205 research outputs found
Advanced numerical models for the analysis of masonry cross vaults: A case-study in Italy
No full textAim of the present paper is the analysis of a series of existing masonry cross vaults exhibiting meaningful structural deterioration and diffused crack patterns, by means of an advanced non-linear and limit analysis software.
The approach utilized is a non-standard and non-commercial one and bases both for the non-linear and limit analysis procedure on a FE discretization of the domain by means of rigid infinitely resistant wedges, where all the non-linearity is concentrated on interfaces between adjoining elements.
When dealing with the non-linear code, a sequential quadratic programming scheme is used at each iteration in order to deal with the deterioration of mechanical properties of interfaces, provided that the actual non-linear behavior is approximated by means of a linear piecewise constant function.
Several numerical simulations are performed varying constraint conditions, material properties, infill modeling and presence of FRP strips as reinforcement devices, comparing and discussing in detail the
results obtained.
From simulations results, it is found that the approach commonly used in practice to study cross vaults by means of the assemblage of single arches is not always reliable, providing failure loads and mechanism quite different from the real ones. Furthermore, similarly to what occurs for masonry arch bridges, it is found that the role played by the infill is crucial and that, depending on the actual mechanical properties of the infill, both the failure mechanisms and the collapse load may vary significantly
Exploring the patterns of evolution: Core thoughts and focus on the saltational model
No full textThe Modern Synthesis, a pillar in biological thought, united Darwin's species origin concepts with Mendel's laws of character heredity, providing a comprehensive understanding of evolution within species. Highlighting phenotypic variation and natural selection, it elucidated the environment's role as a selective force, shaping populations over time. This framework integrated additional mechanisms, including genetic drift, random mutations, and gene flow, predicting their cumulative effects on microevolution and the emergence of new species. Beyond the Modern Synthesis, the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis expands perspectives by recognizing the role of developmental plasticity, non-genetic inheritance, and epigenetics. We suggest that these aspects coexist in the plant evolutionary process; in this context, we focus on the saltational model, emphasizing how saltation events, such as dichotomous saltation, chromosomal mutations, epigenetic phenomena, and polyploidy, contribute to rapid evolutionary changes. The saltational model proposes that certain evolutionary changes, such as the rise of new species, may result suddenly from single macromutations rather than from gradual changes in DNA sequences and allele frequencies within a species over time. These events, observed in domesticated and wild higher plants, provide well-defined mechanistic bases, revealing their profound impact on plant diversity and rapid evolutionary events. Notably, next-generation sequencing exposes the likely crucial role of allopolyploidy and autopolyploidy (saltational events) in generating new plant species, each characterized by distinct chromosomal complements. In conclusion, through this review, we offer a thorough exploration of the ongoing dissertation on the saltational model, elucidating its implications for our understanding of plant evolutionary processes and paving the way for continued research in this intriguing field
Psammoecus simoni Grouvelle 1892
