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Cochylimorpha scalerciana sp. n. is described as new, the latter belongs to straminea group. As adult C. scalerciana resemble C. tiraculana from West-Alps, genetically it is near C. straminea and C. alternana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New microstructural data on the mylonites from the well-exposed Palmi shear zone (southern Calabria) are presented with the aim to shed light on both the kinematics and the geometry of the southwestern branch of the Alpine belt during Eocene. In the study area, located between the Sardinia-Corsica block and the Calabria-Peloritani terrane, previous large-scale geodynamic reconstructions suggest the presence of strike-slip or transform fault zones dissecting the southwestern branch of the Alpine belt. However, there are no field data supporting the occurrence of these structures. This paper uses vorticity analysis technique based on the aspect ratio and the long axis orientation of rigid porphyroclasts in mylonitic marbles and mylonitic granitoids, to estimate the contribution of pure and simple shear of deformation during the movement of the Palmi shear zone. Porphyroclasts aspect ratio and orientation were measured on thin sections using image analysis. Estimates of the vorticity number, Wm, indicate that the Palmi shear zone recorded general shear with a contribution of pure shear of c. 65%. Then, the Palmi shear zone can be interpreted as a segment of a left-lateral transpressive bend along the southern termination of the Eocene Alpine front. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A deficit in precipitation may impact greatly on soil moisture, snowpack, stream flow, groundwater, and reservoir storage. Among the several approaches available to analyze this phenomenon, one of the most applied is the analysis of dry spells. In this paper, an investigation of the spatial and temporal patterns of dry spells, in a region of southern Italy, has been carried out on a daily precipitation dataset. First, the frequency distributions of the sequences of dry days have been analyzed. Then, the regional areas most affected by dry events have been evaluated at annual and seasonal scale. Finally, the long-term trend of the dry spells has been estimated at annual and seasonal scale. Results show that the lower probabilities of long dry spells occur in the main reliefs of the region, while the highest values have been detected in the Ionian side. The spatial distribution of the mean and maximum length values of the dry spells evidenced a west-east gradient. The trend analysis mainly revealed a negative behavior in the duration of the dry spells at annual scale and a positive trend in the winter period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migration and resettlement of Jewish exiles after 1492 and the successive expulsions of the early sixteenth century was a long and drawn-out process. In fact, the majority of the exiles did not go directly to the Ottoman Empire, and even those who finally reached it as first-generation immigrants did so by staggered waves of migration. The Venetian colonies in the Mediterranean played an important role in this process, both as relatively safe destinations and as ports of transit on the way eastward. Nevertheless, Venetian attitudes towards the arrival of Sefardi, Sicilian, Apulian, and Portuguese Jews in the Stato da Mar have rarely been considered in this context, independently from the topic of Jewish presence in the colonies in general. Corfu offers the opportunity for a case study. The present article examines Venetian policies towards Jewish refugees, immigrants, and conversos who came to Corfu in the aftermath of the expulsions from the Iberian Peninsula and southern Italy. It also attempts to tackle some questions related to the chronology of the successive waves of Jewish settlement on the island in this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is scarce information available about the presence and distribution of freshwater fishes in southern Italy, and ichthyological information about Calabrian lotic systems is practically inexistent. This paper reports the current status of the freshwater fish fauna in some of the most important lotic systems of Calabria. Ichthyological samplings were performed at 54 stations along 16 Calabrian rivers. Sixteen fish species belonging to eight families were found, and their presence and distribution is discussed on the basis of biogeographic considerations. The freshwater fish fauna of the area has been dramatically altered by the introduction of allochthonous species, mainly originating from the Po plain catchments. This is a prime example of faunistic transformation of a Mediterranean area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A taxonomic study of the Sesleria juncifolia complex in the Italian Peninsula is presented, with a focus on southern Italian populations here named as Sesleria calabrica (DEYL) DI PIETRO comb. nov. et stat. nov. Karyological, morphological and anatomical characters were