Self-consistent models of cuspy triaxial galaxies with dark matter haloes

We have constructed realistic, self-consistent models of triaxial elliptical galaxies embedded in triaxial dark matter haloes. We examined three different models for the shape of the dark matter halo: (i) the same axis ratios as the luminous matter (0.7:0.86:1); (ii) a more prolate shape (0.5:0.66:1); (iii) a more oblate shape (0.7:0.93:1). The models were obtained by means of the standard orbital superposition technique introduced by Schwarzschild. Self-consistent solutions were found in each of the three cases. Chaotic orbits were found to be important in all of the models,and their presence was shown to imply a possible slow evolution of the shapes of the haloes. Our results demonstrate for the first time that triaxial dark matter haloes can co-exist with triaxial galaxies.Comment: Latex paper based on the AASTEX format, 20 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables. Paper submitted to Ap

Altitude and vegetation affect soil organic carbon, basal respiration and microbial biomass in apennine forest soils

Both altitude and vegetation are known to affect the amount and quality of soil organic matter (SOM) and the size and activity of soil microbial biomass. However, when altitude and vegetation changes are combined, it is still unclear which one has a greater effect on soil chemical and biochemical properties. With the aim of clarifying this, we tested the effect of altitude (and hence temperature) and vegetation (broadleaf vs pine forests) on soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil microbial biomass and its activity. Soil sampling was carried out in two adjacent toposequences ranging from 500 to 1000ma.s.l. on a calcareous massif in central Italy: one covered only by Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold forests, while the other covered by Quercus pubescens Willd., Ostrya carpinifolia Scop. and Fagus sylvatica L. forests, at 500, 700 and 1000 m a.s.l., respectively. The content of SOC and water-extractable organic carbon (WEOC) increased with altitude for the pine forests, while for the broadleaf forests no trend along the slope occurred, and the highest SOC and WEOC contents were observed in the soil at 700 m under the Ostrya carpinifolia forest. With regard to the soil microbial community, although the size of the soil microbial biomass (Cmic) generally followed the SOC contents along the slope, both broadleaf and pine forest soils showed similar diminishing trends with altitude of soil respiration (\u3a3CO2-C), and \u3a3CO2-C:WEOC and \u3a3CO2-C:Cmic ratios. The results pointed out that, although under the pine forests' altitude was effective in affecting WEOC and SOC contents, in the soils along the broadleaf forest toposequence this effect was absent, indicating a greater impact of vegetation than temperature on SOC amount and pool distribution. Conversely, the similar trend with altitude of the microbial activity indexes would indicate temperature to be crucial for the activity of the soil microbial community

Auditive direct in utero observation (Audio): A randomized controlled trial for a prenatal demonstration of fetal hearing

Introduction: The objective of this randomized controlled study was to demonstrate whether acoustic stimulation in utero is associated with fetal reactivity which is documentable by car-diotocography. Materials and methods: A monocentric randomized controlled trial was performed at a single university tertiary hospital between September 2016 and July 2017. This study was registered as a randomized clinical trial on clinicaltrail.gov (registration number NCT04622059). Unselected pregnancies at term of gestation were consecutively recruited for the purpose of this study. After 10 min of normal cardiotocography without accelerations (non-stress-test with a basal frequency between 110 and 150 beats/min, normal variability between 6 and 15 b/min, no accelerations, and no fetal movements), fetuses were randomized at a 1:1 ratio to either of the two groups. Fetuses in group A (n = 105) received acoustic stimulation after 10 min from the beginning of the CTG, whereas fetuses in group B received no stimulation (n = 105). The outcome variables investigated were the lapse of time between the beginning of the CTG and the occurrence of the first accelera-tion, and the lapse of time between the beginning of the CTG and the first fetal movement noticed. Results: The lapse of time between the beginning of the CTG and the occurrence of the first acceleration was significantly shorter in the group with acoustic stimulation compared to the other group (14.87 ± 5.01 vs. 21.90 ± 6.94 min, p-value < 0.001 log-rank test). Similarly, the lapse of time between the beginning of the CTG and the occurrence of the first fetal movement was significantly shorter in group A compared to group B (17.77 ± 7.62 vs. 23.28 ± 7.61 min, p-value < 0.001, log-rank test). Fetal cardiac acceleration and the occurrence of a fetal movement during the first 20 min of the CTG were more frequently recorded in group A compared to group B (respectively, 15% vs. 5% and 20% vs. 8%). Conclusion: This RCT showed an early fetal reaction following auditive stimulus, documentable by cardiotocography. Further research is needed to investigate a possible role of acoustic stimulation in utero for the prenatal diagnosis of congenital hypoacusis

Co-design and evaluation of the feasibility and the efficacy of a multiple-targeted adapted physical activity intervention to promote quality of life, well-being and physical activity levels in pregnant women: The “well-done!” study protocol

