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Limb apraxia is an acquired cognitive-motor disorder characterized by spatial and temporal disorganization of limb movements, negatively affecting the quality of life of patients, including those with multiple sclerosis (MS). Although recent studies have shown the potential role of VR in increasing cognitive and motor functions, only a few studies have been carried out on the rehabilitation of upper limb apraxia. Hence, our study aims to evaluate the potential efficacy of VR training to improve upper limb ideomotor apraxia in patients with MS.One hundred and six patients, affected by secondary progressive MS, who attended our Robotic and Behavioral Neurorehabilitation Service from March 2019 to February 2020, were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into two groups: the control group (CG: 53 patients) performed traditional therapy whereas the experimental group (EG:53 patients) received training using semi-immersive VR. All patients underwent the same amount of cognitive training, 3 times a week for 8 weeks. They were submitted to a specific neuropsychological assessment before (T0) and after the rehabilitation treatment (T1).The VR training led to a significant improvement in global cognitive functions, with regard to constructive and ideomotor apraxia. On the contrary, the CG achieved significant improvements only in ideomotor apraxia. Moreover, only in the EG, we observed an improvement in the mood at the end of training.The present study demonstrates that VR rehabilitation can be an effective tool for the treatment of apraxia, which is a neuropsychological problem often underestimated in MS patients. Further studies with long-term follow-up periods are needed to confirm the effect of this promising approach.

We report the results of a search for the inelastic scattering of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in the XENON1T dark matter experiment. Scattering off $^{129}$Xe is the most sensitive probe of inelastic WIMP interactions, with a signature of a 39.6 keV de-excitation photon detected simultaneously with the nuclear recoil. Using an exposure of 0.89 tonne-years, we find no evidence of inelastic WIMP scattering with a significance of more than 2$\sigma$. A profile-likelihood ratio analysis is used to set upper limits on the cross-section of WIMP-nucleus interactions. We exclude new parameter space for WIMPs heavier than 100 GeV/c${}^2$, with the strongest upper limit of $3.3 \times 10^{-39}$ cm${}^2$ for 130 GeV/c${}^2$ WIMPs at 90\% confidence level., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

Spiculosiphon oceana Maldonado, López-Acosta, Sitjà, Aguilar, García & Vacelet, 2013 is a Mediterranean endemic giant stalked foraminifer described as a potential bio-indicator of acidic environments, thanks to its ability to cope with stressful chemical conditions. Here, we present the first record and the first video images of living specimens of this giant foraminifera in the Panarea Volcanic Complex (PVC; southern Tyrrhenian Sea), representing the third discovery worldwide. Specimens of S. oceana were identified through microscopic and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) image analyses, in two different areas characterised by water column physico-chemical parameters typical of the non-vented areas, but with some evidence of hydrothermal alteration. This new finding enhances knowledge on the ecology of S. oceana, enlarges its known spatial distribution, and corroborates its affinity to intermediate stress conditions related to hydrothermal activity.

Energy efficiency in the building sector is a priority of the EU Commission to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Renovation of the existing buildings, which are currently responsible for approximately 40% of EU energy consumption and 36% of the greenhouse gas emissions can lead to significant energy savings. This paper presents the EEnvest calculation method for evaluating the financial impacts of technical risks related to energy-efficient renovation of commercial office buildings. The evaluation method aims to increase investors’ confidence and boost investments in the renovation of the existing building. Through a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPI), the technical and financial risks impact is evaluated. The results are strictly connected to building features, climatic conditions, solution sets and mitigation measures specific to the building energy efficiency project.

High-resolution images of Mars from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rovers revealed mm-size loose haematite spherulitic deposits (nicknamed “blueberries”) similar to terrestrial iron-ooids, for which both abiotic and biotic genetic hypotheses have been proposed. Understanding the formation mechanism of these haematite spherules can thus improve our knowledge on the possible geologic evolution and links to life development on Mars. Here, we show that shape, size, fabric and mineralogical composition of the Martian spherules share similarities with corresponding iron spherules currently forming on the Earth over an active submarine hydrothermal system located off Panarea Island (Aeolian Islands, Mediterranean Sea). Hydrothermal fluids associated with volcanic activity enable these terrestrial spheroidal grains to form and grow. The recent exceptional discovery of a still working iron-ooid source on the Earth provides indications that past hydrothermal activity on the Red Planet is a possible scenario to be considered as the cause of formation of these enigmatic iron grains.

The current Covid-19 emergency has revealed the crucial role of the health issue, not only in terms of healthcare facilities, but also in new ways to get better, spend more free time outdoors, eat healthy and revive the economies of Local communities. Action research takes on a leading role of the Recovery Fund, of the Green New Deal in order to identify better opportunities and strategies, increasing administrative capacities and skills in small towns, through a better use of available European, national and regional funds aimed at regenerate places that until yesterday were considered on the margins. The small towns must have territorial projects capable of combining development and sustainability and of creating critical mass; it is in this context that the research-action project of the LabCity Architecture (DARCH-UniPA) Research Group aims to investigate the issue of small towns in Sicily, located along the Sicilian Transversal area, to rethink a new vision in relation to the rural territory.

