Echinoderm larvae as bioindicators for the assessment of marine pollution: Sea urchin and sea cucumber responsiveness and future perspectives.

Echinoderms play a crucial role in the functioning of marine ecosystems and due to their extensive distribution, rapid response, and the high sensitivity of their planktonic larvae to a large range of stressors, some species are widely used as biological indicators. In addition to sea urchins, sea cucumbers have recently been implemented in embryotoxicity bioassays showing high potential in ecotoxicological studies. However, the use of this species is still hindered by a lack of knowledge regarding their comparative responsiveness.

Eco-Friendly Engineered Nanomaterials Coupled with Filtering Fine-Mesh Net as a Promising Tool to Remediate Contaminated Freshwater Sludges: An Ecotoxicity Investigation.

The use of eco-friendly engineered nanomaterials represents a recent solution for an effective and safe treatment of contaminated dredging sludge. In this study, an eco-designed engineered material based on cross-linked nanocellulose (CNS) was applied for the first time to decontaminate a real matrix from heavy metals (namely Zn, Ni, Cu, and Fe) and other undesired elements (mainly Ba and As) in a lab-scale study, with the aim to design a safe solution for the remediation of contaminated matrices. Contaminated freshwater sludge was treated with CNS coupled with a filtering fine-mesh net, and the obtained waters were tested for acute and sublethal toxicity.

Impact of sheep wool residues as soil amendments on olive beneficial symbionts and bacterial diversity.

In recent years the use of organic matter soil amendments, such as agricultural by-products, has been implemented with the aim of increasing soil fertility, while minimizing the environmental impact of agriculture. Sheep wool residues (SWR) have shown beneficial effects on plant nutrition and soil properties, while only few works assessed their impact on soil microbial communities. The main aim of this work was to investigate the possible valorization of two SWR types (scoured residues, white wool, WW, and carbonized scoured residues, black wool, BW) as organic soil amendments, in pot-grown olive trees, by evaluating their impact on soil bacterial communities and mycorrhizal symbionts.

Primary Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma of the Urinary Bladder: Update on a Rare Disease and Potential Diagnostic Pitfalls.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) represents the most frequent type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Globally, DLBCL is an aggressive disease, requiring an accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment. The diagnosis is often made on biopsy samples of a nodal mass, however, approximately 40% of DLBCL cases arise at extranodal sites.

EBV-Driven Lymphoproliferative Disorders and Lymphomas of the Gastrointestinal Tract: A Spectrum of Entities with a Common Denominator (Part 3).

EBV is the first known oncogenic virus involved in the development of several tumors. The majority of the global population are infected with the virus early in life and the virus persists throughout life, in a latent stage, and usually within B lymphocytes. Despite the worldwide diffusion of EBV infection, EBV-associated diseases develop in only in a small subset of individuals often when conditions of immunosuppression disrupt the balance between the infection and host immune system.

Cellular Responses Induced by Zinc in Zebra Mussel Haemocytes. Loss of DNA Integrity as a Cellular Mechanism to Evaluate the Suitability of Nanocellulose-Based Materials in Nanoremediation.

Zinc environmental levels are increasing due to human activities, posing a threat to ecosystems and human health. Therefore, new tools able to remediate Zn contamination in freshwater are highly recommended. Specimens of (zebra mussel) were exposed for 48 h and 7 days to a wide range of ZnCl nominal concentrations (1-10-50-100 mg/L), including those environmentally relevant.

Comparison of different ecotoxicological batteries with WOE approach for the environmental quality evaluation of harbour sediments.

This study was conducted under the Italian Ministerial Decree D.M. 173/2016 which regulates the assessment of the Sediment Class Quality in Italy using ecotoxicological bioassay and chemical analysis (Weight-Of-Evidence model).

Historical control data in ecotoxicology: Eight years of tests with the copepod Acartia tonsa.

The calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa is one of the most frequently used organisms in acute, short-term bioassays to assess effects induced by marine matrices or chemicals on different life stages. Physiological responses in such tests can be highly variable and historical control data (HCD), values recorded from previous studies performed under similar conditions, can be useful to recognise the average responses over time. Here, we analysed egg hatching success and larval (naupliar) immobilisation/mortality of A.

