Revision of the Mediterranean Pliocene Apiocypraea F.A. Schilder, 1925 (Gastropoda: Eocypraeidae) with special consideration of shells of the “Spungone” area, Romagna, Northern Italy

Author(s):  
Dirk Fehse ◽  
Edgardo Bertaccini ◽  
Franco Gardella ◽  
Cesare Tabanelli
Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Elena Percivalle ◽  
Irene Cassaniti ◽  
Mattia Calzolari ◽  
Davide Lelli ◽  
Fausto Baldanti

Phleboviruses transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies are endemic in the Mediterranean basin. Toscana phlebovirus (TOSV), Sicilian phlebovirus (SFSV), and Naples phlebovirus (SFNV) are responsible of summer fever, with well-known pathogenic potential for humans ranging from asymptomatic to mild fever, in addition to neuro-invasive infections during summer. Although TOSV, in particular, is a significant and well-known human pathogen, SFVs remain neglected, with many gaps in the relevant knowledge. Sero-epidemiological studies and case reports recently showed a geographical wider distribution than previously considered, although the real incidence of phleboviruses infections in the Mediterranean area is still unknown. Here we retrospectively evaluated the circulation of phleboviruses during summer seasons between 2007 and 2019 in 649 patients showing neurological symptoms using both molecular and serological approaches. We found that 42/649 (6.5%) subjects experienced phlebovirus infection and only 10/42 cases were detected by molecular assays, whereas the other 32/42 were identified using serological approaches, including neutralization assays. During the 2013 summer, an outbreak in the Lombardy region is described because the prevalence of phlebovirus infection reached 37.2% (19/51 subjects). Interestingly, only 5/19 (26.5%) reported traveling in endemic areas. Of note, no cross-neutralization was observed between different strains tested, showing the possibility to be reinfected by newly discovered phlebovirus strains. In conclusion, phlebovirus infections are still inadequately considered by physicians and are generally underestimated. However, based on our results, sandfly fever viruses should be routinely included in diagnostic panels during summer period, including in Northern Italy.


2016 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 363-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Biagi ◽  
Elisabetta Starnini ◽  
Carlo Beltrame

The discovery of the wreck of the brig Mercurio, which sank in 1812 in the waters of the north Adriatic, is of major significance for the study of Italic Kingdom vessels from the Napoleonic era. The underwater excavations carried out in 2004–11 led to the recovery of many small finds, among which are several gunflints of different size and shape. The Mercurio gunflints were produced mainly from blades using a technique in use in Britain and France, but also in the workshops of the Lessini Hills around Ceredo (Verona province, northern Italy). We suggest that the flint employed for their manufacture probably came from Monte Baldo, in the Trentino, or perhaps from the River Tagliamento, in Friuli. We can exclude the possibility that the specimens recovered from the shipwreck were made from French flint because of the typically north Italian manufacturing technique and the character of the grey Treveti-derived flint. Given the complexity of the period during which the Grado (or Pirano) battle took place, the study of even such small items can contribute to a better interpretation of the dramatic events that characterised the beginning of the nineteenth century in that part of the Mediterranean.


Geology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Cosentino ◽  
Robert Buchwaldt ◽  
Gianluca Sampalmieri ◽  
Annalisa Iadanza ◽  
Paola Cipollari ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Pondrelli ◽  
Simone Salimbeni ◽  
Paolo Perfetti ◽  
Peter Danecek

<p>In May 2012, a seismic sequence struck the Emilia region (northern Italy). The mainshock, of Ml 5.9, occurred on May 20, 2012, at 02:03 UTC. This was preceded by a smaller Ml 4.1 foreshock some hours before (23:13 UTC on May 19, 2012) and followed by more than 2,500 earthquakes in the magnitude range from Ml 0.7 to 5.2. In addition, on May 29, 2012, three further strong earthquakes occurred, all with magnitude Ml ≥5.2: a Ml 5.8 earthquake in the morning (07:00 UTC), followed by two events within just 5 min of each other, one at 10:55 UTC (Ml 5.3) and the second at 11:00 UTC (Ml 5.2). For all of the Ml ≥4.0 earthquakes in Italy and for all of the Ml ≥4.5 in the Mediterranean area, an automatic procedure for the computation of a regional centroid moment tensor (RCMT) is triggered by an email alert. Within 1 h of the event, a manually revised quick RCMT (QRCMT) can be published on the website if the solution is considered stable. In particular, for the Emilia seismic sequence, 13 QRCMTs were determined and for three of them, those with M &gt;5.5, the automatically computed QRCMTs fitted the criteria for publication without manual revision. Using this seismic sequence as a test, we can then identify the magnitude threshold for automatic publication of our QRCMTs.</p>


Author(s):  
P. Dioli ◽  
C.M.T. Boggio ◽  
L. Limonta

The survey of Heteroptera carried out in 2016 along the nature path “Bosco dei Tigli” (Lime Trees Wood) in Piode (Piedmont, 900 m a.s.l.), highlighted 74 species, belonging to 68 genera in total. The number of species of each family well represents the Italian Heteroptera composition, with the prevalence of Miridae and Pentatomidae. The Miridae Criocoris nigripes var. apicalis (Fieber, 1861), a new record in the Alps, and Dicyphus flavoviridis (Tamanini, 1949), an Italian endemic taxon, were collected. Atractotomus parvulus (Reuter, 1878) and Orthotylus viridinervis (Kirschbaum, 1856) were recorded for the first time in Piedmont. Piode is the most Northern area, with Sondrio, where the Mediterranean Lygaeidae Oxycarenus lavaterae (Fabricius, 1784) was found.


