New taxa of Neotropical Geophilomorpha (Chilopoda)

A new family (Macronicophilidae) is establishedflor Macronicophilus Silvestri, 1909, currently placed in Geophilidae. Seven new species of Neotropical Geophilomorpha are described: Ityphilus saucius n.sp. and I. sensibilis n.sp. (Ballophilidae), Hyphydrophilus projectus n.sp. and Ribautia onycophaena n.sp. (Geophilidae), Macronicophilus abbreviatus n.sp., M. unguiseta n.sp. and M. venezolanus n.sp. (Macronicophilidae). The hitherto unknown male of Schendylops marchantariae (PEREIRA, MINELLI & BARBIERI, 1995) is described and two species (Pectiniunguis geayi (BRÖLEMANN & RIBAUT, 1911) and ltyphilus calinus CHAMBERLIN, 1957 are redescribed from the type and new material. A key to the species of Macronicophilus is provided

Systematic review of statistical approaches to quantify, or correct for, measurement error in a continuous exposure in nutritional epidemiology.

BACKGROUND: Several statistical approaches have been proposed to assess and correct for exposure measurement error. We aimed to provide a critical overview of the most common approaches used in nutritional epidemiology. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS and CINAHL were searched for reports published in English up to May 2016 in order to ascertain studies that described methods aimed to quantify and/or correct for measurement error for a continuous exposure in nutritional epidemiology using a calibration study. RESULTS: We identified 126 studies, 43 of which described statistical methods and 83 that applied any of these methods to a real dataset. The statistical approaches in the eligible studies were grouped into: a) approaches to quantify the relationship between different dietary assessment instruments and "true intake", which were mostly based on correlation analysis and the method of triads; b) approaches to adjust point and interval estimates of diet-disease associations for measurement error, mostly based on regression calibration analysis and its extensions. Two approaches (multiple imputation and moment reconstruction) were identified that can deal with differential measurement error. CONCLUSIONS: For regression calibration, the most common approach to correct for measurement error used in nutritional epidemiology, it is crucial to ensure that its assumptions and requirements are fully met. Analyses that investigate the impact of departures from the classical measurement error model on regression calibration estimates can be helpful to researchers in interpreting their findings. With regard to the possible use of alternative methods when regression calibration is not appropriate, the choice of method should depend on the measurement error model assumed, the availability of suitable calibration study data and the potential for bias due to violation of the classical measurement error model assumptions. On the basis of this review, we provide some practical advice for the use of methods to assess and adjust for measurement error in nutritional epidemiology

A New Set of Chisels for Galactic Archeology: Sc, V, and Zn as Taggers of Accreted Globular Clusters

Chemical tagging is a powerful tool to reveal the origin of stars and globular clusters (GCs), especially when dynamics alone cannot provide robust answers. So far, mostly α-elements and neutron capture elements have been used to distinguish stars born in the Milky Way (MW) from those born in external environments such as that of dwarf galaxies. Here, instead, we use iron-peak element abundances to investigate the origin of a sample of metal-rich GCs. By homogeneously analyzing high-resolution UVES spectra of giant stars belonging to four metal-rich GCs (namely NGC 5927, NGC 6388, NGC 6441, and NGC 6496), we find that while the α-elements Si and Ca have similar abundance ratios for all four GCs, and Ti and neutron capture elements (La, Ba, and Eu) only show a marginal discrepancy, a stark difference is found when considering the abundances of some iron-peak elements (Sc, V, and Zn). In particular, NGC 6388 and NGC 6441 have abundance ratios for these iron-peak elements significantly lower (by ∼0.5 dex) than those measured in NGC 5927 and NGC 6496, which are clearly identified as born in situ MW clusters through an analysis of their orbital properties. These measurements indicate that the environment in which these clusters formed is different, and they provide robust evidence supporting an accreted origin from the same progenitor for NGC 6388 and NGC 6441

A New Set of Chisels for Galactic Archeology:Sc, V, and Zn as Taggers of Accreted Globular Clusters

Chemical tagging is a powerful tool to reveal the origin of stars and globular clusters (GCs), especially when dynamics alone cannot provide robust answers. So far, mostly α-elements and neutron capture elements have been used to distinguish stars born in the Milky Way (MW) from those born in external environments such as that of dwarf galaxies. Here, instead, we use iron-peak element abundances to investigate the origin of a sample of metal-rich GCs. By homogeneously analyzing high-resolution UVES spectra of giant stars belonging to four metal-rich GCs (namely NGC 5927, NGC 6388, NGC 6441, and NGC 6496), we find that while the α-elements Si and Ca have similar abundance ratios for all four GCs, and Ti and neutron capture elements (La, Ba, and Eu) only show a marginal discrepancy, a stark difference is found when considering the abundances of some iron-peak elements (Sc, V, and Zn). In particular, NGC 6388 and NGC 6441 have abundance ratios for these iron-peak elements significantly lower (by ~0.5 dex) than those measured in NGC 5927 and NGC 6496, which are clearly identified as born in situ MW clusters through an analysis of their orbital properties. These measurements indicate that the environment in which these clusters formed is different, and they provide robust evidence supporting an accreted origin from the same progenitor for NGC 6388 and NGC 6441. * Based on observations collected at the ESO-VLT under programs 073.D-0211, 079.B-0721, and 193.D-0232

Quantum Zeno effect in a multilevel molecule

We study the dynamics of the populations of a model molecule endowed with two sets of rotational levels of different parity, whose ground levels are energy degenerate and coupled by a constant interaction. The relaxation rate from one set of levels to the other one has an interesting dependence on the average collision frequency of the molecules in the gas. This is interpreted as a quantum Zeno effect due to the decoherence effects provoked by the molecular collisions.Comment: 42 pages, 10 figure

