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Overlaps of marine predators, aquaculture, and fish-aggregating devices: passive acoustics reveal site- and time-specific dolphin behavior
No full textAquaculture facilities and fishing procedures using floating Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) have recently gained increasing attention due to the intensifying practice and ecosystem concerns. However, uncertainty remains regarding the conservation issues for vulnerable megafauna attracted to them. Here, we investigated the acoustic occurrence and behavior of bottlenose dolphins in the proximity of these fishing facilities in the Central Mediterranean Sea. Data were collected between February and October 2024 through autonomous recorders deployed in two fish farms and one FAD along the Maltese island’s eastern coast. Almost 300 h of recordings were analyzed to detect dolphin vocalizations. Results showed that bottlenose dolphins occurred at all sites, with temporal (both seasonal and diel) and site–specific variability, and a higher presence in the FAD proximity compared to the fish farms. Furthermore, the different acoustic behavior displayed close to the FAD compared to the fish farms suggests that the feeding strategy adopted requires higher coordination. The outcomes highlight that fish artificial floating devices, both aquaculture cages and FADs, can represent an increased opportunity for food availability but might have a differential impact on bottlenose dolphin behavior in Maltese archipelago, that should be evaluated to determine the extent of this effect on the conservation of the species for implementing appropriate sustainable management plans of the fish industry that take into account marine mammal presence
Tracing the evolution of sustainability reporting: insights from public and private energy companies
No full textThis study sets out to investigate the sustainability reporting practices of public and private companies in the energy sector, with particular attention to their evolution following the introduction of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). The research examines how sustainability reporting practices have evolved over time. The methodology is qualitative: a content analysis was conducted on the sustainability reports of 10 companies covering the period 2017–2023, resulting in a dataset of 70 reports. This longitudinal approach made it possible to identify significant shifts in sustainability discourse and disclosure practices within the energy sector. Given the sector’s crucial role in the impacts related to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, the credibility and transparency of its sustainability practices are essential to achieving broader climate and social objectives. This study contributes to the literature by shedding light on the evolution of sustainability reporting in both public and private sectors, identifying key differences between SOEs and private firms in the energy industry, and offering theoretical and practical implications for academics, policymakers, and practitioners
Parsimony
No full textParsimony occupies a foundational role in the construction of scientific theories, functioning as a heuristic criterion across in all three stages of theory-building—justification, selection, and generation. It asserts that, all else being equal, the theory or hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be preferred. Parsimony plays a fundamental role in philosophy, logic, and science (including psychology), serving as a methodological guide advocating for simplicity and cognitive economy in theoretical explanation and inference. This entry explores the philosophical foundations and evolution of the principle, its applications in contemporary scientific practice, and its relevance in psychological models of cognition. It also addresses key debates surrounding over-simplification, ambiguity, and cognitive bias, arguing that parsimony is not merely a heuristic for scientific theory choice but a profound epistemic principle shaping our understanding of rationality and theory-building across disciplines
Chapter 8 - Communicating Tsunami Risk and Uncertainties
No full textRisk communication. The communication of tsunami hazard or risk results (e.g., hazard and risk metrics, hazard and risk data products) with institutional users (such as disaster managers, fire brigades, police units, etc.) and populations not trained to understand and interpret scientific results is an important step and poses many challenges. For example, communication of probabilistic statements that inevitably include uncertainties needs specific attention and considerations (Rafliana et al. 2022). To support the implementation of new tsunami hazard and risk models within disaster risk management activities, the last key ingredient corresponds to tsunami risk communication. While a full elaboration on communicating probabilities and uncertainties goes well beyond the scope of this cookbook, we still strive to raise awareness among the scientific community and practitioners to keep this important aspect of PTHA and PTRA in mind. We aim at providing scientists with guidance and background information on how to appropriately engage in, co-design, prepare, and deliver risk communication, with and to different audiences
Qualitative and Quantitative Use-Wear Analysis of Percussive Stone Tools from Nyayanga (Homa Peninsula, Kenya)
No full textThis study presents a comprehensive examination of the function of 26 percussive stone tools (PSTs) from Nyayanga, an Oldowan site located on the Homa Peninsula in southwestern Kenya. These artifacts, dating between 3.032 to 2.581 million years ago, were found together with hominin remains and animal fossils with stone tool butchery damage. To determine the function of the PSTs, we adopted a multiscale approach that combines qualitative use-wear analysis using microscopic techniques at low and high power approaches with quantitative analysis, employing 3D surface models generated with profilometry. These analyses indicate that Nyayanga hominins used PSTs to access both plant (e.g., USOs) and animal (bone marrow) nutrients. The inferred multifunctionality of these tools hints at diverse dietary strategies and contributes to our understanding of human technological evolution
Culturalization: Shaping the Transition to Sustainability
No full textLe teorie sociologiche sul tema della transizione sostenibile presentano dei limiti esplicativi difficilmente superabili anche a fronte di una considerazione congiunta delle stesse; non risulta chiaro quale possa essere, per dirla con Weber, il “principio di causazione adeguata”, cioè, a fronte di tutte le cause o le determinanti del fenomeno “transizione sostenibile”, quale fattore possa dirsi più decisivo di altri, senza il quale cioè quel fenomeno non si verificherebbe, e quali differenze emergano rispetto al più tradizionale concetto di “mutamento sociale”, in questo caso “sostenibile”
