12,520 research outputs found
No more time to stay ‘single’ in the detection of Anisakis pegreffii, A. simplex (s. s.) and hybridization events between them: a multi-marker nuclear genotyping approach
A multi-marker nuclear genotyping approach was performed on larval and adult specimens of Anisakis spp. (N = 689) collected from fish and cetaceans in allopatric and sympatric areas of the two species Anisakis pegreffii and Anisakis simplex
(s. s.), in order to: (1) identify specimens belonging to the parental taxa by using nuclear markers (allozymes loci) and sequence analysis of a new diagnostic nuclear DNA locus (i.e. partial sequence of the EF1 α−1 nDNA region) and (2) recognize hybrid categories. According to the Bayesian clustering algorithms, based on those markers, most of the individuals
(N = 678) were identified as the parental species [i.e. A. pegreffii or A. simplex (s. s.)], whereas a smaller portion (N = 11)
were recognized as F1 hybrids. Discordant results were obtained when using the polymerase chain reaction–restriction
fragment length polymorphisms (PCR–RFLPs) of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) on
the same specimens, which indicated the occurrence of a large number of ‘hybrids’ both in sympatry and allopatry.
These findings raise the question of possible misidentification of specimens belonging to the two parental Anisakis and
their hybrid categories derived from the application of that single marker (i.e. PCR–RFLPs analysis of the ITS of
rDNA). Finally, Bayesian clustering, using allozymes and EF1 α−1 nDNA markers, has demonstrated that hybridization
between A. pegreffii and A. simplex (s. s.) is a contemporary phenomenon in sympatric areas, while no introgressive hybridization takes place between the two species
Magnetic signature of submarine volcanoes in the Phlegrean Fields-Ischia Ridge (North-Western side of the Bay of Naples, Southern Italy)
This paper presents a study of the Phlegrean Fields-Ischia submarine ridge by the analysis and interpretation of
high-resolution aeromagnetic data recently acquired in the Western Procida offshore. The investigated area is located
along the ridge connecting Ischia to the Phlegrean Fields and is characterized by the existence of several
monogenetic volcanoes aligned on a NE-SW system of faults. The high-resolution magnetic data yielded new
information on the area, highlighting particularly the signature of a volcanic body located between Pt. Serra and
the Ruommoli shoal. This structure has not been clearly described before and we named it as the Pt. Serra submarine
volcano. The computation of the analytic signal and horizontal gradient of the data distinctly located this
structure and definined the position of its rims. A 2D modeling and 3D inversion of data provided information
on the volcano’s thickness, width and magnetization, disclosing a meaningful igneous body extending down to
several hundred meters b.s.l
Topological gap opening without symmetry breaking from dynamical quantum correlations
Topological phase transitions are typically associated with the formation of gapless states. Spontaneous symmetry breaking can lead to a gap opening, thereby obliterating the topological nature of the system. Here we highlight a completely different destiny for a topological transition in the presence of interaction. Solving a Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model with local interaction, we show that dynamical quantum fluctuations can lead to the opening of a gap without any symmetry breaking. As we vary the interaction and the bare mass of the model, the continuous gapless topological transition turns into a first-order one, associated with the presence of a massive Dirac fermion at the transition point, showing a Gross-Neveu critical behavior near the quantum critical endpoint. We identify the gap opening as a condensed matter analog of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism of mass generation
Infection levels and species diversity of ascaridoid nematodes in Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, are correlated with geographic area and fish size
Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is among the most important commercial fish species on the world market. Its
infection by ascaridoid nematodes has long been known, Pseudoterranova even being named cod worm. In the
present study, 755 individuals were sampled in the Barents, Baltic and North Seas during 2012–2014.
Prevalences for Anisakis in whole fish and in fillets in the different fishing areas varied from 16 to 100% and
from 12 to 90% respectively. Abundance was also greatly influenced by the sampling area. Generalized additive
model results indicate higher numbers of Anisakis in the North Sea, even after the larger body size was accounted
for. Numbers and prevalence of Anisakis were positively related to fish length or weight. The prevalence of
parasites in whole fish and in fillets was also influenced by the season, with the spring displaying a peak for the
prevalence in whole fish and, at the same time, a drop for the prevalence in fillets. Whereas 46% of cod had
Anisakis larvae in their fillets, the majority (39%) had parasites mainly in the ventral part of the fillet and only
12% had parasites in their dorsal part. This observation is of importance for the processing of the fish. Indeed,
the trimming of the ventral part of the cod fillet would allow the almost total elimination of ascaridoids except
for cod from the Baltic Sea where there was no difference between the dorsal and the ventral part.
The presence of other ascaridoid genera was also noticeable in some areas. For Pseudoterranova, the highest
prevalence (45%) in whole fish was observed in the Northern North Sea, whereas the other areas had prevalences between 3 and 16%. Contracaecum was present in every commercial size cod sampled in the Baltic Sea
with an intensity of up to 96 worms but no Contracaecum was isolated from the Central North Sea. Non-zoonotic
Hysterothylacium was absent from the Baltic Sea but with a prevalence of 83% in the Barents and the Northern
North Sea.
