667 research outputs found
Ecology of Italian Protura
The ecology of Protura in Italy (including Corsica) is tentatively described according to original and bibliographical
data. Protura are quite common but very rarely abundant: their mean density in soil samples collected
in Liguria (NW Italy) was estimated to be 372 /m\ub2 (s.d. 657 \u2013 max. 2790 /m\ub2 in a Holm oak forest). Information
from the analyses of habitat and/or elevation of 3448 specimens from 269 collections and 4071 specimens from
295 collections identified to species and genus level, respectively, enabled us to outline Protura assemblages for
eight different macro-habitats. The unbalanced sex ratio in favour of females observed in 12 of the dominant
species of Acerentomata suggests that (based also on the sperm types known in Protura) a single male can
fertilize several females through spermatophores. For one species (Proturentomon minimum) only females were
collected, which may suggest the possibility of parthenogenesis in some Protura. An analysis of the phenology
and population dynamics of the five dominant species, showed annual cycles with one (Acerentomon microrhinus)
or more (A. gallicum, A. italicum, A. maius and Eosentomon transitorium) peaks of reproductive activity. Other
ecological remarks (e.g. about the relationship between the amplitude of latitudinal/altitudinal distribution and
the ecological distribution of Protura in Italy) are discussed
Don’t forget the vertical dimension: assessment of distributional dynamics of cave-dwelling invertebrates in both ground and parietal microhabitats
Biological studies on factors shaping underground communities are poor, especially those considering simultaneously organisms with different degrees of adaptation to cave life. In this study, we assessed the annual dynamics and use of both horizontal and vertical microhabitats of a whole community with the aim of understanding whether cave-dwelling organisms have a similar distribution among vertical and ground-level microhabitats and to find out which microhabitat features influence such distribution. We monthly assessed from 2017 to 2018, by direct observation combined with quadrat sampling method on the ground and transects on the walls, richness and abundance of 62 cave-dwelling species in a cave of Northern Italy. Environmental factors such as light intensity, temperature, relative humidity and mineralogical composition of the substrates were measured during each monitoring session, influencing the dynamics of the whole community and revealing significant differences between ground and wall microhabitats. A gradient of variation of the species assemblages occurred from the entrance toward inner areas, however, evidence that the dynamics of the walls are very different from those occurring at the ground independent from the distance from the surface are shown. Biodiversity indices highlighted sampling area diversity and a discrete total cave fauna biodiversity with the highest values found near the entrance and the lowest in the inner part of the cave
Genera of the Protura of the World: diagnosis, distribution, and key
Protura are known all over the world with more than 800 described species belonging to three different orders (Acerentomata, Sinentomata, and Eosentomata) and seven families (Hesperentomidae, Protentomidae, Acerentomidae, Fujientomidae, Sinentomidae, Eosentomidae, and Antelientomidae). At present 76 genera are known worldwide. In this paper a description of the diagnostic characters of these genera and an updated key for their identification are reported
OMEGA: a software tool for the management, analysis, and dissemination of intracellular trafficking data that incorporates motion type classification and quality control [preprint]
MOTIVATION: Particle tracking coupled with time-lapse microscopy is critical for understanding the dynamics of intracellular processes of clinical importance. Spurred on by advances in the spatiotemporal resolution of microscopy and automated computational methods, this field is increasingly amenable to multi-dimensional high-throughput data collection schemes (Snijder et al, 2012). Typically, complex particle tracking datasets generated by individual laboratories are produced with incompatible methodologies that preclude comparison to each other. There is therefore an unmet need for data management systems that facilitate data standardization, meta-analysis, and structured data dissemination. The integration of analysis, visualization, and quality control capabilities into such systems would eliminate the need for manual transfer of data to diverse downstream analysis tools. At the same time, it would lay the foundation for shared trajectory data, particle tracking, and motion analysis standards.
RESULTS: Here, we present Open Microscopy Environment inteGrated Analysis (OMEGA), a cross-platform data management, analysis, and visualization system, for particle tracking data, with particular emphasis on results from viral and vesicular trafficking experiments. OMEGA provides easy to use graphical interfaces to implement integrated particle tracking and motion analysis workflows while keeping track of error propagation and data provenance. Specifically, OMEGA: 1) imports image data and metadata from data management tools such as Open Microscopy Environment Remote Objects (OMERO; Allan et al., 2012); 2) tracks intracellular particles moving across time series of image planes; 3) facilitates parameter optimization and trajectory results inspection and validation; 4) performs downstream trajectory analysis and motion type classification; 5) estimates the uncertainty associated with motion analysis; and, 6) facilitates storage and dissemination of analysis results, and analysis definition metadata, on the basis of our newly proposed Minimum Information About Particle Tracking Experiments (MIAPTE; Rigano & Strambio-De-Castillia, 2016; 2017) guidelines in combination with the OME-XML data model (Goldberg et al, 2005)
Flourishing in subterranean ecosystems: Euro-Mediterranean Plusiocampinae and tachycampoids (Diplura, Campodeidae)
Este artículo contiene 138 páginas, 213 figuras, 14 tablas.Diplura is a group of entognathous hexapods, often considered a sister group to insects. They
play an important role in recycling organic matter in soil and subterranean terrestrial ecosystems. The
Campodeidae is the most diverse family, divided into four subfamilies. The subfamily Plusiocampinae
has a subterranean life-style with many species distributed in the Euro-Mediterranean area. The incertae
sedis tachycampoids (“lignée Tachycampoïde”) is a group within the family Campodeidae that share
with the Plusiocampinae a strong preference for subterranean habitats and several morphological
characters, such as slender body shape, elongated appendages, considerable increment in the number of
antennomeres and cercal articles, and complexity of sensorial structures. The present monograph provides
a taxonomic revision of the subfamily Plusiocampinae and the genera belonging to the tachycampoid
lineage from Europe and the Mediterranean region. It comprises detailed morphological descriptions
and illustrations together with data on the habitats and distributions of 87 species, 10 subspecies and
11 affinis forms. Seven new species are described among those, namely: Plusiocampa (Plusiocampa)
apollo Sendra, Giachino & Vailati sp. nov., P. (P.) chiosensis Sendra & Gasparo sp. nov., P. (P.) dublanskii
