Nomenclature adjustments and new syntaxa of the arctic, alpine and oro-Mediterranean vegetation

Proposte sintassonomiche e nomenclaturali per la vegetazione della Tundra alpina. Il capitolo riguardante l'alta quota appenninica è il più corposo e propone il nuovo syntaxon Leontopodio-Elynion a livello di alleanza. La grande novità sta nel fatto che questa alleanza è da considerarsi anfi-Adriatica e unsice Appennino e balcani, differenziandosi dall'alleanza già definita da altri per le Alpi. i Pirenei e i Carpazi.During preparation of the European checklist of vegetation units (EuroVegChecklist), it became clear that some earlier described syntaxa need to be typified in order to stabilize nomenclature and some new syntaxa need to be described. Here we propose nomenclature adjustments and formal description of four new alliances for the Arctic, alpine and oro-Mediterranean vegetation of Europe, Greenland and Anatolia. First, we typify the class Juncetea trifidi. Second, we describe four new alliances, such as the Puccinellion nuttallianae (Low-Arctic salt steppes of Greenland; class Saxifrago tricuspidatae-Calamagrostietea purpurascentis), Dryado octopetalae- Caricion arctisibiricae (Arctic tundra vegetation of north-eastern European Russia; class Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii), Leontopodio nivalis-Elynion myosuroidis (southern European alpine tundra vegetation; class Carici rupestris-Kobresietea bellardii) and Lagotido uralensis-Caricion ensifoliae (alpine tundra vegetation of the Southern Ural Mountains; class Juncetea trifidi). Two new associations are described within the first two of these alliances. Finally, we present an interpretation of the alliance Muscario-Scillion nivalis

Waste reduction in production processes through simulation and VSM

Corporate managers often face the need to choose the optimal configurations of production processes to reduce waste. Research has shown that simulation is an effective tool among those conceived to support the manager's decisions. Nevertheless, the use of simulation at the company level remains limited due to the complexity in the design phase. In this context, the Value Stream Map (VSM)-a tool of the Lean philosophy-is here exploited as a link between the strategic needs of the management and the operational aspect of the simulation process in order to approach sustainability issues. The presented approach is divided into two main parts: a set of criteria for expanding the VSM are identified in order to increase the level of details of the represented processes; then, data categories required for the inputs and outputs of each sub-process modeling are defined, including environmental indicators. Specifically, an extended version of the classical VSM (X-VSM), conceived to support process simulation, is here proposed: the X-VSM is used to guide the design of the simulation so that the management decisions, in terms of waste reduction, can be easily evaluated. The proposal was validated on a production process of a large multinational manufacturing company

Pressure tuning of light-induced superconductivity in K3C60

Optical excitation at terahertz frequencies has emerged as an effective means to manipulate complex solids dynamically. In the molecular solid K3C60, coherent excitation of intramolecular vibrations was shown to transform the high temperature metal into a non-equilibrium state with the optical conductivity of a superconductor. Here we tune this effect with hydrostatic pressure, and we find it to disappear around 0.3 GPa. Reduction with pressure underscores the similarity with the equilibrium superconducting phase of K3C60, in which a larger electronic bandwidth is detrimental for pairing. Crucially, our observation excludes alternative interpretations based on a high-mobility metallic phase. The pressure dependence also suggests that transient, incipient superconductivity occurs far above the 150 K hypothesised previously, and rather extends all the way to room temperature.Comment: 33 pages, 17 figures, 2 table

Hyphal growth of phagocytosed fusarium oxysporum causes cell lysis and death of murine macrophages

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Effects of the glial modulator palmitoylethanolamide on chronic pain intensity and brain function.

