New systematic insights about plio-pleistocene moles from poland

The generic attribution of the Plio-Pleistocene Polish moles ?Neurotrichus polonicus and ?Neurotrichus skoczeni has been questioned several times in the past. The fossil material belonging to ?Neurotrichus polonicus and ?Neurotrichus skoczeni is re-evaluated here and a new diagnosis is provided on the basis of qualitative considerations. In addition, a Geometric Morphometric analysis of the humerus has been performed including both extant and extinct Neurotrichini and Urotrichini taxa for comparison. Our results proved the unique morphology of the Polish material suggesting a distinct taxonomic state. The morphological variations evidenced by the humeral shape analysis agree with the observed qualitative differences and support a new generic allocation. The new genus Rzebikia gen. nov. is proposed for all the material previoulsly ascribed to ?Neurotrichus polonicus and ?Neurotrichus skoczeni

Males resemble females. re-evaluating sexual dimorphism in protoceratops andrewsi (neoceratopsia, protoceratopsidae)

BACKGROUND: Protoceratops andrewsi (Neoceratopsia, Protoceratopsidae) is a well-known dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Some previous workers hypothesized sexual dimorphism in the cranial shape of this taxon, using qualitative and quantitative observations. In particular, width and height of the frill as well as the development of a nasal horn have been hypothesized as potentially sexually dimorphic. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we reassess potential sexual dimorphism in skulls of Protoceratops andrewsi by applying two-dimensional geometric morphometrics to 29 skulls in lateral and dorsal views. Principal Component Analyses and nonparametric MANOVAs recover no clear separation between hypothetical "males" and "females" within the overall morphospace. Males and females thus possess similar overall cranial morphologies. No differences in size between "males" and "females" are recovered using nonparametric ANOVAs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Sexual dimorphism within Protoceratops andrewsi is not strongly supported by our results, as previously proposed by several authors. Anatomical traits such as height and width of the frill, and skull size thus may not be sexually dimorphic. Based on PCA for a data set focusing on the rostrum and associated ANOVA results, nasal horn height is the only feature with potential dimorphism. As a whole, most purported dimorphic variation is probably primarily the result of ontogenetic cranial shape changes as well as intraspecific cranial variation independent of sex

La Capra sarda: 3.: le caratteristiche dell'allevamento

In this third paper, the Authors report on the results of a study concerning the Sardinian goat; they have surveyed the demographic (geographic distribution, size and composition of herds), technical (management sistems, reproductive techniques and feeding) and economical (gross scalable production, net production and nel income) characteristics. These results were obtained with herds from 3 tipical Sardinian areas (Italy)

La Capra sarda: 2.: i caratteri riproduttivi e produttivi

In this second paper, the Authors report on the results of a study concerning the reproductive and productive characters of the Sardinian goat (Italy); they have surveyed the reproducibility (fecondity, prolificity, fertility, mortality and survival), the milk production (lactation and daily yield, lactation lenght, fat and protein content) and meat production (birth and slaughter weight, daily gain and carcass yield). These results were obtained with goats from 9 herds of 3 different Sardinian areas

La Capra sarda: 1.: i caratteri morfologici

In this first paper, the Authors illustrate the importance of the goat breeding in Sardinia (Italy) and report on the results of a study concerning the morphological characters of the Sardinian goat; they surveyed 19 somatic measurements, 7 body indexes, the live weight, the udder type and other secondary characters. These resu1ts were obtained with males and females aged 3,5 and more, 2,5 and 1,5 years. The goats were from 90 typical herds of 15 different Sardinian areas; by hierarchical analysis of variance, the Authors identified 3 sub-populations in the whole Sardinian goat population

Goal models for acceptance requirements analysis and gamification design

The success of software systems highly depends on user engagement. Thus, to deliver engaging systems, software has to be designed carefully taking into account Acceptance Requirements, such as “70% of users will use the system”, and the psychological factors that could influence users to use the system. Analysis can then consider mechanisms that affect these factors, such as Gamification (making a game out of system use), advertising, incentives and more. We propose a Systematic Acceptance Requirements Analysis Framework based on Gamification for supporting the requirements engineer in analyzing and designing engaging software systems. Our framework, named Agon, encompasses both a methodology and a meta-model capturing acceptance and gamification knowledge. In this paper, we describe the Agon Meta-Model and provide examples from the gamification of a decision-making platform in the context of a European Project

Acceptance requirements and their gamification solutions.

