showing 36 of ~574560 from 574555 documents
Botāniskā dārza sekcijas “Augu selekcija un introdukcija” tēžu krājums
2023
Latvijas Universitātes 81. starptautiskās zinātniskās konferences Botāniskā dārza sekcijas “Augu selekcija un introdukcija” sanāksme notika 2023. gada 8. februārī pulksten 13.00 LU Botāniskā dārza Lektorijā Kandavas ielā 2, Rīgā. Tēžu krājumā ir 12 referātu kopsavilkumi, kuros ir ziņots par augu kolekcijām, augu introdukciju, selekciju, augu patogēnu pētījumiem, mikropavairošanas izmēģinājumiem, kā arī purvu biotopu saglabāšanu.
Paleogenetic analysis and radiocarbon dating on skeletal remains from the Roman necropolis of Contrada Diana (Lipari Island, Sicily)
2023
Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian Islands, is located in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Archeological evidence suggests an early human occupation starting from the Neolithic period. The island, favored by its volcanic history, was an important crossroads of cultures and commerce exchanges during prehistory up to Greek and Roman dominations. In this study, we present multidisciplinary analysis results on four skeletal remains from the necropolis of Contrada Diana attributed to the Roman period. By using Next Generation Sequencing technology we identified the biological sex and reconstructed the complete mitochondrial genome for two individuals. We retrieved the first ancient L3e5a lineage tha…
Formare docenti creativi per costruire una società democratica e inclusiva
2023
Questo contributo si ispira a Mario Lodi e alla sua concezione della scuola come luogo potenziale in cui scoprire, nell’età dello sviluppo, le proprie capacità ma anche le proprie preferenze e i propri desideri e, nello stesso tempo, come contesto in cui sperimentare la dimensione comunitaria e di gruppo per potere divenire adulti consapevoli e attenti al bene comune. Il termine “potenziale” è utilizzato perché la scuola può non arrivare ad assolvere il suo compito ma, al contrario, contribuire a conformare il pensiero, a diffondere una cultura della competizione e a perpetuare le disuguaglianze. Benchè ci siano stati sicuramente cambiamenti significativi, legati anche alle trasformazioni s…
Scaffolding self-regulated learning from causal-relations texts: Diagramming and self-assessment to improve metacomprehension accuracy?
2023
AbstractThe accuracy of students’ relative comprehension judgments when reading texts is typically rather low. This has been ascribed to students grounding their comprehension judgments on cues that are not diagnostic of their actual comprehension level. Asking students to complete causal diagrams—a diagramming scaffold—before judging comprehension has proved effective in providing them with more diagnostic cues and thereby fostered metacomprehension accuracy and self-regulated learning. However, there is still room for improvement. We investigated experimentally whether adding the instruction to students to self-assess their causal diagrams: (1) would lead to more accurate judgments than c…
Comparisonof the effects of six-week time-restricted eating on weight loss, body composition, and visceral fat in overweight older men and women
2023
The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a six-week time-restricted eating (TRE) intervention in reducing body weight, fat loss, and visceral fat in overweight, older adult men and women (age range = 65-74 years). Another objective was to determine the feasibility of widespread use of TRE in older women and men. The study randomly assigned 116 healthy, non-smoking participants to one of two conditions: TRE or educational control participants. Participants in the TRE group were instructed to not consume calorie containing beverages or food for 16 h per day, from 8:00 pm to 12:00 pm. Participants in the control group were instructed to follow a meal plan based on their prev…
Uno studio sulla “dissenting opinion” con particolare riguardo all’esperienza del diritto inglese
2023
The essay explores the many means through which judicial dissent has traditionally made its way into the English legal system in order to be finally accepted as an ineliminable instrument that the minority has availed itself of to air its differing opinion, mostly in matters of general, public importance. So, the research is in the first place directed towards the identification of the different types of dissent and of the forms (even concurring) in which it may be shaped. Furthermore, the study involves the attempt to find out what reasons may underlie the expression of dissent and whether they may conceal some kind of idyiosincratic state of mind on the part of the dissenters. A view is a…
The effects of short-term glyphosate-based herbicide exposure on insect gene expression profiles
2023
Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) are the most frequently used herbicides worldwide. The use of GBHs is intended to tackle weeds, but GBHs have been shown to affect the life-history traits and antioxidant defense system of invertebrates found in agroecosystems. Thus far, the effects of GBHs on detoxification pathways among invertebrates have not been sufficiently investigated. We performed two different experiments—1) the direct pure glyphosate and GBH treatment, and 2) the indirect GBH experiment via food—to examine the possible effects of environmentally relevant GBH levels on the survival of the Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) and the expression profiles of their deto…
Mitochondrial cannabinoid receptors gate corticosterone impact on novel object recognition
2023
