Assessment of the Water Quality of the River Arno in the Area of Florence,Italy

The quality of the waters collected from R. Arno was examined in the period September 1988 to December 1989. A first campaign in September/October 1988, during a period of low water, gives a general picture of pollution conditions along the river from the source to the mouth. the river appears to be heavily polluted immediately downstream of Florence and in the area of the textile industry.

In the second campaign, through the whole year 1989, particular attention has been given to the Florence area; the most significant results, compared with those from a previous investigation carried out in 1971, show only a small reduction of the pollution load, due to the shortage and inadequacy of wastewater depuration. Some considerations are reported on pollution drop with full spate.     

Environmental Pollution Due to Natural Factors: A Case Study in A Volcanic Area (Vulcano Island,Italy)

A major influence on the environment of active volcanic areas is expected from continuous input of chemical species pertaining to fumarolic activities occurring during inter-eruptive intervals.

The systematic investigations carried out during thirteen years in the island of Vulcano (Italy) showed also substantial contributions to phreatic waters and soils of minor constituents and trace metals from volcanic rocks with no negligible influence on growing crops.

Greater extents of these phenomena have been observed for products of hydromagmatic volcanic activity or of long-lasting weathering processes.     

Ancient settlement dynamics and predictive archaeological models for the Metapontum coastal area in Basilicata,southern Italy: from geomorphological survey to spatial analysis

In the ancient territory of the Greek settlement of Metaponto and its Chora (Ionian sector of Basilicata, southern Italy) geomorphological mapping, GIS-supported statistics, and landform topographic features were investigated and combined to extract settlement rules and site dynamics. Analyses of environmental dynamics as well as of spatial and temporal settlement evolution were carried through an integrated approach that, starting from a detailed geomorphological analysis, tried to extract the spatial relationships between archaeological site locations and landform/landscape features. Spatial analysis was used to investigate the relationships between environmental parameters and archaeological sites. The advantages to develop a predictive model using Archeological Spatial Evaluation (ASE) analysis lay in the possibility to deeply study the relationships between man and the environment. In the present study, the analysis was carried out in a pioneering way in the ~400 km² Metaponto territory in order to robustly validate - in the aftermath data - human and territorial dynamics. A model describing interactions between sites and parameters such as elevation, slope, aspect, landforms, land use, and distances from rivers was constructed. Sensibility maps were produced, which will help archaeologists to know how many and which are the parameters increasing the probability to find new archaeological sites as well as how the main geomorphological features of the study area, contextualized within the most likely paleoclimate scenario, affect ancient site arrangement though time. The preferential occupation of mid-altitude marine terraces, and the consequence spreading of agriculture on these territories, is likely due to the existence of well-developed soil profiles on them. Clearly colonists recognized that on these landform units there were the better conditions for the development of massive agricultural practices: since the SP age (4,1 to 2,0 Kyr B.P.) the settlers expands inland looking for most fertile territories as well as for areas sufficiently protected (being far away from the coast). The increase in farmhouses on the top of marine terraces from the FC up to EC-EE periods and the modifications of settlement distribution (gradual abandonment of alluvial) in the Metaponto area is likely related to the acceleration of alluvial processes. The progressive decrease of human occupation during the Hellenistic up to the Roman Age is clearly consequence of the Roman conquest. However, a role played by the increase in flooding occurrence in the coastal plain/floodplains of the main rivers in triggering the abandonment of these territories and marking the beginning of the decadent phases should not be neglected. Productive areas (locally associated to farmhouses) are preferential set along the fluvial incisions (sometime associated to farmhouses), thus implying that productive area setting is strongly linked to the presence of rivers, and of their lower rank tributaries, both as an intrinsic need of manufacturing and to facilitate the spreading of products. From the Classical to the Hellenistic Age until the Roman Age, Necropolis are spread in the entire area, from marine terraces to alluvial plain. On the other hand, Sacred areas - which appearance is recorded starting from the Colony Foundation Age - exhibits a settlement continuity in the study area starting from this time up to the entire Roman period, and the sacred areas setting is strictly associated to the category of Settlement.     

Kinetics of the chemical degradation of diuron

The influence of pH and buffer concentration on the chemical degradation of diuron in water has been analysed over a wide temperature range. The process irreversibly gives 3,4-dichloroaniline as the only product containing the phenyl ring. H+, OH- and phosphate buffer are efficient catalysts of the reaction. The rate constant first increases rapidly at low buffer concentrations and then gradually levels off at higher ones. At 40 degrees C and high phosphate concentration (>0.01 M), or in the extreme pH regions, the half-life is approximately 4 months and the activation energy is 127 +/- 2 kJmol(-1).     

