1909-1910: La 'conversione' di Morgan al modello dell'ereditarietà indiretta.

Omaggio a Charles Darwin: 1809-2009: duecento anni di evoluzionism

Portugal and Common Blond Oranges: are they the same Variety? Characteristics and Enhancement of the Oldest European Sweet Orange Variety

Background: Today, old citrus fruit varieties with traits suited to a market more attentive to a limited territorial distribution of certain species and the preservation of biodiversity are being promoted. One of these is the Portugal orange. The name 'Portugal' disappeared from the writings on citrus fruit growing in the first half of the last century, systematically replaced by the name 'Common Blond'. Methods: One hundred fruits of ‘Portugal’ and ‘Common Blond’ oranges come from two varietal collections found in Sicily. Physico-chemical and sensory analyses were carried out to evaluate the qualitative characteristics of both varieties and to confirm or confute the previous hypothesis. Results: These analyses confirm that from the point of view of fruit quality, there are no significant differences between 'Portugal' and 'Common Blond' oranges. The differences found can be attributed to the different growing environments, i.e. cultural practices, microclimate, fertilization, etc. Conclusion: Furthermore, the historical information provided also supports the hypothesis that the 'Portugal' orange simply changed its name to 'Common Blond', even though there were numerous bud variations that led to the selection of different clones

An incremental input-to-state stability condition for a generic class of recurrent neural networks

This paper proposes a novel sufficient condition for the incremental input-to-state stability of a generic class of recurrent neural networks (RNNs). The established condition is compared with others available in the literature, showing to be less conservative. Moreover, it can be applied for the design of incremental input-to-state stable RNN-based control systems, resulting in a linear matrix inequality constraint for some specific RNN architectures. The formulation of nonlinear observers for the considered system class, as well as the design of control schemes with explicit integral action, are also investigated. The theoretical results are validated through simulation on a referenced nonlinear system

Design of aggregators for the day-ahead management of microgrids providing active and reactive power services

The increasing diffusion of distributed energy generation systems requires the development of new control paradigms for the coordination of micro-generators, storage systems, and loads aimed at maintaining the efficiency and the safe operability of the electricity network. MicroGrids (MGs) are an interesting way to locally manage groups of generation devices, but they cannot singularly provide a significant contribution to sustain the main electricity grid in terms of ancillary services, such as the availability of a minimum amount of power reserve for the frequency regulation. For these reasons, in this paper we propose a framework for the aggregation and coordination of interconnected MGs to provide ancillary services to the main utility. The proposed framework is structured in three main phases. In the first one, a distributed optimization algorithm computes the day-ahead profile of the active power production of the MGs based on the available forecasts of the renewable sources production and the loads absorption. In this phase, scalability of the optimization problem and confidentiality requirements are guaranteed. In the second phase, reactive power flows are scheduled and it is ensured that the active power trends planned in the first phase do not compromise the voltage/current limitations. A final third phase is used to schedule the active and reactive power profiles of the generation units of each MG to make them consistent with the requirements and results of the previous two phases. The developed method is used for control of the IEEE 13-bus system network and the results achieved are thoroughly discussed in terms of performance and scalability properties.Comment: (under revision

Qualità pomologica e sensoriale di 10 varietà di mango (Mangifera indica L.) coltivate in Sicilia

