Search results for "mediterranean"

Collating evidence on the restoration efforts of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica: current knowledge and gaps

2022

Seagrass meadows are important shallow coastal ecosystems due to their contribution to enhancing biodiversity, nu-trient cycling, carbon burial, and sediment stabilisation, but the maintenance of their integrity has been threatened by several anthropogenic disturbances. Active restoration is considered a reliable strategy to enhance recovery of seagrass ecosystems, and decision making for correct seagrass restoration management requires relying on valuable informa-tion regarding the effectiveness of past restoration actions and experimental efforts.Previous experimental efforts and human-mediated active restoration actions of the slow growing seagrass Posidonia oceanica have been collated h…

Distribution of clay minerals in Early Jurassic Peritethyan seas: palaeoclimatic significance inferred from multiproxy comparisons.

2009

13 pages; International audience; A set of published, unpublished, and new clay mineral data from 60 European and Mediterranean localities allows us to test the reliability of clay minerals as palaeoclimatic proxies for the Pliensbachian–Toarcian period (Early Jurassic) by reconstructing spatial and temporal variations of detrital fluxes at the ammonite biochronozone resolution. In order to discuss their palaeoclimatic meaning, a compilation of low-latitude belemnite δ18O, δ13C, Mg/Ca, and 87Sr/86Sr values is presented for the first time for the whole Pliensbachian– Toarcian period. Once diagenetic and authigenic biases have been identified and ruled out, kaolinite content variation is cons…

Breeding phenology of Bufo viridis Laurenti, 1768 in Sicily (S Italy)

2006

Desalination effluents and the establishment of the non-indigenous skeleton shrimp Paracaprella pusilla Mayer, 1890 in the south -eastern Mediterrane…

2019

A decade long monitoring programme has revealed a flourishing population of the non-indigenous skeleton shrimp Paracaprella pusilla in the vicinity of outfalls of desalination plants off the Mediterranean coast of Israel. The first specimens were collected in 2010, thus predating all previously published records of this species in the Mediterranean Sea. A decade-long disturbance regime related to the construction and operation of the plants may have had a critical role in driving the population growth. University of Palermo FFR 2018

Amphipod assemblage under the influence of desalination plants in the south-eastern Mediterranean

2019

A check-list of amphipod assemblage, collected in the vicinity of two Israeli desalination plant marine outfalls, is provided with some notes about the species. The dataset highlights changes in species composition throughout the years, possibly due to local anthropogenic impacts.

Protection by extra virgin olive oil against oxidative stress in vitro and in vivo. Chemical and biological studies on the health benefits due to a m…

2017

Abstract We report the results of in vivo studies in Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes in which addition of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to their diet significantly increased their life span with respect to the control group. Furthermore, when nematodes were exposed to the pesticide paraquat, they started to die after two days, but after the addition of EVOO to their diet, both survival percentage and lifespans of paraquat-exposed nematodes increased. Since paraquat is associated with superoxide radical production, a test for scavenging this radical was performed using cyclovoltammetry and the EVOO efficiently scavenged the superoxide. Thus, a linear correlation (y = -0.0838x +19.73, regres…

Metabolites from Mediterranean plants: characterization and transformation. Chemotaxonomic assessment and biological activity.

Questo progetto di ricerca ha lo scopo di ampliare le conoscenze di alcune piante appartenenti alla flora Mediterranea. Le piante da studiare sono state scelte in seguito ad un’attenta analisi bibliografica tra specie poco sudiate. La scelta è quindi ricaduta su nove specie appartenenti al genere Anthemis, due specie appartenenti al genere Pulicaria e sulle specie di Tetraclinis articulata, Salvia argentea, Ajuga tenorei, Ballota hispanica, Moluccella Spinosa e Thapsia garganica. Di esse sono stati preparati ed identificati i componenti degli oli essenziali e successivamente effettuati su di essi i saggi antibatterici. Dagli estratti delle specie di Tetraclinis articulata e Ajuga tenorei so…

REVISITING ANTHROPOZOONOSES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN. A SINGLE-CENTRE PERSPECTIVE. A SOUTHERN ITALIAN EXPERIENCE

2017

Zoonoses, often better defined with the term anthropozoonoses, are diseases that can be transmitted to humans either by direct contact with animals or through arthropod vector intervention. Microbial interaction between humans and animals constitutes an important public health challenge, particularly in the Mediterranean basin. The main reasons this challenge is still relevant today include the phenomenon of migration, of both humans and animals, and climate change, which tend to alter the geographical distribution of zoonosis or the zoonotic agent, as well as the distribution range of potential vectors. The Mediterranean area seems to be affected by plentiful and widely distributed zoonose…

Antibiotic Resistance of Gram Negatives isolates from loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in the central Mediterranean Sea

2009

Previous studies on fish and marine mammals support the hypothesis that marine species harbor antibiotic resistance and therefore may serve as reservoirs for anti biotic-resistance genetic determinants. The aim of this study was to assess the resistance to antimicrobial agents of Gram negative strains isolated from loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta). Oral and cloacal swabs from 19 live-stranded loggerhead sea turtles, with hooks fixed into the gut, were analyzed. The antimicrobial resistance of the isolates to 31 antibiotics was assessed using the disk-diffusion method. Conventional biochemical tests identified Citrobacter spp., Proteus spp., Enterobacter spp., Escherichia spp., Provi…

Citrus flavonoids: Molecular structure, biological activity and nutritional properties: A review

2007

Abstract Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse relationship between dietary flavonoid intakes and cardiovascular diseases. Citrus fruits are the main winter fruits consumed in the Mediterranean diet, so they are the main source of dietary flavonoids. The possible beneficial effects are due, not only to the high amounts of vitamins and minerals, but also to the antioxidant properties of their flavonoids. Dietary flavonoids may help to supplement the body antioxidant defences against free radicals. These compounds’ possible beneficial effects are due to their antioxidant activity, which is related to the development of atherosclerosis and cancer, and to anti-inflammatory and antimicro…