets. The subset-specific molecules that mediate their activation may thus become useful targets for the diagnostics or therapy of heart failure.

Transposable elements (TEs) compose about half of the mammalian genome and, as embedded se-quences, up to 40% of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) transcripts. Embedded TEs may represent functional domains within lncRNAs, providing a structured RNA platform for protein interaction. Here we show the interactome profile of the mouse inverted short interspersed nuclear element (SINE) of subfamily B2 (invSINEB2) alone and embedded in antisense (AS) ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (Uchl1), an lncRNA that is AS to Uchl1 gene. AS Uchl1 is the representative member of a functional class of AS lncRNAs, named SINEUPs, in which the invSINEB2 acts as effector domain (ED)-enhancing translation of sense protein-coding mRNAs. By using RNA-interacting domai-nome technology, we identify the IL enhancer-binding factor 3 (ILF3) as a protein partner of AS Uchl1 RNA. We determine that this interaction is mediated by the RNA-binding motif 2 of ILF3 and the invSINEB2. Furthermore, we show that ILF3 is able to bind a free right Arthrobacter luteus (Alu) monomer sequence, the embedded TE acting as ED in human SINEUPs. Bioinformatic analysis of Encyclopedia of DNA Elements-enhanced cross-linking im-munoprecipitation data reveals that ILF3 binds transcribed human SINE sequences at transcriptome-wide levels. We then demonstrate that the embedded TEs modulate AS Uchl1 RNA nuclear localization to an extent moderately influenced by ILF3. This work unveils the existence of a specific interaction between embedded TEs and an RNA-binding protein, strengthening the model of TEs as functional modules in lncRNAs.--Fasolo, F., Patrucco, L., Volpe, M., Bon, C., Peano, C., Mignone, F., Carninci, P., Persichetti, F., Santoro, C., Zucchelli, S., Sblattero, D., Sanges, R., Cotella, D., Gustincich, S. The RNA-binding protein ILF3 binds to transposable element sequences in SINEUP lncRNAs. FASEB J. 33, 13572-13589 (2019). www.fasebj.org.

We report on the development, testing, and performance analysis of a bow-tie resonant cavity for terahertz (THz) radiation, injected with a continuous-wave 2.55 THz quantum cascade laser. The bow-tie cavity employs a wire-grid polarizer as input/output coupler and a pair of copper spherical mirrors coated with an unprotected 500 nm thick gold layer. The improvements with respect to previous setups have led to a measured finesse value F = 123, and a quality factor Q = 5.1·10^5. The resonator performances and the relevant parameters are theoretically predicted and discussed, and a comparison among simulated and experimental spectra is given.

The Cichorium endivia (L.) species of the Asteraceae family includes curly- and smoothleafed endives that are worldwide consumed as fresh and minimally processed salads, and sugar content and sweetness are crucial for their quality. The genome release of lettuce, a closely related species, supported the assembly of a reference endive transcriptome, which was enhanced for completeness, accuracy and reliability by combining genome-guided and de-novo strategies. The new transcriptome consisted of a comparable number of mRNAs to that of lettuce (48,533 vs 45,158), transcripts had an average length of 1,454bp and a N50 of 1,798bp, ca. 70% of them were full- or nearly full-length, and the 95% of the deduced products were highly similar (E-value 1e-20) to NCBI database proteins. Consequently, it was possible to annotate over 300 and 50 near fulllength genes of sucrose synthesis/catabolism and transport, respectively. In order to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) RNAseq analyses was carried out using edible leaves of curly and smooth cultivars (Domari vs Flester) grown in two distinct sites. After assessment of genotype (G), environmental (E) and interaction effects (GxE) on gene expressions, we focused on transcripts that were minimally affected by E as best candidates influencing the traits at the genetic level, and nine DEGS were selected. Moreover, sucrose, kestose and inulin amounts were influenced by G (higher in curly types) and E (higher in growth site 1 than 2), while the GxE effect was significant only for inulin. The nine DEGs included invertases and sucrose:sucrose fructosyltransferase genes of the inulin branch and their expressions significantly correlated with the target sugar content variations supporting their contribution to oligofructans metabolism.