No full textPsammoecus simoni Grouvelle, 1892 (Fig. 11) Psammoecus simonis Grouvelle, 1892: 287. Psammoecus simoni – Grouvelle 1908c: 476.— Pal 1985. Material examined Lectotype ♂, by present designation: ‘ Antipolo | E. Simon’, ‘TYPE’ [red label], ‘MUSEUM PARIS | 1917 | Coll. GROUVELLE’ [yellow label], ‘ Psammoecus | Simoni | ty. A. Grouv’ [Grouvelle’s hand] (MNHN). Paralectotype 1 spm with identical data as lectotype (MNHN). Other material 5 spms ‘COLL: MUS. CONGO | Madagascar: Maroansetra | (à la lumière) II/ IV-1950 | J. Vadon’ (MRAC). 1spm ‘COLL. MUS. TERVUREN | N.E. Madagascar: | Ambodivoangy 1959 | J. Vadon’ (MRAC). Differential diagnosis Ps. simoni differs by its short oval habitus and the short, stout parameres that are fused with the basal piece from all other African Psammoecus. The wide-based pronotal teeth resemble Ps. luchti sp. nov., it differs by the elytral striae being considerably wider than interstices, elytra being shorter, darkened basis of elytra, parameres short, stout and fused with basal piece. Redescription BODY. Oval, total length 2.13-3.00 mm (Fig. 11A). Surface yellowish-brown, sometimes reddish-brown, elytra with brown or blackish-brown maculae: humeral swelling, a transverse band in the middle of the elytra, the elytral suture along the posterior two thirds and the elytral apex are dark. Base of antennae yellowish or reddish brown, 6 th to 10 th antennomere darkened, 11 th antennomere yellowish-white, some specimens with light apex of 10 th antennomere. HEAD. Broad, temples narrowed immediately behind eyes; width 0.64-0.71 mm, length 0.33-0.44 mm, 1.67-1.73 times as wide as long. Eyes protuberant, rounded, 0.17-0.20 mm long, distance of inner margins 0.38-0.45 mm. Puncturation on vertex coarse, density of punctures variable, pubescence composed of long, semierect setae, directed anteriorly; microsculpture absent. Longitudinal impressions on vertex very shallow, attaining the middle of the eyes, sometimes shorter. Antennae as in Fig. 11B, 1.17-1.40 mm long, stout, antennomere proportions of lectotype as follows: 2.9: 1.3: 1.8: 1.5: 1.8: 1.6: 1.4: 1.0:1.2: 1.4: 2.8. PRONOTUM. Broad; width 0.62-0.74 mm, length 0.48-0.56 mm, 1.22-1.35 times as wide as long. Surface smooth, without impressions. Anterior angles with distinct groups of small teeth; lateral margins with four distinct teeth; tooth I very small, tooth II a little larger, teeth III and IV largest. Posterior group of teeth consisting of a larger anterior tooth and a very small, almost obtuse posterior tooth. Puncturation coarser than on vertex, punctures sometimes adjoining. Pubescence as on vertex; microsculpture absent. ELYTRA. Oval, short, length 1.35-1.70 mm, combined width 1.00- 1.23 mm, 1.27-1.43 times as long as their combined width. Rows of punctures on disc wider than interstices. Pubescence consists of long, semierect setae. Microsculpture absent. PARAMERES. Short, stout, fused with basal piece; with distinct pattern of three large setae (Fig. 11 C). Remarks In his original description, Grouvelle (1892) spells the name ‘simonis’. However, on the labels that Grouvelle added to the syntypes as well as in a later paper (Grouvelle, 1908c), he spells the name ‘simoni’. Pal (1985) also uses the latter spelling. Hence the present author considers ‘simonis’ to be a misprint and proposes to spell the name in accordance with Grouvelle (1908c) and Pal (1985).Published as part of Karner, Michael, 2012, A revision of African Psammoecus (Coleoptera, Silvanidae) and descriptions of two new species from the collection of the Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale, pp. 1-31 in European Journal of Taxonomy 17 on pages 24-26, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2012.17, http://zenodo.org/record/385784
Construyendo la ópera nacional: A Marília de Itamaracá de L. V. De-Simoni
No full textLuiz Vicente De Simoni (1782-1881) was an Italian physician who went to Rio de Janeiro in 1817, and was constantly involved in the musical and theatrical scene of the city. He is the author of Marília de Itamaracá (1854, music by Adolpho Maersch), considered by some authors as the first “Brazilian” opera. The subject is historical and narrates some episodes of the 17th century war against the Dutch. One of his main concerns was the use of Brazilian and Portuguese themes in operas, in order to invent something “national”. As part of a broader movement, the idea was to explore Brazilian people, landscape and traditions as the main subject for operas that should be sung in Portuguese. The movement was related to a broader political project sponsored by the government and the Emperor, aimed at the revision of Brazilian history and the construction of a new cultural identity for the country. The purpose of this paper is to examine some aspects of the libretto of Marília de Itamaracá and the ideas discussed in its preface, showing the contradictions and tensions involved in the creation of a “national” identity through operas
