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The extension of the fractional order derivative to the distributed order fractional derivative (DOFD) is somewhat simple from a formal point of view, but it does not yet have a simple, obvious analytic form that allows its fast numerical calculation, which is necessary when solving differential equations with DOFD. In this paper, we supply a simple analytic kernel for the Caputo DOFD and the Caputo-Fabrizio DOFD, which may be used for numerical calculation in cases where the weight function is unity. This, in turn, could potentially allow faster solution of differential equations containing DOFD. Utilizing an analytical formulation of simple physical systems with phenomenological equations that include a DOFD, we show the relevant differences between the Caputo DOFD and the Caputo-Fabrizio DOFD. Finally, we propose a model based on DOFD for modeling composed materials that comprise different constituents, and show its compatibility with thermodynamics.

Dedicated to the memory of Gaetano FicheraIn this paper we show that several free energies can be related to a material with fading memory with different domains of definition and topologies. As Fichera has proved, the study of stability can be affected by the space and then by the topology which we chose, while the material must be independent by this one.In the last part of the work by the semi-group theory, we use the new notion of minimum state to study the asymptotic behavior of the differential system.

Birds are among the most important biological components of wetlands. They play a key role in their ecology and are an important cultural resource for the public, in part because some species can be legally hunted. The conservation of waterbirds is especially important in terms of land use planning, in light of their ecological, cultural, and economic value. Here we summarize the results of wintering waterbirds censuses carried out in Lombardy between 2002 and 2013, using the standardized International Waterbird Census methodology. Our goals were to identify priority sites for waterbirds; estimate population sizes; define demographic trends; and provide a technical framework for making administrative and legislative decisions on the management and conservation of wetlands and their bird species. Lombardy hosts substantial numbers of wintering waterbirds, and many of its wetlands qualify as areas of conservation interest under Ramsar Convention criteria, as they host >1% of the Italian population of one or more species. Trends for the 20 species of highest conservation or hunting interest showed stable or increasing populations in most cases, with the exception of Black-necked Grebe, Common Pochard, and Eurasian Coot, which instead decreased in 2002-2013. The favourable population trends for most species suggest that the ecological status of Lombardy’s wetlands is essentially stable, but it could be improved by simple measures to improve the natural value of the shorelines and bottoms of major lakes and flooded gravel pits. Hunting was one of the main factors affecting the distribution and abundance of wintering waterbirds, which concentrate in protected areas - over 50% of all birds, rising to over 70% for species of conservation interest concentrate there, despite the fact that protected areas only account for 43% of sites surveyed. Overall, protected areas hosted bird densities that were almost seven times higher than those managed primarily for hunting, while mixed-use areas hosted intermediate densities of birds. The presence of protected and unprotected areas within the same wetland mitigates the effects of hunting on bird populations and species diversity, and may help maintain adequate conditions for their conservation.

The hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl esters of hexanoate (NphOHe) and decanoate (NphODe) by human serum albumin (HSA) at Tyr411, located at the FA3-FA4 site, has been investigated between pH 5.8 and 9.5, at 22.0°C. Values of Ks, k+2, and k+2/Ks obtained at [HSA] ≥ 5×[NphOXx] and [NphOXx] ≥ 5×[HSA] (Xx is NphOHe or NphODe) match very well each other; moreover, the deacylation step turns out to be the rate limiting step in catalysis (i.e., k+3 << k+2). The pH dependence of the kinetic parameters for the hydrolysis of NphOHe and NphODe can be described by the acidic pKa-shift of a single amino acid residue, which varies from 8.9 in the free HSA to 7.6 and 7.0 in the HSA:NphOHe and HSA:NphODe complex, respectively; the pK>a-shift appears to be correlated to the length of the fatty acid tail of the substrate. The inhibition of the HSA-Tyr411-catalyzed hydrolysis of NphOHe, NphODe, and 4-nitrophenyl myristate (NphOMy) by five inhibitors (i.e., diazepam, diflunisal, ibuprofen, 3-indoxyl-sulfate, and propofol) has been investigated at pH 7.5 and 22.0°C, resulting competitive. The affinity of diazepam, diflunisal, ibuprofen, 3-indoxyl-sulfate, and propofol for HSA reflects the selectivity of the FA3-FA4 cleft. Under conditions where Tyr411 is not acylated, the molar fraction of diazepam, diflunisal, ibuprofen, and 3-indoxyl-sulfate bound to HSA is higher than 0.9 whereas the molar fraction of propofol bound to HSA is ca. 0.5.