We live in the days of social software where social interactions, from simple notifications to complex business processes, are supported by software platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. But for any social software to be successful, it must be used by a sizeable portion of its intended user community. Usage requirements are usually referred to as Acceptance Requirements and they have been studied in the literature both for general technology as well as software. Operationalization techniques for such requirements often consist of making a game out of software usage where users are rewarded/penalized depending on the degree of their participation. The game may be competitive or non-competitive, depending on the anticipated personality traits of intended users. Making a game out of usage is often referred to as Gamification, and gamification has attracted huge attention in the literature for the past few years because it offers a novel approach to software technology usage. This paper proposes a generic framework for designing gamified solutions for acceptance requirements. The framework consists of a generic acceptance goal model that characterizes the problem space by capturing possible refinements for acceptance requirements, and a generic gamification model that captures possible gamified operationalizations of acceptance requirements. These models have been extracted from the literature and they are highly dependent on context (cognitive and social) elements of the intended user community. The proposed framework is illustrated with the Meeting Scheduler exemplar

Indagini termografiche, trasformazioni architettoniche e degrado dei materiali nelle chiese del centro storico di Siliqua (Sardegna S-W)

La termografia a raggi infrarossi, come noto, consente l’analisi strutturale di manufatti edilizi sulla base dell’individuazione di zone a differente temperatura e di possibili processi di scambio termico in stretta relazione con la risposta dei materiali utilizzati alle sollecitazioni termiche a cui sono interessati. Le immagini termiche, soprattutto se acquisite mediante strumentazione caratterizzata da elevata risoluzione e sensibilità, consentono di mettere in evidenza, oltre alla presenza di anomalie legate a processi di alterazione e degradazione dei materiali utilizzati, eventuali trasformazioni architettoniche avvenute nella storia del manufatto e, in particolare, caratteri costruttivi originari nascosti da interventi posteriori. Sulla base di questi presupposti, vengono esposti i risultati di una indagine applicata per lo studio di alcuni tra gli edifici storico-religiosi presenti nel paese di Siliqua (Sardegna sud-occidentale): la Chiesa di San Giorgio, la Chiesa di Sant’Anna e la Chiesa di Santa Margherita. La ricerca, in particolare, ha consentito di mettere in evidenza la struttura e la tessitura muraria dei prospetti principali, oggi coperta dall’intonaco e, sulla base di documenti storici e delle immagini fotografiche del passato, tarare la risposta termica acquisita in base alle specifiche caratteristiche dei materiali utilizzati. Lo studio è stato condotto mediante l’utilizzo della Termocamera IR Thermo Tracer TH9260 (NEC Avio Infrared Technologies Co., Ltd).Infrared thermography, as known, allows the analysis of structural building elements on the basis of the identification of areas at different temperatures and possible heat transfer processes in close relationship with the response of the materials used to thermal stresses to which they are interested. The thermal images, especially if acquired through instrumentation characterized by high resolution and sensitivity, allow to put in evidence, in addition to the presence of anomalies associated with processes of alteration and degradation of the materials used, any architectural transformations occurred in the history of the article and, in particular, original characters constructive hidden by later interventions. Based on these assumptions, the thermographic method has been applied to the study of some of the historical and religious buildings in the country of Siliqua (south-western Sardinia): the Church of San Giorgio, the Church of Sant’Anna and the Church of Santa Margherita. The research, in particular, has made it possible to highlight the structure and texture of the main elevations of walls, now covered by plaster, and, on the basis of historical documents and photographs of the past, adjust the thermal response acquired with the specific materials used. The study has been carried through non-destructive telemetry investigations through the use of Thermal Imaging Camera IR Thermo Tracer TH9260 (NEC Avio Infrared Technologies Co., Ltd)

The co-production of a workplace health promotion program: expected benefits, contested boundaries

Workplace health promotion (WHP) are often depicted as an opportunity for pursuing a better and broader well-being condition under the assumption that working environments affect the physical, mental, and social well-being of individuals who spend large proportion of waking hours at work. While most empirical studies provided medical evidence to the effectiveness of WHP programs, scholars question the instrumental purposes of these programs founded on the belief that “healthy workers are better workers”. Little is known, for instance, about the design of WHP programs and their acceptance by workers. Our study addresses this gap, analyzing the co-production of a WHP program in an Italian research institute promoted by the healthcare authority, the local government and the national center for prevention and security in the workplaces. To this aim, we adopt the notion of boundary object investigate how different stakeholders reclaim to take part and being involved in this process, re-shaping their goals and their boundaries and why a WHP program or parts of it may be rejected or re-negotiated by its recipients. Our analysis reveals how each stakeholder contributes to re-shape the WHP program which emerges as the modular product of the composition of each matter of concern. Most notably, the strong rooting in a clinical perspective and the original focus on only workers at risk is gradually flanked by initiatives to involve all employees. Moreover, workers draw a line as for the legitimacy of employers’ intervention in the personal sphere of health promotion, embracing interventions addressing diet and physical activity while rejecting measures targeting smoking and alcohol consumption