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Biological invasions threaten biodiversity worldwide, especially on tropical Islands such as Reunion Island where the largest area of intact vegetation occurs within the Mascarene's archipelago. With the impetus of the local government, we initiated a partnership between scientists and managers to address the management of invasive alien plant species on the island. This study aims to map biodiversity priority areas and to prioritise alien plant clearing on the island. We first established a conceptual framework shared by all partners. We then combined all existing data on habitats, both threatened and endemic species, and the distribution of alien plant species using expert knowledge where necessary. We developed a decision-making process using Zonation, a conservation planning tool, to identify biodiversity conservation priorities. Conservation priority areas were selected with the aim of maximising biodiversity levels in areas slightly invaded. The criteria used to identify priority areas for the control of alien plant species included clearing costs, accessibility, and the history of previous management programmes. A total of 60,303 ha were identified as conservation priority areas, 30% of which are not considered to be invaded. Based on biodiversity and implementation issues, we identified plant clearing priority areas that highlighted invasion fronts. Priorities identified helped to spatially re-align existing clearing operations. This study, conducted jointly by managers, decision-makers and scientists has allowed the identification of priority areas concerning the control of alien plants and their implementation thereafter. The engagement of stakeholders at each relevant step of a conservation project is essential in guiding decision making, and the future implementation.

Natural and anthropogenic gas radionuclides such as radon, xenon, hydrogen and krypton isotopes must be monitored to be managed as pathogenic agents, radioactive diagnostic agents or nuclear activity indicators. State-of-the-art detectors based on liquid scintillators suffer from laborious preparation and limited solubility for gases, which affect the accuracy of the measurements. The actual challenge is to find solid scintillating materials simultaneously capable of concentrating radioactive gases and efficiently producing visible light revealed with high sensitivity. The high porosity, combined with the use of scintillating building blocks in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), offers the possibility to satisfy these requisites. We demonstrate the capability of a hafnium-based MOF incorporating dicarboxy-9,10-diphenylanthracene as a scintillating conjugated ligand to detect gas radionuclides. Metal–organic frameworks show fast scintillation, a fluorescence yield of ∼40%, and accessible porosity suitable for hosting noble gas atoms and ions. Adsorption and detection of 85Kr, 222Rn and 3H radionuclides are explored through a newly developed device that is based on a time coincidence technique. Metal–organic framework crystalline powder demonstrated an improved sensitivity, showing a linear response down to a radioactivity value below 1 kBq m−3 for 85Kr, which outperforms commercial devices. These results support the possible use of scintillating porous MOFs to fabricate sensitive detectors of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides.

Compared to onshore wind power, floating offshore wind power is a promising renewable energy source due to higher wind speeds and larger suitable available areas. However, costs are still too high compared to onshore wind power. In general, the economic viability of offshore wind technology decreases with greater water depth and distance from shore. Floating wind platforms are more competitive compared to fixed offshore structures above a certain water depth, but there is still great variety and no clear design convergence. Therefore, optimisation of the floating support structure in the preliminary phase of the design process is still of great importance, often up to personal experience and sensibility. It is fundamental that a suitable optimisation approach is chosen to obtain meaningful results at early development stages. This review provides a comparative overview of the methods, numerical tools and optimisation approaches that can be used with respect to the conceptual design of the support structure for Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWT) attempting to detail the limitations preventing the convergence to an optimal floating support structure. This work is intended to be as a reference for any researcher and developer that would like to optimise the support platform for FOWT.

During an infection the immune system produces pathogen-specific antibodies. These antibody repertoires become specific to the history of infections and represent a rich source of diagnostic markers. However, the specificities of these antibodies are mostly unknown. Here, using high-density peptide arrays we examined the human antibody repertoires of Chagas disease patients. Chagas disease is a neglected disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite that evades immune mediated elimination and mounts long-lasting chronic infections. We describe a proteome-wide search for antigens, characterised their linear epitopes, and show their reactivity on 71 individuals from diverse human populations. Using single-residue mutagenesis we revealed the core functional residues for 232 of these epitopes. Finally, we show the diagnostic performance of identified antigens on challenging samples. These datasets enable the study of the Chagas antibody repertoire at an unprecedented depth and granularity, while also providing a rich source of serological biomarkers.