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) practice during pregnancy offers health and fitness benefits for both mother and baby. Therefore, healthy pregnant women with no contraindi-cations to exercise should be encouraged to perform PA. Nevertheless, their levels of PA are gener-ally low. The aim of the WELL-DONE! Study is to co-design an adapted physical activity intervention (APAI) for pregnant women to include in childbirth preparation classes (CPCs) evaluating its feasibility and efficacy on quality of life (QoL), PA levels and other outcomes. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was divided in two progressive stages. First, APAI was developed in collabo-ration with pregnant women and midwives using focus groups; second, APAI’s efficacy was evaluated comparing two groups: the experimental group engaged in the CPCs integrated with 1 h/week of the APAI administered by midwives and the control group participating in the standard CPCs. Pre-post evaluation was carried out in three stages through questionnaires and tests. Data analysis involved the combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Discussion: Find-ings from the WELL-DONE! Study will help to assess the feasibility, sustainability, and efficacy of incorporating APAI inside CPCs as a new public health strategy oriented to QoL, well-being, and PA level improvements

Sailing for Science: on board experiences for transferring knowledge on Historical Oceanography for Future Innovation

Smart, sustainable and inclusive Blue Growth means also knowing past technology and the paths followed by ancients in order to understand and monitor marine environments. In general, history of Science is a matter that is not enough explored and explained or promoted in high schools or university official programmes, and, usually, scientist do not consider it as an important part of their curricula. However, bad or good ideas, abandoned or forgotten beliefs, concepts, opinions, do still have a great potential for inspiring present and future scientists, no matter in which historical period they may have been formulated: they should be always be taken into consideration, critically examined and observed by a very close point of view, not just as part of the intellectual framework of some obsolete ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ with limited access except for the chosen few. Moreover, history of Science should be transmitted in a more practical way, with hands-on labs showing the limits and challenges that prior generations of ocean explorers, investigators and seafarers had to face in order to answer to crucial questions as self-orientation in open sea, understanding main currents and waves, predicting meteorological conditions for a safe navigation. Oceanography is a relatively young branch of science, and still needs further approvals and knowledge (National Science Foundation, 2000). The Scientific Dissemination Group (SDG) “La Spezia Gulf of Science” – made up by Research Centres, Schools and Cultural associations located in La Spezia (Liguria, Italy) - has a decadal experience in initiatives aimed at people and groups of people of all ages, who are keen on science or who can be guided in any case to take an interest in scientific matters (Locritani et al., 2015). Amongst the SDG activities, the tight relationship with the Historical Oceanography Society, the Italian Navy and the Naval Technical Museum (that collects a rich heritage of civilization, technology and culture witnesses, related to the naval history of seamanship from the origins up to nowadays), allowed the creation of a special educational format based on Historical Oceanography, for university and high school students as an integration for their curriculum. The Historical Oceanography Society has provided the major knowledges included in the ancient volumes of its archive, thanks to the availability of its members that also held theoretical and practical lessons during the course. The present paper will describe the one-week special course (about 60 hours of theory and practice with technical visits to Research centres and Museums) that has been planned to be carried out on board of the Italian Training Navy Ship (A. Vespucci) and has been organized in order to give the hints about on board life, as well as theoretical lessons on modern and historical oceanography, hands-on labs on oceanographic instruments from public and private collections, physiology of diving techniques and astronomy. The general aim of this course has been, hence, to give to excellent students all those technological but also creative and imaginative features of our past.PublishedVienna1TM. Formazion

Influence of canopy fruit location on morphological, histochemical and biochemical changes in two oil olive cultivars

The influence of different irradiance conditions was evaluated under natural solar radiation by comparing well-exposed (in) and shaded fruit (out) in canopies of olive trees (Olea europaea L). Over a 2-year period, from 50 days after full bloom up to harvest time, “in” and “out” olive samples of two genotypes (“Frantoio Millennio” and “Coratina 5/19”) were periodically collected. Morphological, histochemical, and biochemical analysis were performed to study the changes on fruit morphometric traits, oil body accumulation, and b-glucosidase enzyme activity. Some parameters were modified by shading inside the canopy in which the proportion of incident photosynthetically active radiation intercepted by the crop was 47%. Shaded fruits developed at slow rate and were characterized by late darkgoing time, reduced size, with a tendency toward oblong shape. The rapid histochemical procedure proposed to estimate the oil body accumulation during fruit ripening showed that a reduced irradiance caused a decrease in oil body density. The canopy position influenced, in a different way, the b-glucosidase activity in relation to the fruit-ripening stage in both genotypes. These findings indicate that providing an adequate and uniform lighting of the olive canopy by careful choices of orchard management practices can be a key factor for several yield components

Identification of stable configurations in the superhydrogenation sequence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules

Superhydrogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules have been demonstrated to act as catalysts for molecular hydrogen formation under interstellar conditions. Here we present combined thermal desorption mass spectrometry measurements and density functional theory calculations that reveal the most stable configurations in the superhydrogenation sequence of the PAH molecule coronene (C24H12). Specifically, the experiments demonstrate the presence of stable configurations of superhydrogenated coronene at specific hydrogenation levels of 2, 10, 14, 18, and 24 extra hydrogen atoms. Density functional theory calculations of binding energies and barrier heights explain why these configurations are particularly stable and provide new insights into the superhydrogenation process of PAH molecules under interstellar conditions. Furthermore, an experimental cross-section for the first hydrogen atom addition to the neutral coronene molecule of \u3c3add = 2.7+2.7-0.9 7 10-2 A2 is derived from the experimental hydrogenation data