: Corticosteroid-mediated stress responses require the activation of complex brain circuits involving mitochondrial activity, but the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms are scantly known. The endocannabinoid system is implicated in stress coping, and it can directly regulate brain mitochondrial functions via type 1 cannabinoid (CB1) receptors associated with mitochondrial membranes (mtCB1). In this study, we show that the impairing effect of corticosterone in the novel object recognition (NOR) task in mice requires mtCB1 receptors and the regulation of mitochondrial calcium levels in neurons. Different brain circuits are modulated by this mechanism to mediate the impact of cortico…
Urban explorations in digital serious games: educational paths for learning from the city
2023
Learning can be fostered by technologies through devices aimed at embedded exploration of physical and digital spaces, which provide for the immersion and involvement of users in transformative experiences also based on play. The paper reflects on the relations between learning and game and the potential of digital serious games for knowledge acquisition and skill development. With the purpose of exploring the educational potential and limitations of digital serious games, the contribution analyses an app aimed at learning in an immersive environment: the Explorial app. In the context of urban exploration, the app offers informative content with the aim of fostering knowledge of the city th…
Effects of xanthan gum and calcium ascorbate treatments on color and nutritional quality of fresh cut pear fruit
2023
Edible coatings may be used to extend the shelf life of fresh-cut fruit products by controlling respiration and transpiration reducing overall quality decay. In this study, the effects of xanthan gum, combined with calcium ascorbate treatment, on color and nutritional quality of fresh-cut pear fruit were investigated. Fresh-cut pear fruit were processed with dipping for 4 different treatments: 2% xanthan gum solution with 2% calcium ascorbate (XAC); 2% xanthan gum solution (XAN); 2% ascorbate calcium solution (CAL) and distilled water for control (CTR). Fruit treated were stored at 5°C for 3, 5, 7 and 10 days. At each storage period, visual quality and flavor score, ascorbic acid and phenol…
Synergistic effects of childhood adversity and polygenic risk in first-episode psychosis
2023
The European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) Project is funded by grant agreement HEALTH-F2-2010-241909 (Project EU-GEI) from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme.
Recursive Selective Harmonic Elimination for Multilevel Inverters: Mathematical Formulation and Experimental Validation
2023
A recursive method that eliminates +1 harmonics and their respective multiples from the output voltage of a cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters with = 2 dc sources ( = 1, 2, 3,...) is proposed. It solves 2×2 linear systems with not singular matrices and always gives an exact solution with very low computational effort. Simulated results in three-phase five, nine, seventeen and thirty three level CHB inverters, and experimental results in five-level inverter demonstrate the validity of the method.
Solar forcing for nutricline depth variability inferred by coccoliths in the pre-industrial northwestern Mediterranean
2023
The oceanic system has been rapidly changing under human-induced climate change that is taking place at unprecedented rates. The paleoclimate archive of the last two millennia is often adopted to discern the ongoing anthropogenic global warming from the pre-industrial natural climate variability. The Mediterranean Sea is an especially critical system, being particularly affected by climate change. A common group of marine unicellular planktonic calcifiers, coccolithophores, are forming calcite plates, coccoliths. When reaching the sediments, they have been employed as a proxy in many paleoenvironmental reconstructions and are increasingly used in the last centuries. Recent studies indicate …
Trattamento medico arbitrario e responsabilità penale
2023
Il problema della rilevanza penale del trattamento medico arbitrario, ossia della condotta terapeutica realizzata a regola d’arte ma senza il consenso del paziente, ha dato vita nella dottrina penalistica a un vivace dibattito, all’interno del quale si sono confrontate le più diverse ricostruzioni dogmatiche. Queste si sono soffermate, oltre che sulle conseguenze penali da riconoscere al trattamento arbitrario, soprattutto sul fondamento giustificativo dell’intera professione medica, individuato alternativamente in svariati ambiti dell’antigiuridicità o in sede di tipicità. Le varie soluzioni prospettate non sono riuscite però a porre fine al dibattito, che ha avuto ripercussioni sulla giur…
Musculoskeletal disorders and incongruous postures in workers on ropes: A pilot study
2023
Background: Occupational hazards believed to cause musculoskeletal disorders in rope workers are traditionally associated with maintaining incongruous postures for prolonged periods of time. Design and methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 132 technical operators in the wind energy and acrobatic construction sectors, who work on ropes, analysing the ergonomic characteristics of the environments, the way in which tasks are carried out, the strain perceived by individual workers, and assessing the presence of any musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) by means of an objective examination focused on the anatomical districts that were the object of our study. Results: Analysis of the dat…
Optimization of the sheet hydroforming process parameters to improve the quality of reshaped EoL components
2023
