Open data for assessing habitats degree of conservation at plot level. An example dataset of forest structural attributes in Val d'Agri (Basilicata, Southern Italy).

Forests supply multiple ecosystem services and host a large proportion of the Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. In particular, they provide habitats for many taxonomic groups which can be threatened by forest unsustainable management practices. Type and intensity of forest management are widely recognized as the main drivers of structure and functions in forests ecosystems. However, to better understand the impacts and the benefits deriving from forest management, there is a big need to standardize procedures of field data collection and data analysis. Here, we provide a georeferenced dataset of vertical and horizontal structure of forest types belonging to 4 habitat types, sensu Council Directive 92/43/EEC. The dataset includes structural indicators commonly linked to old-growth forests in Europe, in particular the amount of standing and lying deadwood. We collected data on 32 plots (24 of 225 m2, and 8 of 100 m2, according to different forests type) during spring and summer of 2022, in Val d'Agri (Basilicata, Southern Italy). The dataset we provide follows the common national standard for field data collection in forest habitat types, published by ISPRA in 2016 with the aim to promote a greater homogeneity in assessment of habitat conservation status at Country and biogeographical level, as requested by the Habitats Directive.

A chemically modified antibody mediates complete eradication of tumours by selective disruption of tumour blood vessels.

BACKGROUND: The possibility of eradicating cancer by selective destruction of tumour blood vessels may represent an attractive therapeutic avenue, but most pharmaceutical agents investigated so far did not achieve complete cures and are not completely specific. Antibody conjugates now allow us to evaluate the impact of selective vascular shutdown on tumour viability and to study mechanisms of action. METHODS: We synthesised a novel porphyrin-based photosensitiser suitable for conjugation to antibodies and assessed anticancer properties of its conjugate with L19, a clinical-stage human monoclonal antibody specific to the alternatively spliced EDB domain of fibronectin, a marker of tumour angiogenesis. RESULTS: Here we show in two mouse model of cancer (F9 and A431) that L19 is capable of highly selective in vivo localisation around tumour blood vessels and that its conjugate with a photosensitiser allows selective disruption of tumour vasculature upon irradiation, leading to complete and long-lasting cancer eradication. Furthermore, depletion experiments revealed that natural killer cells are essential for the induction of long-lasting complete responses. CONCLUSIONS: These results reinforce the concept that vascular shutdown can induce a curative avalanche of tumour cell death. Immuno-photodynamic therapy may be particularly indicated for squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, which we show to be strongly positive for markers of angiogenesis.