Polytechnic University of Turin

About: Polytechnic University of Turin is a education organization based out in Turin, Piemonte, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Finite element method & Computer science. The organization has 11553 authors who have published 41395 publications receiving 789320 citations. The organization is also known as: POLITO & Politecnico di Torino.

Preferential states of seasonal soil moisture: The impact of climate fluctuations

Abstract: The impact of climate fluctuations on the dynamics of soil moisture is studied through a stochastic model of soil water balance. The analysis focuses on the changes of soil water content induced by the interannual variability of rainfall observed at the decade-to-century timescale. Extensive data analyses have been performed to characterize the statistical properties of such a variability. Particular attention is paid to the year-to-year variability of the average value of soil moisture during the growing season because of its relevance to the mechanisms affecting the physiology of plants and the dynamics of ecosystems. It is found that the probability distribution of the average seasonal soil moisture may be either unimodal or bimodal depending on the different combinations of climate, soil, and vegetation parameters. The possible occurrence of a double mode has both hydrologic and ecologic implications that are analyzed here.

Riparian vegetation distribution induced by river flow variability: A stochastic approach

Abstract: [1] Riparian vegetation is part of one of the most diverse and fragile ecotones The key role played by river discharge on the dynamics of riparian vegetation has been widely studied and documented However, although randomness is a fundamental characteristic of river hydrology, very few quantitative vegetation studies take into account the random nature of river discharge Here we propose a stochastic model of riparian vegetation ecosystem dynamics forced by random variations in river discharge The model is solved, and the analytical expressions of the probability density function of the overall vegetation biomass and its first moments are obtained These theoretical results are used to investigate the effect of river hydrology on the distribution of vegetation along the riparian transect transverse to the river In particular, the influence of the type of riparian species and the statistical characteristics of discharge time series are discussed and compared with field observations

Genome-wide analysis identifies a functional association of Tet1 and Polycomb repressive complex 2 in mouse embryonic stem cells

Abstract: Background Ten-Eleven Translocation (TETs)proteins mediate the oxidation of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). Tet1 is expressed at high levels in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), where it mediates the induction of 5hmC decoration on gene-regulatory elements. While the function of Tet1 is known, the mechanisms of its specificity remain unclear.