Sicily - Science topic

Smart roads are a key component of intelligent transportation. Strict implementation of road smartification measures can help solve many of the traffic problems societies face today. These measures address new challenges of urbanization, reduce traffic and pollution, improve road safety, and bolster the economy through the enhancement of road netwo...

Objective: This paper explores dental diseases and wear as a proxy for dietary patterns in Hellenistic-early Roman Menainon. Materials: This study includes 166 individuals (4th-1st c. BCE). Methods: Carious lesions, dental calculus, antemortem tooth loss, and dental wear were recorded to explore male-female and adult-juvenile differences, and to po...

Melitta schmiedeknechti Friese 1899 is reported for the first time in Italy. The species was collected in two different localities, mainland Sicily and Lampedusa, expanding its known range. Localities and flora visited are reported and, in addition, barcoding of two specimens was carried out.

Today, the evaluation of a site for innovative nuclear installations represents a fundamental step in supporting the implementation of a sustainable nuclear power program. One major concern is the potential for radioactive releases and their effects on the biosphere, particularly on human health. To address this issue, a new Meteorological Pressure...

Xylocopa (Koptortosoma) aestuans (L. 1758) (Hymenoptera Apoidea), a species native to Southeast Asia, is reported for the first time in Europe, following the collection of seven individuals in Italy (Ragusa, Sicily). The barcode of COI region confirmed the identification of the specimens. Since it is not yet clear whether the species can reproduce...

In this paper, I undertake a complete translation of Ibn Ḥamdīs’ poem No.110 “Qaḍat al-Nafs” and provide a structural analysis in order to demonstrate that the poem in its entirety is structured through a succession of related metaphors that lends unity and organization to the speaker’s experience. Though Ibn Ḥamdīs is committed to the canon of cla...

Origanum vulgare L. is an aromatic plant that exerts antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antitumor activities, mainly due to its essential oil (EO) content. In this study, we investigated the possible mechanism underlying the in vitro antitumor activity of EO extracted by hydrodistillation of dried flowers and leaves of Origanum vulg...

Subduction zones may be characterised by deep-seated tectonic structures whose effects propagate to the upper plate through faulting and magmatism. The overall geodynamic framework, as well as the roots of the many active faults affecting such regions, can be investigated by the study of the upper mantle anisotropic patterns, through the analysis o...

Almonds are the seeds of the almond (Prunus Amygdalus) tree and are a nut consumed worldwide. The present study utilized the ATR FT-IR technique followed by a chemometric analysis to develop predictive models for determining the geographical origin of almonds from three regions in Southern Italy (Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily). IR spectra were colle...

The assessment of renal function is critical to diagnosing and managing renal age-related decline, disease (KD), and failure, which are prevalent in the elderly population. The glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is widely used as an indicator of kidney function, but its direct measurement is challenging, as are its age and gender caveats. This makes...

Background: Reinfections occur as a response to natural infections wanes and novel strains of SARS-CoV-2 emerge. The present research explored the correlation between sex, age, COVID-19 vaccination, prior infection hospitalization, and SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in Sicily, Italy. Materials and Methods: A population-based retrospective cohort study was...

The study reconstructs the history of the medieval church of S. Caterina d'Alessandria in Termini Imerese (Palermo, Sicily), located a short distance from the municipal garden. The origins of this church are traced back to the second half of the fourteenth century, taking into account the stylistic characteristics of the Gothic Ogival portal. Moreo...

Two remarkable species of sawflies are newly recorded for Sicily: Cimbex fagi (Zaddach, 1863) (Cimbicidae) from Nebrodi and Madonie Mountains, and Xeris pallicoxae Goulet, 2015 from Etna Volcano (Siricidae), whereas Urocerus sah (Mocsary, 1881), only recently recorded from western Sicily as U. augur, is newly recorded from eastern Sicily (Etna Volc...

Qarakilsə (dəyişdirilmiş hal-hazırki adıyla Sisian) Azərbaycan diyarı olmaqla hazırda ermənilər tərəfindən işğal edimiş tarixi əzəli torpağımızdır. Bu ərazidə yerləşən toponimlərin təhlilinə keçmədən qabaq Qarakilsə bölgəsinin yerləşdiyi İrəvan əyalətinin qısa tarixinə nəzər yetirək. Belə ki, İrəvan xanlığının yerləşdiyi yer Çuxursəd bəylərbəyliyin...

