Caratterizzazione geo-petrografica, petrologica e geochimica di rocce anatettiche del nord Sardegna

The High Grade Metamorphic Complex (HGMC) of Variscan basement of north Sardinia is characterized by the widespread of migmatites. This study is focused on two localities of NE Sardinia (Porto Ottiolu and Punta Sirenella) where ortho- and para-derivates migmatites outcrop. A geological and structural survey was carried out, leading to the realization of a geological schematic map of Punta Sirenella area. Several samples of different rocks were collected for petrographic, micro-structural minero-chemical and geochemical analyses. In the Porto Ottiolu area three main deformation phases have been identified; D1, characterized by tight folds with sub-horizontal axes, rarely preserved in paragneisses; D2, that produce a pervasive foliation oriented N100° 45°SW marked by biotite and sillimanite blastesis and locally transposed by shear zone oriented N170°; D3, late deformation phase caused symmetric folds with sub-horizontal axes with no axial plane schistosity. Leucosomes form pods and layers along S2 schistosity but also leucosomes along shear zones have been observed. In the Punta Sirenella area, three main deformation phases have been identified; D1, is manifested by the transposition of centimeter-sized leucosomes and is rarely observed in paragneisses were produce open folds with sub-vertical axes; D2, NW-SE oriented on whose XY plane three mineralogical lineation (quartz+plagioclase, fibrolite+quarz and muscovite) lie; D3, a ductile-brittle deformation phase that produce a mylonitc S3 foliation that locally become the most evident schistosity in the field oriented N140° steeply dipping toward NE. In both areas, leucosomes of sedimentary-derived migmatites are generally trondhjemitic pointing out for a H2O fluxed melting reaction, but also granitic leucosomes have been found, produced by muscovite dehydration melting. Leucosomes of migmatitic orthogneiss instead, have granitic compositions. Migmatization started early, during the compressional and crustal thickening (sin-D1, pre-D2) and was still active during exhumation stage. For each studied outcrop of migmatite pseudosections for the average mesosome composition have been calculated; these pseudosections have been used to model the P-T conditions of anatexis on the basis of the melt volume (%) of melt, Si/Al and Na/K molar ratios, modal content of garnet and Si content in metamorphic white mica. Further pseudosections have been calculated for the average composition of leucosomes in order to define the P-T conditions of the end of the crystallization through intersection of solidus curve and isopleths of Si content in white mica and/or XMg ratio in biotite. Thermodynamic modeling on ortho- and sedimentary-derived migmatites of Punta Sirenella yield P-T conditions of 1.1-1.3 GPa - 670-740°C for migmatitic event and 0.75-0.90 GPa - 660-730°C for the end of crystallization. These conditions are fit well with previous studies on adjacent rocks. Modeling of Porto Ottiolu ortho- and sedimentary-derived migmatites yield P-T conditions of 0.85-1.05 GPa - 690-730°C for migmatitic event and 0.35-0.55 GPa - 630-690°C strongly affected by re-equilibration during exhumation, expecially for crystallization conditions. Geochemical analyses of samples belonging to Porto Ottiolu and Punta Sirenella orthogneisses show a strong link with those of other orthogneisses outcropping in NE Sardinia (for instance, Lode-Mamone and Golfo Aranci) that are considered the intrusive counterparts of middle-Ordovician metavolcanics rocks outcropping in the Nappe Zone. Thus, the studied ortogneiss bodies, even lacking radiometric data, can be considered as belonging to the same magmatic cycle.

Yield drag in a two-dimensional foam flow around a circular obstacle: Effect of liquid fraction

Raufaste, C., Dollet, B., Cox, S., Jiang, Y. and Graner, F. (2007). Yield drag in a two-dimensional foam flow around a circular obstacle: Effect of liquid fraction. European Physical Journal E, 23 (2), 217?228 Sponsorship: Y.J. is supported by US DOE under contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25396. S.C. is supported by EPSRC (EP/D071127/1)

Toward a comprehensive care of HIV patients: Finding a strategy to detect depression in a Spanish HIV cohort

Depression is a common but frequently undiagnosed feature in individuals with HIV infection. To find a strategy to detect depression in a non-specialized clinical setting, the overall performance of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the depression identification questions proposed by the European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) guidelines were assessed in a descriptive cross-sectional study of 113 patients with HIV infection. The clinician asked the two screening questions that were proposed under the EACS guidelines and requested patients to complete the HADS. A psychiatrist or psychologist administered semi-structured clinical interviews to yield psychiatric diagnoses of depression (gold standard). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for the HADS-Depression (HADS-D) subscale indicated that the best sensitivity and specificity were obtained between the cut-off points of 5 and 8, and the ROC curve for the HADS-Total (HADS-T) indicated that the best cut-off points were between 12 and 14. There were no statistically significant differences in the correlations of the EACS (considering positive responses to one [A] or both questions [B]), the HADS-D ≥ 8 or the HADS-T ≥ 12 with the gold standard. The study concludes that both approaches (the two EACS questions and the HADS-D subscale) are appropriate depression-screening methods in HIV population. We believe that using the EACS-B and the HADS-D subscale in a two-step approach allows for rapid, assumable and accurate clinical diagnosis in non-psychiatric hospital settings.

