Occurrence and status of the European Pond Turtle, Emys orbicularis hellenica (Valenciennes, 1833), on Aegean and Ionian Islands (Greece, Turkey)

A study on the occurrence of Emys orbicularis in the Aegean, published in 2012, is here extended to the Ionian Islands. For the first time, a status analysis has also been carried out for the individual islands. Emys orbicularis is found on 11 Greek islands and one Turkish. Its presence on the big islands of Rhodes and Chios has not been ascertained so far, while for four previously mentioned islands there is no confirmation. On Corfu and Lesbos there are still viable larger Emys populations. Most other island occurrences are characterized by small populations. On Kefalonia, Zakynthos, Thassos and Samos, E. orbicularis is in danger of extinction because the wetland biotopes are threatened. In the meantime, many wetlands have been placed under protection. The enforcement of these nature conservation regulations needs to be monitored, and E. orbicularis can be a lead species for such monitoring

Occurrence and tentative population status of the Balkan Terrapin (Mauremys rivulata, Valenciennes, 1833) on Greek islands

The distribution of Mauremys rivulata on Aegean islands was summarized by Broggi in 2012. Here, the study area encompasses all Greek islands, including the Ionian Islands, and the two Turkish islands of Gökceada and Bozcaada. For the first time, I attempt to estimate the status and size of the populations on the islands. This is a subjective assessment based on my personal visits to most islands and not on IUCN criteria. Mauremys rivulata was found on 29 Greek islands, plus two Turkish islands in the Aegean Sea. Five previously mentioned sites are doubtful, and on the three islands of Sifnos, Syros and Ithaca the species appears to be extinct. On 12 islands I assess its status as “threatened with extinction”. On seven, mostly larger, islands its populations are probably less vulnerable. Efforts must be made for the long-term protection of M. rivulata on the Greek islands

The PLASMONX Project for advanced beam physics experiments

The Project PLASMONX is well progressing into its design phase and has entered as well its second phase of procurements for main components. The project foresees the installation at LNF of a Ti:Sa laser system (peak power > 170 TW), synchronized to the high brightness electron beam produced by the SPARC photo-injector. The advancement of the procurement of such a laser system is reported, as well as the construction plans of a new building at LNF to host a dedicated laboratory for high intensity photon beam experiments (High Intensity Laser Laboratory). Several experiments are foreseen using this complex facility, mainly in the high gradient plasma acceleration field and in the field of mono- chromatic ultra-fast X-ray pulse generation via Thomson back-scattering. Detailed numerical simulations have been carried out to study the generation of tightly focused electron bunches to collide with laser pulses in the Thomson source: results on the emitted spectra of X-rays are presented

Conceptual Design of a Soft X‐ray SASE‐FEL Source

FELs based on SASE are believed to be powerful tools to explore the frontiers of basic sciences, from physics to chemistry to biology. Intense R&D programs have started in the USA and Europe in order to understand the SASE physics and to prove the feasibility of these sources. The allocation of considerable resources in the Italian National Research Plan (PNR) brought about the formation of a CNR‐ENEA‐INFN‐University of Roma "Tor Vergata" study group. A conceptual design study has been developed and possible schemes for linac sources have been investigated, bringing to the SPARX proposal. We report in this paper the results of a preliminary start to end simulation concerning one option we are considering based on an S‐band normal conducting linac with high brightness photoinjector integrated in a RF compressor

Klimawandel und Naturschutz im Gebirge: Neue Herausforderungen

Für viele Tiere und Pflanzen ist das Gebirge ein Rückzugsort, in dem es noch großflächige gering besiedelte naturnahe Flächen gibt. Dort werden die größten Änderungen der Artenzusammensetzung und Artenverluste im Zeichen des Klimawandels erwartet. Diese werden für alpine Arten und die Lebensräume des Waldes und der Gewässer dargestellt. Größere Schutzgebiete, Biotopvernetzung und die Stärkung der natürlichen Dynamik sind die wichtigsten Naturschutzziele, um das natürliche Anpassungspotenzial mit flexiblen Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten zu gewährleisten. Die klimatisch bedingten Veränderungen sind durch ein Monitoring festzustellen. Climate Change and Nature Conservation in the Mountains - New Challenges: For many animals and plants the mountains are a place of retreat, where there are still large areas of sparsely populated and rather natural land. In the wake of climate change the greatest changes in species composition and losses are expected in mountain regions. The changes to be expected are presented for alpine species and the habitats of forests and water bodies. Larger protected areas, biotopes networks and the strengthening of natural dynamics are goals to reinforce the natural adaption potential with flexible development options. The climate related changes are to be monitored

FLUKA Capabilities and CERN Applications for the Study of Radiation Damage to Electronics at High-Energy Hadron Accelerators

The assessment of radiation damage to electronics is a complex process and requires a detailed description of the full particle energy spectra, as well as a clear characterization of the quantities used to predict radiation damage. FLUKA, a multi-purpose particle interaction and transport code, is capable of calculating proton-proton and heavy ion collisions at LHC energies and beyond. It correctly describes the entire hadronic and electromagnetic particle cascade initiated by secondary particles from TeV energies down to thermal neutrons, and provides direct scoring capabilities essential to estimate in detail the possible risk of radiation damage to electronics. This paper presents the FLUKA capabilities for applications related to radiation damage to electronics, providing benchmarking examples and showing the practical applications of FLUKA at CERN facilities such as CNGS and LHC. Related applications range from the study of device effects, the detailed characterization of the radiation field and radiation monitor calibration, to the input requirements for important mitigation studies including shielding, relocation or other options