1.1. A aflição poética não desapareceu nem abandonou o cenário da produção, mas é evidente que esse mesmo cenário está invadido por demonstrações artificiais. Tais demonstrações podem ser respostas inconscientes às expectativas de uma historiografia da literatura. Ou respostas a uma estratégia de contextualização da produção organizada pela própria crítica que a sustenta. 1.2. As notas que seguem são reflexões para discutir disparidades e distorções em três diferentes tipos de poética que, para muitos, apontam como sendo caminhos de referência para uma certa continuidade da poesia, hoje, no Brasil. Pode-se representar tais poéticas em três linhas bastante distintas, três tendências gerais. São linhas que podem ser definidas como vetores defasados agindo como forças centrífugas, que serão denominadas aqui de pré-modernismo-contemporâneo, modernismo e pós-modernismo.

Trophic models of the micro and meiobenthic community of six sandy beaches on the Ligurian coast (north-western Mediterranean Sea) have been performed to assess variations in structure and function of the ecosystem. A novel approach based on the determination of the feeding predisposition of the benthic community revealed that there is a significant shift in the trophodynamics of the system with respect to environmental constraints. Along an emerged-submerged gradient the benthic community displayed a clear trend from a fundamentally detritus-dependent structure to an autotrophic, more balanced and diversified one. The trends analysed focus on the importance of the swash zone as a transitional area between the land and the sea that is characterised by a high diversity and activity of the trophic network.

Water samples were collected in the north-east Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and Madeira (33°N-36°N and 24°W-26°W) during the Oceanographic Cruise SEMAPHORE in June 1993. Temperature, salinity, nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) and particulate organic matter (organic carbon, organic nitrogen, carbohydrates, proteins and phytopigment) were investigated in the water column to a depth of 2000 m. The presence of the subtropical front (STF) separating warmer more saline Western Atlantic Water (WAW) from colder and fresher Eastern Atlantic Water (EAW) in the upper 100 m, and a tongue of salt water arising from the influence of Mediterranean Water (MW) at a depth of 1000 m, were well identified by the physical and chemical parameters. POC and PON concentrations, in the surface layer (0-100 m), ranged between 23.3-64.5 and 2.9-9.1 µg l-1 respectively, while concentration between 12.4-30.5 and 1.1-4.0 µg l-1 prevailed below the thermocline (100-2000 m). The very low POC and PON concentrations together with the low nutrient and chlorophyll-a concentrations confirmed the oligotrophic nature of the Azores-Madeira region. Statistical analysis was carried out to investigate the difference in the quantity and quality of POM between water masses. Regression analysis showed a high correlation between POC and PON but the slopes and intercepts of the regression lines did not differ significantly between WAW and EAW. In contrast, an examination of vertical profiles as well as mean integrated values of biochemical variables in the upper 100 m suggest a difference in the quantity and quality of biogenic particles between the water masses. WAW showed the lowest integrated concentrations of particulate organic carbon, particulate organic nitrogen, particulate protein and particulate carbohydrate. In contrast, frontal stations showed the highest values while EAW stations showed intermediate values. All these results, coupled with the occurrence of the highest POC:Chl-a ratio in EAW, suggest a temporal offset in the production cycle between the two water masses. Alternatively, the WAW is a more stratified and oligotrophic body of water than is EAW, and it always has lower biomass and nutrients than the more productive EAW. High chlorophyll-a concentrations were linked to the STF; moreover the average depth of the subsurface chlorophyll maximum (DCM) appeared to shift to shallower values at the frontal stations, suggesting a close association between the STF-Azores Current (AC) physical structure and the distribution of chlorophyll-a in this area.

