Effect of injection depth of digestate liquid fraction on soil carbon dioxide emission and maize biomass production

The aim of this study was to evaluate, in open field conditions, the effect of injection depth of digestate liquid fraction (10 cm, 25 cm and 35 cm) in clay loam soil, on CO2 emission. An un-amended soil was considered as control. The study was performed in 2014 on a farm located in Terrasa Padovana, Veneto region (Italy) distributing digestate before maize sowing. Digestate injection determined a high soil CO2 emission in the first hour after application, followed by a progressive reduction in as early as 24 h, reaching significantly lower values, similar to those measured in the un-amended control, after 48 h. Gas emissions measured 1 h after digestate application decreased as injection depth increased with significantly higher emission values in the 10 cm treatment (median value 23.7 g CO2 m\u20132 h\u20131) than in the 35 cm one (median value 2.5 g CO2 m\u20132 h\u20131). In the 3 days between digestate distribution and maize sowing, soil CO2 emission was significantly higher in the amended treatments than un-amended one, with median values of 1.53 g CO2 m\u20132 h\u20131 and 0.46 g CO2 m\u20132 h\u20131 respectively. During maize growing season, no significant soil CO2 emission difference was monitored among treatments, with a median value of 0.33 g CO2 m\u20132 h\u20131. Digestate application significantly improved maize aboveground dry biomass with an average yield of 22.0 Mg ha\u20131 and 16.2 Mg ha\u20131 in amended and un-amended plots, respectively, due to the different amount of nutrients supplied

Dark Matter and IMF normalization in Virgo dwarf early-type galaxies

In this work we analyze the dark matter (DM) fraction, $f_{DM}$, and mass-to-light ratio mismatch parameter, $\delta_{IMF}$ (computed with respect to a Milky-Way-like IMF), for a sample of 39 dwarf early-type galaxies (dEs) in the Virgo cluster. Both $f_{DM}$ and $\delta_{IMF}$ are estimated within the central (one effective radius) galaxy regions, with a Jeans dynamical analysis that relies on galaxy velocity dispersions, structural parameters, and stellar M/L ratios from the SMAKCED survey. In this first attempt to constrain, simultaneously, the IMF normalization and the DM content, we explore the impact of different assumptions on the DM model profile. On average, for a NFW profile, the $\delta_{IMF}$ is consistent with a Chabrier-like normalization ($\delta_{IMF} \sim 1$), with $f_{DM} \sim 0.35$. One of the main results of the present work is that for at least a few systems the $\delta_{IMF}$ is heavier than the MW-like value (i.e. either top- or bottom-heavy). When introducing tangential anisotropy, larger $\delta_{IMF}$ and smaller $f_{DM}$ are derived. Adopting a steeper concentration-mass relation than that from simulations, we find lower $\delta_{IMF}$ ($< 1$) and larger $f_{DM}$. A constant M/L profile with null $f_{DM}$ gives the heaviest $\delta_{IMF}$ ($\sim 2$). In the MONDian framework, we find consistent results to those for our reference NFW model. If confirmed, the large scatter of $\delta_{IMF}$ for dEs would provide (further) evidence for a non-universal IMF in early-type systems. On average, our reference $f_{DM}$ estimates are consistent with those found for low-$\sigma_{e}$ ($\rm \sim 100 \, \rm km s^{-1}$) early-type galaxies (ETGs). Furthermore, we find $f_{DM}$ consistent with values from the SMAKCED survey, and find a double-value behavior of $f_{DM}$ with stellar mass, which mirrors the trend of dynamical M/L and global star formation efficiency with mass.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, published on MNRAS. Figure 1 has been updated with respect to version 1, including the range of values found if the S\'ersic index, n, is varied from 0.5 to 2 (dark-green curves

European local authorities’ financial resilience in the face of austerity: a comparison across Austria, Italy and England

