Operators in Rigged Hilbert spaces: some spectral properties

A notion of resolvent set for an operator acting in a rigged Hilbert space \D \subset \H\subset \D^\times is proposed. This set depends on a family of intermediate locally convex spaces living between \D and \D^\times, called interspaces. Some properties of the resolvent set and of the corresponding multivalued resolvent function are derived and some examples are discussed.Comment: 29 page

Ovine Catarrhal fever (bluetongue): Analysis of Culicoides species in seropositive farms

Bluetongue (BT) is an orbiviral disease of wild and domestic ruminants, mainly sheep. In Sicily, the first Bluetongue outbreak occurred in October 2000; there have been 76 recorded outbreaks so far. The National Surveillance Plan, based on European Union Commission Decision 138/2001/CE, establishes serological and entomological surveys. This plan consists of controls of seronegative cattle, called 'sentry' as indicators for the presence and circulation of virus in defined areas. To check the seroconversions, the regional territory has been subdivided in 400 km2 areas including 58 seronegative cattle, periodically checked by serological tests. All positive sera have been tested to detect the specific serotype by the National Reference Centre for Exotic Diseases (CESME) at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Abruzzo e Molise in Teramo (IZS Teramo). Moreover, entomological surveillance has been implemented in seropositive herds, to investigate the presence of insect vectors belonging to Culicoides genus. The goal of the present communication is to report on the different species of Culicoides found in the farms with Bluetongue virus and to investigate on the probable role of new competent vectors. This paper concerns data analysis of 581 light-trap catches collected in 321 farms from 2003 to 2008. We observed that 82% of checked farms were positive for Culicoides spp., and only 10% of the farms were positive for Culicoides imicola. © 2010 Blackwell Verlag GmbH

Assessment of ageing effect on the mechanical behaviour of steel/aluminium self-piercing riveted joint

Self-piercing riveting (SPR) is a new performing technology able to joint several kinds of metal and non-metal supports together. The combined effect of joint configuration and environmental conditions could have detrimental effect on the ageing effect on mechanical behaviour of dissimilar metal SPR joints. The joining of dissimilar materials, such as steel and aluminium, realized by self-piercing riveting (SPR) technique was studied to evaluate the ageing effects on its mechanical behaviour in critical environmental conditions. The investigation was carried out on symmetrical or unsymmetrical joints at varying total thicknesses (i.e. 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 mm). The joint resistance was determined by single-lap shear tests. A design of experiment (DoE) has been performed by using Minitab® followed by the statistical analysis (ANOVA) of the experimental data. Long-term ageing tests in salt spray environment were performed to evaluate the durability of the mechanical joint. The experimental results evidenced that the corrosion degradation phenomena influenced significantly both the performance and failure mechanisms of the joints; also, the joint configuration is a significant factor for the corrosion effect. In the salt spray, the aluminium sheet undergoes a noticeable degradation due to galvanic Al/Fe corrosion. The set characterized by thinner aluminium sheet evidenced a gradual reduction of the mechanical strength with increasing ageing time due to the prevalence of thinning induced by aluminium corrosion. Instead, for S10-A15 samples (characterized by a thicker thickness of aluminium sheet) during the first 7 weeks, stable mechanical performances were observed. The experimental results evidenced that the corrosion degradation phenomena influence significantly both performances and failure mechanisms of SPR joints. Furthermore, the durability of the SPR joint is strongly affected by the joint configuration, and the best results were observed in the unsymmetrical joint with thicker aluminium sheet

Functional assessment of cancer therapy questionnaire for breast cancer (FACT-B+4): Italian version validation

BACKGROUND: Improvements in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment led to an increased incidence of survivors' rate. The healthcare system has to face new problems related not only to the treatment of the disease, but also to the management of the quality of life after the diagnosis. The aim of this study was to validate the Italian version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Breast (FACT-B+4) questionnaire and to evaluate its reliability. METHODS: The questionnaire was administered twice, with an interval of three days between each administration, to a cohort of women of the Breast Surgical Unit, PoliclincoUmberto I. Cronbach's alpha was used as a measure of the internal consistency of the Italian version. RESULTS: The Italian version of the tool was administered to 55 subjects. The Cronbach's alpha for most scores registered values >0.7, both at baseline and at the follow-up analysis, therefore the subscale showed good internal consistency. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian version of FACT-B+4 demonstrated acceptable reliability properties in the Breast Unit patients. The use of this questionnaire seemed to be effective and in line with the results derived from the English and Spanishversions. Internal consistency and validity had similar performance results

Surgical complications after pancreatic transplantation: A computed tomography imaging pictorial review

pancreatic transplantation should start with the evaluation of the arterial Y-graft, the venous anastomosis and the duodenojejunostomy. With regard to complications, CT allows for the identification of vascular complications, such as thrombosis or stenosis of blood vessels supplying the graft, the detection of pancreatic fluid collections, including pseudocysts, abscesses, or leaks, the assessment of bowel complications (anastomotic leaks, ileus or obstruction), and the identification of bleeding. The aim of this pictorial review is to illustrate CT findings of surgical-related complications after pancreatic transplantation. The knowledge of surgical techniques is of key importance to understand postoperative anatomic changes and imaging evaluation. Therefore, we first provide a short summary of the main techniques of pancreatic transplantation. Then, we provide a practical imaging approach to pancreatic transplantation and its complications providing tips and tricks for the prompt imaging diagnosis on CT.Pancreatic transplantation is considered by the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes an acceptable surgical procedure in patients with type 1 diabetes also undergoing kidney transplantation in pre-final or end-stage renal disease if no contraindications are present. Pancreatic transplantation, however, is a complex surgical procedure and may lead to a range of postoperative complications that can significantly impact graft function and patient outcomes. Postoperative computed tomography (CT) is often adopted to evaluate perfusion of the transplanted pancreas, identify complications and as a guide for interventional radiology procedures. CT assessment afte