Deep groundwater resources around the world represent an important potential unconventional source of water. Here we document an extensive (17.3 km ³ ) fresh/brackish groundwater body preserved in a deep (between 800 and 2100 m) carbonate platform aquifer (Gela Formation.) in southern Sicily (Italy), by using deep well data and a 3D hydrogeological...

Bridge management is a complex and challenging task at global scale. The main purpose of bridge management is to facilitate the identification of bridge deficiencies in order to carefully plan and execute maintenance operations, and ensure the continued safety of traffic. In 2020, the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure issued mandatory guidelines f...

Typological-observational methods still constitute one of the most commonly applied tools for evaluation of the seismic risk and vulnerability of the existing building stock. Their efficiency is mainly related to the effectiveness of the procedure for deriving fragility curves, and the reliability and completeness of the database that describes the...

Simple Summary The riverine ecosystem of the Aurès Mountains in Algeria is situated in the southern part of the Mediterranean basin. This unique region is an important centre of speciation, with a distinct number of regional endemics—some of which are still undescribed or very poorly studied. Given the importance of biomonitoring the ecological sta...

The coastal wetlands of the Mediterranean area are among the most vulnerable and threatened environments due to human pressure and activities. Fragmentation is generally considered as one of the most driving factors in habitats loss. In this paper, we investigated the floristic composition, structure, conservation status, and trends of the habitat...

It is confirmed the presence in Sicily (Nebrodi Mountains: Messina province, Cesarò, Portella Sella Maria, m 1474 a.s.l.) of Orussus abietinus (Scopoli, 1763), previously known on the basis of old and vague not confirmed records in the nineteenth century and one informal record in an entomological forum.

Can we say that the mafia is a spontaneous order, an unplanned but orderly association, the result of human action but not of human design? The paper investigates how the lack of a founding moment for the entity called the "ma-fia" points toward a positive answer. It seems plausible to say that the continuous turnover of different foreign dom-inati...

This essay reflects on the role of monasteries in the process of defining the structure of the aristocracy in Norman Sicily, with the aim of contributing to scholarship on this theme on the island in the 12th century. The topic is addressed starting from an analysis of the political and devotional choices made by the Aleramici, the most important S...

Feline leishmaniosis is a worldwide infection caused by the parasite of the genus Leishmania transmitted by sandflies. Based on the complexity of epidemiology and diagnosis of this infection, the role of cats in the epidemiology and clinical impact of disease is still under debate. By using serological and molecular methods, this study aimed to upd...

This study is focused on the identification of areas affected by gravity processes related to landslide phenomena occurring in a wide sector of the Nebrodi mountain chain (northern Sicily). The considered procedure, implemented by Meisina et al., 2008 and Guerriero et al. (2019) using A-DInSAR data and the Model Builder tool (ArcGis), allows the se...

Objectives Listeria monocytogenes (LM), the etiological agent of Listeriosis, can cause foodborne zoonosis. In this study, we characterized 23 strains that caused human listeriosis in Palermo (Sicily, Italy) during the period 2018-2020. In addition, we assessed the phenotypic susceptibility of clinical isolates to antibiotics in accordance with EUC...

Bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are receiving increasing scientific interest because of the economic losses that they can cause in invaded areas. Nonetheless, there are a number of emerging pest species, belonging to different tribes, for which invasions have likely been overlooked in the past due to their inconspicuousness, t...

In Italy, cervical cancer represents the fifth most prevalent cancer in women under 50 years of age and is one of the most commonly detected lesions globally. Given the developing burden of the disease and the availability of both primary and secondary prevention measures, their accurate surveillance is of paramount importance. The aim of this stud...

We present a review of the phenology of the Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus and its wintering status in Sicily. We collected and analysed 91 different records related to a total of 280 individuals. Data were collected both through direct observations on the field and by consulting recent literature and ornithological databases. The species has b...