The role of payout ratio in the relationship between stock returns and dividend yield

ap Gwilym, Owain, McManus, Ian, and Thomas, Stephen, 'The role of payout ratio in the relationship between stock returns and dividend yield', Journal of Business Finance & Accounting (2004) 31(9-10) pp.1355-1387 RAE2008

Individual variation in the milk yield response to bovine somatotropin in dairy cows

M. T. Rose, T. E. C. Weekes and P. Rowlinson (2004). Individual variation in the milk yield response to bovine somatotropin in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 87(7), 2024-2031. Sponsorship: industry RAE2008

Excitation of highly conjugated (porphinato)palladium(II) and (porphinato)platinum(II) oligomers produces long-lived, triplet states at unit quantum yield that absorb strongly over broad spectral domains of the NIR.

Transient dynamical studies of bis[(5,5'-10,20-bis(2,6-bis(3,3-dimethylbutoxy)phenyl)porphinato)palladium(II)]ethyne (PPd(2)), 5,15-bis{[(5'-10,20-bis(2,6-bis(3,3-dimethylbutoxy)phenyl)porphinato)palladium(II)]ethynyl}(10,20-bis(2,6-bis(3,3-dimethylbutoxy)phenyl)porphinato)palladium(II) (PPd(3)), bis[(5,5'-10,20-bis(2,6-bis(3,3-dimethylbutoxy)phenyl)porphinato)platinum(II)]ethyne (PPt(2)), and 5,15-bis{[(5'-10,20-bis(2,6-bis(3,3-dimethylbutoxy)phenyl)porphinato)platinum(II)]ethynyl}(10,20-bis(2,6-bis(3,3-dimethylbutoxy)phenyl)porphinato)platinum(II) (PPt(3)) show that the electronically excited triplet states of these highly conjugated supermolecular chromophores can be produced at unit quantum yield via fast S(1) → T(1) intersystem crossing dynamics (τ(isc): 5.2-49.4 ps). These species manifest high oscillator strength T(1) → T(n) transitions over broad NIR spectral windows. The facts that (i) the electronically excited triplet lifetimes of these PPd(n) and PPt(n) chromophores are long, ranging from 5 to 50 μs, and (ii) the ground and electronically excited absorptive manifolds of these multipigment ensembles can be extensively modulated over broad spectral domains indicate that these structures define a new precedent for conjugated materials featuring low-lying π-π* electronically excited states for NIR optical limiting and related long-wavelength nonlinear optical (NLO) applications.

Impacts of land use change and climate variations on annual inflow into Miyun Reservoir,Beijing, China

The Miyun Reservoir, the only surface water source for Beijing city, has experienced water supply decline in recent decades. Previous studies suggest that both land use change and climate contribute to the changes of water supply in this critical watershed. However, the specific causes of the decline in the Miyun Reservoir are debatable under a non-stationary climate in the past 4 decades. The central objective of this study was to quantify the separate and collective contributions of land use change and climate variability to the decreasing inflow into the Miyun Reservoir during 1961–2008. Different from previous studies on this watershed, we used a comprehensive approach to quantify the timing of changes in hydrology and associated environmental variables using the long-term historical hydrometeorology and remote-sensing-based land use records. To effectively quantify the different impacts of the climate variation and land use change on streamflow during different sub-periods, an annual water balance model (AWB), the climate elasticity model (CEM), and a rainfall–runoff model (RRM) were employed to conduct attribution analysis synthetically. We found a significant (p  <  0.01) decrease in annual streamflow, a significant positive trend in annual potential evapotranspiration (p  <  0.01), and an insignificant (p  >  0.1) negative trend in annual precipitation during 1961–2008. We identified two streamflow breakpoints, 1983 and 1999, by the sequential Mann–Kendall test and double-mass curve. Climate variability alone did not explain the decrease in inflow to the Miyun Reservoir. Reduction of water yield was closely related to increase in actual evapotranspiration due to the expansion of forestland and reduction in cropland and grassland, and was likely exacerbated by increased water consumption for domestic and industrial uses in the basin. The contribution to the observed streamflow decline from land use change fell from 64–92 % during 1984–1999 to 36–58 % during 2000–2008, whereas the contribution from climate variation climbed from 8–36 % during the 1984–1999 to 42–64 % during 2000–2008. Model uncertainty analysis further demonstrated that climate warming played a dominant role in streamflow reduction in the most recent decade (i.e., 2000s). We conclude that future climate change and variability will further challenge the water supply capacity of the Miyun Reservoir to meet water demand. A comprehensive watershed management strategy needs to consider the climate variations besides vegetation management in the study basin.

