232 research outputs found
Evidence from multivariate morphometric study of the quercus pubescens complex in southeast Italy
The name Quercus pubescens s.l. encompasses a complex of deciduous oak taxa with mainly southeastEuropean
distribution and a large ecological niche. As the easternmost region of Italy, Apulia is
rather isolated from a geographical and physiographical viewpoint and counts the highest number
of oak species (10). In the taxonomic and phytosociological literature, the occurrence of several
species belonging to the Quercus pubescens collective group is reported for this region. In order to
verify if different sets of morphological characters are associated with different taxa, 24 populations
of Quercus pubescens s.l. located in different ecological-geographical areas of Apulia were sampled.
A total of 367 trees, 4254 leaves and 1120 fruits were collected and morphologically analysed.
Overall, 25 morphological characters of oak leaves and fruits were statistically treated using both
univariate and multivariate analysis. Nested ANOVA showed that leaves collected from a single tree
exhibited a degree of morphological variability higher than that observed when comparing leaves
coming from different trees of the same population and from different trees of different populations
as well. Almost all the morphological characters analysed exhibited a continuous trend of variation
so that none of them can be used as a character to discriminate between populations. Only leaf
and fruit “size” and fruit petiole length emerged as slightly discriminating characters. Our results
suggest that it is unlikely that more than one species belonging to the Quercus pubescens complex
occurs in the Apulia region. Comparison between the Apulian populations and a genetically
pure Q. pubescens population coming from a different area (the Molise region) strengthened the
assumption as to the existence of a single species that can provisionally be classified under the name
of Q. pubescens s.
the neural bases of vitality forms
Abstract
Unlike emotions, which are short-lasting events accompanied by viscero-motor responses, vitality forms are continuous internal states that modulate the motor behaviors of individuals and are devoid of the autonomic modifications that characterize real emotions. Despite the importance of vitality forms in social life, only recently have neurophysiological studies been devoted to this issue. The first part of this review describes fMRI experiments, showing that the dorso-central insula is activated during the execution, the perception and the imagination of arm actions endowed with different vitality forms as well as during the hearing and the production of speech conveying vitality forms. In the second part, we address the means by which the dorso-central insula modulates the networks for controlling action execution and how the sensory and interoceptive information is conveyed to this insular sector. Finally, we present behavioral data showing the importance of vitality forms in social interactions
Engineering in-plane mechanics of electrospun polyurethane scaffolds for cardiovascular tissue applications
Effective cardiovascular tissue surrogates require high control of scaffold structural and
mechanical features to match native tissue properties, which are dependent on tissue-specific
mechanics, function heterogenicity, and morphology. Bridging scaffold processing variables with
native tissue properties is recognized as a priority for advancing the biomechanical performance of
biomedical materials and when translated to clinical practice, their efficacy. Accordingly, this
study selected electrospinning on a rotating cylindrical target as an apparatus of broad application
and mapped the relationship between key processing variables and scaffold mechanics and
structure. This information was combined with mechanical anisotropy ranges of interest for the
three main categories of tissue surrogated in cardiovascular tissue engineering: heart valve leaflets,
ventricle wall, and large diameter blood vessels. Specifically, three processing variables have been
considered: the rotational velocity and the rastering velocity of the mandrel and the dry (single
nozzle – polymer only) vs wet (double nozzle – polymer plus phosphate buffer saline solution)
fabrication configuration. While the dry configuration is generally utilized to obtain micro-fiber
based polymeric mats, the wet fabrication is representative of processing conditions utilized to
incorporate cells, growth factors, or micro-particles within the fibrous scaffold matrix. Dry and
wet-processed electrospun mats were fabricated with tangential and rastering velocities within the
0.3-9.0 m/s and 0.16-8 cm/s range respectively. Biaxial mechanics, fiber network, and pore microarchitectures
were measured for each combination of velocities and for each fabrication modality
(dry and wet). Results allowed identification of the precise combination of rotational and rastering
velocities, for both dry and wet conditions, that is able to recapitulate the native cardiovascular
tissue anisotropy ratio. By adopting a simple and broadly utilized electrospinning layout, this study
is meant to provide a repeatable and easy to access methodology to improve biomimicry of the in
plane-mechanics of heart valve leaflets, ventricular wall, and large diameter blood vessels
Contribution to the floristic knowledge of eastern Irpinia and Vulture-Melfese area (Campania and Basilicata, southern Italy)
In order to improve the floristic knowledge of the Italian territory, we report the inventory of the taxa
collected during the annual field trip of the working group for Floristics, Systematics and Evolution of
the Italian Botanical Society held in 2015 in eastern Irpinia and Vulture-Melfese area (South Italy). The
investigated territories are located in southern Apennines, along the border between the Campania and
Basilicata administrative regions. These areas are scarcely known in terms of vascular flora. The floristic
samplings were performed in 19 sites selected as representative of the local environmental diversity as
regards to climate, litho-morphology and land-use.
