Transnational strategy on the sustainable management and responsible use of non-native trees in the Alpine Space

Abstract Non-native tree species – defined as those species intentionally or unintentionally introduced by humans – have long been a part of the Alpine Space, providing numerous benefits, but also posing a potential threat to native biodiversity and related ecosystem services. Compared to the urban space where non-native trees comprise most tree species, the number of non-native trees in forests and plantations is relatively low. To evaluate potential risks and benefits of non-native trees in the Alpine Space, a transnational strategy for the responsible use and management of non-native trees is needed. The goals of the strategy are to tailor management practices for a sustainable and responsible use or admixture of non-native trees, to reduce the risks connected with the invasive potential of some non-native tree species, to help forests and urban areas to adapt to climate change, and to improve coordination and cooperation regarding best practices between different regions of the Alpine Space. A proposal was developed in a four-step process including expert-based assessment, stakeholder mapping, an extensive data review, and a public consultation. For implementing the strategy fully, strong collaboration among diverse stakeholders is anticipated and robust governance and an adequate long-term and fair funding scheme is needed

Quantum walks: a comprehensive review

Quantum walks, the quantum mechanical counterpart of classical random walks, is an advanced tool for building quantum algorithms that has been recently shown to constitute a universal model of quantum computation. Quantum walks is now a solid field of research of quantum computation full of exciting open problems for physicists, computer scientists, mathematicians and engineers. In this paper we review theoretical advances on the foundations of both discrete- and continuous-time quantum walks, together with the role that randomness plays in quantum walks, the connections between the mathematical models of coined discrete quantum walks and continuous quantum walks, the quantumness of quantum walks, a summary of papers published on discrete quantum walks and entanglement as well as a succinct review of experimental proposals and realizations of discrete-time quantum walks. Furthermore, we have reviewed several algorithms based on both discrete- and continuous-time quantum walks as well as a most important result: the computational universality of both continuous- and discrete- time quantum walks.Comment: Paper accepted for publication in Quantum Information Processing Journa

Transnational strategy on the sustainable management and responsible use of non-native trees in the Alpine Space

Non-native tree species – defined as those species intentionally or unintentionally introduced by humans – have longbeen a part of the Alpine Space, providing numerous benefits, but also posing a potential threat to native biodiversityand related ecosystem services. Compared to the urban space where non-native trees comprise most tree species,the number of non-native trees in forests and plantations is relatively low. To evaluate potential risks and benefits ofnon-native trees in the Alpine Space, a transnational strategy for the responsible use and management of non-nativetrees is needed. The goals of the strategy are to tailor management practices for a sustainable and responsible useor admixture of non-native trees, to reduce the risks connected with the invasive potential of some non-native treespecies, to help forests and urban areas to adapt to climate change, and to improve coordination and cooperationregarding best practices between different regions of the Alpine Space. A proposal was developed in a four-stepprocess including expert-based assessment, stakeholder mapping, an extensive data review, and a public consulta-tion. For implementing the strategy fully, strong collaboration among diverse stakeholders is anticipated and robustgovernance and an adequate long-term and fair funding scheme is needed

Effect of acidic fluoride solution on the corrosion resistance of ZrTi alloys for dental implant application

The electrochemical behavior of Zr5Ti, Zr25Ti, and Zr45Ti, with and without surface modification were monitored in acidic artificial saliva (pH = 3) containing NaF concentrations 0.2, 0.5, and 1 wt.%, simulating the fluoride concentrations in dental rinses. A passive behaviour for thermally oxidized ZrTi alloys was found using EIS, and XPS data show that the protective oxide film contains both TiO2 and ZrO2, though titanium contents in the outer layer bigger than those in the base alloy result from thermal oxidation. High corrosion resistance to acidic fluoridated environments of ZrTi alloys treated using thermal oxidation in air at 500 ºC

Release of SAP proteins into the extracellular medium.

<p>(A) Metacyclic trypomastigotes (CL strain) were incubated overnight in PBS at 28°C (1.0×10⁸ parasites/mL). After centrifugation, the conditioned medium (CM) was filtered and analyzed by western blot using MAb-SAP (diluted 1∶100). (B) Epimastigotes and metacyclic trypomastigotes (Dm28c) were incubated for 6 h at 28°C in DMEM or TAU3AAG (1.0×10⁸ parasites/mL), respectively. After centrifugation the conditioned medium was filtered and submitted to ultracentrifugation according to the protocol described by Bayer-Santos et al. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0083864#pone.0083864-BayerSantos1" target="_blank">[14]</a>. Vesicles and soluble-protein fractions (2 μg of protein from each fraction) were analyzed by western blot using MAb-SAP (diluted 1∶100) or a monoclonal antibody against the flagellar calcium-binding protein (FCaBP). The relative molecular masses (kDa) of the immunoreactive proteins are shown on the right. V2, fraction enriched in plasma membrane-derived vesicles/ectosomes; V16, fraction enriched in exosomes; and VF, vesicle-free fraction enriched in soluble proteins.</p

Tribological Behaviour of Orthopaedic Ti-13Nb-13Zr and Ti-6Al-4V Alloys

The aim of this study is to compare the tribological behaviour of novel orthopaedic implant alloy Ti-13Nb-13Zr with that of the standard Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy, available in four different microstructural conditions produced by variations in the heat treatments. The friction and wear tests were performed by using a block-on-disc tribometer in Ringer's solution at ambient temperature with a normal load of 20-60 N and sliding speed of 0.26-1.0 m/s. It was found that variations in microstructures produced significant variations in the wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy. The wear losses of materials solution treated (ST) above the beta transus temperature are significantly lower compared with those of materials ST in the (alpha + beta) phase field and are almost insensitive to applied load and sliding speed. Wear loss of the (alpha + beta) ST Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy continuously increased as applied load was increased and was highest at the highest sliding speed. The Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy in all microstructural conditions possesses a much better wear resistance than cold-rolled Ti-13Nb-13Zr alloy. Friction results and morphology of worn surfaces showed that the observed behaviour is attributed to the predominant wear damage mechanism