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a chronic and recurrent disease that negatively affects patients' quality of life. CRS has two main phenotypes: CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and CRS without polyps (CRSsNP). Minimal research has been conducted to study the variability in patients' characteristics. Therefore, we conducted this study to examine these differences.A retrospective cohort study included patients with both CRSwNP and CRSsNP. Outcomes included symptom severity, radiographic severity, and number of sinus surgeries. Symptom severity was assessed using the Sino-nasal Outcome Test and the Lund-Mackay CT score was used to determine radiographic severity. Further subgroup analysis was done based on the presence or absence of comorbid asthma.A total of 110 and 106 patients were included in the CRSwNP and CRSsNP groups, respectively. The mean age in the CRSwNP and CRSsNP groups was 50.2 and 48.7, and the proportion of female patients was 40.9% and 58.5%, respectively. No significant difference in symptom severity was noted between CRSwNP and CRSsNP group (68.1±18.6 vs. 73.2±21.27; P=0.097), while the Lund-Mackay score was significantly lower in the CRSsNP group (7.4±2.3 vs. 11.9±3.6; P=0.016). Also, the number of surgeries was significantly lower in the CRSsNP group as compared to the CRSwNP group (P=0.023). Subgroup analysis revealed statistically significant differences between those with and without asthma in patients with CRSwNP in terms of Lund-Mackay scores and number of surgeries (P=0.038 and 0.043), respectively. However, no significant differences were noted in the CRSsNP group (P0.05).There is a clear variability in the characteristics of patients with CRSsNP and CRSwNP. A similar difference was noted in the CRSwNP group when patients were stratified based on the presence of absence of asthma. This warrants further investigation of potential correlation with the prognosis and optimum treatment strategies of this patient population.

A re-examination of marine alien species or Non Indigenous Species (NIS) reported in Italian Seas, until December 2018, is provided, focusing on establishment success, year of first record, origin, potential invasiveness, and likely pathways, in particular. Furthermore, their distribution is assessed according to the marine subregions outlined by the European Union (EU) Marine Strategy Framework Directive: Adriatic Sea (ADRIA), Ionian Sea and Central Mediterranean Sea (CMED), and Western Mediterranean Sea (WMED). In Italy, 265 NIS have been detected with the highest number of species being recorded in the CMED (154 species) and the WMED (151 species) subregions, followed by the ADRIA (143) subregion. Most of these species were recorded in more than one subregion. One hundred and eighty (180 or 68%) NIS have established stable populations in Italian Seas among which 26 have exhibited invasive traits. As regards the taxa involved, Macrophyta rank first with 65 taxa. Fifty-five of them are established in at least one subregion, mostly in the ADRIA and the CMED. Crustacea rank second with 48 taxa, followed by Polychaeta with 43 taxa, Mollusca with 29 taxa, and Fishes with 28 taxa, which were mainly reported from the CMED. In the period 2012-2017, 44 new alien species were recorded, resulting in approximately one new entry every two months. Approximately half of the NIS (~52%) recorded in Italy have most likely arrived through the transport-stowaway pathway related to shipping traffic (~28% as biofoulers, ~22% in ballast waters, and ~2% as hitchhikers). The second most common pathway is the unaided movement with currents (~19%), followed by the transport-contaminant on farmed shellfishes pathway (~18%). "Unaided" is the most common pathway for alien Fishes, especially in the CMED; escapes from confinement account for ~3% and release in nature for ~2%. The present NIS distribution hotspots for new introductions were defined at the first recipient area/location in Italy. In the ADRIA, the hotspot, Venice, accounts for the highest number of alien taxa introduced in Italy, with 50 newly recorded taxa. In the CMED subregion, the hotspots of introduction are the Taranto and Catania Gulfs, hosting 21 first records each. The Strait of Sicily represents a crossroad between alien taxa from the Atlantic Ocean and the Indo-Pacific area. In the WMED, bioinvasion hotspots include the Gulfs of Naples, Genoa and Livorno. This review can serve as an updated baseline for future coordination and harmonization of monitoring initiatives under international, EU and regional policies, for the compilation of new data from established monitoring programs, and for rapid assessment surveys.

Dealing with the multiscalar approach of contemporary architectural design raises the question of which architecture today is willing to accommodate a constant comparison between different scales, materials, and practices. It is believed that the processes that best show this purpose are related to resilient architecture, which elaborates innovative features through adaptive processes. With the introduction of external factors to the building as design materials, adaptive architecture can be considered as a transformative condition for some invariants of the discipline. The resilient and adaptive approach, therefore, uses technological elements, whose scale is Micro, embedded in the building and operating at the medium scale, to capture information from an external basin and return an improved response to environmental and human conditions.

This paper investigates the introduction of the cybernetic approach in architecture, through the key-role of N. Wiener, G. Pask and their influence on the projects of Cedric Price in the Sixties. The analysis of two of his most representative projects, such as the Fun Palace and the Generator, aims to individuate the informatics influence brought to the spatial composition. Furthermore, the article will clarify the visionary though of the British architect concerning the impact of digital infrastructures on the prefiguration of the most recent responsive and interactive approaches in architecture.

