Decreasing pH impairs sexual reproduction in a Mediterranean coral transplanted at a CO2 vent.

Ocean acidification, due to the increase of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere and its absorption by the oceans, affects many aspects of marine calcifying organisms' biology, including reproduction. Most of the available studies on low pH effects on coral reproduction have been conducted on tropical species under controlled conditions, while little information is reported for either tropical or temperate species in the field. This study describes the influence of decreasing pH on sexual reproduction of the temperate non-zooxanthellate colonial scleractinian Astroides calycularis, transplanted in four sites along a natural pH gradient at the underwater volcanic crater of Panarea Island (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). The average pH values of each site (range: pHTS 8.07-7.40) match different scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the end of the century. After 3 months under experimental conditions, the reproductive parameters of both oocytes and spermaries (abundance, gonadal index, and diameters) seem to be unaffected by low pH. However, a delay in spermary development in the pre-fertilization period and a persistence of mature oocytes in the fertilization period were observed in the most acidic site. Furthermore, no embryos were found in colonies from the two most acidic sites, suggesting a delay or an interruption of the fertilization process due to acidified conditions. These findings suggest a negative effect of low pH on A. calycularis sexual reproduction. However, long-term experiments, including the synergistic impact of pH and temperature, are needed to predict if this species will be able to adapt to climate change over the next century.

Ageing gender-specific "Biomarkers of Homeostasis", to protect ourselves against the diseases of the old age.

Low-grade inflammatory state causes the development of the principal chronic-degenerative pathologies related with ageing. Consequently, it is required a better comprehension of the physiologic origins and the consequences of the low-grade inflammatory state for the identification of 1) the basic mechanisms that lead to the chronic inflammatory state and, after that, to the progression toward the pathologies and 2) the parallel identification of the prognostic biomarkers typical of these passages. These biomarkers could bring to several improvements in the health quality, allowing an early diagnosis and more effective treatments for: a) the prevention strategies on the healthy population, to assure a healthy longevity and b) the identification of personalized treatment in patients, to assure the benefit of the therapy. For the identification of these biomarkers it is necessary to consider that the ageing processes produce alterations of the physiologic systems and that these modifications compromise the communications between these networks: this state constitutes an obstacle for an appropriate physiologic homeostasis, that plays a fundamental role for the safeguard of the health. It is also to be considered that immune senescence affects both men and women, but it does it in different ways: a sexual dimorphism of immune pathways in the setting of immune response homeostasis is normally present, as we previously underlined. Therefore we hypothesize that, in order to prevent the development of the chronic-degenerative pathologies related with ageing, it is important to identify "Biomarkers of Homeostasis " specific for each gender: these are biologic molecules that should be measurable in a practical and no-invasive way and whose variations can quantify the male and female risk of losing the physiologic system homeostatic capacity. This competence is not only critical in the control of inflammation, but it is also prognostic for the passages from low-grade inflammatory state to the chronic inflammation and to the progression toward the degenerative pathologies. Beginning from the actual results, our intent is 1) to discuss and underline the importance of these new research perspectives in the definition of ageing gender-specific clinical "Biomarkers of Homeostasis" and 2) to propose homeostasis biomarkers, already present in the research results.

Exploring foraging preference of local fish species towards non-indigenous fouling communities near marinas: Insights from Remote Video Foraging System (RVFS) trials.

Non-indigenous species (NIS) spread from marinas to natural environments is influenced by niche availability, habitat suitability, and local biotic resistance. This study explores the effect of indigenous fish feeding behaviour on NIS proliferation using fouling communities, pre-grown on settlement plates, as two distinct, representative models: one from NIS-rich marinas and the other from areas outside marinas with fewer NIS. These plates were mounted on a Remote Video Foraging System (RVFS) near three marinas on Madeira Island. After 24-h, NIS abundance was reduced by 3.5 %. Canthigaster capistrata's preference for marinas plates suggests potential biotic resistance. However, Sparisoma cretense showed equal biting frequencies for both plate types. The cryptogenic ascidian Trididemnum cereum was the preferred target for the fish. Our study introduces a global framework using RVFS for in-situ experiments, replicable across divers contexts (e.g., feeding behaviour, biotic resistance), which can be complemented by metabarcoding and isotopic analysis to confirm consumption patterns.

