94 research outputs found
Long-Term Ecosystem Monitoring Along the Trabocchi Coast (Chieti, Italy): Insights from Underwater Visual Surveys (2011–2024)
No full textBiodiversity studies are essential for evaluating environmental quality and ecosystem integrity [...
First Report of the Thermophilic Thalassoma Pavo (Linnaeus, 1758) on the Central Adriatic Coast of Italy, in Abruzzo
No full textThe Trabocchi Coast in the Chieti district of the mid-Adriatic (Italy) is one of the few rocky areas within the General Fisheries Commission GSA 17, alongside Mount Conero (Ancona 43°00′01″ N 13°52′13″ E) and the small San Nicola Rock (Ascoli Piceno; 43°32′0″ N 13°36′0″ E). This coastline is known for its biodiversity-rich bays, inlets, and submerged cliffs. Since 2015, annual biodiversity surveys have been conducted in the area, focusing on marine species richness and the identification of non-native species. In September 2024, a juvenile ornate wrasse (Thalassoma pavo) was documented for the first time in the middle Adriatic during an underwater visual survey at Trabocco Punta Torre, a key site along the Trabocchi Coast near artificial and biogenic reefs. This record extends the known distribution of T. pavo, a thermophilic species previously reported only along the southern Adriatic coast of Puglia. This is the first confirmed sighting on the middle and northern Adriatic coast of Italy. The discovery highlights the importance of ongoing biodiversity monitoring to track changes in marine ecosystems, particularly as the Adriatic Sea faces environmental shifts linked to climate warming. The presence of T. pavo in this area suggests the potential for the species to establish populations in previously uninhabited northern regions. Further research is needed to explore the role of biotic and abiotic factors—such as water temperature, current patterns, and habitat availability—in the survival and potential reproduction of T. pavo in the middle Adriatic. The observation contributes to the broader understanding of the meridionalization process in the Adriatic Sea, where rising water temperatures are facilitating the northward expansion of thermophilic species. Continuous monitoring is recommended to assess the long-term viability of T. pavo populations in the Adriatic Sea and better predict the impacts of ongoing climate change on marine biodiversity
Sympathetic arousal and arousability predicts subsequent sleep quality
No full textThe aim of this study was to evaluate whether individuals with primary insomnia, in comparison to normal sleepers, show consistently higher autonomic arousal levels or changes in autonomic arousal which is systematically associated to differences in the quality of their night-time-sleeping. To address this aim, skin conductance levels (SCL) and inter beat intervals (IBI) were monitored before and after five consecutive nights in two different experimental conditions: 3 min with the instruction to rest and 3 min while providing acoustic stimuli inducing an orienting reflex. Twenty-three participants were recruited for the study, twelve people with insomnia and eleven good sleepers. The selection of the participants consisted in a first screening phase followed by a clinical interview and two weeks of assessment through the use of sleep diaries. Groups were matched for gender and age. Physiological indices were recorded in the participants' own homes through portable devices for one week (weekends excluded), during which sleep–wake cycles were monitored through actigraphic recording and sleep diaries. Sleep Efficiency Index (SEI), obtained as the ratio between total time spent sleeping divided by the total time spent in bed after lights off, was computed for each night. The SEIs were ordered from the worst to the best. Due to technical problems, two participants only had recording for 4 nights. Consequently, one night was excluded for the whole sample. Results showed that the SEI was always higher in good sleepers as opposed to people with insomnia which, moreover, presented higher within subjects and within group variability than did the control group. Regarding the physiological measures, it was found that sympathetic arousal measured by SCLs predicted the quality of the sleep during the subsequent night. Specifically, both groups showed marginally high rest arousal and significantly high arousal in response to stimulation (arousability) linked to low SEI during the subsequent night. The existence of a relationship between sympathetic arousal and sleep quality is consistent with previous results (e.g. Broman, Hetta, 1994). With respect to IBIs results evidenced no systematic change across both groups and nights of different qualities. In summary, results demonstrated that the variability of sleep quality, which is a central feature of insomnia, is also related to varying levels of evening autonomic arousal and arousability. The same relationship was found also in good sleepers
The effects of sleep debt on vigilance in young drivers: an education/research project in high schools
No full textThe vigilance levels of a group of 59 students were assessed in the daytime (9:00-11:00 a.m.) and again early Sunday morning (2:30-5:00 a.m.), and were then compared. Data were collected at the students' schools. The differences in performance impairment associated with different Saturday night social activities and the effect of alcohol consumption were evaluated. Results indicate a vigilance decrease during the night, and this is greater in subjects who consumed more alcohol. Students who spent their Saturday night in a discotheque showed the most prominent nocturnal vigilance decrease, even when the effect of alcohol consumption is covaried. The effect of social activities on vigilance levels was also associated with different lengths of time spent awake and the different time in which subjects performed the vigilance task. (C) 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
P300 amplitude in subjects with primary insomnia is modulated by their sleep quality
No full textObjective: The hyperarousal hypothesis is evaluated while controlling the influence of the quality of sleep in the night preceding the evaluation. Method: Eleven primary insomniacs and 11 healthy age matched controls participated to the study. Participants filled in 2 weeks of sleep logs and self-monitored their subjective tension the evening before and the morning after each night. Afterwards, subjects were called in to the Lab for a recording session of the P300 ERP (oddball paradigm) once after a night of bad sleep quality (N -) and once after a night of good sleep quality (N+). Results: The main result of the present study indicated that the P300 amplitude at Fz in insomniacs resulted higher following a N - and lower following a N+ with respect to controls. Conclusions: This result suggests that cortical hyperarousal in primary insomniacs is not a stable individual characteristic, but is associated with the poor quality of their nocturnal sleep. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved
Validity of a Short Insomnia Questionnaire: The SDQ
No full textThe SDQ is a brief self-report insomnia questionnaire, which permits the rapid evaluation of insomnia based on the DSM-IV and ICSD-R criteria. The SDQ was developed to provide a fast and valid instrument both for the pre-screening of subjects who complain of insomnia and for epidemiological studies based on standardized definitions of this sleep disorder. Two studies were carried out in order to assess the validity of the SDQ as a self-report measure of insomnia. In the first study the convergent validity of the SDQ was assessed with respect to the global score of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) in a sample of general practitioners' patients. The second study assessed the sensitivity and the specificity of the SDQ in discriminating between insomniacs or normal sleepers in a sample of college students who were given an extensive sleep evaluation within an insomnia counseling program. The SDQ classifications have a good convergent validity with the global sleep quality scores of the PSQI and its classifications of students who complain of or who do not complain of problems of insomnia have a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 87%. Results indicate that the SDQ is a valid paper and pencil instrument to screen insomnia. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved
APPLICATIONS OF COMBINATORIAL OPTIMIZATION ARISING FROM LARGE SCALE SURVEYS
No full textMany difficult statistical problems arising in censuses or in other large scale surveys have an underlying Combinatorial Optimization structure and can be solved with Combinatorial Optimization techniques.