European local authorities have been particularly stricken by the current context of decline and cutback management, and represent an ideal place where to study how governments respond to shocks affecting their financial conditions and management. Along these lines, this paper adopt the perspective of financial resilience for looking at the current context of austerity, and related responses, by shedding new lights on the role of internal capacities and conditions in influencing such responses and, ultimately, performance. Through a multiple case study analysis based on 12 European local authorities in Austria, Italy and England, the paper identifies the main shocks perceived by local management, the related short-term and long-term responses, highlighting the dynamics of financial vulnerabilty, awareness, anticipatory capacity, flexibility and recovery ability (ie, financial resilience) in its interaction with the external context and shocks. From the analysis, four patterns of resilience emerge: pro-active resilience, adaptive resilience, passive/fatalist resilience, complacent resilience

Financial resilience in local authorities: an exploration of Anglo-Italian experiences

For more than thirty years public management and accounting theories and practice have been strongly influenced by the search for efficiency, heralded by the New Public Management and similar public sector modernization movements. Public administrations have focused their attention on economy, efficiency and effectiveness, looking for cost containment, matching resources and goals, output maximization or input minimization. Even the wave of development of performance measurement and management tools have mainly emphasized the importance of short-term efficiency, often without worrying too much about their ability to ensure public administrations’ responsiveness in the face of unexpected events and crises

Chemistry vs. Physics: A Comparison of How Biology Majors View Each Discipline

A student's beliefs about science and learning science may be more or less sophisticated depending on the specific science discipline. In this study, we used the physics and chemistry versions of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) to measure student beliefs in the large, introductory physics and chemistry courses, respectively. We compare how biology majors -- generally required to take both of the courses -- view these two disciplines. We find that these students' beliefs are more sophisticated about physics (more like the experts in that discipline) than they are about chemistry. At the start of the term, the average % Overall Favorable score on the CLASS is 59% in physics and 53% in chemistry. The students' responses are statistically more expert-like in physics than in chemistry on 10 statements (P lesser-than-or-equal-to 0.01), indicating that these students think chemistry is more about memorizing disconnected pieces of information and sample problems, and has less to do with the real world. In addition, these students' view of chemistry degraded over the course of the term. Their favorable scores shifted -5.7% and -13.5% in 'Overall' and the 'Real World Connection' category, respectively; in the physics course, which used a variety of research-based teaching practices, these scores shifted 0.0% and +0.3%, respectively. The chemistry shifts are comparable to those previously observed in traditional introductory physics courses

Invariant NKT cells and rheumatic disease: Focus on primary sjogren syndrome

Primary Sjogren syndrome (pSS) is a complex autoimmune disease mainly affecting salivary and lacrimal glands. Several factors contribute to pSS pathogenesis; in particular, innate immunity seems to play a key role in disease etiology. Invariant natural killer (NK) T cells (iNKT) are a T-cell subset able to recognize glycolipid antigens. Their function remains unclear, but studies have pointed out their ability to modulate the immune system through the promotion of specific cytokine milieu. In this review, we discussed the possible role of iNKT in pSS development, as well as their implications as future markers of disease activity

Global Properties of the Rich Cluster ABCG 209 at z~0.2. Spectroscopic and Photometric Catalogue

This paper is aimed at giving an overview of the global properties of the rich cluster of galaxies ABCG 209. This is achieved by complementing the already available data with new medium resolution spectroscopy and NIR photometry which allow us to i) analyse in detail the cluster dynamics, distinguishing among galaxies belonging to different substructures and deriving their individual velocity distributions, using a total sample of 148 galaxies in the cluster region, of which 134 belonging to the cluster; ii) derive the cluster NIR luminosity function; iii) study the Kormendy relation and the photometric plane of cluster early-type galaxies (ETGs). Finally we provide an extensive photometric (optical and NIR) and spectroscopic dataset for such a complex system to be used in further analyses investigating the nature, formation and evolution of rich clusters of galaxies. The observational scenario confirms that ABCG 209 is presently undergoing strong dynamical evolution with the merging of two or more subclumps. This interpretation is also supported by the detection of a radio halo (Giovannini et al. 2006) suggesting that there is a recent or ongoing merging. Cluster ETGs follow a Kormendy relation whose slope is consistent with previous studies both at optical and NIR wavelengths. We investigate the origin of the intrinsic scatter of the photometric plane due to trends of stellar populations, using line indices as indicators of age, metallicity and alpha/Fe enhancement. We find that the chemical evolution of galaxies could be responsible for the intrinsic dispersion of the Photometric Plane.Comment: 39 pages, 17 figures, MNRAS in pres