Infants in a colony of captive Chimpanzees: Social enrichment?

Social enrichment refers broadly to the social lives of chimpanzees as social interactions with other chimpanzees. Optimizing the management of social behavior is essential to maintaining a breeding population of chimpanzees that retain their behavioral competence over generations. This study aims to underline whether and how newborns could be considered a social environmental enrichment for a colony of captive chimpanzees hosed at Parco Natura Viva, by comparing interactions between the different members of the colony and two young females: a 2-month-old infant, fully dependent on the care of her mother, and a 4-year-old infant, completely weaned. Results highlight that the 2-month-old infant receives attentions significantly more from the mother and the grandmother than from the remaining subjects. On the contrary, the 4-year-old infant receives more interactions from the rest of the group rather than from her mother. Moreover, the grandmother of the 2-month-old infant acts as an allomother. In conclusion, an infant may represent a social enrichment for a group of chimpanzees, since it stimulates social relationships among individuals, especially when the strong mother-infant bond becomes less exclusive

Nuova stazione di Utricularia sp. (Lentibulariaceae) per il Modenese

The presence of Utricularia sp. was observed in a pond during a survey in some small water bodies in the Modena Apennines (Italy). This ecosystem was sampled and observed in order to apply the IBEM index, which allows judging the quality of these habitats on the basis of their biodiversity. A specific taxonomic determination was not possible because of the lack of the flower on the individuals; nevertheless, some features led to U. australis. However, it was decided to report the new finding since all species of the genus Utricularia have become quite rare in Italy

Novel asleep techniques for intraoperative assessment of brain connectivity

[no abstract available

The treatment of anthropathies with cortisone

No Abstrac

How does the land market capitalize environmental, historical and cultural components in rural areas? Evidences from Italy

Farmland can supply a wide variety of ecosystem services, i.e. provision of food and fibre, as well as regulating, supporting, recreational, aesthetic and cultural services. In addition, farmland can be characterized by the presence of anthropic elements, i.e. archaeological sites and historical rural buildings, from which the community can obtain further non-material benefits, namely cultural heritage values, recreation and tourism, etc. However, all these services and land components can be strongly influenced by different levels of farming intensity, a condition that can damage their capacity to supply the related functions (public goods). Such land-market failures could be adjusted by acquiring information on how the above non-farming characteristics, i.e. environmental, historical and cultural determinants, are capitalized in farmland value when farming intensity varies. To this aim, a real estate survey was carried out in Italy in order to investigate the land market of traded farms cultivated under specific crops and located in two areas with different levels of farming intensity. The analysis considered farming and non-farming determinants of selling price and used a hedonic model method based on the ordinary least squares regression corrected for spatial autocorrelation. The results highlighted that the farming determinants were capitalized in selling price as expected in both areas, while the impacts of the non-farming characteristics were extremely diversified between the areas. In the extensively farmed area, the environmental, historical and cultural determinants tended to be positively capitalized, thus favouring their preservation. However, in the intensively farmed area, these were positively or negatively capitalized according to whether or not their overexploitation could allow increased yields, respectively. In yet other cases, some non-farming determinants were not capitalized at all in either area. These trends provided useful insights for the design of ad hoc market-based schemes able to enhance land market functioning and the maintenance of these components in agricultural areas with different levels of farming intensity

Indagine multidisciplinare sul codice “It. 1005 =α.R.9.24 – Raccolta di animali per lo più volatili miniati” della Biblioteca Estense Universitaria di Modena

This paper presents the results of multidisciplinary research carried out on the code “It.1005 = α.R.9.24 – Collection of illuminated animals mostly birds”, kept in the Estense Library of Modena (Italy). The study addressed both the codicological and the scientific aspects, with the identification of the animal species represented and the analysis of the pigments and materials used

Shortcut to adiabaticity in spinor condensates

We devise a method to shortcut the adiabatic evolution of a spin-1 Bose gas with an external magnetic field as the control parameter. An initial many-body state with almost all bosons populating the Zeeman sublevel $m=0$, is evolved to a final state very close to a macroscopic spin-singlet condensate, a fragmented state with three macroscopically occupied Zeeman states. The shortcut protocol, obtained by an approximate mapping to a harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian, is compared to linear and exponential variations of the control parameter. We find a dramatic speedup of the dynamics when using the shortcut protocol.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Invasive alien species of European Union concern: the use of a faunistic database for the knowledge and future management at a local scale

