663 research outputs found
Interspecific aggression and food competition between the global invader Palaemon macrodactylus and the native Palaemon elegans
The impact of invasive alien species on native communities can act at different levels both
by affecting the ecosystem’s structure (i.e., mainly in the case of vegetation) and through direct
interactions (i.e., competition for food or space). Behavioral studies under controlled conditions can
provide relevant information on both the invasive potential of alien species and the potential impact
of the invaders on the local native species. In the laboratory, the competition for food resources
between the invasive oriental shrimp Palaemon macrodactylus, Rathbun, 1902, and the Mediterranean
native shrimp Palaemon elegans, Rathke, 1836, was analyzed. These species are typical residents of
coastal transitional and estuarine waters, so the experiments were carried out using two salinity
conditions that characterize the coastal lagoon of Venice. Although at both salinity treatments the
alien species tended to be more aggressive than the native one, significant differences between the
two species were mainly observed at a salinity of 30. In particular, at a salinity of 30, P. macrodactylus
spent more time attending to the food source than the native species. The results are discussed in
light of the potential inter-specific competition between the two species within the conditions of the
Venice lagoon
The physical effort required from professional football players in different playing positions
The purpose of this study is to examine the physical effort required at professional football players (Italian Championship) in relation to the examination of a series of friendly matches at different times of the year, compared to their role, using the technology of GPS, for finalizing the training to improve the sport performance. The activities of players were monitored using GPS technology with a sampling rate of 10 Hz. The total distance covered, distances with different speed and accelerations were analyzed in relation to five different roles: (CD) central defenders, (FB) full-backs, (M) midfielders, (AM) advanced midfielders and (A) attackers. Players activities were monitored using GPS technology with a sampling rate of 10 Hz. Total distance covered, distance at different speeds and accelerations were analyzed in relation in five different roles: (CD) central defenders, (FB) full-backs, (M) midfielders, (AM) advanced midfielders and (A) attackers. The maximum covered distance (over 10 km) during a friendly match was reached by the third (FB), midfielders (M) and advanced midfielders (AM); The same ones have covered, too, the greatest distances in high-intensity running (> 16 km/h); instead, the attackers and central defenders covered the distance in high power. The full-backs (FB) and Advanced Midfielders (AM) have producted high acceleration and deceleration compared to other roles, while midfielders (M) have developed greater metabolic power. Finally, the end-of-season results were compared with the data gained at the beginning of the year and important differences between the various roles were noted
Explosion of a massive, He-rich star at z=0.16
We present spectroscopic and photometric data of the peculiar SN 2001gh,
discovered by the 'Southern inTermediate Redshift ESO Supernova Search'
(STRESS) at a redshift z=0.16. SN 2001gh has relatively high luminosity at
maximum (M_B = -18.55 mag), while the light curve shows a broad peak. An
early-time spectrum shows an almost featureless, blue continuum with a few weak
and shallow P-Cygni lines that we attribute to HeI. HeI lines remain the only
spectral features visible in a subsequent spectrum, obtained one month later. A
remarkable property of SN 2001gh is the lack of significant spectral evolution
over the temporal window of nearly one month separating the two spectra. In
order to explain the properties of SN 2001gh, three powering mechanism are
explored, including radioactive decays of a moderately large amount of 56Ni,
magnetar spin-down, and interaction of SN ejecta with circumstellar medium. We
favour the latter scenario, with a SN Ib wrapped in a dense, circumstellar
shell. The fact that no models provide an excellent fit with observations,
confirms the troublesome interpretation of the nature of SN 2001gh. A rate
estimate for SN 2001gh-like event is also provided, confirming the intrinsic
rarity of these objects.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables. Accepted by MNRA
The Gaia spectrophotometric standard stars survey -II. Instrumental effects of six ground-based observing campaigns
The Gaia SpectroPhotometric Standard Stars (SPSS) survey started in 2006, it
was awarded almost 450 observing nights, and accumulated almost 100,000 raw
data frames, with both photometric and spectroscopic observations. Such large
observational effort requires careful, homogeneous, and automated data
reduction and quality control procedures. In this paper, we quantitatively
evaluate instrumental effects that might have a significant (i.e.,1%)
impact on the Gaia SPSS flux calibration. The measurements involve six
different instruments, monitored over the eight years of observations dedicated
to the Gaia flux standards campaigns: DOLORES@TNG in La Palma, EFOSC2@NTT and
ROSS@REM in La Silla, [email protected] in Calar Alto, BFOSC@Cassini in Loiano, and
[email protected] in San Pedro Martir. We examine and quantitatively evaluate the
following effects: CCD linearity and shutter times, calibration frames
stability, lamp flexures, second order contamination, light polarization, and
fringing. We present methods to correct for the relevant effects, which can be
applied to a wide range of observational projects at similar instruments.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in Astron. Nach
Below-elbow or above-elbow cast for conservative treatment of extra-articular distal radius fractures with dorsal displacement: A prospective randomized trial
