Genetic relationships among species of Contracaecum railliet & Henry, 1912 and Phocascaris Höst, 1932 (Nematoda: Anisakidae) from pinnipeds inferred from mitochondrial cox2 sequences, and congruence with allozyme data

The genetic relationships among 11 taxa, belonging to the genus Contracaecum (C. osculatum A, C. osculatum B, C. osculatum (s.s.), C. osculatum D, C. osculatum E, C. osculatum baicalensis, C. mirounga, C. radiatum, C. ogmorhini (s.s.), C. margolisi) and Phocascaris IPhocascaris cystophorae), parasites as adults of seals, were inferred from sequence analysis (519 bp) of the mitochbndrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (mtDNA cox2) gene. Phylogenetic analyses obtained from Parsimony (MP) and Neighbour-Joining (NJ) K2P distance values generated similar topologies, each well supported at major nodes. All analyses delineated two main clades: the first encompassing the parasites of the phocid seals, i.e. the C. osculatum species complex, C. osculatum baicalensis, C. mirounga and C. radiatum, with the latter two species forming a separate subclade; the second including the parasites of otarids, i.e. C. ogmorhini (s.s.) and C. margolisi. An overall high congruence between mtDNA inferred tree topologies and those produced from nuclear data sets (20 allozyme loci) was observed. Comparison of the phylogenetic hypothesis here produced for Contracaecum spp. plus Phocascaris with those currently available for their definitive hosts (pinnipeds) suggests parallelism between hosts and parasite phylogenetic tree topologies.Fil: Mattiucci, Simonetta. Università di Roma; ItaliaFil: Paoletti, M.. Università di Roma; Italia. Università degli Studi della Tuscia; ItaliaFil: Webb, S.C.. Cawthron Institute; Nueva ZelandaFil: Sardella, Norma Haydee. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Parasitología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Timi, Juan Tomas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaFil: Berland, B.. University of Bergen; NoruegaFil: Nascetti, G.. Università degli Studi della Tuscia; Itali

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

AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH FOR THE SEISMIC VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT OF HISTORICAL CENTRES IN MASONRY BUILDING AGGREGATES: APPLICATION TO THE CITY OF SCARPERIA, ITALY

Abstract. The seismic vulnerability of masonry building aggregates is very difficult to determine, since it is affected by many uncertainties. The most uncertain quantities concern the historical periodization of structural aggregates. Moreover, the studies made at the urban scale can hardly be thorough, and usually the knowledge achieved on the single units is not fully satisfactory, so that the structural designer has to deal with uncompleted architectonical surveys and partial data; one of the most important problems concerns the lack of knowledge about the boundary conditions between adjacent structures. In order to perform mechanical analyses, an extensive knowledge of materials and techniques adopted is required. In this paper, an integrated methodology for the seismic assessment of building aggregate is presented. It concerns a multidisciplinary knowledge-based approach calibrated over the historical centres and the urban aggregates; the procedure joins different aspects, such as the use of modern technologies for an integrated knowledge, plans reconstructions through archival documents, laser scanner digital survey of urban fronts, non-destructive investigations of the materials. GIS and BIM platforms have been used to implement and collect data in order to perform detailed analyses. The information allowed to assess the seismic vulnerability of the building aggregates and the expected damage scenarios through empirical methodologies. The city of Scarperia, founded a few kilometres from Florence during the Medieval Age and characterized by a medium seismicity, has been chosen as a case study for the presented procedure

Preliminary archaeometric analysis on a marble bas-relief of unknown origin

This paper addresses an archaeometric study of a marble bas-relief seized by the Cosenza Carabinieri Unit for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and Anti-Counterfeiting (Calabria, Italy). The research aimed to collect data on the authenticity of the artwork, providing indications about the compositional features of the sampled materials. An analytical approach based on the use of SEM-EDX and FT-IR techniques along with a stylistic evaluation of the artwork, allowed us to answer the requests posed by the institutions and to set the work in a different historical context from the Roman production

Caratteristiche del Rumore Sismico nei pressi del Rilevatore di Onde Gravitazionali VIRGO (Cascina, Pisa)

In questo lavoro si presentano i risultati di uno studio sulle caratteristiche del rumore sismico in prossimità del rilevatore di onde gravitazionali VIRGO (Cascina, Pisa), con particolare riferimento alle vibrazioni associate all’azione di un vicino parco eolico. La valutazione delle componenti spettrali del rumore verosimilmente indotte dagli aerogeneratori è stata effettuata mediante (i) Misure dirette alla base di una turbina, (ii) Correlazione fra le ampiezze spettrali del rumore e la velocità del vento; (iii) Determinazione delle proprietà direzionali da misure multicanale, (iv) Misura dell’attenuazione del segnale con la distanza dal parco eolico. Il disturbo provocato dagli aerogeneratori è particolarmente energetico alla frequenza di 1.7 Hz e, in particolari condizioni, è stato osservato fino a distanze di 11 km dal Parco Eolico. Il decadimento spaziale delle ampiezze ha un andamento complesso, che può essere interpretato in termini di una combinazione fra onde superficiali e onde di volume rifratte ad un’interfaccia profonda (~800 m) fra i sedimenti plio-pleistocenici ed i calcari Miocenici. La risposta locale nei dintorni dell’interferometro è stata investigata utilizzando la tecnica dei rapporti spettrali H/V. Si sono così evidenziate due bande di amplificazione imputabili ad effetti di risonanza legati alla geologia a scala locale: il primo intorno alla frequenza di 0.35 Hz, il secondo fra 0.7 e 2.0 Hz. Entrambi i picchi risultano essere essenzialmente omogenei in tutta l’area di studio, a conferma della sostanziale uniformità della struttura geologica

MicroRNA delivery through nanoparticles

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are attracting a growing interest in the scientific community due to their central role in the etiology of major diseases. On the other hand, nanoparticle carriers offer unprecedented opportunities for cell specific controlled delivery of miRNAs for therapeutic purposes. This review critically discusses the use of nanoparticles for the delivery of miRNA-based therapeutics in the treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders and for tissue regeneration. A fresh perspective is presented on the design and characterization of nanocarriers to accelerate translation from basic research to clinical application of miRNA-nanoparticles. Main challenges in the engineering of miRNA-loaded nanoparticles are discussed, and key application examples are highlighted to underline their therapeutic potential for effective and personalized medicine

Superconducting properties of [BaCuO_x]_2/[CaCuO_2]_n artificial structures with ultrathick CaCuO_2 blocks

The electrical transport properties of [BaCuO_x]_2/[CaCuO_2]_n (CBCCO-2xn)underdoped high temperature superconducting superlattices grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition have been investigated. Starting from the optimally doped CBCCO-2x2 superlattice, having three CuO_2 planes and T_c around 80 K, we have systematically increased the number n up to 15 moving toward the underdoped region and hence decreasing T_c. For n>11 the artificial structures are no longer superconducting, as expected, for a uniformly distributed charge carriers density inside the conducting block layer. The sheet resistance of such artificial structures (n nearly equal to 11) turns out to be quite temperature independent and close to the 2D quantum resistance 26 kOhm. A further increase of the number of CuO_2 planes results in an insulator-type dependence of R(T) in the wide range of temperatures from room temperature to 1 K. The value of the sheet resistance separating the Superconducting and the Insulating regimes supports the fermionic scenario of the Superconductor-Insulator transition in these systems.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Corresponding author: [email protected]