16 research outputs found
High-Tech Training for Birds of Prey
No full textRaptors are some of the most at-risk groups of birds in the world and saving these top predators is essential for maintaining the health of many ecosystems. After hospitalization, raptors are often released when muscular recovery is still unfitting when they are unable to hunt efficiently and are at risk of dying from starvation within a few days. On the other hand, if a convalescent bird is trained with the only use of classic falconry techniques, it is likely to remain dependent on the caretaker/falconer even long after the release, so unable to hunt independently. To overcome these problems, a new training method was conceived, which could improve raptors’ muscular strength while limiting habituation to humans. This has been possible due to the combination of classic falconry techniques and modern technologies, such as the introduction of specific workouts with drones. Three falconry raptors and one wild Eurasian hobby were trained through high-tech falconry to develop the ability to catch, grasp, and airlift their prey at a different speed, altitude, and resistance. The main findings of this study were: (i) The rapid increase of the raptors’ speed; (ii) the muscular growth and endurance, and (iii) successful reintroduction of a wild bird
Hydrogeological and geophisical studies in the Mereto di Tomba area (High Friuli Plain) directed to application of water reborn techniques
No full textTeaching Design Standards and Regulations on Medical Devices Through a Collaborative Project-Based Learning Approach
No full textThe final goal a course of Medical Device Design is to convey the importance of multidisciplinary approach in Biomedical Engineering (BME), where scientific and technical knowledge has to address the clinical needs of patients and healthcare providers, and has to promote problem-solving abilities and teamwork. In such context, project/problem-based teaching- learning methods have been suggested among the more effective strategies for bridging technical competences with the development of transversal skills and consequently in the professional formation of engineering students. In the BME field, standards and regulations on medical technologies have a paramount role, as they ensure safety and efficacy of the devices but, despite their importance, it is difficult to engage students’ attention when teaching norms and legislations. This paper describes the teaching/learning experience in a new course on Laboratory of Biomedical Technologies at the first year of the Master’s Degree programme in BME at University of Pisa (Italy), where standards and regulations were introduced as design constraints for the project-based final examination. The collaborative design and prototyping of a walking frame are discussed in detail, to demonstrate the feasibility and the challenges of the proposed approach
Un approccio integrato (tassonomico, biosistematico e fitosociologico) allo studio del genere Sesleria Scop. nell'appennino
No full textPersistent hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection in chronic hemodialysis patients and non-B, non-C chronic hepatitis
No full textAbstract Three groups of patients have been studied longitudinally for 24 months to analyze the role of hepatitis G virus (HGV) in hepatic disease. Group 1 consisted of 50 patients with non-B, non-C chronic hepatitis, group 2 consisted of 44 hemodialyzed patients, and group 3 consisted of 50 healthy blood donors. The presence of HGV RNA was detected by both reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). At the baseline visit the HGV RNA was detected in seven out of 50 patients with non-B, non-C chronic hepatitis, in two out of 44 hemodialyzed patients, and in three out of 50 healthy blood donors. HGV-infected hemodialyzed patients and HGV viremic blood donors had serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels within normal limits. During the follow-up period the two HGV-positive hemodialyzed patients and the three infected healthy blood donors did not show any sign of hepatic disease. There were no significant differences between HGV-positive patients in the three groups at the beginning and at the end of the follow-up. No considerable deterioration of general health conditions was observed on the basis of clinical and laboratory data in HGV-positive chronic hepatitis patients. Finally, HGV does not seem to be responsible for hepatic disease
First report of Neofusicoccum parvum and Phytophthora palmivora causing fruit rot of pomegranate in Italy
No full textSevere pomegranate yield losses due to fruit diseases have recently been observed in several orchards in Veneto (north-eastern Italy). Given the economic relevance of these emerging diseases, an in-depth study was conducted in ten orchards distributed in the main producing areas in order to investigate the aetiology. From autumn 2020 to autumn 2023, eighty-two symptomatic fruits were sampled to isolate the causal agents. Based on morphology, colony appearance and DNA sequence data, seventy-seven isolates were obtained and identified. These included Coniella granati (Fam. Schizoparmaceae, 39 isolates), Neofusicoccum parvum (Fam. Botryosphaeriaceae, 29) and Phytophthora palmivora (Fam. Peronosporaceae, 9). Pathogenicity trials conducted on ripe pomegranate fruits confirmed the aggressiveness of the three species. Results obtained have allowed us to expand knowledge on emerging pomegranate pathogens. Neofusicoccum parvum and P. palmivora are reported here for the first time as fruit rot agents on pomegranate in Italy