The performance of offshore floating wind turbines (OFWTs) is affected by the movement along the 6 Degrees of Freedom (DOFs), which is caused by the combined influence of wind and waves. Particularly, interesting is the pitching motion, which can lead to significant changes in aerodynamic and net generated power. This paper analyzes the influence of pitching motion on the net generated power, considering for the first time in literature the OFWT control systems (blade pitch and generator controller). An in-house model based on the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory is used, in which sinusoidal pitch movements characterized by different values of amplitude, frequency and offset are imposed. In this way, it is possible to evaluate the influence of these three parameters on the extracted power at different values of wind speed. Results identify in the pitch amplitude and frequency the most significant variables for variations in OFWT power output, and that the influence of pitch oscillation on the average extracted power considerably varies at different wind conditions.

Jupiter’s atmosphere is one of the most turbulent places in the solar system. Whereas observations of lightning and thunderstorms point to moist convection as a small-scale energy source for Jupiter’s large-scale vortices and zonal jets, this has never been demonstrated due to the coarse resolution of pre-Juno measurements. The Juno spacecraft discovered that Jovian high latitudes host a cluster of large cyclones with diameter of around 5,000 km, each associated with intermediate- (roughly between 500 and 1,600 km) and smaller-scale vortices and filaments of around 100 km. Here, we analyse infrared images from Juno with a high resolution of 10 km. We unveil a dynamical regime associated with a significant energy source of convective origin that peaks at 100 km scales and in which energy gets subsequently transferred upscale to the large circumpolar and polar cyclones. Although this energy route has never been observed on another planet, it is surprisingly consistent with idealized studies of rapidly rotating Rayleigh–Bénard convection, lending theoretical support to our analyses. This energy route is expected to enhance the heat transfer from Jupiter’s hot interior to its troposphere and may also be relevant to the Earth’s atmosphere, helping us better understand the dynamics of our own planet.

Although the role of the cerebellum in motor sequences learning is widely established, the specific function of its gamma oscillatory activity still remains unclear. In the present study, gamma (50 Hz)—or delta (1 Hz)—transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) was applied to the right cerebellar cortex while participants performed an implicit serial reaction time task (SRTT) with their right hand. The task required the execution of motor sequences simultaneously with the presentation of a series of visual stimuli. The same sequence was repeated across multiple task blocks (from blocks 2 to 5 and from blocks 7 to 8), whereas in other blocks, new/pseudorandom sequences were reproduced (blocks 1 and 6). Task performance was examined before and during tACS. To test possible after-effects of cerebellar tACS on the contralateral primary motor cortex (M1), corticospinal excitability was assessed by examining the amplitude of motor potentials (MEP) evoked by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Compared with delta stimulation, gamma-tACS applied during the SRTT impaired participants’ performance in blocks where the same motor sequence was repeated but not in blocks where the new pseudorandom sequences were presented. Noteworthy, the later assessed corticospinal excitability was not affected. These results suggest that cerebellar gamma oscillations mediate the implicit acquisition of motor sequences but do not affect task execution itself. Overall, this study provides evidence of a specific role of cerebellar gamma oscillatory activity in implicit motor learning. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12311-021-01255-6.

Estuarine and coastal geomorphology, biogeochemistry, water quality, and coastal food webs in river-dominated shelves of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) are modulated by transport processes associated with river inputs, winds, waves, tides, and deep-ocean/continental shelf interactions. For instance, transport processes control the fate of river-borne sediments, which in turn affect coastal land loss. Similarly, transport of freshwater, nutrients, and carbon control the dynamics of eutrophication, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and coastal acidification. Further, freshwater inflow transports pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and oil into receiving estuaries and coastal systems. Lastly, transport processes along the continuum from the rivers and estuaries to coastal and shelf areas and adjacent open ocean (abbreviated herein as “river-estuary-shelf-ocean”) regulate the movements of organisms, including the spatial distributions of individuals and the exchange of genetic information between distinct subpopulations. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) provided unprecedented opportunities to study transport processes along the river-estuary-shelf-ocean continuum in the GoM. The understanding of transport at multiple spatial and temporal scales in this topographically and dynamically complex marginal sea was improved, allowing for more accurate forecasting of the fate of oil and other constituents. For this review, we focus on five specific transport themes: (i) wetland, estuary, and shelf exchanges; (ii) river-estuary coupling; (iii) nearshore and inlet processes; (iv) open ocean transport processes; and (v) river-induced fronts and cross-basin transport. We then discuss the relevancy of GoMRI findings on the transport processes for ecological connectivity and oil transport and fate. We also examine the implications of new findings for informing the response to future oil spills, and the management of coastal resources and ecosystems. Lastly, we summarize the research gaps identified in the many studies and offer recommendations for continuing the momentum of the research provided by the GoMRI effort. A number of uncertainties were identified that occurred in multiple settings. These include the quantification of sediment, carbon, dissolved gasses and nutrient fluxes during storms, consistent specification of the various external forcings used in analyses, methods for smooth integration of multiscale advection mechanisms across different flow regimes, dynamic coupling of the atmosphere with sub-mesoscale and mesoscale phenomena, and methods for simulating finer-scale dynamics over long time periods. Addressing these uncertainties would allow the scientific community to be better prepared to predict the fate of hydrocarbons and their impacts to the coastal ocean, rivers, and marshes in the event of another spill in the GoM.

