INVENTORY AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SICILIAN BADLANDS

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD, 1994) addressed desertification as a global problem defining it as \u201cland degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas, resulting from various factors, including climate variations and human activity\u201d. In the Mediterranean areas, this phenomenon results from the interaction of various factors such as climate, lithology, vegetation and land use. The study of the predisposing factors allows the time/space assessment of the phenomenon and a continuous field monitoring allows to quantify the data in terms of vulnerability degree and to develop decision-making tools for integrated land use planning. One of the most fragile ecosystems are the badlands areas in Sicily. Their geological and climatic features (erosive rocks and marginal soils, and highly variable rainfall) and often a negative human impacts (inadequate land use and agricultural practices) led to increasing soil erosion and vegetation degradation, predisposing the terrain to the badlands. Moreover, the slope topography can be considered as a driver factor for the inception and the evolution of the badlands, in particular if we considered the badlands as miniature drainage systems, fully comparable to small river basins. The present work focused on the role of the pre-incision slope topography on the typologies and characteristics of the Sicilian badlands. The badlands areas of the entire Sicily were mapped in order to create an inventory of landforms based on morphological criteria. The digital orthophotos (2007-2008) at a nominal scale of 1:10.000 available in the WebGIS server of the Regione Sicilia and the Google Earth images of the same periods were closely examined. The landforms were digitized as polygons by means of a GIS software and recorded into a geo-database. The channel networks of each badland were traced and their drainage density (D) were calculated. The numbers of furrows directly tributary to the external drainage network were measured by using the index Gully Tributary (GT). This allowed to distinguish two typologies of badlands drainage pattern: dendritic for GT=1 (with only one main furrow) and parallel for GT>1 (with several parallel furrows). For each landform, the pre-erosion topography was reconstructed by filling the incision, using the heights of the watershed divide as point values in a topography interpolation tool in GIS. It represented the slope topography prior to the development of the current drainage network. The pre-incision slope morphometry of each landform was characterized by calculating the Morphometric Slope Index (MSI) considered as general index for slope morphometry. MSI, GT and D were compared via statistics in order to detect the influence of pre-erosion slope morphometry on the typology and the arrangement of the badlands drainage networks

Magic mirror on the wall: Selfie-related behavior as mediator of the relationship between narcissism and problematic smartphone use

Objective: Recent research has suggested that problematic smartphone use is associated with several psychological factors and that mobile apps and smartphone-related behavior (i.e. selfi e behavior) may encourage the development of problematic smartphone use. However, little is known about how the interplay between dysfunctional personality characteristics and selfi e-related behavior can infl uence problematic smartphone use. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between narcissism and problematic smartphone use, as well as the mediating role of selfi e-related behavior in this relationship among young men and women. Method: In the current study, a total of 627 undergraduate students (283 males and 344 females) completed a cross-sectional survey. A structural equation model was tested separately for males and females in order to evaluate the associations between narcissism, selfi e-related behavior and problematic smartphone use. Results: The results showed that greater narcissism was related to increased selfi e-related behavior, which in turn were positively associated with problematic smartphone use both for males and females. However, selfi e-related behavior mediated the relationship between narcissism and problematic smartphone use only for females. Conclusions: The study provides fresh insight into our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying problematic smartphone use, which may inform prevention and treatment interventions

Stroke after tadalafil use

No abstract availabl

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of 2-furaldehyde and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde in honey

A method of determination of 2-furaldehyde (F) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) in honey by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The method is based on the formation of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones of carbonyl compounds and subsequent reversed-phase separation of these derivatives. Derivatization is carried out by utilizing an acidic solution of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in acetonitrile. Precipitation of the derivatives of carbonyl compounds is thus avoided and direct injection of the sample into the HPLC system is allowed. The procedure offers a high specificity, since the derivatives of F and HMF are well separated from the other components of the mixture under examination. Recoveries of 95-99% were obtained from honey spiked at different levels with both analytes. The detection limit is of the order of 10 \u3bcg/kg of honey and reproducibility (mean of six determinations) is \ub13% for F and \ub12% for HMF

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of 2-furaldehyde in spirits

Official methods for the determination of 2-furaldehyde in spirits involve for a spectrophotometric evaluation, which is characterized by poor specificity. Gas chromatographic evaluations have also been proposed, which offer a much higher sensitivity, particularly when capillary columns are used. In this paper a high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method based on the formation of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones of carbonyl compounds and subsequent reversed-phase separation of these derivatives is described. Derivatization is carried out by utilizing an acidic solution of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in acetonitrile. Precipitation of the derivatives is avoided, and direct injection of the sample into the HPLC system is allowed. The determination offers a high specificity and a detection limit of the order of 10-8 mol/l. Accuracy and reproducibility data are presented

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of 2-furaldehyde and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde in processes citrus juices

The occurrence of 2-furaldehyde (F) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) in processed citrus juices is an indication of quality deterioration. A close relationship between flavor changes and F content exists, while HMF can give rise to browning reactions. Both F and HMF are formed during heat processing or storage at improper temperatures. The detection of these compounds becomes more and more important as aseptic processing and packaging of citrus juices are becoming widespread. Aseptic packaging allows higher temperatures during distribution and storage to be employed without microbial spoilage, but off-flavors develop as citrus products are exposed to these conditions. In this paper a method of determination by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The method is based on the formation of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones of carbonyl compounds and subsequent reversed-phase separation of these derivatives. Derivatization is carried out by utilizing an acidic solution of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in acetonitrile. Precipitation of the derivatives of carbonyl compounds is thus avoided, and direct injection of the sample into the HPLC system is allowed. The determination offers a high specificity and a detection limit of the order of 10-8 mol/l for both analytes. Recoveries from an orange juice spiked at different levels are quantitative. Reproducibility data are presented

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of 2-furaldehyde and 5- hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde in fruit juices

A method for the determination of 2-furaldehyde (F) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) in fruit juices by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The method is based on the formation of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones of carbonyl compounds and subsequent separation of these derivatives. Derivatization is carried out by utilizing an acidic solution of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in acetonitrile. Precipitation of the derivatives of carbonyl compounds is thus avoided; and direct injection of the sample into the HPLC system is allowed. The procedure offers a high specificity and a detection limit of the order of 10\u20138 mol/L. Recoveries of 95-98% are obtained from apple juice spiked at different levels with both analytes. The reproducibility (mean of six determinations) is \ub1 2% for F and \ub1 3% for HMF