Constraining the ship contribution to the aerosol of the Central Mediterranean

Abstract. Particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters lower than 10 µm, (PM10) aerosol samples were collected during summer 2013 within the framework of the Chemistry and Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment (ChArMEx) at two sites located north (Capo Granitola) and south (Lampedusa Island), respectively, of the main Mediterranean shipping route in the Straight of Sicily. The PM10 samples were collected with 12 h time resolutions at both sites. Selected metals, main anions, cations and elemental and organic carbon were determined. The evolution of soluble V and Ni concentrations (typical markers of heavy fuel oil combustion) was related to meteorology and ship traffic intensity in the Straight of Sicily, using a high-resolution regional model for calculation of back trajectories. Elevated concentration of V and Ni at Capo Granitola and Lampedusa are found to correspond with air masses from the Straight of Sicily and coincidences between trajectories and positions of large ships; the vertical structure of the planetary boundary layer also appears to play a role, with high V values associated with strong inversions and a stable boundary layer. The V concentration was generally lower at Lampedusa than at Capo Granitola V, where it reached a peak value of 40 ng m−3. Concentrations of rare earth elements (REEs), La and Ce in particular, were used to identify possible contributions from refineries, whose emissions are also characterized by elevated V and Ni amounts; refinery emissions are expected to display high La ∕ Ce and La ∕ V ratios due to the use of La in the fluid catalytic converter systems. In general, low La ∕ Ce and La ∕ V ratios were observed in the PM samples. The combination of the analyses based on chemical markers, air mass trajectories and ship routes allows us to unambiguously identify the large role of the ship source in the Straight of Sicily. Based on the sampled aerosols, ratios of the main aerosol species arising from ship emission with respect to V were estimated with the aim of deriving a lower limit for the total ship contribution to PM10. The estimated minimum ship emission contributions to PM10 were 2.0 µg m−3 at Lampedusa and 3.0 µg m−3 at Capo Granitola, corresponding with 11 and 8.6 % of PM10, respectively

Microcarcinoma and incidental carcinoma of the thyroid in a clinical series: Clinical behaviour and surgical management

Objectives. Papillary thyroid microcarcinomas (PTM) have not yet an agreed clinical management. The Authors compared PTMs with papillary thyroid carcinoma of larger size (LPTC) and incidental and not-incidental carcinomas. Materials and Methods. Review of clinical data of 67 patients (54 women, 13 men) prospectively stored in a standardised way in an electronic patient record system. Results. There were 36 cases of microcarcinoma (53.7%). Differences were not significant between PTM and LPTC groups as to patients personal data, TNM and MACIS staging, nodal involvement (8.3% vs 19.3%) and multifocality (25% vs 38.7%) while capsular invasion was significantly higher in LPTC (25% vs 54.8%). Nineteen incidental tumors were detected at pathological examination and they were all microcarcinomas. They were smaller than the remaining 17 not-incidental microcarcinomas but showed a similar clinical behaviour. There were not cancer related deaths nor recurrences in the follow up period in any group. Conclusions. Despite the excellent prognosis of PTM, a subset of these tumours shows aggressive biological and clinical features, like nodal or capsular invasion and multifocality. Actually, with the exclusion of size, they do not show any relevant difference from differentiated thyroid carcinoma of larger size. Since predictive cytogenetic markers are still missing, their treatment should then be the same as for conventional thyroid cancers

Ground-based and satellite measurements of stratospheric nitrogen dioxide and ozone over the south of Italy

Nitrogen oxides as well as ozone play a central role in atmospheric chemistry and the improvement of techniques and instruments allowing for a better understanding of the distributions and behaviour of the mentioned compounds are strongly required by the scientific community. Thanks to the new satellite technology, global scenes of the dynamical and chemical processes of the atmospheric compounds can be drawn. Ground-based equipments have to be used for comparison/validation of the satellite retrievals. The LIS (Lampedusa Island Spectrometer) instrument is a SPATRAM (SPectrometer for Atmospheric TRacers and Aerosol Measurement) type equipment allowing for the measurements of spectral sky radiance along the zenith direction, in its standard configuration. Here, the first results obtained with the LIS spectrometer installed in the centre of Palermo (Italy) for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) total columns, and the comparisons with data from the OMI – Ozone Monitoring Instrument on board of AURA satellite for O3 total column are presented and discussed

Istituzioni locali, performance, trasparenza. Il controllo di gestione in Italia e nel Regno Unito

Nel corso degli ultimi due decenni le riforme amministrative hanno promosso negli enti locali l’introduzione del controllo di gestione con l’obiettivo di accrescerne efficienza, efficacia e qualità delle prestazioni fornite a cittadini e imprese in un contesto di rigido controllo della spesa pubblica. Già dall’inizio degli anni ottanta comuni e province sono stati i laboratori in cui le amministrazioni pubbliche hanno iniziato a sperimentare il controllo di gestione perché, in quanto istituzioni più a contatto con cittadini e imprese, per prime hanno avvertito la necessità di incrementare le proprie performance. La riforma Cassese, in parte anticipata per gli enti locali dalla legge n. 142/1990, ha rappresentato un punto di svolta rispetto ai sistemi di controllo, e la riforma Bassanini del 1999 ha quindi cercato di renderli conformi a un’amministrazione «pluralista», accrescendone il livello di articolazione funzionale e organizzativa. Tuttavia, come evidenzia la ricerca i cui risultati vengono presentati in questo volume, nella maggioranza degli enti locali lo sviluppo di strumenti e pratiche manageriali è ancora nullo o carente, il sistema di controllo interno, anche laddove è stato impiantato e ha attecchito, fatica a produrre report e, comunque, le informazioni generate sono poi raramente utilizzate per operare scelte gestionali. Le ragioni di questo (parziale) insuccesso sono diverse e soprattutto riconducibili al fatto che si è preferito, sotto l’incalzare delle difficoltà della finanza pubblica, introdurre meccanismi di contenimento della spesa piuttosto che la sua riqualificazione. È quindi evidente che la riforma dei controlli rischia, ancora una volta, di produrre solo un limitato adempimento dei precetti normativi, ma non un effettivo miglioramento del modo di gestire le amministrazioni locali, ed è probabile che i tagli imposti ai fondi in materia di formazione e di consulenza rappresenteranno un impedimento notevole all’attuazione della riforma. In questa situazione l’unica alternativa praticabile sembra essere quella di valorizzare al massimo i giacimenti di conoscenze e capacità di cui le amministrazioni pubbliche già dispongono al proprio interno, a partire da quelle dei network che legano tra loro le persone che lavorano negli enti locali

The integrated Marine Hazard {webGIS} platform for management of open and coastal ocean in Sicily

This paper describes an integrated webGIS system dedicated to the central Mediterranean region surrounding Sicily, contributing to the Marine Hazard Project. The webGIS system aims at integrating information from in situ and remote sensing measurements made at the Observatories at Lampedusa and Capo Granitola, in Sicily, and from satellite products distributed by the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service. The background structure of the webGIS system, the contributing datasets, and an example case study are described in this wor