453 research outputs found
A network of sex and competition: the promiscuous mating system of an invasive weevil.
No full textInvasive alien pest insect species represent a major threat for agriculture and biodiversity. Because chemical treatments
employed to contrast such pests elicit serious environmental and human health problems, a great effort is currently directed
to develop long term and environmentally friendly biological control strategies. However, the successful application of some
promising techniques, such as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), requires a deep knowledge of the pest basic biology. Here, we
argue that understanding pest sexual biology using a social network approach can significantly improve the performance of control
strategies. For example, SIT may benefit from understanding how individuals interact and how males accede to reproduction,
in order to target the most reproductively active and polygamic males. In this paper we studied the socio-sexual networks of the
Asian red palm weevil (RPW) Rhynchophorus ferrugineus, a worldwide invader which is causing heavy economic impacts on
several palm species. We found that the RPW has a highly promiscuous mating system, characterized by forced interruptions of
pair copulations by additional males. The social network is highly non-random nor regular: few males almost monopolize reproduction,
behaving as key-players in the network of matings. Additionally, males have a stable pattern of sexual behaviour over
time. We use RPW social network as a case study to direct the development of management techniques such as SIT strateg
Il capitalismo dal volto umano di Alberto Mingardi fra pragmatismo e disincanto
No full textTaking inspiration from the book "Capitalism" by Alberto Mingardi, we first try to summarize the true meaning that the author attributes to this system. Mingardi, in this regard, follows the historian Deirdre McCloskey, for whom capitalism is not only an unprecedented and accelerated process of capital accumulation, but also the genesis of a new ethos that produces the "culture of growth" and the "great enrichment". However, we ask ourselves whether there are schools of thought adequate to describe the capitalist system as Mingardi intends it. We also raise serious doubts about financial capitalism's ability to promote social harmony and peace. Finally, we observe how capitalism is at present moving from a competitive configuration to a substantially corporative and oligopolistic one
Alberto Savinio
No full textAlberto Savinio, pseudonym of Andrea de Chirico (1891-1952), was an Italian writer and eclectic artist, the younger brother of “pictor optimus” Giorgio de Chirico. Born in Athens, he formed himself in piano and composition. In 1910 he settled in Paris for artistic purposes and in 1913 he began his association with Guillaume Apollinaire and his friends, poets, cubist and futurist artists. In 1914 he created a new musical concept and exposed its theoretical principles. On the basis of those theories, he composed and published music and text of a dramatic poem, Les Chants de la mi-mort: this short text anticipates one of the recurring subjects Savinio’ s narrative (the mi-mort that is an imaginary state between life and death) and introduces the language of the unconscious of the author’ s writing. Until 1918, he devoted himself to a search for new modes of expression and to linguistic experimentalism. Written in Italian, with a short French section, with words in Spanish, German and slang, Hermaphrodito (1918) is made of different genres: drama, narrative, poetic, historical, autobiographical. The book succeeds in shaping a space of compromise between conscious and unconscious, real and unreal, reason and imagination.
After 1918 he shifted toward a different artistic ideal and disavowed the European avant-garde. He opted for an art prose without abandoning, however, to investigate the threshold between waking and sleeping, conscious and unconscious, real and unreal, in tales that highlight already in the titles his interest in childhood, dream and fantasy: Tragedia dell’infanzia, Infanzia di Nivasio Dolcemare, Alla città della mia infanzia dico, Vita dei fantasmi, Il sogno meccanico. Despite several common aspects with French Surrealism, Savinio never joined Breton
Francesco Arcangeli e il Bastianino: due "sognatori di Padania"
No full textThe article proposes a rereading of Francesco Arcangeli’s monograph on Bastianino, published in 1963 for an historic series sponsored by the Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara. A partial misunderstanding of Arcangeli’s text unintentionally led to poorly grounded scholarship and historiography, and in particular an attempt to extend Tasso’s definition of parlar disgiunto (disjointed speech, or style) to a distinctly heterogeneous group of painters active in the second half of the sixteenth century. The author aims for a detailed analysis of the book on Bastianino, not only with a focus on its substantial points but also associating it with the key elements of Arcangeli’s thought and other texts of his, especially the monograph on Ennio Morlotti, published in 1962 by Edizioni del Milione, and the article Lo spazio romantico in the journal Paragone in 1972
Sterile Rhynchophorus ferrugineus males efficiently impair reproduction while maintaining their sexual competitiveness in a social context
No full textThe red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus,
recently spreading from its native range throughout
the world, is one of the most dangerous pests for several
palm species. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is a
promising environmentally friendly approach for the
management of this pest. An essential prerequisite of the
SIT is that irradiated males released in nature are as sexually
competitive as their wild counterparts. Here we
evaluated the potential use of the SIT in red palm weevil
males by investigating the sexual competitiveness of
gamma-irradiated (Cobalt 60 source, dose 80 Gray) males
in the laboratory in a natural-like social context with a
balanced sex ratio and by testing their efficacy in impairing
female reproduction. Our results showed that irradiation
did not affect any of the mating behaviour parameters.