Human serum albumin (HSA) is involved physiologically in heme scavenging; in turn, heme-albumin (HSA-heme-Fe) displays globin-like properties. Here, the allosteric effect of ibuprofen and warfarin on the local atomic structure around the ferric heme-Fe (heme-Fe(III)) atom of HSA-heme-Fe (HSA-heme-Fe(III)) has been probed by Fe-K edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The quantitative analysis of the Fe-K edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) signals and modeling of the near edge (XANES) spectral features demonstrated that warfarin and ibuprofen binding modify the local structure of the heme-Fe(III). Combined XAS data analysis and targeted molecular dynamics (MD) simulations provided atomic resolution insights of protein structural rearrangements required to accommodate the heme-Fe(III) upon ibuprofen and warfarin binding. In the absence of drugs, the heme-Fe(III) atom is penta-coordinated having distorted 4+1 configuration made by the nitrogen atoms of the porphyrin ring and the oxygen phenoxy atom of the Tyr161 residue. MD simulations show that ibuprofen and warfarin association to the secondary fatty acid (FA) binding site 2 (FA2) induces a reorientation of domain I of HSA-heme-Fe(III), this leads to the redirection of the His146 residue providing an additional bond to the heme-Fe(III) atom, providing the 5+1 configuration. The comparison of Fe-K edge XANES spectra calculated using MD structures with those obtained experimentally confirms the reliability of the proposed structural model. As a whole, combining XAS and MD simulations it has been possible to provide a reliable model of the heme-Fe(III) atom coordination state and to understand the complex allosteric transition occurring in HSA-heme-Fe(III) upon ibuprofen and warfarin binding.

Synaptic dysfunction and loss caused by age-dependent accumulation of synaptotoxic beta amyloid (Abeta) 1-42 oligomers is proposed to underlie cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Alterations in membrane trafficking induced by Abeta oligomers mediates reduction in neuronal surface receptor expression that is the basis for inhibition of electrophysiological measures of synaptic plasticity and thus learning and memory. We have utilized phenotypic screens in mature, in vitro cultures of rat brain cells to identify small molecules which block or prevent the binding and effects of Abeta oligomers. Synthetic Abeta oligomers bind saturably to a single site on neuronal synapses and induce deficits in membrane trafficking in neuronal cultures with an EC50 that corresponds to its binding affinity. The therapeutic lead compounds we have found are pharmacological antagonists of Abeta oligomers, reducing the binding of Abeta oligomers to neurons in vitro, preventing spine loss in neurons and preventing and treating oligomer-induced deficits in membrane trafficking. These molecules are highly brain penetrant and prevent and restore cognitive deficits in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Counter-screening these compounds against a broad panel of potential CNS targets revealed they are highly potent and specific ligands of the sigma-2/PGRMC1 receptor. Brain concentrations of the compounds corresponding to greater than 80% receptor occupancy at the sigma-2/PGRMC1 receptor restore cognitive function in transgenic hAPP Swe/Ldn mice. These studies demonstrate that synthetic and human-derived Abeta oligomers act as pharmacologically-behaved ligands at neuronal receptors--i.e. they exhibit saturable binding to a target, they exert a functional effect related to their binding and their displacement by small molecule antagonists blocks their functional effect. The first-in-class small molecule receptor antagonists described here restore memory to normal in multiple AD models and sustain improvement long-term, representing a novel mechanism of action for disease-modifying Alzheimer's therapeutics.

Allochthonous water frogs (gen. Pelophylax) have been repeatedly introduced in several European countries, causing dramatic consequences for the conservation of indigenous taxa. In Italy, invasive populations are known for northern regions, where they were introduced mainly for edible and scientific purposes. Here, we report the first detection of an alien population of water frogs in Central Italy, along the Resina valley (Umbria). Genetic analysis of the mitochondrial ND3 gene polymorphism assigned some specimens to two different Pelophylax ridibundus clades widespread in Central and Eastern Europe. By contrast, two samples matched the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence of Pelophylax lessonae bergeri, an autochthonous taxon widespread in Central Italy, suggesting possible hybridization between alien and indigenous frogs. Finally, the specific haplotype of Pelophylax shqipericus, the Albanian Pool Frog, was also identified according to mtDNA polymorphism. This record, firstly reported for Italy, poses concerns for the conservation of this cryptic taxon, suggesting that international water frog trade may involve also particularly endangered species.