Adaptive behavior with stable synapses
No full textBehavioral changes in animals and humans, triggered by errors or verbal instructions, can occur extremely rapidly. While learning theories typically attribute improvements in performance to synaptic plasticity, recent findings suggest that such fast adaptations may instead result from dynamic reconfiguration of the networks involved without changes to synaptic weights. Recently, similar capabilities have been observed in transformers, foundational architecture in machine learning widely used in applications such as natural language and image processing. Transformers are capable of in-context learning, the ability to adapt and acquire new information dynamically within the context of the task or environment they are currently engaged in, without changing their parameters. We argue that this property may stem from gain modulation–a feature widely observed in biological networks, such as pyramidal neurons through input segregation and dendritic amplification. We propose a constructive approach to induce in-context learning in an architecture composed of recurrent networks with gain modulation, demonstrating abilities inaccessible to standard networks. In particular, we show that, such architecture can dynamically implement standard gradient-based by encoding weight changes in the activity of another network. We argue that, while these algorithms are traditionally associated with synaptic plasticity, their reliance on non-local terms suggests that they may be more naturally realized in the brain at the level of neural circuits. We demonstrate that we can extend our approach to temporal tasks and reinforcement learning. We further validate our approach in a MuJoCo ant navigation task, showcasing a neuromorphic control paradigm via real-time network reconfiguration
Treg Susceptibility to Cladribine-Induced Depletion Correlates With Therapy Response in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis
No full textBackground and objectives: Immune reconstitution therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) are based on selective lymphocyte reduction, followed by repopulation and rescue of immune tolerance. Among these therapies, cladribine is an adenosine analog that interferes with cell division and depletes several lymphocyte subtypes. Regulatory T cells (Tregs), physiologically devoted to immune suppression, are dysfunctional in the context of MS. In this study, we explored the effects of cladribine on Treg dynamics and phenotype. Methods: In vivo, deep immunophenotyping was conducted on peripheral blood of patients with MS (n = 11), longitudinally collected before and after 6 and 12 months of cladribine therapy. In vitro, expanded Tregs were treated with cladribine and analyzed for their phenotypic, molecular, and metabolic profiles. Results: In vivo, Tregs were overall less sensitive than conventional T cells (Tconvs) to the depleting effects of cladribine. This phenomenon was particularly evident in the subset of the resting (rest) Tregs. At baseline, while activated (act) Tregs presented markers of proliferation, senescence, and survival, restTregs highly expressed the antiapoptotic protein Bcl2 and the quiescence marker Bach2. In vitro, cladribine strongly reduced Treg viability while inducing a program of senescence and dysfunction and compromising their metabolic fitness. When Treg dynamics were analyzed ex vivo in relation to neuroinflammation and response to therapy, restTregs exhibited resistance to depletion in nonresponders, in association with increasing expression of Bcl2. Discussion: These results indicate that the efficacy of cladribine therapy may require reduction and repopulation of the Treg compartment, an event that may be hindered by restTreg resistance, which is supported by antiapoptotic signals
Topological hydrogen-bond saturation as a design route to type V deep eutectics
No full textType V deep eutectic solvents (DES), formed by combination of neutral hydrogen-bonding molecules, remain difficult to predict and engineer. The recent proposal that the asymmetric nature of hydrogen bonding (HB) donor and acceptor capability of precursors might be a key approach for their formulation requires validation. Here we show that the emergence of a topologically saturated hydrogen-bond network provides a mechanistic route to formulate such systems, exemplified by the carvacrol–dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) mixture. COSMO-RS screening predicts a profoundly deep eutectic (about 110 K depression) arising from donor-free, strong HB acceptor DMSO when paired with asymmetric HB donor carvacrol.
To our knowledge, this is the first example of a type V DES whose precursors are liquid at ambient conditions, thus enabling a detailed exploration of chemical physical properties and their excess values to be probed across the whole composition window.
This approach is fundamental to describe the complex structural and dynamical organization of carvacrol–DMSO mixtures across composition and relate hydrogen-bond topology to the onset of deep eutectic behaviour, on the basis of complementary thermophysical measurements, neutron scattering, NMR and classical molecular dynamics simulations.
The work addresses two main points: i) can present knowledge be used to custom engineer type V DES?; ii) how does the shifting interplay between intra- and interspecies interactions across composition translate into the deep eutectic nature of Type V mixtures
RISORSE UMANE E DIMENSIONAMENTO, OPPORTUNITÀ DI CAMBIAMENTO FUTURO
No full textQualsiasi modello di dimensionamento delle risorse umane deve essere considerato in relazione a molteplici fattori, sia interni che esterni all’impresa. In questo lavoro, attraverso il metodo dei casi di studio, sono illustrate la genesi, la costruzione e l’applicazione di un modello di dimensionamento delle risorse umane. Il modello è analizzato all’interno di una cornice complessa e multiforme, influenzata da fattori esterni, come la liberalizzazione del mercato e l’introduzione di nuove normative, e da fattori interni, quali gli obiettivi strategici del management e gli elevati standard di qualità produttiva. L’articolo intende offrire, in questo contesto articolato, non un modello definitivo, ma spunti concreti e utili per affrontare il problema del dimensionamento delle risorse umane nel percorso di sviluppo di una grande azienda elettrica italiana