Proposta di strategie di gestione sostenibile della risorsa idrica, in ambiente mediterraneo, finalizzata agli interventi per la lotta alla desertificazione (Sardinia NW, Italy)

This paper is concerned with the methodological approach and preliminary results of a study conducted on the sustainable management of water resources aimed ultimately at defining measures for combating desertification. The primary object is to explore and develop models and strategies for innovative and sustainable water resources management solutions, adopting a multidisciplinary approach, at the drainage and/or hydrogeological basin scale in a Mediterranean context, using a case study from a pilot area in Sardinia as a basis. Criteria for selecting the pilot area were dictated by the need for specific features such as the presence of surface waterbodies (rivers, channels, dams, etc.), of confined and unconfined aquifers and of urban agglomerates and productive activities, thus with competing water demands. An area was identified in the NW part of Sardinia, in the Nurra region, specifically the basin draining into the Calich lagoon. A multidisciplinary research project has been drawn up and tested for the purpose of collecting the necessary information required for developing integrated and sustainable water resource management solutions, also taking into consideration recently enforced legislation

Caratterizzazione tipologica dei rapporti tra fenomeni di desertificazione ed acque superficiali e sotterranee, osservati e studiati in Sardegna

This study has been carried out within a broader research project, RIADE, concerned with the characterization of the types of relationships existing between desertification processes and surfaceand groundwater observed and investigated in Objective 1 regions. The underlying assumption is that the deteriorating quality and diminishing quantity of a region’s water resources impact negatively on the development of all living things and on human organization, and thus represent a basic indicator of desertification, intended in its broadest sense as the degradation of bioproductive land. By re-processing the scientific results obtained for Sardinia during this project, we have developed a reference framework for the systematic representation of the types found, qualitatitive/quantitative natural or anthropogenic degradation phenomena/processes of water resources in Sardinia. Two distinct criteria have been adopted for the typological categorization of the deteriorating quality and diminishing quantity of water, both divorced from the environmental and regional context in which they occur.The first criterion is based on an analysis of water quantity and quality and on the “pollutant type”, along the lines suggested by the Italian Research Council’s National Group for Hydrogeological Disaster Protection (GNDCI); the second criterion uses the DPSIR model adopted by the European Environmental Agency (EEA), which defines five indicator categories for the state and evolution of the environmen

Part-time employment as a way to increase women's employment: (Where) does it work?:

Part-time employment has repeatedly been proposed as a solution for integrating women into the labor market; however, empirical evidence supporting a causal link is mixed. In this text, we investigate the extent to which increasing part-time employment is a valid means of augmenting women's labor market participation. We pay particular attention to the institutional context and the related characteristics of part-time employment in European countries to test the conditions under which this solution is a viable option. The results reveal that part-time employment may strengthen female employment in Continental Europe and especially in Southern Europe, where an increase in part-time employment—even if it is demand-side driven—leads to greater employment participation among women. We also discuss some policy implications and trade-offs: Although part-time work can lead to higher numbers of employed women, it does so at the cost of increasing gendered labor market segregation. We analyze data from the European Labor Force Survey (EU-LFS) 1992–2011 for 19 countries and 188 regions and exploit regional variation over time while controlling for time-constant regional characteristics, time-varying regional labor market features, and (time-varying) confounding factors at the national level

Sustainable water resources management to combat desertification in the Nurra region, northwestern Sardinia, Italy

Sustainable water management plays an important role in the frame of the multidisciplinary research activities aiming to combat or to mitigate the desertification processes. The study activities have been carried out by RIADE Research Project (Integrated Research for Applying new technologies and processes for combating Desertification, www.riade.net. RIADE was co-financed by MIUR within the National Operative Programme 2000-2006. The primary objective was to explore and to develop models and strategies for innovative and sustainable solutions of water resources management, adopting a multidisciplinary approach, at the catchment and hydrogeological basin scale in a Mediterranean context, using a case history of a pilot area in NW Sardinia (Italy). The high concentration of population in this coastal zone and the intense agricultural activity have determined a relevant increase of water demand. This demand is generally satisfied by surface water, but, in some peculiar dry periods, it exceeds the available quantities. In these critical periods, groundwater are the only alternative source constituting a strategic water resource. The groundwater chemical properties are then correlated with the effects of the anthropogenic pressures. The used approach shows the application of groundwater protection criteria, in accordance with EU policies, and it was aimed to develop a methodological tool which can be applied to different scenarios

Mung Bean nuclease mapping of RNAs 3' end

A method is described that allows an accurate mapping of 3' ends of RNAs. In this method a labeled DNA probe, containing the presumed 3' end of the RNA under analysis is allowed to anneals to the RNA itself. Mung-bean nuclease is then used to digest single strands of both RNA and DNA. Electrophoretic fractionation of "protected" undigested, labeled DNA is than performed using a sequence reaction of a known DNA as length marker. This procedure was applied to the analysis of both a polyA RNA (Interleukin 10 mRNA) and non polyA RNAs (sea urchin 18S and 26S rRNAs). This method might be potentially relevant for the evaluation of the role of posttrascriptional control of IL-10 in the pathogenesis of the immune and inflammatory mediated diseases associated to ageing. This might allow to develop new strategies to approach to the diagnosis and therapy of age related diseases

Studio sulla gestione sostenibile delle risorse idriche: dall’analisi conoscitiva alle strategie di salvaguardia e tutela

Nell’ambito delle attività di ricerca multidisciplinari, volte a contrastare o mitigare i processi di desertificazione, un ruolo importante deve essere attribuito al tema della corretta gestione delle risorse idriche. Le pressioni di tipo antropico, legate anche alle attività produttive ed ai loro impatti (lo scarico incontrollato di reflui di varia origine, l’irrorazione di sostanze chimiche per trattamenti antiparassitari e concimazioni, il sovrasfruttamento delle acque sotterranee, i fenomeni d’intrusione di acqua marina ecc.), possono produrre un degrado di questa risorsa, rendendola inadatta ai vari usi ed in particolare a quelli più pregiati (idropotabili e ambientali). Il volume illustra e propone una metodologia di studio multidisciplinare della risorsa idrica, a scala di bacino idrografico e/o idrogeologico in ambiente mediterraneo, partendo da un caso di studio in un’area campione della Sardegna. I criteri di scelta dell’area pilota, individuata nel bacino del Calich, sono stati dettati dall’esigenza di soddisfare alcune peculiarità quali: presenza di corpi idrici superficiali (fiumi, canali, dighe ecc.), acquiferi superficiali e profondi, agglomerati urbani e attività produttive, che generano quindi usi competitivi della risorsa idrica