196,436 research outputs found
Iberorhyzobius Raimundo & Canepari
No full textIberorhyzobius Raimundo & Canepari gen. nov. (Figs. 1–2) Description. Body elongate oval, depressed, with sparse and semierect hair (Figs. 1–2). Head with eyes not pubescent, coarsely faceted; frons 4 times as wide as eye diameter, clypeus not extended onto eye. Antennae almost reaching pronotal base; antennal club slender, loose, with last three segments forming a club. Terminal segment of maxillary palpus narrow, securiform. Labium transverse, clypeus rounded. Pronotum partially covering the eyes, twice as wide as long. Lateral margin of pronotum and elytra large; fine punctuation on pronotum and elytra; lateral margin of pronotum and elytra large and subhorizontal; fine punctuation on pronotum and elytra. Prosternal process not carinate (Fig. 2). Legs slender, apex of meso and metafemora extended beyond elytral margin; tarsal claws with square, basal tooth. Postcoxal line on first abdominal ventrite complete arching up 2 / 5 of the sternite length. Genital sternite of male feebly emarginated. Depositories EFN Estação Florestal Nacional, Oeiras, Portugal (curator: E. Sousa) MSNM Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano (curator: F. Rigato) BMNH British Museum of Natural History, London (curator: M. Brendell) PCAR Private Collection of A. Raimundo PCCC Private Collection of C. CanepariPublished as part of Raimundo, Armando, Canepari, Claudio, Mendel, Zvi, Branco, Manuela & Franco, José Carlos, 2006, Iberorhyzobius Raimundo & Canepari gen. nov., for Coccidula rondensis Eizaguirre (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), pp. 49-58 in Zootaxa 1312 on page 50, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17389
Dynamics of excitatory transmitter release: analysis of synaptic responses in CA3 hippocampal neurons after repetitive stimulation of afferent fibers
No full textCanepari, Marco and Enrico Cherubini. Dynamics of excitatory transmitter release: analysis of synaptic responses in CA3 hippocampal neurons after repetitive stimulation of afferent fibers. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 1977–1988, 1998. The patch-clamp technique (whole cell configuration) was used to record excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) evoked by repetitive stimulation (4 pulses at 50-ms intervals) of afferent fibers in the stratum lucidum-radiatum. Different synaptic behaviors (EPSC patterns) were classified in terms of facilitation or depression of the mean amplitude of the second, third, and fourth EPSC with respect to the previous one. A large variety of EPSC patterns was observed by stimulating different afferent fibers. Experiments with the mGluR2/mGluR3 agonist 2-(2,3-dicarboxycyclopropyl)glycine (DCG-IV) (1 μM), a compound that reduces release at mossy but not at associative commissural fibers and therefore allows to identify the origin of synaptic responses, showed that particular EPSC patterns could not be associated to the activation of a specific type of synaptic input. To investigate the role of the probability of release in the dynamics of synaptic activity, the extracellular calcium concentration was varied from 0.8 to 4 mM in several experiments. EPSC patterns dominated by depression, characteristics of high release probability conditions, could be observed in the majority of the cases in the presence of higher calcium concentrations. A quantitative model for dynamics of transmitter release has been developed. Experimental results were compared with data computed with the model taking into account the probability of release and the time course of reavailability. This work indicates that short-term changes of presynaptic conditions occurring during a train of action potentials can account for the high variability of EPSC responses. The model that is proposed also suggests a general method of experimental data analysis to investigate the possible presynaptic mechanisms underlying long-lasting changes in synaptic efficacy.</jats:p
Old Myths – Modern Empires: Power, Language and Identity in J. M. Coetzee’s Work
No full textThis study gives substantial coverage and close critical attention to a wide range of Coetzee’s published writings, including the perspective of post-apartheid South Africa. Taking into consideration Coetzee’s formation, Old Myths – Modern Empires situates the author’s writing in the framework of both postmodernist and postcolonial theory and criticism. In addition, it links the political and social aspects of Coetzee’s writing, its South African provenance and its engagement – often oblique – with contemporary issues, with the formal questions regarding structure, rhetoric and narrative strategies in the novels. This monograph thus takes into account the changes in critical reception – exemplified by the Nobel Prize the author was awarded in 2004 – and the transformations in the social and political context, and by approaching Coetzee’s fiction from a variety of critical angles, it offers a thorough assessment of the author
Scymnus (Scymnus) femoralis
No full text<i>Scymnus</i> (<i>Scymnus</i>) <i>femoralis</i> (Gyllenhal, 1827) <p> <b>Material examined.</b> Italy, Sardinia: Carbonia-Iglesias prov., Iglesias, dint. Colonia Beneck, 636 m, UTM 32S 0462391 4355441, 11-28.VII.2008, G. Chessa leg., Malaise trap, 1 ex (CNBFVR).</p> <p> <b>Remarks.</b> First record for Sardinia (Audisio <i>et al</i>. 1995; Canepari 2003, 2004). <i>Scymnus femoralis</i> is recorded from central and southern Europe (Canepari 2004; Kovář 2007). Its male genitalia are very similar to those of <i>S</i>. (<i>S</i>.) <i>interruptus</i> (Goeze, 1777) (<i>cf</i>. Canepari 1983). It could be a black form or an ecological race of the latter but further studies are necessary to clear its status; generally it is found in populations topically separated from <i>S</i>. (<i>S</i>.) <i>interruptus</i> (Canepari unpublished data).</p>Published as part of <i>Canepari, Claudio, 2009, New data on some Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) from the Mediterranean Region, pp. 394-399 in Zootaxa 2318</i> on page 39
Language and Identity in the Narrative of J. M. Coetzee
No full textWhen one embarks on reading any of the novels J.M. Coetzee has produced over the last twenty-five years, one is struck by the prominence that problematics relating to language and the way language affects the human mind assume in the text. In particular - although each novel is obviously highly defined in itself - in all his texts the author sets out to investigate the role language plays in the constitution of identity (whether of an individual, a nation or a race).
