Swimmer's itch is caused by the penetration of free‐swimming larvae of trematodes of the family Schistosomatidae in human skin. It is usually reported in people engaged in recreational water activities in freshwater bodies and in most of cases, it is provoked by bird schistosomes of the genus Trichobilharzia. In the summer 2017, many cases of dermatitis were recorded in people bathing in the waters of the Albano Lake (Rome, Italy) and a parasitological investigation was carried out in order to ascertain the causative agent of these cases. Snails of the family Lymnaeidae, natural intermediate hosts of bird schistosomes, were collected from lake shallow waters to detect the presence of trematodes of the genus Trichobilharzia. Pools of maximum 10 snails were placed in Petri dishes, and cercarial emergence was stimulated exposing snails to strong artificial light intensity at 25°C. Three hundred and thirty‐seven snails were collected and screened for the shedding of cercariae. Furcocercariae of the family Schistosomatidae, with a morphology overlapping that of the genus Trichobilharzia, were detected in seven Petri dishes. Assuming that in each positive Petri dish just one snail was shedding furcocercariae, the minimum infectious rate was 2.1%. Molecular analysis of furcocercariae allowed ascribing them to the species Trichobilharzia franki. Snails of the species Radix auricularia were identified as intermediate hosts of the parasite. This is the second record of T. franki causing cercarial dermatitis in Central Italy, the third in Italy. The 2017 was in Italy exceptionally warm and dry. Trematodes are sensitive to changes in temperature, being cercarial production and emission rates temperature dependent. Small increases in water temperature would speed up parasite development and transmission, leading to a manifold increase in cercarial emergence. Moreover, high temperatures raise chances to acquire the infection, due to increased time spent in water by people. 相似文献
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); their derivatives nitro, and methyl-PAHs; n-alkanes; and organic acids were investigated in the aerosol samples collected during two field campaigns conducted at three sampling stations in an industrialized city in southern Italy. The main sources affecting the atmosphere and its toxicity were investigated by means of the diagnostic ratios of: specific particulate-phase PAHs, marker compounds among nitro-PAHs, alkanes, and acids, the dominant wind direction, daily and seasonal abundance of carcinogenic organic substances. The potential importance of the non-regulated pollutants to assess the air quality was confirmed; in fact the carcinogenic organic compounds showed to have scarce correlation with particulate matter (PM) concentration. An exceptionally high variability of toxic compounds at a daily scale was due to meteorological condition causing periods of extremely high pollution levels. 相似文献
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) approach is widely used to estimate the C account through the use of standardized coefficients that are not site specific. For these reasons, the aim of the work was to define specific IPCC coefficient taking into account differences in pedological characteristics that affect soil C steady state. In a vineyard area of Sicily, the effectiveness of 5 years of recommended management practice (RMP) adoption on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock increases was evaluated by considering 100 paired sites distributed over four functional soil groups. Each site consisted of two neighbouring plots. The soil of one plot was managed with cover crops according to RMP, and the other plot was managed with conventional tillage practices. IPCC coefficients were also derived and specifically adjusted for semiarid environments. SOC changes following RMP adoption and SOC steady‐state levels were correlated with functional soil groupings. SOC increased from 24.8 to 28.3 t ha−1 in conventional and RMP vineyards, respectively, with the highest increases being observed in vertic and the lowest in calcic soils. The management factor (Fmg) ranged from 1.11 for calcaric to 1.44 for vertic functional soil groups. C maintenance requirement (C input) should be estimated in relation to soil functional groups. Findings of this study highlighted how the fine tuning of C steady state in relation to specific environmental characteristics is necessary to avoid overestimation of soil C sequestration. Awareness of correct soil C sequestration potential is useful for policymakers and stakeholders for future C account and land degradation control planning. 相似文献
The official methods for the quantification of aflatoxin M1 in dairy products (cheese and yogurt) include extraction into dichloromethane or chloroform, evaporation of the solvent, partitioning of the reconstituted residue with hexane, and subsequent analysis. To secure a rapid and inexpensive screen for aflatoxin M1 contamination, a sensitive competitive ELISA, using a rabbit polyclonal antibody, was developed for measuring aflatoxin M1 in milk and used in a comparative study for measuring the extraction efficiency of aflatoxin M1 in aqueous or organic solvent buffers using yogurt samples. An aqueous sodium citrate solution was found to be suitable for extracting aflatoxin M1, thus eliminating the need for organic solvents. The citrate extraction proved to be efficient (recovery ranged from 70 to 124%) in fortified samples of very different kinds of dairy products, including yogurt and six types of cheese. Fourteen yogurt and cheese samples were extracted with citrate solution and analyzed by ELISA. A good correlation was observed (y=0.95x-0.59, r2=0.98) when the data were compared with those obtained through the official method, across a wide range of aflatoxin M1 contaminations (10-200 ng/kg). 相似文献
