Strongly structured populations and reproductive habitat fragmentation increase the vulnerability of the Mediterranean starry ray Raja asterias (Elasmobranchii, Rajidae)

The Mediterranean starry ray (Raja asterias) populations within the Mediterranean Sea are susceptible to high rates of bycatch in the multispecies trawl fisheries. Understanding its population structure and identifying critical habitats are crucial for assessing species vulnerability and setting the groundwork for specific management measures to prevent population decline. To assess the population structure of R. asterias in the Mediterranean, the genetic variation in nine population samples at one mitochondrial marker and eight nuclear microsatellite loci was analysed. Moreover, 172 egg cases collected in the Strait of Sicily were identified at species level using integrated molecular and morphological approaches. Genetic analyses revealed that the Mediterranean starry ray comprises three distinct units inhabiting the western, the central-western, and the central-eastern areas of the Mediterranean. An admixture zone occurs in the Strait of Sicily and the Ionian Sea, where individuals of the central-western and central-eastern population units intermingle. The joint morphometric–genetic analyses of rajid egg cases confirmed the presence of more than one species in the admixture area, with a predominance of egg cases laid by R. asterias. DNA barcoding revealed that egg cases and embryos of R. asterias shared several haplotypes with adult individuals from the central-western and central-eastern Mediterranean Sea, revealing that females of both populations laid numerous eggs in this area. According to these findings, detailed taxonomic determination of egg cases, when combined with seasonal migration studies, could improve the capability to identify important spawning or nursery areas for the Mediterranean starry ray, particularly in those admixture zones relevant to maintaining genetic diversity. Finally, these new insights should be considered to update the Action Plan for the Conservation of Cartilaginous Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea with effective measures to reduce the impact of skate bycatch in trawling and safeguard egg cases in nursery areas

Should all patients with HR-positive HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer receive CDK 4/6 inhibitor as first-line based therapy? A network meta-analysis of data from the PALOMA 2, MONALEESA 2, MONALEESA 7, MONARCH 3, FALCON, SWOG and FACT trials

Background: We aim to understand whether all patients with hormonal receptor (HR)-positive (+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-negative (−) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) should receive cyclin D-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor-based therapy as a first-line approach. Methods: A network meta-analysis (NMA) using the Bayesian hierarchical arm-based model, which provides the estimates for various effect sizes, were computed. Results: First-line treatment options in HR+/HER2− MBC, including CDK 4/6 inhibitors combined with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) or fulvestrant (F), showed a significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS) in comparison with AI monotherapy, with a total of 26% progression risk reduction. In the indirect comparison across the three classes of CDK 4/6 inhibitors and F endocrine-based therapies, the first strategy resulted in longer PFS, regardless of specific CDK 4/6 inhibitor (HR: 0.68; 95% CrI: 0.53–0.87 for palbociclib + AI, HR: 0.65; 95% CrI: 0.53–0.79 for ribociclib + AI, HR: 0.63; 95% CrI: 0.47–0.86 for abemaciclib + AI) and patient’s characteristics. Longer PFS was also found in patients with bone-only and soft tissues limited disease treated with CDK 4/6 inhibitors. Conclusions: CDK 4/6 inhibitors have similar efficacy when associated with an AI in the first-line treatment of HR+ MBC, and are superior to either F or AI monotherapy, regardless of any other patients or tumor characteristics

Transition Towards a Green Economy in Europe: Innovation and Knowledge Integration in the Renewable Energy Sector

This paper investigates the fragmentation of the EU innovation system in the field of renewable energy sources (RES) by estimating the intensity and direction of knowledge spillovers over the years 1985-2010. We modify the original double exponential knowledge diffusion model proposed by Caballero and Jaffe (1993) to provide information on the degree of integration of EU countries’ RES knowledge bases and to assess how citation patterns changed over time. We show that EU RES inventors have increasingly built “on the shoulders of the other EU giants”, intensifying their citations to other member countries and decreasing those to domestic inventors. Furthermore, the EU strengthened its position as source of RES knowledge for the US. Finally, we show that this pattern is peculiar to RES, with other traditional (i.e. fossil-based) energy technologies and other radically new technologies behaving differently. We provide suggestive, but convincing evidence that such decrease in fragmentation around the turn of the century emerged as a result of the EU increased support for RES taking mainly the form of demand-pull policies