Il mango (Mangifera indica L.) è una pianta arborea originaria della regione Indo-Burmese, che appartiene botanicamente alla famiglia delle Anacardiaceae, principalmente coltivata nei paesi a clima tropicale e subtropicale ed oggi, complice il cambiamento climatico, diffusa anche nel bacino del mediterraneo. In Italia il mango viene coltivato solo in Sicilia dove areali della costiera tirrenica hanno fatto registrare produzioni di pregio e una crescente diffusione di nuove cultivar provenienti dai luoghi di origine. Limiti vegetazionali piuttosto stretti, soprattutto in termini di minime termiche stagionali, hanno, in passato, causato l’insuccesso di numerosi nuovi impianti basati sull’introduzione di varietà inedite negli areali a clima mediterraneo-subtropicale come in Sicilia. Per evitare il verificarsi di tali situazioni occorre, quindi, valutare con attenzione il comportamento vegeto-produttivo delle nuove introduzioni varietali. Il presente lavoro ha avuto come obiettivo quello di valutare l’adattamento di 10 cultivar di mango mettendo in relazione gli stadi fenologici con gli andamenti termici stagionali utilizzando la scala BBCH (Biologische Bundesantalt, Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie) e valutando la qualità fisico-chimica dei frutti. Per ciascun frutto delle 10 varietà in esame sono state analizzate le seguenti caratteristiche: peso del frutto, diametro trasversale del frutto, diametro longitudinale del frutto, consistenza della polpa, peso della polpa, peso della buccia, peso del seme, diametro trasversale del seme, diametro longitudinale del seme. Del succo di ogni frutto sono stati analizzati il contenuto in solidi solubili e l’acidità titolabile. Le prove sono state svolte presso l’azienda Cupitur sita in Caronia Marina, provincia di Messina. Le cv prese in esame sono state: Glenn, Osteen, Maya, Nam Dok Mai, Irwin, Calypso, Valencia Pride, Keitt, Kent e Tommt Atkyns. La correlazione tra stadi fenologici e temperatura nonché il confronto con i risultati ottenuti in ambienti vocati indicano che, seppur con alcuni limiti legati all’inverno, le aree della costa tirrenica della Sicilia, dove queste varietà sono state coltivate, risultano un ambiente climaticamente idoneo per il corretto evolversi delle fasi vegetative e produttive e l’ottenimento di frutti dalle interessanti qualità organolettiche. Tuttavia, l’analisi dei dati di questo ultimo anno ha evidenziato alcune problematiche in grado di influenzare negativamente lo sviluppo delle piante. Temperature al di sotto dei valori critici, infatti, ci obbligano all’uso di frangivento, per ridurre il rischio di esposizione a venti freddi, e al ricorso ad apprestamenti protettivi delle singole piante nei primi anni dell’impianto. Dalle analisi pomologiche risulta un’ampia variabilità delle caratteristiche fisico-chimiche in grado di offrire una ampia scelta commerciale. L’introduzione di queste nuove cultivar in Sicilia consentirebbe un ampliamento del calendario di maturazione da agosto fino a novembre, limitando il ricorso all’importazione, ma va ulteriormente approfondito in relazione ai fattori sopra esposti

Gli albigesi : romanzo storico / di Giuseppe La Farina Genova : Stabilimento tpografico Ponthenier, 1855 (volume primo p. 208; volume secondo p. 220; volume terzo p.187)

Gli albigesi : romanzo storico / di Giuseppe La Farina Genova : Stabilimento tpografico Ponthenier, 1855 6 v. ; 17 cm

Integration and Evaluation of a Community-Level Dementia Screening Program in Kenya (DEM-SKY): A Protocol

Background: In Kenya, many people are currently living with dementia without a formal diagnosis or support; often attributing symptoms to normal aging or as a consequence of past behaviors. Dementia screening is not commonplace within Kenya. Improving the supply (or opportunity) of dementia screening within the region may promote uptake, thus leading to more people to seek a formal diagnosis and subsequently receive support within the Kenyan healthcare system. Community Healthcare Workers (CHWs) have successfully demonstrated their value in delivering health interventions within Kenya and have strong links within local communities. Objective: To integrate and evaluate a community-level dementia screening program among older adults in rural Kenya. Methods: Through leveraging this resource, we will deliver dementia screening to older adults (≥60 years) within Makueni County, Kenya over a 6-month period. Here, we present a protocol for the process evaluation of a dementia screening in Kenya (DEM-SKY) program. The process evaluation seeks to understand the adoption, implementation, continuation, and implementation determinants, using quantitative and qualitative measures. Conclusions: Gaining perspectives of different participants involved in the program (i.e., older adults, CHWs, hospital staff, and trainers), will ensure that we understand the reason for successful (or unsuccessful) delivery of DEM-SKY

La consulenza tecnica d’Ufficio in tema di transessualismo alla luce del D.Lgs n. 150 del 2011: il contributo non sempre richiesto della medicina legale

