Publications by authors named "Gianluca Polese"

The growing use of products containing rare earth elements (REEs) may lead to higher environmental emissions of these elements, which can potentially enter aquatic systems. Praseodymium (Pr) and europium (Eu) are widely used REEs with various applications. However, their ecotoxicological impacts remain largely unexplored, with poorly understood risks to wildlife.

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Neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy) are among the most commonly used rare earth elements (REEs) worldwide, leading to their increased concentrations in aquatic environments, with potential impacts on organisms. Additionally, organisms are also subjected to environmental stressors, such as salinity shifts, which can not only directly impact their health but also modulate the impacts of contaminants. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of Nd and Dy on adult mussels and sperm of the species Mytilus galloprovincialis after 28 days and 30 min of exposure, respectively.

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Limited data are available about the coastal ecology of the Calabria region, in the southern Italy. As well, data about the levels of biodiversity and the structure of food webs in these environments are totally missing. However, considering the wide range of physical and ecological conditions distinguishing these ecosystems, a remarkable spread of biodiversity is expected.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examined how europium exposure, warming, and their combination affect the health of Mytilus galloprovincialis (a type of mussel) over 28 days, along with assessing the impact on sperm after 30 minutes of exposure.
  • Warming increased mussel metabolism and activated protective enzymes but caused cellular damage; europium exposure also led to similar damage, with the worst effects occurring from the combination of both stressors.
  • For sperm, warming reduced harmful reactive oxygen species but increased lipid damage, while europium exposure severely impaired sperm velocity and function, highlighting the critical need to explore the effects of rare earth elements alongside climate change factors.
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Being a crucial element for technological development, praseodymium (Pr) has been increasingly used, leading to a rise in its concentration in aquatic systems. However, its potential threats to organisms remain poorly understood. Besides contamination, organisms are also threatened by climate change-related factors, including warming.

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In the last years biodegradable polymers (BPs) were largely used as real opportunity to solve plastic pollution. Otherwise, their wide use in commercial products, such as packaging sector, is causing a new pollution alarm, mainly because few data reported about their behaviour in the environment and toxicity on marine organisms. Our previous results showed that embryos of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (Lmk) exposed to poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) showed delay of their development and morphological malformations, also affecting at the molecular levels the expression of several genes involved in different functional responses.

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The use of rare earth elements (REEs) has been increasing and one of the most used is neodymium (Nd). Being an emergent contaminant, its negative impacts are poorly understood. Aquatic organisms are also threatened by climate change-related factors, as is the case of warming, which can change the effects of REEs.

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The global effort to achieve carbon neutrality has led to an increased demand for renewable energy technologies and their raw materials, namely rare earth elements (REEs). These elements possess unique properties and are used in various applications. However, the increased use of REE-based technologies has resulted in higher amounts of electronic waste, leading to elevated REEs concentrations found in the aquatic environment, with poorly understood threats to wildlife.

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  • Caulerpin (CAU) is a bioactive compound from invasive green algae, while caffeine (CAF) is a common water pollutant and psychoactive substance. Both can accumulate in aquatic life and in human diets.
  • The study used mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) to explore potential interactions between CAU and CAF, finding that CAF induced toxic effects, but CAU did not worsen these effects or cause cumulative damage.
  • The results suggest CAU may help reduce CAF toxicity due to its potential role in detoxification processes, encouraging more research into its possible use as a food additive for clearing pollutants from the body.
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A wide variety of substances have been used to anaesthetise invertebrates, but many are not anaesthetics and merely incapacitate animals rather than preventing pain. In essence, the role of an ideal general anaesthetic is to act as a muscle relaxant, an analgesic, an anaesthetic, and an amnesic. To achieve all these properties with a single substance is difficult, and various adjuvants usually need to be administered, resulting in a cocktail of drugs.

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Nowadays, it is of utmost importance to consider climate change factors, such as ocean warming, since the risk of negative impacts derived from increased surface water temperature is predicted to be high to the biodiversity. The need for renewable energy technologies, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has led to the increasing use of rare earth elements (REEs). Dysprosium (Dy) is widely used in magnets, motors, electrical vehicles, and nuclear reactors, being considered a critical REE to technology due to its economic importance and high supply risk.