Background: Distal radial fractures are common traumatic injuries, but their management remains controversial also in case of conservative treatment regarding the type of immobilisation. Hence, we conducted a two-arm, parallel-group, prospective randomised trial to compare the capacity of long casts (above-elbow) and short casts (below-elbow) to maintain the reduction of extra-articular distal radius fractures with dorsal displacement (AO/OTA classification: 2R3A2.2). Methods: Seventy-four eligible patients with AO/OTA 2R3A2.2 fractures treated with closed reduction and cast immobilisation were randomised to the long cast group (n°= 37) or to the short cast group (n°= 37). Baseline radiological parameters, radial inclination (RI), radial height (RH), ulnar variance (UV) and palmar tilt (PT) were taken, and compared with clinical (DASH, Mayo Wrist and Mayo Elbow) and radiological scores taken at 7-10 days, 4 weeks and 12 weeks. Furthermore, to evaluate correlations between radiological parameters and functional outcomes, patients were divided into two groups according to whether or not their radiological parameters at Follow-ups 2 and 3 were acceptable, i.e. within the range 11-12 mm for RH, 16°-28° for RI, - 4-+ 2 mm for UV and 0°-22° for PT. Results: Patient demographic and baseline radiological parameters were similar between groups. At follow-up, there were no statistically significant differences between the two types of cast in terms of RI, RH, UV or PT, or Mayo wrist or DASH scores. Short cast group patients displayed better Mayo elbow score at follow-up 2 (4 weeks), but this difference was no longer statistically significant at follow-up 3 (12 weeks). No statistically significant differences in clinical outcomes were found between patients who presented acceptable radiographic parameters at follow-up and those who did not. Conclusion: As there were no significant differences between short casts and long casts in terms of fracture reduction maintenance or clinical outcomes, short casts are an effective method of post-reduction immobilisation in AO/OTA 2R3A2.2 fracture of the radius. Radiological parameters outside the range conventionally considered acceptable do not preclude a satisfactory clinical outcome. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov PRS, NCT04062110. Registred 20 August 2019
An Intermediate Redshift Supernova Search at ESO: Reduction Tools and Efficiency Tests
We present the reduction and archiving tools developed for our search for
supernovae at intermediate redshifts at ESO as well as the efficiency tests
performed. The data reduction recipes developed for the SN candidates selection
are described. All the variable sources detected are stored using a MySQL
database which enables the identification of previously detected variable
sources during past observational runs. Finally, experiments performed with
artificial stars have shown that seeing plays a crucial role for the limiting
magnitude of detection. Crucial is also the detection threshold used by
Sextractor.Comment: Poster presented at the ESO/MPA/MPE Workshop "From Twilight to
Highlight, The Physics of Supernovae", Garching, Jul 29-31, 2002, to be
published in the Conference Proceeding
Endometrioid Cancer Associated With Endometriosis: From the Seed and Soil Theory to Clinical Practice
Endometriosis is a benign condition characterized by the presence of ectopic endometrial tissue. It is still debated whether endometriosis is a disease that can predispose to the pathogenesis of endometrial cancer outside the uterus. Deficiencies in mismatch repair (MMR) genes are a known risk factor for developing endometrioid cancer. Starting from two cases of patients with abnormal MMR endometrioid carcinoma of the uterus and synchronous endometrioid carcinoma in non-ovarian and ovarian endometriosis, we performed a somatic mutation profile and phylogenetic analysis of the lesions in order to identify if they were metastasis or primary de novo tumors. In the first case, we identified de novo activating mutations in PIK3CA and KRAS in endometrioid cancer lesions but not in endometriosis. Although the acquisition of a de novo mutation in ESR1 and a decrease in mutant allele fraction (MAF) from the endometrial tumor to the localizations in the endometriosis lesions, the clonal relationship was confirmed by the limited number of heteroplasmic mutations in D-loop mitochondrial DNA region. In the other case, the clonal behavior was demonstrated by the overlap of MAF at each site. Our data support the hypothesis of a retrograde dissemination of tumor cells, moving from the primary carcinoma in the endometrium to ectopic sites of endometriosis where localizations of tumor arise
Lie for me: How empathy, alexithymia and emotional intelligence influence the ability to conform facial expression to a prosocial untrue verbal message
The aim of this work was to investigate the association between emotional variables (empathy, emotional intelligence, alexithymia) and lying skills. The hypothesis was that a higher emotional competence was associated to a better ability to lie. In an experimental setting, thirty-four participants were videotaped in two separate session: The first in which they were telling the truth and the second in which, motivated by a social and empathetical intention, they were lying about some emotionally arousing images they viewed. Moreover, all participant filled three self-report questionnaires: The 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, The Interpersonal Reactivity Index and The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form. The coding of facial responses was carried out using the Facial Action Coding System. The findings suggested that emotional competence is associated with the ability to lie and to conform facial expression to a prosocial untrue statement. Conversely, individuals with higher levels of alexithymia and lower emotional ability manifested more marker of discomfort as facial manipulators in lying, other than inconsistencies in verbal/nonverbal messages even telling the truth, probably due to their difficulties to identify and express emotions
Quantifying Spectral Features of Type Ia Supernovae
We introduce a new technique to quantify highly structured spectra for which
the definition of continua or spectral features in the observed flux spectra is
difficult. The method employs wavelet transformation which allows the
decomposition of the observed spectra into different scales. A procedure is
formulated to define the strength of spectral features so that the measured
spectral indices are independent of the flux levels and are insensitive to the
definition of continuum and also to reddening. This technique is applied to
Type Ia supernovae spectra, where correlations are revealed between the
luminosity and spectral features. The current technique may allow for
luminosity corrections based on spectral features in the use of Type Ia
supernovae as cosmological probe.Comment: 35 pages, 15 figure
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