1,721,081 research outputs found
Infrastrutture dell'acqua. Strategie adattive all’emergenza idrica dei mutamenti climatici. Progettare infrastrutture idriche di nuova generazione
Full text linkNel tentativo di dimostrare come il fenomeno dell’urban flooding possa essere occasione per intervenire nei contesti urbani che oggi rivendicano una nuova veste, questo lavoro sul tema dell’infrastruttura rappresenta un’indagine delle best urban practice per la mitigazione del rischio di inondazione che perseguono il contenimento del consumo di suolo e sono volano di rigenerazione urbana. La dissertazione, innanzitutto una riflessione sul tema dell’emergenza idrica della città contemporanea e sui rinnovati paradigmi che scaturiscono da tale fenomeno globale, mira all’individuazione di modelli operativi di intervento e azioni progettuali tali da affrontare il problema dell’acqua nei contesti urbani e trasformarla in una risorsa per la città contemporanea
Influence of loading method and stoking density during transport on meat and dry-cured ham quality in pigs with different halothane genotypes
No full textThe eect of loading method and stocking density in transit on meat and dry-cured ham quality was investigated in pigs with dierent halothane genotypes. A total of 507 Italian heavy pigs, supplied by two farms, were loaded by ramp or lift and transportedunmixed for 35±55 min to the abattoir at a stocking density of either 0:6m2 per 100 kg pigs. After overnight lairage in separate pens with free access to water, the pigs were slaughtered. Halothane genotype was assessed post mortem. Four hundredand thirty-nine pigs had a homozygous dominant (NN) genotype and 68 pigs were heterozygous (Nn). Carcass skin damage, meat quality traits and ham curing parameters were evaluated. Loading method and stocking density showed a negligible eect on meatand dry-cured ham quality while the predominant factor aecting these was the halothane genotype. Nn pigs produced meat with a faster rate of pH fall and lower water holding capacity as well as ham with higher weight losses in salting and greater incidence ofdefects in the dry-cured product. There were insignificant interactions between halothane genotype and loading method or stocking density. Overall, irrespective of pre-slaughter treatment, the Nn pigs were less suitable for the production of high quality productssuch as dry-cured ham
Boiling of R134a inside a glass minichannel. A new statistical approach of flow pattern characterization based on flow visualization
No full textA test rig to study R134a flow boiling inside mini and micro-channels has been constructed. The test section is made up of a glass tube and several ITO conductive layers as heaters. A novel image processing technique has been developed for the study of R134a flow boiling regimes. The software routine extracts the bubble contours, measures geometrical features of each frame and collects the data analytically and statistically. The results refer to mass flux between 20 and 122 kg/m2 s and the heat flux between 200 and 45,000 W/m2, at the saturation temperatures of 20-25 °C. The tube inner diameter is 4 mm and the heated length was globally of 320 mm, distributed in eight shorter heaters of 40 mm each. The main goals are the development of a method that, starting from the analysis of several parameters, is able to identify the flow pattern inside the tube, as well as the study of the effects of coalescence on the flow pattern development along the tube. The flow patterns have been identified from a statistical point of view and the "transition zone" has been quantitatively characterized. Part of the analysis is then devoted to the flow pattern variation along the test section. The experiments demonstrated that coalescence is a phenomenon that can be analyzed also in terms of a statistical approach and that the flow pattern variations are not only a function of the mass flux and the quality, but along the tube bubble coalescence and gravity effects have a role in the flow patterns appearance.</p
Social tolerance and adult play in macaque societies: a comparison with different human cultures
No full textDifferences in play behaviour often illuminate complex ecological parameters and social differences. In primate societies, including humans, individuals acquire information through play. It is adults in every community that are most committed to managing social practices. In tolerant species, adults often participate in play to reinforce social networks and cooperation. The 20 macaque species are all organized in multimale, multifemale groups but vary along a continuum from despotic/intolerant to egalitarian/tolerant social systems. These different social styles influence a wide range of behaviours including aggression and affiliation patterns, dominance relationships, and nepotism. We tested some hypotheses by comparing play patterns in two macaque societies at opposite ends of the continuum: despotic Japanese macaques, Macaca fuscata, and tolerant Tonkean macaques, Macaca tonkeana. Our results show that these two species have striking differences in the distribution of social play according to the age and sex of the players. Our findings strongly indicate that play, a highly plastic and versatile behaviour, is sensitive to the quality of interindividual relationships of a species, thus reflecting the nature of its social network. The different patterns of macaque play show striking parallels with those from comparisons of different human cultures including the distribution of social play according to the age and gender, partner preference according to age, and permissiveness of mothers. The adult play propensity of Tonkean compared to Japanese macaques indicates that adult-adult play is a good predictor for the polarity of changes in aggressiveness between different groups separated either genetically (taxa) or culturally (ethnies)
Exploring the evolutionary foundations of empathy: Consolation in monkeys
No full textUnsolicited third-party affiliation occurs when victims of aggression receive a spontaneous affinitive
contact from a bystander. Consolation is a specific type of unsolicited third-party affiliation showing two
key components: 1) it alleviates distress in the victims and 2) is preferentially directed towards friends.
Consolation was thought to be present only in humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos linked to their higher
cognitive and empathic abilities. Previous investigations in monkeys found unsolicited third-party affiliation
in only two species with no evidence of consolation. In the research presented here we set out to test a
number of hypotheses concerning third-party affiliation in Macaca fuscata and M. tonkeana, two species that
differ remarkably for social style. M. fuscata is despotic, while M. tonkeana is one of the most tolerant species of
macaques. We found no evidence of unsolicited third-party affiliation in M. fuscata, but it was present in
M. tonkeana. In this species we found that unsolicited third-party affiliation reduced anxiety (measured by
scratching) in the victims and was directed towards friends and especially towards females who experienced
higher levels of anxiety compared to males. Third-party affiliation also occurred more frequently in the
absence of reconciliation. All the key features used to recognize consolation in humans and great apes are
present in M. tonkeana making it difficult not to conclude that consolation exists in this species. Since
consolation is most often considered to be driven by empathy, our results suggest that Tonkean macaques are
capable of empathetically reacting to the victim’s state of anxiety. Our results support the Social Constraints
Hypothesis showing that the degree of tolerance is a key factor in the expression of consolation. Investigating
behavioral patterns driven by even the most basic forms of empathy requires the choice of an appropriate
species and Macaca tonkeana is a good model to investigate the full phylogenetic range, evolutionary depth,
and origin of empathy in primates
A MspI polymorphism at the porcine γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) locus
No full textA MspI polymorphism at the porcine γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) locu
Linkage assignment of the fast skeletal alkali myosin light polypeptide 1 (MYL1) gene to porcine chromosome 15
No full textTwo classes of myosin light chains, the alkali light chains and the regulatory light chains, are associated with the head region of skeletal muscle myosin heavy chains, forming the functional myosin molecule. The fast skeletal alkali myosin light polypeptide 1 (MYL1) gene encodes two isoforms, 1F and 3F, by means of alternative splicing of primary transcripts originated from
two different promoters. A porcine cDNA (EMBL accession number X94689), coding for the complete fast skeletal alkali myosin light chain 3F isoform and isolated from an adult porcine skeletal muscle cDNA library, was used as probe in RFLP analyses. A segregating polymorphism in three-generation porcine refernce families was used to linkage map this gene to porcine chromosome 15
A BglII polymorphism at the porcine transferrin (TF) locus
No full textA BglII polymorphism at the porcine transferrin (TF) locu
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