The research led to the identification of 4,137 specimens of vascular plants, belonging to 815 species
and subspecies, 399 genera, and 85 families. Among these taxa, 42 were endemic to Italy, 38 were included
in the IUCN Red List of the Italian Flora, 28 were alien and 5 were cryptogenic in Campania and/
or Basilicata administrative regions. Two taxa, Aquilegia coerulea (casual alien, native to North America)
and Lolium Ă—boucheanum (native), were found to be new for Italy. On the basis of the available floristic
literature the first one is also to be considered new for the European flora. At regional scale, we have found
18 taxa new for the Campania and 15 new for the Basilicata region. Finally, 10 taxa were confirmed for
Campania. Data obtained during this study, confirmed the important role of a collaborative approach
among botanists and the great relevance of these territories for plant diversity
Reasons for initiating long-acting antipsychotics in psychiatric practice: findings from the STAR Network Depot Study
Background: Long acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics have been claimed to ensure treatment adherence and possibly reduce the daily burden of oral formulations. So far, only surveys investigating the theoretical prescribing attitudes of clinicians have been employed. On this basis, we aimed to investigate reasons for prescribing LAIs in a real-world, unselected sample of patients.Methods: The STAR Network Depot Study is an observational, multicentre study consecutively enrolling adults initiating a LAI over a 12-months period. Clinical severity was assessed with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and patient's attitude toward medications with the Drug Attitude Inventory 10 items. Psychiatrists recorded reasons for LAI prescribing for each study participant. Responses were grouped into six non-mutually exclusive categories: aggressiveness, patient engagement, ease of drug taking, side-effects, stigma, adherence.Results: Of the 451 patients included, two-thirds suffered from chronic psychoses. Improving patient engagement with the outpatient psychiatric service was the most common reason for prescribing LAIs (almost 80% of participants), followed by increasing treatment adherence (57%), decreasing aggressiveness (54%), and improving ease of drug taking (52%). After adjusting for confounders, logistic regression analyses showed that reasons for LAI use were associated with LAI choice (e.g. first-generation LAIs for reducing aggressiveness).Conclusion: Despite the wide availability of novel LAI formulation and the emphasis on their wider use, our data suggest that the main reasons for LAI use have remained substantially unchanged over the years, focusing mostly on improving patient's engagement. Further, clinicians follow implicit prescribing patterns when choosing LAIs, and this may generate hypotheses for future experimental studies
Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora 6
In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions of taxa in the genera Acalypha, Acer, Canna, Cardamine, Cedrus, Chlorophytum, Citrus, Cyperus, Epilobium, Eucalyptus, Euphorbia, Gamochaeta, Hesperocyparis, Heteranthera, Lemna, Ligustrum, Lycium, Nassella, Nothoscordum, Oenothera, Osteospermum, Paspalum, Pontederia, Romulea, Rudbeckia, Salvia, Sesbania, Setaria, Sicyos, Styphnolobium, Symphyotrichum, and Tradescantia. Nomenclature and distribution updates, published elsewhere, and corrigenda are provided as supplementary material
Off-label long acting injectable antipsychotics in real-world clinical practice: a cross-sectional analysis of prescriptive patterns from the STAR Network DEPOT study
Introduction Information on the off-label use of Long-Acting Injectable (LAI) antipsychotics in the real world is lacking. In this study, we aimed to identify the sociodemographic and clinical features of patients treated with on- vs off-label LAIs and predictors of off-label First- or Second-Generation Antipsychotic (FGA vs. SGA) LAI choice in everyday clinical practice. Method In a naturalistic national cohort of 449 patients who initiated LAI treatment in the STAR Network Depot Study, two groups were identified based on off- or on-label prescriptions. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to test several clinically relevant variables and identify those associated with the choice of FGA vs SGA prescription in the off-label group. Results SGA LAIs were more commonly prescribed in everyday practice, without significant differences in their on- and off-label use. Approximately 1 in 4 patients received an off-label prescription. In the off-label group, the most frequent diagnoses were bipolar disorder (67.5%) or any personality disorder (23.7%). FGA vs SGA LAI choice was significantly associated with BPRS thought disorder (OR = 1.22, CI95% 1.04 to 1.43, p = 0.015) and hostility/suspiciousness (OR = 0.83, CI95% 0.71 to 0.97, p = 0.017) dimensions. The likelihood of receiving an SGA LAI grew steadily with the increase of the BPRS thought disturbance score. Conversely, a preference towards prescribing an FGA was observed with higher scores at the BPRS hostility/suspiciousness subscale. Conclusion Our study is the first to identify predictors of FGA vs SGA choice in patients treated with off-label LAI antipsychotics. Demographic characteristics, i.e. age, sex, and substance/alcohol use co-morbidities did not appear to influence the choice towards FGAs or SGAs. Despite a lack of evidence, clinicians tend to favour FGA over SGA LAIs in bipolar or personality disorder patients with relevant hostility. Further research is needed to evaluate treatment adherence and clinical effectiveness of these prescriptive patterns
The Italian National Project of Astrobiology-Life in Space-Origin, Presence, Persistence of Life in Space, from Molecules to Extremophiles
The \u2018\u2018Life in Space\u2019\u2019 project was funded in the wake of
the Italian Space Agency\u2019s proposal for the development
of a network of institutions and laboratories conceived to
implement Italian participation in space astrobiology experiments
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