Macroevolutionary patterns in cranial and lower jaw shape of ceratopsian dinosaurs (dinosauria, ornithischia). phylogeny, morphological integration, and evolutionary rates

Organisms: Ceratopsians were herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs, ranging from 1 m to 9 m in body length, usually four-footed, and with a bony frill that extended backwards from the cranium over the nape of the neck. Known from Asia, Europe, and North America, they appeared in the Late Jurassic and persisted until the end of the Late Cretaceous. Questions: Which evolutionary processes drive the phenotypic evolution of skulls and lower jaws within Ceratopsia? What is the degree of morphological integration between the skull and lower jaw, and between the snout and frill among clades? Finally, are there any morphological evolution rate shifts across the ceratopsian phylogeny? Data: Photographs from 121 ceratopsian skulls and 122 lower jaws in lateral view, both from original photos and published pictures. Fifty-five ceratopsian species are represented in the sample. Methods: We investigated cranial and lower jaw shape changes across ceratopsians applying two-dimensional geometric morphometrics. We also investigated the morphological variation of the snout and the frill. Using phylogenetic generalized least squares regression, we estimated the degree of phylogenetic signal in size and shape data, as well as in the shape-size relationship. We performed phenotypic evolutionary rate analysis on shape data to describe phenotypic shifts across the phylogeny. Using a rarefied version of Escoufier's RV coefficient, we tested morphological integration between skulls and lower jaws, and between snouts and frills. Finally, we explored the potential link between cranial and frill shape evolution in ceratopsians and the radiation of angiosperms using a linear regression model. Results: Skull, snout, and frill shapes differ among clades (with the exception of leptoceratopsids and protoceratopsids). Lower jaws show distinct morphologies among groups. Size and shape changes are phylogenetically structured. The frill drives the morphological variation of the skull, co-varying much more with the lower jaw than with the snout. The frill appears to evolve to co-vary better with the lower jaw in the more morphologically derived clades than in basal ones. A significant linear relationship does exist between cranial shape and angiosperm occurrences, suggesting the hypothesis that the frill evolved in response to changes in dietary compositions associated with the turnover between gymnosperms and angiosperms during the Cretaceous. Significant negative shifts in evolutionary rates characterize skull, snout, frill, and lower jaw shapes, corresponding to nodes where psittacosaurids diverge from other taxa. In contrast, a significant positive shift in skull and snout shape rate of evolution characterizes the clade Ceratopsoidea. Conclusion: The frill is the main driving force in the overall cranial shape within Ceratopsia and evolved secondarily to better co-vary with the lower jaw to produce a more efficient masticatory apparatus. The changes in frill shape are correlated with the angiosperm diversification that occurred in the Cretaceous and thus correlated with changes in diet. Ceratopsians exhibit a slowdown in the phenotypic evolutionary rate in the Early Cretaceous and an acceleration of the phenotypic rate in the Late Cretaceous

Applying acceptance requirements to requirements modeling tools via gamification: a case study on privacy and security.

Requirements elicitation, analysis and modeling are critical activities for software success. However, software systems are increasingly complex, harder to develop due to an ever-growing number of requirements from numerous and heterogeneous stakeholders, concerning dozens of requirements types, from functional to qualitative, including adaptation, security and privacy, ethical, acceptance and more. In such settings, requirements engineers need support concerning such increasingly complex activities, and Requirements Engineering (RE) modeling tools have been developed for this. However, such tools, although effective, are complex, time-consuming and requiring steep learning curves. The consequent lack of acceptance and abandonment in using such tools, by engineers, paves the way to the application of RE techniques in a more error-prone, low-quality way, increasing the possibility to have failures in software systems delivered. In this paper, we identify main areas of lack of acceptance, affecting RE engineers, for such tools, and propose an approach for making modeling tools more effective in engaging the engineer in performing RE in a tool-based way, receiving adequate feedback and staying motivated to use modeling tools. This is accomplished by performing acceptance requirements analysis (through the Agon Framework) and using gamification to increase the engagement of engineers during the usage of RE modeling tools. Towards this end, we performed a case study, within the VisiOn European Project, for enhancing a tool for modeling privacy and security requirements. Our case study provides preliminary evidence that our approach supports in making RE modeling tools more engaging from the engineer perspective

Evaluating the Prediction Bias Induced by Label Imbalance in Multi-label Classification

Prediction bias is a well-known problem in classification algorithms, which tend to be skewed towards more represented classes. This phenomenon is even more remarkable in multi-label scenarios, where the number of underrepresented classes is usually larger. In light of this, we hereby present the Prediction Bias Coefficient (PBC), a novel measure that aims to assess the bias induced by label imbalance in multi-label classification. The approach leverages Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between the label frequencies and the F-scores obtained for each label individually. After describing the theoretical properties of the proposed indicator, we illustrate its behaviour on a classification task performed with state-of-the-art methods on two real-world datasets, and we compare it experimentally with other metrics described in the literature