In Antarctic and peri-Antarctic regions, benthic communities are persistent in time and show high biomass and large numbers of individuals, mainly consisting of suspension and deposit feeders. In fact, apart from recruitment, the major factor structuring these communities is the high flow of organic matter from the pelagic domain to the bottom, representing an important energy source for the benthic organisms. The aim of this paper is to review, compile and compare the data from earlier investigations in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea) and the Straits of Magellan, in order to come to a more general conclusion about the role of the pelagic-benthic coupling in structuring littoral benthic communities in southern coastal areas. Few measurements of flux rates and the biochemical composition of the sinking particles occurring in Antarctic and peri-Antarctic shallow waters are available, but a compilation of our own data and others allows a comparison of these two systems. The different environmental conditions between Antarctica and the Straits of Magellan lead to differences in the origin of the particulate organic matter and in its biochemical composition, and consequently in the coupling between pelagic and benthic domains. At Terra Nova Bay the summer particulate matter shows a high labile fraction of a good food value: its flux has been evaluated at about 0.67 g m-2d-1. Conversely, the Straits of Magellan show multi-structured ecosystems where the quality and quantity of the organic matter flux towards the bottom change according to the local geomorphology and current dynamics. Moreover, the three-dimensional assemblages of suspension-feeders, so common in Antarctic shallow waters, seem to be absent in the Magellan area. In particular sponges, gorgonarians and bryozoans play a secondary role inside the Straits of Magellan, where polychaetes (60%) and molluscs (9-10%) are dominant on soft bottoms, and where they reach high values in density and biomass. Bivalves seem to play an important role in both regions: for instance, at Terra Nova Bay, the scallop Adamussium colbecki processes about 14 % of the total carbon flux, with an assimilation efficiency of 36 %. This scallop seems to be able to adapt its reproductive period and its trophic behaviour to the changes in the quality and quantity of the pelagic events. The pulsing trend of the vertical flux, which in a few weeks can reach the total annual input, produces significant changes in the physiology (growth, reproduction, spawning) and trophic behaviour of many benthic species, such as sponges and polychaetes. The study of the pelagic-benthic coupling could be essential in the evaluation of the trophic capacity and the environmental response around sites of sea-farming, which are an ever-growing activity in the Magellan area.

Photoperiodic responses are major factors entraining circannual life-cycles, functioning to adaptively synchronize annual routines to seasonal fluctuations in ecological conditions. Photoperiodism in physiology and behaviour is enforced by genes, including the vertebrate Clock orthologues, which are associated, for example, with phenology of migration in fish and breeding in birds. However, the role of Clock in photoperiodic plumage molt processes is unknown. We analyzed variation in molt schedules in relation to Clock genotype, using the long-distance migratory barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) as a model and by identifying males and females using molecular sexing techniques. Consistently with previous studies, we found one very common (Q7) and two rare (Q6, Q8) variants of a functionally significant Clock polyglutamine repeat. Molt schedules of primary wing feathers of swallows during their wintering period in Nigeria differed among Clock genotypes: rare (1.1%) Q7/Q8 heterozygotes had significantly delayed molt compared to the other genotypes. Molt schedules did not differ between males and females, and no differential association between molt and Clock in relation to sex emerged. The same rare Clock genotype that exhibited delayed breeding in Europe was here found to delay molt in Africa. Though based on a limited number of Q7/Q8 individuals from an otherwise very large sample, these novel results suggest that Clock is involved in the photoperiodic control of both molt and breeding, potentially also via reciprocal carry-over effects. If confirmed in species with higher Clock polymorphism, present results may have far-reaching consequences for the study of photoperiodic control of molt and expression of annual routines.