For decades, human activities, industrialization, and agriculture have contaminated soils and water with several compounds, including potentially toxic metals and organic persistent xenobiotics. The co-occurrence of those toxicants poses challenging environmental problems, as complicated chemical interactions and synergies can arise and lead to severe and toxic effects on organisms. The use of fungi, alone or with bacteria, for bioremediation purposes is a growing biotechnology with high potential in terms of cost-effectiveness, an environmental-friendly perspective and feasibility, and often representing a sustainable nature-based solution. This paper reviews different ecological, metabolic, and physiological aspects involved in fungal bioremediation of co-contaminated soils and water systems, not only addressing best methods and approaches to assess the simultaneous presence of metals and organic toxic compounds and their consequences on provided ecosystem services but also the interactions between fungi and bacteria, in order to suggest further study directions in this field.

The study of micro-objects, both inorganic and organic, which can be found associated to parchment or cellulose fibres of books and documents, or in the inks and the dirt, accumulated over the centuries between the pages, can unravel important information on the manufacture of the ancient documents, on their past vicissitudes or on the causes of aging and deterioration of the materials they contain. The results of a critical observation of micrometric objects and structures with a diagnostic or archaeological significance have in some cases been surprising. Apart from the curiosity that certain findings may or may not raise, what needs to be discussed is the fact that some chemical components, usually attributed to the manufacture of materials or the inks may instead have a particular origin and nature, and therefore lead, if not properly highlighted, to some erroneous diagnostics. Examples are given where the information obtained by means of scanning electron microscope imaging and Raman microscopy were coupled with dispersive X-ray microanalysis and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy.[Figure not available: see fulltext.].

Il territorio posto lungo il medio versante orientale dell'Etna ha costituto fin dalla più remota antichità una straordinaria opportunità per il sostentamento umano, grazie alla disponibilità di molteplici risorse naturali, utili sia per l'attività agricolo-pastorale, che per quella produttiva. Ciò ha determinato, almeno a partire dalla conquista romana dell'isola, un processo occupazione che si dovette configurare attraverso i secoli del dominio romano nelle forme di una capillare diffusione di impianti produttivi serviti da una serie di collegamenti da e verso la costa, dove la città di Catania svolse ininterrottamente il ruolo di centro di attrazione di persone e beni e un'ampia offerta di servizi. Le intense alterazioni determinate dai cambiamenti geomorfologici legati al verificarsi nel corso dei secoli di violenti eruzioni vulcaniche, insieme ad un'attività antropica sempre più incisiva ed estesa, complice una ricerca storico-archeologica che ha risentito della mancanza di progetti di ampio respiro da determinato una scarsa conoscenza dei tale territorio che si è sempre dimostrato ricco di testimonianze come mostra l'entità e la continuità dei ritrovamenti fortuiti, che fin almeno dal XIX secolo hanno attratto l'attenzione di eruditi e storici locali. Basandosi sui dati raccolti attraverso un'attività di ricerca storico-archeologica, in cui sono confluiti i risultati di un riesame delle fonti storiche e documentali, ricognizione e scavo archeologico svolti nell'ambito del territorio amministrativo di Mascalucia (CT), che si mostra una delle aree più interessanti per l'entità dei ritrovamenti, il presente lavoro intende offrire un contributo alla ricostruzione delle dinamiche insediative e produttive del medio versante dell'Etna, fra l'età romana e l'età tardo antica.

