From Goa to Rabin Square: notes for a research on the uses and meanings of psychedelic trance music and parties in Israel

Psytrance or Psychedelic trance music was born at the end of the 1980s within the “full moon parties” organised by a temporary community of international travellers who settled on the beaches of the state of Goa, in southern India. From there it spread all around the world, creating a network of thousands of people, who’ve regularly gathered in events ranging from small clandestine parties in remote locations to big international festivals. Parties are focused on music and dance, yet characterised by a sort of syncretic spirituality, a pacifistic rhetoric and an environmental attitude, and often include the use of psychoactive substances. In Israel – where this phenomenon has reached an exceptional degree of participation and diffusion – psytrance first arrived via the numerous young people who went backpacking for some months after the compulsory military service, often directed to India. Few scholars dealt with the topic so far, and most of them connected the remarkable spread of psychedelic parties with the particular condition of prolonged conflict and militarisation which characterises the growth of the majority of Israel-born youth. This article – based on a recently started research project – aims to offer an overview of the theme, intersecting the little existing literature with the empiric material collected so far, presenting some possible interpretations and addressing a series of questions to be further investigated.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Microbial biofilm growth vs. tissue integration: "the race for the surface" experimentally studied

Biomaterial-associated infections constitute a major clinical problem. Unfortunately, microorganisms are frequently introduced onto an implant surface during surgery and start the race for the surface before tissue integration can occur. So far, no method has been forwarded to study biofilm formation and tissue integration simultaneously. The aim of this study is to describe an in vitro method to investigate this “race for the surface”. First, a suitable growth medium was prepared that allowed both bacterial and tissue growth in a parallel plate flow chamber. Staphylococci were deposited on the glass bottom plate of the flow chamber in different surface densities, after which U2OS osteosarcoma cells were seeded. U2OS cells did not grow in the absence of flow, possibly due to poisoning by bacterial endotoxins, but under flow both staphylococci and U2OS cells grew. The number of adhering cells and area per spread cell were determined after 48 h in relation to the initial number of bacteria present. Both the number and spread area per cell decreased with increasing density of adhering staphylococci. This demonstrates that the outcome of the race for the surface between bacteria and tissue cells is dependent on the number of bacteria present prior to cell seeding.\u

Sistemi informativi 3D per i BB.CC. e l'archeologia: il Castello di Maredolce a Palermo