The Mediterranean Sea is a super data highway in the global digital economy. On the region’s ocean floor thousands of kilometres of fibre optic cables connect Europe, Africa and Asia. Up to 95% of transregional communications run through these cables. When we discuss security in the cyber domain, we most often focus on data protection, and threats...

The mantis shrimp Rissoides pallidus (Giesbrecht, 1910) is a rarely reported crustacean species in the Central Mediterranean Sea. In December 2020, during a trawl survey off Mazara del Vallo harbor (Strait of Sicily), two specimens of R. pallidus were captured on coastal detritus and coastal terrigenous mud bottoms at about 132 and 152 m depths. Ad...

Scorrione-West, dated to 4th – 6th centuries AD, represents a unique site, both archaeologically and methodologically. Archaeological material suggests intermingling of various cultural groups. The presented report aims to add more data regarding the human aspect at Scorrione. It provides initial findings and results of anthropological analysis of...

Simonetta Agnello Hornby is a contemporary Sicilian author. Her literary career started in 2002, when La mennulara was published. Since then, she has published many literary works, which have been translated into several languages. Her narratives display two main features. Firstly, they constitute 'Sicilian novels'. They are mainly set in Sicily an...

Alleryana 38 (2) p. 127-133 luglio-dic. 2020 novembre 2020 Riassunto La possibilità che le numerose attività dell'uomo possa-no facilitare l'introduzione di specie alloctone è un feno-meno noto e ha coinvolto, nei secoli, numerose specie animali e vegetali che si trovano, ai nostri giorni, lontano dal loro originario areale. Una di queste attività...

Grafting techniques have been intricately associated with the optimization of water use efficiency (WUE). In this study, various eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) rootstock–scion combinations were compared under three irrigation regimes (IR): 50% deficit in water volume (IR50), a doubling of irrigation volume (IR200), and normal watering (IR100). The...

Background Nowadays healthcare systems are affected both by a growing demand for prosthetic surgery, and by an increase of patients’ migration who are seeking a place of care more suited to their needs. This study aims to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on patients’ migration for lower limb arthroplasty in Italy's regional healthcare systems. Meth...

Introduction Point prevalence surveys (PPSs) of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antibiotic use are crucial to monitor trends over years at regional level, especially in countries with decentralized healthcare systems. Here, we reported the results of the fourth PPS conducted in Sicilian acute care hospitals (Italy) in 2022. Methods The...

Background The quality of care provided to patients with severe mental disorders (SMD) often does not correspond to the standards set by the recommendations. In addition to monitoring the coverage rate achieved by services, the evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions provided by mental health services for the treatment of SMD, in preventin...

The volume deals with the cost analysis of the construction of a typical house in the colony of Kasmene, founded in 644 B.C. by Syracuse in its project of territorial expansion and consolidation in south-eastern Sicily, but abandoned in the middle of the fourth century B.C. This analysis takes into account the use of man-hours, materials and resour...

The name Anthemis aetnensis Spreng. is lectotypified with a specimen from the personal collec tion of Sprengel kept in the Paris Herbarium (P), and its duplicates (isolectotypes) are traced at G and K.

Assessment of renal function is critical to diagnose and manage renal age-related decline, disease (KD), and failure, which are prevalent in the elderly population. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is widely used as an indicator of kidney function, but its direct measurement is challenging, as are its age and gender caveats. This makes difficult th...

European wild carnations (Dianthus) are represented by a high number of taxa organized in unresolved taxonomies. Particularly, taxa belonging to the Dianthus virgineus L. complex in the Central Mediterranean have been delimited mainly with qualitative morphological data and still await quantitative investigations, which are vital to understand boun...

The most recent discovery of six privately owned panel paintings that are to be associated with the Sicilian Renaissance artist Antonio de Saliba's (1466/7-c. 1535) now dismembered 1515 titular altarpiece for the Franciscan Observant Church in Rabat, Malta, along with the two central panels of the same altarpiece that are found within the church, h...

Increasing the economic and environmental sustainability of irrigated agriculture is a vital challenge for the Mediterranean crop production sector. This study explores the effects of the adoption of reclaimed water (RW) as source of irrigation in conjunction with the application of deficit irrigation strategies in an olive orchard (different genot...