Isoniazid represents a first-line anti-tuberculosis medication in prevention and treatment. This prodrug is activated by a mycobacterial catalase-peroxidase enzyme called KatG in Mycobacterium tuberculosis), thereby inhibiting the synthesis of mycolic acid, required for the mycobacterial cell wall. Moreover, isoniazid activation by KatG produces some radical species (e.g., nitrogen monoxide), that display anti-mycobacterial activity. Remarkably, the ability of mycobacteria to persist in vivo in the presence of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species implies the presence in these bacteria of (pseudo-)enzymatic detoxification systems, including truncated hemoglobins (trHbs). Here, we report that isoniazid binds reversibly to ferric and ferrous M. tuberculosis trHb type N (or group I; Mt-trHbN(III) and Mt-trHbN(II), respectively) with a simple bimolecular process, which perturbs the heme-based spectroscopic properties. Values of thermodynamic and kinetic parameters for isoniazid binding to Mt-trHbN(III) and Mt-trHbN(II) are K= (1.1 ± 0.1)× 10(-4) M, k on= (5.3 ± 0.6)× 10(3) M(-1) s(-1) and k off= (4.6 ± 0.5)× 10(-1) s(-1); and D= (1.2 ± 0.2)× 10(-3) M, d on= (1.3 ± 0.4)× 10(3) M(-1) s(-1), and d off=1.5 ± 0.4 s(-1), respectively, at pH 7.0 and 20.0°C. Accordingly, isoniazid inhibits competitively azide binding to Mt-trHbN(III) and Mt-trHbN(III)-catalyzed peroxynitrite isomerization. Moreover, isoniazid inhibits Mt-trHbN(II) oxygenation and carbonylation. Although the structure of the Mt-trHbN-isoniazid complex is not available, here we show by docking simulation that isoniazid binding to the heme-Fe atom indeed may take place. These data suggest a direct role of isoniazid to impair fundamental functions of mycobacteria, e.g. scavenging of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species, and metabolism.

Human serum albumin (HSA), the most abundant protein in human plasma, could be considered as a prototypic monomeric allosteric protein, since the ligand-dependent conformational adaptability of HSA spreads beyond the immediate proximity of the binding site(s). As a matter of fact, HSA is a major transport protein in the bloodstream and the regulation of the functional allosteric interrelationships between the different binding sites represents a fundamental information for the knowledge of its transport function. Here, kinetics and thermodynamics of the allosteric modulation: (i) of carbon monoxide (CO) binding to ferrous human serum heme-albumin (HSA-heme-Fe(II)) by warfarin (WF), and (ii) of WF binding to HSA-heme-Fe(II) by CO are reported. All data were obtained at pH 7.0 and 25°C. Kinetics of CO and WF binding to the FA1 and FA7 sites of HSA-heme-Fe(II), respectively, follows a multi-exponential behavior (with the same relative percentage for the two ligands). This can be accounted for by the existence of multiple conformations and/or heme-protein axial coordination forms of HSA-heme-Fe(II). The HSA-heme-Fe(II) populations have been characterized by resonance Raman spectroscopy, indicating the coexistence of different species characterized by four-, five- and six-coordination of the heme-Fe atom. As a whole, these results suggest that: (i) upon CO binding a conformational change of HSA-heme-Fe(II) takes place (likely reflecting the displacement of an endogenous ligand by CO), and (ii) CO and/or WF binding brings about a ligand-dependent variation of the HSA-heme-Fe(II) population distribution of the various coordinating species. The detailed thermodynamic and kinetic analysis here reported allows a quantitative description of the mutual allosteric effect of CO and WF binding to HSA-heme-Fe(II).

A brief review of some models of phase transitions within the continuum mechanics is presented. A special study is directed to the phenomena of superconductivity, ferromagnetism, shape memory alloys and the behavior of a binary mixture using Cahn- Hilliard equation.

Female common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) typically reproduce annually and lay more than one clutch per season. In this study, we tested whether females store sperm between clutches and between years by manipulating mating opportunities of females through appropriate experiments. Our results revealed that females are definitely unable to store sperm for medium or long-term, suggesting they necessary need to repeatedly mate with males to fertilize their eggs. Finally, by comparing our results to other similar multi-clutched species, we conclude that sperm storage probably does not constitute a selective advantage for species with a promiscuous reproductive system based on multiple mating in populations with high densities.

