TERRITORIAL INTEGRATION AND MARINAS IN SARDINIA

Abstract Nautical tourism, considered one of the elect expressions of Italy's offer in the field of tourism, assumes new strategic importance in Sardinia's economic and social framework in the light of the fallout it generates in terms of development and the multifaceted composition of the demand which today characterizes the sector. Such considerations are confirmed by the incidence of the fleet of pleasure craft compared to the resident population, although paradoxically the important marinas are present in areas that are marginal in the panorama of the region's holiday industry. This fact emphasizes the lack of correspondence between an important number of infrastructures - Sardinia is the second Italian region for port infrastructures and berths – and effective territorial integration between nautical installations and inland holiday resort structures. This is to say that it is still quite difficult to interpret the territorial effects of marinas on accommodation facilities.

Complementary encoding of spatial information in hippocampal astrocytes

Calcium dynamics into astrocytes influence the activity of nearby neuronal structures. However, because previous reports show that astrocytic calcium signals largely mirror neighboring neuronal activity, current information coding models neglect astrocytes. Using simultaneous two-photon calcium imaging of astrocytes and neurons in the hippocampus of mice navigating a virtual environment, we demonstrate that astrocytic calcium signals encode (i.e., statistically reflect) spatial information that could not be explained by visual cue information. Calcium events carrying spatial information occurred in topographically organized astrocytic subregions. Importantly, astrocytes encoded spatial information that was complementary and synergistic to that carried by neurons, improving spatial position decoding when astrocytic signals were considered alongside neuronal ones. These results suggest that the complementary place dependence of localized astrocytic calcium signals may regulate clusters of nearby synapses, enabling dynamic, context-dependent variations in population coding within brain circuits

Scalable production of graphene inks via wet-jet milling exfoliation for screen-printed micro-supercapacitors

The miniaturization of energy storage units is pivotal for the development of next-generation portable electronic devices. Micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) hold a great potential to work as on-chip micro-power sources and energy storage units complementing batteries and energy harvester systems. The scalable production of supercapacitor materials with cost-effective and high-throughput processing methods is crucial for the widespread application of MSCs. Here, we report wet-jet milling exfoliation of graphite to scale-up the production of graphene as supercapacitor material. The formulation of aqueous/alcohol-based graphene inks allows metal-free, flexible MSCs to be screen-printed. These MSCs exhibit areal capacitance (Careal) values up to 1.324 mF cm-2 (5.296 mF cm-2 for a single electrode), corresponding to an outstanding volumetric capacitance (Cvol) of 0.490 F cm-3 (1.961 F cm-3 for a single electrode). The screen-printed MSCs can operate up to power density above 20 mW cm-2 at energy density of 0.064 uWh cm-2. The devices exhibit excellent cycling stability over charge-discharge cycling (10000 cycles), bending cycling (100 cycles at bending radius of 1 cm) and folding (up to angles of 180{\deg}). Moreover, ethylene vinyl acetate-encapsulated MSCs retain their electrochemical properties after a home-laundry cycle, providing waterproof and washable properties for prospective application in wearable electronics

A Mathematical Model of a Solar Collector Augmented by a Flat Plate above Reflector: Optimum Inclination of Collector and Reflector

In this study a theoretical analysis of a collector augmented by a bottom booster reflector is presented. An analytical model has been developed and used to estimate the solar irradiation passing through the transparent cover of a flat collector, both with and without a bottom reflector. The analytical model is based on the anisotropic sky model and takes into account a finite length system with different angular configurations and reciprocal shading and reflections between reflector and collector. Computer simulations have been carried out in order to find the optimum angles of the reflector with respect to the plane of the collector. Optimal inclinations of the collector and reflector for each month at 39° N latitude have been identified

Liquid-phase exfoliation of bismuth telluride iodide (BiTeI): structural and optical properties of single-/few-layer flakes