Hanns-Josef Ortheil poświęcił Sycylii dwa utwory: Das Kind, das nicht fragte (2012) oraz Die Insel der Dolci. In den süßen Paradiesen Siziliens (2015). Pierwszy z nich to powieść z motywami autobiograficznymi, natomiast drugi – opowiadanie podróżnicze przedstawiające doświadczenia, które pisarz zdobył podczas podróży po wyspie. Obydwa teksty łączy...

Meta menardi (Latreille, 1804) and M. bourneti Simon, 1922 (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) are ubiquitous inhabitants of the twilight zone of most hypogean sites across Europe. The two species are broadly distributed in Italy, including Sicily, where they show a remarkable segregation along the altitudinal gradient of Mount Etna. Thanks to our recent sam...

The ancient Greek colony of Selinunte, with its acropolis on a promontory on the south-western coast of Sicily, is flanked by two valleys where two modest rivers flow today: the Modione to the west and the Cottone to the east. Archaeological reconstructions, historical documents from various sources, and recent remote sensing surveys indicate two i...

European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) is a highly contagious and fatal viral disease, mainly affecting European brown hares (Lepus europaeus). The etiological agent, EBHS virus (EBHSV), belongs to the Lagovirus genus within the Caliciviridae family. The Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus) is endemic to Central-Southern Italy and Sicily and is classified...

Background Italy can be viewed as a laboratory to assess the quality of mental healthcare delivered in a community-oriented system, especially for severe mental disorders, such as personality disorders. Although initiatives based on clinical indicators for assessing the quality of mental healthcare have been developed by transnational-organisations...

Background: Neonatal and infant mortality rates are among the most significant indicators for assessing a country's healthcare and social development. This study examined the trends in neonatal, post-neonatal, and infant mortality in Italy from 2016 to 2020 and analysed differences between children of Italian and foreign parents based on areas of r...

This review paper analyses the first steps of the spread of domestic plants into Sicily. Despite being the biggest island of the Mediterranean and its central position, the process of arrival and diffusion of crops in Sicily is still poorly understood. Starting from the limited but significant record from Grotta dell’Uzzo, the plant macrofossil dat...

Simple Summary The Comune di Sicilia goat, originating in Sicily (Italy), is in the process of being officially acknowledged as a breed. To better characterize this population, this study examined 78 goats from two locations, recording the goats’ morphological traits and measurements. Moreover, these goats were genotyped using a medium-density SNPc...

Sicily hosts a significant and old citrus industry that includes more than 42,000 farming companies and around 20 fruit processing companies. Critically analyzing the citrus economy in Sicily in the early bioeconomy era, this study aims to identify outcomes of general value that may assist the work of bioeconomy practitioners engaged in the full va...

In recent years there has been a growing interest in assessing incidental catches of protected species caught by commercial fishing. The CNR-IRBIM, in collaboration with ISPRA, has monitored some trawlers operating in the GSA 16 in the period 2022-2023, in accordance with the monitoring program 'Fishery-dependent data collection MADIT-D03-03, MICIT...

The eastern Mediterranean Sea is a subduction zone between the African plate and the Eurasian plate that has high seismicity. The tsunami of July 21, 365 AD was one of the most severe in the region, and its impact was estimated to have extended to the islands around the Aegean Sea, Cyprus, southern Calabria, Sicily, Malta, and Lampedusa. However, a...

In this work the assessment of the ambient air quality, carried out by the Regional Agency for the Environment Protection of Sicily Region (ARPA Sicilia), in the "High-Risk Environmental Crisis Areas" (AERCA) is presented. In the five-year period from 2016 to 2020 citizens of AERCA areas were exposed to O 3 level above Italian legislation, but also...

This poster showcases an attempt to address the discard reduction using a guarding net in the small-scale fisheries of Egadi Islands MPA (Western Sicily, Central Mediterranean Sea). Key results were shown, with important resultant data. We also shared some concluding remarks.

