Use of Thermography Techniques in Equines: Principles and Applications

none7noThis review of the use of thermographic technique in equines introduces the principles upon which infrared radiation and thermoregulatory physiology are based and describes the instrumentation used and its practical use. The advantage of this imaging technique is that it is a noninvasive thermographic examination, both from an operational (the animal and the operator) and health (no penetrating radiation is used) standpoint. Advantages and disadvantages of this technique, equine applications, and physiological assessments are discussed.openVeronica, Redaelli; Domenico, Bergero; Enrica, Zucca; Francesco, Ferrucci; Leonardo Nanni Costa, ; Lorenzo, Crosta; Fabio, LuziVeronica, Redaelli; Domenico, Bergero; Enrica, Zucca; Francesco, Ferrucci; Leonardo Nanni Costa, ; Lorenzo, Crosta; Fabio, Luz

Detecting the gravito-magnetic field of the dark halo of the Milky Way - the LaDaHaD mission concept

We propose to locate transponders and atomic clocks in at least three of the Lagrange points of the Sun-Earth pair, with the aim of exploiting the time of flight asymme- try between electromagnetic signals travelling in opposite directions along polygonal loops having the Lagrange points at their vertices. The asymmetry is due to the pres- ence of a gravito-magnetic field partly caused by the angular momentum of the Sun, partly originating from the angular momentum of the galactic dark halo in which the Milky Way is embedded. We list also various opportunities which could be associated with the main objective of this Lagrange Dark Halo Detector (LaDaHaD)

Lopinavir/Ritonavir and Darunavir/Cobicistat in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: Findings From the Multicenter Italian CORIST Study

Background: Protease inhibitors have been considered as possible therapeutic agents for COVID-19 patients. Objectives: To describe the association between lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) or darunavir/cobicistat (DRV/c) use and in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients. Study Design: Multicenter observational study of COVID-19 patients admitted in 33 Italian hospitals. Medications, preexisting conditions, clinical measures, and outcomes were extracted from medical records. Patients were retrospectively divided in three groups, according to use of LPV/r, DRV/c or none of them. Primary outcome in a time-to event analysis was death. We used Cox proportional-hazards models with inverse probability of treatment weighting by multinomial propensity scores. Results: Out of 3,451 patients, 33.3% LPV/r and 13.9% received DRV/c. Patients receiving LPV/r or DRV/c were more likely younger, men, had higher C-reactive protein levels while less likely had hypertension, cardiovascular, pulmonary or kidney disease. After adjustment for propensity scores, LPV/r use was not associated with mortality (HR = 0.94, 95% CI 0.78 to 1.13), whereas treatment with DRV/c was associated with a higher death risk (HR = 1.89, 1.53 to 2.34, E-value = 2.43). This increased risk was more marked in women, in elderly, in patients with higher severity of COVID-19 and in patients receiving other COVID-19 drugs. Conclusions: In a large cohort of Italian patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in a real-life setting, the use of LPV/r treatment did not change death rate, while DRV/c was associated with increased mortality. Within the limits of an observational study, these data do not support the use of LPV/r or DRV/c in COVID-19 patients

Gaia Early Data Release 3: Structure and properties of the Magellanic Clouds

We compare the Gaia DR2 and Gaia EDR3 performances in the study of the Magellanic Clouds and show the clear improvements in precision and accuracy in the new release. We also show that the systematics still present in the data make the determination of the 3D geometry of the LMC a difficult endeavour; this is at the very limit of the usefulness of the Gaia EDR3 astrometry, but it may become feasible with the use of additional external data. We derive radial and tangential velocity maps and global profiles for the LMC for the several subsamples we defined. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the two planar components of the ordered and random motions are derived for multiple stellar evolutionary phases in a galactic disc outside the Milky Way, showing the differences between younger and older phases. We also analyse the spatial structure and motions in the central region, the bar, and the disc, providing new insights into features and kinematics. Finally, we show that the Gaia EDR3 data allows clearly resolving the Magellanic Bridge, and we trace the density and velocity flow of the stars from the SMC towards the LMC not only globally, but also separately for young and evolved populations. This allows us to confirm an evolved population in the Bridge that is slightly shift from the younger population. Additionally, we were able to study the outskirts of both Magellanic Clouds, in which we detected some well-known features and indications of new ones

The Gaia mission

Gaia is a cornerstone mission in the science programme of the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA). The spacecraft construction was approved in 2006, following a study in which the original interferometric concept was changed to a direct-imaging approach. Both the spacecraft and the payload were built by European industry. The involvement of the scientific community focusses on data processing for which the international Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) was selected in 2007. Gaia was launched on 19 December 2013 and arrived at its operating point, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, a few weeks later. The commissioning of the spacecraft and payload was completed on 19 July 2014. The nominal five-year mission started with four weeks of special, ecliptic-pole scanning and subsequently transferred into full-sky scanning mode. We recall the scientific goals of Gaia and give a description of the as-built spacecraft that is currently (mid-2016) being operated to achieve these goals. We pay special attention to the payload module, the performance of which is closely related to the scientific performance of the mission. We provide a summary of the commissioning activities and findings, followed by a description of the routine operational mode. We summarise scientific performance estimates on the basis of in-orbit operations. Several intermediate Gaia data releases are planned and the data can be retrieved from the Gaia Archive, which is available through the Gaia home page. http://www.cosmos.esa.int/gai

