178,290 research outputs found
A pathological Late Pleistocene badger from San Sidero (Apulia, Southern Italy): Implications for developmental pathology and feeding behaviour
No full textAmong fossil vertebrates, oral pathologies are of particular interest, because of their considerable effect on teeth and maxillary/dentary bones and, as a consequence, on mastication and feeding behaviour. This study focused on a pathological left hemimandible referred to the mustelid Meles meles unearthed from a Late Pleistocene karst filling deposit at San Sidero (Apulia, South Italy). This fossil shows unusual marked abnormalities related to a rare case of nonodontogenic chronic suppurative osteomyelitis. Clinical diagnosis of the disease and the timing of its development have been defined on the basis of a veterinary approach and X-ray analyses. Such a pathological condition can be explained as a consequence of a wound due to a porcupine quill. The analysis of the injury also provides information about the biomechanics of the bite and on the feeding behaviour. The study case confirms how palaeopathological analyses can be considered valuable tools to reconstruct the physiology of animals that lived in the past and to depict in detail the interactions among Late Pleistocene mammals, thus allowing a more accurate reconstruction of the ecology in fossil mammals
A pathological Late Pleistocene badger from San Sidero (Apulia, Southern Italy). Implications for developmental pathology and feeding behaviour
No full textAmong fossil vertebrates, oral pathologies are of particular interest, because of their considerable effect
on teeth and maxillary/dentary bones and, as a consequence, on mastication and feeding behaviour. This
study focused on a pathological left hemimandible referred to the mustelid Meles meles unearthed from a
Late Pleistocene karst filling deposit at San Sidero (Apulia, South Italy). This fossil shows unusual marked
abnormalities related to a rare case of nonodontogenic chronic suppurative osteomyelitis. Clinical
diagnosis of the disease and the timing of its development have been defined on the basis of a veterinary
approach and X-ray analyses. Such a pathological condition can be explained as a consequence of a
wound due to a porcupine quill. The analysis of the injury also provides information about the biomechanics
of the bite and on the feeding behaviour. The study case confirms how palaeopathological analyses
can be considered valuable tools to reconstruct the physiology of animals that lived in the past and
to depict in detail the interactions among Late Pleistocene mammals, thus allowing a more accurate
reconstruction of the ecology in fossil mammals
Sulla presenza di Echinococcus granulosus nella volpe (Vulpes vulpes) e nel lupo (Canis lupus italicus)
No full text
Assessment of Eurocode-like Design Equations for the Shear Capacity of FRP RC Members
No full textFibre reinforced polymer (FRP) bars represent an interesting alternative to conventional steel as internal reinforcement of reinforced concrete (RC) members where some properties such as durability, magnetic transparency, insulation, are of primary concern. The present paper focuses on the assessment of Eurocode-likedesignequations for the evaluation of the shear strength of FRPRC members, as proposed by the guidelines of the Italian Research Council CNR-DT 203 [CNR-DT 203/2006. Guide for the design and construction of concrete structures reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer bars. National Research Council, Rome, Italy; 2006]. Both the concrete and the FRP stirrups contributions to shear are taken into account: the new equations derived with reference to Eurocode equations for shear of steel RCmembers are verified through comparison with the equations given by ACI, CSA and JSCE guidelines, considering a large database of members with and without shear reinforcement failed in shear
A Pathological Late Pleistocene canid from San Sidero (Italy): Implications for social- and feeding-behaviour
No full textEvidence of diseases on vertebrate fossil bones can provide detailed information on many aspects of extinct animals. This study focused on pathological craniodental remains (left maxilla and dentary) referred to the canid Cuon alpinus unearthed from a Late Pleistocene karst filling deposit at San Sidero (Apulia, southern Italy). These fossils show clear evidence of a chronic periodontitis that caused the animal's death. Clinical diagnosis of the disease and the timing of its development have been defined on the basis of a veterinary odontostomatology approach, in addition to radiographic and tomographic techniques. From the initiation of the infection until death, a time span of at least 6 months occurred, and three main steps have been defined: (1) the bacterial infections of the buccal cavity turning into severe periodontitis, (2) the fracture of the lower carnassial and (3) the loss of teeth due to the worsening infection that deformed and/or eroded maxillary and mandibular bones and enlarged alveoli. The analysis of the palaeopathology also provides information about the biomechanics of the bite, on the feeding behaviour and on the relationships of injured members in a pack of Late Pleistocene canids
Volatile profile of perennial leaves of seven cultivated species of Ceratozamia (Cycads)
No full textCeratozamia (Zamiaceae) is a genus of New World Cycads, containing more than 20 species distributed in eastern and southern Mexico, with extensions into Central America [1]. Morphology, anatomy, and molecular data allowed resolution of some aspects of species relationships, suggesting phytogeographic hypotheses [2]. Renewed interest in cycads has also resulted in works focused on phytochemical topics [3 and literature therein], however data on the volatile emission profiles lack.
