How regulating and cultural services of ecosystems have changed over time in Italy

In this experimental study, different components are computed for three different ecosystem services (ES). Specifically, supply, demand and use are estimated for pollination service, flood risk regulation service and nature-based tourism. These are analysed and assessed in 2012 and 2018 for the Italian context, in order to estimate the evolution over this period and to allow a significant comparison of results. The same methodology and models are applied for the selected accounting years and accounting tables and tend to reflect as closely as possible the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting-Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA), which is the international standard endorsed by the United Nations to compile Natural Capital Accounting in 2021. Both biophysical and monetary assessments are performed using the ARIES technology, an integrated modelling platform providing automatic and flexible integration of data and models, via its semantic modelling nature. Models have been run adjusting the components of the global modelling approach to the Italian context and, whenever available, prioritising the use of local data to carry out the study. This approach is particularly useful to analyse trends over time, as potentially biased components of models and data are substantially mitigated when the same biases is constant over time. This study finds an increase in benefits over the period analysed for the ES examined. The main contribution of this pioneering work is to support the idea that ES accounting or Natural Capital Accounting can provide a very useful tool to improve economic and environmental information at national and regional level. This can support processes to provide the necessary incentives to steer policy-making towards preventative rather than corrective actions, which are usually much less effective and more costly, both at environmental and economic levels. Nevertheless, particular attention must be paid to the meaning of the estimates and the drivers of these values to derive a direct or indirect relationship between the benefits observable and the actual Italian ecosystems condition. © Capriolo A et al

Deep CO₂ in the end-Triassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Province

Large Igneous Province eruptions coincide with many major Phanerozoic mass extinctions, suggesting a cause-effect relationship where volcanic degassing triggers global climatic changes. In order to fully understand this relationship, it is necessary to constrain the quantity and type of degassed magmatic volatiles, and to determine the depth of their source and the timing of eruption. Here we present direct evidence of abundant CO2 in basaltic rocks from the end-Triassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), through investigation of gas exsolution bubbles preserved by melt inclusions. Our results indicate abundance of CO2 and a mantle and/or lower-middle crustal origin for at least part of the degassed carbon. The presence of deep carbon is a key control on the emplacement mode of CAMP magmas, favouring rapid eruption pulses (a few centuries each). Our estimates suggest that the amount of CO2 that each CAMP magmatic pulse injected into the end-Triassic atmosphere is comparable to the amount of anthropogenic emissions projected for the 21st century. Such large volumes of volcanic CO2 likely contributed to end-Triassic global warming and ocean acidification

Massive methane fluxing from magma–sediment interaction in the end-Triassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Province

Exceptional magmatic events coincided with the largest mass extinctions throughout Earth’s history. Extensive degassing from organic-rich sediments intruded by magmas is a possible driver of the catastrophic environmental changes, which triggered the biotic crises. One of Earth’s largest magmatic events is represented by the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, which was synchronous with the end-Triassic mass extinction. Here, we show direct evidence for the presence in basaltic magmas of methane, generated or remobilized from the host sedimentary sequence during the emplacement of this Large Igneous Province. Abundant methane-rich fluid inclusions were entrapped within quartz at the end of magmatic crystallization in voluminous (about 1.0 × 106 km3) intrusions in Brazilian Amazonia, indicating a massive (about 7.2 × 103 Gt) fluxing of methane. These micrometre-sized imperfections in quartz crystals attest an extensive release of methane from magma–sediment interaction, which likely contributed to the global climate changes responsible for the end-Triassic mass extinction

The gravitational energy-momentum pseudo-tensor in higher-order theories of gravity

The problem of non-localizability and the non-uniqueness of gravitational energy in general relativity has been considered by many authors. Several gravitational pseudo-tensor prescriptions have been proposed by physicists, such as Einstein, Tolman, Landau, Lifshitz, Papapetrou, Moller, and Weinberg. We examine here the energy-momentum complex in higher-order theories of gravity applying the Noether theorem for the invariance of gravitational action under rigid translations. This, in general, is not a tensor quantity because it is not a covariant object but only an affine tensor, that is, a pseudo-tensor. Therefore we propose a possible prescription of gravitational energy and momentum density for square(k) gravity governed by the gravitational Lagrangian L-g = ((R) over bar + a(0)R(2) + Sigma(p)(k=1) a(k)R square R-k) root-g and generally for n-order gravity described by the gravitational Lagrangian L = L (g(u,v),g(uv,)i(1,)g(uv,)i(1,)i(2,)i(3,) ..., g(uv),i(1)i(2)i(3) ... i(n) ) . The extended pseudo-tensor reduces to the one introduced by Einstein in the limit of general relativity where corrections vanish. Then, we explicitly show a useful calculation, i.e., the power per unit solid angle Omega emitted by a massive system and carried by a gravitational wave in the direction (x) over cap for a fixed wave number k. We fix a suitable gauge, by means of the average value of the pseudo-tensor over a spacetime domain and we verify that the local pseudo-tensor conservation holds. The gravitational energy-momentum pseudo-tensor may be a useful tool to search for possible further gravitational modes beyond the two standard ones of general relativity. Their finding could be a possible observable signatures for alternative theories of gravity