Novel approach to enhance coastal habitat and biotope mapping with drone aerial imagery analysis.

Understanding the complex factors and mechanisms driving the functioning of coastal ecosystems is vital towards assessing how organisms, ecosystems, and ultimately human populations will cope with the ecological consequences of natural and anthropogenic impacts. Towards this goal, coastal monitoring programs and studies must deliver information on a range of variables and factors, from taxonomic/functional diversity and spatial distribution of habitats, to anthropogenic stress indicators such as land use, fisheries use, and pollution. Effective monitoring programs must therefore integrate observations from different sources and spatial scales to provide a comprehensive view to managers. Here we explore integrating aerial surveys from a low-cost Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) with concurrent underwater surveys to deliver a novel approach to coastal monitoring. We: (i) map depth and substrate of shallow rocky habitats, and; (ii) classify the major biotopes associated with these environmental axes; and (iii) combine data from i and ii to assess the likely distribution of common sessile organismal assemblages over the survey area. Finally, we propose a general workflow that can be adapted to different needs and aerial platforms, which can be used as blueprints for further integration of remote-sensing with in situ surveys to produce spatially-explicit biotope maps.

Planktonic Ctenophora of the Madeira archipelago (Northeastern Atlantic).

Ctenophores are fragile gelatinous organisms whose diversity and distribution are relatively unknown. For the first time, the occurrence of four planktonic species, namelyOcyropsis crystallina,Eurhamphaea vexilligera, Cestum veneris,andBeroe sp., was reported from Madeira archipelago waters (NE subtropical Atlantic). This report represents the northernmost records in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean for O. crystallinaand E. vexilligera.

A global-scale screening of non-native aquatic organisms to identify potentially invasive species under current and future climate conditions.

The threat posed by invasive non-native species worldwide requires a global approach to identify which introduced species are likely to pose an elevated risk of impact to native species and ecosystems. To inform policy, stakeholders and management decisions on global threats to aquatic ecosystems, 195 assessors representing 120 risk assessment areas across all six inhabited continents screened 819 non-native species from 15 groups of aquatic organisms (freshwater, brackish, marine plants and animals) using the Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit. This multi-lingual decision-support tool for the risk screening of aquatic organisms provides assessors with risk scores for a species under current and future climate change conditions that, following a statistically based calibration, permits the accurate classification of species into high-, medium- and low-risk categories under current and predicted climate conditions. The 1730 screenings undertaken encompassed wide geographical areas (regions, political entities, parts thereof, water bodies, river basins, lake drainage basins, and marine regions), which permitted thresholds to be identified for almost all aquatic organismal groups screened as well as for tropical, temperate and continental climate classes, and for tropical and temperate marine ecoregions. In total, 33 species were identified as posing a 'very high risk' of being or becoming invasive, and the scores of several of these species under current climate increased under future climate conditions, primarily due to their wide thermal tolerances. The risk thresholds determined for taxonomic groups and climate zones provide a basis against which area-specific or climate-based calibrated thresholds may be interpreted. In turn, the risk rankings help decision-makers identify which species require an immediate 'rapid' management action (e.g. eradication, control) to avoid or mitigate adverse impacts, which require a full risk assessment, and which are to be restricted or banned with regard to importation and/or sale as ornamental or aquarium/fishery enhancement.

Before and after a disease outbreak: Tracking a keystone species recovery from a mass mortality event.