Mental flexibility in Parkinson's disease with central fatigue: Data from the frontal assessment battery

Background and aims Central fatigue is defined as a reduced energy level or an increased perception of effort, often associated to a failure in initiating and maintaining tasks that require self-motivation. It is common in Parkinson's disease population and it has been hypothesized to be related to a dysfunction in the striato-talamo- prefrontal loop. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between fatigue and executive functions as index of integrity of the striato-thalamo-prefrontal loop. Methods Twenty-nine non-demented PD patients without fatigue - PDnF, 28 non-demented PD patients with fatigue - PDF and 26 age and sex- matched controls underwent an evaluation with the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), MMSE, PSQI, BDI, STAI Y1-2, PDQ-39. Differences between groups in FAB scores (total and subitems) were analyzed by means of Kruskal-Wallis test. Moreover, a correlation between fatigue and FAB was also analyzed. Results Overall parkinsonian population displayed worse performance than controls in frontal scores especially inhibitory control (p = 0.008) and sensitivity to interference (p = 0.014). PDF displayed significantly worse than PDnF in verbal fluency (p = 0.05). Fatigue severity inversely correlated with executive performance (p b 0.001). Conclusions Phonemic fluency tasks are thought to reflect the simultaneous engagement of several executive functions such as attention, working memory, retrieval, information processing. The association of central fatigue with a deficit in mental flexibility, could support the hypothesis that central fatigue is a reliable index of the impairment of higher executive functions needed in order to effectively assess costs and benefits related to adaptive decision- making behavior

A homogeneous comparison between the chemical composition of the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy

Similarities in the chemical composition of two of the closest Milky Way satellites, namely the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy, have been proposed in the literature, suggesting similar chemical enrichment histories between the two galaxies. This proposition, however, rests on different abundance analyses, which likely introduce various systematics that hamper a fair comparison among the different data sets. In order to bypass this issue (and highlight real similarities and differences between their abundance patterns), we present a homogeneous chemical analysis of 30 giant stars in LMC, 14 giant stars in Sgr and 14 giants in the Milky Way, based on high-resolution spectra taken with the spectrograph UVES-FLAMES. The LMC and Sgr stars, in the considered metallicity range ([Fe/H]>-1.1 dex), show very similar abundance ratios for almost all the elements, with differences only in the heavy s-process elements Ba, La and Nd, suggesting a different contribution by asymptotic giant branch stars. On the other hand, the two galaxies have chemical patterns clearly different from those measured in the Galactic stars, especially for the elements produced by massive stars. This finding suggests the massive stars contributed less to the chemical enrichment of these galaxies with respect to the Milky Way. The derived abundances support similar chemical enrichment histories for the LMC and Sgr.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication by Ap

A Homogeneous Comparison between the Chemical Composition of the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy

Similarities in the chemical composition of two of the closest Milky Way satellites, namely, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy, have been proposed in the literature, suggesting similar chemical enrichment histories between the two galaxies. This proposition, however, rests on different abundance analyses, which likely introduce various systematics that hamper a fair comparison among the different data sets. In order to bypass this issue (and highlight real similarities and differences between their abundance patterns), we present a homogeneous chemical analysis of 30 giant stars in the LMC, 14 giant stars in Sgr, and 14 giants in the Milky Way, based on high-resolution spectra taken with the spectrograph UVES-FLAMES. The LMC and Sgr stars, in the considered metallicity range ([Fe/H] > -1.1 dex), show very similar abundance ratios for almost all the elements, with differences only in the heavy s-process elements Ba, La, and Nd, suggesting a different contribution by asymptotic giant branch stars. On the other hand, the two galaxies have chemical patterns clearly different from those measured in the Galactic stars, especially for the elements produced by massive stars. This finding suggests that the massive stars contributed less to the chemical enrichment of these galaxies with respect to the Milky Way. The derived abundances support similar chemical enrichment histories for the LMC and Sgr

The chemical DNA of the Magellanic Clouds --II. High-resolution spectroscopy of the SMC globular clusters NGC 121, NGC 339 and NGC 419

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the host of a rich system of globular clusters (GCs) that span a wide age range. The chemical composition of the SMC clusters is still poorly understood, despite their significance to chemical evolution studies. Here, we provide the first detailed chemical study of evolved giants in three distinct clusters, NGC 121 (10.5 Gyr), NGC 339 (6 Gyr), and NGC 419 (1.4 Gyr). Results are based on high-resolution spectra obtained with FLAMES at the Very Large Telescope. The chemical fingerprints of these clusters closely resemble those of SMC field stars, supporting the SMC's specific history of chemical enrichment relative to the Milky Way. The approximately solar-scaled [alpha/Fe] observed in all three clusters, independent of their [Fe/H], demonstrate the SMC's low star formation efficiency. Compared to their Milky Way counterparts, elements primarily produced by massive stars are severely underrepresented. Particularly, the young cluster NGC 419's extremely low [Zn/Fe] shows that hypernovae have contributed relatively little during the past two Gyr. The three GCs have high [Eu/Fe] values regardless of their age. This suggests that the production of the r-process elements in the SMC was extremely efficient up to 1.5 Gyr ago, with an enrichment timescale comparable to that from Type Ia supernovae. When the properties of the oldest SMC object NGC 121 are compared to those of in-situ Milky Way clusters and accreted clusters linked to the Gaia-Enceladus merger event, it is shown that the SMC had already attained the same metallicity as Gaia-Enceladus but with lower [Fe/H] ratios at the age of NGC 121. This suggests that the chemical enrichment histories of the early SMC and Gaia-Enceladus differed, and that the SMC probably had a lower mass in its early ages than Gaia-Enceladus.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 9 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic