The Publicity of Thought

An influential tradition holds that thoughts are public: different thinkers share many of their thoughts, and the same applies to a single subject at different times. This ‘publicity principle’ has recently come under attack. Arguments by Mark Crimmins, Richard Heck and Brian Loar seem to show that publicity is inconsistent with the widely accepted principle that someone who is ignorant or mistaken about certain identity facts will have distinct thoughts about the relevant object—for instance, the astronomer who does not know that Hesperus is Phosphorus will have two distinct thoughts Hesperus is bright and Phosphorus is bright. In this paper, I argue that publicity can be defended if we adopt a relational account on which thoughts are individuated by their mutual relations. I then go on to develop a specific relational theory—the ‘linking account’—and contrast it with other relational views

Evaluation of Aflatoxin M1 Enrichment Factor in Semihard Cow's Milk Cheese and Correlation with Cheese Yield.

ABSTRACT The fate of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in cow's milk cheese produced from naturally contaminated raw milk was evaluated. Cow's milk, naturally contaminated by AFM1 at levels ranging from 0.020 to..

The Tick Formulation for deadlock detection and avoidance in railways traffic control

Wrong dispatching decisions may lead to deadlocks, where trains reciprocally block resources necessary to reach their destinations. It is crucial to develop tools to detect such potential deadlocks on time, in order to reverse the decisions previously taken by dispatchers or to take recovery actions. In this paper we present a new 0,1 linear formulation for detecting deadlocks and optimally park the involved trains to reduce congestion around the affected area. We discuss computational results on some realistic randomly generated instances to show the validity of the approach, as well as its limits.acceptedVersio

Profili strategici delle PMI: l’indagine RIOM

Exchange relationships in the olive oil sector is characterized by an extreme variety of organizational forms and use of the market. The survey RIOM promoted under the project, and identifies the links between the structural characteristics and corporate styles, will outline the strengths and weaknesses that characterize the functioning of the exchange of olive oils from producer to consumer with a direct bearing on the competitiveness of different olive-growing systems

Allelopathy of sage and white wormwood on purslane germination and seedling growth.

A bioassay run was carried out in the incubator to evaluate possible allelopathic effects of water extracts of sage and white wormwood on germination and seedling growth of purslane. Results showed that the type of extract and its concentration (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) significantly influenced final germination percentage, germination rate and index, root and shoot length, root/shoot ratio, fresh and dry weight of seedling of purslane. The interaction between these two experimental factors was always significant, producing different results according to the different combination levels. The statistical comparison of means indicated that the maximum germination percentage and germination rate (respectively 68% and 11.4% d-1) were obtained from the untreated control (0% extract), while the lowest values for the same two characters occurred with 15% of sage (respectively 45% and 6.4% d-1) and 20% of white wormwood (38% and 7.5% d-1). Concerning germination indexes, the highest (55) and the lowest (32) values were observed respectively on the control and with 15% of sage extract or 20% of white wormwood extract. The longest (4.5 cm) and the shortest (1.3 cm) root of purslane were obtained with 5% of white wormwood and 20% of sage extracts, respectively. Changes in shoot length with sage and white wormwood extracts were similar to those in root length, even though shoot length was less affected by the concentration of extracts. Root and shoot length changes brought to maximum (22.0) and minimum (8.9) values for the root/shoot length ratio, respectively with 5% of white wormwood and 20% of sage extracts. The maximum fresh (2.111 g) and dry (0.338 g) seedling weight of purslane were obtained from untreated control, producing the same seedling weight with 5% of sage, 5 and 10% of white wormwood extract. While the minimum fresh (0.692 g) and dry (0.111 g) seedling weight were obtained from 15% of white wormwood extract, so that there is no significant differences between this value and the seedling weight produced under 10, 15 and 20% of sage and 20% of white wormwood extract

Synapsin I and Synapsin II regulate neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of adult mice

Adult neurogenesis is emerging as an important player in brain functions and homeostasis, while impaired or altered adult neurogenesis has been associated with a number of neuropsychiatric diseases, such as depression and epilepsy. Here we investigated the possibility that synapsins (Syns) I and II, beyond their known functions in developing and mature neurons, also play a role in adult neurogenesis. We performed a systematic evaluation of the distinct stages of neurogenesis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of Syn I and Syn II knockout (KO) mice, before (2-monthsold) and after (6-months-old) the appearance of the epileptic phenotype. We found that Syns I and II play an important role in the regulation of adult neurogenesis. In juvenile mice, Syn II deletion was associated with a specific decrease in the proliferation of neuronal progenitors, whereas Syn I deletion impaired the survival of newborn neurons. These defects were reverted after the appearance of the epileptic phenotype, with Syn I KO and Syn II KO mice exhibiting significant increases in survival and proliferation, respectively. Interestingly, long-term potentiation dependent on newborn neurons was present in both juvenile Syn mutants while, at later ages, it was only preserved in Syn II KO mice that also displayed an increased expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. This study suggests that Syns I and II play a role in adult neurogenesis and the defects in neurogenesis associated with Syn deletion may contribute to the alterations of cognitive functions observed in Syn-deficient mice

Optimising the use of plastic protective covers in field grown melon on a farm scale