Mass mortality events involving marine taxa are increasing worldwide. The long-spined sea urchin Diadema africanum is considered a keystone herbivore species in the northeastern Atlantic due to its control over the abundance and distribution of algae. After a first registered mass mortality in 2009, another event off the coasts of Madeira archipelago affected this ecologically important species in summer 2018. This study documented the 2018 D. africanum mass mortality event, and the progress of its populations on the southern coast of Madeira island. A citizen science survey was designed targeting marine stakeholders to understand the extent and intensity of the event around the archipelago. Underwater surveys on population density prior, during and after the mass mortality, permitted an evaluation of the severity and magnitude of the event as well as urchin population recovery. A preliminary assessment of causative agents of the mortality was performed. The event was reported in the principal islands of the archipelago reducing the populations up to 90%. However, a fast recovery was registered during the following months, suggesting that the reproductive success was not compromised. Microbiological analyses in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals, during and after the event, was not conclusive. Nevertheless, the bacteria Aeromonas salmonicida, or the gram-negative bacteria, or the interaction of different types of bacteria may be responsible for the disease outbreak. Further studies are needed to assess the role of pathogens in sea urchin mass mortalities and the compound effects that sea urchins have in local habitats and ecological functioning of coastal marine ecosystems.

Reproduction of an azooxanthellate coral is unaffected by ocean acidification.

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and consequent ocean acidification (OA) are projected to have extensive consequences on marine calcifying organisms, including corals. While the effects of OA on coral calcification are well documented, the response of reproduction is still poorly understood since no information are reported for temperate corals. Here we investigate for the first time the influence of OA on sexual reproduction of the temperate azooxanthellate solitary scleractinian Leptopsammia pruvoti transplanted along a natural pCO2 gradient at a Mediterranean CO2 vent. After 3 months, future projection of pH levels did not influence the germ cell production, gametogenesis and embryogenesis in this azooxanthellate coral. These findings suggest that reproductive potential may be quite tolerant to decreasing pH, with implications for ecosystem function and services in a changing ocean.

Reproductive output of a non-zooxanthellate temperate coral is unaffected by temperature along an extended latitudinal gradient.

Global environmental change, in marine ecosystems, is associated with concurrent shifts in water temperature, circulation, stratification, and nutrient input, with potentially wide-ranging biological effects. Variations in seawater temperature might alter physiological functioning, reproductive efficiency, and demographic traits of marine organisms, leading to shifts in population size and abundance. Differences in temperature tolerances between organisms can identify individual and ecological characteristics, which make corals able to persist and adapt in a climate change context. Here we investigated the possible effect of temperature on the reproductive output of the solitary non-zooxanthellate temperate coral Leptopsammia pruvoti, along an 8° latitudinal gradient. Samples have been collected in six populations along the gradient and each polyp was examined using histological and cyto-histometric analyses. We coupled our results with previous studies on the growth, demography, and calcification of L. pruvoti along the same temperature gradient, and compared them with those of another sympatric zooxanthellate coral Balanophyllia europaea to understand which trophic strategy makes the coral more tolerant to increasing temperature. The non-zooxanthellate species seemed to be quite tolerant to temperature increases, probably due to the lack of the symbiosis with zooxanthellae. To our knowledge, this is the first field investigation of the relationship between reproductive output and temperature increase of a temperate asymbiotic coral, providing novel insights into the poorly studied non-zooxanthellate scleractinians.

Shell properties of commercial clam Chamelea gallina are influenced by temperature and solar radiation along a wide latitudinal gradient.

