Search results for "VARIATION"
showing 10 items of 2124 documents
Variation between Self- and Mutual Assessment in Animal Contests
2014
Limited resources lead animals into conflicts of interest, which are resolved when an individual withdraws from a direct contest. Current theory suggests that the decision to withdraw can be based on a threshold derived from an individual’s own state (self-assessment) or on a comparison between their own state and their opponent’s (mutual assessment). The observed variation between these assessment strategies in nature does not conform to theory. Thus, we require theoretical developments that explain the functional significance of different assessment strategies. We consider a hawk-dove game with two discrete classes that differ in fighting ability, in which the players strategically decide…
A Variationally Consistent Time Modelling of Elastic-Plastic Constitutive Equations
1991
A general energy-based time discretization method for evolutive analysis is presented. Most known time integration procedures (mid-point rule, backward difference, etc.) are shown to be particular cases of it. For space continuous systems, a sequence of weighted boundary value problems of deformation-theory plasticity are obtained, each characterizable by a number of variational principles useful for finite element discretization.
Nucleotide variation in the VP7 gene affects PCR genotyping of G9 rotaviruses identified in Italy
2003
A modified (aFT9m) and a degenerate (aFT9d) version of the rotavirus G9-specific primer (aFT9) allowed strains that were previously untypable, because of point mutations accumulating at the primer binding site, to be G typed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The strains were collected during 2001-2002 in Italy in hospitals of the Apulia region, from children affected by severe rotavirus-associated enteritis. Using a wide selection of G9 rotaviruses detected worldwide, sequencing of the G9 untypable strains, sequence comparison, and phylogenetic analysis showed that the Italian strains have strong genetic similarity (< or =99.4%) to G9 rotaviruses identified recently in man…
Genomic characterization of a novel group A lamb rotavirus isolated in Zaragoza, Spain.
2008
An ovine rotavirus (OVR) strain, 762, was isolated from a 30-day-old lamb affected with severe gastroenteritis, in Zaragoza, Spain, and the VP4, VP7, VP6, NSP4, and NSP5/NSP6 genes were subsequently characterized molecularly. Strain OVR762 was classified as a P[14] rotavirus, as the VP4 and VP8* trypsin-cleavage product of the VP4 protein revealed the highest amino acid (aa) identity (94% and 97%, respectively) with that of the P11[14] human rotavirus (HRV) strain PA169, isolated in Italy. Analysis of the VP7 gene product revealed that OVR762 possessed G8 serotype specificity, a type common in ruminants, with the highest degree of aa identity (95–98%) shared with serotype G8 HRV, bovine rot…
G2 rotavirus infections in an infantile population of the South of Italy: variability of viral strains over time.
2005
Rotavirus positive samples collected in Palermo, Italy, during 2002–2004 did not react with the G2 type-specific RV5:3 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and could be identified as G2 only by RT-PCR genotyping. The genetic variation of VP7 and VP4 antigenic proteins was studied in 14 G2 samples including a selection of both those successfully characterized by serotyping and those failing to be serotyped. The phylogenetic analysis performed on partial VP7 sequences showed a temporal clustering of these strains, with those isolated in Palermo in 2003 belonging to the same lineage of G2 MAbs-unreactive strains identified in UK in 1996–1997 and in Bari, Italy, in 2003–2004. A single amino acid substi…
Morphological variation of the newly confirmed population of the javelin sand boa, Eryx jaculus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Serpentes, erycidae) in Sicily, Ita…
2019
The presence of the Javelin sand boa in Sicily has recently been confirmed. Here the morphological characters and sexual dimorphism of the Sicilian population of Eryx jaculus are presented. Seven meristic and six metric characters in 96 specimens from Sicily were examined. The results show that tail length, snout-vent length, the distance between nostrils and the number of ventral and subcaudal scales are different between sexes. The characters found in the Sicilian population of the Javelin sand boa resemble those of the African population (ssp. jaculus) rather than the Eurasian population (ssp. turcicus), but biomolecular studies are necessary to understand its taxonomic identity.
A New Multiblock PLS Based Method to Estimate Causal Models: Application to the Post-Consumption Behavior in Tourism
2009
This study presents a new algorithm for estimating causal models based on multiblock PLS method. This new algorithm is tested in a particular post-consumption behavior with the aim of validating a complex system of relations between antecedents of value, perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty. The results are compared with the classical LVPLS method: both methods support the proposed structural relations, but the explained variance is slightly higher with the new algorithm.
Why firms set different export prices? Evidence from Spain
2018
Using firm-level export data for the 2010–2014 period, we investigate the variation of export prices across and within Spanish manufacturing firms. We find that more productive firms set higher exp...
Citrus biotechnology
2020
Agricultural crops that can better withstand the changing climatic and pathogen landscape have been produced through natural selection throughout the millennia and, in recent years, through the process of human-assisted plant breeding and selection. However, a lack of genetic diversity in many commercially cultivated crops (due to monoculture) has made them more vulnerable to biotic and abiotic stresses (Esquinas-Alcazar, 2005; Keneni et al., 2012). Citrus, belonging to the Rutaceae family, is one of the most important commercial woody fruit crops in the tropical and subtropical areas of the world. The origin of citrus is traced back to parts of tropical and subtropical Southeast Asia (Wu e…