Online Monitoring of the Osiris Reactor with the Nucifer Neutrino Detector

Originally designed as a new nuclear reactor monitoring device, the Nucifer detector has successfully detected its first neutrinos. We provide the second shortest baseline measurement of the reactor neutrino flux. The detection of electron antineutrinos emitted in the decay chains of the fission products, combined with reactor core simulations, provides an new tool to assess both the thermal power and the fissile content of the whole nuclear core and could be used by the Inter- national Agency for Atomic Energy (IAEA) to enhance the Safeguards of civil nuclear reactors. Deployed at only 7.2m away from the compact Osiris research reactor core (70MW) operating at the Saclay research centre of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the experiment also exhibits a well-suited configuration to search for a new short baseline oscillation. We report the first results of the Nucifer experiment, describing the performances of the 0.85m3 detector remotely operating at a shallow depth equivalent to 12m of water and under intense background radiation conditions. Based on 145 (106) days of data with reactor ON (OFF), leading to the detection of an estimated 40760 electron antineutrinos, the mean number of detected antineutrinos is 281 +- 7(stat) +- 18(syst) electron antineutrinos/day, in agreement with the prediction 277(23) electron antineutrinos/day. Due the the large background no conclusive results on the existence of light sterile neutrinos could be derived, however. As a first societal application we quantify how antineutrinos could be used for the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement.Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures - Version

Spallation reactions. A successful interplay between modeling and applications

The spallation reactions are a type of nuclear reaction which occur in space by interaction of the cosmic rays with interstellar bodies. The first spallation reactions induced with an accelerator took place in 1947 at the Berkeley cyclotron (University of California) with 200 MeV deuterons and 400 MeV alpha beams. They highlighted the multiple emission of neutrons and charged particles and the production of a large number of residual nuclei far different from the target nuclei. The same year R. Serber describes the reaction in two steps: a first and fast one with high-energy particle emission leading to an excited remnant nucleus, and a second one, much slower, the de-excitation of the remnant. In 2010 IAEA organized a worskhop to present the results of the most widely used spallation codes within a benchmark of spallation models. If one of the goals was to understand the deficiencies, if any, in each code, one remarkable outcome points out the overall high-quality level of some models and so the great improvements achieved since Serber. Particle transport codes can then rely on such spallation models to treat the reactions between a light particle and an atomic nucleus with energies spanning from few tens of MeV up to some GeV. An overview of the spallation reactions modeling is presented in order to point out the incomparable contribution of models based on basic physics to numerous applications where such reactions occur. Validations or benchmarks, which are necessary steps in the improvement process, are also addressed, as well as the potential future domains of development. Spallation reactions modeling is a representative case of continuous studies aiming at understanding a reaction mechanism and which end up in a powerful tool.Comment: 59 pages, 54 figures, Revie

Call me by my name: unravelling the taxonomy of the gulper shark genus Centrophorus in the Mediterranean Sea through an integrated taxonomic approach

The current shift of fishery efforts towards the deep sea is raising concern about the vulnerability of deep-water sharks, which are often poorly studied and characterized by problematic taxonomy. For instance, in the Mediterranean Sea the taxonomy of genus Centrophorus has not been clearly unravelled yet. Since proper identification of the species is fundamental for their correct assessment and management, this study aims at clarifying the taxonomy of this genus in the Mediterranean Basin through an integrated taxonomic approach. We analysed a total of 281 gulper sharks (Centrophorus spp.) collected from various Mediterranean, Atlantic and Indian Ocean waters. Molecular data obtained from cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), 16S ribosomal RNA (16S), NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 (ND2) and a portion of a nuclear 28S ribosomal DNA gene region (28S) have highlighted the presence of a unique mitochondrial clade in the Mediterranean Sea. The morphometric results confirmed these findings, supporting the presence of a unique and distinct morphological group comprising all Mediterranean individuals. The data strongly indicate the occurrence of a single Centrophorus species in the Mediterranean, ascribable to C. cf. uyato, and suggest the need for a revision of the systematics of the genus in the area.En prens

High-accuracy determination of the neutron flux in the new experimental area n_TOF-EAR2 at CERN

A new high flux experimental area has recently become operational at the n_TOF facility at CERN. This new measuring station, n_TOF-EAR2, is placed at the end of a vertical beam line at a distance of approximately 20m from the spallation target. The characterization of the neutron beam, in terms of flux, spatial profile and resolution function, is of crucial importance for the feasibility study and data analysis of all measurements to be performed in the new area. In this paper, the measurement of the neutron flux, performed with different solid-state and gaseous detection systems, and using three neutron-converting reactions considered standard in different energy regions is reported. The results of the various measurements have been combined, yielding an evaluated neutron energy distribution in a wide energy range, from 2meV to 100MeV, with an accuracy ranging from 2%, at low energy, to 6% in the high-energy region. In addition, an absolute normalization of the n_TOF-EAR2 neutron flux has been obtained by means of an activation measurement performed with 197Au foils in the beam.Peer reviewe