Because of the centrality this aspect assumes in Coetzee’s work, my article centres on the way each novel stages the confrontation between the “I”, the “You” and the “Other” - the basis of the achievement of identity. As I will argue, in fact, in all his novels Coetzee stages precisely the struggle which - just like the Oedipal father who must have his language recognised as the lawful language of authority - each individual enacts in the attempt to be recognised by Others and achieve an identity
Maffei M(1), Longa E, Qaisar R, Agoni V, Desaphy JF, Camerino DC, Bottinelli R, Canepari M.
No full textDiomus rubidus
No full textDiomus rubidus (Motshulsky, 1837) Material examined. Italy: Sardinia: Carbonia-Iglesias prov., Domusnovas, sa Duchessa, 371 m, UTM 32S 0464990 4358384, 4-18.IV.2006, G. Chessa leg., Malaise trap, 2 ex (CNBFVR); Carbonia-Iglesias prov., Iglesias, dint. Colonia Beneck, 636 m, UTM 32S 0462391 4355441, 11-25.VII.2008, G. Chessa leg., Malaise trap, 6 ex (CNBFVR, CCC). Remarks. Species widespread from Central Asia to the Mediterranean Region (Kovář 2007), but previously unrecorded from Sardinia (Canepari 2004). The genus Diomus Mulsant, 1850 once considered a subgenus of Nephus Mulsant, 1846 is characterized by postcoxal lines united with the posterior margin of the first abdominal sternum. Subsequently Gordon (1999) raised Diomus to genus level and created the tribe Diomini based on the shape of the basal capsule of the sipho and the morphology of the basal lobe. In Diomus rubidus the basal capsule of the sipho is identical to many species of Scymniscus Dobzhansky 1928 (cf. Canepari 2000) with short sipho and basal capsule not T-shaped.Published as part of Canepari, Claudio, 2009, New data on some Coccinellidae (Coleoptera) from the Mediterranean Region, pp. 394-399 in Zootaxa 2318 on page 39
Advancements in sample preparation for performing elemental analysis of human hair by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
No full textThe determination of minerals and trace elements in human hair is potentially useful for assessing an individual's health status and monitoring occupational and environmental exposure [1,2,3]. Moreover, human hair is a stable matrix that presents numerous advantages for human biomonitoring, such as easy collection, low cost, easy transport and storage, and information about short- and long-term exposure. Consequently, its use in toxicological, clinical, environmental, and forensic investigations is growing and becoming more extensive. On the other hand, owing to the lack of standardized hair analysis procedures (including sample treatment methods), it is difficult to compare and interpret the results (intervals and reference values) from different studies and reach significant conclusions. In particular, recent reviews have revealed that analytical characteristics (detection/quantification limits and accuracy) are scarcely reported. Analyte loss, contamination, and/or interferences may also lead to a decrease in the analytical accuracy of the results. Incomplete decomposition of the hair samples involves an appreciable amount of residual carbon (C) in the resulting sample solution. In inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP) techniques, this leads to the increased signal of some elements by carbon charge transfer reactions, especially for elements that have similar ionization potentials to that of C [4]. Another source of error in hair analysis by ICP with mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is the interference caused by the residual acidity in the digests, difference between the viscosity and acid concentrations of the calibration and sample solutions, and the presence of polyatomic ions in the plasma [4]. Considering these aspects, the aim of this study was to optimize and validate a fast screening analytical method for the determination of 40 elements (Al, As, B, Ba, Be, Bi, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Si, Sn, Sr, Te, Ti, Tl, U, V, W, Zn, and Zr) in small-size (0.02 g) human hair specimens. The samples were subjected to HNO3/H2O2 (2:1) digestion in an open vessel heated in a water bath and subsequently analyzed by ICP-MS equipped with a collision-reaction interface [4]. This method was used to determine the levels of essential and toxic heavy metals in the hair of children living in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, a Developing Regional State of North-Western Ethiopia [1]. The influence of several factors in the variability of element concentrations in children’s hair (age, sex, body mass index, passive smoking, and eating habits) was also studied [1].
