Adjoint bi-continuous semigroups and semigroups on the space of measures

For a given bi-continuous semigroup T on a Banach space X we define its adjoint on an appropriate closed subspace X^o of the norm dual X'. Under some abstract conditions this adjoint semigroup is again bi-continuous with respect to the weak topology (X^o,X). An application is the following: For K a Polish space we consider operator semigroups on the space C(K) of bounded, continuous functions (endowed with the compact-open topology) and on the space M(K) of bounded Baire measures (endowed with the weak*-topology). We show that bi-continuous semigroups on M(K) are precisely those that are adjoints of a bi-continuous semigroups on C(K). We also prove that the class of bi-continuous semigroups on C(K) with respect to the compact-open topology coincides with the class of equicontinuous semigroups with respect to the strict topology. In general, if K is not Polish space this is not the case

Management regime and habitat response influence abundance of regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) in tallgrass prairie

The \u3e2,570,000-ha Flint Hills ecoregion of Kansas, USA, harbors the largest remaining contiguous tract of tallgrass prairie in North America, a unique system, as the remainder of North America’s tallgrass prairie has succumbed to development and conversion. Consequently, the loss and degradation of tallgrass prairie has reduced populations of many North American prairie-obligate species including the regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) butterfly. Population abundance and occupied range of regal fritillary have declined \u3e99%, restricting many populations to isolated, remnant patches of tallgrass prairie. Such extensive decline has resulted in consideration of the regal fritillary for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Although it is widely accepted that management practices such as fire, grazing, and haying are necessary to maintain prairie ecosystems, reported responses by regal fritillary to these management regimes have been ambiguous.We tested effects of prescribed fire across short, moderate, and long fire-return intervals as well as grazing and haying management treatments on regal fritillary density. We also tested the relative influence of habitat characteristics created by these management regimes by measuring density of an obligate host plant (Viola spp.) and canopy cover of woody vegetation, grasses, forbs/ferns, bare ground, and litter. We found density was at least 1.6 times greater in sites burned with a moderate fire-return interval vs. sites burned with short and long fire-return intervals. Overall management regardless of fire-return interval did not have an effect on density. Percent cover of grass had the strongest positive association, while percent cover of woody vegetation had the greatest negative effect on density. Our results indicate that patch-burning is a viable and perhaps even ideal management strategy for regal fritillary in tallgrass prairie landscapes. Additionally, these results elucidate the importance of fire, particularly when applied at moderate-return intervals to regal fritillary, and corroborate a growing suite of studies that suggest fire is perhaps not as detrimental to populations of regal fritillary as previously believed

Localization of pain-related brain activation: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging data

A meta-analysis of 140 neuroimaging studies was performed using the activation-likelihood-estimate (ALE) method to explore the location and extent of activation in the brain in response to noxious stimuli in healthy volunteers. The first analysis involved the creation of a likelihood map illustrating brain activation common across studies using noxious stimuli. The left thalamus, right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), bilateral anterior insulae, and left dorsal posterior insula had the highest likelihood of being activated. The second analysis contrasted noxious cold with noxious heat stimulation and revealed higher likelihood of activation to noxious cold in the subgenual ACC and the amygdala. The third analysis assessed the implications of using either a warm stimulus or a resting baseline as the control condition to reveal activation attributed to noxious heat. Comparing noxious heat to warm stimulation led to peak ALE values that were restricted to cortical regions with known nociceptive input. The fourth analysis tested for a hemispheric dominance in pain processing and showed the importance of the right hemisphere, with the strongest ALE peaks and clusters found in the right insula and ACC. The fifth analysis compared noxious muscle with cutaneous stimuli and the former type was more likely to evoke activation in the posterior and anterior cingulate cortices, precuneus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and cerebellum. In general, results indicate that some brain regions such as the thalamus, insula and ACC have a significant likelihood of activation regardless of the type of noxious stimuli, while other brain regions show a stimulus-specific likelihood of being activated. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Trans-nasal endoscopic and intra-oral combined approach for odontogenic cysts

Maxillary cysts are a common finding in maxillofacial surgery, dentistry and otolaryngology. Treatment is surgical; a traditional approach includes Caldwell-Luc and other intra-oral approaches. In this article, we analyse the outcomes of 9 patients operated on using a combined intra-oral and trans-nasal approach to the aforementioned disease. Although the number of patients is small, the good results of this study suggest that the combined approach might be a reliable treatment option

Metagenomes in the Borderline Ecosystems of the Antarctic Cryptoendolithic Communities.