The application of liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) was investigated for the analysis of trans-resveratrol in red wine, grape skin, grape pomace, and winemaking byproducts. Chromatographic elution performed under isocratic reversed-phase conditions using a C18 narrow-bore LC column allowed retention times lower than 12 min to be obtained. Qualitative analysis was performed in negative-ion (NI) full-scan and product-ion scan acquisition modes, whereas method validation in terms of linearity, detection limits, accuracy, and robustness was carried out under NI selected reaction monitoring conditions. The matrix-matched detection limit was calculated in the low parts per billion range (10 microg/L). Results of the application of the method to red wine, grape, and winemaking byproduct samples were compared with those obtained using an LC-UV/DAD technique. Determination of trans-resveratrol in the samples investigated showed that the highest concentration was found in red wine, whereas wine made from grape pomace contained the lowest content. 相似文献
Three new diterpenoids belonging to the clerodane (2-3) and halimane (4) structural types have been isolated from the bark of Croton eluteria Bennet, commonly known as cascarilla. Their structures have been fully characterized by spectroscopic means. Cascarilla extract and its major component, cascarillin, were found to significantly increase histamine-induced gastric acid secretion in the mouse stomach. These preliminary results provide the first rationale for the use of cascarilla in bitter preparations aimed at improving digestion. 相似文献
Breeding of turf bermudagrass (Cynodon (L.) Rich.) has made available a broad range of turf varieties with unique morphological and growth traits. Rapid establishment is necessary in order to provide the performance of a mature turf cover in the shortest time possible. The aims of the research were: (1) to determine variation of growth, morphological and biomass traits in bermudagrass accessions belonging to different phenotypic groups during establishment and (2) to relate such variations to establishment speed in order to assess whether contrasting phenotypic traits could induce different establishment patterns in bermudagrass or if a general establishment predictor can be identified for cultivars and ecotypes belonging to the same taxon. Plant material included 44 accessions of bermudagrasses that were grouped in ‘Wild’, ‘Improved’ ‘Hybrid’ and ‘Dwarf types’. Single spaced plants were transplanted in field plots in two locations in Italy (Pisa and Palermo) and allowed to establish without mowing. The following traits were determined: stolon growth rate, internode length, internode diameter and internode volume, phytomer dry weight, leaf width, colour, seed head production, above ground dry biomass, shoot density, horizontal stem density and node density. Establishment speed of accessions was also determined. Stolon growth rate was found to be the only parameter strongly correlated to establishment speed across all entries and for each of the phenotypic groups. Based on these results, stolon growth rate could be assumed as a good predictor of establishment speed for cultivars and ecotypes belonging to the Cynodon genus. 相似文献
Resource movements across ecosystem boundaries are important determinants of the diversity and abundance of organisms in the donor and recipient ecosystem. However the effects of cross-ecosystem movements of materials at broader spatial extents than a typical field study are not well understood.
Objectives
We tested the hypotheses that (1) variation in abundance of 57 forest songbird species within four foraging guilds is explained by modeled emergent aquatic insect biomass inputs from adjacent lakes and streams and (2) the degree of association varies across foraging guilds and species within guilds. We also sought to determine the importance of emergent aquatic insects while accounting for variation in local forest cover and edge.
Methods
We spatially modeled the degree to which distribution and abundance of songbirds in different foraging guilds was explained by modeled emergent aquatic insect biomass. We used multilevel models to simultaneously estimate the responses of species in four different insectivorous guilds. Bird abundance was summarized from point counts conducted over 24 years at 317 points.
Results
Aerial insectivores were more abundant in areas with high estimated emergent insect biomass inputs to land (regression coefficient 0.30, P?<?0.05) but the overall abundance of gleaners, bark-probers, and ground-foragers was not explained by estimated emergent insect abundance. The coursing aerial insectivores had the strongest association with emergent insects followed by willow flycatcher, olive-sided flycatcher, and alder flycatcher.
Conclusions
Modeling cross-ecosystem movements of materials at broad spatial extents can effectively characterize the importance of this ecological process for aerial insectivorous songbirds.
Brazil is a megadiverse country and is participant of fundamental environmental agreements for biodiversity conservation. However, the internal politics and the cultures that affect negatively the ecological integrity in Brazilian freshwater need to be improved on the condition of sustainable management. Scientific community, the government and stakeholders are in constant conflicts of goals. Meanwhile, the current model for Brazilian aquaculture shows problems of ecological impact due to the lack of appropriated planning and legislation to the aquatic biota. The non‐recognition of sustainable census incorporated in its environmental politics reflects in an archaic and unsustainable management, with the following characters: a non‐specific approach for technical management, the indiscriminate use of interspecific hybrids and non‐native species and the lack of skilled labour. The potential impact on native species and the introduction of pathogens are the main negative effects on aquatic biota. This way, the aim of this article is to elucidate the conflicts of interests and ecological effects of fish aquaculture in Brazil, besides providing good practices and sustainable alternatives for management. 相似文献