Buckling of ring stiffened domes under external hydrostatic pressure

The paper reports on the buckling of three ring-stiffened prolate domes under external hydrostatic pressure. The study was partly theoretical and partly experimental, where in the case of the latter, the finite element was used. Comparison between experiment and theory was good. The effect of ring stiffening the domes was to increase their buckling resistances by factors varying from 4.43 to 5.72.     

Time-course evaluation of ROS-mediated toxicity in mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis, during a field translocation experiment

Harbours can be considered as model environments for developing and validating field monitoring procedures and to investigate mechanistic relationships between different biological responses. In this study several biomarkers were investigated in marine mussels caged for 4 weeks (June-July 2001) into an industrialized harbour of NW Italy. Organisms were collected at different time-intervals to better characterize the sensitivity, temporal variations and interactions of analysed responses. Besides single antioxidants the total oxyradical scavenging capacity (TOSC) assay was used to analyse the capability of the whole antioxidant system to neutralize specific forms of radicals: these data were further integrated by measurement of DNA integrity, oxidized bases and the impairment of lysosomal membrane stability in haemocytes. Results showed a biphasic trend for single antioxidants and TOSC, with an increase during the first 2 weeks of exposure to the polluted site followed by a progressive decrease up to a severe depletion in the final part of the experiment.     

The EEC treaty and the merchant fleets of the member states

In this discussion of the EEC Treaty and the extent of its applicability to sea transport, the author analyzes the rules on competition, the provisions relating to the free movement of people and services within the Common Market, and the commercial policy of the European Community. He also considers the issue of support tariffs, and changes in the international scene, such as the development of the Comecon fleets and the problems posed by flags of convenience. He concludes by emphasizing the need for new legislation and the development of a comprehensive common policy for sea transport.     

Constant-mass sequences of differentially-rotating polytropes

In this paper, differentially-rotating polytropic constant-mass sequences are compated by implementation of the so-called constant units technique. Then, numerical results concerning such constant-mass sequences are compared with their respective values obtained when corresponding constant-centraldensity sequences are computed.     

Upper Pleistocene tectonics in western Sardinia (Italy): Insights from the Sinis peninsula structural high

The Corsica‐Sardinia block is a lithospheric fragment whose recent role in the geodynamics of the central‐Western Mediterranean basin is still enigmatic. The most recent regional structure in Sardinia is the Plio‐Pleistocene Campidano Basin, which is considered in a ‘post‐rift’ stage since the Middle Pleistocene. New structural and stratigraphic geological surveys along with luminescence ages provide evidence to support an ongoing tectonic activity since the Marine Isotopic Stage 7 (MIS7; ca. 220 ka) on the Sinis peninsula, the structural high that bounds the north‐western side of the Campidano Basin. In particular, this paper reveals for the first time the presence of N–S striking normal faults system offsetting late Pleistocene aeolianites (130 ± 12 ka; 82 ± 9 ka).     

Holocene vegetation and fire dynamics in the supra‐mediterranean belt of the Nebrodi Mountains (Sicily,Italy)

High‐resolution pollen, macrofossil and charcoal data, combined with accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C dating and multivariate analysis, were used to reconstruct Holocene vegetation and fire dynamics at Urio Quattrocchi, a small lake in the supra‐mediterranean belt in the Nebrodi Mountains of Sicily (Italy). The data suggest that after 10 000 cal a BP increasing moisture availability supported closed forests with deciduous (Quercus cerris, Fagus sylvatica and Fraxinus spp.) and evergreen (Quercus ilex) species. Species‐rich closed forest persisted until 6850 cal a BP, when Neolithic activities caused a forest decline and affected plant diversity. Secondary forest with abundant Ilex aquifolium recovered between 6650 and 6000 cal a BP, indicating moist conditions. From 5000 cal a BP, agriculture and pastoralism led to the currently fragmented landscape with sparse deciduous forests (Quercus cerris). The study suggests that evergreen broadleaved species were more important at elevations above 1000 m a.s.l. before ca. 5000 cal a BP than subsequently, which might reflect less human impact or warmer‐than‐today climatic conditions between 10 000 and 5000 cal a BP. Despite land use since Neolithic times, deciduous supra‐mediterranean forests were never completely displaced from the Nebrodi Mountains, because of favourable moist conditions that persisted throughout the Holocene. Reconstructed vegetation dynamics document the absence of any pronounced mid‐ or late‐Holocene ‘aridification’ trend at the site, an issue which is controversially debated in Italy and the Mediterranean region. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal partitioning of microhabitat use among four juvenile fish species of the genus Diplodus (Pisces: Perciformes,Sparidae)

Timing, microhabitat selection and behavior from the onset of settlement to recruitment to the adult population of juvenile fishes of the genus Diplodus (Pisces: Sparidae) were investigated along a rocky coastline in the Central Mediterranean Sea. The settlement periods in Diplodus sargus and Diplodus annularis were concentrated in spring, between late May and early June, and the recruits leave the nursery grounds in late September–October. Juvenile fishes of Diplodus puntazzo and Diplodus vulgaris showed a partial time overlapping, sharing the same zones in winter and early spring, from February to May. Multiple correspondence analysis showed that sea breams settle in well‐defined habitats. The smallest juveniles of D. sargus and D. puntazzo settled primarily in the shallowest sheltered pebbly areas, located in sciaphilous crannies covered by red algae. Diplodus vulgaris settlers were observed on a wider range of substrata: rock on sand, gravel and pebbles without algal cover or large boulders, generally in deeper waters. The intermediate‐size juveniles of D. sargus, D. puntazzo and D. vulgaris showed a preference for rocky substrata with substantial algal cover, with arborescent structures (Phaeophyceae). Diplodus annularis juveniles showed high fidelity to seagrass beds (Posidonia oceanica). The home range increased over time in all species, highlighting a loss of substrate specificity: larger juveniles were even observed in deeper and different microhabitats outside nursery grounds. This study suggests that shallow infra‐littoral rocky communities with photophilic algae play a key role in recruitment of sparid fishes, affecting the distribution and abundance of juvenile fishes and therefore determining the renewal of populations and the structure of adult assemblages.     

MINVIT: Multi Instrumental Visualization Tool for Solar Physics

In recent years much effort has been devoted to constructing systems for sharing resources within the solar physics community. Several advanced archives and data analysis systems do exist, but there is low availability of data visualization tools for displaying simultaneous multi instruments/wavelengths solar data. Meanwhile map server technology has received great attention by the IT researcher and geophysical community. In this paper we discuss a possible use of an open source environment for building spatially enabled Internet applications for the visualization and analysis of solar physics data sets. We present the preliminary status of the MINVIT (Multi Instrumental Visualization Tool) project, which shall be able to merge images and information produced by different instruments in a single/synoptic image available on-line. Moreover, the tool is designed in order to allow the visualization of the temporal evolution of data. We further discuss the possible integration into the grid framework, focusing on a middleware able to query EGSO resources such us UOC and SEC in order to include data from several space and ground-based solar observatories.