Suono o Sono? Un compito di consapevolezza fonologica

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Biophysical and economic assessment of four ecosystem services for natural capital accounting in Italy

We present methods and results of country-based natural capital assessments for four ecosystem services (ES) in Italy. The spatial mapping and the assessment have been carried out in both physical and monetary terms for (i) crop pollination, (ii) outdoor recreation, (iii) flood regulation (iv) and water provision, using the ARIES (Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services) technology, which provides and integrates the necessary data and models. Extent, supply and use accounting tables have been developed for the same ecosystem services in line with the United Nations System of Environmental Economic Accounting (UN-SEEA) guidelines and Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (EEA) initiative. This work represents a first official and nationwide assessment of ecosystem services for the Italian Government in accomplishment of the Italian law n. 221/2015, applying a variety of different models and economic valuation methods to provide systematic and replicable information on natural capital through national accounting tables. We find that land management and maintenance of the countryside and forestland, which represent the typical Italian landscape, are fundamental. Our application also identifies several modelling challenges that need to be addressed before a methodological path for integrated ecosystem and economic accounting may be considered rigorous and reliable.This research is supported by the Basque Government through the BERC 2018-2021 program and by the Ikertzaile Doktoreentzako Hobekuntzarako doktoretza-ondoko Programa and by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness MINECO through BC3 María de Maeztu excellence accreditation MDM-2017-0714

Photodynamic effects of porphyrin and chlorin photosensitizers in human colon adenocarcinoma cells

A series of tetraaryl porphyrins and chlorins were synthesized and tested for photodynamic activity in human colon adenocarcinoma cells. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a cancer treatment involving systemic administration of a tumor-localizing photosensitizer; this, when activated by the appropriate wavelength of light, interacts with molecular oxygen to form a toxic, short-lived species known as singlet oxygen, which is thought to mediate cellular death. Photofrin\uae, a complex mixture of porphyrin oligomers has recently received FDA approval for the photodynamic treatment of esophageal and endobronchial carcinoma, but its photodynamic and toxicity profiles are far from ideal. In the present study we evaluated a series of porphyrin-based PSs, some of which newly synthesized by our group, with the aim to identify agents with more favorable characteristics. For the most effective compounds in the porphyrin series, chlorin analogs were also synthesized; for comparison, the screening also included Photofrin\uae. Cytotoxicity studies were performed by the MTT assay on a cultured human colon adenocarcinoma cell line (HCT116); the results indicate that the 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl, 3OH- and 4OH-phenyl, and the sulfonamidophenyl derivatives are significantly more potent than Photofrin\uae. Flow cytometric studies and fluorescence microscopy indicate that in PDT-treated HCT116 cells death occurs mainly by apoptosis.In summary, novel PSs described in the present study, belonging both to the porphyrin and chlorin series, have proven more effective than Photofrin\uae in killing colon cancer cells in vitro; extending these observation to in vivo models, particularly regarding the deeper reaching chlorin derivatives, might lead to significant advances in the development of tumor PDT

Massive methane fluxing from magma–sediment interaction in the end-Triassic Central Atlantic Magmatic Province

Exceptional magmatic events coincided with the largest mass extinctions throughout Earth’s history. Extensive degassing from organic-rich sediments intruded by magmas is a possible driver of the catastrophic environmental changes, which triggered the biotic crises. One of Earth’s largest magmatic events is represented by the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province, which was synchronous with the end-Triassic mass extinction. Here, we show direct evidence for the presence in basaltic magmas of methane, generated or remobilized from the host sedimentary sequence during the emplacement of this Large Igneous Province. Abundant methane-rich fluid inclusions were entrapped within quartz at the end of magmatic crystallization in voluminous (about 1.0 × 106 km3) intrusions in Brazilian Amazonia, indicating a massive (about 7.2 × 103 Gt) fluxing of methane. These micrometre-sized imperfections in quartz crystals attest an extensive release of methane from magma–sediment interaction, which likely contributed to the global climate changes responsible for the end-Triassic mass extinction