Bismuth telluride halides (BiTeX) are Rashba-type crystals with several potential applications ranging from spintronics and nonlinear optics to energy. Their layered structures and low cleavage energies allow their production in a two-dimensional form, opening the path to miniaturized device concepts. The possibility to exfoliate bulk BiTeX crystals in the liquid represents a useful tool to formulate a large variety of functional inks for large-scale and cost-effective device manufacturing. Nevertheless, the exfoliation of BiTeI by means of mechanical and electrochemical exfoliation proved to be challenging. In this work, we report the first ultrasonication-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) of BiTeI crystals. By screening solvents with different surface tension and Hildebrandt parameters, we maximize the exfoliation efficiency by minimizing the Gibbs free energy of the mixture solvent/BiTeI crystal. The most effective solvents for the BiTeI exfoliation have a surface tension close to 28 mN m(-1) and a Hildebrandt parameter between 19 and 25 MPa0.5. The morphological, structural, and chemical properties of the LPE-produced single-/few-layer BiTeI flakes (average thickness of & SIM;3 nm) are evaluated through microscopic and optical characterizations, confirming their crystallinity. Second-harmonic generation measurements confirm the non-centrosymmetric structure of both bulk and exfoliated materials, revealing a large nonlinear optical response of BiTeI flakes due to the presence of strong quantum confinement effects and the absence of typical phase-matching requirements encountered in bulk nonlinear crystals. We estimated a second-order nonlinearity at 0.8 eV of |chi((2))| & SIM; 1 nm V-1, which is 10 times larger than in bulk BiTeI crystals and is of the same order of magnitude as in other semiconducting monolayers (e.g., MoS2)

Una analisi comparativa tra strategie di sviluppo e tutela dei Centri minori in Sardegna

Nell’orizzonte programmatico dei Fondi strutturali e di investimento europei 2014-2020, il Ministero per la Coesione Territoriale ha rilanciato, di recente, una maggiore attenzione al sistema insediativo delle Aree Interne del Paese, nel complesso compito di riequilibrio territoriale e regionale, invitando a rileggere le visioni trasversali ed interregionali delle politiche di sviluppo che hanno caratterizzato la contemporanea produzione normativa, di fatto scarsamente incidente se si considera la diffusa involuzione socio-demografica e il declino urbano dei centri minori. In Sardegna, a partire dall’approvazione della Legge regionale n. 29 del 13 ottobre 1998, “Tutela e valorizzazione dei centri storici della Sardegna”, si sono instaurati meccanismi virtuosi di investimenti e azioni in tema di riqualificazione urbana e di recupero dei centri storici, che hanno determinato interessanti impatti sul territorio regionale. Per contro si assiste ad un fenomeno per cui l’area in cui vi sarebbe maggiore bisogno di “progettualità urbanistica” viene talvolta marginalizzata in attesa di una pianificazione attuativa la cui concretizzazione non sempre risulta di facile realizzazione per l’evidente necessità di coinvolgere e integrare operativamente azione pubblica e intervento privato, specialmente sul tema del recupero del patrimonio storico. L’elaborazione degli strumenti di gestione del territorio rimane inoltre impegnativa e complessa per i comuni minori, ancora caratterizzati da una diffusa parcellizzazione e dall’esiguità delle risorse a disposizione, amplificandone le situazioni di marginalità. Il concorso delle Aree Interne allo sviluppo regionale necessita, quindi, che i sistemi policentrici minori sviluppino forme di governo più efficaci ed efficienti alla scala intermedia. In questo contributo si propone una riflessione sul sistema diffuso di Comuni minori delle Aree Interne della Regione Sardegna rispetto alla varietà delle politiche e degli interventi messi in atto negli ultimi anni, alle loro entità e diffusione sul territorio, valutandone, tramite comparazione, gli impatti ed evidenziando i casi di maggiore rappresentatività per l’integrazione tra politiche attuate, approcci partenariali e innovazione progettuale, soprattutto nei casi in cui le esperienze positive possono essere replicate anche in altri contesti. Il declino dei centri minori e la diffusa attenzione alle politiche di riduzione del consumo di suolo dovrebbero sostenere una maggiore riflessione sul ruolo dei centri storici come ambiti urbani generatori di potenziali relazioni socioeconomiche ed urbanistiche; tali dinamiche suggeriscono la riqualificazione prioritaria del patrimonio esistente in chiave integrata nella dotazione di infrastrutture e servizi. In tal senso, la ricerca mette in luce in che misura la cooperazione tra pubblico e privato è decisiva, poiché contribuisce all’efficacia degli interventi urbanistici e ad un superiore livello di qualità nel raggiungimento degli obiettivi