Elutriate preparation affects embryo development test with Paracentrotus lividus: An in-depth study on the differences between two protocols and three different sediment/water mixing times.

Coastal areas are under continuous and increasing pressure from different human activities. A mixture of contaminants (e.g.

Development and validation of new analytical methods using sea urchin embryo bioassay to evaluate dredged marine sediments.

Management of dredged materials disposal is regulated by several environmental normative requirements, and it is often supported by the integration of chemical data with ecotoxicological characterization. The reliability of a bioassay to assess the potential toxicity of dredged sediments requires the selection of quality criteria that should be based on simple analytical methods and easily understandable hazard for politicians and environmental managers. The sea urchin embryo-toxicity bioassay is considered an essential component for evaluating the quality of sediments in harbour areas but its use, when based exclusively on the observation of normal vs.

Integrated characterization and risk management of marine sediments: The case study of the industrialized Bagnoli area (Naples, Italy).

The aim of the present work is to demonstrate the practical importance of a multidisciplinary approach and weighted criteria to synthesize and integrate different typologies of data (or lines of evidence, LOEs), including chemical levels in marine sediments, their bioavailability to specific indicator species, ecotoxicological effects measured through subcellular biomarkers and batteries of bioassays, and potential impacts of pollution on local benthic communities. The area of Bagnoli (Gulf of Naples, Southern Italy) was selected as a model case-study, as it is a coastal area chronically impacted by massive industrial contamination (trace metals and hydrocarbons), and dismissed decades ago without any subsequent remediation or habitat restoration. The results of each LOE were elaborated to provide specific hazard indices before their overall integration in a weight of evidence (WOE) evaluation.

Sea cucumber Holothuria polii (Delle Chiaje, 1823) as new model for embryo bioassays in ecotoxicological studies.

The sea cucumbers are common members of marine benthic communities, widespread distributed, easily available and handled. Nevertheless, no data are available on embryo toxicity assays using sea cucumbers, despite some of these species could fully meet the requirements for model test organisms. Holothuria polii is a key species in soft sediments and seagrass meadows; the aim of the present study was the standardization of a new embryo bioassay with this species, as an ecologically relevant test to evaluate the effects of environmental stressors.

Passive sampling monitoring of PAHs and trace metals in seawater during the salvaging of the Costa Concordia wreck (Parbuckling Project).

Passive sampling techniques were used for monitoring trace metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the seawater surrounding the Costa Concordia shipwreck (Isola del Giglio, Italy). The monitoring lasted two and a half years (2012-2014) and considered all four phases of the "parbuckling project": stabilisation of the wreckage, installation of steel caissons on both sides of the wreck, parbuckling, and refloating. Dissolved trace metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and V) were measured with diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT), while freely dissolved PAHs were measured with semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs).

In situ embryo toxicity test with sea urchin: Development of exposure chamber for test execution.

In situ toxicity tests represent a technique rarely performed owing to the lack of standard methodologies or to technical or economic problems. Nevertheless, its application would allow for a more realistic interpretation of pollution effects than those obtained by standard laboratory tests. The goal of this study is to develop and validate a specific exposure chamber for in situ exposition of Paracentrotus lividus embryos to obtain a defined methodology to perform the sea urchin embryo toxicity test in field conditions.

Larval development ratio test with the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa as a new bioassay to assess marine sediment quality.

The copepod Acartia tonsa was used as a model species to assess marine sediment quality. Acute and chronic bioassays, such as larval development ratio (LDR) and different end-points were evaluated. As a pelagic species, A.

The impact of cocaine use in patients enrolled in opioid agonist therapy in Ontario, Canada.

Background: Opioid agonist therapy is the gold standard of care for opioid use disorder; however, the efficacy of this treatment may be hindered by concurrent drug use, including the use of cocaine. This study examines the impact of cocaine use on treatment retention, while accounting for various risk factors, including geographic location, age, gender, and first-month cocaine use.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using anonymized electronic medical records from 58 opioid agonist therapy clinics in Ontario between 2011 and 2013.

