Extending Human Perception of Electromagnetic Radiation to the UV Region through Biologically Inspired Photochromic Fuzzy Logic (BIPFUL) Systems.

Photochromic Fuzzy Logic Systems have been designed that extend human visual perception into the UV region. The systems are founded on a detailed knowledge of the activation wavelengths and quantum yields of a series of thermally reversible photochromic compounds. By appropriate matching of the photochromic behaviour unique colour signatures are generated in response differing UV activation frequencies

New Insights on Free Energies and Saint- Venant’s Principle in Viscoelasticity

This work was conceived in 1999 and brought near completion by 2003. Giorgio Gentili was deeply involved in this research until his untimely death. He is greatly missed. Work pressures on the other authors forced a postponement of research on this topic, originally envisaged as lasting a few months but in the event it turned out to be nearly ten years. We now dedicate this work to the memory of Giorgio and to his Family

New Insights on Free Energies and Saint- Venant’s Principle in Viscoelasticity

This work was conceived in 1999 and brought near completion by 2003. Giorgio Gentili was deeply involved in this research until his untimely death. He is greatly missed. Work pressures on the other authors forced a postponement of research on this topic, originally envisaged as lasting a few months but in the event it turned out to be nearly ten years. We now dedicate this work to the memory of Giorgio and to his Family

A Role for Bottom-Up Synthetic Cells in the Internet of Bio-Nano Things?

he potential role of bottom-up Synthetic Cells (SCs) in the Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is discussed. In particular, this perspective paper focuses on the growing interest in networks of biological and/or artificial objects at the micro- and nanoscale (cells and subcellular parts, microelectrodes, microvessels, etc.), whereby communication takes place in an unconventional manner, i.e., via chemical signaling. The resulting “molecular communication” (MC) scenario paves the way to the development of innovative technologies that have the potential to impact biotechnology, nanomedicine, and related fields. The scenario that relies on the interconnection of natural and artificial entities is briefly introduced, highlighting how Synthetic Biology (SB) plays a central role. SB allows the construction of various types of SCs that can be designed, tailored, and programmed according to specific predefined requirements. In particular, “bottom-up” SCs are briefly described by commenting on the principles of their design and fabrication and their features (in particular, the capacity to exchange chemicals with other SCs or with natural biological cells). Although bottom-up SCs still have low complexity and thus basic functionalities, here, we introduce their potential role in the IoBNT. This perspective paper aims to stimulate interest in and discussion on the presented topics. The article also includes commentaries on MC, semantic information, minimal cognition, wetware neuromorphic engineering, and chemical social robotics, with the specific potential they can bring to the IoBNT

Zeros of regular functions of quaternionic and octonionic variable: a division lemma and the camshaft effect

We study in detail the zero set of a regular function of a quaternionic or octonionic variable. By means of a division lemma for convergent power series, we find the exact relation existing between the zeros of two octonionic regular functions and those of their product. In the case of octonionic polynomials, we get a strong form of the fundamental theorem of algebra. We prove that the sum of the multiplicities of zeros equals the degree of the polynomial and obtain a factorization in linear polynomials.Comment: Proof of Lemma 7 rewritten (thanks to an anonymous reviewer

FAAS and Antelope: two automatic earthquake location systems in the Northeastern Italy and surrounding areas

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Molecular characterization of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’ in Cacopsilla pruni insect vector

Recent investigations on molecular characterization of the ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum’ (16SrX-B subgroup), causal agent of the European Stone Fruit Yellows (ESFY) syndrome, on the non ribosomal tuf gene resulted in the finding of two groups of isolates, named ‘type a’ and ‘type b’, both with a distinctive geographical distribution in Italian stone fruit growing areas (Ferretti et al., 2007 and 2008). Considering the role of Cacopsylla pruni (Scopoli) in the epidemiological cycle of the disease, the presence of the two groups of isolates has also been investigated in infected psyllid individuals from different Italian areas. Both types have been identified in C. pruni specimens collected on apricot, plum and wild Prunus species, confirming the geographical distribution and the percentages of spread of the two isolates.Keywords: ESFY, phytoplasma, characterization, tuf gene, insect vecto