[1] M.L. Astolfi, G. Pietris, C. Mazzei, E. Marconi, S. Canepari, Int. J. Env. Res. Pub. He. 2020, 17, 8652.
[2] M.L. Astolfi, C. Protano, E. Marconi, L. Massimi, D. Piamonti, M. Brunori, M. Vitali, S. Canepari, Int. J. Env. Res. Pub. He. 2020, 17, 1911.
[3] C. Protano, M.L. Astolfi, E. Marconi, A. Antonucci, S. Canepari, D. Piamonti, M. Brunori, M. Vitali, Biol. Trace Elem. Res. 2020, 197, 89–100.
[4] M.L. Astolfi, C. Protano, E. Marconi, L. Massimi, M. Brunori, D. Piamonti, G. Migliara, M. Vitali, S. Canepari, Anal. Methods 2020, 12, 1906–1918
Serratitibia tammy Gordon and Canepari 2013, new species
No full text53. Serratitibia tammy Gordon and Canepari, new species Description. Female holotype. Length 3.0 mm, width 2.5 mm; body oval, convex. Dorsal surface shiny, lacking alutaceous sculpture. Color yellow; pronotum with large, dark brown, basomedial macula extended 3/4 distance to anterior pronotal margin, apex weakly, indistinctly emarginate with yellow; elytron with sutural and apical margins with narrow brown border and 2 dark brown spots, anterior spot large, irregularly transverse, posterior spot smaller, irregularly triangular (Fig. 336); venter of head, prosternum, mesoventrite pale reddish brown, metaventrite dark brown; abdomen reddish yellow. Head punctures small, separated by diameter or less, each puncture as large as 1 eye facet; pronotal punctures as large as head punctures, separated by diameter or less; elytral punctures as large as on pronotum, separated by 1–3 times diameter; metaventral punctures larger than on elytra, separated by diameter or less medially, slightly larger laterally. Clypeus weakly emarginate apically, lateral angle abruptly rounded. Eye canthus about 6 eye facets long, slightly angled forward, apically rounded, yellow. Pronotum narrowed from base to apex, basal angle broadly rounded, anterior angle abruptly rounded, lateral margin straight, basal margin without trace of bordering line. Epipleuron narrow, deeply grooved, deeply emarginate for reception of femoral apices. Protibial flange as wide as remainder of protibia, outer margin arcuate, with about 8 small teeth throughout, sponda extended beyond protibial border. Carinae on prosternal process widely separated at apex, convergent, joined at basal 1/6 of prosternum, connected to base by short stem. Postcoxal line on basal abdominal ventrite angled to posterior ventrite margin, flattened along margin, apex extended forward; primary pores between ventrites 4–5 large, extended under apical 1/2 of ventrite 4. Abdominal ventrites 1–6 with short, sparse pubescence, punctures on basal 3 ventrites large medially, separated by diameter or less, becoming smaller and dense laterally, ventrites 3–6 more densely, finely punctured throughout. Genitalia with spermathecal capsule long, wide, curved medially, cornu enlarged; bursal cap broadly triangular, with 3 arms, inner arm faint, apical strut short, wide, apex spatulate in lateral view (Fig. 337). Male. Unknown. Variation. The specimen listed as “other specimen” is much smaller than the types, and the spermathecal capsule is slightly different in thickness, but it matches the types well in color pattern and protibial structure. Type material. Holotype female; (Brazil) Porto Velho, Bras. Xii.54 (USNM). Paratype; 1, same data as holotype (USNM). Other specimen. 1. Brazil, Amazonas, Tefe, XII–1961, F. M. Oliveira. (MZSP). Remarks. Serratitibia tammy has an elytral pattern slightly resembling specimens of S. kathleen from Trinidad, but the latter species has both elytral spots highly irregular, the result of coalescing of normally discrete spots.Published as part of Gordon, Robert D., Canepari, Claudio & Hanley, Guy A., 2013, South American Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Part XII: New name for Cyra Mulsant, review of Brachiacanthini genera, and systematic revision of Cleothera Mulsant, Hinda Mulsant and Serratitibia Gordon and Canepari, new genus, pp. 1-150 in Insecta Mundi 2013 (278) on pages 76-77, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.453157
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