Seven Ceratozamia species belonging to clade “C” [2] and cultivated in a cold greenhouse at the Florence Botanic Garden were investigated: Ceratozamia fuscoviridis D. Moore, Ceratozamia hildae Landry & M. Wilson, Ceratozamia kuesteriana Regel, Ceratozamia latifolia Miq., Ceratozamia longifolia Miq., Ceratozamia mexicana Brongn., Ceratozamia vulgaris J. Schust. Perennial leaves were screened in February, July and September 2011 for the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by means of headspace solid phase microextraction coupled with gaschromatography and mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC/MS); two leaflets per species were sampled from coetaneous leaves, and analysed. In this study we assessed and compared the volatile profiles among species and across sampling periods, with the main objective to collect preliminary information to evaluate the potentiality of VOCs for taxonomic purposes.
The VOC analysis revealed the emission of overall 199 compounds, of which 144 identified. The unknown compounds dominated the volatile profiles, accounting for about 27%, followed by aldehydes, terpenes, alcohols, ketones and esters. The highest number of compounds (115) was found in C. fuscoviridis, the lowest (91) in C. longifolia. In all the examined species, February profiles invariably exhibited the major amount of volatiles in comparison to July and September.
Statistical data processing proved: (i) a low level of diversity among the VOC profiles of the examined species referred to each collection time; (ii) a great variability in the temporal emission patterns of all the species across the three sampling periods.
These evidences revealed the predominance of the environmental components at the study area in affecting the volatile profiles of Ceratozamia species, at the expense of the metabolic resilience related to the different climatic conditions of the native regions. Possible ecological roles of the VOC temporal variation in relation to the plant phenological stages are discussed
Mortality parameters of the wolf in Italy: does the wolf keep himself from the door?
No full textInformation on population parameters is rarely collected from carcasses. This method can be particularly useful - with limitations - when protected species are involved (e.g. the grey wolf Canis lupus in Italy). Local data on population structure, reproduction, survivorship and causes of mortality are necessary to build reliable conservation models to assess the state of a population and to predict its evolution. On the other hand, 'best guesses' or data from ecologically different areas have often been used to build population viability analysis and other conservation-oriented models. A sample of 154 wolf carcasses was found, collected and analysed from 1991 to 2001 in central-eastern Italy, the historic core of the wolf distribution range. Collision with a vehicle was the main cause of death in both sexes; however, road kills may be biased with a greater detectability, and we treated our data accordingly. Road kills were concentrated on the younger (≤4 years old) age classes, whereas fully adult wolves died mainly because of poaching, intraspecific strife and pathologies. Cubs and subadults (≤2 years old) showed a mortality peak in November/December, at the beginning of the dispersal period, whereas adults died mainly in January/February (mating season). The population structure of our sample of wolf carcasses appeared to be well balanced, although perinatal and cub mortality was underestimated. The sex ratio was 1:1 in the younger age classes and 1:0.7 in the older age classes. Only 20.7% of females, 2-6 years old, showed signs of reproduction; placental scar and embryo number varied from one to seven (mean, 4.4) per individual. Survivorship theoretical curves indicated a fair survival of cubs and subadults, but a steep decline as wolves approached maximum life span (9 years old). Our data and other published data on food habits and genetic features of the wolf in central-eastern Italy suggest that, despite ongoing heavy human-induced losses, this predator has fully recovered in the last 30 years from the brink of extinction. © 2007 The Zoological Society of London
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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