These techniques are often more efficient than the ad hoc solution techniques already developed in the field of Statistics.
This thesis considers in detail two relevant cases of such statistical problems, and proposes solution approaches based on Combinatorial Optimization and Graph Theory.
The first problem is the delineation of Functional Regions, the second one concerns the selection of the scope of a large survey, as briefly described below.
The purpose of this work is therefore the innovative application of known techniques to very important and economically relevant practical problems that the "Censuses, Administrative and Statistical Registers Department" (DICA) of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), where I am senior researcher, has been dealing with.
In several economical, statistical and geographical applications, a territory must be partitioned into Functional Regions. This operation is called Functional Regionalization.
Functional Regions are areas that typically exceed administrative boundaries, and they are of interest for the evaluation of the social and economical phenomena under analysis.
Functional Regions are not fixed and politically delimited, but are determined only by the interactions among all the localities of a territory.
In this thesis, we focus on interactions represented by the daily journey-to-work flows between localities in which people live and/or work.
Functional Regionalization of a territory often turns out to be computationally difficult, because of the size (that is, the number of localities constituting the territory under study) and the nature of the journey-to-work matrix (that is, the sparsity).
In this thesis, we propose an innovative approach to Functional Regionalization based on the solution of graph partition problems over an undirected graph called transitions graph, which is generated by using the journey-to-work data.
In this approach, the problem is solved by recursively partitioning the transition graph by using the min cut algorithms proposed by Stoer and Wagner and Brinkmeier.
%In the second approach, the problem is solved maximizing a function of the sizes and interactions of subsets identified by successions of partitions obtained via Multilevel partitioning approach.
This approach is applied to the determination of the Functional Regions for the Italian administrative regions.
The target population of a statistical survey, also called scope, is the set of statistical units that should be surveyed.
In the case of some large surveys or censuses, the scope cannot be the set of all available units, but it must be selected from this set.
Surveying each unit has a cost and brings a different portion of the whole information.
In this thesis, we focus on the case of Agricultural Census.
In this case, the units are farms, and we want to determine a subset of units producing the minimum total cost and safeguarding at least a certain portion of the total information, according to the coverage levels assigned by the European regulations.
Uncertainty aspects also occur, because the portion of information corresponding to each unit is not perfectly known before surveying it.
The basic decision aspect is to establish the inclusion criteria before surveying each unit.
We propose here to solve the described problem using multidimensional binary knapsack models
The assessment of daytime sleep propensity: a comparison between the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and a newly developed Resistance to Sleepiness Scale
No full textIntroduction: The Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) is widely used as a way of measuring subjective sleep propensity in research and clinical practice. Psychometric studies do not rule out the presence of more than one latent dimension underlying the items. Objective: Aims of the present study were to: (a) evaluate psychometric proprieties of the ESS by means of classic psychometric techniques; (b) compare them with those from a newly developed resistance to sleepiness scale (RSS); (c) evaluate, following the latent trait theory, whether the items of both ESS and RSS could be conceptualized as different levels of an interval variable representative of a single latent trait related to sleep propensity. Methods: One hundred and forty-six inpatients suffering from different sleep disorders filled in both the RSS and ESS in a sleep disorder centre. Results: Indexes of fit derived by the application of the extended logistic model are consistent with the idea that each ESS item can be conceptualized as different levels of an interval variable representative of a single latent trait. However, most of the ESS items are found to be located at the opposite extremes of this continuum. Conclusions: The under representation of situations characterized by an intermediate soporific nature in the ESS could limit ESS sensitivity to detect intermediate variations of sleep propensity. (C) 2003 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved
DIASTOLIC DYSFUNCTION EVALUATED WITH TISSUE DOPPLER IMAGING IN CIRRHOTIC PATIENTS IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH A MORE SEVERE LIVER IMPAIRMENT
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