Unveiling the Relationship Between Sea Surface Hydrographic Patterns and Tuna Larval Distribution in the Central Mediterranean Sea

Thunnus thynnus (Atlantic bluefin tuna, ABT) and other tuna species reproduce in the Mediterranean Sea during the summer period. Despite the Central Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Sicily in particular, being a key spawning site for many tuna species, little is known on the effects of oceanographic variability on their larval distribution in this area. The abundance and presence-absence of larval specimens for three tuna species (ABT, bullet tuna and albacore) were modeled in order to examine their relationships with environmental factors, by analysing historical in situ information collected during seven annual surveys (2010–2016). The results revealed that most tuna larvae for the three species were found in the easternmost part of the study area, south of Capo Passero. This area is characterized by a stable saline front and warmer nutrient-poor water, and it has different environmental conditions, compared with the surrounding areas. Themodels used to investigate the presence-absence and abundance of the three species showed that ABT was the most abundant, followed by bullet tuna and albacore. The presence and abundance data collected are comparable with those of other spawning areas in the Mediterranean. Regarding biological and physical parameters, the results suggest that temperature, salinity, and day of the year are the key factors for understanding the ecologicalmechanisms and geographical distribution of these species in this area. Temperature affects the presence of ABT larvae and salinity, which, with a physical barrier effect, is a key factor for the presence-absence of bullet and albacore and for albacore abundance.En prens

Innovative interventions in support of innovation networks. A complex system perspective to public innovation policy and private technology brokering

The linear model of innovation has been superseded by a variety of theoretical models that view the innovation process as systemic, complex, multi-level, multi-temporal, involving a plurality of heterogeneous economic agents. Accordingly, the emphasis of the policy discourse has shifted over time. It has gone from a focus on direct public funding of basic research as an engine of innovation, to the creation of markets for knowledge goods, to, eventually, the acknowledgement that knowledge transfer very often requires direct interactions among innovating actors. In most cases, these interventions attempt to facilitate the match between “demand” and “supply” of the knowledge needed to innovate. A complexity perspective calls for a different framing, one focused on the fostering of process characterized by multiple agency levels, multiple temporal scales, ontological uncertainty and emergent outcomes. The article explores what it means to design interventions in support of innovation processes inspired by a complex systems perspective. It does so by analyzing two different examples of coordinated interventions: an innovative public policy funding networks of innovating firms, and a private initiative supporting innovation in the mechanical engineering industry thanks to the set up of a technology broker. Relying on two unique datasets recording the interactions of the various organizations involved in these interventions, the article combines social network analysis and qualitative research in order to investigate the dynamics of the networks and the roles and actions of specific actors in fostering innovation processes. Building upon this comparative analysis, some general implications for the design of coordinated interventions supporting innovation in a complexity perspective are derived.Innovation policy; local development policies; regional development policies; evaluation management

A Faust Implementation of Coupled Finite Difference Schemes

Physical models using finite difference schemes (FDS) are typically implemented using mutable data structures. The FDS library of the Faust programming language, where such data structures are not available, is instead based on a cellular automaton approach. This paper proposes a mechanism by which multiple one-dimensional FDS based on the Faust FDS library approach can be coupled together. The coupling is achieved by composing the various FDS algorithms in parallel and modifying the Faust FDS library routing to calculate the connection forces. The mechanism is demonstrated by coupling multiple stiff string models to a bridge, modeled as an ideal damped bar

Affinity chromatography of ovine casein

Abstract Sheep milk casein was separated into two fractions: one containing α s1 -plus β- and the other α s2 plus κ-caseins by affinity chromatography on activated thiol-Sepharose 4B. Milk samples were from the Leccese breed with the most common electrophoretic pattern. Electrophoresis of the chromatographic fractions on SDS-PAGE and on starch urea gel at pH 8.6 and 1.7 clarified the electrophoretic pattern of whole casein. Acidic pH electrophoresis of the two fractions obtained by affinity chromatography may be useful for investigations on the polymorphism of the casein fractions

Sirtuins 1–7 expression in human adipose-derived stem cells from subcutaneous and visceral fat depots: influence of obesity and hypoxia

The sirtuin family comprises seven NAD+-dependent deacetylases which control the overall health of organisms through the regulation of pleiotropic metabolic pathways. Sirtuins are important modulators of adipose tissue metabolism and their expression is higher in lean than obese subjects. At present, the role of sirtuins in adipose-derived stem cells has not been investigated yet. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the expression of the complete panel of sirtuins in adipose-derived stem cells isolated from both subcutaneous and visceral fat of non-obese and obese subjects. We aimed at investigating the influence of obesity on sirtuins' levels, their role in obesity-associated inflammation, and the relationship with the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta, which also plays functions in adipose tissue metabolism. The mRNA levels in the four types of adipose-derived stem cells were evaluated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, in untreated cells and also after 8 h of hypoxia exposure. Correlations among sirtuins' expression and clinical and molecular parameters were also analyzed. We found that sirtuin1-6 exhibited significant higher mRNA expression in visceral adipose-derived stem cells compared to subcutaneous adipose-derived stem cells of non-obese subjects. Sirtuin1-6 levels were markedly reduced in visceral adipose-derived stem cells of obese patients. Sirtuins' expression in visceral adipose-derived stem cells correlated negatively with body mass index and C-reactive protein and positively with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta. Finally, only in the visceral adipose-derived stem cells of obese patients hypoxia-induced mRNA expression of all of the sirtuins. Our results highlight that sirtuins' levels in adipose-derived stem cells are consistent with protective effects against visceral obesity and inflammation, and suggest a transcriptional mechanism through which acute hypoxia up-regulates sirtuins in the visceral adipose-derived stem cells of obese patients