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  • * It highlights a shift towards recirculated aquaculture systems (RAS) in fish production, pointing out that the effects of pollution from animal metabolism on marine organisms are not well-studied.
  • * The research compares the reproductive performance of sea urchins in traditional open-cycle tanks versus RAS, analyzing gametes and embryos to assess the effects of increased pollution on fertility and reproductive health.
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  • Bioactive compounds from marine invasive species, like the alkaloid caulerpin (CAU) from the invasive green algae Caulerpa cylindracea, can have significant effects on native marine life, similar to the synthetic drug fenofibrate (FFB), which poses risks to aquatic ecosystems.
  • A study comparing the effects of CAU and FFB on the mussel species Mytilus galloprovincialis showed that FFB resulted in metabolic impairments and cellular damage, while CAU did not lead to significant adverse effects.
  • Findings suggest that while FFB is harmful and its release should be minimized, CAU could be a potential resource for utilizing invasive species without detrimental impacts on marine life.
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Climate change-associated factors and pollutants, such as rare earth elements (REEs), have been identified as contributors to environmental changes. However, the toxicity resulting from the combination of these stressors has received little attention. Neodymium (Nd) is a REE that has been widely used, and this study aimed to evaluate the responses of Mytilus galloprovincialis to Nd exposure (10 µg/L), under actual (17 °C) and predicted warming conditions (21 °C), after fourteen days of exposure followed by fourteen days of recovery (without Nd), analyzing Nd accumulation, histopathological and biochemical alterations.

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  • Soft-bodied cephalopods, like octopuses, have a sophisticated nervous system that evolved separately from vertebrates, showcasing their intelligence.
  • Researchers focused on RNA regulation in cephalopods, revealing an expansion of microRNA (miRNA) genes that are mainly found in adult brain tissues and during development.
  • This unique miRNA expansion parallels similar developments in vertebrates, suggesting that miRNAs play a crucial role in the evolution of advanced cognitive abilities in complex animal brains.
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The invasive macroalga has spread widely in the Mediterranean Sea, becoming a favorite food item for native fish for reasons yet unknown. By using a combination of behavioral, morphological, and molecular approaches, herein we provide evidence that the bisindole alkaloid caulerpin, a major secondary metabolite of , significantly increases food intake in the model fish , influencing the regulation of genes involved in the orexigenic pathway. In addition, we found that the compound improves fish reproductive performance by affecting the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis.

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Mercury (Hg) is one of the most hazardous pollutants, due to its toxicity, biological magnification and worldwide persistence in aquatic systems. Thus, new efficient nanotechnologies (e.g.

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Mixture of contaminants often determine biological responses of marine species, making difficult the interpretation of toxicological data. The pharmaceutical 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and the surfactant Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) commonly co-occur in the marine environment. This study evaluated the effects of EE2 (125.

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Pharmaceutical drugs are Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) and are continuously discharged into the environment. As a result of human and veterinary use, these substances are reaching aquatic coastal systems, with limited information regarding the toxic effects of these compounds towards inhabiting organisms. Among CECs are pharmaceuticals like 17 α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), which is a synthetic hormone with high estrogenic potency.

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In their foraging behavior octopuses rely on arm search movements outside the visual field of the eyes. In these movements the environment is explored primarily by the suckers that line the entire length of the octopus arm. In this study, for the first time, we report the complete characterization of a light-sensing molecule, Ov-GRK1, in the suckers, skin and retina of .

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Mercury (Hg) has been increasing in waters, sediments, soils and air, as a result of natural events and anthropogenic activities. In aquatic environments, especially marine systems (estuaries and lagoons), Hg is easily bioavailable and accumulated by aquatic wildlife, namely bivalves, due to their lifestyle characteristics (sedentary and filter-feeding behavior). In recent years, different approaches have been developed with the objective of removing metal(loid)s from the water, including the employment of nanomaterials.

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Advanced investigations on the use of graphene based nanomaterials have highlighted the capacity of these materials for wastewater treatment. Research on this topic revealed the efficiency of the nanocomposite synthetized by graphene oxide functionalized with polyethyleneimine (GO-PEI) to adsorb mercury (Hg) from contaminated seawater. However, information on the environmental risks associated with these approaches are still lacking.

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  • Organisms in marine environments face various contaminants that can interact and influence each other's effects, with temperature also playing a crucial role in their toxicity.
  • The study evaluated the impact of caffeine and functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes on clams (Ruditapes philippinarum), focusing on their effects alone and in combination at two different temperatures (18°C and 21°C).
  • Results showed that at the lower temperature, contaminants led to negative outcomes like reduced protein content and metabolism in clams, while their antioxidant responses varied, showing some protective effects, but still resulted in cellular damage.
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Nowadays, multi-walled carbon nanotubes are considered to be emerging contaminants and their impact in ecosystem has drawn special research attention, while other contaminants, such as caffeine, have more coverage in literature. Despite this, the effects of a combination of the two has yet to be evaluated, especially considering predicted temperature rise. In the present study a typical bioindicator species for marine environment, the clam Ruditapes decussatus, and classical tools, such as biomarkers and histopathological indices, were used to shed light on the species' response to these contaminants, under actual and predicted warming scenarios.

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Octopuses are unique invertebrates, with sophisticated and flexible behaviors controlled by a high degree of brain plasticity, learning, and memory. Moreover, in , it has been demonstrated that animals housed in an enriched environment show adult neurogenesis in specific brain areas. Firstly, we evaluated the optimal acclimatization period needed for an before starting a cognitive stimulation experiment.

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