Pompei rappresenta una delle aree archeologiche più famose al mondo e al contempo una delle più fragili. La conservazione dei resti archeologici di Pompei costituisce, infatti, una delle sfide più complesse per chi opera in tale straordinario contesto, richiedendo non solo ingenti risorse e grandi competenze, ma comportando la necessità di sostituire il tradizionale approccio al restauro con quello di una manutenzione programmata. In una tale ottica, come ha ben mostrato l'esempio del "Grande Progetto Pompei" che della manutenzione programmata ha fatto il fulcro intorno della sua azione di prevenzione, diventa essenziale disporre di un piano della conoscenza della città che offra un livello di dettaglio sufficiente a supportare l'azione concreta, sia conoscitiva che di restauro. È proprio sulla conoscenza che le tecnologie oggi offrono un'ampia varietà di strumenti capaci di favorire quei processi di raccolta, gestione, analisi e condivisione di dati e informazioni. Il Pompeii Sustainaible Preservation Project (PSPP), un progetto multidisciplinare di ricerca internazionale guidato dal Fraunhofer Institut für Bauhysik e dall'Istituto di restauro della Technische Universität di Monaco, opera fin dal 2014 all'interno dello straordinario contesto della necropoli di Porta Nocera sviluppando, sotto la responsabilità scientifica del Parco Archeologico di Pompei, metodologie e materiali innovativi per il restauro architettonico e formando al contempo nuove generazioni di studiosi. Al PSPP ha preso parte fin dal suo inizio un team di specialisti dell'Istituto per i Beni Archeologici e Monumentali di Catania (oggi confluito nell'Istituto di Scienze per il Patrimonio Culturale, ISPC-CNR) del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, conducendo un'intensa campagna di documentazione dei resti monumentali presenti nell'intera necropoli. Partendo da una riflessione metodologica sul ruolo del rilievo, della rappresentazione digitale e delle più recenti tecnologie applicate alla gestione e all'analisi del dato su base spaziale tridimensionale, il presente lavoro intende illustrare i risultati conseguiti nella progettazione e sviluppo di un sistema informativo che, tenendo conto dell'estrema complessità sia della ricerca archeologica in ambito funerario, sia delle strategie di restauro, utilizzi i dati prodotti nell'ambito del PSPP per fornire una base di conoscenza capace di supportare le future azioni di conoscenza, ricerca, tutela e valorizzazione nello splendido contesto della necropoli di Porta Nocera.

Recent theories of episodic memory (EM) posit that the hippocampus provides a spatiotemporal framework necessary for representing events. If such theories hold true, then does the development of EM in children depend on the ability to first bind spatial and temporal information? And does this ability rely, at least in part, on normal hippocampal function? We investigated the development of EM in children 2-8 years of age (Study 1) and its impairment in Williams Syndrome, a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by visuospatial deficits and irregular hippocampal function, (Study 2) by implementing a nonverbal object-placement task that dissociates the what, where, and when components of EM. Consistent with the spatiotemporal-framework view of hippocampal EM, our results indicate that the binding of where and when in memory emerges earliest in development, around the age of 3, and is specifically impaired in WS. Space-time binding both preceded and was critical to full EM (what + where + when), and the successful association of objects to spatial locations seemed to mediate this developmental process.

Previous research (e.g. Atack et al., 2019) provided evidences of the benefits of deinstitutionalization and community living on the quality of life of people with Intellectual Disabilities (ID). The current accent to the rights of people with ID to pursue autonomy and participation in society (see the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006), emphasizes the need to rethink the concept of accessibility. In that sense, a flourishing line of research investigates how technologies may help in supporting the autonomy of people with ID (e.g. Evmenova et al., 2018). Many attempts are made to increase the use of technologies in order to make the contexts of life more accessible, not only from the point of view of the physical access, but also in terms of access to knowledge. However, previous literature lacks an evidence-based investigation, and a participatory research approach is missing. This study aims to present a participatory research methodology through which people with disabilities are involved in the co-construction of strategies that can facilitate independent life in community living through the use of recent low-cost devices (i.e. Google home with video display). The study was carried out with 2 participants with ID, who have lived for about a year in an apartment designed for independent living. Participants were tested through a focus group aimed at investigating: (i) their motivation in introducing technology for supporting their daily life management; (ii) what difficulties they usually encounter in managing autonomy; (iii) and how technology could help solve these difficulties. From the analysis of the focus groups a strong enthusiasm emerged from the participants in the use of technology for supporting autonomy in independent living. When asked about the difficulties they usually encounter in daily life and which are the main reflections on how technologies may help in overcoming the listed obstacles, three main thematics have emerged: (i) the difficulties in recovering procedural information (i.e. how to prepare a recipe) could be supported by the possibility of having instructions; (ii) the difficulties in recovering specific information that obstacle the appropriate management of work and medical aspects, could be exceeded, for example, by the possibility of having time reminders before appointments; (iii) the difficulties in managing frustration, could be overcome by the possibility of receiving positive thoughts, encouragements. This exploratory phase allowed an analysis of the obstacles that people with ID usually encounter in the independent living and their ideas and perceptions on how the proposed device could help in supporting their autonomy. In the next research phase, the subjects will participate to the co-planning of the contents for the device. The contents will be created using an easy-to-read language (e.g. see http://easy-to-read.eu/?page_id=17) and the written information will be accompanied by significant images for supporting learning and memory processes. The present study emphasizes the importance of a participatory approach in the creation of inclusive strategies and tools that favor the construction of an accessible environment, whose purpose is to offer to the majority of people the most appropriate tools for access to knowledge, and to each the possibility of expressing one's own potential.