The solid state is typically not well suited to sustaining fast molecular motion, but in recent years a variety of molecular machines, switches and rotors have been successfully engineered within porous crystals and on surfaces. Here we show a fast-rotating molecular rotor within the bicyclopentane–dicarboxylate struts of a zinc-based metal–organic framework—the carboxylate groups anchored to the metal clusters act as an axle while the bicyclic unit is free to rotate. The three-fold bipyramidal symmetry of the rotator conflicts with the four-fold symmetry of the struts within the cubic crystal cell of the zinc metal–organic framework. This frustrates the formation of stable conformations, allowing for the continuous, unidirectional, hyperfast rotation of the bicyclic units with an energy barrier of 6.2 cal mol−1 and a high frequency persistent for several turns even at very low temperatures (1010 Hz below 2 K). Using zirconium instead of zinc led to a different metal cluster–carboxylate coordination arrangement in the resulting metal–organic framework, and much slower rotation of the bicyclic units. Molecular rotors have been engineered within the bicyclopentane–dicarboxylate struts of a metal–organic framework—the bicyclic unit is the rotator and the carboxylate groups serve as the stator. In a zinc-based metal–organic framework, the crossed conformation of the strut–metal nodes enables fast rotation of the bicyclic moiety, but in the corresponding zirconium metal–organic framework a change in the conformation results in much slower rotation.

Computationally fast and accurate mathematical models are essential for effective design, optimization, and control of wave energy converters. However, the energy-maximising control strategy, essential for reaching economic viability, inevitably leads to the violation of linearising assumptions, so the common linear models become unreliable and potentially unrealistic. Partially nonlinear models based on the computation of Froude–Krylov forces with respect to the instantaneous wetted surface are promising and popular alternatives, but they are still too slow when floaters of arbitrary complexity are considered; in fact, mesh-based spatial discretisation, required by such geometries, becomes the computational bottle-neck, leading to simulations 2 orders of magnitude slower than real-time, unaffordable for extensive iterative optimizations. This paper proposes an alternative analytical approach for the subset of prismatic floating platforms, common in the wave energy field, ensuring computations 2 orders of magnitude faster than real-time, hence 4 orders of magnitude faster than state-of-the-art mesh-based approaches. The nonlinear Froude–Krylov model is used to investigate the nonlinear hydrodynamics of the floater of a pitching wave energy converter, extracting energy either from pitch or from an inertially coupled internal degree of freedom, especially highlighting the impact of state constraints, controlled/uncontrolled conditions, and impact on control parameters’ optimization, sensitivity and effectiveness.

Anthropogenic nutrient inputs fuel eutrophication and hypoxia ([O2]

As a consequence of population aging, we have witnessed in internal medicine hospital wards a progressive shift from a population of in-patients relatively young and mainly affected by a single ailment to one of ever older and more and more complex patients with multiple chronic diseases, followed as out-patients by many different specialists with poor integration andinevitably treated with multiple medications. Polypharmacy (defined as the chronic intake of five or more drugs) is associated with increased risks of drug-drug interactions and related adverse effects, prescription and intake errors, poor compliance, re-hospitalization and mortality. With this background, the Italian Society of Internal Medicine chose to start in 2008 a prospective register called REPOSI (REgistro POliterapie SIMI, Società Italiana di Medicina Interna) in internal medicine and geriatric hospital wards. The country wide register is an ongoing observatory on multimorbidity and polypharmacy in the oldest old, with the goal to improve prescription appropriateness and, thus to avoid potentially inappropriate medications. The main findings of the register, that has accrued so far, 7005 older patients throughout a 10year period, are summarized herewith, with special emphasis on the main patterns of poor prescription appropriateness and related risks of adverse events.