Evaluating the effects of anthropogenic pressure on the marine environment is one of the focal objectives in identifying strategies for its use, conservation and restoration. In this paper, we assessed the effects of chemical pollutants, grain size and plastic litter on functional traits, biodiversity and biotic indices. The study was conducted on the benthic communities of three harbours in the central Mediterranean Sea: Malta, Augusta and Syracuse, subjected to different levels of anthropogenic stress (high, medium and low, respectively). Six traits were considered, subdivided into 22 categories: reproductive frequency, environmental position, mobility, life habit, feeding habit and bioturbation. Functional diversity indices analysed were: Functional Divergence, Quadratic Entropy, Functional Evenness and Functional Richness. To assess the trait responses to environmental gradients, we applied RLQ analysis, which considers simultaneously the relationship between three components: environmental data (R), species abundances (L) and species traits (Q). From our analyses, significant relationships (P-value = 0.0018 for permutation of samples, and P-value = 0.00027 for permutation of species) between functional traits and environmental data were highlighted. The trait categories significantly influenced by environmental variables were those representing feeding habits and mobility. In particular, the first category was influenced by chemical pollutants (organotin compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and grain size (silt and sand), while the latter category was influenced only by chemical pollutants. Pearson correlations performed for functional vs biotic and diversity indices confirmed the validity of the chosen conceptual framework for harbour environments. Finally, linear models assessing the influence of stressors on functional parameters underlined the link between environmental data vs benthic and functional indices. Our results highlight the fact that functional trait analysis provides a useful and fast method for detecting in greater depth the effects of multiple stressors on functional diversity in marine ecosystems.

This study investigated, for the first time, the age and growth of the spotted lanternfish Myctophum punctatum through an analysis of otolith microstructure. A total of 377 individuals were collected from the Strait of Messina (central Mediterranean Sea), ranging between 20.3 and 73.7 mm of standard length. Their length–weight relationship was estimated, and these outputs indicated an isometric growth, for all specimens and when males and females were analysed separately. The sagittal otoliths were removed from 185 fish, although the microincrement readings were considered valid for only 173 otoliths. Microincrement counts ranged from 32 to 48 (average = 37.6) in the otolith central zone, 30 to 56 (average = 44.3) in the middle zone, and 36 to 384 (average = 165.5) in the external zone. Overall, total microincrements ranged between 106 and 469. Different growth models (Gompertz, von Bertalanffy and logistic models) were considered, to understand which one fit best in describing the growth patterns in M. punctatum. The Gompertz model was then selected as the best-fitting model and its parameters for all individuals were L∞ = 74.79, k = 0.0084 and I = 139.60.

The distribution of floating litter in marine waters, influenced by currents and wind drag, often determines the dispersal of its encrusting fauna. In the present paper, we observed for the first time the colonization of rafting floats from abandoned, lost or derelict fishing gears (ALDFG) by the four protected deep-sea species: Errina aspera, Desmophyllum pertusum, Madrepora oculata Pachylasma giganteum. Overall, 41 floats, colonized by deep benthic species, were found stranded on the shore of the Sicilian coast of the Strait of Messina, between 2016 and 2019. Species composition, number and occurrence of colonizing organisms were analyzed. On the basis of the species composition (the association between E. aspera, P. giganteum and Megabalanus tulipiformis), the knowledge on their ecology, biogeography, path of local currents, it was possible to define that the area of origin of the most part of these fishing net floats was the Strait of Messina.

The Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT), Thunnus thynnus (Linnaeus, 1758), is an important commercial species managed as two different stocks, western and eastern Atlantic, with their spawning grounds in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Mediterranean Sea, respectively. The eastern Atlantic stock has been overexploited in the last decades, leading to the application of specific management measures introduced by the International Commission for the Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT). A clear understanding of the genetic structure of ABFT Mediterranean population should be pursued in order to support management decisions. To date the genetic studies on the Mediterranean ABFT, carried out with different molecular markers and sampling procedures, have produced unclear results. Here, we analysed ABFT samples from central and western Mediterranean Sea with mitochondrial sequences and 11 microsatellite loci to investigate, among the others, the area of the Strait of Messina, where environmental conditions seem to support a resident population of ABFT. Furthermore, genetic analyses of mitochondrial sequences were carried out including nucleotide sequences of Adriatic ABFT wild larvae retrieved from GenBank. Among the investigated areas a genetic differentiation was detected between the Strait of Messina and the Tyrrhenian Sea with microsatellite loci according to the exact G test, but not to the Bayesian analyses carried out with STRUCTURE. The analyses with mitochondrial sequences do not reveal any differentiation among sampled areas, however, a highly significant genetic divergence was observed between the Adriatic mitochondrial sequences retrieved from GenBank and the central‐western Mediterranean sequences obtained in the present work. Our results provide some evidence of population structure of Mediterranean ABFT adding pieces to a still unclear picture.