Landscape synthesis by fractal approximation

Les fractales ont démontré leur puissance de modélisation depuis leur application par Mandelbrot et Voss pour la génération des images ressemblantes à des paysages naturels. La méthode classique pour la construction des fractales est basée sur la génération de bruit blanc dont la distribution spectrale est modifié par un filtre dont le spectre de puissance est 1/fk. La série temporelle ainsi produite a les propriétés fractales fondementelles, l'autosimilarité et l'isotropie, tipiques des phénomènes naturels que nous voulons approximer. Dans cette méthode la possibilité de contrôler la forme globale de la scène construite est très faible parce que la méthode est basée sur le generateur de bruit blanc et sur le paramètre k du filtre, qui, à son tour, contrôle la dimension fractale de l'approximation. Dans notre travail nous présentons un réalisation de la méthode classique, basée sur FFT; en plus, nous considerons la possibilité de construir un système qui permèt de générer un bruit 1/f dans une façon contrôlée, à fin de synthétiser des paysages qui montrent un aspect particulier

The concept of time, from Palaeolithic to Newtonian physics

The evolution of the concept of time, from the first hunters-gatherers communities of the Paleolithic to the Newtonian physics is shortly reviewed. In particular, attention id paid to the social needs that contributed to change this concept from the Prehistory to the Bronze Age and then to the Iron Age, the classical philosophy, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, up to the birth of modern science

Time constraints for post-LGM landscape response to deglaciation in Val Viola, Central Italian Alps

Across the northern European Alps, a long tradition of Quaternary studies has constrained post-LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) landscape history. The same picture remains largely unknown for the southern portion of the orogen. In this work, starting from existing10Be exposure dating of three boulders in Val Viola, Central Italian Alps, we present the first detailed, post-LGM reconstruction of landscape (i.e., glacial, periglacial and paraglacial) response south of the Alpine divide. We pursue this task through Schmidt-hammer exposure-age dating (SHD) at 34 sites including moraines, rock glaciers, protalus ramparts, rock avalanche deposits and talus cones. In addition, based on the mapping of preserved moraines and on the numerical SHD ages, we reconstruct the glacier extent of four different stadials, including Egesen I (13.1 ± 1.1 ka), Egesen II (12.3 ± 0.6 ka), Kartell (11.0 ± 1.4 ka) and Kromer (9.7 ± 1.4 ka), whose chronologies agree with available counterparts from north of the Alpine divide. Results show that Equilibrium Line Altitude depressions (ÎELAs) associated to Younger Dryas and Early Holocene stadials are smaller than documented at most available sites in the northern Alps. These findings not only support the hypothesis of a dominant north westerly atmospheric circulation during the Younger Dryas, but also suggest that this pattern could have lasted until the Early Holocene. SHD ages on rock glaciers and protalus ramparts indicate that favourable conditions to periglacial landform development occurred during the Younger Dryas (12.7 ± 1.1 ka), on the valley slopes above the glacier, as well as in newly de-glaciated areas, during the Early Holocene (10.7 ± 1.3 and 8.8 ± 1.8 ka). The currently active rock glacier started to develop before 3.7 ± 0.8 ka and can be associated to the Löbben oscillation. Four of the five rock avalanches dated in Val Viola cluster within the Early Holocene, in correspondence of an atmospheric warming phase. By contrast, the timing of the main Val Viola rock avalanche, 7.7 ± 0.3 ka during the Holocene Thermal Optimum, suggests a possible causal linkage to permafrost degradation. Overall, Schmidt-hammer proved to be an effective, inexpensive and versatile tool for improving the spatial resolution of Val Viola post-LGM landscape history, starting from existing numerical age constrains

A regional inventory of rock glaciers and protalus ramparts in the central Italian Alps

Wepresent a regional inventory of rock glaciers (n=1514) and protalus ramparts (228) for the Lombardy region, central Italian Alps. To identify and classify the landformswe inspect three sequential air-orthophoto mosaics and a 2 m-DSM, and conduct confirmatory field work. The inventory forms an empirical basis to analyze: (i) the relative contribution of hillslope (i.e., talus slopes) and glacial (i.e., moraines) sediment stores to rock glacier sediment supply; (ii) linkages between the landforms inventoried and local topographic attributes; (iii) the spatial variability of periglacial activity in relation to a parsimonious set of environmental variables (i.e., elevation, precipitation, and lithology); and (iv) the effects of the Pleistocene–Holocene climatic transition on the distribution of intact and relict landforms. This analysis reveals that the elevation of rock glacier termini can vary over 200 m as a function of slope aspect. In turn, the distribution of rock glaciers among aspect categories is controlled by the structure of the valley network that promotes NWand SE exposures. Talus rock glaciers prevail numerically over the glacier-related typology, even though the latter population appears to have increased during the Holocene. Relict and intact rock glaciers have distinct spatial patterns in that the former display, on average, a 400-melevation drop and a less clustered distribution towards northern aspects, suggesting that they have developed in more “permafrost-prone” climatic conditions. Analyzing the study region through a 27.5 km-grid has been instrumental for showing that the rock glacier specific area and terminus elevation are: (i) positively correlatedwith terrain elevation; and (ii) negatively correlated with mean annual precipitation. As a consequence, in relation to Holocene generalized atmospheric temperature rise, intact rock glaciers have progressively disappeared fromthewetter and milder portions of the central Italian Alps. Analysis of rock glacier occurrence across litho-tectonic sectors does not provide conclusive dependences and requires further analysis. This inventory, which represents a necessary preliminary step for modelling the spatial distribution of discontinuous permafrost at the regional scale, fills a critical geographic gap in the context of ongoing permafrost research in the European Alps (e.g., PermaNET)