A subsample of worms was identified with genetic-molecular tools and assigned to the species A. simplex (s.s.),
A. pegreffii, P. decipiens (s.s.), P. krabbei, C. osculatum and H. aduncum. In addition to high prevalence and
abundance values, the cod sampled in this study presented a diversity of ascaridoid nematodes with a majority of
fish displaying a co-infection. Out of 295 whole infected fish, 269 were co-infected by at least 2 genera
Multiple verification in computational modeling of bone pathologies
We introduce a model checking approach to diagnose the emerging of bone
pathologies. The implementation of a new model of bone remodeling in PRISM has
led to an interesting characterization of osteoporosis as a defective bone
remodeling dynamics with respect to other bone pathologies. Our approach allows
to derive three types of model checking-based diagnostic estimators. The first
diagnostic measure focuses on the level of bone mineral density, which is
currently used in medical practice. In addition, we have introduced a novel
diagnostic estimator which uses the full patient clinical record, here
simulated using the modeling framework. This estimator detects rapid (months)
negative changes in bone mineral density. Independently of the actual bone
mineral density, when the decrease occurs rapidly it is important to alarm the
patient and monitor him/her more closely to detect insurgence of other bone
co-morbidities. A third estimator takes into account the variance of the bone
density, which could address the investigation of metabolic syndromes, diabetes
and cancer. Our implementation could make use of different logical combinations
of these statistical estimators and could incorporate other biomarkers for
other systemic co-morbidities (for example diabetes and thalassemia). We are
delighted to report that the combination of stochastic modeling with formal
methods motivate new diagnostic framework for complex pathologies. In
particular our approach takes into consideration important properties of
biosystems such as multiscale and self-adaptiveness. The multi-diagnosis could
be further expanded, inching towards the complexity of human diseases. Finally,
we briefly introduce self-adaptiveness in formal methods which is a key
property in the regulative mechanisms of biological systems and well known in
other mathematical and engineering areas.Comment: In Proceedings CompMod 2011, arXiv:1109.104
Explicit characterization of the identity configuration in an Abelian Sandpile Model
Since the work of Creutz, identifying the group identities for the Abelian
Sandpile Model (ASM) on a given lattice is a puzzling issue: on rectangular
portions of Z^2 complex quasi-self-similar structures arise. We study the ASM
on the square lattice, in different geometries, and a variant with directed
edges. Cylinders, through their extra symmetry, allow an easy determination of
the identity, which is a homogeneous function. The directed variant on square
geometry shows a remarkable exact structure, asymptotically self-similar.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Trapping and detrapping effects in high-quality chemical-vapor-deposition diamond films: Pulse shape analysis of diamond particle detectors
An analysis of the time evolution of the response of diamond particle detectors is carried out, using as a probe 5.5 MeV α particles impinging on high-quality diamond films grown by microwave chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Both the amplitude and the time evolution of the pulses are shown to change drastically when the detector is preirradiated with β particles (pumping), a slow component developing after pumping, indicating carriers trapping and releasing (detrapping). Pulse shapes obtained for positive and negative detector polarities are compared in both the as-grown and pumped states. The presence of at least two trapping centers for holes is necessary to explain the results, the shallower having an activation energy of about 0.3 eV. The effects of pumping are clarified, and the different role played by electrons and holes is evidenced. We modify a previous model for trapping-detrapping behavior originally applied to Si(Li) detectors to describe the more complex behavior of CVD diamond detectors, and develop a computer simulation based on it. The simulated pulse shapes agree very well with experiment with reasonable values of the physical parameters involved, making this technique helpful for studying and identifying defects which are responsible for limitation of the efficiency of CVD diamond particle detectors. Field-assisted detrapping seems to take place for fields of about 104 V/cm
Optimal Management of Energy Communities Hosting a Fleet of Electric Vehicles
In this paper, we study the problem of managing an energy community hosting a fleet of electric vehicles for rent. On the day-ahead, service requests of electric vehicles are submitted to the community. Then, the optimal request-to-vehicle assignment has to be found, as well as the optimal charging schedule of vehicle batteries. A suitable model is presented and included in an existing energy community architecture. The overall community management problem is formulated as a bilevel model, featuring two nested optimization problems.
The optimal request-to-vehicle assignment requires the solution of a mixed-integer linear program. To reduce the computational complexity, a heuristic solution to the assignment problem is presented. Numerical results show that the participation in the community grants a remarkable reduction of the electric vehicle charging cost. The adoption of the heuristic assignment solution provides a dramatic reduction of the computation time required to solve the bilevel model. At the same time, the level of suboptimality introduced appears to be negligible, being less than 1% in most of the considered cases
Systematic study of the normal and pumped state of high efficiency diamond particle detectors grown by chemical vapor deposition
The efficiency and charge collection distance (CCD) of nuclear particle detectors based on high quality diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) have been systematically studied as a function of the methane content in the growth gas mixture and for varying film thickness. The effects of preirradiation with β particles (pumping) have been thoroughly studied. The results fully support a recently proposed model [Marinelli et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 75, 3216 (1999)] discussing the role of in-grain defects and grain boundaries in determining the charge collection spectra of CVD diamond films both in the normal and in the pumped state. The model allows us to quantitatively explain the dependence of CCD and efficiency on film thickness, giving a microscopic picture of the effects of preirradiation with ionizing radiation in CVD diamond films. The highest average CCD obtained is 145 μm in a 160 μm thick detector (corresponding to about 50% average efficiency), while the maximum value (about 70% efficiency) is close to 370 μm. In addition, CCD is shown to be higher than film thickness and to monotonically increase with thickness, indicating margins for further improvements. © 2001 American Institute of Physics
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