However, the male reproductive potential was drastically
reduced, as fertility was markedly decreased in females
mated with irradiated males. Therefore, an 80 Gray irradiation
dose is a promising option for the SIT in the control
of the red palm weevil, producing sterile but sexually
competitive males when tested in a natural-like mating
context
Le ragioni teoriche del giusto processo
No full textThe paper begins by two citations of Vincenzo Manzini and Francesco Gentile that the author uses to present different positions on the role of the process to recognize the truth.
Presenting a natural law position, the Author highlights the false problems of the criminal process, and invites scholars to search in the theoretical roots the starting point to allow the process to become truly the scheme of the legal order and the conflict will turn into a disput
Francesco Flamini dantista
No full textQuesto lavoro di tesi analizza il lavoro critico di Francesco Flamini come critico dantesco e il contributo dei suoi studi all’esegesi del poema. Si presenta una breve biografia dell’autore, l’analisi della sua opera principale di critica dantesca in due volumi I significati reconditi della Commedia di Dante e il suo fine supremo e, infine, lo studio della fortuna critica delle sue interpretazioni e l’analisi diretta di alcuni passi del poema, in particolare Inf., I 30. È qui inclusa un’appendice con alcune missive inedite di Flamini di argomento dantesco e una bibliografia completa delle opere del critico.
This thesis analyses Francesco Flamini's work as a Dante critic and the contribution of his studies to the exegesis of the poem. It presents a brief biography of the author, an analysis of his main work of Dantean criticism in two volumes I significati reconditi della Commedia di Dante e il suo fine supremo, and then a study of the critical fortunes of his interpretations and a direct analysis of some passages of the poem, in particular Inf. I 30. There is also an appendix containing some of Flamini's unpublished letters on Dante and a complete bibliography of the critic's works
Management of the Invasions of Allochthonous Arthropods: Pathways of Introduction and Eto-ecological Aspects
No full textFirst report of Gonipterus scutellatus complex (Coleoptera Curculionidae) in Sicily (Italy).
No full textDuring August 2015, the weevil Gonipterus scutellatus complex (Coleoptera Curculionidae), a pest of Eucalyptus spp., was found for the first time in Sicily. According to our surveys, Eucalyptus globulus was the only infested tree species
Regional Patterns in the Achievement of the Lisbon Strategy: a Comparison Between Polycentric Regions and Monocentric Ones
No full textPolycentrism is a common feature of European urban systems. Lately, the concept has assumed a more normative relevance and it has been often considered as a pre?requisite for a more sustainable and balanced development across Europe. However, the effects of polycentrism on other main European Strategies (such as the Lisbon Strategy, aimed at increasing European competitiveness and social cohesion) are not so clear. Therefore, the paper tries to highlight the relationships between a regional polycentric development and the achievement of the Lisbon Strategy’s targets. Referring to a sample of 75 regions belonging to France, Germany, Italy and Spain, we have first measured the extent of polycentrism, by estimating through OLS the slope of the rank-size distribution of cities within each region. Then, we have performed a principal component analysis (PCA) in order to highlight the main features characterising the performance of each region according to Lisbon Strategy’s targets. Looking at the correlations between the extent of polycentrism and the achievement of the Lisbon Strategy’s targets, we have found that the former is significantly correlated both with the spread of manufacture and with low investments in human capital and innovationthe Lisbon Strategy, polycentrism, rank-size distribution, PCA
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