Laparoscopic Appendectomy in Italy: An Appraisal of 26,863 Cases

Objective: To evaluate the practice of laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) in Italy. Methods: On behalf of the Italian Society of Young Surgeons (SPIGC), an audit of LA was carried out through a written questionnaire sent to 800 institutions in Italy. The questions concerned the diffusion of laparoscopic surgery and LA over the period 1990 through 2001, surgery-related morbidity and mortality rates, indications for LA, the diagnostic algorithm adopted prior to surgery, and use of LA among young surgeons (<40 years). Results: A total of 182 institutions (22.7%) participated in the current audit, and accounted for a total number of 26863 LA. Laparoscopic surgery is performed in 173 (95%) institutions, with 144 (83.2%) routinely performing LA. The mean interval from introduction of laparoscopic surgery to inception of LA was 3.4 ± 2.5 years. There was an emergent basis for 8809 (32.8%) LA procedures (<6 hours of admission); 10314 (38.4%) procedures were performed on an urgent basis (<24 hours of admission); while 7740 (28.8%) procedures were elective. The conversion rate was 2.1% (561 cases) and was due to intraoperative complications in 197 cases (35.1%). Intraoperative complications ranged as high as 0.32%, while postoperative complications were reported in 1.2% of successfully completed LA. The mean hospital stay for successfully completed LA was 2.5 ± 1.05 days. The highest rate of intraoperative complications was reported as occurring during the learning curve phase of their experience (in their first 10 procedures) by 39.7% of the surgeons. LA was indicated for every case of suspected acute appendiceal disease by 51.8% of surgeons, and 44.8% order abdominal ultrasound (US) prior to surgery. A gynecologic counseling is deemed necessary only by 34.5% surgeons, while an abdominal CT scan is required only by 1.5%. The procedure is completed laparoscopically in the absence of gross appendiceal inflammation by 83%; 79.8% try to complete the procedure laparoscopically in the presence of concomitant disease; while 10.4% convert to open surgery in cases of suspected malignancy. Of responding surgeons aged under 40, 76.3% can perform LA, compared to 47.3% surgeons of all age categories. Conclusions: The low response rate of the present survey does not allow us to assess the diffusion of LA in Italy, but rather to appraise its practice in centers routinely performing laparoscopic surgery. In the hands of experienced surgeons, LA has morbidity rates comparable to those of international series. The higher diagnostic yield of laparoscopy makes it an invaluable tool in the management algorithm of women of childbearing age; its advantages in the presence of severe peritonitis are less clear-cut. Surgeons remain the main limiting factor preventing a wider diffusion of LA in our country, since only 47.3% of surgeons from the audited institutions can perform LA on a routine basis.

Satisfaction water index as corn yield estimate

p.1-16

Canary grass : variations in grain yield and other agronomically important features in response to different plant densities

p.43-55

Soybean - Corn rotation : efect of the stubble mineralization on the nitrates production and corn yield

p.53-58

Satisfaction water index as corn yield estimate

p.1-16

Soybean - Corn rotation : efect of the stubble mineralization on the nitrates production and corn yield

p.53-58

Canary grass : variations in grain yield and other agronomically important features in response to different plant densities

p.43-55

Statistical Procedure For Estimating Grey Seal Pup Production From A Single Census

The variable start and duration of the Grey seal breeding season makes the estimation of total pup production from a single census very difficult. Classifying the count into morphological age classes enables the form and timing of the birth rate curve and estimates of pup mortality rates to be elucidated. A simulation technique is described which enables the duration of each morphological stage to be determined from a series of such classified counts taken over one season. A further statistical technique uses these estimates to calculate the mean timing and duration of the breeding season from a single classified count taken from similar populations in subsequent years. This information allows total pup production to be calculated for any appropriate breeding colony. Some guidance is given as to the optimal timing of that single census which would yield the best estimate of production, although the precise date is not critical to the success of the technique. Results from single census estimates obtained in this way are compared with known production data from more detailed surveys for a number of different colonies.