1,399 research outputs found
Ecological and behavioral drivers of supplemental feeding use by roe deer Capreolus capreolus in a peri-urban context
Winter supplemental feeding of ungulates potentially alters their use of resources and
ecological interactions, yet relatively little is known about the patterns of feeding sites use by target
populations. We used camera traps to continuously monitor winter and spring feeding site use in a
roe deer population living in a peri-urban area in Northern Italy. We combined circular statistics with
generalized additive and linear mixed models to analyze the diel and seasonal pattern of roe deer
visits to feeding sites, and the behavioral drivers influencing visit duration. Roe deer visits peaked at
dawn and dusk, and decreased from winter to spring when vegetation regrows and temperature
increases. Roe deer mostly visited feeding sites solitarily; when this was not the case, they stayed
longer at the site, especially when conspecifics were eating, but maintained a bimodal diel pattern
of visits. These results support an opportunistic use of feeding sites, following seasonal cycles and
the roe deer circadian clock. Yet, the attractiveness of these artificial resources has the potential to
alter intra-specific relationships, as competition for their use induces gatherings and may extend the
contact time between individuals, with potential behavioral and epidemiological consequences
Monte Carlo Tree Search Planning for continuous action and state space
Sequential decision-making in real-world environments is an important problem of artificial intelligence and robotics. In the last decade reinforcement learning has provided effective solutions in small and simulated environments but it has also shown some limits on large and real-world domains characterized by continuous state and action spaces. In this work, we aim to evaluate some state-of-the-art algorithms based on Monte Carlo Tree Search planning in continuous state/action spaces and propose a first version of a new algorithm based on action widening. Algorithms are evaluated on a synthetic domain in which the agent aims to control a car through a narrow curve for reaching the goal in the shortest possible time and avoiding the car going off the road. We show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art techniques
Providing incentives to encourage a control program of hooded crows (Corvus corone cornix L., 1758): a case study in Rieti province (Italy), 2005-10
Amici, A., Adriani, S., Bonanni, M., Serrani, F
Additive energy forward curves in a Heath-Jarrow-Morton framework
One of the peculiarities of power and gas markets is the delivery mechanism
of forward contracts. The seller of a futures contract commits to deliver, say,
power, over a certain period, while the classical forward is a financial
agreement settled on a maturity date. Our purpose is to design a
Heath-Jarrow-Morton framework for an additive, mean-reverting, multicommodity
market consisting of forward contracts of any delivery period. The main
assumption is that forward prices can be represented as affine functions of a
universal source of randomness. This allows us to completely characterize the
models which prevent arbitrage opportunities: this boils down to finding a
density between a risk-neutral measure , such that the prices of
traded assets like forward contracts are true -martingales, and the
real world probability measure , under which forward prices are
mean-reverting. The Girsanov kernel for such a transformation turns out to be
stochastic and unbounded in the diffusion part, while in the jump part the
Girsanov kernel must be deterministic and bounded: thus, in this respect, we
prove two results on the martingale property of stochastic exponentials. The
first allows to validate measure changes made of two components: an
Esscher-type density and a Girsanov transform with stochastic and unbounded
kernel. The second uses a different approach and works for the case of
continuous density. We apply this framework to two models: a generalized
Lucia-Schwartz model and a cross-commodity cointegrated market.Comment: 28 page
The unmet need for pertussis prevention in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the Italian context
Despite high rates of vaccination, pertussis resurgence has been reported worldwide in recent years, including in Italy, especially in older adults. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a respiratory disease associated with progressive inflammation of the respiratory tract. Regional population studies have shown the prevalence of COPD in Italy to be approximately 15% with an age-dependent increase in proportion of COPD cases. Emerging data shows that individuals with COPD are at high risk of contracting pertussis. Furthermore, those who develop pertussis could experience exacerbation of their pre-existent COPD and further susceptibility to other infections. Immunization programs in Italy currently recommend a decennial reduced-antigen-content diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis booster vaccine dose for adults. Active measures to encourage booster vaccination, especially for high-risk adults such as those with COPD, could positively impact pertussis morbidity and the associated healthcare burden
Paramagnetic GaN:Fe and ferromagnetic (Ga,Fe)N - relation between structural, electronic, and magnetic properties
We report on the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of GaN:Fe and
(Ga,Fe)N layers on c-sapphire substrates and their thorough characterization
via high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD), transmission electron microscopy
(TEM), spatially-resolved energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS),
secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), photoluminescence (PL), Hall-effect,
electron-paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and magnetometry employing a
superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). A combination of TEM and
EDS reveals the presence of coherent nanocrystals presumably FexN with the
composition and lattice parameter imposed by the host. From both TEM and SIMS
studies, it is stated that the density of nanocrystals and, thus the Fe
concentration increases towards the surface. In layers with iron content x<0.4%
the presence of ferromagnetic signatures, such as magnetization hysteresis and
spontaneous magnetization, have been detected. We link the presence of
ferromagnetic signatures to the formation of Fe-rich nanocrystals, as evidenced
by TEM and EDS studies. This interpretation is supported by magnetization
measurements after cooling in- and without an external magnetic field, pointing
to superparamagnetic properties of the system. It is argued that the high
temperature ferromagnetic response due to spinodal decomposition into regions
with small and large concentration of the magnetic component is a generic
property of diluted magnetic semiconductors and diluted magnetic oxides showing
high apparent Curie temperature.Comment: 21 pages, 30 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy of strain-engineered GaAsBi alloys
In this paper, we present results obtained by an optical technique, namely, reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS), applied to a series of GaAs1-xBix samples grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) under different strain conditions with the increasing concentration of Bi, up to the higher value of about 7%. The epitaxial buffer layers for the growing GaAs1-xBix layer were prepared with either a compressive strain (as it is commonly done) or a tensile strain: The latter case has been proven to be a strategy that allows us to obtain a better crystalline quality [Tisbi et al., Phys. Rev. Appl. 14, 014028 (2020)]. A characteristic, well defined anisotropy signal below 2.5 eV is demonstrated to be connected to the presence of Bi and, in particular, to the strain produced in the sub-surface region by the voluminous Bi atoms. The amplitude of this signal directly relates to the Bi quantity, while its sign gives information about the local clustering/ordering of Bi atoms in the grown sample. We conclude that the detailed interpretation of RAS signatures and the knowledge of their origin offer the opportunity to utilize this technique to follow in real time the GaAsBi growth either in MBE or in metal organic vapor phase epitaxy processes
Coverage or Efficacy: Which Factor is the Most Influential for Reducing Varicella with Routine Childhood Vaccination in Italy?
none6siopenSauboin, C; Holl, K; Amodio, E; Bonanni, P; Gabutti, G; Vitale, FSauboin, C; Holl, K; Amodio, E; Bonanni, P; Gabutti, Giovanni; Vitale, F
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