New taxa of Neotropical Geophilomorpha (Chilopoda)

A new family (Macronicophilidae) is establishedflor Macronicophilus Silvestri, 1909, currently placed in Geophilidae. Seven new species of Neotropical Geophilomorpha are described: Ityphilus saucius n.sp. and I. sensibilis n.sp. (Ballophilidae), Hyphydrophilus projectus n.sp. and Ribautia onycophaena n.sp. (Geophilidae), Macronicophilus abbreviatus n.sp., M. unguiseta n.sp. and M. venezolanus n.sp. (Macronicophilidae). The hitherto unknown male of Schendylops marchantariae (PEREIRA, MINELLI & BARBIERI, 1995) is described and two species (Pectiniunguis geayi (BRÖLEMANN & RIBAUT, 1911) and ltyphilus calinus CHAMBERLIN, 1957 are redescribed from the type and new material. A key to the species of Macronicophilus is provided

Neogene to Quaternary evolution of the Calabrian Subduction System, (Central Mediterranean)

We construct an ESE striking to WNW geological cross-section across the Calabrian Subduction System (Central Mediterranean) using seismic near vertical profiles and field data. The interpreted profiles were time-to-depth converted, merged and translated in a geological section stretching from the Marsili Oceanic Basin (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) to the Ionian accretionary complex . Moving toward the east, the resulting section through the Paola, Amantea, and Crati basins, the Coastal Chain and Sila Massif and Crotone basin. The maximum elongation of these basins change progressively moving toward the east: from NNW in the Paola to NS in the Crati to the NNE in the Crotone basins. Data we present suggest that: Across the Calabria Tyrrhenian Continental Margin (CTCM), top of Kabilian-Calabrian Unit (KCU) is laterally variable in depth forming basins, which are separated by major structures with contractional or transcurrent kinematics, filled by Oligo-Miocene clastic to evaporitic deposits up to 1500m thick. Plio-Quaternary deposits display a remarkable variation in thickness from 4.5 km in the Paola Basin to less than 400m in the central sector of the margin. Plio-Quaternary sediments are internally sub-divisible into four sub-units (namely D1-D4) separated by tectonics enhanced angular unconformities. W-ward vergent reverse faults with limited vertical displacement offset the top of KCU as well as the Oligo-Miocene sedimentary and evaporitic units in the eastern side of the Paola basin. On land (Amantea \u2013 Crati) and farther to the east (Crotone basin) below a Messinian-Pleistocene deposits the top of KCU is variable structured and covered by a Oligo-Miocene clastic deposits with different thickness. The Plio-Quaternary deposits, unconformably overlay the Messinian and older deposits, show the maximum thickness in the Crotone basin. Two main tectonic unconformities within the Plio-Quaternary deposits have been recognised allowing the separation of this unit into three sub-units. In the offshore portion of the Crotone basin, SE-ward reverse faults dissect the KCU and the Oligo-Miocene up to the Messinian deposits. While the pre-Messinian tectonic history across the Calabrian Subduction System seems to be quite similar, a main reorganization of the system occurring during the (?) early and (?) middle-Pliocene. Geometrical and stratigraphic relationship show that several W-ward and E-ward vergent reverse faults in the Paola and Crotone basins, respectively, cut and offset Messinian evaporites and older sedimentary units, controlling the geometry of the basins. In the Paola Basin the amount of subsidence gradually increase during deposition of subunits D2 and D3, which are probably Pliocene in age. On land, the evidence of the unconformities in the Crotone basin indicate that Pliocene deposition occurring during the uplift of the Sila Massif. Therefore uplift of the Sila range occurred during the strong subsidence of the Paola and Crotone basins. The evolution of the overall structure can be then divided in two different steps: 1)the onset of subsidence started in the Late Miocene and covered a large areas presently occupied by the Paola and Crotone basins. This basin, was probably already separated into sub-basins but evolved in a slowly subsiding and poorly deformed area located between the active accretionary prism and the volcanic arc. Therefore in the Middle-Upper Miocene this basin could be defined as forearc basin. 2)In the Pliocene the structure of this large basin was fragmented due to the uplift of a central range (Sila Massif) with an overall pop-up like structure. 3)Uplift of the belt producing subsidence along the flanks and simultaneously formation of two distinct basins: the Paola and Crotone basins. This process probably occurred during episodes of fast roll-back of the subducting slab, as attested by the opening of two ocean floor basins in the back-arc region

