Camera trapping the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) in Sicily (Southern Italy): preliminary results

The wildcat is an elusive species that is threatened with extinction in many parts of its range. In Sicily it still lives in a wide range of habitats. During 2006, camera traps were used to investigate the distribution of the wildcat over a 660 ha wide area on the south-western slope of Mount Etna (NE Sicily). Twelve out of 18 trapping stations provided a total of 24 photographs. Nine different individuals were identified using morphological criteria. Our work confirms the suitability of camera trapping for monitoring elusive carnivores

MTG: resolution enhancement for MW measurements from geostationary orbits

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate image processing techniques that improve the spatial resolution of the channels already selected in the preliminary studies for "Geostationary Observatory for Microwave Atmospheric Soundings (GOMAS)". Reference high resolution multifrequency brightness temperatures scenarios have been derived by applying radiative transfer calculation to the spatially and microphysically detailed output of meteorological events simulated by the University of Wisconsin - Non-hydrostatic Model System. Two approaches, Wiener filter and SIR algorithm, have been applied to low frequency channels to enhance the resolution of antenna temperatures, exploiting the oversampling available for GOMAS channels observational strategy. Quite similar improvements have been obtained by applying the two techniques, even if SIR algorithm has provided generally better performances at computation time's expense

Sensitivity of cloud radiative forcing to changes of microphysical parameters measured by the CLOUDS mission

CLOUDS (a Cloud and Radiation monitoring satellite) is a study for a satellite mission designed to provide the gross vertical profile, the internal structure, the radiative and the imaging features of clouds. This subject is addressed by several missions designed for process study intent. CLOUDS, instead, is designed for providing data of routine use in long-term NumericalWeather Prediction (NWP) and General Circulation Model (GCM). User requirements have been collected from various sources, and instruments concepts derived to meet those requirements. However, to establish the sensitivity of a GCM to the targeted parameters and confirm the soundness of the specified requirements (mainly accuracy and vertical resolution), special effort had to be placed. The present paper offers a rather complete assessment of the range of usefulness that CLOUDS measurements may have on the radiative calculation. To this purpose, the cloud forcing was computed as a function of cloud parameters by using a radiative model that has been applied in the GCM of the Laboratory for Atmospheres at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The results show that, in most cases, the model response to the addressed cloud parameters is good if the error is within the specified limit. This is better demonstrated for relatively large particle sizes, for ice better than for liquid water, for low optical thickness and for low cloud cover. The model, however, suggests that more stringent requirements would be appropriate when small particles are considered

GPS radio occultation sounding to support General Circulation Models

An assessment of the suitability of the horizontal and vertical resolution of GPS radio occultation measurements for climate studies is carried out. Simple physical relations are used to estimate the consistency between horizontal and vertical resolutions of radio occultation measurements as compared with those of the existing observing systems. In particular, the horizontal scale of the upper troposphere water vapour is investigated by analysing the variability of the refractivity index using the re-analysis data from NCEP/NCAR. The computation shows that the 300 km horizontal resolution of GPS radio occultation is within the useful range and captures the water vapour variations that are relevant for climatological purposes. Next, focusing the analysis on the requirements of the vertical resolution, we study the sensitivity of a radiative model to changes in the vertical resolution, assessing the impacts of these variations on the atmospheric equilibrium. For this purpose one reference profile and other five with lower vertical resolutions are used to perform the experiment. Results show that the model is sensitive to variations in the vertical sampling, suggesting that high vertical resolution measurements are necessary for an accurate observation of the atmosphere. To further assess the influence of the vertical sampling, the thermal tropopause height dependence on the number of layers considered is studied. Results indicate that the highest vertical resolution is needed for determining the radiative component of the tropopause dynamics