used for comparative analyses with populations of closely related species, such as S. juncifolia SUFFREN and Sesleria apennina UJHELYI occurring in the Italian Peninsula. Multivariate and univariate morphometric analyses, and qualitative morphological characters showed a distinct position of S. calabrica. Populations of S. calabrica differ in respect to various morphological characters of leaf and spikelet, such as the glume, lemma and palea length, stem length, the leaf sheath, leaf width, leaf thickness, and the total number of vascular bundles. Furthermore, previous karyological studies demonstrated that all the populations of both S. juncifolia and S. apennina examined are octoploid (2n=8x=56), whereas S. calabrica was found to be dodecaploid (2n=12x=84). S. calabrica is strictly confined to the Pollino massif and the Orsomarso mountains in southern Italy, which represent the southernmost limit of the Sesleria juncifolia complex distribution area both in Italy and in Europe. In addition to S. juncifolia and S. calabrica, the recognition of S. apennina as a taxon distinct from S. juncifolia is supported, at least for the area of the Apuan Alps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of fine-grained dolomite in peritidal rocks has been the subject of much debate recently and evidence is presented here for a microbial origin of this dolomite type in the Norian Dolomia Principale of northern Calabria (southern Italy). Microbial carbonates there consist of stromatolites, thrombolites, and aphanitic dolomites. High-relief thrombolites and stromatolites characterize sub-tidal facies, and low-relief and planar stromatolites, with local oncoids, typify the inter-supratidal facies. Skeletal remains are very rare in the latter, whereas a relatively rich biota of skeletal cyanophycea, red algae and foraminifera is present in the sub-tidal facies. Some 75% of the succession consists of fabric-preserving dolomite, especially within the microbial facies, whereas the rest is composed of coarse dolomite with little fabric preservation. Three end-members of dolomite replacement fabric are distinguished: type 1 and type 2, fabric retentive, with crystal size <5 and 5–60 μm, respectively; and type 3, fabric destructive, with larger crystals, from 60 to several hundred microns. In addition, there are dolomite cements, precipitated in the central parts of primary cavities during later diagenesis. Microbialite textures in stromatolites are generally composed of thin, dark micritic laminae of type 1 dolomite, alternating with thicker lighter-coloured laminae of the coarser type 2 dolomite. Thrombolites are composed of dark, micritic clotted fabrics with peloids, composed of type 1 dolomite, surrounded by coarser type 2 dolomite. Marine fibrous cement crusts are also present, now composed of type 2 dolomite. Scanning electron microscope observations of the organic-rich micritic laminae and clots of the inter-supratidal microbialites reveal the presence of spherical structures which are interpreted as mineralized bacterial remains. These probably derived from the fossilization of micron-sized coccoid bacteria and spheroidal–ovoidal nanometre-scale dwarf-type bacterial forms. Furthermore, there are traces of degraded organic matter, probably also of bacterial origin. The microbial dolomites were precipitated in a hypersaline environment, most likely through evaporative dolomitization, as suggested by the excess Ca in the dolomites, the small crystal size, and the positive δ18O values. The occurrence of fossilized bacteria and organic matter in the fabric-preserving dolomite of the microbialites could indicate an involvement of bacteria and organic matter degradation in the precipitation of syn-sedimentary dolomite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the present study we investigated the distribution of 15 autosomal STRs loci and 17 Y-STRs loci in a population from Southern Italy (Calabria). Samples for the study were obtained form more than 300 unrelated healthy individuals belonging to the analysed population since at least three generations. Different bio-statistical values of forensic interest were calculated for the loci examined in the present study. The test for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium showed that the genotype distribution was correspondent with the expected. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A genetic population study for SE33 locus has performed from a sample of 130 individuals coming from South of Italy (Calabria) since at least 3 generations, using the next generation multiplex AmpFlSTR NGM SElect™ PCR Amplification Kit by Applied Biosystems. Allele frequencies and statistical parameters of forensic interest (Power of Discrimination, Power of Exclusion Matching Probability, etc.) were calculated using PowerStats v1.2 software. Results demonstrate the usefulness of SE33 for forensic identification, which should be added to the set of STR loci routinely studied in caseworks and in complex paternity cases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]