In species where females mate promiscuously, the reproductive success of males depends both on their ability to acquire mates (pre-copulatory sexual selection) and ability of their ejaculates to outcompete those of other males (post-copulatory sexual selection). Sperm competition theory predicts a negative relationship between investment in body traits favouring mate acquisition (secondary sexual characters, SSCs) and investment in ejaculate size or quality, due to the inherent costs of sperm production. In contrast, the phenotype-linked fertility hypothesis posits that male fertilizing efficiency is reliably reflected by the phenotypic expression of male SSCs, allowing females to obtain direct benefits by selecting more ornamented males as copulation partners. In this study, we investigated the relationships between male SSCs and size and quality (viability and longevity) of ejaculates allocated to females in mating trials of the freshwater crayfish Austropotamobius italicus. We showed that the relative size of male weapons, the chelae, was negatively related to ejaculate size, and that chelae asymmetry, resulting from regeneration of lost chelipeds, negatively covaried with sperm longevity. Moreover, males allocated more viable sperm to mates from their own rather than different stream of origin. Our findings thus suggest that, according to sperm competition theory, pre-copulatory sexual selection for large weapons used in male fighting may counteract post-copulatory sperm competition in this crayfish species, and that investment in cheliped regeneration may impair ejaculate quality.

A new endemic gecko of the genus Hemidactylus is described from Socotra Island (Yemen). It is a rupicolous species characterized by: medium-large size (SVL up to 60 mm), back with large trihedral, raised, strongly keeled tubercles intermixed with small granular scales, males with 6-10 preanal pores arranged in two short rows separated by 2-3 scales. In East Africa, Arabia, the Middle East and India the only other tuberculated Hemidactylus with preanal pores arranged on two separate rows is the Somali H. granchii Lanza, 1978, which differs for the comparatively deeper and shorter head, the nostril separated from the first upper labial, less preanal pores, less upper and lower labials, more tubercles at midbody and more lamellae under the inner toe.

Photographic identification is a promising marking technique alternative to the toe-clipping, but is time consuming, particularly when a large number of individuals is involved. For this reason several authors had frequently preferred the toe-clipping. In this study we analysed the black spot pattern of ventral scales of wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) and we showed that photographic identification is an effective method for recognizing individuals, and the error of this technique is much less than that of the toe-clipping arising from natural toe loss. Moreover, the numerically encoding of the black spot pattern may radically reduce the time needed to compare the pictures of large samples of individuals, solving one of the more important obstacle against the use of photographic identification.

A new species of the genus Hemidactylus is described on the basis of two specimens (an adult male and an adult female) collected in 2005 in rocky and sandy habitat of the semiarid climatic region on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana (Kenya). It is a medium-sized Hemidactylus (SVL from 40 to 50 mm) distinguished from all other species by a unique combination of characters. The back is covered by large, trihedral, strongly keeled tubercles, intermixed with a few small, irregular shaped granules, forming 14 quite regular transverse rows from axilla to groin; nostrils contact the rostral, first supralabial, 1 enlarged internasal and 2-3 postnasals; the dorsal half of the rostral scale is divided longitudinally; there are 6 lamellae under the first toe and 10 under the 4th toe; male with 8 precloacal pores; female without pores. The dorsal colour pattern is very distinctive, consisting of four transverse bands, bordered with dark margins. The types are housed in the Herpetological Collections of the Museo di Storia Naturale of the University of Pavia and in the National Museums of Kenya (Nairobi).