A research group of the Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, with the contribution of the Province of Modena and the Emilia-Romagna Region, implemented a faunistic database named Darwin. The database gathers information chiefly on the vertebrate fauna of the province of Modena (Northern Italy). To date, over 20,000 historical and recent records have been collected, regarding 535 vertebrate species and 7 invertebrates (Bivalvia and Crustacea) of high managing interest. Darwin allows to register the modification of the local fauna, with regards to the most problematic taxa and especially to the allochthonous species, which are mainly organisms living in the lowlands that became invasive at different levels. Some of these assumed the role of key species in a variety of ecosystems (e.g., Pseudorasbora parva), some threaten certain autochthonous species already at risk (e.g., Trachemys scripta and Procambarus clarkii), others give rise to economic issues (e.g., Myocastor coypus), whilst the remaining ones have progressively lost their invasivity, becoming rare or sporadic (e.g., Ameiurus melas and Lepomis gibbosus). The database represents a strongly effective tool for the basic knowledge functional to the actions deriving from the European Regulation 2014/1143, regarding the recent “List of invasive alien species of Union concern” (EU 2016/1141). Overall, Darwin collects information on the local distribution of 32 invasive allochthonous species, 7 of which of Union concern, namely: Lithobates catesbeianus, Myocastor coypus, Procambarus clarkii, Pseudorasbora parva, Trachemys scripta, Threskiornis aethiopicus, and Oxyura jamaicensis. The first four species are established within the province, while T. scripta is diffused but not definitively confirmed as breeding, T. aethiopicus is present but not breeding, and O. jamaicensis is observed only occasionally. Thanks to the database the autochthonous species of EU interest comprised in the national IUCN Red list and their competitors could be brought into focus. For instance, we revealed the presence of merely 8 local populations of Emys orbicularis, threatened by the wide distribution of T. scripta, which is reported from over 20 sites within Modena’s territory. Furthermore, we found Austropotamobius pallipes at 122 mid-elevation sites (100-1100 m a.s.l.), whilst its direct competitor P. clarkii, currently expanding to the foothills, was recorded from 101 locations from 10 to 100 m a.s.l. These preliminary results highlight the necessity of control plans towards the two alien species, which could be developed on the basis of the already available distribution patterns. Our research group aims at the constant implementation of the database by adding information from ongoing and forthcoming studies on species of major interest. The existing data, presently used in various control plans, will pave the way to more specific investigations on the invasive alien fauna and increase the effectiveness of future managing actions

Long-term physical training and left ventricular remodelling after anterior myocardial infraction: Results of the excercise in anterior myocardial infraction (EAMI) trial

AbstractObjectives. The aim of this multicenter randomized study was to investigate whether long-term physical training would influence left ventricular remodeling after anterior myocardial infarction.Background. Exercise is currently recommended for patients after myocardial infarction; however, the effects of long-term physical training on ventricular size and remodeling still have to be defined.Methods. Patients with no contraindications to exercise were studied 4 to 8 weeks after anterior Q wave myocardial infarction and 6 months later by echocardiography at rest and bicycle ergometric testing. After the initial study, patients were randomly allocated to a 6-month exercise training program (n = 49) or a control group (n = 46). A computerized system was used to derive echocardiographic variables of ventricular size, function and topography.Results. After 6 mongths, a significant (p < 0.01) increase in work capacity (from 4,596 ± 1,246 to 5,508 ± 1,335 kp-m) was observed only in the training group, whereas global ventricular size, regional dilation and shape distortion did not change in either the control or the training group. However, compared with patients with an ejection fraction >40%, patients with an ejection fraction ≤ 40% had more significant (p < 0.001) ventricular enlargement at entry and demonstrated further (p < 0.01) global and regional dilation after 6 months, in both the control and the training, group (end-diastolic volume from 77 ± 14 to 85 ± 17 ml/m2in the control group and from 74 ± 11 to 77 ± 15 ml/m2in the training group; regional dilation from 46 ± 18% to 57 ± 21% in the control group and from 42 ± 18% to 44 ± 26% in the training group). Ventricular size and topography did not change in patients with an ejection fraction >40%.Conclusions. Patients with poor left ventricular function 1 to 2 months after anterior myocardial infarction are prone to further global and regional dilation. Exercise training does not appear to influence this spontaneous deterioration. Thus, postinfarction patients without clinical complications, even those with a large anterior infarction, may benefit from long-term physical training without any additional negative effect on ventricular size and topography

Feasibility of cerebello-cortical stimulation for intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring of cerebellar mutism

BACKGROUND: Cerebellar mutism can occur in a third of children undergoing cerebellar resections. Recent evidence proposes it may arise from uni- or bilateral damage of cerebellar efferents to the cortex along the cerebello-dento-thalamo-cortical pathway. At present, no neurophysiological procedure is available to monitor this pathway intraoperatively. Here, we specifically aimed at filling this gap.METHODS: We assessed 10 patients undergoing posterior fossa surgery using a conditioning-test stimulus paradigm. Electrical conditioning stimuli (cStim) were delivered to the exposed cerebellar cortex at interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 8-24 ms prior to transcranial electric stimulation of the motor cortex, which served as test stimulus (tStim). The variation of motor-evoked potentials (MEP) to cStim + tStim compared with tStim alone was taken as a measure of cerebello-cortical connectivity.RESULTS: cStim alone did not produce any MEP. cStim preceding tStim produced a significant inhibition at 8 ms (p &lt; 0.0001) compared with other ISIs when applied to the lobules IV-V-VI in the anterior cerebellum and the lobule VIIB in the posterior cerebellum. Mixed effects of decrease and increase in MEP amplitude were observed in these areas for longer ISIs.CONCLUSIONS: The inhibition exerted by cStim at 8 ms on the motor cortex excitability is likely to be the product of activity along the cerebello-dento-thalamo-cortical pathway. We show that monitoring efferent cerebellar pathways to the motor cortex is feasible in intraoperative settings. This study has promising implications for pediatric posterior fossa surgery with the aim to preserve the cerebello-cortical pathways and thus prevent cerebellar mutism