The microbiota of Idaea inquinata developing on dry herbs

Idaea inquinata (Scopoli) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Idaeini) is a potential pest of stored food, mainly dry herbs. In this study, the role of diet in the shaping of the I. inquinata-associated bacterial community was investigated and its impact on insect performance (i.e., proportion of adult emergence and duration of postembryonic development). Larvae were reared on three diets with different nutritional compositions: (1) Matricaria chamomilla L. flowers, (2) Angelica archangelica L. roots, and (3) artificial diet. A DNA metabarcoding approach targeting V1-V2 and V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA was adopted to characterize the bacterial communities associated with adults and larvae reared on different diets, and estimate their composition and diversity. The core microbiota of this species was found to include some bacterial genera commonly associated with Lepidoptera. When a coverage-based integration of rarefaction and extrapolation of Hill numbers was used to compare groups of samples, the microbial diversity (estimated as phylogenetic diversity) differed among individuals reared on different diets, and also between larvae vs. adults. The lowest taxon diversity was found associated with individuals reared on M. chamomilla. Larvae fed with this fiber-rich diet had also a significantly slower development. The composition of the microbial community varied among individuals with different diets, but not between adults vs. larvae. This study highlights the important role of diet in shaping I. inquinata microbiota, but also suggests that the microbiota of non-feeding adult moths could be partially inherited from larvae

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown Measures on Quality of Life among Italian General Population

The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world in the year 2020 has put a strain on our ability to cope with events and revolutionized our daily habits. On 9 March, Italy was forced to lock down to prevent the spread of the infection, with measures including the mandatory closure of schools and nonessential activities, travel restrictions, and the obligation to spend entire weeks in the same physical space. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on quality of life (QoL) in a large Italian sample, in order to investigate possible differences in QoL levels related to both demographic and pandemic-specific variables. A total of 2251 Italian adults (1665 women, mainly young and middle adults) were recruited via a snowball sampling strategy. Participants were requested to answer to an online survey, which included demographic and COVID-related information items, and theWorld Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The results showed statistically significant differences in QoL depending on a number of variables, including sex, area of residence in Italy, and being diagnosed with a medical/psychiatric condition. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess QoL during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, therefore the present findings can offer guidelines regarding which social groups are more vulnerable of a decline in QoL and would benefit of psychological interventions

Quality of Life and Job Loss during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mediation by Hopelessness and Moderation by Trait Emotional Intelligence

This study contributes to the knowledge on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by examining a moderated mediation model in which the impact of job loss over quality of life (QoL) is mediated by hopelessness and moderated by trait emotional intelligence (trait EI). Data were collected from a large nationally representative Italian sample of adult workers (N = 1610), who completed a series of anonymous online questionnaires. Total, direct and indirect effects were estimated through bootstrapped mediated moderation analyses providing 95% bias corrected bootstrap confidence intervals. After controlling for the effects of gender and age range, job loss was found to be negatively associated with QoL, and hopelessness partially mediated such relationship. These relationships were in turn moderated by trait EI. Our study suggests that trait EI levels act as protective factor for a good QoL, mitigating the impact of both job loss and hopelessness over QoL levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying psychological protective and/or risk factors for a better QoL is crucial for the development of interventions aimed at reducing the emotional impact of the pandemic and of its negative real-life consequences

Emotional Competence in Primary School Children: Examining the Effect of a Psycho-Educational Group Intervention: A Pilot Prospective Study

Emotional competence (EC) is a key component of children's psychological, cognitive, and social development, and it is a central element of learning. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a psycho-educational group intervention aimed at improving children's emotional competence (EC), quality of integration and scholastic skills. A total of 229 children (123 females; M Age = 7.22 years; SD = 0.97 years) completed the Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA), the Drawn Stories Technique, the Classroom Drawing, and the Colored Progressive Matrices. The total sample was randomly divided into an intervention group (N = 116) who took part in psycho-educational activities and a control (no-intervention) group (N = 84). Both groups were tested at baseline, before the intervention started, and at the end of the intervention (4 months from baseline). Results from mixed-model ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for POFA score over time (F = 6.24, p = 0.01) and an interaction effect between POFA and group (F = 4.82, p = 0.03). No significant main effect was found for classroom drawing over time (F = 0.81, p > 0.05) or for quality of integration and group intervention. These findings support the importance of developing psycho-educational programmes in school for promotion of emotional health for preventing not only the onset of problematic behaviours at school such as bullying but also the development of clinical conditions linked to difficulties in emotional recognition, expression, and regulation such as alexithymia

Measurement of the atmospheric muon flux with the NEMO Phase-1 detector

The NEMO Collaboration installed and operated an underwater detector including prototypes of the critical elements of a possible underwater km3 neutrino telescope: a four-floor tower (called Mini-Tower) and a Junction Box. The detector was developed to test some of the main systems of the km3 detector, including the data transmission, the power distribution, the timing calibration and the acoustic positioning systems as well as to verify the capabilities of a single tridimensional detection structure to reconstruct muon tracks. We present results of the analysis of the data collected with the NEMO Mini-Tower. The position of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) is determined through the acoustic position system. Signals detected with PMTs are used to reconstruct the tracks of atmospheric muons. The angular distribution of atmospheric muons was measured and results compared with Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: Astrop. Phys., accepte

A new multianodic large area photomultiplier to be used in underwater neutrino detectors

In this article we describe the properties of a new 10-in. hemispherical photomultiplier manufactured by Hamamatsu. The prototype has a segmented photocathode and four independent amplification stages. The photomultiplier is one of the main components of a newly designed direction-sensitive optical module to be employed in large-scale underwater neutrino telescopes. The R&D activity has been co-funded by the INFN and the KM3NeT Consortium. The prototype performance fully meets with the design specifications

Post-seismic fluid flow and Coulomb stress changes in a poroelastic medium

It is generally agreed that the occurrence of seismic sequences implies a kind of interaction between different fault segments. The coseismic stress transfer produced by each dislocation is the most obvious component of such an interaction. However the time intervals elapsing between subsequent events in a sequence indicate that the coseismic stress is not sufficient to trigger other seismic events by itself. We investigate the possibility that the coseismic stress field may induce flow of pore fluids, altering the pore pressure distribution in the region. Since the crust is a fluid-saturated medium at many locations, we consider the crust as a poroelastic solid. Because poroelastic materials exhibit time-dependent stress fields, we examine if this behavior can explain the triggering of aftershocks. We consider some available analytical solutions for a semi-infinite plane fault. Permeable and impermeable dislocation planes are considered. We compare the solutions for a poroelastic medium with those for a porous medium, and evaluate the effect of the coupling between deformation and fluid diffusion. We find that the Coulomb stress changes due to the mainshock may be initially negative at some locations, but become positive as pore fluids are redistributed. These changes are significantly large. If the crust were to behave as an isotropic, fluid filled, poro-elastic medium, as we assume here, Coulomb stress triggering by means of pore fluid diffusion is likely an important mechanism for aftershock generation over distances and widths of about 2.5 and 0.5 fault lengths, respectively. These distance ranges are smaller than those predicted by previous models which disregarded the mechanical interactions between elastic deformation and pore fluid diffusion. For typical porosities, the stress changes due to fluid flow are diminished greatly after about one year after the mainshock