A quantitative evaluation of drive pattern selection for optimizing EIT-based stretchable sensors

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a medical imaging technique that has been recently used to realize stretchable pressure sensors. In this method, voltage measurements are taken at electrodes placed at the boundary of the sensor and are used to reconstruct an image of the applied touch pressure points. The drawback in EIT-based sensors however, is their low spatial resolution due to the ill-posed nature of the EIT reconstruction. In this paper, we show our performance evaluation of different EIT drive patterns, specifically strategies for electrode selection when performing current injection and voltage measurements. We compare voltage data with Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and Boundary Voltage Changes (BVC), and study image quality with Size Error (SE), Position Error (PE) and Ringing (RNG) parameters, in the case of one-point and two-point simultaneous contact locations. The study shows that, in order to improve the performance of EIT based sensors, the electrode selection strategies should dynamically change correspondingly to the location of the input stimuli. In fact, the selection of a drive pattern over another can improve the target size detection and position accuracy up to 4.7% and 18% respectively

Study and development of stretchable sensors for flexible surgical instrumentation.

Recently, attention has been focused to minimize the invasiveness of existing minimally invasive surgery (MIS) approaches: one example is the development of continuum-like and soft robots that can bend, extend, contract at any point along their length. This provides them with capabilities well beyond those of their rigid-link counterparts, thus allowing to perform whole arm manipulation. One recent approach to soft and modular systems is represented by the on-going EU project STIFF-FLOP (www.stiff-flop.eu). The STIFF-FLOP arm is not fabricated by rigid structures, but soft ones showing advanced manipulation capabilities for surgical applications, with multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs), and ability of multi-bending. Ideally, the entire robotic structure should safely move with contact and bend detection and the embedded sensors should not interfere with the movements: the use of small sensors, both soft and stretchable, which remain functional when deformed, becomes necessary. For the aforementioned reasons, we introduce a small, low-cost, soft and stretchable sensor composed of a silicone rubber (EcoFlex0030, SmoothOn), integrating a conductive liquid channel filled with biocompatible Sodium Chloride (NaCl) solution. By stretching the sensor the cross-section of the channel deforms, thus leading to a change in electrical resistance. The functionality of the sensor has been proved through testing: changes in electrical resistance are measured as a function of the applied strain. The advantage of using silicone rubber is its mechanical durability and high flexibility, non-toxicity, chemical stability and low cost. Furthermore, liquid conductors eliminate the need for rigid electronics and preserve the natural elasticity of the sensor, and the NaCl solution fulfills the need for a biocompatible liquid. Differently from existing solutions that are not truly stretchable and biocompatible, the contribution of this work is an effort for improving the current soft sensors technologies through the demonstration that NaCl filled channel rubbers represent a valid solution for measuring deformations in flexible surgical instrumentation

Metodi di analisi riconoscimento dei tunnidi allo stadio larvale

Uno dei periodi di vita più sensibili per ciascuna specie sono le prime fasi della vita (larvale e giovanile). I tassi di sopravvivenza delle larve di pesci pelagici in queste fasi sono generalmente molto bassi e soggetti a fluttuazioni, con conseguenze sul reclutamento delle nuove generazioni. Il tonno rosso dell'Atlantico (ABT) (Thunnus thynnus, Linnaeus, 1758) è una delle specie più costose al mondo. Alcuni studi hanno ipotizzato che le fluttuazioni del suo stock siano dettate da fattori ambientali, in particolare nelle prime fasi della vita. Anche il Tonno alalunga (Thunnus alalunga, Bonnaterre, 1788) e il tombarello (Auxis rochei, Risso, 1810) svolgono un ruolo ecologico essenziale come grandi predatori, sono obiettivi di pesca a livello globale e hanno un'influenza fondamentale sulla struttura e sulla funzione delle comunità marine. Pertanto, la loro gestione sostenibile è essenziale e dipende da una migliore comprensione della loro storia di vita. Dunque, appare necessario comprendere meglio la biologia e i processi di reclutamento di queste specie, studio che può essere condotto analizzando le sue fasi larvali

Analisi e modalità di campionamento del mesozooplacton finalizzato alla ricerca di microplastiche

Gli ecosistemi marini sono supportati alla base dal link tra produttori primari e secondari. Gli organismi dello zooplancton sono persino la base per il sostentamento di grandi pelagici, mammiferi marini, uccelli marini e la maggior parte dei grandi stock ittici. Lo zooplancton svolge anche un ruolo chiave nella rigenerazione dei nutrienti nel rilascio di carbonio organico disciolto, supportando la crescita di fitoplancton. Tutto ciò rende lo studio delle comunità zooplanctoniche, la base per una buona conoscenza dell’ecosistema marino che si vuole studiare. Ancor di più in aree soggette a inquinamento e attività antropiche, questo tipo di analisi risulta essere fondamentale