Cerebellar structural variations in subjects with different hypnotizability

Hypnotizability-the proneness to accept suggestions and behave accordingly-has a number of physiological and behavioral correlates (postural, visuomotor, and pain control) which suggest a possible involvement of cerebellar function and/or structure. The present study was aimed at investigating the association between cerebellar macro- or micro-structural variations (analyzed through a voxel-based morphometry and a diffusion tensor imaging approach) and hypnotic susceptibility. We also estimated morphometric variations of cerebral gray matter structures, to support current evidence of hypnotizability-related differences in some cerebral areas. High (highs, N = 12), and low (lows, N = 37) hypnotizable healthy participants (according to the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, form A) were submitted to a high field (3 T) magnetic resonance imaging protocol. In comparison to lows, highs showed smaller gray matter volumes in left cerebellar lobules IV/V and VI at uncorrected level, with the results in left lobule IV/V maintained also at corrected level. Highs showed also gray matter volumes smaller than lows in right inferior temporal gyrus, middle and superior orbitofrontal cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, and supramarginal parietal gyrus, as well as in left gyrus rectus, insula, and middle temporal cortex at uncorrected level. Results of right inferior temporal gyrus survived also at corrected level. Analyses on micro-structural data failed to reveal any significant association. The here found morphological variations allow to extend the traditional cortico-centric view of hypnotizability to the cerebellar regions, suggesting that cerebellar peculiarities may sustain hypnotizability-related differences in sensorimotor integration and emotional contro

Il gioco della logica tra uso del linguaggio e costruzione della scienza.

E tanto più intendo tanto più ignoro, motto di Tommaso Campanella, può servire a spiegare, bene, le virgolette messe attorno alla parola: gioco, ed il suo carattere, ambiguo e contraddittorio, essendo tutto ciò vero tanto nello uso del linguaggio, quanto nella costruzione della scienza. Quanto segue si dipana in alcuni meandri della filosofia analitica, a partire dal positivismo logico, dove molto forte è l’accanirsi contro la metafisica. A riguardo, avendo presente l’uso rinnovato del termine, fatto da giovani filosofi contemporanei, corre il dovere di precisare la sua validità, se significa andare oltre le cose fisiche, con le assunzioni necessarie per pensare e fare scienza. Al contrario, validissimo è il rigetto della metafisica, quando questa voglia dire, come nella tradizione della storia del pensiero, rifarsi a principi primi indiscutibili ed assoluti. Rudolf Carnap e Karl Raimund Popper sono i maggiori esponenti delle scuole filosofiche, prese in esame. La trattazione collega linguaggio e costruzione della scienza, perché una concezione moderna descrive la scienza come un linguaggio, capace di leggere la realtà fisica, dove la complessità della analisi cresce al crescere della complessità della modellazione adottata. Infatti oltre a muoversi liberamente nello spazio, parametrizzato con righe, colonne e pile, è spesso necessario muoversi congiuntamente nel tempo e/o nel cosiddetto spazio delle scale, entrambi parametrizzati con pioli e montanti, a seconda che si permanga ad un dato livello, oppure si passi da un livello ad un altro. Da altra parte, un esempio musicale dà il segno della complessità: le cinque note pentatoniche (la si do re mi fa sol) permettono 720 permutazioni, mentre le dodici note (mettendo insieme i tasti bianchi e neri del pianoforte) permettono 479.001.600 permutazioni e, anche limitandosi alle ventiquattro scale armoniche, maggiori e minori (sulle sette note del clavicembalo ben temperato), il numero di permutazioni è 120.960. In questo contesto, il superamento della empiria fa passare dalla capacità di verificazione alla sola possibilità di falsificazione, dove è possibile dire quello che è errato, ma non è possibile certificare quello che è esatto. Infatti la verità è sempre provvisoria e precaria, valida fino ad una possibile smentita, più o meno prossima, e le costruzioni tecniche, sociali, economiche e politiche sono, sempre e solo, governate dal dubbio ed altrettanto precarie e provvisorie. Infine con un salto notevole di contenuto, ma affatto estraneo alla vita ed alle concezioni dei pensatori (qui già citati e/o citati nel seguito), è davvero difficile, soprattutto in questi tempi così tanto travagliati, separare il parlare alto di ricerca scientifica e tecnologica, nonché di storia della scienza e della tecnica, e di epistemologia, dai casi della vita quotidiana, vari e diversi. Di fronte a tutti questi è davvero difficile scegliere la strada migliore, in ogni caso, ben sapendo come occorra, sempre ed ovunque, il coraggio e lo impegno e talvolta anche la ribellione