sj-doc-1-msj-10.1177_13524585241228103 – Supplemental material for Expert opinion on the use of contraception in people with multiple sclerosis
No full textSupplemental material, sj-doc-1-msj-10.1177_13524585241228103 for Expert opinion on the use of contraception in people with multiple sclerosis by Jan Hillert, Riley Bove, Lisa B Haddad, Kerstin Hellwig, Maria Houtchens, Melinda Magyari, Gabriele S Merki-Feld, Scott Montgomery, Rossella E Nappi, Egon Stenager, Heidi Thompson, Zeliha Tulek, Elisabetta Verdun Di Cantogno and Manuela Simoni in Multiple Sclerosis Journal</p
Advances in Modeling of Noisy Quantum Computers: Spin Qubits in Semiconductor Quantum Dots
No full textThe new quantum era is expected to have an unprecedented social impact, enabling the research of tomorrow in several pivotal fields. These perspectives require a physical system able to encode, process and store for a sufficiently long amount of time the quantum information. However, the optimal engineering of currently available quantum computers, which are small and flawed by several non-ideal phenomena, requires an efficacious methodology for exploring the design space. Hence, there is an unmet need for the development of reliable hardware-aware simulation infrastructures able to efficiently emulate the behaviour of quantum hardware that commits to looking for innovative systematic ways, with a bottom-up approach starting from the physical level, moving to the device level and up to the system level. This article discusses the development of a classical simulation infrastructure for semiconductor quantum-dot quantum computation based on compact models, where each device is described in terms of the main physical parameters affecting its performance in a sufficiently easy way from a computational point of view for providing accurate results without involving sophisticated physical simulators, thus reducing the requirements on CPU and memory. The effectiveness of the involved approximations is tested on a benchmark of quantum circuits - in the expected operating ranges of quantum hardware - by comparing the corresponding outcomes with those obtained via numeric integration of the Schrödinger equation. The achieved results give evidence that this work is a step forward towards the definition of a classical simulator of quantum computers.QCD/Scappucci La
Non linear modelling of Fornasini tower after the 2012 Emilia earthquake (Italy)
No full textAfter the seismic sequence that hit the Emilia Region on May 2012, serious damage has been observed in historical fortresses, churches, bell towers and towers, that are particularly common in the area. This has been highlighted by some distinctive features of such seismic motion that revealed to be very critical for structures characterized by long periods, that is: a high spectral displacement demand at long periods and a very high vertical component. Within this context, the paper deals with the interpretation and numerical simulation of the seismic response of Fornasini Tower, that suffered serious damage after such earthquake. To simulate and interpret its seismic response, nonlinear numerical simulations are performed by using in an integrate way various modelling approaches, in particular: the Finite Element (FE) and Equivalent Frame (EF) Models. Both the global seismic response and that of cross vaults at the ground floor have been investigated through the use of nonlinear analyses. In particular, the capability of the EF approach to simulate the global response of the tower is investigated by performing both nonlinear static and dynamic analyses and by using results coming from the more detailed FE approaches to calibrate the parameters in elastic phase. To this aim, the comparison with the real damage occurred is essential to verify the reliability of results achieved
LTR-retrotransposon dynamics in common fig (Ficus carica L.) genome
No full textBackground: Long Terminal Repeat retrotransposons (LTR-REs) are repetitive DNA sequences that constitute a large part of the genome. The improvement of sequencing technologies and sequence assembling strategies has achieved genome sequences with much greater reliability than those of the past, especially in relation to repetitive DNA sequences.