Abstract. The reshaping of End-of-Life (EoL) components by means of sheet metal forming process has been considered largely attractive, even from the social and economic point of view. At the same time, EoL parts can be often characterized by non-uniform thicknesses or alternation of work-hardened/undeformed zones as the results of the manufacturing process. Such heterogeneity can hinder a proper reshaping of the EoL part and residual marks on the re-formed blanks can be still present at the end of the reshaping step. In a previous analysis, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of reshaping a blank with a deep drawn feature by means of the Sheet Hydroforming (SHF) process: it was demonst…
Postural and gestural synchronization, sequential imitation, and mirroring predict perceived coupling of dancing dyads
2023
Body movement is a primary nonverbal communication channel in humans. Coordinated social behaviors, such as dancing together, encourage multifarious rhythmic and interpersonally coupled movements from which observers can extract socially and contextually relevant information. The investigation of relations between visual social perception and kinematic motor coupling is important for social cognition. Perceived coupling of dyads spontaneously dancing to pop music has been shown to be highly driven by the degree of frontal orientation between dancers. The perceptual salience of other aspects, including postural congruence, movement frequencies, time-delayed relations, and horizontal mirrorin…
Immunological and prognostic significance of tumour necrosis in colorectal cancer
2023
Abstract Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) causes the second most cancer deaths worldwide, but the disease course varies according to tumour characteristics and immunological factors. Our objective was to examine the associations of tumour necrosis with tumour characteristics, immune cell infiltrates, serum cytokine concentrations, as well as prognosis in CRC. Methods Three independent CRC cohorts, including 1413 patients, were analysed. Associations of the areal percentage of tumour necrosis with clinicopathologic parameters, tumour infiltrating immune cells, cytokine concentrations in systemic and mesenteric vein blood, and survival were examined. Results Higher tumour necrosis percentag…
Gli affreschi e le tele
2023
The pictorial decoration of the church of Santa Maria La Porta in Geraci Siculo. Critical historical analysis of the canvases and frescoes. Iconographic readings, stylistic analysis and attributions
Mortality by age, gene and gender in carriers of pathogenic mismatch repair gene variants receiving surveillance for early cancer diagnosis and treat…
2023
Background: The Prospective Lynch Syndrome Database (PLSD) collates information on carriers of pathogenic or likely pathogenic MMR variants (path_MMR) who are receiving medical follow-up, including colonoscopy surveillance, which aims to the achieve early diagnosis and treatment of cancers. Here we use the most recent PLSD cohort that is larger and has wider geographical representation than previous versions, allowing us to present mortality as an outcome, and median ages at cancer diagnoses for the first time.Methods: The PLSD is a prospective observational study without a control group that was designed in 2012 and updated up to October 2022. Data for 8500 carriers of path_MMR variants fr…
Design and development of a new machine tool for continuous friction stir extrusion
2023
In the present paper the Continuous Friction Stir Extrusion process (CFSE), derived from the already known Friction Stir Extrusion (FSE), is proposed for effective solid-state recycling of metal scraps. A new dedicated machine tool was designed and developed. A Lagrangian implicit thermomechanical numerical model was set up and used to determine the proper ranges of the most relevant process parameters. An effective case study is proposed, involving the actual extrusion of a recycled wire in a continuous way. Metallurgical observations and mechanical characterization tests were carried out on the obtained specimen showing the potential of the process and its industrial feasibility.(c) 2023 …
The three facets of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic during the first two waves in the northern, central, and southern Italy
2023
Background: There is a scarcity of information in literature regarding the clinical differences and comorbidities of patients affected by Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which could clarify the different prevalence of the outcomes (composite and only death) between several Italian regions. Objective: This study aimed to assess the heterogeneity of clinical features of patients with COVID-19 upon hospital admission and disease outcomes in the northern, central, and southern Italian regions. Methods: An observational cohort multicenter retrospective study including 1210 patients who were admitted for COVID-19 in Infectious diseases, Pulmonology, Endocrinology, Geriatrics and Internal Med…
Sex differences in neuromuscular disorders
2023
: The prevalence, onset, pathophysiology, and clinical course of many neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) may significantly differ between males and females. Some NMDs are more frequently observed in females, and characterized to show a higher grade of severity during or after the pregnancy. Meanwhile, others tend to have an earlier onset in males and exhibit a more variable progression. Prevalently, sex differences in NMDs have a familiar character given from genetic inheritance. However, they may also influence clinical presentation and disease severity of acquired NMD forms, and are represented by both hormonal and genetic factors. Consequently, to shed light on the distinctive role of biolog…
Sustainable bioactive pectin-based films to improve fruit safety via a circular economy approach.