Retiolites angustidens Elles & Wood, 1908 (Graptholitina) from the Silurian of Mt. Cocco (Carnic Alps, Italy)

Retiolites angustidens, trovato in un blocco isolato di calcare a Orthoceras nell’area di Monte Cocco in associazione con Monograptus cf. priodon, viene qui descritto e figugurato per la prima volta nelle Alpi Carniche: in precedenza la sua presenza, infatti, era stata segnalata, ma mai documentata. Dato che tutti i graptoliti rinvenuti hanno un limitato valore stratigrafico, l’età precisa dell’associazione studiata è attribuita alla Biozona a Pterospathodus am. amorphognathoides (Llandovery sup.) in base ai conodonti.Retiolites angustidens is described and figured for the first time from the Carnic Alps, from a loose block collected from Mt. Cocco area. ! e association includes also Monograptus cf. priodon: this species, in fact, was previously reported, but never documented, from this area. Since all the graptolites found have a limited stratigraphic value, the precise age of the studied association is determined by conodonts as belonging to the latest Llandovery (Pterospathodus am. amorphognathoides conodont Zone)

Influence of APOE and RNF219 on Behavioral and Cognitive Features of Female Patients Affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's Disease.

The risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with the presence of the ?4 allele of Apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene and, recently, with a novel genetic variant of the RNF219 gene. This study aimed at evaluating interactions between APOE-?4 and RNF219/G variants in the modulation of behavioral and cognitive features of two cohorts of patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD. We enrolled a total of 173 female MCI or AD patients (83 MCI; 90 AD). Subjects were screened with a comprehensive set of neuropsychological evaluations and genotyped for the APOE and RNF219 polymorphic variants. Analysis of covariance was performed to assess the main and interaction effects of APOE and RNF219 genotypes on the cognitive and behavioral scores. The analysis revealed that the simultaneous presence of APOE-?4 and RNF219/G variants results in significant effects on specific neuropsychiatric scores in MCI and AD patients. In MCI patients, RNF219 and APOE variants worked together to impact the levels of anxiety negatively. Similarly, in AD patients, the RNF219 variants were found to be associated with increased anxiety levels. Our data indicate a novel synergistic activity APOE and RNF219 in the modulation of behavioral traits of female MCI and AD patients

ANALYST RELUCTANCE IN CONVEYING NEGATIVE INFORMATION TO THE MARKET

This paper investigates one of the main sources of financial markets’ public information: financial analysts’ reports. We analyze reports on S&P 500 index through a multidisciplinary approach integrating behavioral finance with linguistic analysis to understand how financial phenomena reflect in or are deviated by language, i.e. whether financial and linguistic trends follow the same patterns, boosting each other, or diverge. In the latter, language could conceal financial events, mitigating analysts’ feelings and misleading investors. Therefore, we attempt to identify behavioral biases (mainly represented by cognitive dissonances) present in analysts’ reports. In doing so, we try to understand whether analysts try to hide perception of negative price-sensitive events or not, eventually anticipating and controlling the market “mood”. The study focuses on how analysts use linguistic strategies in order to minimize their risk of issuing wrong advice. Our preliminary results show reluctance to incorporate negative information in the reports. A slight asymmetry between the use of positive/negative keywords taken into account and the negative/positive trends of the index seems to emerge. In those weeks characterized by the index poor performances, the frequency of keywords with a negative meaning is lower. On the contrary, in the recovering weeks a higher use of keywords with a positive meaning does not clearly appear. A thorough investigation on the market moods, and the analysis of the text of the reports enable us to assess if and to what extent analysts have been willing to mitigate pessimism or emphasize confidence. Furthermore, we contribute to the existing literature also proposing a possible analysts’ value function based on the Prospect Theory [Kahneman and Tversky, 1979] where analysts try to maximize the value deriving from enhancing their reputation, taking into account the risks that may cause a reputational loss. This theoretical framework supports our preliminary findings and supports the idea that analysts are risk-averse when facing reputational gains and risk-seeking in case of potential reputational losses

Vulnerability assessment of concrete bridges using different methods of visual inspection

This paper shows the comparisons between different methods of visual inspection used in European Countries. These methodologies are applied to the deck bridge located near Cagliari, along the SS 195 road to Capoterra. From a strategic point of view, this structure plays a key role ensuring a direct connection to different structures related to industrial and local productions and to an important touristic district. This is a prestressed concrete bridge in an aggressive marine environment, which in October 2008 was hit by a flood that caused subsidence in the foundations. The aim of our inspection is to obtain a real measure of the vulnerability through different procedures and to determine which is the best method able to give objective results