Search results for "Spatial Distribution"
showing 10 items of 180 documents
Spatial distribution of two maternal messengers encoding two sea urchin cell surface proteins
1993
We have localized, byin situ hybridization, two messengers, called bepl and bep4 (butanol extracted proteins), coding for cell surface proteins, involved in cell interaction, in sections of eggs of the sea urchinP. lividus. These maternal RNAs are spatially distributed in a gradient with a maximum at one pole of the egg. These results represent the first demonstration of the existence of a gradient of informational molecules in the sea urchin egg,i.e., the biological material for which the gradient theory was first proposed.
Dispersion models and air quality data for population exposure assessment to air pollution
2014
Evaluating the extent of exposure to chemicals in absence of continuous measurements of their concentration in air and direct measures of personal exposure is crucial for epidemiological studies. Dispersion models can be a useful tool for reproducing spatio-temporal distribution of contaminants emitted by a specific source. However, they cannot easily be applied to short-term epidemiological studies because they require precise information on daily emission scenarios for a long time, which are generally not available. The aim of this study was to better assess the exposure in the industrial area of Brindisi, which suffers from various critical epidemiological situations, by integrating air …
Distribution of Heavy Metals in Marine Sediments of Palermo Gulf (Sicily, Italy)
2008
Concentrations of Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb and Zn have been measured, by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, in the fine fraction (<63 μm) of surface sediments collected in 30 sites in the Palermo Gulf (Sicily, Italy) in order to assess the levels and the spatial distribution of these elements. Enrichment factors calculated with respect to clean areas have been considered to discriminate between levels due to background or to pollution contributions. The sampling stations, which form a grid inside these areas, are characterized by geographic proximity and by the presence of pollution sources. Ratio matching technique along with hierarchical clustering, minimum spanning tree and principal component a…
Trace metals in “Posidonia oceanica” seagrass from south-eastern Sicily
2005
Heavy-metal concentrations were measured in sediments and tissues of Posidonia oceanica seagrass from south-eastern Sicily (Italy) in order to assess the degree of metal pollution in the coastal area. Seagrasses and sediments were collected at four sites along the south-eastern coast of Sicily. Flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS) was used to measure concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb. Standard statistical analyses were used to assess significant differences among the levels of the elements measured in different tissues and sediment and spatial distribution. The greatest values of potentially toxic metal concentrations were observed at the station near the industrial sites of A…
Future changes in North Atlantic winter cyclones in CESM-LENS. Part I: cyclone intensity, PV anomalies and horizontal wind speed
2021
Abstract. Strong low-level winds associated with extratropical cyclones can cause substantial impacts on society. The wind intensity and the spatial distribution of wind maxima may change in a warming climate; however, the involved changes in cyclone structure and dynamics are unclear. Here, such structural changes of strong North Atlantic cyclones in a warmer climate close to the end of the current century are investigated with storm-relative composites based on Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble (CESM-LENS) simulations. Furthermore, a piecewise potential vorticity inversion is applied to associate such changes in low-level winds to changes in potential vorticity (PV) anomalies at…
Spatial distribution of rainfall trends in Sicily (1921–2000)
2006
Abstract The feared global climate change could have important effects on various environmental variables including rainfall in many countries around the world. Changes in precipitation regime directly affect water resources management, agriculture, hydrology and ecosystems. For this reason it is important to investigate the changes in the spatial and temporal rainfall pattern in order to improve water management strategies. In this study a non-parametric statistical method (Mann–Kendall rank correlation method) is employed in order to verify the existence of trend in annual, seasonal and monthly rainfall and the distribution of the rainfall during the year. This test is applied to about 25…
Derivation of a Distributed Unit Hydrograph Integrating GIS and Remote Sensing
2007
The paper describes the results of a study based on the integration of remote sensing and geographical information system techniques to evaluate a distributed unit hydrograph model linked to an excess rainfall model for estimating the streamflow response at the outlet of a watershed. Travel time computation, based on the definition of a distributed unit hydrograph, has been performed, implementing a procedure using (1) a cell-to-cell flow path through the landscape determined from a digital elevation model (DEM); and (2) roughness parameters obtained from remote sensing data. This procedure allows the taking into account of the differences, in terms of velocity, between the hillslopes and t…
Episodios térmicos extremos analizados con productos MODIS durante el invierno boreal (2000-2016)
2016
<p>The beginning of the XXI century is characterized by the intensification of the existing global warming situation and for a series of drastic global meteorological events. Particularly, during the winter season a series of extreme temperature episodes affecting large areas of the northern hemisphere have been produced. In this paper, these episodes are studied by analyzing the thermal anomalies spatial distribution and temporal evolution in the period 2001-2016 from Land Surface Temperature (LST) products obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor. The study regions considered in this investigation are eight of the northern hemisphere. The result…
Assessing changes in rainfall erosivity in Sicily during the twentieth century
2007
Changes in rainfall erosivity are an expected consequence of climate change. Long-term series of the single storm erosion index, EI, may be analysed to detect trends in rainfall erosivity. An indirect approach has to be applied for estimating EI, given that long series of rainfall intensities are seldom available. In this paper, a method for estimating EI from the corresponding rainfall amount, he, was developed for Sicily. This method was then applied at 17 Sicilian locations, representative of different climatic zones of the region, to generate a long series (i.e. from 1916 to 1999 in most cases) of EI values. Linear and step (step located at 1970) trends in annual and seasonal erosivity …
Distribution patterns of fungi and bacteria in saline soils
2014
Saline soils are environments characterized by uneven temporal and spatial water distribution and localized high concentrations of salts. Spatial distribution patterns of fungi and bacteria in saline soils, and the link between microbial community dynamics and salts accumulation are critical issues throughout the world (Ettema, Wardle 2002). This study was focused on spatial distribution patterns of soil fungi and bacteria in a saline soil located in Piana del Signore (Gela, Italy) where some ecological variables acted as shaping factors in aboveground and belowground communities distribution. Bacterial, archaeal, and fungal communities diversity and distribution in ten soil sites (A horizo…