Concentrations of PCBs, DDTs, and TCDD Equivalents in Cyprinids of the Middle Po River, Italy

The reintroduction of the extinct beluga sturgeon (Huso huso L.), an anadromous species with economic and traditional relevance, is a priority in next conservation strategies in Northern Italy. The EU-LIFE NATURA project aims to reintroduce the beluga sturgeon in the Po River basin through a captive breeding program. Critical requirements for the success of the program are river connectivity and knowledge of genetic diversity of the selected broodstocks to ensure self-sustainability of reintroduced populations. Here, the four broodstocks used for the reintroduction of beluga sturgeon have been genetically screened, genotyping 13 loci and sequencing mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b (Cyt b) gene and the entire mitochondrial DNA control region (D-Loop). The four broodstocks showed a medium-high level of nuclear genetic variability and the presence of two sub-populations, evidencing a total level of inbreeding coefficients able to sustain the good potential as future breeders. Mitochondrial analyses showed a genetic variability comparable to wild populations, further strengthening the positive potential of the investigated broodstock. Therefore, this study, showed how the degree of genetic diversity found within the four broodstocks used for H. huso reintroduction in the Po River basin could be suitable to ensure the success of the program, avoiding the inbreeding depression associated with founder effect and captive breeding.

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Epidemiology of West Nile Virus Infections in Humans, Italy, 2012–2020: A Summary of Available Evidences

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease ◽

10.3390/tropicalmed6020061 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 61

Author(s):

Matteo Riccò ◽

Simona Peruzzi ◽

Federica Balzarini

Keyword(s):

West Nile Virus ◽

Age Groups ◽

Invasive Disease ◽

Incidence Rates ◽

Annual Incidence ◽

Virus Infections ◽

West Nile ◽

Po River ◽

Air Temperatures ◽

Sex Risk

In Italy, human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection have been recorded since 2008, and seasonal outbreaks have occurred almost annually. In this study, we summarize available evidences on the epidemiology of WNV and West Nile neuro-invasive disease (WNND) in humans reported between 2012 and 2020. In total, 1145 WNV infection cases were diagnosed; of them 487 (42.5%) had WNND. A significant circulation of the pathogen was suggested by studies on blood donors, with annual incidence rates ranging from 1.353 (95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 0.279–3.953) to 19.069 cases per 100,000 specimens (95% CI 13.494–26.174). The annual incidence rates of WNND increased during the study period from 0.047 cases per 100,000 (95% CI 0.031–0.068) in 2012, to 0.074 cases per 100,000 (95% CI 0.054–0.099) in 2020, peaking to 0.377 cases per 100,000 (95% CI 0.330–0.429) in 2018. There were 60 deaths. Cases of WNND were clustered in Northern Italy, particularly in the Po River Valley, during the months of August (56.7%) and September (27.5%). Higher risk for WNND was reported in subjects of male sex (risk ratio (RR) 1.545, 95% CI 1.392–1.673 compared to females), and in older age groups (RR 24.46, 95% CI 15.61–38.32 for 65–74 y.o.; RR 43.7, 95% CI 28.33–67.41 for subjects older than 75 years), while main effectors were identified in average air temperatures (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.3219, 95% CI 1.0053–1.7383), population density (IRR 1.0004, 95% CI 1.0001–1.0008), and occurrence of cases in the nearby provinces (IRR 1.0442, 95% CI 1.0340–1.0545). In summary, an enhanced surveillance is vital for the early detection of human cases and the prompt implementation of response measures.

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Dissolved and particulate transport of arsenic and chromium in the Po River (Italy)

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/0048-9697(92)90268-w ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 119 ◽

pp. 253-280 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

M. Pettine ◽

M. Camusso ◽

W. Martinotti

Keyword(s):

Po River ◽

Particulate Transport

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Length-weight relationships of three estuarine species in the Comacchio Lagoon, Po River delta, Italy

Journal of Applied Ichthyology ◽

10.1111/jai.13173 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 32 (6) ◽

pp. 1284-1285 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Lanzoni ◽

A. Gavioli ◽

V. Aschonitis ◽

M. Merighi ◽

E. A. Fano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

River Delta ◽

Po River ◽

Estuarine Species

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Potential and Limitations of Open Satellite Data for Flood Mapping

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs10111673 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 1673 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Davide Notti ◽

Daniele Giordan ◽

Fabiana Caló ◽

Antonio Pepe ◽

Francesco Zucca ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Satellite Data ◽

Flood Hazard ◽

Flood Mapping ◽

Ancillary Data ◽

Po River ◽

Ground Truth Data ◽

Hazard Management ◽

Flooded Areas ◽

Flood Maps

Satellite remote sensing is a powerful tool to map flooded areas. In recent years, the availability of free satellite data significantly increased in terms of type and frequency, allowing the production of flood maps at low cost around the world. In this work, we propose a semi-automatic method for flood mapping, based only on free satellite images and open-source software. The proposed methods are suitable to be applied by the community involved in flood hazard management, not necessarily experts in remote sensing processing. As case studies, we selected three flood events that recently occurred in Spain and Italy. Multispectral satellite data acquired by MODIS, Proba-V, Landsat, and Sentinel-2 and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data collected by Sentinel-1 were used to detect flooded areas using different methodologies (e.g., Modified Normalized Difference Water Index, SAR backscattering variation, and supervised classification). Then, we improved and manually refined the automatic mapping using free ancillary data such as the digital elevation model-based water depth model and available ground truth data. We calculated flood detection performance (flood ratio) for the different datasets by comparing with flood maps made by official river authorities. The results show that it is necessary to consider different factors when selecting the best satellite data. Among these factors, the time of the satellite pass with respect to the flood peak is the most important. With co-flood multispectral images, more than 90% of the flooded area was detected in the 2015 Ebro flood (Spain) case study. With post-flood multispectral data, the flood ratio showed values under 50% a few weeks after the 2016 flood in Po and Tanaro plains (Italy), but it remained useful to map the inundated pattern. The SAR could detect flooding only at the co-flood stage, and the flood ratio showed values below 5% only a few days after the 2016 Po River inundation. Another result of the research was the creation of geomorphology-based inundation maps that matched up to 95% with official flood maps.

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