Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora: 2

In this contribution, new data concerning the Italian distribution of alien vascular flora are presented. It includes new records, exclusions and confirmations for Italy or for Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Ageratum, Aster, Buddleja, Cedrus, Centranthus, Cephalotaxus, Clerodendrum, Cotoneaster, Cyperus, Honorius, Lantana, Ligustrum, Morus, Muscari, Oenothera, Opuntia, Platycladus, Plumbago, Pseudotsuga, Sedum, Sporobolus, Stachys, Ulmus and Yucca. A nomen novum, Stachys talbotii, is proposed as a replacement name for Sideritis purpurea

Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora: 2

In this contribution, new data concerning the Italian distribution of alien vascular flora are presented. It includes new records, exclusions and confirmations for Italy or for Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Ageratum, Aster, Buddleja, Cedrus, Centranthus, Cephalotaxus, Clerodendrum, Cotoneaster, Cyperus, Honorius, Lantana, Ligustrum, Morus, Muscari, Oenothera, Opuntia, Platycladus, Plumbago, Pseudotsuga, Sedum, Sporobolus, Stachys, Ulmus and Yucca. A nomen novum, Stachys talbotii, is proposed as a replacement name for Sideritis purpurea

Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora: 3

In this contribution, new data concerning the Italian distribution of alien vascular flora are presented. It includes new records, exclusions, confirmations, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions for taxa in the genera Acer, Amaranthus, Araujia, Aubrieta, Avena, Bidens, Calycanthus, Celtis, Elaeagnus, Eragrostis, Euonymus, Fallopia, Ficus, Hedera, Lantana, Ligustrum, Ludwigia, Morus, Oenothera, Opuntia, Oxalis, Parkinsonia, Paspalum, Paulownia, Platycladus, Pleuropterus, Rumex, Salvia, Senecio, Setaria, Syagrus, Tradescantia, Trifolium and Yucca. Furthermore, a new combination in the genus Vicia is proposed

Dizionario russo-italiano, italo-russo.

Restoration outcomes can be variable and there is a need to understand the short- and long-term responses of the vegetation community. It is important to see if management goals are being met by evaluating restoration outcomes. Restoration goals often include establishing native species, increasing conservation value, and providing pollinator resources throughout the year. Assessing communities is commonly done though a taxonomic approach by using species presence and abundance. Another method of evaluation is through functional traits or species traits and their abundance. Both give different perspectives on how the community is achieving management goals. While taxonomic assessments can give insight into native species metrics, a functional trait approach can give insight into the processes influencing the assembly of species. This research evaluates restoration through a taxonomic and functional trait approach. A seeding experiment at Observatory Park, Geauga County, was conducted to see if there are differences in functional diversity before and after a restoration as well as between methods of broadcast and drill seeding. I found that broadcast seeding from the seed mix had a greater richness and abundance of species and a higher mean coefficient of conservatism than in the drill seeded plot. However, the drill seeded plot had a greater diversity of native species. Functional composition analysis found individual traits differed between treatments. Multivariate functional trait analyses, which included the traits of leaf dry matter content, height, seed mass and reproductive phenology, did not identify differences between treatments. This survey characterized the plant community in the early stage of restoration. To understand regional patterns of restoration and functional diversity, I surveyed 5 paired restored and unrestored sites in the Cleveland, Ohio Metropolitan Area. Restored plots had a significantly higher coefficient of conservatism than plots that were not restored. There was no difference in native richness or diversity between plots, but native abundance increased as a restoration progressed. Flowering phenology was most abundant in summer and tended to have lower abundance in spring and in fall. There was no difference in functional diversity between restored and unrestored plots. These insights into restoration can guide natural resource managers in planning restorations

Genetic relationships in Opuntia Mill. genus (Cactaceae) detected by molecular marker

The Opuntia genus includes over 181 species comprising, on the basis of morphological traits, a total of 29 series [The Cactaceae(1919)]. Starting from this classification, several authors have investigated the Opuntia genus taxonomy but the large morphologicalvariation within different species, suggests that phenotypical characteristics will not serve to produce a stable classification. In thiswork chloroplastic simple sequence repeat (cpSSR) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) were used to evaluate theusefulness of molecular markers in Opuntia species characterization and to study the relationships among different species. Resultsshow that the combination of cpSSR and AFLP markers provide a quantitative estimation of genetic relationships among severalOpuntia species. Both molecular analyses reveal a genetic similarity among species of series 20 and 21 [The Cactaceae (1919)] assuggested also by morphological traits. Particular attention was focused on the genetic relationship between Opuntia ficus-indica andOpuntia megacantha: individuals from different populations of the two species were analyzed with both molecular markers. Acommon genetic constitution of O. ficus-indica and O. megacantha was detected. On the basis of molecular data, morphologicaltraits and biogeographical distribution, we suggest that O. ficus-indica should be considered as a domesticated form of O.megacantha. Our results suggest the importance of a revision of Opuntia genus classification using several tools: molecular,morphological and biogeographical analysis

Teaching with Minirobots: The Local Educational Laboratory on Robotics

In this paper, we are going to present and discuss a few activities related to the application of minirobots in school education. The activities have been carried out in the framework of the Local Educational Laboratory on Robotics (LELR), which has been developed by Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA) in collaboration with local Municipalities (i.e. Valdera Union) and a network of primary and secondary schools (i.e. Costellazione Network) in the Valdera area of Tuscany, Italy. The LELR is part of SSSA efforts to actively participate in the scientific and technological education of young generations, starting from school age. The laboratory is based on the deployment of robotics, in its several manifestations. in teaching activities. Drawing on preliminary activities and experiences, the paper will report on and discuss a few projects about teaching with minirobots in primary and secondary schools education, pointing out the relevance of promoting an interdisciplinary approach to minirobots educational activities – namely not limited to scientific and technological subjects – as well as developing a critical attitude towards scientific and technological progress in students

Terms, definitions and measurements to describe sonographic features of lymph nodes : consensus opinion from the Vulvar International Tumor Analysis (VITA) group

In centers with access to high-end ultrasound machines and expert sonologists, ultrasound is used to detect metastases in regional lymph nodes from melanoma, breast cancer and vulvar cancer. There is, as yet, no international consensus on ultrasound assessment of lymph nodes in any disease or medical condition. The lack of standardized ultrasound nomenclature to describe lymph nodes makes it difficult to compare results from different ultrasound studies and to find reliable ultrasound features for distinguishing non-infiltrated lymph nodes from lymph nodes infiltrated by cancer or lymphoma cells. The Vulvar International Tumor Analysis (VITA) collaborative group consists of gynecologists, gynecologic oncologists and radiologists with expertise in gynecologic cancer, particularly in the ultrasound staging and treatment of vulvar cancer. The work herein is a consensus opinion on terms, definitions and measurements which may be used to describe inguinal lymph nodes on grayscale and color/power Doppler ultrasound. The proposed nomenclature need not be limited to the description of inguinal lymph nodes as part of vulvar cancer staging; it can be used to describe peripheral lymph nodes in general, as well as non-peripheral (i.e. parietal or visceral) lymph nodes if these can be visualized clearly. The association between the ultrasound features described here and histopathological diagnosis has not yet been established. VITA terms and definitions lay the foundations for prospective studies aiming to identify ultrasound features typical of metastases and other pathology in lymph nodes and studies to elucidate the role of ultrasound in staging of vulvar and other malignancies