GPS radio occultation sounding to support General Circulation Models

An assessment of the suitability of the horizontal and vertical resolution of GPS radio occultation measurements for climate studies is carried out. Simple physical relations are used to estimate the consistency between horizontal and vertical resolutions of radio occultation measurements as compared with those of the existing observing systems. In particular, the horizontal scale of the upper troposphere water vapour is investigated by analysing the variability of the refractivity index using the re-analysis data from NCEP/NCAR. The computation shows that the 300 km horizontal resolution of GPS radio occultation is within the useful range and captures the water vapour variations that are relevant for climatological purposes. Next, focusing the analysis on the requirements of the vertical resolution, we study the sensitivity of a radiative model to changes in the vertical resolution, assessing the impacts of these variations on the atmospheric equilibrium. For this purpose one reference profile and other five with lower vertical resolutions are used to perform the experiment. Results show that the model is sensitive to variations in the vertical sampling, suggesting that high vertical resolution measurements are necessary for an accurate observation of the atmosphere. To further assess the influence of the vertical sampling, the thermal tropopause height dependence on the number of layers considered is studied. Results indicate that the highest vertical resolution is needed for determining the radiative component of the tropopause dynamics

NUOVI CRITERI DI DIVISIBILITÀ

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L19-IL2 immunocytokine in combination with the anti-syndecan-1 46F2SIP antibody format: A new targeted treatment approach in an ovarian carcinoma model

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the fifth most common cancer affecting the female population. At present, different targeted treatment approaches may improve currently employed therapies leading either to the delay of tumor recurrence or to disease stabilization. In this study we show that syndecan-1 (SDC1) and tumor angiogenic-associated B-fibronectin isoform (B-FN) are involved in EOC progression and we describe the prominent role of SDC1 in the vasculogenic mimicry (VM) process. We also investigate a possible employment of L19-IL2, an immunocytokine specific for B-FN, and anti-SDC1 46F2SIP (small immuno protein) antibody in combination therapy in a human ovarian carcinoma model. A tumor growth reduction of 78% was obtained in the 46F2SIP/L19-IL2-treated group compared to the control group. We observed that combined treatment was effective in modulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, loss of stemness properties of tumor cells, and in alleviating hypoxia. These effects correlated with reduction of VM structures in tumors from treated mice. Interestingly, the improved pericyte coverage in vascular structures suggested that combined therapy could be efficacious in induction of vessel normalization. These data could pave the way for a possible use of L19-IL2 combined with 46F2SIP antibody as a novel therapeutic strategy in EOC

OPTICAL AND FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE OF PHAKIC ANGLE-SUPPORTED INTRAOCULAR LENS FOR THE CORRECTION OF HIGH MYOPIA IN 18-MONTHS FOLLOW-UP STUDY

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Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2_2 by Highly Efficient Homogeneous FeII^{II} Catalyst based on 2,6‐Bis(1’,2’,3’‐triazolyl‐methyl)pyridine - Comparison with Analogues

Fully earth-abundant and highly efficient systems for producing syngas CO/H$_2$ through photocatalytic reduction from CO$_2$ are essential to approach a sustainable way of closing the carbon cycle. Herein, the synthesis and characterization of a new iron complex, Fe$^{II}$L(NCS)$_2$py, coordinated to an N,N,N-pincer ligand 2,6-bis(4’-phenyl-1’,2’,3’-triazol-1’-yl-methyl)pyridine (L), two isothiocyanate groups (NCS) and one pyridine is reported. Its catalytic activity in the photo-driven reduction of carbon dioxide has been investigated and compared with its Co$^{II}$ analogue (CoL(NCS)$_2$py) and their homoleptic complexes ML$_2$. In this work, the catalysts are used in combination with the heteroleptic complex [Cu$^I$(dmp)(DPEphos)], where dmp is 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline and DPEPhos is bis[(2-diphenylphosphino)phenyl] ether, to reach entirely earth-abundant systems. The new iron heteroleptic complex Fe$^{II}$L(NCS)$_2$py showed considerable activity with a TON$_{CO}$ of 576 obtained after 4 h (TOF=144 h$^{−1}$) through visible light (λ=420 nm) and a quantum yield of 7.1 %