Aside from the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), serological tests are not well known for their diagnostic value. We assessed the performance of serological tests using stored sera from patients with a variety of pathologic conditions, collected before the 2020 pandemic in Italy. Rapid lateral flow tests and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) that detect Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were carried out using 1150 stored human serum samples that had been collected in 2018 and 2019. The tests were also run using samples from 15 control patients who had positive or negative oral swab test results, as assessed using real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). The urea dissociation test was employed to rule out false-positive reactivity in the two antibody detection methods. The lateral flow tests revealed 21 positive samples from the stored sera: 12 for IgM, four for IgG, and five for IgM/IgG. Among the nine rRT-PCR- positive controls, six individuals presented IgG and three IgM/IgG positivity. Using the urea (6 mol/L) dissociation test, two of the twelve stored samples that had shown IgM positivity were confirmed to be positive. The ELISA test detected four IgM-positive and three IgG-positive specimens. After treatment with 4 mol/L urea, the IgM-positive samples became negative, whereas the IgG positivity persisted. All of the rRT-PCR-positive controls were found to retain IgM or IgG positivity following the urea treatment. Our findings highlight the limited utility of serological testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus based on the results of specimens collected before the outbreak of the infection.

// <![CDATA[ $('.header-date').hide();$('#titleAuthors').hide();$('#abstractHeader').hide(); // ]]> Gianluigi Mazzoccoli1, Tommaso Colangelo2, *, Anna Panza3, *, Rosa Rubino1, *, Cristiana Tiberio1, Orazio Palumbo4, Massimo Carella4, Domenico Trombetta5, Annamaria Gentile3, Francesca Tavano3, Maria Rosa Valvano3, Clelia Tiziana Storlazzi6, Gemma Macchia6, Angelo De Cata1, Giovanni Bisceglia7, Daniele Capocefalo8, *, Vittorio Colantuoni2, #, Lina Sabatino2, #, Ada Piepoli9, #, Tommaso Mazza8 1Division of Internal Medicine and Chronobiology Unit, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy 2Department of Sciences and Technologies, University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy 3Division of Gastroenterology and Research Laboratory, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy 4Medical Genetics, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy 5Oncology-Research Laboratory, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy 6Department of Biology, University of Bari, Bari, Italy 7Department of Surgical Sciences, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy 8Bioinformatics Unit, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy 9Division of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza”, San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy *These junior authors contributed equally to this work #These senior authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Gianluigi Mazzoccoli, email: g.mazzoccoli@operapadrepio.it Tommaso Mazza, email: t.mazza@css-mendel.it Keywords: miRNA-mRNA, clock genes, circadian, colorectal cancer Received: April 29, 2016 Accepted: May 29, 2016 Published: June 14, 2016

Starting from the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century to date, urban areas have faced increasing environmental challenges due to the diffusion of harmful substances, resulting from vehicular traffic, the activities of different industries, waste, and building construction, etc. These pollutants are dangerous, since they pose a threat to both the environment and human health. Phytoremediation is an environmentally friendly and low-cost technique that uses plants and their associated microorganisms to clean-up contaminated sites. In this review, we explore its main applications in urban settings. Specifically, we investigate how phytoremediation works, highlighting the most effective plants for its success in a city context. Moreover, we also describe the main factors influencing its effectiveness, such as soil, climate, and pollutants. In this regard, several case studies, conducted worldwide, have reported on how phytoremediation can successfully reclaim contaminated areas, transforming them into reusable city green spaces, with reduced costs compared to traditional remediation techniques (e.g., soil replacement, soil washing, etc.). Moreover, by integrating it into urban planning, cities can address environmental pollution, while promoting biodiversity, enhancing the landscape, and increasing its social acceptance. This nature-based solution offers a practical path toward more sustainable and resilient urban environments, especially in regard to the climate change framework.

The impact of pollutants in urban wastewater on Constructed Wetlands (CWs) rhizoplane microbial communities remains quite understudied. Our study explores how civil wastewater influences the structure and ecological stability of rhizoplane microbial communities associated with three macrophytes: Nerium oleander L., Arundo donax L., and Juncus conglomeratus L. in simulated conditions as in the case of CWs. Therefore, a pot experiment was set up, using wastewater repeated exposure of the three macrophytes, to assess the microbial (bacteria and fungi) resistance and resilience by means of next-generation sequencing. The results showed that all three macrophytes contributed to pollutant removal; however, the effects on microbial communities were taxon-specific. In general, the rhizobacterial community exhibited moderate resilience and low resistance to wastewater, indicating a partial recovery post-disturbance. The fungal community showed high resistance (ResI = 0.99), in contrast with limited resilience (RI < 1), suggesting a stable but less dynamic response to the wastewater exposure. Effluent repeated addition positively influenced the relative abundance of certain bacteria taxonomical groups, specifically Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, but also of some fungal taxa. Our findings underscore the key role of microbial communities in CWs, where complementary resistance and resilience strategies contribute to system stability, plant health, and pollutant attenuation.

Arundo donax L., generally known as common reed, is a perennial microthermal grass belonging to the Poaceae family, widely distributed in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of the world. Although its origin is still the subject of scientific debate, many phylogenetic studies place it in central-southern or eastern Asia. Regardless of its area of origin, A. donax was spread due to anthropogenic activities and has had multiple waves of introduction. While substantial research has focused on the biological and bioenergetic potential of A. donax, its extreme ecological resilience represents a critical paradox for ecosystem management. The very traits that make this species an attractive crop—such as high primary productivity, rapid vegetative propagation, and epigenetic plasticity—are the driving forces behind its severe invasiveness in riparian ecosystems. This review aims to re-examine the physiological and genetic mechanisms of A. donax through a management-oriented lens, providing a critical evaluation of why current eradication strategies frequently fail and highlighting the urgent need for integrated control frameworks.