Revival of Philozoon Geddes for host-specialized dinoflagellates, ‘zooxanthellae’, in animals from coastal temperate zones of northern and southern hemispheres

The dinoflagellate family Symbiodiniaceae comprises numerous genera and species with large differences in diversity, ecology and geographic distribution. An evolutionarily divergent lineage common in temperate symbiotic cnidarians and designated in the literature by several informal names including ‘temperate–A’, AI, Phylotype A´ (A-prime) and ‘Mediterranean A’, is here assigned to the genus Philozoon. This genus was proposed by Geddes (1882) in one of the earliest papers that recognized ‘yellow cells’ as distinct biological entities separate from their animal and protist hosts. Using phylogenetic data from nuclear (rDNA), chloroplast (cp23S) and mitochondrial genes (cob and cox1), as well as morphology (cell size), ecological traits (host affinity) and geographic distributions, we emend the genus Philozoon Geddes and two of its species, P. medusarum and P. actiniarum, and describe six new species. Each symbiont species exhibits high host fidelity for particular species of sea anemone, soft coral, stony coral and a rhizostome jellyfish. Philozoon is most closely related to Symbiodinium (formerly Clade A), but, unlike its tropical counterpart, occurs in hosts in shallow temperate marine habitats in northern and southern hemispheres including the Mediterranean Sea, north-eastern Atlantic Ocean, eastern Australia, New Zealand and Chile. The existence of a species-diverse lineage adapted to cnidarian hosts living in high latitude habitats with inherently wide fluctuations in temperature calls further attention to the ecological and biogeographic reach of the Symbiodiniaceae

Impact of internet of things (IoT) in disaster management: a task-technology fit perspective

YesDisaster management aims to mitigate the potential damage from the disasters, ensure immediate and suitable assistance to the victims, and attain effective and rapid recovery. These objectives require a planned and effective rescue operation post such disasters. Different types of information about the impact of the disaster are, hence, required for planning an effective and immediate relief operation. The IoT technology available today is quite mature and has the potential to be very useful in disaster situations. This paper analyzes the requirements for planning rescue operation for such natural disasters and proposes an IoT based solution to cater the identified requirements. The proposed solution is further validated using the task-technology fit (TTF) approach for analyzing the significance of the adoption of IoT technology for disaster management. Results from the exploratory study established the core dimensions of the task requirements and the TTF constructs. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis using PLS path modelling, further, suggest that both task requirements and IoT technology have significant impact on the IoT TTF in the disaster management scenario. This paper makes significant contributions in the development of appropriate constructs for modeling TTF for IoT Technology in the context of disaster management

Effects of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist rimonabant on distinct measures of impulsive behavior in rats

Rationale Pathological impulsivity is a prominent feature in several psychiatric disorders, but detailed understanding of the specific neuronal processes underlying impulsive behavior is as yet lacking. Objectives As recent findings have suggested involvement of the brain cannabinoid system in impulsivity, the present study aimed at further elucidating the role of cannabinoid CB1 receptor activation in distinct measures of impulsive behavior. Materials and methods The effects of the selective cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist, rimonabant (SR141716A) and agonist WIN55,212-2 were tested in various measures of impulsive behavior, namely, inhibitory control in a five-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), impulsive choice in a delayed reward paradigm, and response inhibition in a stop-signal paradigm. Results In the 5-CSRTT, SR141716A dose-dependently improved inhibitory control by decreasing the number of premature responses. Furthermore, SR141716A slightly improved attentional function, increased correct response latency, but did not affect other parameters. The CB1 receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 did not change inhibitory control in the 5-CSRTT and only increased response latencies and errors of omissions. Coadministration of WIN55,212-2 prevented the effects of SR141716A on inhibitory control in the 5-CSRTT. Impulsive choice and response inhibition were not affected by SR141716A at any dose, whereas WIN55,212-2 slightly impaired response inhibition but did not change impulsive choice. Conclusions The present data suggest that particularly the endocannabinoid system seems involved in some measures of impulsivity and provides further evidence for the existence of distinct forms of impulsivity that can be pharmacologically dissociated

Massima Entropia Generalizzata e Simple Component Analysis per l'analisi della Customer Satisfaction nel trasporto pubblico locale: l'esperienza dell'azienda AMTS di Benevento

Generalized maximum entropy and simple component analysis for the customer satisfaction analysis in the local public transportation. The experience of the AMTS company (by Enrico Ciavolino, Luigi D'Ambra, Daniela De Franco). Objectives The necessity of developing an integrated system for evaluating the Passenger Satisfaction (PS) in the Local Public Transportation (LPT), is introduced in the our paper. The approach is presented in the second paragraph, where the main characteristics and the peculiarities of the PS survey and analysis management processes based, are explained by the experience of the ‘Azienda Mobilita Trasporti Sannio'(AMTS) Company of Benevento. Methods and Results In the third paragraph, the methodology Simple Component Analysis (SCA) is showed for analyzing and evaluating the questionnaire submitted to the customers of the LPT. The PS is formalized and studied by the Structural Equation Model (SEM) based on an innovative estimation method called Generalized Maximum Entropy (GME) showed in the forth paragraph. Conclusions The paper is concluded by a real experience of PS, processes based, realized by AMTS Company, where the potentialities of the statistical tools are showed. The statistical results obtained, are used by the decision makers, for choosing the quality characteristics have to been improved, for increase the level of the satisfaction, of their passengers

Nuovi strumenti statistici multivariati per l'analisi della customer satisfaction nel trasporto pubblico locale: l'esperienza dell'azienda AMTS di Benevento

la necessità dello sviluppo di un sistema integrato di valutazione della CS è nel trasporto pubblico locale è inizialmente introdotta nel nostro contributo. L'approccio è brevemente illustrato nel secondo paragrafo in cui sono mostrate anche tecniche statistiche multivariate innovative, quali la simple component analysis e i modelli ad equazioni strutturali basati sulla stima di massima entropia generalizzata. Il contributo si conclude con la presentazione di un'esperienza concreta di rilevazione di CS realizzata con il contributo dell'azienda mobilità trasporti Sannio (AMTS) di Benevento dove sono mostrate le potenzialità di tali nuove tecnich