The effectiveness of telemedicine-delivered opioid agonist therapy in a supervised clinical setting.

Objective: Opioid use disorder has been declared a public health crisis across North America and opioid agonist therapy (OAT) is the standard of care for these patients. Despite the increasing adoption of telemedicine as a delivery method for OAT, its effectiveness has not yet been evaluated against traditional in-person treatment. This study compared treatment outcomes for in-person versus telemedicine-delivered OAT.

Microplastics pollution after the removal of the Costa Concordia wreck: First evidences from a biomonitoring case study.

Microplastics (MPs) represent a matter of growing concern for the marine environment. Their ingestion has been documented in several species worldwide, but the impact of specific anthropogenic activities remains largely unexplored. In this study, MPs were characterized in different benthic fish sampled after 2.

The impact of benzodiazepine use in patients enrolled in opioid agonist therapy in Northern and rural Ontario.

Background: Benzodiazepine use is common among patients in opioid agonist therapy; this puts patients at an increased risk of overdose and death. In this study, we examine the impact of baseline and ongoing benzodiazepine use, and whether patients are more likely to terminate treatment with increasing proportion of benzodiazepine positive urine samples. We also study whether benzodiazepine use differs by geographic location.

Toxicological effects of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots on marine planktonic organisms.

Quantum dot nanoparticles (QDs) are proposed as novel materials for photovoltaic technologies, light emitting devices, and biomedical applications. In this study we investigated the effect of CdSe/ZnS QDs on the growth rate of four microalgae: the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, the cryptophyte Rhinomonas reticulata, the prymnesiophyte Isochrysis galbana and the green alga Dunaliella tertiolecta. In addition we analyzed the effect of QDs on the copepod Acartia tonsa.

Detection of malformations in sea urchin plutei exposed to mercuric chloride using different fluorescent techniques.

Embryos of Mediterranean sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and subtropical Echinometra mathaei were exposed to 5,10, 15 and 20µgL(-1), and to 1, 2, 3 and 4µgL(-1) mercuric chloride (HgCl2), respectively. The effective concentration (EC50) inducing malformation in 50% of 4-arm pluteus stage (P4) was 16.14µgL(-1) for P.

A multidisciplinary weight of evidence approach for environmental risk assessment at the Costa Concordia wreck: Integrative indices from Mussel Watch.

A complex framework of chemical, biological and oceanographic activities was immediately activated after the Costa Concordia shipwreck, to assess possible contamination events and the environmental impact during both emergency and wreck removal operations. In the present paper, we describe the results obtained with caged mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, chosen as bioindicator organisms to detect variations of bioavailability and the early onset of molecular and cellular effects (biomarkers). Seven translocation experiments were carried out during the first year from the incident, with organisms deployed at 2 depths in 3 different sites.

Arsenic exposure affects embryo development of sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck, 1816).

Toxicity tests were performed with embryos of Paracentrotus lividus to investigate the toxicological effect of two arsenic species: arsenate (As(V)), expected to be more toxic, and dimethyl-arsinate (DMA) expected to be less toxic. Exposures to toxicants were performed at different developmental stages in order to identify the most sensitive phase of embryological development. Statistical analysis revealed a high significance of each factor (Molecule, Concentration and Time of exposure) and their interaction for the dependent variable "Percentage of normal-shaped plutei".

Bioconcentration and arsenic speciation analysis in ragworm, Hediste diversicolor (Muller 1776).

This study focused on bioconcentrations of arsenic in Hediste diversicolor (Müller 1776) after exposure to three different molecule solutions: arsenate, dimethyl-arsinate and arsenobetaine. Speciation analysis was carried out after exposing the organisms to these solutions in order to investigate their arsenic biotransformation capacity. Arsenic reached to the maximum level in these tissues after 15 days' exposure to a solution of 100 μg L(-1) of arsenobetaine, although a significant increase was obtained in worms exposed to arsenate.