176 research outputs found
Crescentino Caselli e l'Ospizio di San Vincenzo a Vinovo
No full textVinovo, 1890: la Congregazione di Carità e il Comune hanno deciso di costruire un nuovo Ospizio. L’ente Piccola Casa della Divina Provvidenza del Cottolengo di Torino decide di patrocinare l’opera. Crescentino Caselli, giovane e brillante ingegnere allievo di Alessandro Antonelli, è coinvolto per la stesura del progetto dell’edi cio. Le soluzioni scelte dall’ingegnere confermano le sue notevoli capacità tecniche e la sua conoscenza riguardo alle prestazioni dei materiali da costruzione. Crescentino Caselli, nato a Fubine in provincia di Alessandria il 29 novembre 1849, infatti, si dimostra un aggiornato progettista. Inoltre, egli è attento al dibattito internazionale in materia di ingegneria sanitaria, architettura ospedaliera e nuove tecnologie edilizie
Climate Change and Major Pests of Mediterranean Olive Orchards: Are We Ready to Face the Global Heating?
No full textEvidence of the impact of climate change on natural and agroecosystems is nowadays established worldwide, especially in the Mediterranean Basin, an area known to be very susceptible to heatwaves and drought. Olea europaea is one of the main income sources for the Mediterranean agroeconomy, and it is considered a sensitive indicator of the climate change degree because of the tight relationship between its biology and temperature trend. Despite the economic importance of the olive, few studies are nowadays available concerning the consequences that global heating may have on its major pests. Among the climatic parameters, temperature is the key one influencing the relation between the olive tree and its most threatening parasites, including Bactrocera oleae and Prays oleae. Therefore, several prediction models are based on this climatic parameter (e.g., cumulative degree day models). Even if the use of models could be a promising tool to improve pest control strategies and to safeguard the Mediterranean olive patrimony, they are not currently available for most O. europaea pests, and they have to be used considering their limits. This work stresses the lack of knowledge about the biology and the ethology of olive pests under a climate change scenario, inviting the scientific community to focus on the topic
A simple combinatorial proof of a generalization of a result of Polo Author: F. Caselli Representation Theory 8 (2004), 479-486
No full textWe provide a simple combinatorial proof of, and generalize, a theorem
of Polo which asserts that for any polynomial P with nonnegative integer
coefficients such that P(0)=1 there exist two permutations u and v in a
suitable symmetric group such that P is equal to the Kazhdan-Lusztig
polynomial Pu,v
Nanoparticles for mosquito control: Challenges and constraints
No full textMosquito control programs are facing important and timely challenges, including the
recent outbreaks of novel arbovirus, the development of resistance in several Culicidae species,
and the rapid spreading of highly invasive mosquitoes worldwide. Current control tools mainly rely
on the employment of (i) synthetic or microbial pesticides, (ii) insecticide-treated bed nets, (iii) adult
repellents, (iv) biological control agents against mosquito young instars (mainly fishes, amphibians
and copepods) (v) Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), (vi) ‘‘boosted SIT”, (vii) symbiont-based methods
and (viii) transgenic mosquitoes. Currently, none of these single strategies is fully successful. Novel
eco-friendly strategies to manage mosquito vectors are urgently needed. The plant-mediated fabrication
of nanoparticles is advantageous over chemical and physical methods, since it is cheap,
single-step, and does not require high pressure, energy, temperature, or the use of highly toxic chemicals.
In the latest years, a growing number of plant-borne compounds have been proposed for efficient
and rapid extracellular synthesis of metal nanoparticles effective against mosquitoes at very
low doses (i.e. 1–30 ppm). In this review, we focused on the promising potential of greenfabricated
nanoparticles as toxic agents against mosquito young instars, and as adult oviposition
deterrents. Furthermore, we analyzed current evidences about non-target effects of these nanocomposites
used for mosquito control, pointing out their moderate acute toxicity for non-target aquatic
organisms, absence of genotoxicity at the doses tested against mosquitoes, and the possibility to
boost the predation rates of biological control agents against mosquitoes treating the aquatic environment
with ultra-low doses (e.g. 1–3 ppm) of green-synthesized nanoparticles, which reduce the
motility of mosquito larvae. Challenges for future research should shed light on (i) the precise
mechanism(s) of action of green-fabricated metal nanoparticles, (ii) their fate in the aquatic
environment, and (iii) the possible toxicity of residual silver ions in the aquatic ecosystems, (iv) the standardization of chemical composition of botanical products used as sources of reducing and
capping metabolites, (v) the optimization of the green nanosynthetic routes, in order to develop
large-scale production of eco-friendly nanomosquitocides
The Cuticular Hydrocarbons of Dasineura Oleae Show Differences Between Sex, Adult Age and Mating Status
No full text: In insects, cuticular lipids prevent water loss and act as semiochemicals. Because of their ecological function, the profile change across the insects' sex and development offers insight into insect biology and possible tools for pest management. Here, the first work on cecidomyiid cuticular extracts is proposed considering Dasineura oleae (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) males and females at different adult ages (0-12 h, 12-24 h, 24-36 h) and distinct sexual conditions (virgin and mated). A set of 49 compounds were recorded (12 alkanes, 1 monomethyl alkane, 11 fatty acids, 4 esters, 1 aldehyde, 1 allylbenzene, 1 amine, 1 flavonoid, 1 ketone, 1 phenol, 1 steradiene, 1 sterol, 1 terpene, 1 triterpene and 11 unknown compounds), and 18 of them showed significant differences between groups. Among alkanes, hexacosane (nC26) exhibited a decreasing trend from the youngest to the oldest females, while pentacosane (nC25) and nonacosane (nC29) showed a decreasing trend from 0 to 12 h to 12-24 h virgin females. In addition, nonadecane (nC19) was significantly more abundant in the youngest males compared to older males and females. The alkanes nC25, nC26 and nC29 have been reported to be age-related also in other dipterans, while nC19 has been described as gender-specific chemical cue for platygastrid parasitoids. Further behavioural trials and analyses are required to assign the specific ecological roles to the characterized compounds. Our results may contribute to develop new low-impact control strategies relying on the manipulation of D. oleae's chemical communication (e.g. disruption of mating or species recognition). HIGHLIGHTS: • Cuticular hydrocarbons are often involved in dipteran intraspecific communication. • We explored the cuticular profile of D. oleae at different age, sex, mating condition. • Five alkanes and one mono-methyl alkane showed differences among groups. • Linoleic acid is the most abundant compound in virgins, absent in mated insects. • Eleven compounds disappear in mated insects, but were present in all virgins