This study presents the main technological and innovative aspects of the NOSE WEB-APP (Network for Odour Sensitivity), developed by the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences of the National Research Council (ISAC-CNR) in collaboration with the Regional Agency for the Environment Protection of Sicily Region (ARPA Sicilia). In the first phase...

Insular bat communities are a preeminent conservation taxon due to their ecological role and intriguing and unique species composition. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean. However, research on Sicilian bats is still scattered, with substantial information being overlooked. Here we present a systematic review of all available bibliogr...

Horses are excellent bioindicators for the assessment of environmental pollution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels and potential bioaccumulation of 28 mineral elements in 75 horse whole blood samples collected from five pollution-prone areas of Sicily, Italy. A direct mercury analyzer (DMA-80) was used for Hg determination, and an i...

In the last decade, research has been conducted to identify targeted searches and electromagnetic and aerial applications applied to landscape heritage and ecosystems. Italy has progressed its jurisdictional authority by introducing normatives, e.g., from “Carta Italiana del Restauro” (1932) to “art.10 D.gls. 42/2004”, of archaeological sites and...

In an attempt to find a possible alternative to imperial orientalism, this essay brings to the forefront Robert Browning's Luria: A Tragedy (1846) as a case study exemplifying irregularity, volatility, and discontinuity in Western discursivity. Drawing upon critics such as Dennis Porter, Kathryn Tidreck, John Mackenzie, Robert Irwin, and Ali Behdad...

Revealing the specific portrayal of information about the Battle of Stalingrad in the English press during the Great Patriotic War, this article analyzes publications in the newspaper ‘British Ally,’ which was published in Great Britain in the Russian language for Russian readers. The question arises about the necessity of applying a new direction...

Fungal biodiversity is still mostly unknown and their presence in particular ecosystems such as freshwater habitats is often underestimated. The ecological role that these fungi play in freshwater environments mainly concerns their activity as decomposers of litter and plant material. At present, it is estimated that 3870 species belong to the ecol...

The exacerbation of wildfires, attributed to the effects of climate change, presents substantial risks to ecological systems, infrastructure, and human well-being. In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to climate action, prioritizing the assessment and management of the occurrence and intensity of ex...

Medicanes represent a unique weather phenomenon in the Mediterranean Sea, combining features of both tropical and extra-tropical cyclones. The recent Medicane Helios induced a severe windstorm that caused storm surges and flooding impacting coastal regions of southeastern Sicily. To assess the hydrodynamic parameters, such as tide phase, storm surg...

The possibility of using materials from the waste of agricultural products for the conservation of cultural and artistic heritage has led to important technological developments on mortars, plasters, colors, and other applications. In this experimental work, we investigated the binding properties of mucilage obtained from two different species of t...

The recent pandemic has changed the modal choices of users in the urban context, highlighting in the last two years an increase in the diffusion of electric scooters, which is not homogeneous in the Italian context. At the beginning of 2020, the first e-scooter services were launched in Sicily, with the city of Palermo leading the way. A survey was...

Described in the present report are documented attempts to tag and sample the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (Linnaeus, 1758), along Italian coasts in the Mediterranean Sea, which took place near the Lampedusa Island in the lower Tyrrhenian Channel of Sicily, off the coast of Rimini in the Adriatic Sea, and of Civitavecchia in the central Tyrr...

This study focuses on analyzing and monitoring urban subsidence, particularly in the city of Palermo, Italy. Land subsidence, induced by natural and human factors, poses threats to infrastructure and urban safety. Remote sensing (RS), specifically synthetic-aperture radar interferometry (In-SAR), is employed due to its ability to detect ground disp...

Background Evidence-based practice (EBP) is being rapidly adopted by the Italian physiotherapy community, although a knowledge gap persists at clinical level with consequent lack of integration of EBP into ground roots practice. Teaching of EBP during the Bachelor of Science (BSc) undergraduate course in physiotherapy likely has a vital role to pla...

Background: Sepsis is a leading cause of in-hospital mortality and morbidity globally. Epidemiological data regarding the incidence and mortality of sepsis are scarcely available. Most reports are based on administrative. Furthermore, sepsis in non-intensive care units has been considered only in a few studies. The present study aimed to describe t...