Robust area coverage with connectivity maintenance

Robot swarms herald the ability to solve complex tasks using a large collection of simple devices. However, engineering a robotic swarm is far from trivial, with a major hurdle being the definition of the control laws leading to the desired globally coordinated behavior. Communication is a key element for coordination and it is considered one of the current most important challenges for swarm robotics. In this paper, we study the problem of maintaining robust swarm connectivity while performing a coverage task based on the Voronoi tessellation of an area of interest. We implement our methodology in a team of eight Khepera IV robots. With the assumptions that robots have a limited sensing and communication range - and cannot rely on centralized processing - we propose a tri-objective control law that outperforms other simpler strategies (e.g. a potential-based coverage) in terms of network connectivity, robustness to failure, and area coverage

Validation of the italian version of the behavioral inhibition questionnaire (Biq) for preschool children

Behavioral Inhibition (BI) is a temperamental trait characterized by fear and wariness in reaction to new and unfamiliar stimuli, both social and non-social. BI has been recognized as possible forerunner of anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety and phobia; therefore, its assessment is clinically relevant. The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian adaptation of the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire (BIQ), which measures BI in preschool children. The BIQ was completed by 417 Italian parents (230 mothers, 187 fathers) of 270 preschoolers aged 3–5. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good internal validity: the factorial structure was corresponding to the original six-factor version. Results showed excellent internal consistency, significant item-total correlations, good inter-rater reliability, convergent validity (by correlating the BIQ with the Italian Questionnaires of Temperament-QUIT, the Anxiety-Shy Conner’s Scale and the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery) and discriminant validity (i.e., no correlation with Conners’ ADHD scale). Significant correlations emerged between BI indexes and total BIQ scores of parents and maternal (but not paternal) versions of the questionnaire. Altogether, the results are promising and consistent with previous validation studies, suggesting the BIQ as a reliable and valid measure for evaluating parents’ perception of BI in Italian preschoolers

A homogeneous comparison between the chemical composition of the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy

Similarities in the chemical composition of two of the closest Milky Way satellites, namely the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy, have been proposed in the literature, suggesting similar chemical enrichment histories between the two galaxies. This proposition, however, rests on different abundance analyses, which likely introduce various systematics that hamper a fair comparison among the different data sets. In order to bypass this issue (and highlight real similarities and differences between their abundance patterns), we present a homogeneous chemical analysis of 30 giant stars in LMC, 14 giant stars in Sgr and 14 giants in the Milky Way, based on high-resolution spectra taken with the spectrograph UVES-FLAMES. The LMC and Sgr stars, in the considered metallicity range ([Fe/H]>-1.1 dex), show very similar abundance ratios for almost all the elements, with differences only in the heavy s-process elements Ba, La and Nd, suggesting a different contribution by asymptotic giant branch stars. On the other hand, the two galaxies have chemical patterns clearly different from those measured in the Galactic stars, especially for the elements produced by massive stars. This finding suggests the massive stars contributed less to the chemical enrichment of these galaxies with respect to the Milky Way. The derived abundances support similar chemical enrichment histories for the LMC and Sgr.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication by Ap

A Homogeneous Comparison between the Chemical Composition of the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy

