New Insights into Geometric Morphometry Applied to Fish Scales for Species Identification

The possibility of quick and cheap recognition of a fish species from a single dermal scale would be interesting in a wide range of contexts. The methods of geometric morphometry appear to be quite promising, although wide studies comparing different approaches are lacking. We aimed to apply two methods of geometric morphometry, landmark-based and outline-based, on a dataset of scales from five different teleost species: Danio rerio, Dicentrarchus labrax, Mullus surmuletus, Sardina pilchardus, and Sparus aurata. For the landmark-based method the R library "geomorph" was used. Some issues about landmark selection and positioning were addressed and, for the first time on fish scales, an approach with both landmarks and semilandmarks was set up. For the outline-based method the R library "Momocs" was used. Despite the relatively low number of scales analyzed (from 11 to 81 for each species), both methods achieved quite good clustering of all the species. In particular, the landmark-based method used here gave generally higher R2 values in testing species clustering than the outline-based method, but it failed to distinguish between a few couples of species; on the other hand, the outline-based method seemed to catch the differences among all the couples except one. Larger datasets have the potential to achieve better results with outline-based geometric morphometry. This latter method, being free from the problem of recognizing and positioning landmarks, is also the most suitable for being automatized in future applications.

SARS-CoV-2 presence in recreational seawater and evaluation of intestine permeability: experimental evidence of low impact on public health

Introduction

Coastal seawater pollution poses a public health risk due to the potential ingestion of contaminated water during recreational activities. Wastewater-based epidemiology has revealed the abundant presence of SARS-CoV-2 in seawater emitted from wastewater outlets. The objective of this research was to investigate the impact of seawater on SARS-CoV-2 infectivity to assess the safety of recreational activities in seawater.

Methods

Wild SARS-CoV-2 was collected from oral swabs of COVID-19 affected patients and incubated for up to 90 min using the following solutions: (a) standard physiological solution (control), (b) reconstructed seawater (3.5% NaCl), and (c) authentic seawater (3.8%). Samples were then exposed to two different host systems: (a) Vero E6 cells expressing the ACE2 SARS-CoV-2 receptor and (b) 3D multi-tissue organoids reconstructing the human intestine. The presence of intracellular virus inside the host systems was determined using plaque assay, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), and transmission electron microscopy.

Results

Ultrastructural examination of Vero E6 cells revealed the presence of virus particles at the cell surface and in replicative compartments inside cells treated with seawater and/or reconstituted water only for samples incubated up to 2 min. After a 90-min incubation, the presence of the virus and its infectivity in Vero E6 cells was reduced by 90%. Ultrastructural analysis performed in 3D epi-intestinal tissue did not reveal intact viral particles or infection signs, despite the presence of viral nucleic acid detected by qPCR. Indeed, viral genes (Orf1ab and N) were found in the intestinal luminal epithelium but not in the enteric capillaries. These findings suggest that the intestinal tissue is not a preferential entry site for SARS-CoV-2 in the human body. Additionally, the presence of hypertonic saline solution did not increase the susceptibility of the intestinal epithelium to virus penetration; rather, it neutralized its infectivity.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that engaging in recreational activities in a seawater environment does not pose a significant risk for COVID-19 infection, despite the possible presence of viral nucleic acid deriving from degraded and fragmented viruses.

Genera of the Protura of the World: diagnosis, distribution, and key

Protura are known all over the world with more than 800 described species belonging to three different orders (Acerentomata, Sinentomata, and Eosentomata) and seven families (Hesperentomidae, Protentomidae, Acerentomidae, Fujientomidae, Sinentomidae, Eosentomidae, and Antelientomidae). At present 76 genera are known worldwide. In this paper a description of the diagnostic characters of these genera and an updated key for their identification are reported.

<i>Acerentulus</i> <i>tortii</i> sp. nov. from Greece (Protura: Acerentomidae)

A new species of Protura, Acerentulus tortii sp. nov., from the island of Euboea, central Greece, is described and illustrated. The new species belongs to the A. cunhai species group, based on a short foretarsal sensillum a not reaching seta γ3, and sensilla b and c subequal in length. The most similar species are A. christensoni (Ewing, 1940) and A. rafalskii Szeptycki, 1979), from which A. tortii sp. nov. differs by the porotaxy of sternite III and the lengths of various foretarsal sensilla.

Redescription of two European species of Acerentomidae (Protura) belonging to the Italian fauna

Acerentulus apuliacus Rusek & Stumpp, 1988 is redescribed based on new specimens collected in Apulia and Basilicata (S-Italy) and deposited in the collection of Geneva Natural History Museum. Podolinella ruseki (Nosek, 1967) new combination is redescribed, based on the holotype from Austria and additional specimens collected in Liguria, NW Italy. The new material is deposited in the collection of the Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e della Vita, University of Genoa.

Dyspraxia, motor function and visual-motor integration in autism

This project assessed dyspraxia in high-functioning school aged children with autism with a focus on Ideational Praxis. We examined the association of specific underlying motor function including eye movement with ideational dyspraxia (sequences of skilled movements) as well as the possible role of visual-motor integration in dyspraxia. We found that compared to IQ-, sex- and age-matched typically developing children, the children with autism performed significantly worse on: Ideational and Buccofacial praxis; a broad range of motor tests, including measures of simple motor skill, timing and accuracy of saccadic eye movements and motor coordination; and tests of visual-motor integration. Impairments in individual children with autism were heterogeneous in nature, although when we examined the praxis data as a function of a qualitative measure representing motor timing, we found that children with poor motor timing performed worse on all praxis categories and had slower and less accurate eye movements while those with regular timing performed as well as typical children on those same tasks. Our data provide evidence that both motor function and visual-motor integration contribute to dyspraxia. We suggest that dyspraxia in autism involves cerebellar mechanisms of movement control and the integration of these mechanisms with cortical networks implicated in praxis.