Systematics of the Mesalina guttulata species complex (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Arabia with the description of two new species

Mesalina are small diurnal lacertid lizards inhabiting arid areas from North Africa to northwestern India. Previous phylogenetic studies have shown the existence of several species complexes within the genus, some of them with high levels of undiscovered diversity. In the present study, we carry out an integrative systematic revision of the Mesalina guttulata species complex using both molecular and morphological data from across its entire distribution range in North Africa, the Middle East and Arabia. The results of the genetic analyses indicate that M. guttulata and M. bahaeldini are two allopatric sister taxa separated by the Suez Canal and that the species complex includes a further three unnamed deep phylogenetic lineages, two of them restricted to southern and southwestern Arabia and described herein as Mesalina austroarabica sp. nov. and Mesalina arnoldi sp. nov., respectively. As a result of the lack of enough material, the third deep lineage, distributed across Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, is provisionally left undescribed. The two newly described species are characterized by their size, scale counts and tail coloration, as well as differences at the three mitochondrial and one nuclear gene analyzed in the present study

Sul sindacato giudiziale delle operazioni con parti correlate

Nello scritto si affronta la questione legata ai limiti del sindacato giudiziale sulle operazioni con parti correlate. In particolare, è discusso se si applichi la c.d. business judgement rule, che implica un arretramento dello scrutinio giudiziale. Dopo aver evidenziato gli equivoci in cui sovente si incorre nell’impostazione del problema, viene esaminato il rapporto fra qualità delle procedure in tema di operazioni con parti correlate e intensità del controllo dei giudici e  si evidenzia il costo, in termini di indeterminatezza, della tesi che pone in rapporto di proporzionalità inversa qualità del processo e intensità del vaglio giudiziale. In alternativa si propone di subordinare l’applicazione della business judgement rule alla circostanza che le operazioni di maggiore rilevanza con soci correlati siano sottoposte all’assemblea con applicazione del meccanismo del c.d. whitewash, anche in presenza di parere favorevole degli amministratori indipendenti

Colour variation of the Maltese wall lizards (Podarcis filfolensis) at population and individual levels in the Linosa island

AbstractThe research on animal colouration has always been of great interest for biologists but since the last decades it has grown exponentially thanks to multidisciplinary approaches. Animals have found several ways to deal with the camouflage/communication trade-off in colouration, leading to the evolution of alternative patterns of variation of colourations at different levels including signal partitioning and spatial resolution of colouration. In this paper we analyse the variability of dorsal and ventral colouration in males and females of Maltese wall lizards in three populations on Linosa. We collected high-resolution digital images of dorsal, ventral and throat colouration from 61 lizards (32 males and 29 females). We showed that the colouration differs among sexes and body regions within the same individual. Colourations are also variable among individuals within population, as well as among different populations across the Island. Finally, we detected a lizard's colouration shifts with increasing body size. Those result supports the hypothesis that colouration in this species evolved under the competing pressures of natural and sexual selection to promote signals that are visible to conspecifics while being less perceptible to avian predators. Graphic abstrac

Development of a petroleum knowledge tutorial system for university and corporate training

The increasingly rapid development of the disciplines of petroleum engineering and petroleum geology has led to new methodologies and interpretation techniques forming new knowledge that should be offered quickly and efficiently to modern engineers and geologists. This need is equally important for students as well as for young professionals. Access and training to all scientific information is necessary to ensure success in their future careers. Today, e-learning has become a common medium for the management and distribution of on-line educational content. Learning Management Systems (LMSs) were not only developed to handle a large variety of multimedia content that provides an organized knowledge repository used to accelerate access to information and skill acquisition; but, LMSs can also keep detailed statistics on the use of the available material offering a powerful training and educational tool. In this document, the Petroleum Knowledge Tutorial System, an LMS platform offering a variety of online educational and training options to petroleum engineers and geologists, is presented. It was created using Moodle, open-source software that can be used to create on-line courses. The platform covers fundamental educational concepts in a structured way. It follows an optimized "workflow" that can be applied not only to solve a specific exercise but also any similar problem encountered over the course of one's career. The platform was designed to offer a repository of learning material in various forms and to favor user-platform interactions. It can be used for training and evaluation purposes through exercises and problem solving that the user can perform online by using browsing software along with internet access. Special tools were created and implemented on the platform to assist the user in completing a variety of tasks including performing exercises involving calculations with given data and plots of points or lines on graphs without leaving the learning environment. Furthermore, videos with detailed explanations follow each learning module and provide the full solution to every exercise. The LMS automatically keeps a large statistical database including the users' access to activities on the platform that can be exported and further processed to improve the platform functionality and evaluate the users' performance

SADDLE PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION IN CYCLING: COMPARISON AMONG SADDLES OF DIFFERENT DESIGN AND MATERIALS

This study compared saddle pressure distribution patterns in a group of experienced cyclists riding their own bicycle mounting different saddle models. Two traditional flat surface saddles incorporating different shock-absorbent materials in the perineal area and two innovative saddles with a hole in the perineal area were evaluated. The T-Scan system was utilised to measure the saddle pressure distribution. Each subject showed an individual pressure distribution pattern when using the same saddle. The use of the different saddles resulted in same significant changes in the saddle pressure amplitude and distribution pattern in all the subjects examined. In general, the flat surfaced saddles showed a more uniform pressure distribution with less pressure on the anterior part and more on the posterior part compared with the saddle with a perineal hole