Il mondo della ricerca nel campo dei BB.CC. sta guardando con sempre maggior interesse all’uso di tecnologie informatiche integrate, che consentano di fornire e condividere in rete dati quantitativi e qualitativi, geometrici, posizionali, alfanumerici, relativi ai BB.CC., sfruttando l’interazione tra banche dati e modelli 3D. Tali modelli, dunque, oltre a fornire una ricostruzione virtuale del monumento con la possibilità di navigare ed analizzare l’oggetto in dettaglio, costituiscono lo strumento per accedere ad informazioni eterogenee (testi, immagini, sequenze video, ecc.) sui manufatti, raccolte ed organizzate in database relazionali interrogabili, al fine di una piena comprensione e contestualizzazione degli stessi. In tale prospettiva, negli ultimi dieci anni, nell’ambito dei sistemi informativi territoriali sono stati fatti diversi passi avanti verso il GIS (Geographic Information System) 3D, in particolare nell’ambito della visualizzazione di oggetti tridimensionali all’interno di un sistema informativo geografico. I prototipi di sistemi GIS realmente 3D, tuttavia, sono ancora pochi e per la maggior parte dedicati alla descrizione di ambiti urbani. In tale contesto, la sperimentazione qui illustrata, realizzata all’interno del GISLab (CNR/UNIPA) di Palermo, è stata orientata verso l’implementazione di un sistema informativo 3D per la descrizione di beni archeologici e monumentali: in tale sistema l’informazione grafica di un modello tridimensionale, incorporato all’interno di un PDF 3D (formato di Acrobat Reader per lo scambio di documenti contenenti oggetti tridimensionali), è associata all’informazione semantica, allocata in un RDBMS (Relational DataBase Management System). Tale sperimentazione è stata applicata a scala territoriale al caso studio dei sollazzi arabo-normanni di Palermo e a scala architettonica e di dettaglio ad uno di essi: il Castello di Maredolce.Researchers in the field of Cultural Heritage are watching with increasing interest in the use of integrated computer technology: it allows to provide and share on the Internet both quantitative and qualitative data (geometric, positional, alphanumeric, etc.) related to Cultural Heritage, using the interaction between databases and 3D models. Such models, therefore, not only provide a virtual reconstruction of monuments as well as the browsing and the analysis of the subject in detail, but they also enable users to access to heterogeneous information (texts, images, video clips, etc.) on artifacts. Data are collected and organised in relational databases that are queriable, in order to a full understanding and contextualization of the cultural objects. In this perspective, in the last decade, we have been making several steps towards the 3D GIS (Geographic Information System), particularly in displaying three-dimensional objects within a geographic information system. The prototypes of effective 3D GIS systems, however, are still few and for the most part devoted to the description of urban areas. In this context, this research work, made within the GISLab (CNR / UNIPA) of Palermo, was aimed at implementing an information system for the description of 3D archaeological and monumental heritage: within this system the graphic information of a three-dimensional model, embedded within a 3D PDF (the Acrobat Reader format for exchanging documents, containing three-dimensional objects), is associated with semantic information, allocated in a RDBMS (Relational DataBase Management System). Such experimentation has been applied on a regional scale to the case study of the Arab-Norman "sollazzi" in Palermo and on an architectural and detailed scales to one of them: the Castle of Maredolce

Multiple paternity and hybridization in two smooth-hound sharks

Multiple paternity appears to be a common trait of elasmobranch mating systems, with its occurrence likely driven by convenience, due to females seeking to minimize the stress of male harassment. Here we use molecular markers to analyse the frequency of multiple paternity in two related viviparous sharks, Mustelus mustelus and Mustelus punctulatus. We first applied molecular methods to assign pregnant females, embryos and additional reference adults (N\u2009=\u2009792) to one of the two species. Paternity analysis was performed using a total of 9 polymorphic microsatellites on 19 females and 204 embryos of M. mustelus, and on 13 females and 303 embryos of M. punctulatus. Multiple paternity occurs in both species, with 47% of M. mustelus and 54% of M. punctulatus litters sired by at least two fathers. Female fecundity is not influenced by multiple mating and in 56% of polyandrous litters paternity is skewed, with one male siring most of the pups. Genetic analyses also revealed hybridization between the two species, with a M. punctulatus female bearing pups sired by a M. mustelus male. The frequency of polyandrous litters in these species is consistent with aspects of their reproductive biology, such as synchronous ovulation and possible occurrence of breeding aggregations

Impact of solar panels on runoff generation process

Because of the benefits of solar energy, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is being deployed at an unprecedented rate and the number of photovoltaic panels is sharply increasing. Agrophotovoltaic systems (solar farms) seem to be the most sustainable tools to create renewable energy without compromising agricultural production. However, utility-scale solar energy development is land intensive and its large-scale installation can have negative impacts on the environment. Moreover, its impacts on soil and on relative hydrological processes have been poorly studied. This article aims to evaluate the impact of solar panels on the runoff generation process, which is directly linked to the soil erosion process. Using a rainfall simulator, runoff measurements for a rainfall intensity equal to 56 mm/h were carried out by assuming different panel arrangements with respect to the maximum slope direction of the field (cross slope and aligned slope). Results were compared to a control reference of the same plot, with no panels (bare soil). Physical models found in the literature were then applied and calibrated, to upscale the models to a much higher hillslope length. Results showed that solar panels increase the peak discharge by about 11 times compared to the reference hillslope. A moderate effect of PV panel arrangement was observed on the peak discharges (11.7 and 11.5 times higher, for cross slope and aligned slope panels, respectively), whereas the time to runoff was the lowest for aligned slope panels (0.3 h), higher for cross slope panels (0.62 h), and the highest (1.2 h), for the bare soil hillslope. As it would be expected, upscaling the models to longer hillslopes resulted in increases in outlet discharges, and in the time to runoff, with an exception for aligned slope panels