La Valutazione ambientale strategica nell’adeguamento dei Piani urbanistici comunali al Piano paesaggistico regionale della Sardegna

Il tema della Valutazione ambientale strategica (VAS) contestualmente alle problematiche connesse al recepimento della Direttiva 2001/42/CE, fanno da sfondo all’adeguamento dei Piani urbanistici provinciali e comunali al Piano paesaggistico regionale della Sardegna. Gli aspetti di maggior criticità e interesse emergono in merito ai rapporti, deboli e talvolta confliggenti, tra la dimensione settoriale e quella paesaggistica della pianificazione territoriale. Tale dualismo emerge vistosamente anche nelle pratiche legate alla VAS di piani e programmi; infatti, sebbene i presupposti di matrice politica e tecnica sembrino unanimemente convergere sulla necessità che i processi di trasformazione territoriale siano investiti dal consenso sociale delle comunità insediate nei territori, attitudini orientate a garantire inclusività e cooperazione proprie della valutazione strategica non sembrano trovare riscontri oggettivamente validi nei processi decisionali in atto. La situazione rappresentata nel caso di studio richiama con forza l’urgenza di una riforma urbanistica che inciderebbe positivamente nella valutazione degli effetti del piano sul paesaggio e, in particolare, significherebbe sopperire alla vetustà del tradizionale approccio dualistico tra i metodi dell’urbanistica e quelli propri della pianificazione paesaggistica. Ciò porterebbe ad unità due momenti forzatamente disgiunti della gestione del territorio mitigando le criticità proprie della fase di adeguamento normativo in corso

A comprehensive optimization model for flat solar collector coupled with a flat booster bottom reflector based on an exact finite length simulation model

In this paper an original simulation and optimization model for flat solar collector coupled with a flat bottom reflector has been developed. The problem of simulation and optimization for such system is essential in order to find the proper configuration of the reflector able to obtain the expected maximum efficiency of the whole system. The proposed simulation model analytically determines the solar energy on the collector-reflector system and therefore the optimization model estimates the optimal values of the design parameters. A new comprehensive formulation of the shadowing and irradiating level on the collector, able to take into account the finite length geometry with variable dimensions, is presented. The number and the value of the angular positions, the time periods over which the angular positions should be adjusted, the size, the aspect ratio, between the length and the width of the reflector, and the overhangs are parameters treated simultaneously with a global optimization procedure. The model is integrated with an original scheme of optimization where energetic and economic aspects are both taken into account. The simulations results of the study reveal the optimal number of angular adjustments per year, the existence of a small optimal neighborhood of the aspect ratio and the optimal size of the reflector, for which the maximum reduction of the payback time of the augmented system compared to its reference collector is achieved. The results presented in the study are related to the solar data of Italian latitude, but they can be easily extended for any geographical location

www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms Role of Btg2 in the Progression of a PDGF-Induced Oligodendroglioma Model

Abstract: Tumor progression is a key aspect in oncology. Not even the overexpression of a powerful oncogenic stimulus such as platelet derived growth factor-B (PDGF-B) is sufficient per se to confer full malignancy to cells. In previous studies we showed that neural progenitors overexpressing PDGF-B need to undergo progression to acquire the capability to give rise to secondary tumor following transplant. By comparing the expression profile of PDGF-expressing cells before and after progression, we found that progressed tumors consistently downregulate the expression of the antiproliferative gene Btg2. We therefore tested whether the downregulation of Btg2 is sufficient and necessary for glioma progression with loss and gain of function experiments. Our results show that downregulation of Btg2 is not sufficient but is necessary for tumor progression since the re-introduction of Btg2 in fully progressed tumors dramatically impairs their gliomagenic potential. These results suggest an important role of Btg2 in glioma progression. Accordingly with this view, the analysis of public datasets of human gliomas showed that reduced level of Btg2 expression correlates with a significantly worse prognosis