Similarities in the chemical composition of two of the closest Milky Way satellites, namely, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf galaxy, have been proposed in the literature, suggesting similar chemical enrichment histories between the two galaxies. This proposition, however, rests on different abundance analyses, which likely introduce various systematics that hamper a fair comparison among the different data sets. In order to bypass this issue (and highlight real similarities and differences between their abundance patterns), we present a homogeneous chemical analysis of 30 giant stars in the LMC, 14 giant stars in Sgr, and 14 giants in the Milky Way, based on high-resolution spectra taken with the spectrograph UVES-FLAMES. The LMC and Sgr stars, in the considered metallicity range ([Fe/H] > -1.1 dex), show very similar abundance ratios for almost all the elements, with differences only in the heavy s-process elements Ba, La, and Nd, suggesting a different contribution by asymptotic giant branch stars. On the other hand, the two galaxies have chemical patterns clearly different from those measured in the Galactic stars, especially for the elements produced by massive stars. This finding suggests that the massive stars contributed less to the chemical enrichment of these galaxies with respect to the Milky Way. The derived abundances support similar chemical enrichment histories for the LMC and Sgr

Geometric Path Integrals. A Language for Multiscale Biology and Systems Robustness

In this paper we suggest that, under suitable conditions, supervised learning can provide the basis to formulate at the microscopic level quantitative questions on the phenotype structure of multicellular organisms. The problem of explaining the robustness of the phenotype structure is rephrased as a real geometrical problem on a fixed domain. We further suggest a generalization of path integrals that reduces the problem of deciding whether a given molecular network can generate specific phenotypes to a numerical property of a robustness function with complex output, for which we give heuristic justification. Finally, we use our formalism to interpret a pointedly quantitative developmental biology problem on the allowed number of pairs of legs in centipedes

The chemical DNA of the Magellanic Clouds -- I. The chemical composition of 206 Small Magellanic Cloud red giant stars

We present the chemical composition of 206 red giant branch stars members of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using optical, high-resolution spectra collected with the multi-object spectrograph FLAMES-GIRAFFE at the ESO Very Large Telescope. This sample includes stars in three fields located in different positions within the parent galaxy. We analysed the main groups of elements, namely light- (Na), alpha- (O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti), iron-peak (Sc, V, Fe, Ni, Cu) and s-process elements (Zr, Ba, La). The metallicity distribution of the sample displays a main peak around [Fe/H] ~ -1 dex and a weak metal-poor tail. However, the three fields display [Fe/H] distributions different with each other, in particular a difference of 0.2 dex is found between the mean metallicities of the two most internal fields.The fraction of metal-poor stars increases significantly (from ~1 to ~20%) from the innermost fields to the most external one, likely reflecting an age gradient in the SMC. Also, we found a hint of possible chemically/kinematic distinct substructures. The SMC stars have abundance ratios clearly distinct with respect to the Milky Way stars, in particular for the elements produced by massive stars (like Na, $\alpha$ and most iron-peak elements) that have abundance ratios systematically lower than those measured in our Galaxy. This points out that the massive stars contributed less to the chemical enrichment of the SMC with respect to the Milky Way, according to the low star formation rate expected for this galaxy. Finally, we identified small systematic differences in the abundances of some elements (Na, Ti, V and Zr) in the two innermost fields, suggesting that the chemical enrichment history in the SMC has been not uniform.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Direct interpretation of the X-ray and neutron three-dimensional difference pair distribution functions (3D-ΔPDFs) of yttria-stabilized zirconia

Three-dimensional difference pair distribution functions (3D-ΔPDFs) from X-ray and neutron diffraction experiments are reported for yttria-stabilized zirconia (Zr0.82Y0.18O1.91). A quantitative analysis of the signatures in the three-dimensional difference pair distribution functions is used to establish that oxygen ions neighbouring a vacancy shift by 0.525 (5) Å along ⟨1, 0, 0⟩ towards the vacancy while metal ions neighbouring a vacancy shift by 0.465 (2) Å along ⟨1, 1, 1⟩ away from the vacancy. The neutron 3D-ΔPDF shows a tendency for vacancies to cluster along ⟨½, ½, ½⟩, which results in sixfold coordinated metal ions