Alarm guard systems for the prevention of damage produced by ungulates in a chestnut grove of Middle Italy

ArticleWildlife populations, in particular ungulates and carnivores, have had a significant increase in most Italian regions over the last decades and for this reason ecosystems and agricultural and forest productions are threatened by damage produced by wildlife. In order to evaluate effective met hodologies and technologies to mitigate the impact of this phenomenon, innovative protection systems, such as electronic acoustic alarm guard sensors, were tested. These devices are able to randomly produce a significant number of sounds and light projecti ons. At the same time, camera traps were used, as a support instrument to show the presence or absence of wild fauna. Video analysis has provided information on the effectiveness of security systems, on the most suitable methods of installation and managem ent of devices and their ecological impact. Experimental trials were carried out in a chestnut grove located in an Apennine area of the Middle Italy during the harvesting period (autumn). The results obtained have shown that these technologies seem to be particularly suitable for crops that concentrate production in a short time (e.g. vine and chestnut) and in areas not excessively large. Widespread use of devices could mitigate the conflict between public bodies involved in the management of wildlife and farmers

Logical Semiotics Analysis on the Uses of Color

Este artículo quiere mostrar cómo la semiótica peirceana –de base lógico-triádica– puede ser un aporte importante para zanjar un problema que históricamente no había sido resuelto. Fue necesario el Nonágono Semiótico –derivado de la conocida clasificación de los signos de Charles S. Peirce–, para poder describir sistemáticamente una práctica usual como el uso lógico del color que ya fuera planteado como algo necesario a ser definido por Johan Wolfgang von Goethe en el siglo XIX.This article intends to show how Peircean semiotics —based on triadic logic— could be an important contribution to settle a historically unsolved problem. The Semiotic Nonagon, derived from the well-known classification of signs by Charles S. Peirce, became essential to systematically describe a usual practice such as the logical use of color, which Johan Wolfgang von Goethe had already proposed as something necessary to be defined in the XIX century

Quantitative imaging techniques for the assessment of osteoporosis and sarcopenia

Bone and muscle are two deeply interconnected organs and a strong relationship between them exists in their development and maintenance. The peak of both bone and muscle mass is achieved in early adulthood, followed by a progressive decline after the age of 40. The increase in life expectancy in developed countries resulted in an increase of degenerative diseases affecting the musculoskeletal system. Osteoporosis and sarcopenia represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly population and are associated with a significant increase in healthcare costs. Several imaging techniques are currently available for the non-invasive investigation of bone and muscle mass and quality. Conventional radiology, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound often play a complementary role in the study of osteoporosis and sarcopenia, depicting different aspects of the same pathology. This paper presents the different imaging modalities currently used for the investigation of bone and muscle mass and quality in osteoporosis and sarcopenia with special emphasis on the clinical applications and limitations of each technique and with the intent to provide interesting insights into recent advances in the field of conventional imaging, novel high-resolution techniques and fracture risk

Role of mTOR-regulated autophagy in spine pruning defects and memory impairments induced by binge-like ethanol treatment in adolescent mice

Adolescence is a brain maturation developmental period during which remodeling and changes in synaptic plasticity and neural connectivity take place in some brain regions. Different mechanism participates in adolescent brain maturation, including autophagy that plays a role in synaptic development and plasticity. Alcohol is a neurotoxic compound and its abuse in adolescence induces neuroinflammation, synaptic and myelin alterations, neural damage and behavioral impairments. Changes in synaptic plasticity and its regulation by mTOR have also been suggested to play a role in the behavioral dysfunction of binge ethanol drinking in adolescence. Therefore, by considering the critical role of mTOR in both autophagy and synaptic plasticity in the developing brain, the present study aims to evaluate whether binge ethanol treatment in adolescence would induce dysfunctions in synaptic plasticity and cognitive functions and if mTOR inhibition with rapamycin is capable of restoring both effects. Using C57BL/6 adolescent female and male mice (PND30) treated with ethanol (3 g/kg) on two consecutive days at 48-hour intervals over 2 weeks, we show that binge ethanol treatment alters the density and morphology of dendritic spines, effects that are associated with learning and memory impairments and changes in the levels of both transcription factor CREB phosphorylation and miRNAs. Rapamycin administration (3 mg/kg) prior to ethanol administration restores ethanol-induced changes in both plasticity and behavior dysfunctions in adolescent mice. These results support the critical role of mTOR/autophagy dysfunctions in the dendritic spines alterations and cognitive alterations induced by binge alcohol in adolescence

Buffering Technique for Optimizing Energy Consumption in the Transmission of MultimediaTraffic in Ad-Hoc Networks

Energy constraints on wireless nodes represent a current field of research. Such restrictions are particularly significant because of the great amount of features and applications currently available on devices, which contribute to dramatically increase energy consumption. However, when transmitting delay-sensitive data, such as multimedia streaming, a balance between energy optimization and quality of service is required. In this sense, there are many works that address this issue from different layers of network architecture separately; however, a more efficient solution could be achieved by combining the management capabilities of the different layers and the joint use of such information, which is called a crosslayer mechanism. Moreover, despite the fact that the IEEE 802.11 standard defines an energy management mechanism at MAC level, it is envisaged only for structured networks, leaving just general guidelines for other kind of networks, such as Ad- Hoc networks. Therefore, as a first step towards the design of a cross-layer scheme, this paper analyzes the flaws of IEEE 802.11 standard as regards the infrastructureless mode and proposes an optimization mechanism for energy management in Ad-Hoc networks. The proposed approach is based on a buffering mechanism, which is able to increase power-saving periods of time in Ad-Hoc nodes. Simulations using NS3 indicate that it is possible to obtain higher levels of residual energy at the end of a transmission using the proposed scheme.Gonzalez, S.; Arce Vila, P.; Guerri Cebollada, JC. (2015). Buffering Technique for Optimizing Energy Consumption in the Transmission of MultimediaTraffic in Ad-Hoc Networks. IEEE Latin America Transactions. 13(1):250-258. doi:10.1109/TLA.2015.7040655S25025813

Phosph(on)ate as a zinc-binding group in metalloenzyme inhibitors: X-ray crystal structure of the antiviral drug foscarnet complexed to human carbonic anhydrase I

Foscarnet (phosphonoformate trisodium salt), an antiviral used for the treatment of HIV and herpes virus infections, also acts as an activator or inhibitor of the metalloenzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1). Interaction of the drug with 11 CA isozymes has been investigated kinetically, and the X-ray structure of its adduct with isoform I (hCA I-foscarnet complex) has been resolved. The first CA inhibitor possessing a phosphonate zinc-binding group is thus evidenced, together with the factors governing recognition of such small molecules by a metalloenzyme active site. Foscarnet is also a clear-cut example of modulator of an enzyme activity which can act either as an activator or inhibitor of a CA isozyme