Control of biting lice, Mallophaga - a review
No full textThe chewing lice (Mallophaga) are common parasites of different animals. Most of them infest terrestrial and marine birds, including pigeons, doves, swans, cormorants and penguins. Mallophaga have not been found on marine mammals but only on terrestrial ones, including livestock and pets. Their bites damage cattle, sheep, goats, horses and poultry, causing itch and scratch and arousing phthiriasis and dermatitis. Notably, Mallophaga can vector important parasites, such as the filarial heartworm Sarconema eurycerca. Livestock losses due to chewing lice are often underestimated, maybe because farmers notice the presence of the biting lice only when the infestation is too high. In this review, we examined current knowledge on the various strategies available for Mallophaga control. The effective management of their populations has been obtained through the employ of several synthetic insecticides. However, pesticide overuse led to serious concerns for human health and the environment. Natural enemies of Mallophaga are scarcely studied. Their biological control with predators and parasites has not been explored yet. However, the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae has been reported as effective in vitro and in vivo experiments against Damalinia bovis infestation on cattle. Furthermore, different Bacillus thuringiensis preparations have been tested against Mallophaga, the most effective were B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki, kenyae and morrisoni. Lastly, plant-borne insecticides have been evaluated against Mallophaga. Tested products mainly contained bioactive principles from two Meliaceae, Azadirachta indica, and Carapa guianensis. High efficacy of neem-borne preparations was reported, leading to the development of several products currently marketed. Overall, our review highlighted that our knowledge about Mallophaga vector activity and control is extremely patchy. Their control still relied on the employ of chemical pesticides widely used to fight other primary pests and vectors of livestock, such as ticks, while the development of eco-friendly control tool is scarce. Behavior-based control of Mallophaga, using pheromone-based lures or even the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) may also represent a potential route for their control, but our limited knowledge on their behavioral ecology and chemical communication strongly limit any possible approach
Infestation of the gall midge Dasineura oleae provides first evidence of induced plant volatiles in olive leaves
No full textSpecificity Ratings for Italian Data
No full textData and script for the investigation of the relationship between concreteness and specificity.
Acknowledgements and funding:
Funded by the European Union (GRANT AGREEMENT: ERC-2021-STG-101039777). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Related publication: Bolognesi, M.M., Caselli, T. Specificity ratings for Italian data. Behav Res 55, 3531–3548 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01974-
Behavioral asymmetries in ticks – Lateralized questing of Ixodes ricinus to a mechatronic apparatus delivering host-borne cues
No full textTicks are considered among the most dangerous arthropod vectors of disease agents to both humans and animals worldwide. Lateralization contributes to biological fitness in many animals, conferring important functional advantages, therefore studying its role in tick perception would critically improve our knowledge about their host-seeking behavior. In this research, we evaluated if Ixodes ricinus (L.) (Ixodiidae) ticks have a preference in using the right or the left foreleg to climb on a host. We developed a mechatronic device moving a tuft of fox skin with fur as host-mimicking combination of cues. This engineered approach allows to display a realistic combination of both visual and olfactory host-borne stimuli, which is prolonged over the time and standardized for each replicate. In the first experiment, the mechatronic apparatus delivered host-borne cues frontally, to evaluate the leg preference during questing as response to a symmetrical stimulus. In the second experiment, host-borne cues were provided laterally, in an equal proportion to the left and to the right of the tick, to investigate if the host direction affected the questing behavior. In both experiments, the large majority of the tested ticks showed individual-level left-biased questing acts, if compared to the ticks showing right-biased ones. Furthermore, population-level left-biased questing responses were observed post-exposure to host-mimicking cues provided frontally or laterally to the tick. Overall, this is the first report on behavioral asymmetries in ticks of medical and veterinary importance. Moreover, the mechatronic apparatus developed in this research can be exploited to evaluate the impact of repellents on tick questing in highly reproducible standardized conditions
Notes on the glosses of Foscolo's "Discourse on the text of Dante's Comedy" and commentary on a 'quaker' note
No full textThe Livorno copy of the first edition of Foscolo's Discorso sul testo della Commedia di Dante is a paradigmatic case of a volume glossed by the author himself. The present work aims at providing a first analysis of the said glosses and of the editorial solutions adopted in the Edizione Nazionale. In particular, the study focuses on the comment of an autograph gloss that may bring new insight into Foscolo's idea of Dante as religious reformer and into the relationship between the late Foscolo and the Quaker community during the poet's final years in London
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