Results: In this study, we analysed the genome of Ficus carica L., obtained using third generation sequencing technologies and recently released, to characterise the complete complement of full-length LTR-REs to study their dynamics during fig genome evolution. A total of 1867 full-length elements were identified. Those belonging to the Gypsy superfamily were the most abundant; among these, the Chromovirus/Tekay lineage was the most represented. For the Copia superfamily, Ale was the most abundant lineage. Measuring the estimated insertion time of each element showed that, on average, Ivana and Chromovirus/Tekay were the youngest lineages of Copia and Gypsy superfamilies, respectively. Most elements were inactive in transcription, both constitutively and in leaves of plants exposed to an abiotic stress, except for some elements, mostly belonging to the Copia/Ale
lineage. A relationship between the inactivity of an element and inactivity of genes lying in close proximity to it was established.
Conclusions: The data reported in this study provide one of the first sets of information on the genomic dynamics related to LTR-REs in a plant species with highly reliable genome sequence. Fig LTR-REs are highly heterogeneous in abundance and estimated insertion time, and only a few elements are transcriptionally active. In general, the data suggested a direct relationship between estimated insertion time and abundance of an element and an
inverse relationship between insertion time (or abundance) and transcription, at least for Copia LTR-REs
DNA Modification Patterns within the Transposable Elements of the Fig (<i>Ficus carica</i> L.) Genome
No full textTransposable element activity can be harmful to the host’s genome integrity, but it can also provide selective advantages. One strategy to cope with transposons is epigenetic control through DNA base modifications. We report the non-canonic DNA modification dynamics of fig (Ficus carica L.) by exploiting high-quality genome reference and related N4-methylcytosine (4mC) and N6-methyladenine (6mA) data. Overall, 1.49% of transposon nucleotides showed either 4mC or 6mA modifications: the 4mC/6mA ratio was similar in Class I and Class II transposons, with a prevalence of 4mC, which is comparable to coding genes. Different percentages of 4mC or 6mA were observed among LTR-retrotransposon lineages and sub-lineages. Furthermore, both the Copia and Gypsy retroelements showed higher modification rates in the LTR and coding regions compared with their neighbour regions. Finally, the unconventional methylation of retrotransposons is unrelated to the number of close genes, suggesting that the 4mC and 6mA frequency in LTR-retrotransposons should not be related to transcriptional repression in the adjacency of the element. In conclusion, this study highlighted unconventional DNA modification patterns in fig transposable elements. Further investigations will focus on functional implications, in regards to how modified retroelements affect the expression of neighbouring genes, and whether these epigenetic markers can spread from repeats to genes, shaping the plant phenotype
In Silico Genome-Wide Characterisation of the Lipid Transfer Protein Multigenic Family in Sunflower (H. annuus L.)
No full textThe sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is among the most widely cultivated crops in the world due to the oilseed production. Lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) are low molecular mass proteins encoded by a broad multigenic family in higher plants, showing a vast range of functions; these proteins have not been characterised in sunflower at the genomic level. In this work, we exploited the reliable genome sequence of sunflower to identify and characterise the LTP multigenic family in H. annuus. Overall, 101 sunflower putative LTP genes were identified using a homology search and the HMM algorithm. The selected sequences were characterised through phylogenetic analysis, exon–intron organisation, and protein structural motifs. Sunflower LTPs were subdivided into four clades, reflecting their genomic and structural organisation. This gene family was further investigated by analysing the possible duplication origin of genes, which showed the prevalence of tandem and whole genome duplication events, a result that is in line with polyploidisation events that occurred during sunflower genome evolution. Furthermore, LTP gene expression was evaluated on cDNA libraries constructed on six sunflower tissues (leaf, root, ligule, seed, stamen, and pistil) and from
roots treated with stimuli mimicking biotic and abiotic stress. Genes encoding LTPs belonging to three out of four clades responded specifically to external stimuli, especially to abscisic acid, auxin, and the saline environment. Interestingly, genes encoding proteins belonging to one clade were expressed exclusively in sunflower seeds. This work is a first attempt of genome-wide identification and characterisation of the LTP multigenic family in a plant species
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