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In microbial community sequencing, involving bacterial ribosomal 16S rDNA or fungal ITS, the targeted genes are the basis for taxonomical assignment. The traditional bioinformatical procedure has for decades made use of a clustering protocol by which sequences are pooled into packages of shared percent identity, typically at 97%, to yield Operational Technical Units (OTUs). Progress in the data processing methods has however led to the possibility of minimizing technical sequencers errors, which were the main reason for the OTU choice, and to analyze instead the exact Amplicon Sequence Variants (ASV) which is a choice yielding much less agglomerated reads. We have tested the two procedures on the same 16S metabarcoded bacterial amplicons dataset encompassing a series of samples from 17 adjacent habitats, taken across a 700 meter-long transect of different ecological conditions unfolding in a gradient spanning from cropland, through meadows, forest and all successional transitions up to the seashore, within the same coastal area. This design allowed to scan a high biodiversity basin and to measure alpha, beta and gamma diversity of the area, to verify the effect of the bioinformatics on the same data as concerns the values of ten different ecological indexes and other parameters. Two levels of progressive OTUs clustering, (99% and 97%) were compared with the ASV data. The results showed that the OTUs clustering proportionally led to a marked underestimation of the ecological indicators values for species diversity and to a distorted behaviour of the dominance and evenness indexes with respect to the direct use of the ASV data. Multivariate ordination analyses resulted also sensitive in terms of tree topology and coherence. Overall, data support the view that reference-based OTU clustering carries several misleading disadvantageous biases, including the risk of missing novel taxa which are yet unreferenced in databases. Since its alternatives as de novo clustering have on the other hand drawbacks due to heavier computational demand and results comparability, especially for environmental studies which contain several yet uncharacterized species, the direct ASV based analysis, at least for prokaryotes, appears to warrant significand advantages in comparison to OTU clustering at every level of percent identity cutoff.

ABSTRACT Microbial metabarcoding is the standard approach to assess communities’ diversity. However reports are often limited to simple OTU abundances for each phylum, giving rather one-dimensional views of microbial assemblages, overlooking other accessible aspects. The first is masked by databases incompleteness; OTU picking involves clustering at 97% (near-species) sequence identity, but different OTUs regularly end up under a same taxon name. When expressing diversity as number of obtained taxonomical names, a large portion of the real diversity lying within the data remains underestimated. Using the 16S sequencing results of an environmental transect across a gradient of 17 coastal habitats we first extracted the number of OTUs hidden under the same name. Further, we observed which was the deepest rank yielded by annotation, revealing for which microbial groups are we missing most knowledge. Data were then used to infer an evolutionary aspect: what is, in each phylum the success of the present time individuals (abundances for each OTU) in relation to their prior evolutionary success in differentiation (number of OTUs). This information reveals whether the past speciation/diversification force is matched by the present competitiveness in reproduction/persistence. The final layer explored is functional diversity, i.e. abundances of groups involved in specific environmental processes. A novel view of the uneven evolutionary speed of different bacterial families and new indexes to measure their success in past and present times.

The archaeological site of Tyndaris (currently Tindari, municipality of Patti, province of Messina, Italy) served as the backdrop for an important technological and cultural initiative organized by mediaGeo on May 30, 2024: the “Technology for All on the Road 2024”. The event brought together university professors, experts in geomatics, archaeology, and engineering, as well as industry professionals engaged in applying advanced surveying methodologies. The main objective was to create precise and detailed digital documentation of a site useful for conservation, study, and tourism enhancement. During the event, a series of stateof- the-art surveying technologies were employed to map and meticulously document the topography and monuments of the ancient Greek, and later Roman, city in Sicily— an area for which a complete survey is still lacking.

The archaeological site of Tyndaris (currently Tindari, municipality of Patti, province of Messina, Italy) served as the backdrop for an important technological and cultural initiative organized by mediaGeo on May 30, 2024: the “Technology for All on the Road 2024”. The event brought together university professors, experts in geomatics, archaeology, and engineering, as well as industry professionals engaged in applying advanced surveying methodologies. The main objective was to create precise and detailed digital documentation of a site useful for conservation, study, and tourism enhancement. During the event, a series of stateof- the-art surveying technologies were employed to map and meticulously document the topography and monuments of the ancient Greek, and later Roman, city in Sicily— an area for which a complete survey is still lacking.

IntroductionUnderstanding how internal characteristics of teachers impact their teaching practices can shed light onto ways to promote inclusivity. Specifically, teachers’ personality traits and social anxiety could influence their acceptance of others, influencing student acceptance and achievement, yet minimal research has explored these relationships.MethodThe role of personality characteristics and social anxiety related to ethnic prejudices and homophobic attitudes were investigated in a sample of 551 Italian secondary school teachers (76% female, age range: 20–70; M = 46.20) using the teachers’ attitudes towards the representation of homosexuality in film and television scale, the big five questionnaire short form, the subtle and blatant prejudice scales, and the Social Phobia Inventory.ResultsThe first model suggested that higher levels of conscientiousness combine with lower levels of agreeableness and extraversion are related to blatant prejudice. As participant age increased, those with lower levels of agreeableness and higher levels of conscientiousness expressed subtle prejudice. Increased age combine with lower levels of agreeableness was also linked to negative attitudes towards lesbian and gay topics. Similar results were found in the second model, which included social anxiety; however, social anxiety was found to impact negative attitudes towards lesbian and gay topics only, while the effect of age towards subtle prejudice disappeared.ConclusionsPersonological characteristics such as personality and social anxiety were found to impact ones attitudes and acceptance towards ethnic groups and lesbian and gay populations.Policy ImplicationsOur findings highlight key areas of focus to help raise awareness and address socio-emotional through school supports, teacher trainings, and policy aimed at promoting inclusive education systems.