Il rilievo fotogrammetrico del Castello di Maredolce a Palermo

Le tecniche di rilievo fotogrammetrico stanno trovando un sempre più largo impiego nel campo dei BB.CC. Esse, infatti, consentono una rappresentazione dei manufatti con un'elevata cura del dettaglio geometrico mediante la restituzione vettoriale ed una elevata definizione degli aspetti materici degli oggetti attraverso la realizzazione dei fotopiani, che forniscono informazioni sia metriche che qualitative dell'oggetto. Tali tecniche, pertanto, costituiscono un fondamentale strumento di supporto alle attività di diagnostica e restauro dei monumenti antichi. Il presente articolo illustra la metodologia, le fasi operative e gli strumenti impiegati per il rilievo fotogrammetrico di un edificio complesso: il Castello di Maredolce a Palermo. Nel caso in esame la geometria dell'edificio, i dislivelli del suolo e la presenza di elementi fisici generanti ombre sull'edificio hanno sensibilmente condizionato le operazioni di rilievo, consentendo di affrontare e risolvere una vasta compagine di problematiche che il rilievo di un edificio storico, sito in un contesto oggi urbanizzato, comporta. Lo scritto, in particolare, descrive il workflow seguito e le procedure impiegate sino alla modellazione 3D image-based. Quest'ultima è stata implementata a partire dal blocco fotogrammetrico georiferito ottenuto dall'orientamento dei fotogrammi. I fotopiani del castello prodotti sono stati utilizzati come texture fotorealistica del modello fotogrammetrico tridimensionale.The techniques related to the photogrammetric survey are even more widely used in the field of Cultural Heritage In fact, they allow a representation of artifacts with a high attention to the geometric detail by a vector restitution and a high definition of the textural aspects of objects: they based on the creation of photo-plans, which provide information both metrics and qualitative about the object. These techniques, therefore, are an essential tool supporting diagnostics and restoration of ancient monuments. This article discusses the methodology, the operational phases and the instruments used for the photogrammetric survey of a building complex: the Castle of Maredolce in Palermo. In this case the geometry of the building, the uneven ground and the pres ence of physical elements creating shadows on the building have significantly affected the operations of relief: they have allowed to address and solve a wide range of issues deriving from the survey of historic buildings that are located in a urban context today. This paper, in particular, describes the workflow and the procedures used until the 3D image-based modeling. The latter was implemented from the georeferenced photogrammetric block obtained by the orientation of the frames. The photo-plans of the castle have been used as photo-realistic texture of the photogrammetric three-dimensional model

The alien vascular flora of Stromboli and Vulcano (Aeolian Islands, Italy)

The updated censuses of the alien flora of the islands of Stromboli and Vulcano, Aeolian Islands in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea, are presented here. They currently consist of 40 and 57 specific and subspecific taxa respectively. As many as 16 and 18 taxa respectively are new in comparison with the last censuses in 2016. Mesembryanthemum x vascosilvae, commonly cultivated in both islands, is reported for the first time as naturalized alien to Italy. Passiflora incarnata from Stromboli and Pelargonium graveolens from Vulcano are reported for the first time as casual aliens to Sicily. The evolution over time of these florulas, as inferred from the main floristic works published on these islands, is commented on. Biology, ecology and possible causes of settlement of these plants are discussed briefly

A new species of Isatis (Brassicaceae) from the Pollino National Park (Basilicata, S Italy)

A new species, Isatis raimondoi (Brassicaceae) is described from Mt Alpi in the Pollino National Park (Basilicata, Southern Italy). Its relationships with the other species of Isatis occurring in Italy are examined