Prenatal diagnosis of an extra der(4) resulting from a complex maternal chromosome translocation

We report the prenatal diagnosis of an extra der(4) resulting from 4:2 malsegregation of a maternal balanced complex translocation involving chromosomes 4, 10, and 11. The woman was referred for amniocentesis because of recurrent miscarriages. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was performed in order to characterize the complex chromosome rearrangement. Following genetic counselling, the couple decided to terminate the pregnancy. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geographic and reproductive isolation in the marine Harpacticoid Copepod Tisbe

Within the genus Tisbe (Copepoda: Harpacticoida), there is a wide range of reproductive isolation. In the European area, in addition to species where (between geographic populations) the reproductive barrier is practically absent, there are others which show a varying degree of incompatibility. The present paper deals with the results of cross-breeding experiments carried out between American and European populations. The respective intrapopulation crosses served as controls. Transatlantic crosses have been attempted with the following species: T. lagunaris, T. bulbisetosa, T. holothuriae, T. battagliai, and T. clodiensis. The American and European populations of the first 4 species are interfertile, and the F₁ hybrids produce viable offspring. Moreover, the interpopulation crosses, compared to the controls, exhibit a slight superiority whose nature is, however, still unclear. The fifth species, T. clodiensis, behaves differently. The absence of viable offspring from interpopulation crosses, or the death of the hybrids before reaching the adult stage, indicate that, in this species, the barrier to gene flow is complete. Populations of T. clodiensis show, in addition, signs of relative intraspecific incompatibility. The problem of the different degree of reproductive isolation in the genus Tisbe, with special regard to the role played by ecological factors in determining the isolation patterns, is discussed.     

Environmental Pollution Due to Natural Factors: A Case Study in A Volcanic Area (Vulcano Island, Italy)

A major influence on the environment of active volcanic areas is expected from continuous input of chemical species pertaining to fumarolic activities occurring during inter-eruptive intervals.

The systematic investigations carried out during thirteen years in the island of Vulcano (Italy) showed also substantial contributions to phreatic waters and soils of minor constituents and trace metals from volcanic rocks with no negligible influence on growing crops.

Greater extents of these phenomena have been observed for products of hydromagmatic volcanic activity or of long-lasting weathering processes.     

Evidence of genetic damage in grass gobies and mussels from the Venice lagoon

The presence of genetic damage has been investigated in two native species of the Venice lagoon: the common mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the grass goby Zosterisessor ophiocephalus. Two sampling campaigns were performed in summer 1998 and 1999. Aromatic-like DNA adducts were analysed in selected tissues of gobies and mussels by using the 32P-postlabelling assay. In 1999, micronuclei and other nuclear abnormalities were additionally scored on gill cells and haemocytes of individual mussels whereas inorganic (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sn) as well as organic contaminants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and other chlorinated compounds) were measured in the total mussel pulp. Compared to the lagoon inlet area, gobies and mussels from the industrial district (Marghera) showed significant DNA adduct levels and increased frequencies of cytogenetic alterations (evidence of genetic damage was absent or inconsistent in other sites). The substantial levels of aromatic and chlorinated contaminants detected in mussels from Marghera also support the exposure of native organisms to genotoxic agents.     

Studies on differential fitness of PGI genotypes with regard to temperature in Gammarus insensibilis (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

This paper deals with an experimental study of survival, combined with estimates of biochemical activity, of different genotypes at the PGI (phosphoglucose isomerase) locus in Gammarus insensibilis, in relation to temperature. Samples were collected in the lagoon of Venice during 1987. No mortality occurred at 10°C whereas at 27°C, where mortality reached the value of 50%, heterozygotes exhibited significantly higher survival than homozygotes. Experiments conducted in order to evaluate the PGI biochemical activity of homo- and heterozygote genotypes at three different temperatures (4°, 20° and 37°C) showed in all genotypes an increased activity from 4° to 20°C and a fall of activity from 20° to 37°C. Heterozygotes exhibited higher activity at all temperatures tested. The difference between homo- and heterozygotes became more obvious at 37°C. Our results suggest that in G. insensibilis the PGI locus, as already shown in other organisms, may be subject to selection and that the heterozygous genotypes possess superior fitness. The biochemical bases of the observed differences between genotypes are briefly discussed.     

Quaternary geographical sibling speciation and population structuring in the Eastern Atlantic skates (suborder Rajoidea) Raja clavata and R. straeleni

The European Raja clavata and the South African R. straeleni are marine skates which exhibit highly conserved morphological and ecological traits. Owing to this, taxonomic and evolutionary relationships between the two taxa have not yet fully elucidated. Here, we have tested the hypothesis that restricted gene flow and genetic divergence between these taxa might be associated with climatic/oceanographic discontinuities by surveying genetic variation in ten geographical samples at control region (CR) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) loci. The clustering of CR haplotypes in two reciprocally monophyletic clades consistent with taxon zoogeography and the significant AFLP F values between the European and South African populations indicated the two taxa as recently diverged peripatric sibling species. Within each species, significant spatial genetic heterogeneity among samples at both markers revealed population structuring. We argued that structured populations and isolated sibling species might represent two stages of geographical speciation.