Search results for " Biological"
showing 10 items of 8470 documents
Size-related mortality during overwintering in cavity-nesting ant colonies (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
2016
The ongoing process of climate change will result in higher temperatures during winter and therefore might increase the survival of overwintering invertebrates. However, the process may also lead to a reduction in snow cover and expose overwintering invertebrates to lower temperatures, which could result in higher mortality. During a field experiment, I investigated the effects of a reduction in snow cover on the survival of the ant Temnothorax crassispinus, which overwinters in nests located on the ground. Ant colonies differed in the survival rate of the workers in the experimental (from which snow cover was removed) and control group. In the control group, the survival rate was unrelated…
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) Does Not Affect Sports People’s Explosive Power: A Pilot Study
2021
Purpose: This study is aimed to preliminary investigate whether transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) could affect explosive power considering genetic background in sport subjects.Methods: Seventeen healthy sports volunteers with at least 3 years of sports activities participated in the experiment. After 2 weeks of familiarization performed without any stimulation, each participant received either 50 Hz-tACS or sham-tACS. Before and after stimulation, subjects performed the following tests: (1) the squat jump with the hands on the hips (SJ); (2) countermovement jump with the hands on the hips (CMJ); (3) countermovement jump with arm swing (CMJ-AS); (4) 15-s Bosco’s test; (5) s…
Distinctive attributes for predicted secondary structures at terminal sequences of non-classically secreted proteins from proteobacteria
2008
Abstract C- and N-terminal sequences (64 amino acid residues each) of 89 non-classically secreted type I, type III and type IV proteins (Swiss-Prot/TrEMBL) from proteobacteria were transformed into predicted secondary structures. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) confirmed the significance of location (C- or N-termini) and secretion type as essential factors in respect of quantitative representations of structured (a-helices, b-strands) and unstructured (coils) elements. The profiles of secondary structures were transcripted using unequal property values for helices, strands and coils and corresponding numerical vectors (independent variables) were subjected to multiple discriminan…
Red list of threatened vascular plants in Italy
2021
Italy has a rich natural heritage, which is dangerously under pressure. In recent years, there is an increased awareness of the crucial role of plants in ecosystem functioning and in providing ecosystem services. Consequently, an updated Red List of the Italian vascular flora was compiled in this work, at the request of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection, with the scientific support of the Italian Botanical Society. The IUCN Red List criteria were applied to 2,430 Italian native vascular plant taxa to assess their current extinction risk and to highlight the major threats affecting the Italian flora. Our results revealed that 54 taxa (2.2% of the assessed taxa) are extinc…
Single-cell analysis of population context advances RNAi screening at multiple levels
2012
Isogenic cells in culture show strong variability, which arises from dynamic adaptations to the microenvironment of individual cells. Here we study the influence of the cell population context, which determines a single cell's microenvironment, in image‐based RNAi screens. We developed a comprehensive computational approach that employs Bayesian and multivariate methods at the single‐cell level. We applied these methods to 45 RNA interference screens of various sizes, including 7 druggable genome and 2 genome‐wide screens, analysing 17 different mammalian virus infections and four related cell physiological processes. Analysing cell‐based screens at this depth reveals widespread RNAi‐induce…
Time interaction with two spatial dimensions: from left/right to near/far
2022
In this study, we explored the time and space relationship according to two different spatial codings, namely, the left/right extension and the reachability of stimulus along a near/far dimension. Four experiments were carried out in which healthy participants performed the time and spatial bisection tasks in near/far space, before and after short or long tool-use training. Stimuli were prebisected horizontal lines of different temporal durations in which the midpoint was manipulated according to the Muller-Lyer illusion. The perceptual illusory effects emerged in spatial but not temporal judgments. We revealed that temporal and spatial representations dynamically change according to the ac…
Using Temporal Expectation to Assess Auditory Streaming in Mice
2018
Auditory streaming is the process by which environmental sound is segregated into discrete perceptual objects. The auditory system has a remarkable capability in this regard as revealed in psychophysical experiments in humans and other primates. However, little is known about the underlying neuronal mechanisms, in part because of the lack of suitable behavioural paradigms in non-primate species. The mouse is an increasingly popular model for studying the neural mechanisms of perception and action because of the range of molecular tools enabling precise manipulation of neural circuitry. Here we present a novel behavioural task that can be used to assess perceptual aspects of auditory streami…
Improving the Effect of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS): A Systematic Review
2021
With the development of electrical stimulation technology, traditional transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) technology has been found to have the drawback of not targeting a specific area accurately. Studies have shown that optimizing the number and position of electrodes during electrical stimulation has a very good effect on enhancing brain stimulation accuracy. At present, an increasing number of laboratories have begun to optimize tACS. However, there has been no study summarizing the optimization methods of tACS. Determining whether different optimization methods are effective and the optimization approach could provide information that could guide future tACS research. …
The Effects of Transcutaneous Spinal Direct Current Stimulation on Neuropathic Pain in Multiple Sclerosis: Clinical and Neurophysiological Assessment
2019
Background: Central neuropathic pain represents one of the most common symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS) and it seriously affects quality of life. Spinal mechanisms may contribute to the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain in MS. Converging evidence from animal models and neurophysiological and clinical studies in humans suggests a potential effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tc-DCS) on neuropathic pain. Spinal application of DCS, i.e., transcutaneous spinal DCS (ts-DCS), may modulate nociception through inhibition of spinal reflexes. Therefore, ts-DCS could represents an effective, safe and well-tolerated treatment for neuropathic pain in MS, a largely unexplored topic. This…
Comparison of wormlion behavior under man-made and natural shelters: urban wormlions more strongly prefer shaded, fine-sand microhabitats, construct …
2019
Abstract Urban habitats differ from their natural surroundings in various aspects, such as a higher temperature and a distinct species composition. It is therefore not surprising that animal behavior too differs between these habitat types. We studied the foraging and habitat selection behavior of a pit-building predator, a wormlion, originating from either an urban or a more natural site. Wormlions occur in nature under structures that provide shelter from sunlight and rain, such as caves, and are also common in cities, occurring under artificial shelters. Wormlions construct pit-traps to hunt arthropods, and the pits constructed by urban wormlions were larger than those constructed by wor…