A seguito delle modifiche apportate alla Legge n. 164/1982 dal Decreto Legislativo n. 150/2011, che non prevede più espressamente il richiamo alla possibilità di espletare una consulenza tecnica d’ufficio per lo studio delle condizioni psico-sessuali del soggetto transessuale, parte della dottrina medico-legale ha sollevato obiezioni circa il possibile restringimento delle indagini tecnico-peritali e quindi dell’apporto della disciplina medico-legale e psichiatrico-forense nei casi di rettificazione di attribuzione anagrafica del sesso. Partendo da tale assunto, gli autori hanno affrontato la tematica relativa alla consulenza tecnica di ufficio in tema di transessualismo, analizzando in particolare le professionalità richieste e la metodologia peritale da adottare nell’ambito della c.t.u. Al fine di tutelare maggiormente la salute psico-fisica del soggetto transessuale, è stata sottolineata l’importanza di un approccio multidisciplinare e, quindi, la necessità della nomina di un collegio peritale costituito da: uno specialista in Medicina Legale ed uno in Psichiatria. Al tempo stesso, è emerso come in realtà in alcuni Tribunali Italiani già prima della modifica legislativa fosse consuetudine basare il giudizio anche soltanto sulla documentazione allegata dall’istante e rilasciata dai vari centri autorizzati.Following the amendments made to the Law no. 164/1982, Legislative Decree no. 150/2011, which no longer expressly provides the possibility of carrying out a technical consultancy for the study of psycho-sexual conditions of the transsexual subject, part of Legal-Medicine interpretation has questioned the possible narrowing of technical-expert surveys and therefore the contribution of Legal Medicine and Mental-Forensic disciplines in cases of rectification of sex registry attribution. Starting from this assumption, the authors addressed the issue concerning the technical consultancy on the subject of transsexualism, focusing on the skills required and on the expert's methodology to be adopted in the c.t.u. field. In order to better protect the mental and physical health of transsexual subject, the importance of a multidisciplinary approach, and so the need of the appointment of an expert panel composed by one specialist in Forensic Medicine and one in Psychiatry have been stressed. At the same time, it emerged that in fact in some Italian Courts, already before the legislative amendment, was customary to base the judgment even only on the documentation attached by the applicant and released from various authorized centers

Surface EMG crosstalk quantified at the motor unit population level for muscles of the hand, thigh, and calf

Crosstalk is an important source of error in interpreting surface electromyography (EMG) signals. Here, we aimed at characterizing crosstalk for three groups of synergistic muscles by the identification of individual motor unit action potentials. Moreover, we explored whether spatial filtering (single and double differential) of the EMG signals influences the level of crosstalk. Three experiments were conducted. Participants (total twenty-five) performed isometric contractions at 10% of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) with digit muscles and knee extensors, and at 30% MVC with plantar flexors. High-density surface EMG signals were recorded and decomposed into motor unit spike trains. For each muscle, we quantified the crosstalk induced to neighboring muscles and the level of contamination by the nearby muscle activity. We also estimated the influence of crosstalk on the EMG power spectrum and intermuscular correlation. Most motor units (80%) generated significant crosstalk signals to neighboring muscle EMG in monopolar recording mode, but this proportion decreased with spatial filtering (50% and 42% for single and double differential, respectively). Crosstalk induced overestimations of intermuscular correlation and has a small effect on the EMG power spectrum, which indicates that crosstalk is not reduced with high-pass temporal filtering. Conversely, spatial filtering diminished the crosstalk magnitude and the overestimations of intermuscular correlation, confirming to be an effective and simple technique to reduce crosstalk. This paper presents a new method for the identification and quantification of crosstalk at the motor unit level and clarifies the influence of crosstalk on EMG interpretation for muscles with different anatomy

Non-Invasive Detection of a De Novo Frameshift Variant of STAG2 in a Female Fetus: Escape Genes Influence the Manifestation of X-Linked Diseases in Females

Background: We report on a 20-week-old female fetus with a diaphragmatic hernia and other malformations, all of which appeared after the first-trimester ultrasound. Methods and Results: Whole trio exome sequencing (WES) on cell-free fetal DNA (cff-DNA) revealed a de novo frameshift variant of the X-linked STAG2 gene. Loss-of-function (LoF) STAG2 variants cause either holoprosencephaly (HPE) or Mullegama–Klein–Martinez syndrome (MKMS), are de novo, and only affect females, indicating male lethality. In contrast, missense mutations associate with milder forms of MKMS and follow the classic X-linked recessive inheritance transmitted from healthy mothers to male offspring. STAG2 has been reported to escape X-inactivation, suggesting that disease onset in LoF females is dependent on inadequate dosing for at least some of the transcripts, as is the case with a part of the autosomal dominant diseases. Missense STAG2 variants produce a quantity of transcripts, which, while resulting in a different protein, leads to disease only in hemizygous males. Similar inheritance patterns are described for other escapee genes. Conclusions: This study confirms the advantage of WES on cff-DNA and emphasizes the role of the type of the variant in X-linked disorders