La malattia di Anderson-Fabry(AFD) è un raro disordine metabolico X-linked dovuto a carente attività dell'enzima lisosomiale alfa-galactosidase A, con conseguente accumulo patologico di glycosphingolipids nei tessuti e progressiva disfunzione multiorgano. Il Global Longitudinal Strain (GLS) del ventricolo sinistro (LV) mediante Speckle-tracking echo (STE) è considerato in grado di individuare fibrosi miocardica in AFD sub-clinica. Derivata dallo STE è la dispersione meccanica (MD), indicativa di contrazione miocardica eterogenea in alcune cardiomiopatie in cui è stata validata. Non ci sono dati relativi a MD in AFD.

The United Nations recognised the transfer of invasive species across natural barriers as one of the greatest pressures to the world's oceans and seas. The BWM Convention sets the global standards on ballast water management (BWM) requirements, while recognising that regional and local specifics have to be considered for its effective implementation. In the Adriatic Sea cross-border activities were conducted to provide for essential information/data and tools to support a regionally coordinated implementation of the BWM Convention. This special issue contains 18 publications that include results and recommendations from studying the ballast water and management issues through sampling of ballast water on vessels, risk assessment for exemptions and BWM, biological and chemical port baseline surveys and monitoring conducted in ports along the Adriatic Sea coast, oceanographic conditions, ballast water sediment issues and their management in ports, and the implementation options of the BWM Convention through the Adriatic States' environmental law and institutions cooperation. Essential data and tools to support a regional approach in the implementation of the BWM Convention were provided, and are therefore available to the administrations of the Adriatic countries to enable protection of the Adriatic Sea environment, human health property and resources from negative impacts of ballast water being discharged in the area. Data, approaches and tools provided here may be helpful in any other region to support an effective BWM Convention implementation.

In the 2017 "Access Programme" call of the E-RIHS.it (European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science) project, which makes the diagnostic tools and the technologies of a number of research institutes available to Italian conservation institutions, the project concerning the Ecce Homo by Antonello da Messina from the Collegio Alberoni di Piacenza collection was selected. The objective of the non-invasive diagnostic investigations carried out by CNR-ISTI (Pisa), CNR-IFAC (Florence), INFN-CHNet (Bologna) and INFN-CHNet (Florence), was to achieve greater knowledge of the work and create an objective digital support for evaluation and measurement that could assist the activities of conservators and restorers. The joint work of the multidisciplinary team of the Italian node of E-RIHS.it generated a three-dimensional graphic representation, digital twin of the painting, which varies over time and can be useful as a basis for comparison in the periodic control of the Ecce Homo of Piacenza. All the data gathered with the scientific investigations were integrated (by the Visual Computing Laboratory of the CNR-ISTI of Pisa), through their mapping on the 3D/2D space of the digital representation of the work, in a multimedia platform, with the aim of make possible easy consultation and visualization of all data on the web, both for scientific and educational purposes. The multimedia platform was presented as a kiosk in a public conference dedicated to the "ECCEHOMO" project, which had excellent feedback from the public. The kiosk was subsequently integrated into the museum visit itinerary of the Alberoni College of Piacenza. Developed with HTML/JavaScript technology, the kiosk is based on the HTML5 WebGL API, which makes 2D/3D rendering possible without plug-ins on all major web browsers. The use of web technologies allows installation on a stand-alone machine (as in the museum installation) but at the same time publication on the web. The web visualization of high resolution images is managed by the Relight library, developed by ISTI-CNR. The generation of multiresolution 3D models, and their web visualization, is managed by the Nexus, SpiderGL, and 3DHOP software, all developed by the Visual Computing Laboratory of the CNR-ISTI in Pisa. The contents of the kiosk were designed, discussed and validated with the collaboration of all the work teams involved in the project (CNR-ISTI, CNR-IFAC, INFN-CHNet Bologna and Florence) and by Francesca De Vita, restorer and conservator of the artwork.