As a part of a larger study concerning the carbon sequestration capability by hazelnut orchards in Italy, we analyzed the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) removed over the year from the atmosphere through the net assimilation rates in two hazelnut orchards in Piedmont (i.e., the second region in Italy for surface and production). In particular, considering the key role played by the structural traits in affecting carbon sequestration potential, we assessed the impact of two different training systems widely diffused in the region: single trunk in orchardA and bush-like in orchardB. The results showed that plants in orchardA and orchardB sequestered 10.6 ± 1.8 and 25.7 ± 4.2 kg (CO2) plant−1 month−1, respectively. Higher CO2 sequestration in the plants in orchardB was due to their higher leaf area index relative to plants in orchardA. The mean CO2 sequestration from orchardA and orchardB per area was 4.25 ± 1.72 and 8.57 ± 3.41 Mg (CO2) ha−1 month−1, respectively. We also estimated the total amount of CO2 emission by the management over the entire production season in 157.335 kg CO2eq ha−1 by summing the contribution of diesel fuel, machinery and fertilization practices and considering that the total amount of CO2 sequestered by the two hazelnut orchards over the entire study period was estimated in 26 Mg (CO2) ha−1 in orchardA, and in 51 Mg (CO2) ha−1 in orchardB, they had an effective positive role as carbon sink at this local level.

Intravenous thrombolysis (IVT)-ineligible patients undergoing direct thrombectomy tended to have poorer functional outcome as compared with IVT-eligible patients undergoing bridging therapy. We aimed to assess radiological and functional outcomes in large vessel occlusion-related stroke patients receiving direct thrombectomy in the presence of absolute exclusion criteria for IVT vs relative exclusion criteria for IVT and vs non-exclusion criteria for IVT. A cohort study on prospectively collected data from 2282 patients enrolled in the Italian Registry of Endovascular Treatment in Acute Stroke cohort for treatment with direct thrombectomy (n = 486, absolute exclusion criteria for IVT alone; n = 384, absolute in combination with relative exclusion criteria for IVT; n = 777, relative exclusion criteria for IVT alone; n = 635, non-exclusion criteria for IVT). After adjustment for unbalanced variables (model 1), ORs for 3-month death was higher in the presence of absolute exclusion criteria for IVT alone (vs relative exclusion criteria for IVT alone) (1.595, 95% CI 1.042–2.440) and in the presence of absolute exclusion criteria for IVT alone (vs non-exclusion criteria for IVT) (1.235, 95% CI 1.014–1.504). After adjustment for predefined variables (model 2: age, sex, pre-stroke mRS ≤ 1, NIHSS, occlusion in the anterior circulation, onset-to-groin time, and procedure time), ORs for 3-month death was higher in the presence of absolute exclusion criteria for IVT alone (vs relative exclusion criteria for IVT alone) (1.235, 95% CI 1.014–1.504) and in the presence of absolute exclusion criteria for IVT alone (vs non-exclusion criteria for IVT) (1.246, 95% CI 1.039–1.495). No significant difference was found between the groups as regards any type of intracerebral hemorrhage and parenchymal hematoma within 24 h, successful and complete recanalization after procedure, and modified Rankin Scale score 0–2 at 3 months. After adjustment for predefined variables of model 2, ORs for death were higher in the presence of recent administration of IV heparin (OR: 2.077), platelet count

Wood-decay fungi have been mainly studied for their medicinal or nutraceutical properties, lignocellulolytic enzymes as well as their pathological role in plants. Recently they have also been recognized as a potential source of biocomposite materials due to the features of mycelial mats in several species. Chemical, physical-morphological and biological properties are affected by interspecific and intraspecific differences in composition of the cell wall regarding both major and minor constituents; thus, a preliminary characterization can optimize the strain selection for applied and research purposes. In the present study, 52 strains from 18 wood-decay fungal species were considered to build a general descriptive model based on the cell wall in the light of interspecific variability. Pure-cultured mycelia were dried and examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to highlight the main different characteristics of each species. TGA profiles resulted more functional for a qualitative-quantitative description of major constituents (above all, β-glucans and chitin), whereas FTIR spectra are only qualitative and more difficult to analyze. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis confirmed the general descriptive model and allow interspecific comparison beyond intraspecific variability. In conclusion, TGA provides a simpler tool for screening of wood decay fungal strains and selection based on major cell wall constituents, namely chitin and glucans.