Exploiting Slow Dynamics Effects for Damage Detection in Concrete

Nonlinear ultrasonic techniques have been developed over the last decades to detect the presence of damage in materials of interest in the field of civil engineering, such as concrete or mortar. The dependence on the strain amplitude of measurable quantities, such as wave velocity, damping factor, resonance frequency, etc. is normally considered a qualitative indicator of the presence of defects at the microstructural level. The experimental approaches proposed have the advantage of being sensitive to small variations in the sample microstructure and are therefore more adapted to detect the presence of small cracks or damaged areas with respect to traditional linear ultrasonic techniques. However, nonlinear methods are difficult to implement, since they usually require a calibrated experimental set-up which also behaves linearly at high amplitudes of excitation. The slow dynamics features, typical of the hysteresis generated by damage, have been given much less attention as a tool for damage detection even though their quantification is often less demanding in terms of an experimental set-up. Here, we provide the first evidence of how recovery, which is part of the slow dynamics process, is sensitive to the presence of damage in concrete samples and thus could be considered as an easy-to-measure nonlinear indicator for Structural Health Monitoring purposes

Acute hepatitis caused by minocycline.

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Synergistic Effect of a Plant-Derived Protein Hydrolysate and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on Eggplant Grown in Open Fields: A Two-Year Study

Plant biostimulants, such as plant protein hydrolysates (PHs) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM), are natural products capable of increasing the yield and quality of crops and decreasing the ecological impact of plant growing cycles. However, there is little research on the mutual application of different categories of biostimulants (microbial and non-microbial). The current study was conducted to examine the effects of "Trainer" PH application (0 or 3 mL L-1) and AM (R. irregularis) inoculation on the growth, yield, quality and nitrogen indices of "Birgah" F-1 eggplant cultivated for two years (2020 and 2021). Results revealed that the combined application of PH and AM significantly enhanced total and marketable yields, average marketable fruit weight and number of marketable fruits by 23.7%, 36.4%, 19.0% and 11.1% compared to non-treated plants (control), respectively. Moreover, biostimulants increased the soluble solids content (SSC), chlorogenic acid, total anthocyanins, K and Mg in the fruits by 16%, 4.6%, 6.4%, 8.6% and 23.9% compared to control plants, respectively. Interestingly, the mutual application of PH and AM improved fruit quality by reducing the glycoalkaloid concentration (-19.8%) and fruit browning potential (-38%). Furthermore, both biostimulants exerted a synergistic action, enhancing nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen uptake efficiency by 26.7% and 18.75%, respectively. On the other hand, productive and fruit-quality features were significantly influenced by the year due to remarkable differences in terms of maximum temperature between the first and second cultivation cycles. Overall, our research underlined that PH and AM can positively interact to improve the performance of eggplant cultivated in open fields

Benthic foraminifera as environmental indicators in extreme environments. The marine cave of Bue Marino (Sardinia, Italy)

The coast of the Gulf of Orosei (Sardinia, Italy) consists of impressive cliffs set up on dolostones and limestones characterized by wide karst systems connected to the sea. Marine caves, which are part of these system flooded by seawater through marine entrances, may be considered as extreme environments because of wide spatial and temporal environmental variability due to changing marine and terrestrial contributions. This study presents the results of the third survey carried out in summer 2016 in the Bue Marino cave, as part of a research project started in 2014 aimed at the application of Benthic Foraminifera (BF) as ecological indicators in Mediterranean marine caves for the identification of different habitats and their environmental interpretation. Sediment and water samples were collected from a total of 25 stations from two distinct sectors of the cave (North Branch and Middle Branch); sediments were analysed for living and dead BF and grain size, while Temperature, Salinity, pH and Dissolved Oxygen were measured in water samples collected close to sediment water interface. Two main foraminiferal assemblages, with distinct characteristics with respect to the typical Mediterranean shallow-water ones, were recognized by means of Hierarchical Cluster Analysis and Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling, and a Canonical Correspondence Analysis deduced their environmental significance. A well oxygenated, less saline environment with coarse bottom sediment, correlated with a mixed calcareous-agglutinated assemblage (Gavelinopsis praegeri, Rosalina spp., Eggerelloides advenus and Reophax dentaliniformis) with high species diversity (H-index 2.32–3.57) and low foraminiferal density, was exclusive of the North Branch. A scarcely oxygenated, more saline environment with fine bottom sediment enriched in vegetal debris was related to a prevalently agglutinated assemblage characterized by low species diversity (H-index 1.60–2.68), with high dominance of E. advenus (up to 83.6%) associated to Ammonia tepida, and high foraminiferal density, recognized in the Middle Branch. These different environments were interpreted considering the different modes of feeding the karst systems of the two branches. They also corresponded to two distinct ecozones, Entrance and Confluence, already recognized in earlier studies. The environmental significance of the foraminiferal ecozones recognized in this study and their comparison with the ones identified in the previous years, helped to consider the ecological zonation as a tool for detecting seasonal and, possibly, long term annual environmental variability in the marine system