This in-farm research study was aimed at evaluating new strategies in the use of plastic protective covers in field grown melon in order to expand the production period and reduce costs. Four experiments were set up in 2010 and repeated in 2011 in Central Italy, in an inland region with a temperate climate. We evaluated: i) the use of high tunnels for two growing cycles per year, i.e. for very early and very late production (target transplanting in late winter and mid-summer, respectively), for either one year or two consecutive years, and the use of grafted plants in the second year as an alternative to normal plants to prevent soil born diseases; ii) the use of ethylene-vinyl-acetate film low tunnels alone or combined with non-woven floating row covers for transplanting in early spring; iii) the use of non-woven low tunnels for transplanting in mid-spring; iv) the use of biodegradable and conventional polyethylene ground mulch films, both in the presence of nonwoven low tunnels. As far as the non-woven cover is concerned, we adopted the strategy of removing later with respect to usual practices, i.e. ten days after the onset of first pistillate flowers. This was based on the evidence that covers hamper honeybee circulation, which may be exploited on a farm-scale to delay pollination until an adequate number of pistillate flowers set, in order to shorten scaled fruit ripening and harvest. Our results demonstrate that high tunnels may be used for at least four consecutive melon growing cycles (early and late productions for two years) with good off-season yields and no appreciable drawbacks in terms of disease scale-up, irrespective of the use of normal or grafted plants. The non-woven low tunnel was effective in hampering honeybee circulation and its delayed removal allowed the harvest period to be halved, a more uniform fruit size to be obtained, and labour productivity of harvest to be increased. This had positive implications on the management of irrigation and chemical disease control close to the harvest period, and on the management of harvest and post-harvest operation schedules, including fruit processing, packaging and delivery to markets. In the presence of a non-woven low tunnel, there was no substantial difference in the biodegradable mulch compared to other mulches in terms of effects on harvest dates, yield and weed control, so that its use can be cost-effective and convenient provided that costs are not higher than those for traditional polyethylene films and their usage/disposal

Study of Holtermanniella wattica, Leucosporidium creatinivorum, Naganishia adeliensis, Solicoccozyma aeria, and Solicoccozyma terricola for their lipogenic aptitude from different carbon sources

Background The ability of some microorganisms to accumulate lipids is well known; however, only recently the number of studies on microbial lipid biosynthesis for obtaining oleochemical products, namely biofuels and some building blocks for chemistry, is rapidly and spectacularly increased. Since 1990s, some oleaginous yeasts were studied for their ability to accumulate lipids up to 60\u201370% of their dry weight. Due to the vast array of engineering techniques currently available, the recombinant DNA technology was the main approach followed so far for obtaining lipid-overproducing yeasts, mainly belonging to the Yarrowia lipolytica. However, an alternative approach can be offered by worldwide diversity as source of novel oleaginous yeasts. Lipogenic aptitude of a number of yeast strains has been reviewed, but many of these studies utilized a limited number of species and/or different culture conditions that make impossible the comparison of different results. Accordingly, the lipogenic aptitude inside the yeast world is still far from being fully explored, and finding new oleaginous yeast species can acquire a strategic importance. Results Holtermanniella wattica, Leucosporidium creatinivorum, Naganishia adeliensis, Solicoccozyma aeria, and Solicoccozyma terricola strains were selected as a result of a large-scale screening on 706 yeasts (both Ascomycota and Basidiomycota). Lipid yields and fatty acid profiles of selected strains were evaluated at 20 and 25 \ub0C on glucose, and on glycerol, xylose, galactose, sucrose, maltose, and cellobiose. A variable fatty acid profile was observed in dependence of both temperature and different carbon sources. On the whole, L. creatinivorum exhibited the highest performances: total lipid yield (YL) >7 g/l on glucose and glycerol, % of intracellular lipids on cell biomass (YL/DW) >70% at 20 \ub0C on glucose, lipid coefficient (YL/Glu) around 20% on glucose, and daily productivity (YL/d) on glucose and sucrose >1.6 g/(l*d). Conclusions This study provides some meaningful information about the lipogenic ability of some yeast species. Variable lipid yields and fatty acid profiles were observed in dependence of both temperature and different carbon sources. L. creatinivorum exhibited the highest lipogenic performances

Effects of two different probiotics on microflora, morphology, and morphometry of gut in organic laying hens

ABSTRACT The current study investigated the effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bacillus subtilis, used as probiotics, on the microflora, morphology, and morphometry of the gut in organic laying hens. The birds (180 Hy-Line laying hens) were divided into 3 homogenous groups and received a pre-deposition diet from 16 to 20 wk of age and a deposition diet for the remaining 7 months of the experiment. The control group (CTR) was fed a corn-soybean cake-based diet, the second group (L) received the same diet supplemented with 0.1% of L. acidophilus while in the third group (B) the basal diet was supplemented with 0.05% of B. subtilis. At 18 wk of age (T1) and at 5 (T2) and 7 months (T3) from the beginning of deposition, 9 subjects per group were humanely killed for microbiological, morphological and morphometric analyses of the intestinal tract. The 2 probiotic-supplemented diets increased Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. counts compared with the CTR diet. The lowest viable counts of E. coli, coliforms and staphylococci were observed in the L group (