Sendra & Turbanov sp. nov., P. (P.) hoffmanni Sendra & Paragamian sp. nov., P. (P.) rhea Sendra
sp. nov., P. (P.) ternovensis Sendra & Borko sp. nov. and P. (Venetocampa) ferrani Sendra & Delić
sp. nov.DS’s field trips were funded by the
Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Grant 173038); KP was partially funded
by the HISR project “Conservation of the Cave Fauna of Greece” funded by the MAVA Foundation
and WWF Greece; PMG and DV carried out sampling in Greece using permits from the Ministry of
Environment no. 124085/1362/2015, 135366/373/2016 and 166238/248/2018; IT was funded within
the framework of the state assignment of FASO Russia (themes no. АААА-А18-118012690106-7 and
АААА-А18-118012690105), supported in part by RFBR (project no. 17-54-40017Абх_а); sampling
efforts by AF and colleagues resulted from various projects on the evolution of cave fauna diversity, some
of them funded by the German Research Foundation, DFG (DFG FA 1042/1-1 and DFG BA 2152/14-1);
PMG and DV were partly supported by the program “Research Missions in the Mediterranean Basin”
sponsored by the World Biodiversity Association onlus XLI contribution; ASPSR was supported by
a research grant (15471) from Villum Fonden.Peer reviewe
Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in -tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV
Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton
collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against
a boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and
transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 GeV and in the pseudorapidity range . The
data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy
of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb. Triple
differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum
fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also
measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent
fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the
measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into
the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any
supplementary material and additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb
public pages
Study of the decay
The decay is studied
in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of TeV
using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5
collected by the LHCb experiment. In the system, the
state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is
resolved into two narrower states, and ,
whose masses and widths are measured to be where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second
systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a
prompt sample. Evidence of a new
state is found with a local significance of , whose mass and width
are measured to be and , respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode
is found with a significance of
. The relative branching fraction of with respect to the
decay is measured to be , where the first
uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from
the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb
public pages
Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions and
The ratios of branching fractions
and are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a
sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb of
integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The
tau lepton is identified in the decay mode
. The measured values are
and
, where the first uncertainty is
statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these
measurements is . Results are consistent with the current average
of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the
predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb
public pages
Mudanças religiosas e dinâmicas demográficas: mais além da teoria da secularização. O caso do catolicismo na cidade de Córdoba, Argentina
Este artículo explora críticamente las explicaciones de las dinámicas religiosas en Argentina basadas en la Teoría de la Secularización (TdS). La mayoría de sus referentes usa como variable independiente las relaciones político-institucionales; por eso, la TdS explica lo que sucede con la dirigencia de la institución y las organizaciones intermedias. Esta investigación recoge datos directos de los registros de bautismos durante un siglo en la ciudad de Córdoba (Argentina) y los compara con la tasa de natalidad. Este análisis muestra que eluso de variables político-institucionales no explica adecuadamente lo que sucede con las dinámicas religiosas, medidas en bautismos. La hipótesis propuesta es que las transformaciones religiosas se entienden mejor cuando se aplican variables demográficas.his article critically explores the explanations of religious dynamics in Argentina based on Secularization Theory (TdS). Most scholarship uses political-institutional relations as an independent variable; therefore, TdS focuses on what takes place within the leadership of the institution and intermediate organizations. This research collects data directly from a century of baptism records in the city of Córdoba (Argentina) and compares it with the city’s birth rate. This analysis shows that the use of political-institutional variables fails to adequately explain religious dynamics, as measured in baptisms. The proposed hypothesis is that religious transformations are better understood when demographic variables are applied.Este artigo explora criticamente as explicações das dinâmicas religiosas na Argentina baseadas na Teoria da Secularização (TdS). A maioria de seus referentes usa as relações político-institucionais como variável independente; por isso, a TdS explica o que acontece com a direção da instituição e das organizações intermediárias. Esta pesquisa recolhe dados diretos dos registros de batismos durante um século na cidade de Córdoba (Argentina) e os compara com a taxa de natalidade. Essa análise mostra que o uso de variáveis político-institucionais não explica adequadamente o que acontece com as dinâmicas religiosas, medidas em batismos. A hipótese proposta é que as transformações religiosas são melhor entendidas quando variáveis demográficas são aplicadas.Fil: Morello SJ, Gustavo. Boston College; Estados UnidosFil: Rabbia, Hugo Hernán. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; Argentina. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Politicas y Relaciones Internacionales; Argentin
An user friendly tool to assess the effects on agricultural soils of different practices: the QBS-ar index
The QBS-ar index was proposed in Italy nearly 20 years ago as a biotic index aimed at biological quality
assessment of soils based on their microarthropod communities composition and diversity. It is user
friendly and quite expeditious. Therefore, since its introduction, it was applied in many natural and anthropogenic terrestrial environments in order to assess the impact of different forms of disturbance. QBSar resulted a reliable and sensitive tool for environmental monitoring in most of the contexts in which
it was used. In particular, in a wide range of crops (like maize, apple, citrus, vineyards) it proved to be
an useful index to distinguish among different management practices (conventional, no tillage, organic,
green manure, etc.). In this paper, the principles on which the QBS-ar index is based are summarized and some examples from literature on its application in agroecosystems are reviewed
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