Probing the roles of orientation and multi-scale gas distributions in shaping the obscuration of Active Galactic Nuclei through cosmic time

The origin of obscuration in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is still an open debate. In particular, it is unclear what drives the relative contributions to the line-of-sight column densities from galaxy-scale and torus-linked obscuration. The latter source is expected to play a significant role in Unification Models, while the former is thought to be relevant in both Unification and Evolutionary Models. In this work, we make use of a combination of cosmological semi-analytic models and semi-empirical prescriptions for the properties of galaxies and AGN, to study AGN obscuration. We consider a detailed object-by-object modelling of AGN evolution, including different AGN light curves (LCs), gas density profiles, and also AGN feedback-induced gas cavities. Irrespective of our assumptions on specific AGN LC or galaxy gas fractions, we find that, on the strict assumption of an exponential profile for the gas component, galaxy-scale obscuration alone can hardly reproduce the fraction of $\log (N_{\rm H}/$cm$^{-2}) \geq 24$ sources at least at $z\lesssim3$. This requires an additional torus component with a thickness that decreases with luminosity to match the data. The torus should be present in all evolutionary stages of a visible AGN to be effective, although galaxy-scale gas obscuration may be sufficient to reproduce the obscured fraction with $22<\log (N_{\rm H}/$cm$^{-2})<24$ (Compton-thin, CTN) if we assume extremely compact gas disc components. The claimed drop of CTN fractions with increasing luminosity does not appear to be a consequence of AGN feedback, but rather of gas reservoirs becoming more compact with decreasing stellar mass.Comment: MNRAS, accepted, 19 pages, 15 figures, 3 appendice

Assessing the Levels of Awareness among European Citizens about the Direct and Indirect Impacts of Plastics on Human Health

There is an urgent need to assess European citizens’ perspective regarding their plastic consumption and to evaluate their awareness of the direct and indirect effect of plastics on human health in order to influence current behavior trends. In this study, the evaluation has been cross-related with scientific facts, with the final aim of detecting the most recommendable paths in increasing human awareness, reducing plastic consumption, and consequently impacting human health. A statistical analysis of quantitative data, gathered from 1000 European citizens via an online survey in the period from May to June 2020, showed that a general awareness about the direct impact of plastic consumption and contamination (waste) on human health is high in Europe. However, only a few participants (from a higher educational group) were aware of the indirect negative effects that oil extraction and industrial production of plastic can have on human health. This finding calls for improved availability of this information to general public. Despite the participants’ positive attitude toward active plastic reduction (61%), plastic consumption on a daily basis is still very high (86%). The most common current actions toward plastic reduction are plastic bag usage, reusage, or replacement with sustainable alternatives (e.g., textile bags) and selecting products with less plastic packaging. The participants showed important criticism toward the information available to the general public about plastics and health. This awareness is important since significant relation has been found between the available information and the participants’ decisions on the actions they might undertake to reduce plastic consumption. The study clearly showed the willingness of the participants to take action, but they also requested to be strongly supported with joint efforts from government, policies, and marketing, defining it as the most successful way toward implementing these changes

The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE : survey design, overview, and simulated implementation

Funding for the WEAVE facility has been provided by UKRI STFC, the University of Oxford, NOVA, NWO, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), the Isaac Newton Group partners (STFC, NWO, and Spain, led by the IAC), INAF, CNRS-INSU, the Observatoire de Paris, Région Île-de-France, CONCYT through INAOE, Konkoly Observatory (CSFK), Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA Heidelberg), Lund University, the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), the Swedish Research Council, the European Commission, and the University of Pennsylvania.WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366-959 nm at R ∼ 5000, or two shorter ranges at R ∼ 20,000. After summarising the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organisation, science drivers and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for ∼ 3 million stars and detailed abundances for ∼ 1.5 million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey ∼ 0.4 million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey  ∼ 400 neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionised gas in z 1 million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at z > 2. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator.PostprintPeer reviewe

The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE: Survey design, overview, and simulated implementation

WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366$-$959\,nm at $R\sim5000$, or two shorter ranges at $R\sim20\,000$. After summarising the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organisation, science drivers and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for $\sim$3 million stars and detailed abundances for $\sim1.5$ million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey $\sim0.4$ million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey $\sim400$ neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionised gas in $z<0.5$ cluster galaxies; (vi) survey stellar populations and kinematics in $\sim25\,000$ field galaxies at $0.3\lesssim z \lesssim 0.7$; (vii) study the cosmic evolution of accretion and star formation using $>1$ million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at $z>2$. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator.Comment: 41 pages, 27 figures, accepted for publication by MNRA

The wide-field, multiplexed, spectroscopic facility WEAVE: Survey design, overview, and simulated implementation

WEAVE, the new wide-field, massively multiplexed spectroscopic survey facility for the William Herschel Telescope, will see first light in late 2022. WEAVE comprises a new 2-degree field-of-view prime-focus corrector system, a nearly 1000-multiplex fibre positioner, 20 individually deployable 'mini' integral field units (IFUs), and a single large IFU. These fibre systems feed a dual-beam spectrograph covering the wavelength range 366−959\,nm at R∼5000, or two shorter ranges at R∼20000. After summarising the design and implementation of WEAVE and its data systems, we present the organisation, science drivers and design of a five- to seven-year programme of eight individual surveys to: (i) study our Galaxy's origins by completing Gaia's phase-space information, providing metallicities to its limiting magnitude for ∼3 million stars and detailed abundances for ∼1.5 million brighter field and open-cluster stars; (ii) survey ∼0.4 million Galactic-plane OBA stars, young stellar objects and nearby gas to understand the evolution of young stars and their environments; (iii) perform an extensive spectral survey of white dwarfs; (iv) survey ∼400 neutral-hydrogen-selected galaxies with the IFUs; (v) study properties and kinematics of stellar populations and ionised gas in z1 million spectra of LOFAR-selected radio sources; (viii) trace structures using intergalactic/circumgalactic gas at z>2. Finally, we describe the WEAVE Operational Rehearsals using the WEAVE Simulator

Le colonie feline come focus di dermatofiti: aggiornamenti nella provincia di Bologna

Dalla storia del gatto emerge che il suo avvicinamento all’uomo è sempre stato in funzione della ricerca del cibo e, infatti, l’insediamento di gruppi di gatti in ambiente urbano o sub-urbano con formazione delle cosiddette colonie, è risultato essenzialmente in rapporto alla disponibilità più o meno costante di alimenti. I gatti delle colonie sono gatti domestici che hanno assunto caratteristiche ecologiche ed etologiche peculiari caratterizzate da: territorialità, organizzazione sociale, fonti alimentari, rapporto con l’uomo. L’habitat delle colonie feline è il più vario: cortili condominiali, parchi pubblici, ruderi, case abbandonate, adiacenze di fabbriche, di asili, di ospedali, mentre il numero dei gatti presenti è legato alla disponibilità di cibo. Un elevato numero di animali concentrati in uno spazio ristretto può però provocare una serie di inconvenienti legati al loro impatto sull’ambiente quali odori, fecalizzazione ambientale, rumori, abbandono e dispersione di avanzi di cibo e relativi contenitori, carte, ecc. e, non ultimo, malattie trasmissibili all’uomo (antropozoonosi) fra le quali possiamo inserire le dermatofitosi. In questo lavoro viene effettuato un aggiornamento sulla presenza di dermatofiti in colonie feline della provincia di Bologna. Materiali e metodi-Sono state esaminate 45 colonie (11 nell’area territoriale ASL Bologna città e 34 nell’area territoriale Bologna nord). comprendenti un totale di 691 gatti. Tra le colonie dell’area di Bologna città ne sono state scelte alcune che erano già state esaminate in un precedente lavoro (Galuppi e coll., 2000) per effettuare un confronto a distanza di 5 anni. In ciascuna colonia erano presenti da un minimo di 4 a un massimo di 75 gatti. Da 209 animali (87 gatti nell’area territoriale Bologna città e 122 nell’area territoriale Bologna Nord) sono state effettuati prelievi di pelo mediante spazzole che sono state seminate per infissione in capsule Petri contenenti Mycosel agar (BBL), poi incubate per 10 giorni a 26°C (+ 2) L'identificazione dei dermatofiti isolati si è basata sulla osservazione delle caratteristiche macro e microscopiche (Rebell e Taplin, 1974; Campbell et al.,1996; Badillet, 1991, ecc.). Risultati e conclusioni- Microsporum canis è stato isolato in 34 soggetti (16,27%) appartenenti a 8 (15,6%) colonie, in ciascuna delle quali sono risultati positivi dal 10% al 100% degli esaminati. In un soggetto era presente Trichophyton terrestre (dermatofita geofilo solitamente non patogeno) e occasionalmente sono stati osservati rari miceti cheratinofili geofili. M. canis è ancora il dermatofita di più frequente riscontro nel gatto. La prevalenza di colonie positive nell’hinterland bolognese (11,76%) sembra inferiore rispetto all’ambito cittadino (36,4%), ma la differenza non è risultata statisticamente significativa. La cosa che accomuna le due aree è una elevata prevalenza di soggetti positivi nelle colonie più numerose senza particolare predilezione di sesso ed età. La difficoltà concreta di riuscire ad avvicinare tutti i gatti e a disinfettare gli ambienti, in particolare nelle colonie numerose, può spiegare il riscontro di positività in due colonie riesaminate dopo 5 anni dalla precedente indagin

