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In agriculture, the geography of specific crops can successfully support productivity monitoring and farming practices management. Vineyards particularly have a key role in modeling and protecting Mediterranean landscapes, representing a fundamental asset in the economies of inner areas. In this paper, we mapped the 2017 coverage of vineyards of the Vulture-Melfese, a specialized agricultural district of Basilicata (Southern Italy) renowned for hosting the Aglianico grapevine variety. To achieve this objective, we combined information extracted from free-accessible multisource data by leveraging the traditional photo-interpretation technique. Then, we characterized the mapped vineyards based on simple geo-environmental variables (size, elevation, climate). This detailed inventory can help public bodies and land managers to shape more specific local agricultural policies to strengthen the profitability of the agricultural sector, preserve agrobiodiversity and face climate change effects.

The aim was to review the methodologies used in the concentration of intestinal parasites in different water samples in Latin America. The period of the review was between September and November 2022. Of the total number of articles (N = 87), the search engine with the most articles matching the specified keywords was Google Scholar (56.3% = 49 articles), and Brazil was the country that published the most articles (28.7%). Most of the studies were conducted for surface waters (75.9%) and used methodologies with physical separation without subsequent parasitological concentration (76.9%). However, the ultrafiltration method (UFM) with subsequent parasitological concentration recovered a greater number and type of parasite species. The descriptive study of the review shows that the procedure of using UFM with a parasitological method of flotation and sedimentation would allow an efficient concentration of the parasite species present in the water sample.

The aim was to analyze the groundwater quality and evaluate the socio-environmental factors associated with the indicators of environmental contamination in the peri-urban area of La Plata. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between 2013 and 2023, and six neighborhoods were selected. Water samples were taken according to the Argentine Food Code and a parasitological analysis of the water was performed using ultrafiltration. Socio-environmental analyses were carried out with semi-structured questionnaires and a generalized linear model was used considering a binomial distribution. Of the total water samples, 70% (75/106) indicated that the water is not suitable for consumption. The highest contamination by total coliforms was observed in Abasto, and the risk of contamination by this indicator was higher (odds ratio > 5) compared to other neighborhoods. A moderate percentage of fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli was found in Melchor Romero and El Peligro, although it was higher than that detected in the other neighborhoods. Pseudomonas spp. was observed in all the samples in Arana and in moderate amounts in Abasto and Lisandro Olmos. Entamoeba spp. and Blastocystis spp. were found in a quarter of the water samples. It is essential to manage environmental sanitation and family health access policies.

The Cryo-PoF project is an R&D project funded by the Italian Insitute for Nuclear Research (INFN) in Milano-Bicocca (Italy). The technology at the basis of the project is Power over Fiber (PoF). By sending laser light through an optical fiber, this technology delivers electrical power to a photovoltaic power converter, in order to power sensors or electrical devices. Among the several advantages this solution can provide, we can underline the spark-free operation when electric fields are present, the removal of noise induced by power lines, the absence of interference with electromagnetic fields, and robustness in hostile environments. R&D for the application of PoF in cryogenic environments started at Fermilab in 2020; for the DUNE Vertical Drift detector, it was needed to operate the Photon Detector System on a high-voltage cathode surface. Cryo-PoF, starting from this project, developed a single-laser input line system to power, at cryogenic temperatures, both an electronic amplifier and Photon Detection devices, tuning their bias by means of the input laser power, without adding ancillary fibers. The results obtained in Milano-Bicocca will be discussed, presenting the tests performed using power photosensors at liquid nitrogen temperature.

The main source of systematic uncertainty on neutrino cross section measurements at the GeV scale is represented by the poor knowledge of the initial flux. The goal of cutting down this uncertainty to 1% can be achieved through the monitoring of charged leptons produced in association with neutrinos, by properly instrumenting the decay region of a conventional narrow-band neutrino beam. Large angle muons and positrons from kaons are measured by a sampling calorimeter on the decay tunnel walls (tagger), while muon stations after the hadron dump can be used to monitor the neutrino component from pion decays. This instrumentation can provide a full control on both the muon and electron neutrino fluxes at all energies. Furthermore, the narrow momentum width (<10%) of the beam provides a O(10%) measurement of the neutrino energy on an event by event basis, thanks to its correlation with the radial position of the interaction at the neutrino detector. The ENUBET project has been funded by the ERC in 2016 to prove the feasibility of such a monitored neutrino beam and is cast in the framework of the CERN neutrino platform (NP06) and the Physics Beyond Colliders initiative. In our contribution, we summarize the ENUBET design, physics performance and opportunities for its implementation in a timescale comparable with next long baseline neutrino experiments.

The linkage between land-use change and demographic transitions in advanced countries has becoming increasingly complex because of the mutual interplay of environmental and socioeconomic spheres influencing the degree of sustainability of both regional and local developmental processes. The relationship between urbanization and economic development has been relatively well investigated by clarifying the consequent impacts on population dynamics. In the early phases of urbanization and economic development, population grew at a particularly high rate, declining (more or less rapidly) in the subsequent time interval. Improving income and education opportunities in urban settings resulted in further urbanization, leading to progressively lower fertility. At the same time, a more general view on the relationship between land-use change and demographic transition focusing on a broader spectrum of landscape processes (including farmland abandonment and forest expansion) at larger spatial scales (from regional to country and continental scale) is increasingly required. The present study provides an integrated view of the relationship between land-use change, urbanization, and demographic transitions with specific focus on Europe. Considering divergent processes of landscape transformations in a unified socioeconomic view may evidence the intimate linkage with recent population trends in both urban and rural areas.

