Does universality of free-fall apply to the motion of quantum probes?

Can quantum-mechanical particles propagating on a fixed spacetime background be approximated as test bodies satisfying the weak equivalence principle? We ultimately answer the question in the negative but find that, when universality of free-fall is assessed locally, a nontrivial agreement between quantum mechanics and the weak equivalence principle exists. Implications for mass sensing by quantum probes are discussed in some details

A Solar Pond for Feeding a Thermoelectric Generator or an Organic Rankine Cycle System

The world energy demand is continuously growing, which means an increase in consumption for all modern fuels or stronger effort on the development and improvement of renewable technologies. Moreover, Developing Countries claims more energy and they have often wide unutilized or unusable lands. The solar energy represents a useful opportunity for these Countries. The Solar Pond is both a solar collector and a thermal storage for long period and is suitable to use in wide sunny areas. Solar pond technology is able to supply heat for several applications requiring low-grade thermal energy or for electrical power production. In order to produce electrical energy from solar ponds it is necessary to use systems fed by low enthalpy sources, such Thermoelectric Generator (TEG) and Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). In this paper, a model of a Solar Pond for power generation is analyzed in conjunction with an Organic Rankine Cycle. The model has been validated using climate data of an area near to Palermo city (Italy) and exactly the Test Reference Year developed by the Authors

Urban landscape evolution as a consequence of an invasive pest: The case of a small sicilian town

The Red Palm Weevil (RPW), after its accidental introduction in Italy in 2005, determined a progressive disruption of Canary palms mostly in the central and southern regions. As it is difficult to undertake the management of this pest, the possibility of substituting the killed/symptomatic palms with other ornamental trees has been recently discussed. In this context, understanding the citizens' needs about green areas can improve the management of public parks and urban greening. Involving citizens on the natural resource management using public participation processes is crucial. The case study of a small town of Sicily (Italy) was treated and the spread of this pest was monitored. Moreover, the possibility of substituting the killed palms with other ornamentals was discussed by involving a sample of the population through a direct survey aimed at detecting the preferences in respect to certain tree species (as potential substitutes of the killed palms) listed in a questionnaire administered face-to-face. The citizen's samples showed great interest in the green areas (97%) and indicated a traditional Mediterranean plant as Nerium oleander as the preferred palm substitute candidate

Intraguild interactions between two egg parasitoids of a true bug in semi-field and field conditions

Research on interspecific competitive interactions among insect parasitoids has often been characterized by laboratory studies in which host insects are exposed to female parasitoids of different species in various sequences and combinations. In the last years, an increasing number of studies have investigated interspecific interactions under field and semi-field conditions although just a few number of works focused on egg parasitoids. In this work, we undertook a two-year study to investigate interspecific interactions between Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) and Ooencyrtus telenomicida (Vassiliev) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), two egg parasitoids of the pest Nezara viridula (L.) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) that co-occur in cultivated crops. Under semi-field (in out-door mesh cages) and field conditions, we investigated: 1) the seasonal occurrence of competing parasitoid species on sentinel egg masses; 2) the impact achieved by competing species on the shared host on naturally laid egg masses; 3) the outcome of intraguild interactions under controlled conditions. Results from sentinel egg masses showed that T. basalis occurs in May and successfully parasitizes hosts until the end of September/beginning of October, whereas O. telenomicida is mainly occurring in July-August. In both years, it was found that T. basalis is predominant. From naturally laid egg masses, results indicated that T. basalis achieves higher impact on the hosts, even in those egg masses which are parasitized by more than one female of different species ( = multiparasitism). Results from manipulating intraguild interactions showed that T. basalis achieves higher impact on N. viridula when released alone, but it suffers from competition with O. telenomicida. The ecological factors that play a role in intraguild interactions in the context of biological control perspective are discussed

Three-dimensional geometrical models of the inguinal region. Towards a new stereology

In this work we studied the inguinal-abdominal region and the inguinal canal using three-dimensional geometrical models. We built the models through computer aided geometric modeling techniques on the basis of observations during real dissections, operations and diagnostic medical imaging. The obtained models show in a complete modular synthesis and with a schematic iconology the structural organization of the anatomical districts in a logic sequence of layers and topographic and spatial relationships among its components. The models represent an amazing support to anatomy and clinical anatomy for teaching and research purposes on organogenesis, surgery and diagnosis