ObjectiveTo analyse corneal tissues from asymptomatic donors with a postmortem nasopharyngeal swab tested positive for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, and therefore, understand the role that corneal transplantation may have in viral transmission.Methods and analysisBetween March 2020 and October 2021, 101 corneas (out of 8154 collected in Italy) from 51 donors (out of a total of 4155 Italian donors) positive for SARS-CoV-2 after postmortem nasopharyngeal swab tests were analysed for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA through real-time RT-PCR. When available, the corneal tissue storage media were also assessed. Corneas and/or storage media with confirmed presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA were further investigated by isolating SARS-CoV-2 virions, which were used to infect VeroE6 target cells.ResultsOnly N=4 corneas and/or storage media out of 101 showed presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. No VeroE6 cell infection was detected with viral isolates, thus suggesting no presence of SARS-CoV-2 virions in corneal specimens and storage media.ConclusionsThe presence of SARS-CoV-2 in cornea specimens would seem to be more likely due to prolonged detection of RNA rather than to active viral replication, with very low risk of infectivity and transmission through keratoplasty.

Quantum computing requires a novel approach to store data as quantum states, opposite to classical bits. One of the most promising candidates is entangled photons. In this manuscript, we show the photon emission in the range of microwave frequencies of three different types of superconducting circuits, a SQUID, a JPA, and a JTWPA, often used as low-noise parametric amplifiers. These devices can be operated as sources of entangled photons. We report the experimental protocol used to produce and measure microwave radiation from these circuits, as well as data simulations. The collected spectra are obtained by performing single-tone measurements with a direct rf pump on the devices; the output spectra at low powers (below −100 dBm) are well interpreted by the dynamical Casimir model, while at high powers (above −100 dBm) the system is well described by the Autler–Townes fluorescence of a three-level atom.

IntroductionSince 21 February 2020, the day that the first Italian COVID-19 case was identified, the organizational and regulatory conditions for ocular tissue donation have undergone numerous changes in order to guarantee safety and quality. Herewith we report the key responses of the procurement programme to these challenges.Materials and MethodsA retrospective analysis of the ocular tissue procured between 1 January 2020 and 30 September 2021 is reported.Results9224 ocular tissues were procured during the study period (weekly average: 100 ± 21 tissues, mean ± SD; down to 97 ± 24, if only 2020 is considered). During the first wave, the weekly average reached 80 ± 24 tissues, a significant reduction if compared to the first 8 weeks of the year (124 ± 22 tissues/week, p<0.001), falling to 67 ± 15 tissues/week during the lock-down period. Considering the ocular tissues collected in the Veneto Region alone, the weekly mean was 68 ± 20, a reduction when compared to the first 8 weeks of the year (102 ± 23, p<0.001), arriving at 58 ± 15 tissues/week during the lock-down period. The percentage of healthcare professionals who tested positive during the first wave was on average 12% of the positive cases in the whole country, and equal to 18% in the Veneto Region alone. During the second wave, the mean weekly recovery of ocular tissue was 91 ± 15 and 77 ± 15 in the Veneto Region, compared to positive cases of healthcare professionals of 4% across Italy and in the Veneto Region. During the third wave, the overall weekly mean recovery rate was 107 ± 14, and 87 ± 13 in the Veneto Region, with only 1% of positive cases among healthcare professionals in Italy and in the Veneto Region.ConclusionsThe most dramatic decrease of ocular tissue recovery occurred during the first wave of COVID-19, notwithstanding the lower number of infected people. This phenomenon can be attributed to different factors: a high percentage of positive cases and/or contacts among potential donors; the number of infections among healthcare professionals, favoured by the lack of personal protection equipement and the still partial knowledge of the disease; the exclusion of donors with bilateral pneumonia. Subsequently, the system was better organized with the assimilation of new knowledge about the virus, overcoming the initial fears about transmission and thus guaranteeing the resumption and maintenance of donations.

Background: Postpartum Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P-PTSD) symptoms develop after experiencing childbirth as traumatic. Several individual and environmental factors influence the childbirth experience. However, in Italy, this phenomenon remains unexplored due to the lack of screening tools. This project aims to validate the Italian version of the Perinatal PTSD Questionnaire (PPQ-II) and to identify maternal, pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum risk and protective factors associated with P-PTSD. Methods: A total of 702 women (6–24 months postpartum) participated in an online cross-sectional study. They completed the PPQ-II, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10), and a questionnaire to assess sociodemographic and perinatal factors. Factor structure was estimated with an exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Internal consistency of the scale, convergent and divergent analyses were computed. Associations between perinatal factors and P-PTSD were also investigated. Results: The EFA revealed a two-factor structure: “Arousal and Mood alteration” and “Avoidance and Intrusion”. CFA supported the factor structure, showing a good fit of the data. The validity was confirmed by a significant association between the PPQ-II and the DASS-21 and a lower correlation with the BFI-10. Significant associations were found between P-PTSD symptoms and factors across the maternal, pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum periods. Conclusions: The Italian PPQ-II is a valid screening tool to include in maternity care protocols for the early identification of P-PTSD. This study also contributes to identifying perinatal factors for symptom detection and the promotion of maternal well-being.