Il contributo illustra la sintesi delle conoscenze idrogeologiche del settore meridionale del massiccio carsico del Supramonte (Sardegna, Italia) derivanti dagli studi eseguiti con tracciamenti delle acque sotterranee nelle grotte di questo territorio.

Microplastics (MPs) are a major environmental concern due to their possible impact on water pollution, wildlife, and the food chain. Reliable, rapid, and high-throughput screening of MPs from other components of a water sample after sieving and/or digestion is still a highly desirable goal to avoid cumbersome visual analysis by expert users under the optical microscope. Here, a new approach is presented that combines 3D coherent imaging with machine learning (ML) to achieve accurate and automatic detection of MPs in filtered water samples in a wide range at microscale. The water pretreatment process eliminates sediments and aggregates that fall out of the analyzed range. However, it is still necessary to clearly distinguish MPs from marine microalgae. Here, it is shown that, by defining a novel set of distinctive "holographic features," it is possible to accurately identify MPs within the defined analysis range. The process is specifically tailored for characterizing the MPs' "holographic signatures," thus boosting the classification performance and reaching accuracy higher than 99% in classifying thousands of items. The ML approach in conjunction with holographic coherent imaging is able to identify MPs independently from their morphology, size, and different types of plastic materials.

This work presents a novel target detector that combines a nonparametric approach for conditional probability density function (pdf) estimation and an adaptive estimation of the target strength of the additive model it is based on. The variable bandwidth kernel density estimator is employed for pdf estimation within the Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT) framework and a closed-form solution is found. Experimental results featuring hyperspectral data of a real subpixel target detection scenario reveal the potential of the proposed approach.

This work presents a submerged object recognition method with fluorescence LIDAR that can be applied when no a priori information about environmental conditions is available. Whereas conventional methods require the availability of either LIDAR measurements of water samples or accurate knowledge about environmental conditions, the approach investigated here remove such assumptions. Experimental results on real data acquired in laboratory show the potential of the approach.

Descrizione della procedura seguita per effettuare il test di crescita OECD, dalla creazione del setup sperimentale, alla conduzione del test, fino all'analisi dei risultati, su piantine di Lepidium sativum.

Studio per la determinazione del valore di EC50 relativo all'indice di germinazione di NaCl sulla germinazione delle plantule di Lepidium sativum, Sinapsis alba, Sorghum vulgare.

This field trip highlights evidence of late Pliocene-early Pleistocene submarine and subaerial volcanism coeval with marine and marginal-marine sedimentation in the Santa Rosalía Basin in Baja California. The best exposures of these rocks occur at the El Álamo Canyon, which exhibits outcrops of the Tirabuzón and Infierno formations interbedded with submarine and subaerial volcanic and volcaniclastic deposits that are covered by the subaerial ignimbrites of Reforma and Aguajito calderas. Extensive field mapping and stratigraphy carried out in this canyon, aided with 40Ar/39Ar, and U-Pb geochronology, allowed us to divide the stratigraphy into three main sequences that, from base to top, are: (1) Santa Rosalía succession, (2) the Reforma caldera complex, and (3) El Aguajito caldera. This refined stratigraphy indicates that eight episodes of volcanism occurred between 2.5 and 1.36 Ma, during marine sedimentation in an internal continental shelf and in estuaries, coastal lagoons, or protected bays as supported by the fossil record. This sedimentary and volcanic interbedding suggests transgressions and regressions of the sea level, as well as tectonic uplifting. After the inception of volcanism in the Reforma caldera complex (1.29 Ma), the area emerged from these shallow seas followed by the formation of the Aguajito caldera (1.1 Ma), and then later on by the Tres Vírgenes volcanic complex (0.3 Ma). The last complex erupted a lava flow ca. 22 ka that so far stands as the youngest activity in the region. The magmatic evolution in the region is characterized by post-subduction calc-alkaline magmatism. Such magmatism is expressed as pure calc-alkaline rocks from El Aguajito-Reforma calderas, and as hybrid transitional magmas formed by adakitic rocks from the Tres Vírgenes volcanic complex.