Teleconsultation is a consultation between two or more physicians about the diagnostic work-up and therapeutic strategy in the treatment of an individual case by means of modern telematics. ‘Drip-and-ship’ teleconsultation model consists of the transfer of patients, through telematics stroke networks, with large arteries occlusions from primary to comprehensive stroke centers equipped for endovascular therapy. We retrospectively investigated appropriateness, safety, and effectiveness of ‘drip-and-ship’ teleconsultation model in a rural area of Tuscany. Outcome measures were: door-to-ship time (including door-to-needle time), ratio of number treated/total sent patients, adverse events/mortality during transfer, and mortality and modified Rankin scale at 90 days. Analysis of non-treated patients was also done. Seventy-eight patients were included; 16/78 patients were sent for endovascular therapy alone, and 62/78 for “drip-and-ship”; 12 patients were not treated. Door-to-ship, and door-to-needle times (mean ± SD) were 105 ± 29.8 and 62.5 ± 37.5 min, respectively. The ratio number of treated/total sent patients was 0.85. At 90 days, the global mortality rate was 21%, and 40% of patients showed favorable outcome. The main cause of non-treatment was spontaneous recanalization. The high value for treated/total sent patients’ ratio underlines that “drip-and-ship” teleconsultation model is appropriate and effective, with a few untreated patients. The model is safe, without adverse events during transfer. Taken together, our outcomes are in line with the previous reports. “Drip-and-ship” teleconsultation model is safe and effective in rural areas, allowing good selections and rapid treatments for stroke patients, based on the transfer from the primary to the comprehensive stroke center.

Under the current global warming scenario, with temperatures expected to reach 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels between 2030 and 2052, the role of terrestrial ecosystems’ vegetation in removing carbon (C) from the atmosphere takes on even more importance. In particular, there is a need for researchers to emphasize and further quantify the environmental role of vegetation types such as agro-ecosystems. Woody crops like orchards typically dominate the landscape and the rural economy in producing areas of the Mediterranean region. In this context, the present study aimed to quantify the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestered by one of the most important tree crop species widely diffused across the Mediterranean region: Corylus avellana L. (hazelnut). Overall, the results highlighted that the hazelnut orchards under consideration, subjected to routine horticultural care, sequestered a total amount of CO2 of 58.8 ± 9.1 Mg ha−1 year−1 (mean value), with the highest amount of CO2 sequestered recorded in May (12.4 ± 2.0 Mg CO2 ha−1 month−1). Considering also that the area covered by hazelnut cultivation is continuously increasing, we can conclude that this cultivation is important not only for the orchards’ nut production but also for their role as carbon sinks.

We use the QCD sum rules for the three-point correlation functions to compute the strong coupling constants of the meson vertices $J/\psi D_{s}^{*} D_{s}^{*}$. Using the QCD sum rules, we obtain the form factor of the vertex, the coupling constant, and the cut off parameter. Uncertainties are included. The results obtained for the coupling constants are $g_{J/\psi D^{*}_{s} D^{*}_{s}} = 7.47^{+1.04}_{-0.71}.$.

Mesophyll conductance (g(m)) has received over time much less attention than stomatal conductance (g(s)), although it affects leaf photosynthesis to about the same extent as stomatal conductance does. The objective of this study was to analyze the g(m) trend in five understory herbaceous species growing in a close-canopy forest in the north-west of Italy. In particular, three of analyzed species were monocots: Carex brizoides Lam., Carex pilosa Scop., and Oplismenus undulatifolius P. Beauv and the others dicots species: Circaea lutetiana L., and Pulmonaria officinalis Ced. The results showed, on one hand, the absence of correlation between g(m) and the considered environmental variables in the forest understory (i.e. air temperature, photosynthetic photon flux density and carbon dioxide concentration). Moreover, we carried out a principal component analysis considering all the analyzed morphological and physiological variables for the five species. The following correlation between the first component, related to the leaf mass per unit of leaf area and the leaf tissue density, and g(m) seem to suggest a key role of the leaf structural features in determining g(m) variations across the five species.

A novel Monte Carlo technique has been developed to determine lifetimes of excited states in the tens-to-hundreds femtoseconds range in products of low-energy heavy-ion binary reactions, with complex velocity distributions. The method is based on a detailed study of Doppler-broadened $$\gamma $$ γ -ray lineshapes. Its relevance is demonstrated in connection with the $$^{18}\text {O}(7.0\, \text {MeV/u})+\,^{181}\text {Ta}$$ 18 O ( 7.0 MeV/u ) + 181 Ta experiment, performed at GANIL with the AGATA+VAMOS+PARIS setup, to study neutron-rich O, C, N, ... nuclei. Excited states in $$^{17}\text {O}$$ 17 O and $$^{19}\text {O}$$ 19 O , with known lifetimes, are used to validate the method over the $$\sim 20{-}400\,\text {fs}$$ ∼ 20 - 400 fs lifetime-sensitivity range. Emphasis is given to the unprecedented position resolution provided by $$\gamma $$ γ -tracking arrays, which turns out to be essential for reaching the required accuracy in Doppler-shift correction. The technique is anticipated to be an important tool for lifetime investigations in exotic neutron-rich nuclei, produced with intense ISOL-type beams.