2011 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Roberto Battiston ◽  
Carlo Galliani

The recent find of an <em>Ameles spallanzania</em> population in a continental area of northern Italy permitted to redraw the northernmost edge of the distribution of this species and to study its life cycle in extreme climatic conditions. A comparison with collecting records of adult specimens from the Mediterranean area has been performed to put in evidence how this species adapts its life-cycle timings in different latitudes: hatching earlier or using nymphs to overwinter in warmer localities or oothecae in colder ones. Overwintering strategies of <em>Ameles spallanzania</em> have been compared with strategies of other genera of mantids that share the same habitat but have different life-cycle strategies and general distribution. Different developing times in mantids seem to be linked to behavioural strategies more than physiological attitudes.


Water ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Deitch ◽  
Michele Sapundjieff ◽  
Shane Feirer

The Mediterranean climate is principally characterized by warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. However, there are large variations in precipitation dynamics in regions with this climate type. We examined the variability of precipitation within and among Mediterranean-climate areas, and classified the Mediterranean climate as wet, moderate, or dry based on annual precipitation; and strongly, moderately, or weakly seasonal based on percentage of precipitation during summer. Mediterranean biomes are mostly dry (<700 mm annually) but some areas are wet (>1300 mm annually); and many areas are weakly seasonal (>12% of annual precipitation during summer). We also used NOAA NCDC climate records to characterize interannual variability of annual and dry-season precipitation, as well as trends in annual, winter, and dry-season precipitation for 337 sites that met the data quality criteria from 1975 to 2015. Most significantly, sites in many Mediterranean-climate regions show downward trends in annual precipitation (southern California, Spain, Australia, Chile, and Northern Italy); and most of North America, the Mediterranean basin, and Chile showed downward trends in summer precipitation. Variations in annual and summer precipitation likely contribute to the high biodiversity and endemism characteristic of Mediterranean-climate biomes; the data indicate trends toward harsher conditions over the past 40 years.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Zerboni ◽  
Anna Maria Mercuri ◽  
Assunta Florenzano ◽  
Eleonora Clò ◽  
Giovanni Zanchetta ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;The Terramare civilization included hundreds of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;banked and moated villages, located in the alluvial plain of the Po River of northern Italy, and developed between the Middle and the Recent Bronze Ages (XVI-XII cent. BC). This civilization lasted for over 500 years, collapsing at around 1150 years BC, in a period marked by a great societal disruptionin the Mediterranean area. The timing and modalities of the collapse of the Terramare Bronze Age culture are widely debated, and a combined geoarchaeological and palaeoclimatic investigation &amp;#8211; the SUCCESSO-TERRA Project &amp;#8211;is shading new light on this enigma. The Terramare economy was based upon cereal farming, herding, and metallurgy; settlements were also sustained by a well-developed system for the management of water and abundant wood resources. They also established a wide network of commercial exchange between continental Europe and the Mediterranean region.The SUCCESSO-TERRA Project investigated two main Bronze Age sites in Northern Italy:(i) the Terramara Santa Rosa di Poviglio, and (ii) the San Michele di Valestra site, which is a coeval settlement outside the Terramare territory, but in the adjoining Apennine range. Human occupation at San Michele di Valestra persisted after the Terramare crisis and the site was settled with continuity throughout the whole Bronze Ages, up to the Iron Age. The combined geoarchaeological, palaeoclimatic, and archaeobotanical investigation on different archaeological sites and on independent archives for climatic proxies (offsite cores and speleothems) highlights the existence of both climatic and anthropic critical factors triggering a dramatic shift of the landuse of the Terramare civilization. The overexploitation of natural resources became excessive in the late period of the Terramare trajectory, when also a climatic change occurred. A fresh speleothem record for the same region suggests the occurrence of a short-lived period of climatic instability followed by a marked peak of aridity. The&lt;span&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/span&gt;unfavourable concomitance between human overgrazing and climatic-triggered environmental pressure, amplified the on-going societal crisis, likely leading to the breakdown of the Terramare civilization in the turn of a generation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;


Author(s):  
Francesco Crifò

AbstractGreek-speaking people have been sailing the Mediterranean for millennia. At various stages of their development from Latin, the Romance languages have been influenced by their idiom. In Italy and in its islands, this role has been particularly evident due to the many rich and culturally active colonies in Southern Italy before and during the Roman period on the one hand, and through the later Byzantine occupation, which lasted several centuries in some areas, on the other. In this article, after a brief summary of the historical background (2.), the characteristics of the lexical borrowings from Greek in the local idioms of Southern (3.) as well as of Central and Northern Italy (4.) will be sketched. Here and there, and in the conclusions (5.), the status quaestionis and the latest orientations of the research will also be broadly outlined.


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