Efficacy and safety of vaginal formulations with tyndallized ferments in subjects with nonspecific vulvovaginitis: A randomized study in Italy.

Aim: In this study, we tested the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of vaginal ovules and a vaginal douche containing tyndallized ferments in women affected by nonspecific vulvovaginitis, with or without the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Methods: The study included 91 female patients and had a randomized, controlled sequential design, with parallel groups. Ovules and douche were tested and compared to a control group treated with sterile physiological solution.

Aedes albopictus bionomics data collection by citizen participation on Procida Island, a promising Mediterranean site for the assessment of innovative and community-based integrated pest management methods.

In the last decades, the colonization of Mediterranean Europe and of other temperate regions by Aedes albopictus created an unprecedented nuisance problem in highly infested areas and new public health threats due to the vector competence of the species. The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) are insecticide-free mosquito-control methods, relying on mass release of irradiated/manipulated males, able to complement existing and only partially effective control tools. The validation of these approaches in the field requires appropriate experimental settings, possibly isolated to avoid mosquito immigration from other infested areas, and preliminary ecological and entomological data.

ZanzaMapp: A Scalable Citizen Science Tool to Monitor Perception of Mosquito Abundance and Nuisance in Italy and Beyond.

Mosquitoes represent a considerable nuisance and are actual/potential vectors of human diseases in Europe. Costly and labour-intensive entomological monitoring is needed to correct planning of interventions aimed at reducing nuisance and the risk of pathogen transmission. The widespread availability of mobile phones and of massive Internet connections opens the way to the contribution of citizen in complementing entomological monitoring.

() orchestrates male sex determination in major agricultural fruit fly pests.

In insects, rapidly evolving primary sex-determining signals are transduced by a conserved regulatory module controlling sexual differentiation. In the agricultural pest (Mediterranean fruit fly, or Medfly), we identified a Y-linked gene, (), encoding a small protein that is necessary and sufficient for male development. Silencing or disruption of in XY embryos causes feminization, whereas overexpression of in XX embryos induces masculinization.

Identification of sex determination genes and their evolution in Phlebotominae sand flies (Diptera, Nematocera).

Background: Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera, Nematocera) are important vectors of several pathogens, including Leishmania parasites, causing serious diseases of humans and dogs. Despite their importance as disease vectors, most aspects of sand fly biology remain unknown including the molecular basis of their reproduction and sex determination, aspects also relevant for the development of novel vector control strategies.

Results: Using comparative genomics/transcriptomics data mining and transcriptional profiling, we identified the sex determining genes in phlebotomine sand flies and proposed the first model for the sex determination cascade of these insects.