Search results for "mediterranean"

WOODIV, a database of occurrences, functional traits, and phylogenetic data for all Euro-Mediterranean trees

2021

Trees play a key role in the structure and function of many ecosystems worldwide. In the Mediterranean Basin, forests cover approximately 22% of the total land area hosting a large number of endemics (46 species). Despite its particularities and vulnerability, the biodiversity of Mediterranean trees is not well known at the taxonomic, spatial, functional, and genetic levels required for conservation applications. The WOODIV database fills this gap by providing reliable occurrences, four functional traits (plant height, seed mass, wood density, and specific leaf area), and sequences from three DNA-regions (rbcL, matK, and trnH-psbA), together with modelled occurrences and a phylogeny for all…

Le specie alloctone invasive in Sicilia: caratterizzazione del fenomeno, strategie di colonizzazione e possibili strategie di contrasto

2014

Stereotomy of the Late-Medieval Mediterranean. Crossroads of Experimental Design

2015

This paper analyses some specific case studies of vault and spiral staircase construction built in Sicily in the 12th and 13th centuries during Norman and Swabian rule, as a site of experimenta-tion in the field of stereotomy. The list of such examples still extant (in Palermo some details of the cathedral, the muqarnas in the Zisa Palace and its palatine chapel – the first stone muqarnas in the Mediterranean -, in Syracuse and Catania the castles built during the reign of Frederick II, etc) must be considered in conjunction with similar constructions, now lost or ruined, especially by earthquakes (eg. the intriguing Hall of Syracuse and Mongialino Castle). Among these exam-ples are buildin…

Spatio-temporal behaviour of the deep chlorophyll maximum in Mediterranean Sea: Development of a stochastic model for picophytoplankton dynamics

2013

In this paper, by using a stochastic reaction-diffusion-taxis model, we analyze the picophytoplankton dynamics in the basin of the Mediterranean Sea, characterized by poorly mixed waters. The model includes intraspecific competition of picophytoplankton for light and nutrients. The multiplicative noise sources present in the model account for random fluctuations of environmental variables. Phytoplankton distributions obtained from the model show a good agreement with experimental data sampled in two different sites of the Sicily Channel. The results could be extended to analyze data collected in different sites of the Mediterranean Sea and to devise predictive models for phytoplankton dynam…

Marinifilum flexuosum sp. nov., a new Bacteroidetes isolated from coastal Mediterranean Sea water and emended description of the genus Marinifilum Na…

2012

Abstract A facultatively anaerobe, moderately halophilic, Gram-negative, filamentous, non motile and unpigmented bacterium, designated M30 T , was isolated from coastal Mediterranean Sea water in Valencia, Spain. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequences placed this strain in the phylum “ Bacteroidetes ” with Marinifilum fragile JC2469 T as its closest relative with 97% sequence similarity. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) values between both strains were far below the 95% threshold value for species delineation (about 89% using BLAST and about 90% using MUMmer). A comprehensive polyphasic study, including morphological, biochemical, physiological, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic d…

New records of leatherback sea turtle, Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761) (Testudines: Dermochelyidae) in the Strait of Sicily

2017

We report three new records of leatherback sea turtle, Dermochelys coriacea (Vandelli, 1761) recovered in February 2011 and in spring-summer 2016 in the Strait of Sicily. The individuals were handed over dead to the IZS of Palermo for necropsy. The first specimen measured 139 and 91 cm of CCL and CCW respectively and was found beached and alive but died a few hours later for septicemia. The second measured 110 cm of CCL and 83 cm of CCW and showed a deep wound on its head probably due to contact with a boat propeller. The third individual measured 134 cm of CCL and 96 cm of CCW and had plastic bags, a piece of fishing net and debris of various nature in the stomach. For the second individua…

Larval fish assemblages in the central Mediterranean Sea: spatio-temporal dynamics and biological effects on early life stage of Sardinella aurita (P…

Morphological and molecular redescription of the myxozoanUnicapsula pflugfelderiSchubert, Sprague & Reinboth 1975 from two teleost hosts in the M…

2009

Elongate plasmodia with myxosporean spores belonging to the genus Unicapsula, Davis, 1924 were found in the skeletal muscle of the striped seabream, Lithognathus mormyrus (L.), a candidate for the mediterranean aquaculture. The only species of Unicapsula described from the Mediterranean is Unicapsula pflugfelderi Schubert et al. 1975, which occurs in the picarel, Spicara smaris (L.). For morphological and molecular comparison of U. pflugfelderi from S. smaris with Unicapsula sp. from L. mormyrus measurements of plasmodia and spores, ultrastructural details and 18S and 28S rDNA sequences were analysed. Whereas plasmodia were 2-3 times larger in S. smaris than in L. mormyrus (length 2.47-0.81…

Prevalence of dangerous alcohol consumption in nursing students

2020

BACKGROUND: The use of alcohol is a phenomenon widely spread among young people and takes on different psychological, sociological and cultural connotations. The aim of the study is to stimulate the prevalence of dangerous alcohol consumption and examine the associated factors in a cohort of nursing students from the University of Palermo. METHODS: The study employed a cross-sectional study design. On March 2020, a survey was provided to all nursing students of University of Palermo of the three years of course who attend daily lessons. The questionnaire was structured into two parts. The first section investigates on socio-demographic information. In the second part of the survey, the Alco…

In-Between ‘Smart’ Urban Growth and ‘Sluggish’ Rural Development? Reframing Population Dynamics in Greece, 1940–2019

2020

Multifaceted demographic dynamics have shaped population growth in Mediterranean Europe, reflecting a metropolitan cycle from urbanization to re-urbanization. To assess the distinctive impact of economic downturns on population dynamics, the present study illustrates the results of an exploratory analysis that assesses urban expansion and rural decline at various temporal scales in Greece, a peripheral country in southeastern Europe. Statistical analysis based on multivariate exploratory techniques outlined the persistent increase of regional populations, evidencing the distinctive role of agglomeration/scale with urbanization and early suburbanization phases (1940&ndash