Mountain ecosystems are sensitive and reliable indicators of climate change. Long-term studies may be extremely useful in assessing the responses of high-elevation ecosystems to climate change and ...other anthropogenic drivers from a broad ecological perspective. Mountain research sites within the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) network are representative of various types of ecosystems and span a wide bioclimatic and elevational range.
Here, we present a synthesis and a review of the main results from ecological studies in mountain ecosystems at 20 LTER sites in Italy, Switzerland and Austria covering in most cases more than two decades of observations. We analyzed a set of key climate parameters, such as temperature and snow cover duration, in relation to vascular plant species composition, plant traits, abundance patterns, pedoclimate, nutrient dynamics in soils and water, phenology and composition of freshwater biota.
The overall results highlight the rapid response of mountain ecosystems to climate change, with site-specific characteristics and rates. As temperatures increased, vegetation cover in alpine and subalpine summits increased as well. Years with limited snow cover duration caused an increase in soil temperature and microbial biomass during the growing season. Effects on freshwater ecosystems were also observed, in terms of increases in solutes, decreases in nitrates and changes in plankton phenology and benthos communities. This work highlights the importance of comparing and integrating long-term ecological data collected in different ecosystems for a more comprehensive overview of the ecological effects of climate change. Nevertheless, there is a need for (i) adopting co-located monitoring site networks to improve our ability to obtain sound results from cross-site analysis, (ii) carrying out further studies, in particular short-term analyses with fine spatial and temporal resolutions to improve our understanding of responses to extreme events, and (iii) increasing comparability and standardizing protocols across networks to distinguish local patterns from global patterns.
•Mountain terrestrial/freshwater ecosystems provide insights into the effects of global change•Snow cover duration affects soil C/N cycling and alpine ibex population dynamics•Climate change induces an increase in vegetation cover in grasslands and C uptake in forests•Climate drives change in water chemistry, lake thermal dynamics and plankton phenology•Increased data comparability and standardized protocols at different LTER sites are advisable
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Mitochondria represent an important drug target for many phatology, including neurodegeneration, metabolic disease, heart failure, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and cancer. Mitochondrial dysfunctions ...are caused by mutation in mitochondrial DNA or in nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been employed to overcome biological barriers, target this organelle, and therapeuticaly restore mitochondrial functions. Here, we describe recent methods used to deliver oligonucleotides targeting mitochondrial protein by using mitochondrial penetrating peptides. In particular, we highlight recent advances of formulated peptides/oligonucleotides nanocomplexes as a proof-of-principle for pharmaceutical form of peptide-based therapeutics.
The current loss of biodiversity requires long-term monitoring of the distribution of living organisms, particularly in regions, such as mountains, which are highly sensitive to climatic and ...environmental changes. In 2007, three alpine parks in N-W Italy started a field program to determine the factors which influence animal biodiversity and identify the most appropriate methods for periodically repeatable monitoring. Twelve altitudinal transects (from montane to alpine belt) were chosen, each composed of 4â7 sampling units, for a total of 69 monitored plots. In each station, five taxonomic groups (carabids, butterflies, spiders, staphylinids, birds) were systematically sampled and topographic, environmental and micro-climatic variables were recorded. The aim was to assess the distribution of different taxa along altitudinal gradients and the relative influence of geographical, environmental and climatic factors. The data showed that species richness and community composition of invertebrates are mainly determined by altitude and microclimatic conditions, whereas birds are more sensitive to habitat structure. For invertebrates, the strong relationship with temperature suggests their potential sensitivity to climatic variations. The analysis of biodiversity patterns across vegetation belts indicated that the alpine belt hosts few species but a high percentage of endemic and vulnerable species, highlighting its importance for conservation purposes. This work offers a representative sample of the northwestern Italian Alps and it is a first step of a monitoring effort that will be repeated every five years to highlight the response of alpine biodiversity to climate and land-use changes.
Ten techniques used for selection of useful predictors in multivariate calibration and in other cases of multivariate regression are described and discussed in terms of their performance (ability to ...detect useless predictors, predictive power, number of retained predictors) with real and artificial data. The techniques studied include classical stepwise ordinary least-squares (SOLS), techniques based on the genetic algorithms, and a family of methods based on partial least-squares (PLS) regression and on the optimization of the predictive ability. A short introduction presents the evaluation strategies, a description of the quantities used to evaluate the regression model, and the criteria used to define the complexity of PLS models. The selection techniques can be divided into conservative techniques that try to retain all the informative, useful predictors, and parsimonious techniques, whose objective is to select a minimum but sufficient number of useful predictors. Some combined techniques, in which a conservative technique is used to perform a preliminary selection before the use of parsimonious techniques, are also presented. Among the conservative techniques, the Westad-Martens uncertainty test (MUT) used in Unscrambler, and uninformative variables elimination (UVE), developed by Massart et al., seem the most efficient techniques. The old SOLS can be improved to become the most efficient parsimonious technique, by means of the use of plots of the F-statistics value of the entered predictors and comparison with parallel results obtained with a data matrix with random data. This procedure indicates correctly how many predictors can be accepted and substantially reduces the possibility of overfitting. A possible alternative to SOLS is iterative predictors weighting (IPW) that automatically selects a minimum set of informative predictors. The use of an external evaluation set, with objects never used in the elimination of predictors, or of "complete validation" is suggested to avoid overestimate of the prediction ability.
In patients 65 or younger with multiple myeloma, high-dose consolidation therapy was associated with longer survival and more myelotoxicity than conventional-dose therapy. Lenalidomide maintenance ...improved progression-free survival but not overall survival.
High-dose chemotherapy plus autologous stem-cell transplantation, as compared with conventional chemotherapy, prolongs progression-free survival and overall survival among patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.
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and it is currently the standard of care for patients who are younger than 65 years of age. However, since autologous stem-cell transplantation has substantial toxic effects and requires prolonged hospitalization, the comparison with less toxic, orally administered treatments is important. Immunomodulatory drugs and proteasome inhibitors have significantly improved outcomes in patients, regardless of whether they are eligible for transplantation.
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These improvements have raised questions about the role of transplantation in comparison with conventional . . .
Across its European range, the
Euphydryas aurinia
complex (Annex II of the Habitats Directive) includes a series of distinct populations. At least 3 taxa occur in Italy, each showing slight ...morphological differences and distinct eco-ethological features. For the first time, we compared metapopulation dynamics of
E. (a.) glaciegenita
inhabiting a site in the NW Alps (2,100–2,300 m) with
E. (a.) provincialis
occurring in the Mediterranean biogeographical region in hilly dry grasslands (700 m). To describe patterns of dispersal, we applied the virtual migration model (VMM) to data collected using Mark-Release-Recapture (MRR). We used parameters of survival and migration to explore metapopulation characteristics. In particular we investigated the relative role of connectivity and patch quality in affecting migration rates. We observed differences between the two metapopulation systems, with the “Alpine” population occurring at higher altitude and in more open habitats, showing lower dispersal propensity. In contrast, even though the “Mediterranean” population is more prone to disperse, migration appears to have higher costs. Dispersal abilities affect metapopulation dynamics, which are at the basis of long-term perspectives of survival for butterfly populations. We discuss our results in the framework of conservation and management options for habitats occupied by these Italian taxa of the
E.
aurinia
complex.
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