Phenotype can express different morphologies in response to biotic or abiotic environmental influences. Mollusks are particularly sensitive to different environmental parameters, showing macroscale shell morphology variations in response to environmental parameters. Few studies concern shell variations at the different scale levels along environmental gradients. Here, we investigate shell features at the macro, micro and nanoscale, in populations of the commercially important clam Chamelea gallina along a latitudinal gradient (~400 km) of temperature and solar radiation in the Adriatic Sea (Italian cost). Six populations of clams with shells of the same length were analyzed. Shells from the warmest and the most irradiated population were thinner, with more oval shape, more porous and lighter, showing lower load fracture. However, no variation was observed in shell CaCO3 polymorphism (100% aragonite) or in compositional and textural shell parameters, indicating no effect of the environmental parameters on the basic processes of biomineralization. Because of the importance of this species as commercial resource in the Adriatic Sea, the experimentally quantified and significant variations of mass and fracture load in C. gallina shells along the latitudinal gradient may have economic implications for fisheries producing different economical yield for fishermen and consumers along the Adriatic coastline.

Severe Bloodstream Infection due to KPC-Producer E coli in a Renal Transplant Recipient Treated With the Double-Carbapenem Regimen and Analysis of In Vitro Synergy Testing: A Case Report.

Transplant recipients are at high risk of infections caused by multidrug resistant microorganisms. Due to the limited therapeutic options, innovative antimicrobial combinations against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae causing severe infections are necessary.A 61-year-old woman with a history of congenital solitary kidney underwent renal transplantation. The postoperative course was complicated by nosocomial pneumonia due to Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and pan-sensitive Escherichia coli, successfully treated with antimicrobial therapy. On postoperative day 22, diagnosis of surgical site infection and nosocomial pneumonia with concomitant bacteremia due to a Klebisella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producer E coli was made. The patient was treated with the double-carbapenem regimen (high dose of meropenem plus ertapenem) and a potent synergistic and bactericidal activity of this un-conventional therapeutic strategy was observed in vitro. Despite a microbiological response with prompt negativity of blood cultures, the patient faced a worse outcome because of severe hemorrhagic shock.The double-carbapenem regimen might be considered as a rescue therapy in those subjects, including transplant recipients, in whom previous antimicrobial combinations failed or when colistin use might be discouraged. Performing in vitro synergy testing should be strongly encouraged in cases of infections caused by pan-drug resistant strains, especially in high-risk patients.

Reproductive efficiency of a Mediterranean endemic zooxanthellate coral decreases with increasing temperature along a wide latitudinal gradient.

Investments at the organismal level towards reproduction and growth are often used as indicators of health. Understanding how such energy allocation varies with environmental conditions may, therefore, aid in predicting possible responses to global climatic change in the near future. For example, variations in seawater temperature may alter the physiological functioning, behavior, reproductive output and demographic traits (e.g., productivity) of marine organisms, leading to shifts in the structure, spatial range, and abundance of populations. This study investigated variations in reproductive output associated with local seawater temperature along a wide latitudinal gradient on the western Italian coast, in the zooxanthellate Mediterranean coral, Balanophyllia europaea. Reproductive potential varied significantly among sites, where B. europaea individuals from the warmest site experienced loss of oocytes during gametogenesis. Most of the early oocytes from warmest sites did not reach maturity, possibly due to inhibition of metabolic processes at high temperatures, causing B. europaea to reabsorb the oocytes and utilize them as energy for other vital functions. In a progressively warming Mediterranean, the efficiency of the energy invested in reproduction could be considerably reduced in this species, thereby affecting vital processes. Given the projected increase in seawater temperature as a consequence of global climate change, the present study adds evidence to the threats posed by high temperatures to the survival of B. europaea in the next decades.

Surgical debridement with muscle flap transposition and systemic teicoplanin therapy for infected hip arthroplasty.

The use of muscle flaps is now accepted as a method for coverage of infected wounds. To obtain complete eradication of infection following hip arthroplasty surgery is combined with antibiotic treatment. Aggressive debridment to remove devitalized tissue followed by vastus lateralis muscle flap transposition may improve the likelihood of success in certain challenging cases. We report two cases of prosthetic joint infection treated by aggressive debridment and vastus lateralis transposition with associated appropriate antibiotic therapy. Complete recovery of functional status was observed.