La stima dell'abbondanza di popolazione rappresenta un aspetto di fondamentale importanza ed elevata complessità nell'ecologia delle popolazioni animali. I metodi applicabili agli studi che prevedono cattura, marcatura e ricattura (CMR) sono stati analizzati criticamente da Nichols e Pollock, i quali raccomandano l'adozione di stimatori basati su modelli probabilistici anziché i più diffusi metodi enumerativi. Scopo del presente lavoro è di confrontare le stime di abbondanza di popolazioni di Apodemus sylvaticus e Clethrionomys glareolus desunte da modelli probabilistici e relativi estimatori rispetto a metodi enumerativi quali il Minimum Number Alive (MNA). Fra il mese di aprile 2002 e febbraio 2003 le popolazioni di topo selvatico e arvicola rossastra sono state campionate mediante metodi CMR. L'area di studio è rappresentata dalla RN "Monticchie" di Somaglia (LO); la griglia di cattura era costituita da 98 trappole disposte a 10 m. Le trappole erano innescate con semi di girasole e controllate giornalmente. Gli individui catturati marcati e rilasciati dopo la raccolta di dati biometrici. I dati di popolazione sono stati elaborati adottando il "robust design" di Pollock. Il periodo di cattura è stato diviso in sessioni primarie (mesi) e secondarie (settimane); Φ (sopravvivenza) e N (abbondanza) sono stati calcolati rispettivamente sulla base dei dati delle sessioni primarie e secondarie utilizzando i software Jolly e Capture. Stime indipendenti di N sono state ricavate da Jolly e applicando il MNA. L'analisi dei dati mostra che la precondizione di chiusura demografica delle popolazioni durante le sessioni secondarie di cattura è soddisfatta nell'82% dei casi. I modelli selezionati da Capture, e i relativi estimatori dell'abbondanza sono in prevalenza, per entrambe le specie, Mo (null) e Mh (jackknife). Il confronto fra i modelli di tipo enumerativo e di tipo probabilistico dimostra che le stime di N ottenute mediante il primo metodo, anche se maggiormente intuitive e di semplice calcolo, sottostimano, in percentuali variabili dal 48,7% al 64,7% l'abbondanza della popolazione campionata. La differenza della stima di N ottenuta mediante i due metodi è statisticamente significativa (Test t di Student; P

Determining community structure is a central topic in the study of complex networks, be it technological, social, biological or chemical, static or in interacting systems. In this paper, we extend the concept of community detection from classical to quantum systems—a crucial missing component of a theory of complex networks based on quantum mechanics. We demonstrate that certain quantum mechanical effects cannot be captured using current classical complex network tools and provide new methods that overcome these problems. Our approaches are based on defining closeness measures between nodes, and then maximizing modularity with hierarchical clustering. Our closeness functions are based on quantum transport probability and state fidelity, two important quantities in quantum information theory. To illustrate the effectiveness of our approach in detecting community structure in quantum systems, we provide several examples, including a naturally occurring light-harvesting complex, LHCII. The prediction of our simplest algorithm, semiclassical in nature, mostly agrees with a proposed partitioning for the LHCII found in quantum chemistry literature, whereas our fully quantum treatment of the problem uncovers a new, consistent, and appropriately quantum community structure.

Abstract Lynx lynx has spontaneously recolonized the Italian Alps, coming from the populations created by reintroductions in neighbouring countries. The study period began in 1976 with a survey carried out by Ragni, and since 1987 it has continued with a detailed monitoring programme. The first evidence of the species dates back to 1980-1982. In this work the techniques of the naturalistic method have been used to investigate the distribution, evidence for reproduction, and estimate the population size. In the last 15 years the area used by the lynx has progressively increased. Six reproductions have been observed. The size of the population was estimated at about 21 individuals (Central-Eastern Alps). Within the time period considered, the illegal killing of two individuals was recorded. Additionally there is some information about six other poached lynx. Livestock damage has not been reported recently.

In this theoretical study, we analyze quantum walks on complex networks, which model network-based processes ranging from quantum computing to biology and even sociology. Specifically, we analytically relate the average long-time probability distribution for the location of a unitary quantum walker to that of a corresponding classical walker. The distribution of the classical walker is proportional to the distribution of degrees, which measures the connectivity of the network nodes and underlies many methods for analyzing classical networks, including website ranking. The quantum distribution becomes exactly equal to the classical distribution when the walk has zero energy, and at higher energies, the difference, the so-called quantumness, is bounded by the energy of the initial state. We give an example for which the quantumness equals a Rényi entropy of the normalized weighted degrees, guiding us to regimes for which the classical degree-dependent result is recovered and others for which quantum effects dominate.