2023
This work reports on the valorisation of persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) for the development of food-grade antiviral coatings against major viral foodborne pathogens, human noroviruses (NoVs) and hepatitis A virus (HAV). Initially, the antiviral activity of polyphenol-rich pectin extracts with abundant non-covalent interactions (PPN), pectin extracts enriched with intact pectin-polyphenol ester and O-glycosyl bonds (PPC) and hydro-ethanolic polyphenol-rich extracts (EPE) was compared. Higher viral reductions were found for the pectin extracts rich in polyphenols, mainly in those containing covalent pectin-polyphenol interactions. This specific extract was mixed with commercial citrus pect…
CALANGO: a phylogeny-aware comparative genomics tool for discovering quantitative genotype-phenotype associations across species
2023
The increasing availability of high-quality genomic, annotation and phenotypic data for different species contrasts with the lack of general software for comparative genomics that integrates these data types in a statistically sound framework in order to produce biologically meaningful knowledge. In this work, we present CALANGO (Comparative AnaLysis with ANnotation-based Genomic cOmponentes), a first-principles comparative genomics tool to search for annotation terms, such as GO terms or Pfam domain IDs, associated with a quantitative variable used to rank species data, after correcting for phylogenetic relatedness. This information can be used to annotate genomes at any level, including p…
Recent Developments and Formulations for Hydrophobic Modification of Carrageenan Bionanocomposites
2023
Versatility of the anionic algal polysaccharide carrageenan has long been discussed and explored, especially for their affinity towards water molecules. While this feature is advantageous in certain applications such as water remediation, wound healing, etc., the usefulness of this biopolymer is extremely limited when it comes to applications such as food packaging. Scientists around the globe are carrying out research works on venturing diverse methods to integrate hydrophobic nature into these polysaccharides without compromising their other functionalities. Considering these foregoing studies, this review is designed to have an in-depth understanding of diverse methods and techniques ado…
Highlights on two decades with microbiota and inflammatory bowel disease from etiology to therapy
2023
Inflammatory Bowel diseases (IBDs) constitute a complex panel of disorders characterized with chronic inflammation affecting the alimentary canal along with extra intestinal manifestations. Its exact etiology is still unknown; however, it seems to be the result of uncharacterized environmental insults in the intestine and their immunological consequences along with dysbiosis, in genetically predisposed individuals. It was the main target of our team since 2002 to explore the etiology of IBD and the related role of bacteria. For almost two decades, our laboratory, among others, has been involved in the reciprocal interaction between the host gastrointestinal lining and the homing microbiota.…
On Intrinsic Negative Curves
2023
Autobiografie interrotte. Plasticità distruttrice, riconfigurazioni estetiche e identità accidentali
2023
Che relazione esiste tra il corpo di ciascun individuo e la sua identità individuale? La nostra identità rimane immutata nel tempo, permettendoci di narrare un’autobiografia lineare, o possono sopraggiungere eventi accidentali che contribuiscono a modificarla radicalmente, dando vita a una nuova versione di noi stessi, a una nuova storia? In questo articolo ci proponiamo di rispondere a tali domande partendo dalle riflessioni della pensatrice francese Catherine Malabou. Affronteremo il problema della costruzione e della decostruzione dell'identità individuale alla luce dell'ontologia dell'incidente, analizzando il concetto di plasticità negativa e cercando di delineare come un evento accide…
Locally weighted minimum contrast estimation for spatio-temporal log-Gaussian Cox processes
2023
A local version of spatio-temporal log-Gaussian Cox processes is proposed by using Local Indicators of Spatio-Temporal Association (LISTA) functions plugged into the minimum contrast procedure, to obtain space as well as time-varying parameters. The new procedure resorts to the joint minimum contrast fitting method to estimate the set of second-order parameters. This approach has the advantage of being suitable in both separable and non-separable parametric specifications of the correlation function of the underlying Gaussian Random Field. Simulation studies to assess the performance of the proposed fitting procedure are presented, and an application to seismic spatio-temporal point pattern…
