Search

Conventional medical treatments of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are effective on motor disturbances but may have little impact on nonmotor symptoms, especially psychiatric ones. Thus, even when motor symptomatology improves, patients might experience deterioration in their quality of life. We have shown that 3 years of active theatre is a valid complementary intervention for PD as it significantly improves the well-being of patients in comparison to patients undergoing conventional physiotherapy. Our aim was to replicate these findings while improving the efficacy of the treatment. We ran a single-blinded pilot study lasting 15 months on 24 subjects with moderate idiopathic PD. 12 were assigned to a theatre program in which patients underwent “emotional” training. The other 12 underwent group physiotherapy. Patients were evaluated at the beginning and at the end of their treatments, using a battery of eight clinical and five neuropsychological scales. We found that the emotional theatre training improved the emotional well-being of patients, whereas physiotherapy did not. Interestingly, neither of the groups showed improvements in either motor symptoms or cognitive abilities tested by the neuropsychological battery. We confirmed that theatre therapy might be helpful in improving emotional well-being in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pythium spiculum, a recently described new taxon, has been isolated from declining cork oaks (Quercus suber L.) at Doñana National Park (south-western Spain). The microorganism can infect and cause root disease in Quercus, but currently it is unknown whether its hyphal bodies can germinate and infect host trees. These hyphal bodies, regardless of shape, have been shown to be able to germinate, producing long germ tubes, sometimes ramified. Zoospore production was not recorded, but hyphal bodies are potential host infective structures in dry soil conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domain-decomposition (DD) for Integral Equation can be achieved by aggregating standard basis functions into specialized basis functions on each sub-domain; this results in a strong compression of the MoM matrix, which allows an iteration-free (e.g., LU decomposition) solution also for electrically large problems. Fast matrix-vector product algorithms can be used in the matrix filling and compression process of the employed aggregate-functions approach: this hybrid approach has received considerable attention in recent literature. In order to quantitatively assess the performance, advantages and limitations of this class of methods, we start by proposing and demonstrating the use of the Adaptive Integral Method (AIM) fast factorization to accelerate the Synthetic Function eXpansion (SFX) DD approach. The method remains iteration free, with a significant boost in memory and time performances, with analytical predictions of complexity scalings confirmed by numerical results. Then, we address the complexity scaling of both stand-alone DD and its combined use with fast MoM; this is done analytically and discussed with respect to known literature accounts of various implementations of the DD paradigm, with nonobvious results that highlight needs and limitations, and yielding practical indications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electric field generated by power lines is usually evaluated by a simple 2-D model. Due to the presence of buildings or other objects near the power line, measurements are often in disagreement with the model. In this letter, the adaptive integral method (AIM) is used to analyze a power line in a real environment. The presence of a conducting ground plane, as well as a planar dielectric interface, is also efficiently built into the algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Ku -band low cross-polarization conical horn based on thin metasurface (MTS) walls is presented in this article, along with the relevant design method. The necessary boundary conditions are realized by printing a tensor MTS on the internal walls of the horn, which yields a radiation performance similar to a standard corrugated Gaussian horn yet with the benefits of thin walls. The design method is based on the adiabatic approximate solution for the hybrid mode of a conical waveguide with generic balanced impedance walls, which allows the determination of the impedance profile supporting a single balanced mode. The impedance design is based on the usual locally flat approximation of the wall and on the assumption of plane wave incidence. This approach results in an analytic design method that requires no optimization. The design has been first validated by solving the problem with homogenized impedance boundary conditions through a body of revolution (BoR) method of moments. The actual structure, including impedance wall implementation, is then simulated in full detail with a full-wave fast code. Finally, the horn has been realized and experimentally characterized; measurements show excellent agreement both with theory and with simulations, with a cross-polarization level below −20 dB over a 2 GHz bandwidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the framework of the design of low observable aircraft, one of the most difficult problem is the numerical modelling of aeronautical air intakes with an - usually complex - arbitrary shape. Also the presence of radio absorbing material demands for accurate methods in evaluating the low level scattering for real life problems. This paper addresses the use of a full wave approach, based on the Multilevel Fast Multipole Approach (MLFMA), for a high fidelity modelling both of the whole (real life) aircraft, and of the intake scattering contribution, useful in the design and optimization stage of the intake itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents design and analysis methods for planar antennas based on modulated metasurfaces (MTSs). These antennas operate on an interaction between a cylindrical surface-wave (SW) excited by an isotropic TM radiator, and an MTS having a spatially modulated equivalent impedance. The MTS is realized by using sub-wavelength patches printed on a grounded slab, thus resulting in a structure with light weight and compact volume. Both features are appealing characteristics for space applications. This paper introduces for the first time an impedance-based amplitude synthesis of the aperture field distribution and shows several new examples of antennas for space applications obtained in recent research projects financed by the European Space Agency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Soil-borne pathogens are a key component of the belowground community because of the significance of their ecological and socio-economic impacts. However, very little is known about the complexity of their distribution patterns in natural systems. Here, we explored the patterns, causes and ecological consequences of spatial variability in pathogen abundance in Mediterranean forests affected by oak decline., We used spatially explicit neighborhood models to predict the abundance of soil-borne pathogen species ( Phytophthora cinnamomi, Pythium spiculum and Pythium spp.) as a function of local abiotic conditions (soil texture) and the characteristics of the tree and shrub neighborhoods (species composition, size and health status). The implications of pathogen abundance for tree seedling performance were explored by conducting a sowing experiment in the same locations in which pathogen abundance was quantified., Pathogen abundance in the forest soil was not randomly distributed, but exhibited spatially predictable patterns influenced by both abiotic and, particularly, biotic factors (tree and shrub species). Pathogen abundance reduced seedling emergence and survival, but not in all sites or tree species., Our findings suggest that heterogeneous spatial patterns of pathogen abundance at fine spatial scale can be important for the dynamics and restoration of declining Mediterranean forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]