Antarctic cryptoendolithic communities are microbial ecosystems dwelling inside rocks of the Antarctic desert. We present the first 18 shotgun metagenomes from these communities to further characterize their composition, biodiversity, functionality, and adaptation. Future studies will integrate taxonomic and functional annotations to examine the pathways necessary for life to evolve in the extremes

Comparing Wilson and Clover Quenched SU(3)SU(3) Spectroscopy with an Improved Gauge Action

We present results of quenched $SU(3)$ hadron spectroscopy comparing \order(a) improved Wilson (Clover) fermions with conventional Wilson fermions. The configurations were generated using an \order(a^2) improved 6-link $SU(3)$ pure gauge action at $\beta$'s corresponding to lattice spacings of $0.15$, $0.18$, $0.20$, $0.33$, and $0.43$ fm. We find evidence that fermionic scaling violations are consistent with \order(a^2) for Clover and \order(a) with a nonnegligible \order(a^2) term for standard Wilson fermions. This latter mixed ansatz makes a reliable continuum extrapolation problematic for Wilson fermions. We also find that the slope of the scaling violations is roughly $250 MeV$ for both Wilson and Clover fermions.Comment: 3 pages latex with 2 postscript figures. Talk presented at LATTICE96(spectrum

Baryonic Operators for Lattice Simulations

The construction of baryonic operators for determining the N* excitation spectrum is discussed. The operators are designed with one eye towards maximizing overlaps with the low-lying states of interest, and the other eye towards minimizing the number of sources needed in computing the required quark propagators. Issues related to spin identification are outlined. Although we focus on tri-quark baryon operators, the construction method is applicable to both mesons and penta-quark operators.Comment: 3 pages, poster presented at Lattice2003(spectrum), Tsukuba, Japan, July 15-19, 200

Level 3 Assessment of Highway Girder Deck Bridges according to the Italian Guidelines: Influence of Transverse Load Distribution

The Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation adopted the guidelines on risk classification and management, safety assessment and monitoring of existing bridges through the Decree No. 578 dated 17 December 2020. This document must be used by all managing entities to prevent damage due to a lack of maintenance to these crucial components of the infrastructure system. The approach of the guidelines for existing bridges is developed across six levels, ranging from Level 0 to Level 5. The research work presented in this article is focused on Level 3, which pertains to preliminary assessments conducted on existing bridges. Through an automated procedure, the preliminary verification is performed by comparing bending and shear stress generated by traffic load schemes extracted from previous standards with the ones based on the current code. These loads are applied to a series of girder deck models, selected through a statistical study conducted on a database of bridges. Performance indices are derived from the comparison to evaluate the adequacy of previously designed and constructed structures by applying the load models specified in the current regulations for designing new bridges. The analysis results highlight a performance gap, which varies depending on the standard code at hand

Transparency, Civic Capital and Political Accountability: A Virtuous Relation?

Our paper investigates the intertwined relation among transparency, civic capital and political accountability in a large sample of Italian municipalities using a new indicator of institutional transparency. Firstly, we test the hypothesis that civic capital affects transparency of public administrations; secondly, we verify whether in municipalities where civic capital is high, citizens’ attention toward government accountability is also high, making it politically unfeasible to disregard the demand for transparency. We find that civic capital positively affects transparency and the latter, in turn, is politically rewarding for the local administrators only conditional to the level of civic capital. Our findings are robust to different samples and endogeneity concerns

Quenched SU(3)SU(3) hadron spectroscopy using improved fermionic and gauge actions

We present results of quenched $SU(3)$ hadron spectroscopy using \order(a) improved Wilson fermions. The configurations were generated using an \order(a^2) improved 6-link $SU(3)$ pure gauge action at $\beta$'s corresponding to lattice spacings of $0.43$, $0.25$, $0.20$, $0.18$, and $0.15$ fm. We find evidence that fermionic scaling violations are consistent with \order(a^2) errors.Comment: 4 pages latex with 3 postscript figures. Corrected column heading in tabl