Degraded Gerber Saddles in RC Bridges
2023
Sudden failure of reinforced concrete (RC) or prestressed concrete (PC) Gerber saddles of bridges and viaducts has occurred all around in the word in the last few years due to corrosion of steel bars. The danger of sudden and brittle failure is often due to general and pitting corrosion of steel bars, concrete crushing, and loss of bond in steel bars. In this paper, the flexural response of reinforced concrete Gerber supports under their self-weight with or without service loads was investigated through determination of the load-deflection response of beams, with the focus on the consequences of pitting corrosion and loss of bond in steel bars. A simplified strut-and-tie model was developed…
Color and sensory changes in fresh cut pear during storage comparing ‘Coscia’ and ‘Butirra’, cultivated in southern Italy
2023
Pear (Pyrus communis L.) cultivars ‘Coscia’ and ‘Butirra’, cultivated in southern Italy are characterized very excellent by aroma and texture. Visual appearance is the primary descriptor that determines the acceptance of fresh-cut pears. Softening is another important quality parameter which considerably influences the acceptance of fresh-cut pears. The aim of this work was to study the effect of genotype on shelf life and quality of fresh-cut pear fruit harvested at commercial maturity stage. After cutting, pear fruit samples were stored under passive atmosphere at 5±1°C for 3, 5, 7 and 12 days. Fruit color (L*, a*, b*, ΔE), consistence, solid soluble, titratable acidity, CO2 and O2 packag…
A hybrid observer for localization from noisy inertial data and sporadic position measurements
2023
We propose an asymptotic position and speed observer for inertial navigation in the case where the position measurements are sporadic and affected by noise. We cast the problem in a hybrid dynamics framework where the continuous motion is affected by unknown continuous-time disturbances and the sporadic position measurements are affected by discrete-time noise. We show that the peculiar hybrid cascaded structure describing the estimation error dynamics is globally finite-gain exponentially ISS with gains depending intuitively on our tuning parameters. Experimental results, as well as the comparison with an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), confirm the effectiveness of the proposed solution with…
Le sculture lignee
2023
Il contributo indaga le sculture lignee ubicate nella chiesa di Santa Maria la Porta di Geraci Siculo. Si tratta di opere eseguite dal XVI al XVII secolo da scultori attestati non solo nel borgo madonita ma anche in altre realtà isolane. Ogni manufatto è collocato nella pertinente temperie culturale The contribution investigates the wooden sculptures located in the church of Santa Maria la Porta in Geraci Siculo. These are works performed from the 16th to the 17th century by sculptors attested not only in the Madonie village but also in other island realities. Each artifact is placed in the pertinent cultural climate
Hot towels
2023
Background Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) reduces quality-of-life and hinders work productivity of millions of patients, with high direct and indirect societal costs. Thickened meibum obstructs the glands and disrupts ocular surface health. Heating the eyelids to soften and express meibum from the glands can be beneficial. The most accessible method for eyelid warming uses heated, wet towels. However, the efficacy of this treatment is reliant on the methodology, and evidence-based best-practice recommendations are needed. Purpose To evaluate the literature on hot towels in MGD treatment and recommend a best-practice protocol for future research and patient treatment. Methods Studies were…
Virtual reality acceptance and commitment therapy intervention for social and public speaking anxiety : A randomized controlled trial
2023
Virtual reality (VR) offers new and flexible ways to provide psychological interventions. The aim of this study was to develop and investigate the effectiveness of a VR intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for social and public speaking anxiety. ACT is a process-based approach that aims to (a) increase individuals’ abilities to handle difficult emotional and cognitive experiences and (b) develop the motivation required for change to occur. In this study, a sample of university students with social interaction or communication anxiety (N = 76; age M = 24.95, SD = 6.50, 69.7% females) was blindly randomized into a total of 2 h of VR ACT training (VRACT; n = 37) or a w…