Search results for " adaptation"
showing 10 items of 504 documents
Innovation for climate change adaptation and technical efficiency: an empirical analysis in the European agricultural sector
2020
This paper analyses the effect of innovation on firms' technical efficiency. Using climate-related patent data to proxy for innovation activity in different technological fields, the paper employs a stochastic frontier approach to estimate the impact of innovative efforts on agricultural firms' technical efficiency taking account of both unobservable heterogeneity and double heteroscedasticity in the inefficiency and idiosyncratic terms. Our findings confirm that innovation has a positive impact on firms' productivity (technical efficiency). While agricultural firms located in Germany and Sweden are more efficient compared to those in southern countries, all the European countries considere…
Signs of local adaptation by genetic selection and isolation promoted by extreme temperature and salinity in the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oce…
2023
Adaptation to local conditions is known to occur in seagrasses; however, knowledge of the genetic basis underlying this phenomenon remains scarce. Here, we analysed Posidonia oceanica from six sites within and around the Stagnone di Marsala, a semi-enclosed coastal lagoon where salinity and temperature exceed the generally described tolerance thresholds of the species. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were measured and plant samples were collected for the assessment of morphology, flowering rate and for screening genome-wide polymorphisms using double digest restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing. Results demonstrated more extreme SSTs and salinity levels inside the lagoon than the outer…
Adaptation to Low Salinity Promotes Genomic Divergence in Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua L.).
2015
How genomic selection enables species to adapt to divergent environments is a fundamental question in ecology and evolution. We investigated the genomic signatures of local adaptation in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) along a natural salinity gradient, ranging from 35‰ in the North Sea to 7‰ within the Baltic Sea. By utilizing a 12 K SNPchip, we simultaneously assessed neutral and adaptive genetic divergence across the Atlantic cod genome. Combining outlier analyses with a landscape genomic approach, we identified a set of directionally selected loci that are strongly correlated with habitat differences in salinity, oxygen, and temperature. Our results show that discrete regions within the …
Widespread secondary contact and new glacial refugia in the halophilic rotifer Brachionus plicatilis in the Iberian Peninsula.
2011
Small aquatic organisms harbour deep phylogeographic patterns and highly structured populations even at local scales. These patterns indicate restricted gene flow, despite these organisms' high dispersal abilities, and have been explained by a combination of (1) strong founder effects due to rapidly growing populations and very large population sizes, and (2) the development of diapausing egg banks and local adaptation, resulting in low effective gene flow, what is known as the Monopolization hypothesis. In this study, we build up on our understanding of the mitochondrial phylogeography of the halophilic rotifer Brachionus plicatilis in the Iberian Peninsula by both increasing the number of…
The italian adaptation of Sensation Seeking Scale Form V (SSS-V): A contribution
2009
Objectives: The present study is addressed to validate the Italian version of the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V (SSS-V; Zuckerman, Eysenck & Eysenck, 1978), the most popular and widely used instrument to assess individuals’ tendency to differ with respect to their optimal levels of stimulation and arousal. Methods: After forward- and back-translation, psychometric properties were estimated from 1530 adolescents and young students (38.8% males; 61.5% females), who were asked to give their preference using a dichotomous forced choice answer format. Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses highlighted a 2-factor structure: Thrill and Adventure Seeking and Disinhibition. Positive …
Testing cognition and rehabilitation in unilateral neglect with wedge prism adaptation: multiple interplays between sensorimotor adaptation and spati…
2014
Spatial neglect is a neurological condition characterised by deficits for perceiving, attending, representing, and/or performing actions within their left-sided space, responsible for numerous debilitating effects in everyday life, for poor functional recovery, and for decreased ability to benefit from treatment. Exposure to a right lateral displacement of the visual field (induced by a simple target-pointing task with base-left wedge prisms) is known to directionally bias visuomotor coordination and can be compensated by both sensorimotor adaptation and cognitive processes. Sensorimotor adaptation gives rise to after-effects whose duration is amplified in neglect patients and has been repe…
Rilevazione, creazione, resistenza: l'opinione separata e il diritto internazionale
2022
Separate opinions have made the object of extensive scholarship in recent decades: in the international legal order, this is a consequence of that institution’s peculiar success, as virtually all judiciary and quasi-judiciary bodies allow for the allegation of separate opinions (either concurring or dissenting) to their rulings. This contribution tests the impact of separate opinions on subsequent case law and opinions, on the process of international law-making, and eventually on the mechanisms through which the Italian legal order adapts to international law as interpreted by international judiciary or quasi-judiciary bodies. The practice under scrutiny is admittedly multifarious; yet, it…
A New Multicast Technique for Video Transmission over ABR Services in ATM Networks
2000
Multicast techniques are the only way to simultaneously provide flows of information from one source to several destinations. The intention of this paper is to study and to evaluate different multicast techniques using a video coder based on an adaptive video compression algorithm with subband coding and a best effort network service like ATM with the Available Bit Rate (ABR) service. This video transmission can adapt faster and easily to changing network conditions. In this way, we present an evaluation process for a determined network configuration. Thereafter we discuss the results obtained by simulation and propose for this video transmission a trade-off between these multicast techniqu…
Probabili impatti del cambiamento climatico sulla biodiversità delle foreste italiane
2012
The likely impact of climate change on the biodiversity of Italian forests. Based on literature results and our expert evaluation, we report some likely impacts of climate change on the biodiversity of forest communities in Italy by the end of this century. In the Mediterranean region and on the Apennines: at low altitudes, vulnerability of Pinus sp. and Quercus ilex forests, with loss of intraspecific genetic variability; transition from Mediterranean closed-canopy macchia to scattered shrublands; risk of local extinction for coastal populations of mesic/relic hardwood species (e.g., Quercus robur, Carpinus betulus, Zelkova sicula, Fraxinus sp.); ’eastern’ relic species like Quercus troian…
Project LIFE11 ENV/IT/0002215 ResilForMed - Resilience of Mediterranean Forests to Climate Change
2017
Forest and pre-forest ecosystems of Sicily are characterized by a high structural simplification and fragility, reduced species diversity, high density, pest and diseases that are expected to worsen according to the ongoing anthropogenic climate change. In this work we present the achievements of the project LIFE ResilForMed (Resilience of Mediterranean Forests to climate change), as Sicilian response on adaptation and mitigation to climate change. ResilForMed project is co-funded by the LIFE Initiative (2007-2014) and started June 1st 2012 with an expected conclusion on June 30th 2017. The project consortium involves: (i) the Department of Rural and Land Development of the Sicilian Region,…