On characters of Chevalley groups vanishing at the non-semisimple elements

Let G be a finite simple group of Lie type. In this paper we study characters of G that vanish at the non-semisimple elements and whose degree is equal to the order of a maximal unipotent subgroup of G. Such characters can be viewed as a natural generalization of the Steinberg character. For groups G of small rank we also determine the characters of this degree vanishing only at the non-identity unipotent elements.Comment: Dedicated to Lino Di Martino on the occasion of his 65th birthda

GPRD, A Database for the Spectral Properties of Diatomic Molecules of Atmospheric Interest

A short note describing the development of a database providing factual and numerical data on the spectral properties of diatomic molecules. This database is available online for the overall scientific community at the following adress: http://cfp.ist.utl.pt/radiation/Comment: 2 page

PI3Kinase signaling in glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary tumor of the CNS in the adult. It is characterized by exponential growth and diffuse invasiveness. Among many different genetic alterations in GBM, e.g., mutations of PTEN, EGFR, p16/p19 and p53 and their impact on aberrant signaling have been thoroughly characterized. A major barrier to develop a common therapeutic strategy is founded on the fact that each tumor has its individual genetic fingerprint. Nonetheless, the PI3K pathway may represent a common therapeutic target to most GBM due to its central position in the signaling cascade affecting proliferation, apoptosis and migration. The read-out of blocking PI3K alone or in combination with other cancer pathways should mainly focus, besides the cytostatic effect, on cell death induction since sublethal damage may induce selection of more malignant clones. Targeting more than one pathway instead of a single agent approach may be more promising to kill GBM cell

Territori lenti e resilienza locale. Il paradigma della lentezza come opportunità nel territorio sicano

Il contributo propone alcune riflessioni sulle opportunità di trasformazione dei territori interni e descrive i primi esiti di ricerca condotti nell’ambito del Laboratorio di Sviluppo Locale del “Polo Universitario di Ricerca di Bivona e Santo Stefano Quisquina per l’energia, l’ambiente e le risorse del territorio” , come motore dello sviluppo locale e dell’innovazione sociale dell’area interna dei Monti Sicani

Catches in ghost-fishing octopus and fish traps in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean (Algarve, Portugal)

Ghost fishing is the term used to describe the continued capture of fish and other living organisms after a fisherman has lost all control over the gear. Traps may be lost for a variety of reasons including theft, vandalism, abandonment, interactions with other gear, fouling on the bottom (i.e., traps and ropes are caught on rocky substrate), bad weather, and human error (Laist, 1995). Annual trap loss can be as high as 20% to 50% of fished traps in some fisheries (Al-Masroori et al., 2004). Because lost traps can continue to fish for long periods, albeit with decreasing efficiency over time (e.g., Smolowitz, 1978; Breen, 1987, 1990; Guillory, 1993), ghost fishing is a concern in fisheries worldwide