Background: Chronic neuropathic pain (NP) is a complex disease that results from damage or presumed damage to the somatosensory nervous system. Current treatment regimens are often ineffective. The major impediment in developing effective treatments is our limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Preclinical evidence suggests that glial changes are crucial for the development of NP and a recent study reported oscillatory activity differences within the ascending pain pathway at frequencies similar to that of cyclic gliotransmission in NP. Furthermore, there is evidence that glial modifying medications may be effective in treating NP. The aim of this Phase I open-label clinical trial is to determine whether glial modifying medication palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) will reduce NP and whether this is associated with reductions in oscillatory activity within the pain pathway. Methods: We investigated whether 6 weeks of PEA treatment would reduce pain and infra-slow oscillatory activity within the ascending trigeminal pathway in 22 individuals (17 females) with chronic orofacial NP. Results: PEA reduced pain in 16 (73%) of the 22 subjects, 11 subjects showed pain reduction of over 20%. Whilst both the responders and non-responders showed reductions in infra-slow oscillatory activity where orofacial nociceptor afferents terminate in the brainstem, only responders displayed reductions in the thalamus. Furthermore, functional connections between the brainstem and thalamus were altered only in responders. Conclusion: PEA is effective at relieving NP. This reduction is coupled to a reduction in resting oscillations along the ascending pain pathway that are likely driven by rhythmic astrocytic gliotransmission

Are suprapectineal quadrilateral surface buttressing plates performances superior to traditional fixation? A finite element analysis

Acetabular fractures have a high impact on patient’s quality of life, and because acetabular fractures are high energy injuries, they often co-occur with other pathologies such as damage to cartilage that could increase related morbidity; thus, it appears of primary importance developing reliable treatments for this disease. This work aims at the evaluation of the biomechanical performances of non-conservative treatments of acetabular fractures through a finite element approach. Two pelvic plates models (the standard suprapectineal plate—SPP, and a suprapectineal quadrilateral surface buttressing plate—SQBP) were analyzed when implanted on transverse or T-shaped fractures. The plates geometries were adapted to the specific hemipelvis, mimicking the bending action that the surgeon performs on the plate intraoperatively. Implemented models were tested in a single leg stance condition. The obtained results show that using the SQBP plate in transverse and T-shaped acetabular fractures generates lower bone stress if compared to the SPP plate. Interfragmentary movement analysis shows that the SQBP plate guarantees greater stability in transverse fractures. In conclusion, the SQBP plate seems worthy of further clinical analysis, having resulted as a promising option in the treatment of transverse and T-shaped acetabular fractures, able to reduce bone stress values and to get performances comparable, and in some cases superior, to traditional fixation

Vinculando la danza y la educación: el caso del internado Beatriz Hernández

Informe que muestra el proceso de sistematización y teorización de gestión del conocimiento realizado para instalar el proyecto “La danza clásica desde la mirada educativa: una propuesta para la educación del cuerpo” en el internado para niñas de bajos recursos Beatriz Hernández, el cual depende de la Secretaría de Educación Jalisco (SEJ). Este proyecto tuvo el objetivo de diseñar un método educativo basado en la danza y en la conversación para incidir en el conocimiento del cuerpo, el desarrollo cognitivo y el socioafectivo de las alumnas del internado y lograr instalar este método como parte del currículo de la institución. Los resultados de este proyecto permiten tener un nuevo acercamiento al conocimiento de la práctica de la danza como herramienta metodológica para favorecer, por su naturaleza física, expresiva y cognitiva, la integración de mente, cuerpo y emociones. Además, posibilita abrir espacios para ampliar la visión tradicional de los procesos de cognición, aporta nuevos recursos a los normalmente utilizados en el currículo escolar, abre la reflexión sobre el cuerpo como medio de exploración y apropiación de los conocimientos y contribuye a la vinculación de la educación y el arte al proponer la danza como estrategia de formación en el currículo escolar. *A lo largo de este trabajo, la autora hace referencia a entrevistas y registros de clases en audio y video, los cuales no están agregados en este registro

On the semiclassical treatment of Hawking radiation

In the context of the semiclassical treatment of Hawking radiation we prove the universality of the reduced canonical momentum for the system of a massive shell self gravitating in a spherical gravitational field within the Painlev\'e family of gauges. We show that one can construct modes which are regular on the horizon both by considering as hamiltonian the exterior boundary term and by using as hamiltonian the interior boundary term. The late time expansion is given in both approaches and their time Fourier expansion computed to reproduce the self reaction correction to the Hawking spectrum.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, Corrected typo