Climatological model surface circulations in February: (a) for 1990–1995 and (b) for 1995–2000. The colour bar represents the surface current speed, while arrows show both speed and direction

Using a model developed at the JRC, scientists have successfully simulated the Black Sea’s long term currents, salt water content and temperature for the first time.Average surface temperatures of the Black Sea may not have risen, according to the surprising results of a new study from the JRC. The study used a model to simulate possible temperature changes and predict long term trends in the Black Sea’s hydrodynamics. While the surface showed no long term warming trend, the same simulations also indicated that average temperatures at 50 metres below the surface may be rising. The Black Sea has unique natural conditions like a positive net freshwater balance and very specific local currents. Observational data on temperature change is varied and scarce. As such it is not clear what the impacts of climate change have been on Black Sea water temperatures.

The organic pollution decomposing properties of titanium dioxide (TiO2) have been known for about half a century. However, practical applications have been few and hard to develop, but now a Greek paint producer claims to have found a solution. The photocatalytic properties of anatase, one of the three naturally occurring forms of titanium dioxide, were discovered in Japan in the late 1960s. Under the influence of the UV-radiation in sunlight, it can decompose organic pollutants such as bacteria, fungi and nicotine, and some inorganic materials into carbon dioxide. The catalytic effect is caused by the nanostructure of its crystals. Applied outdoors, this affordable and widely available material could represent an efficient self-cleaning solution for buildings. This is due to the chemical reaction, which leaves a residue on building façades, a residue then washed away when it rains. Applying it to monuments in urban areas may save our cultural heritage, which is threatened by pollutants.

Early weaning increases aggression and stereotypic behaviour in cats, shows a new study from Professor Hannes Lohi’s research group. Based on the study conducted at the University of Helsinki, the recommended weaning age of 12 weeks should be raised by at least two weeks. Delaying weaning is an easy and cost-efficient way of improving the quality of life of cats. The cat is the most popular companion animal, and people are increasingly interested in its wellbeing. One of the topics under international debate is the weaning age, i.e., the age at which kittens are separated from their mother and siblings and brought to a new home. In Finland, the recommended minimum age of weaning is 12 weeks, but in many other countries, such as the United States, weaning of kittens as young as 8 weeks is common. It has previously been thought that the critical period of socialisation in cats ends by 8 weeks of age, after which social experiences have little impact on behaviour.

Involvement of the retina can take several forms. Wide-angle fundus image (RetCam) of the left eye of a child with congenital Zika syndrome showing large chorioretinal scar in the macular region.

100% of Brazilian infants with confirmed and suspected Zika included in two new studies published in the Journal of AAPOS were born with vision problems. Although one of the most serious consequences of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in infants is microcephaly, there is a broad collection of anomalies now known as congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Some of the most serious are ophthalmologic, including macular scarring, retinal defects, low visual acuity, strabismus, and nystagmus. Two papers published in the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) evaluated visual function among infants with suspected and confirmed CZS. Both studies found that while about 40% of patients had ocular abnormalities, 100% of children tested had visual impairment. Thus, cortical visual impairment might be the most common cause of blindness among children with CZS.

Forest fires and wildland fires are common in summer in the  temperate boreal forest, rarer at high altitudes, and unheard of in an ice age at high altitudes – until now.  Evidence of wildfires dating back 20,000 years was recently discovered in the Massif du Queyras, in the heart of the French Alps, 2,240 metres above sea level. The news comes in a joint Canada-France study published in New Phytologist and co-authored by Olivier Blarquez, a geography professor at Université de Montréal, and Christopher Carcaillet, a professor at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, in Paris, and at the Laboratoire d’écologie des hydrosystèmes naturels et anthropisés (CNRS/Université Lyon 1/ENTPE).

“La febbre Chikungunya è generalmente benigna e guarisce spontaneamente” dichiarano Massimo Andreoni e Massimo Galli, rispettivamente Past President e Vice Presidente SIMIT. Le malattie già segnalate alle Autorità sanitarie nel 2015 nel Libro Bianco delle Malattie Infettive.

La SIMIT precisa quali sono le cause e le possibili conseguenza in merito ai recenti casi emersi a Trento e ad Anzio (in provincia di Roma) rispettivamente di malaria e di Chikungunya.

La morte di una bimba avvenuta nei giorni scorsi per malaria da Plasmodium falciparum ha suscitato grande emozione e comportato richieste di informazioni a vari infettivologi di SIMIT. “La ricostruzione dell’accaduto potrà derivare solo dal completamento dalle indagini epidemiologiche e di laboratorio in corso” spiega il Prof. Massimo Andreoni, Direttore U.O.C. Malattie infettive, Università di Tor Vergata e Past President SIMIT . “L’eccezionalità del caso, la complessità della materia e la volontà di fare chiarezza ed evitare possibili equivoci nell’interpretazione di quanto riportato dai mezzi di comunicazione ci portano tuttavia a ritenere utile precisare quanto segue” aggiunge il Prof. Massimo Galli, vicepresidente SIMIT e Ordinario di malattie Infettive presso l’Università di Milano:

1. La malaria può essere trasmessa solo da un vettore (una zanzara del genere Anopheles), come accade nella stragrande maggioranza dei casi, o per scambio di siringa volontario tra tossicodipendenti(circostanza che non si verifica in Italia da molto tempo), o per incidente in ospedale (trasfusione, trapianto d’organo o altro tipo di incidente che comporti l’inoculazione del sangue di un paziente malarico in un’altra persona). Cinque specie di plasmodi (sulle oltre cento note) sono in grado di causare malaria nell’uomo. Le specie di Anopheles sono circa 430, di cui 30-40 possono trasmettere malaria. Ciascuna di esse è adattata a una specie di plasmodio o a una sottopopolazione nell’ambito di ciascuna specie.

At the moment, some sawmills treat sawdust as special waste, because it can’t be put to good use. Growing sawdust piles can even limit production. Risto Korpinen from Luke thinks that sawdust could be a part of the answer to the world’s need for food. In 2050, there will be approximately two billion more people in need of food than today. Scarcity of nutrition will become increasingly common as the amount of arable land will decrease by 600 square metres per person. At the same time, Finnish sawmills are producing 3.3 million cubic metres of sawdust each year. Even though a large part of it is used for pulp and energy production, a substantial amount of it is piling up, unused and finally rotten. World hunger and sawdust waste may seem like two separate issues, but Luke’s Research Scientist Risto Korpinen thinks they can be combined. Korpinen is leading a project called MonoCell – High-quality single cell protein for fish feed. The project’s title alone reveals quite a lot about its aim: to make high quality single-cell protein out of sawdust. The protein could later on be developed into fish feed.

 A French solar park, used by local farmers, has been successfully co-financed by investors from France and the Netherlands, thanks to an innovative solution tested by two renewable crowdfunding platforms. They managed to overcome regulatory barriers between EU countries . Solar parks proliferate in Europe and boost development of renewables, but the issue of land use is often raised. A new trend is to produce energy and cultivate crops at the same time, in other words use agrivoltaic systems. One example is the Torreilles solar park, in the South West of France. The plant’s total power capacity is 9.6MW and stretches for 43 hectares along the so-called “Route du soleil”, near Perpignan. It can produce 14,000,000 kWh per year, enough to supply 5,200 families or allow 1,400 electric cars to travel around the world, saving 1,100 tons of CO2.