Variability of Malassezia pachydermatis: an italian experience and brief review of literature

Material and methods: This work described some experiences relating to the study of morphological, cultural, biochemical features and the RAPD profiles of 75 M. pachydermatis strains, isolates from symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs and cats from various provinces of Northern Italy, with the purpose to find any relation between the different characteristics. The Beta–glucosidase activity, catalase reaction, synthesis of pigments by use of tryptophan as the single nitrogen source, growth at 40°C, precipitate production on mDixon agar and lipid assimilation using Tween 20, 40, 60, 80 and Cremophor-EL were tested. The RAPD analysis was performed using FM1 primer. Results: The strains showed a high morphological, cultural and biochemical variability and no correlations among the different biological characteristics and among these and the presence/absence of lesions in the animals were found. At RAPD analysis, 44 different clusters were found. Only few relations were observed among biological variables and the presence/absence of the different RAPD bands but these features were not usable for a univocal differentiation of the strains. Conclusions: No correlations were found among biological variables and the RAPD tree clusters. A comparison among our results and the literature data confirm the extreme variability of this specie

Grains colonised by moulds: fungal identification and headspace analysis of produced volatile metabolites

The aim of this work was to verify if the headspace analysis of fungal volatile compounds produced by some species of Fusarium can be used as a marker of mould presence on maize. Eight samples of maize (four yellow maize from North Italy and four white maize from Hungary), naturally contaminated by Fusarium and positive for the presence of fumonisins, were analyzed to detect moisture content, Aw, volatile metabolites and an enumeration of viable moulds was performed by means of a colony count technique. Headspace samples were analysed using a gas-chromatograph equipped with a capillary column TR-WAX to detect volatile metabolites of moulds. Furthermore macro and microscopic examination of the colonies was performed in order to distinguish, according to their morphology, the genera of the prevalent present moulds. Prevalent mould of eight samples was Fusarium, but other fungi, like Aspergillus, Penicillum and Mucoraceae, were observed. The metabolites produced by F.graminearum and F. moniliforme were Isobutyl-acetate, 3-Methyl-1-butanol and, only at 8 days, 3-Octanone. The incubation time can affect off flavour production in consequence of the presence of other moulds. Further studies on maize samples under different conditions are needed in order to establish the presence of moulds using the count technique and through the identification of volatile compounds

Wild Ungulates as Babesia Hosts in Northern and Central Italy

Babesia and Theileria species were investigated in wild ungulates of Northern and Central Italy. Of 355 blood samples examined, 108 (30.4%) were positive to molecular diagnostics (polymerase chain reaction [PCR] with specific primers and sequencing). The sequence analysis showed that the roe deer is a susceptible host for several piroplasms belonging both to Babesia (31%) and Theileria (14.2%) species, whereas fallow deer and wild boar harbor only Theileria species (49% and 2.6%, respectively). Strains related to B. divergens are highly present (28.3%) in the roe deer, which, however, also harbors Babesia MO1 type and Babesia microti-like organisms. Babesia EU1 type is described for the first time in a roe deer in Italy. The finding in roe deer of Babesia species involved in human babesiosis is of concern for public health, mainly because ecological changes in progress cause the increase of both the deer species and the vector tick populations. Key Words: parasitosis, zoonosi