To identify genes involved in vascular patterning in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), we screened for abnormal venation patterns in a large collection of leaf shape mutants isolated in our laboratory. The rotunda1-1 (ron1-1) mutant, initially isolated because of its rounded leaves, exhibited an open venation pattern, which resulted from an increased number of free-ending veins. We positionally cloned the RON1 gene and found it to be identical to FRY1/SAL1, which encodes an enzyme with inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase and 3' (2'),5'-bisphosphate nucleotidase activities and has not, to our knowledge, previously been related to venation patterning. The ron1-1 mutant and mutants affected in auxin homeostasis share perturbations in venation patterning, lateral root formation, root hair length, shoot branching, and apical dominance. These similarities prompted us to monitor the auxin response using a DR5-GUS auxin-responsive reporter transgene, the expression levels of which were increased in roots and reduced in leaves in the ron1-1 background. To gain insight into the function of RON1/FRY1/SAL1 during vascular development, we generated double mutants for genes involved in vein patterning and found that ron1 synergistically interacts with auxin resistant1 and hemivenata-1 but not with cotyledon vascular pattern1 (cvp1) and cvp2. These results suggest a role for inositol metabolism in the regulation of auxin responses. Microarray analysis of gene expression revealed that several hundred genes are misexpressed in ron1-1, which may explain the pleiotropic phenotype of this mutant. Metabolomic profiling of the ron1-1 mutant revealed changes in the levels of 38 metabolites, including myoinositol and indole-3-acetonitrile, a precursor of auxin.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Leaf growth is a complex developmental process controlled by genetic and environmental factors and is determined by a proliferation, expansion and maturation phase. Mutational analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana showed that leaf size and shape is dependent on cell division and cell expansion activity. An investigation was made at the cytophysiological and ultrastructural level of the elo1 mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, which is defective in one of the components of the histone acetyl transferase Elongator complex and displays a distinct 'narrow leaves' phenotype, owing to a reduced cell number and no transition between petiole and lamina. Relative expression levels of three sucrose metabolism/transport-related genes were also investigated. The aim was to determine the physiological basis of leaf morphology in this mutant, by investigating the modulatory role of sucrose. METHODS: The elo1 mutant was taken as representative of all the elo mutations and investigated at cytophysiological level. A germination test and growth assays were performed on seedlings grown for 21 d at different sucrose concentrations. Leaf morphometric and ultrastructural features were also investigated by image analysis and electron microscopy, respectively. Finally, a quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis was performed with three sucrose metabolism/transport-related genes that were investigated under different sucrose concentrations. KEY RESULTS ELO1: plants at high sucrose concentrations exhibited an enhancement of germination and inhibition of leaf growth as compared with wild-type plants. qPCR experiments with three sucrose metabolism/transport-related genes showed an interaction between sucrose availability and the elo1 mutation. Furthermore, electron microscopy analysis provided the first ultrastructural description of an elo mutant, which showed a hypotonic vacuole, alterations in the size of grana and starch grains in the chloroplasts, and the massive presence of Golgi vesicles in the cytoplasm. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results obtained it is proposed that mechanisms producing carbon assimilates or importing sucrose could be affected in elo1 plants and could account for the observed differences, implying a role for Elongator in the regulation of these processes.

Success in bariatric surgery is most often evaluated by a sufficient loss of excess weight and an improvement in the medical conditions. The expected increase in quality of life (QoL) after weight loss, however, has not often been systematically analyzed. BAROS (Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System) is a scoring system which, along with easy handling, allows comparisons to be made internationally. 386 morbidly obese patients who had undergone bariatric surgery in our hospital were evaluated with BAROS. Five categories- failure, fair, good, very good, excellent- were taken from the scoring system that BAROS offers. This system has three major points: excess weight loss, medical co-morbidities and QoL. Points are subtracted for reoperations and defined complications. The operations performed were silastic ring vertical gastroplasty (72%), adjustable gastric banding (23%), biliopancreatic diversion (3%), vertical banded gastroplasty (1%) and gastric banding of Molina (1%). In 1991 and 1993, we had a fair result in 3% and 10% of the patients. A good score with a mean of 3.6 to 4.1 was reached in 1992, 1994 and 1995. In the last 3 years, 1996 to 1998, the mean score was 5.0 to 5.7, which is a very good result when compared with the scoring key. BAROS is a valuable tool to access the QoL of patients who have undergone bariatric surgery.

To identify genes involved in vascular patterning in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), we screened for abnormal venation patterns in a large collection of leaf shape mutants isolated in our laboratory. The rotunda1-1 (ron1-1) mutant, initially isolated because of its rounded leaves, exhibited an open venation pattern, which resulted from an increased number of free-ending veins. We positionally cloned the RON1 gene and found it to be identical to FRY1/SAL1, which encodes an enzyme with inositol polyphosphate 1-phosphatase and 3' (2'),5'-bisphosphate nucleotidase activities and has not, to our knowledge, previously been related to venation patterning. The ron1-1 mutant and mutants affected in auxin homeostasis share perturbations in venation patterning, lateral root formation, root hair length, shoot branching, and apical dominance. These similarities prompted us to monitor the auxin response using a DR5-GUS auxin-responsive reporter transgene, the expression levels of which were increased in roots and reduced in leaves in the ron1-1 background. To gain insight into the function of RON1/FRY1/SAL1 during vascular development, we generated double mutants for genes involved in vein patterning and found that ron1 synergistically interacts with auxin resistant1 and hemivenata-1 but not with cotyledon vascular pattern1 (cvp1) and cvp2. These results suggest a role for inositol metabolism in the regulation of auxin responses. Microarray analysis of gene expression revealed that several hundred genes are misexpressed in ron1-1, which may explain the pleiotropic phenotype of this mutant. Metabolomic profiling of the ron1-1 mutant revealed changes in the levels of 38 metabolites, including myoinositol and indole-3-acetonitrile, a precursor of auxin.