Artificial recharge of phreatic aquifer in the Mereto di Tomba area (Upper Friuli Plain)
No full textAbstractThe Mereto di Tomba area in the upper Friuli plain was selected to evaluate the impacts of artificial recharge (AR) and to develop reliable models for managing AR activities using an infiltration basin, about 5.5 m deep and 45×7 m2 wide. Alluvial deposits compose the unconfined aquifer with an estimated thickness no less than 100 m. The depth to the water table averages 50 m. Hydrogeological and geophysical investigations were performed supporting the aquifer conceptual model. The expected AR efficiency has been simulated by a three-dimensional variably-saturated finite-element model. Preliminary data of AR testing are presented
HIGH DIFFERENTIAL STRESS IN THE SEISMOGENIC LITHOSPHERE: CONSTRAINTS FROM NUMERICAL MODELING AND MICROSTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
No full textL’obiettivo di questa tesi è lo studio della meccanica del terremoto in condizioni di alta pressione ambientale dalla scala micrometrica alla scala litosferica, combinando studi microstrutturali all’avanguardia e simulazioni numeriche di processi geodinamici. Pseudotachiliti (fusi frizionali cosismici solidificati) profonde, un proxy per i terremoti profondi, sono qui investigate per studiare la meccanica dei terremoti e usate per vincolare un modello di rottura su scala litosferica. Due casi studio complementari sono presentati: (i) la sismicità in crosta intermedia, studiata con osservazioni microstrutturali di pseudotachiliti dall’hanging wall del Woodroffe Thrust (Musgrave Ranges, Australia centrale), e (ii) la sismicità di subduzione intermedio-profonda, le cui condizioni sono simulate su scala litosferica estrapolando la presenza di pseudotachiliti profonde di subduzione a un modello generale di rottura sismica promossa dall’amplificazione degli stress.
Nella tesi: (i) fornisco nuove stime di pressione per le pseudotachiliti del Woodroffe Thrust studiando la stabilità dei polimorfi di Al2SiO5 che cristallizzano dal fuso. (ii) presento il primo budget completo dell’energia dissipata sul piano di faglia durante un terremoto a condizioni di crosta intermedia, quantificando anche il lavoro associato alla deformazione cristal-plastica dei minerali della roccia incassante, applicando la tecnica HR-EBSD (diffrazione di elettroni retrodiffusi ad alta risoluzione angolare) su granati scioccati sismicamente. (iii) propongo un processo di amplificazione dello stress che può indure gli alti stress differenziali necessari per la sismicità intermedio-profonda in peridotiti anidre della placca oceanica in subduzione in assenza di altri processi.The main goal of this thesis is to investigate the mechanics of seismic failure under high confinement pressure from the micrometric to the lithospheric scale, combining cutting-edge microstructural investigations and geodynamic numerical simulations. Deep-seated pseudotachylytes (i.e. coseismic quenched frictional melts), a proxy for deep earthquakes, are here both directly investigated to explore earthquake mechanics and used to constrain a brittle failure model on a lithospheric scale. Two complementary case studies are presented: (i) the seismicity at mid-crustal conditions, investigated from microstructural observations of pseudotachylytes from the hanging wall of the Woodroffe Thrust (Musgrave Ranges, central Australia), and (ii) the intermediate-depth subduction seismicity, whose predisposing conditions are modelled on a lithospheric scale extrapolating the occurrence of subduction-related deep pseudotachylytes to a general model of stress amplification promoting seismic failure.
In the thesis: (i) I provide new pressure estimates for the pseudotachylytes of the Woodroffe Thrust, from the analysis of Al2SiO5 stable polymorphs crystallizing from the melt in pseudotachylyte-bearing peraluminous gneisses. (ii) I present the first complete earthquake on-fault energy budget from an exhumed fault at mid-crustal conditions, by quantifying the work associated with crystal-plastic straining of the host-rock minerals by applying HR-EBSD (high-angular resolution electron backscattered diffraction) on seismically shocked garnets. (iii) I propose a process of stress amplification that may induce the high differential stresses required for intermediate-depth seismicity in the dry and strong peridotites of the subducting oceanic slab in absence of weakening mechanisms
Identification of enzyme inhibitors using therapeutic target protein-magnetic nanoparticle conjugates
No full textTarget protein-magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) conjugates, i.e. alpha-glucosidase-MNP and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B)-MNP, were prepared and evaluated for the first time for affinity extraction of enzyme inhibitors from herbal extracts. Four ligands extracted from Granati pericarpium were identified by ESI-MS analysis. In vitro tests indicated that they inhibited both a-glucosidase and PTP1B, two important target proteins for diabetic treatment
